[n10sivern]

i just sold a cz52 and the buyer is now stating that it is painted. i knew that an importer painted cz82's but have never heard that of the cz52's. it is a dark grey park like finish on the pistol. has anybody else had any experience with a painted cz52. i've cleaned the pistol multiple times with materials that would normally take paint off, i just either need back up that the finish is not painted or that there is reports of cz52's being painted. this pistol was purchased 1-2 years ago from classic arms.

 

[videodon]

The grey park'd finish is original military issue.
(it's not paint)
Tell him to Google it.
The refurbs were black/blued.

 

[curly1]

Rearsenaled 52's are black

 

[tsellati]

Gentlemen,

The second set of pistol pictures are from the vz.52 in question. I recently received the pistol from n10sivern and I am wondering what was the original finish applied to the vz.52 pistol by the manufacturer? I once owned a 1953-dated non-rearsenaled pistol with an olive drab/grey finish that I understood to be original.

More recently I acquired another 1953-dated vz.52 pistol which lacks any markings suggesting the pistol was rearsenaled. However, as the pictures indicate the finish on the new pistol (charcoal grey?) looks different from that of my old pistol (olive drab/grey?) and I am wondering are these simply two variations in the color of the original military finish applied during their manufacture? Or, has this new pistol been rearsenaled and simply not stamped with a rearsenal date, VOP, etc.?

This new pistol also came with two magazines which also appear to have two slightly different finishes (one more charcoal grey and the other, more olive drab). Now I cannot imagine that the magazines would have been refinished as part of a rearsenaling program, so would the differences in finish on these magazines support my thinking that the original finish on the pistols may also have varied quite a bit?

If this is a rearsenaled pistol that no longer has its original military finish then I will return it to n10sivern for a refund, but if it is simply a variation on the original finish then I will gladly keep the pistol.

Thanks for the education.

Tim

 

[n10sivern]

tsellati,
maybe i'm in the minority but even if it is rearsenaled, that is still a military finish and not black spray painted by the importer like you had previously suggested. i didn't create the topic here to get out of you returning the pistol but you told me "I am 99.999% certain this black finish was applied by the importer. I will check to be certain by researching this on the internet, but if it turns out that this is not an original finish I will return the pistol for a full refund." i did however create the topic because i had never heard that anybody painted the cz52.

 

[tsellati]

Kevin,

Please do not worry, I did not think that you posted this thread to get out of taking the pistol back. I actually appreciate your having started the thread because this is precisely what I was going to do, start a thread and post some pictures.

As I wrote in my post, I am leaning towards thinking that perhaps this is an original finish applied by the manufacturer and that it is just different from the original finish on the other pistol I once owned. I never meant to imply I thought the finish was "spray painted" on, it clearly is a very professional application and certainly not one I would expect to flake off.

As I said I am inclined to think the finish may be original I am just now curious to learn more about what other collectors of the vz.52 pistol think about these two variants.

Tim

 

[tsellati]

You know, I was just thinking that another distinguishing feature of the two pistols in question is that my old pistol's serial number was in the "S" block and the one I just bought from you is in the "C" block. If as the alphabet would suggest, the "C" block pistols were manufactured before the "S" block pistols then perhaps the charcoal grey finish (perhaps applied in early 1953) predates the olive drab finish (perhaps applied later in 1953 and continued in 1954?).

Just another thought.

Tim

 

[tsellati]

Actually, another point of difference between the two pistols is that my old pistol had a barrel "in the white" while the new pistol's barrel is blued. Other than the different finish both are serial number stamped matching to their respective frames and both have a "T inside a circle" military proof mark.

Were early manufactured barrels blued (such as those in the "C" block) and and later barrels (in the "S" block) left "in the white"?

TIm

 

[n10sivern]

i am curious to the answers to your questions for just knowledge reasons. BTW, the pistol was heavily oiled for the pictures. take some mineral spirits or something similar on a rag and clean the oil from a small section. if i remember correctly, it appeared darker after the oil was applied.

 

[NORMSUTTON]

Some of the early ones that came into this country were blued and some were olive drab park'd
then the gray came out then the black, I don't think any of them that come in to this country has an original finish on them. When I bought mine I could choose gray or black , I chose black
if you more info on the CZ-52 go here http://p201.ezboard.com/fczechpistols82792frm59?page=1
and read every page

NORM

 

[n10sivern]

if there is only one date on the right side of the frame then that is the original manufacture date. if there were 2 dates there then it was rearsenaled right? if the above is true then there is only one date on the pistol in question therefore it is not rearsenaled.

 

[edhoffer]

Confusing issue. While in service with the Czech military, every rearsenal job was stamped like you noted.

It seems as is Czech Tradition that once a firearm is no longer active with Czech forces they would refurbish these for export, that final refurb will not necessarily have a rearsenal stamping unique to the export refurb.

I haven't seen any published material to reflect what refinish was applied during certain time periods, but it's obvious that a number were used.

The orignal finish was a light gray phosphate, not that many were imported with the original finish, most had received 1-3 refurbishings during their service life.

The way I see it, if the pistol is 99% or better in finish, it was either in storage after rearsenalling, or was refurbed for export, there is no way of telling.

Ed

 

[creepiE]

FWIW, I have the same two finishes on my Cz pistols as well. The gray was from a couple years ago from SOG. The darker is a more recent import from Century, bought from J&G.

 

[tonka45]

either way its a nice looking pistol..is it for sale????

 

[tsellati]

either way its a nice looking pistol..is it for sale????

Ha, ha, nope, I just bought it myself and I intend to hold onto her!

Tim