CZ-52 in 7.62x25 Tokarev, anybody shoot one?

[DonMountain]

Back when I was a kid about 25 or 30 years ago, I purchased a CZ-52 in 7.65x25mm. And never shot it because ammo wasn't available way back then. Recently I have purchased a set of dies and some Starline brass to maybe start reloading. I haven't purchased any projectiles yet or molds. Might anyone have one of these and can make some recommendations? Loads, powders, bullets to buy?

[Walks]

Strange.
When we sold those at Turner's in SoCal there was plenty of Czech ammo.

[Outpost75]

Velocity Test Data for 7.62x25 in TT33 Pistol

Handloads in Starline cases with CCI500 primers

Ammunition Description_________________Vel@15ft., Sd, ES n=10
____________________________________TT33, 4.6”

Romanian Type P Ball, Factory 22, 1984____1461 fps, 27 Sd, 76ES
Yugoslav PPU Ball,_____________________1310, 26 Sd, 66ES

Hornady 86-grain SP, 7.4 grs. AutoComp___1353, 20, 71
Accurate 31-100T, 7.4 grs. AutoComp_____1450, 16, 50
Accurate 31-087B, 5.3 grs. Bullseye_______1433, 28, 71
Accurate 31-087B, 10.8 grs. #2400_______1321, 11, 32
Norma 93-gr. FMJ .307”, 10.8 grs. #2400__1277, 18, 44

Attachment 237948Attachment 237949

[CLAYPOOL]

The Sub Machine Gun Ammo is what got the Idiots up set. Superposed would penetrate Vests.. Some reputed to be loaded VERY hot..

[CLAYPOOL]

Probably corrosive.

[Texas by God]

All the Eastern Bloc ammo was corrosive primed. They are weird pistols but they are accurate to a ways out there. I had a Chinese Tokarev and a few CZ52s and never reloaded for any of them because the now- gone ammo was CHEAP! I killed a called in Turkey at 50 yards with a CZ52 and it was perfect for the job.
Outpost has it lined out. Enjoy that cartridge; I always wanted a 1911 chambered for it.

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[rbuck351]

My dad brought a Russian TT33 back from WWII. He gave it to me around 1975. I found some 30 mauser dies and reloaded some of the few 30 mauser cases I had. I couldn't find any more boxer brass so I made some from 38 spl brass. Neck it down, trim to length, lathe off rim and cut extractor groove and reload. Brass finally became easier to find and I bought a CZ52. Both of the guns have loose barrels and tight throats which makes using cast difficult as I couldn't put a barrel dia bullet in a case and have it chamber. Neck turning fixed that but the necks are pretty thin. Fun guns to shoot if you don't mind chasing brass.

[GhostHawk]

I have one, went through the whole process of cutting down .223 brass, necking it down.
Hard to get consistent necks that way IMO.

I tried several lee molds but the .314 90 gr was the one that worked best for me.
The truncated cone design would not make contact with the rifling. Where the .311 93 gr round nose was just big enough that one or 2 out of every mag would fail to go into battery.

2-3 grains of Red Dot is what I was using. Mostly 3. Thinking about trying some again at 2.

I have become a real fan of the .32sw long with the .314 90 gr and 2 grains of Red Dot. Easy on hands and wrists, low noise, no big fireballs.

Been thinking I should buy some starline 7.62x25 brass and give it another go.

This is one of those that I enjoyed the journey, but by the time I got everything figured out I was heartly tired of messing with it. So bought a couple of boxes of PPU Hollow points and just let it slip back out of sight and notice.

My biggest issue with the Cz-52 and the 7.62x25 is that it likes to throw brass into the next county. Maybe its time I got some old man smarts on and made a brass catcher.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I owned three CZ52 at one time. I never loaded for them, I had a few cases of the cheap mil surp ammo, I don't recal where it originated, but it was some HOT ammo, brass cases (berdan)and they'd usually show a split in the mouth after they were fired. They would really slap your hand and had a lot of muzzle flip...it took a while to get use to it, to get on the paper.

The original firing pins were brittle and it wasn't uncommon for them to wear or break. Back when they were common, there were 9mm luger replacement barrels, which really tamed them down, but there weren't any replacements mags available, that I knew of (before internet), and while the original mag was suppose to work with the 9mm, they weren't reliable, cause the 9mm was shorter.
A friend of mine (who was also into the CZ52) came up with some Mods to make the original mags reliable.

[nhithaca]

Still have three (CZ-52), one does have a cracked slide, which is too common. Mil-sup ammo is all corrosive so you have to clean the gun every time, with military grade cleaner &/or hot water and strong detergent. Have had both brass and steel case ammo all of which is very hot. Many of the bullets are copper washed steel which make sparks in the shooting range on the baffles; gets everyone's attention from that and the muzzle blast. Gun itself is very interesting with the roller locked slide, single action w/ hammer drop (but watch out for this feature, can fire if firing pin is NG), easy slide removal from frame and no screws at all (there is one nut on a part, but can't remember which one). But it is a tough gun to hold on to and not too friendly with the recoil. Plus sights are terrible!! Fun gun to shoot, but with the ammo drying up, getting expensive.

The 30 Mauser and the 7.62x25 are not exactly the same case and the 30 Mauser is loaded much weaker than the 7.62 so don't mix the handloads up if you own guns of both calibers. Used Fiocchi cases and re-loaded 80-90 grain cast bullets, Hornady 85 grain .312 bullets swedged down to .308, and Hornady .308 semi jacked round nose (which would blow the lead out the front and leave the jacked in the barrel with the hot loads). Always wanted a Ruger Blackhawk in 30 carbine w/ extra cylinder chambered in 7.62x25. Bet it would approach the 30 carbine round in speed with 90 grain bullets.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Click to enlarge.

25 yds. with ammo shown. I bought several boxes. I've got some brass and a set of dies, but have never reloaded for it. An interesting pistol, but not my favorite.

DG

[Texas by God]

The CZ 52 is the only pistol I've ever fired that hurt my trigger finger when I fired it much. We used to ring a 10" plow disc hanging on a fence with it regularly at 140 yards. Like I said, in a nice 1911 it would be great!

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[sharps4590]

I have one...bought it at an auction because no one else would bid on it. Needless to say I don't have a lot in it....and that's a good thing. I don't believe I've fired a box of ammo through it. Kinda like Der Gebirgsjaeger said, "interesting pistol but, not my favorite"...especially since I'm mostly a revolver guy to begin with.

[DonMountain]

Well this looks like a rather complex gun to reload for, and I appreciate all this kind of information you guys are sending me. I do have a set of dies for the 30 Mauser/7.62x25 round and also purchased some Starline 7.62x25 brass. I also have loading data in a Hornady manual for their jacketed HP/XTP 90 grain bullets that are supposed to be 0.309" in diameter. Maybe I will try a box of those since I have Hornady loading data just to be safe before I try some cast in it. I don't seem to do very well with some of these high-pressure cast bullet loads. Like 223 and 9mm. Although I have several pistols that shoot 31-32 caliber cast projectiles around 90 to 100 grains that I could use a mold for.

[spfd1903]

The Lyman Cast Bullet Manual 4 th edition, has a loads for the Lyman 75 grain and 85 grain .32 caliber boolits. A real accurate load from my CZ 52 was the 85 grain, sized to .311 with WIN 231 powder. Used a Forster .311 cutter to increase the neck i.d. of Starline brass. Another good combo I found was the Lee C309-113-F with ACC #7. The Starline brass has gone through four firings, still going strong. S&B brass tended to crack in the neck on the first sizing. I have also had good results with a Sierra 85 grain exposed lead RN. With Power Pistol, it is very accurate and has a M.E. of about 475 ft-lbs at 10'. Replaced the firing pin years ago. Next to a hi-point, it is the ugliest pistol I have.

[Gtek]

I have had two since the early 90's or so when they hit the shore. We sold a few and like everything else at the time I had to grab a couple. Problem I had was grip and hold, my old 1911 muscle memory and I present it and I am pointing at the ground. I remember they were hot and interesting with roller system, still sitting on some brown box. Fast forward a few and the 75's that walk around with me sure feels better, 9mm I know, but capacity man, capacity!

[PHyrbird]

got one a few years back, my kids love it. Breaking claybirds at 25yds. I prefer the privi-partizan & Sellier & Bellot ammo. Nicely reloadable w/ no corrosive primers. The 22 sabots don't have enough momentum to cycle, but shoot & feed great. Big hole in the back of a 2x4 after dusting a claybird. I'll not be trading it, just reloading. I agreed the Mgun surplus is unneeded for these. It was just made to over pressure the broomhandles by the Soviets. I also don't recommend 30 Mauser cases on the Tokarov, there is enough difference to make it ????

[DonMountain]

Has anybody attempted to shoot the Lyman 311359 pointed gas checked bullet out of one of these? I have a bunch of them cast up for the M1 Carbine and wondered if they would work through the CZ-52?

[Conditor22]

I have a Tokarev that loves Lee 311-93-1R over BE, several friends that I reload for have only good things to say about the load

[Three44s]

A fellow doing gunsmithing for a senior gunsmith/owner of my favorite local gun shop at the time these pistols were going off the shelves took his at my suggestion and fitted a weaver scope base (the rear base of a two piece set for the 99 Savage) to the underside of the frame just ahead of the trigger guard.

He liked it very much. Just one issue though. He could only fit a light or a laser but not both at the same time. Nowadays you could pair up those stackable light and laser set ups or the combo units would work.

I have not done mine yet.I should though.

Three44s