CZ 24 questions galore...

[georgerkahn]

I walked into a local gunshop today, to have a CZ model 24 .380 semi-auto follow me home! Trying to do a bit of research at shop, the seller told me it was in a box in his back room, placed there by his dad or grandfather -- the store's original purveyors -- and had been there "for quite a while". He loaded 7 rounds, and it functioned flawlessly, so he put it out a few days ago... Again, now it's mine!
I have questions galore -- these were purportedly made from 1926 to 1938, and mine bears a serial number of 148xxx so I question it's manufacture date? Second, perhaps of greater importance to me, is I wish to cast for, load, and shoot this fine little pistol. So, if anyone would care to share their recipe, I'd be most appreciative. Including, of course, favorite mould employed.
THANKS MUCH!!!!
geo

[dubber123]

Good find, it sounds like it found a good home :) I would at least try the LEE 95 gr RF they sell. I believe it was a Ranch Dog design, and it is a cool looking little boolit. The 2 cavity I bought casts perfectly, and at .358" which would give you some latitude for sizing depending on what your bore slugs to. Have fun.

[Outpost75]

CZ24 is a locked-breech design and can handle loads a bit more robust than the blowback operated pistols
The one I had liked Accurate 35-120H with 6.3 grs. of Alliant #2400 for 900 fps. Don't try this one in your Keltec.

[jcren]

I load for 2 380's and they both do well with the Lee 95 rf bullet, powder coated over 4.2 of Autocomp for right at 900 fps. Not a hot load, the autocomp gives good velocity with a milder recoil and report. Well tested on coons, opossum and some big armodillo.

[rintinglen]

I have one,but it doesn't function well. Mine seems to want hotter than factory loads. Check yours over carefully--some have the year they were proofed stamped on them. IMO. they are not as good as the CZ-27's. Mine is stamped J (rampant lion) 26, with the 26 being the year of proof. Your serial number is much higher--mine is 378xx-- so yours was made late in the production run.

For those who are interested, the CZ 24 was a locked breech 22 oz Semi automatic used by the Czechoslovakian Army Before and during WWII. They are a fairly common bring-back from the European theater. Mine was reportedly confiscated from an Austrian Police officer by one of my Late Aunt's husbands. They look like the more common CZ-27, but the 27 is a straight blow back 7.65 ACP (32 Auto). The breech lock is procured by an unusual piece of metal that rides on the recoil spring guide rod and rotates to release the slide after the barrel goes back about a quarter of an inch. They have a Mauser style safety on the left side where the mag release is on U.S. style guns. They use a release in the heel of the butt to drop the magazine. Albeit, drop is perhaps the wrong word, you have to rip the mag out. The gun will lock open on an empty magazine, but there is not a bolt hold open device per se. Instead, the magazine follower blocks the breech, preventing the slide from returning to battery until the magazine is removed. No Chapman reloads with these babies.

Mine is reasonably accurate, but prone to failure to extract/eject. I suspect that I might get it to function better with a hotter load, but I don't like to to run +p loads that may end up in some other gun, either after I am gone or by me, if I have a brain fart.

Just an observation on my part, not a challenge or a statement of unalterable fact, but my experience has been that 32 autos have generally worked better than 380 versions of the same model. I think that in the old days, the guns were designed as 32's and the 380 was added as an after thought, without necessarily redesigning all parts to perfect function, but I don't know that for a fact. It's just that 32 autos have run better for me over the years than comparable 380's.

[georgerkahn]

Thanks to all so far -- 'specially RINTINGLEN's post (#5)! Hopefully, later this afternoon I'll slug the barrel, and then see what moulds I might have which might work... Spending a lot of time on Internet to glean remarkably little information, one writer suggested the CZ24 does not feed well with cast bullets (I trust he's wrong!); and, no source I found lists suggested mould(s). I have some full metal jacket .380 bullets as well as some tailor-made (factory) ammo -- so I hope to make a trip to range with the latter, later today, just to ascertain functioning. I trust if I aim at the field, I'll most likely hit it... THANK YOU AGAIN for all this wonderful information!!!
geo

[9.3X62AL]

I think that in the old days, the guns were designed as 32's and the 380 was added as an after thought, without necessarily redesigning all parts to perfect function, but I don't know that for a fact. It's just that 32 autos have run better for me over the years than comparable 380's.

You aren't alone in that belief, sir. To a small degree, the same can be said of the 9mm-to-40 S&W up-caliber movement. A few makes/models did not make the transition well, the Browning High Power and Beretta 92/96 come to mind here. SIG-Sauer had to re-design their pistol slides for the 40 S&W.

[Virginia John]

CZ will provide you a manufacture date based on the serial # and they are also good about answering questions related to their products. Also, check out their Forum site. CZs are great guns, enjoy.