CZ-52 Question
 

My friend that is still having money problems is putting more of his stuff up for sale. He's offering a CZ-52 pistol (7.62x25) and a Ruger Bisley .45 LC.

Any opinions on these? He's trying to make a package deal for these and a bunch of long guns. The package price ain't bad, but most of the stuff, I don't want- most of them are milsurp rifles and I have enough of my own.

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=354276

I liked mine enough to blow another $200 tricking it out with a spare slide + 9mm barrel.

Gonna buy a spare frame and mill out the magazine well on it one of these days.

FUN target pistol. Poor man's FiveseveN(I hear it works better actually) and dirt cheap. What's not to love? I carry mine, until I get a CZ-82/83 to replace it.

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

I had a CZ-52. Nothing wrong with them.. Most of the ammo out there is corrosive tho. I got rid of mine to make room in my safe. I hardly ever shot it and it was an inexpensive gun taking up room.

No first hand experience with the other one. I suppose if it is a good enough deal you could always resell some of them later.

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

This guy always thinks his stuff is worth big money. I know CZ-52's can go pretty cheap. Then, there is the ammo issue, hard to find. I'll bet he wants $500 for the Ruger .45 LC. The way I see it, the CZ is worth around 100 FRNs and the Ruger $300.

Quick question, how much more is a FTF/no paper deal worth? Never had the opportunity before.

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

Well, generally you get better deals buying FTF as you can bargain if the seller is motivated. At least I have in the past. There are several sites that I frequent that have FTF listings. I'm always on the lookout for good deals.

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

I don't think your far from me, what else does he have?

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

I guess it's an OK deal. He wanted $250 for the CZ-52 and I told him I'd do $200 if I thought it was in good shape. From pricing on Gunbroker, it looks like the average CZ-52 goes for around $250. When I said I thought it was a $100 pistol, I must have been thinking of a 9x18 Makarov, big difference between that and a CZ. The main appeal here is, getting a a handgun with no paper trail!

He's going to figure a price for the Ruger Bisley .45 LC, but I bet it's going to be five bills. It sounds like more of a collector item, it's one of a matched pair he bought some years ago. It also has the 7 1/2" barrel, a true hand cannon! I think I'll pass.

I expect more offerings for sale as time goes by, he is getting laid off on Friday. I really feel sorry for him in a way, he's a really good friend, but just has awful money management skills. It's sad to see him selling off these firearms that he's spent a lifetime acquiring. He's got a lot of very expensive Class 3 stuff that would get him out of his hole, but he would never sell that stuff. I think he would live under a bridge, before he'd part with that. Stupid IMO, but each to his own, I guess.

Ringhunter, he's sold off the rest of his long gun package to his ex father-in-law today. He had a .303 Brit, K-98 Mauser, 2 Henry Golden Boy rifles, 1 in .22 Mag, 1 in .17 HMR. I don't know what he got for it, but by subtraction and estimating. I'm thinking he was asking a grand for the lot. He had 4 Golden Boys altogether, 2 in .22 LR and these 2 above. I'm probably going to regret not buying one of these, but right now I have priorities in my firearms/ammo budget. And unlike my friend, I do budget!

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

When you said they were going for $250 online, I was surprised. I paid about $140 for my CZ52 pistols, but that was years ago.

They are pretty neat. DO NOT dry fire them, unless they've got the replacement makarov.com firing pin installed. Original factory firing pins are very brittle, and will snap during dry firing. You might also try to get whatever 7.62x25 ammo your friend has.

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

Yeah, I've been reading about the cheap ass cast steel firing pins, plan on getting a milled replacement. He doesn't have any ammo, just some spent brass, reloading dies and a bullet mold, which he's throwing in on the deal. I don't currently reload, but I've been thinking about getting a single stage press and the other gear needed to reload handgun ammo; 9mm, .38 Spl, etc.

My friend is a master reloader. He has notebooks full of his loading recipes. He developed his own wildcat, a .17 Rem/.22 Hornet. I admire the guy for his technical prowess and shooting skills, he knows more about firearms than anyone else I've ever met. I've seen him destroy some "knowitalls" at gun shows, in a very quiet manner. He really is a humble man, but really knows his stuff.

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

The dies & mold are worth another ~$40-$50. Reloading is very fun & should be relaxing. It's neat to start with basic components & end up with YOUR OWN ammo. It also allows you to do interesting stuff like the attached picture.

One other useful thing to know about the CZ52 is that the decocker should NOT be trusted. Some pistols imported early on had an "undocumented design feature" (to use Microsoft-speak) where decocking the pistol might result in a fired round.

Re: CZ-52 Question
 

I've also read about the decocker situation. I can't ever think that I'd keep one in the pipe.