[ 9x19mm vz. 52 Prototype ]
Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and I am here today at CZ
in Uherský Brod in the Czech Republic, taking a look
at what appears to be a totally standard CZ 52 pistol.
It is actually not, ... well, it's marked "vz. 70",
and it is actually an attempt at commercial production
and export of a 9mm Parabellum version of the vz. 52.
Now the backstory on this is of course the Czechs adopted the vz. 52 in 1952.
And there's a bit of an interesting story to it, they wanted to avoid
putting the Tokarev into production as basically a Soviet-directed pistol.
In order to do that they had to have their own gun already in the works,
and so the CZ 52 was sort of adopted as a short notice, almost a rush project.
And they intended only to keep it for a short while before replacing it with something better.
Well, it would take almost 25 years to get something better.
At any rate, this was originally proposed to the Czech military
in 9mm Parabellum in the ... late 1940s.
And it was the Soviet influence that redirected it
towards the requirement of using the 7.62 Tokarev cartridge.
So CZ takes their initial 9mm design,
they ... modify it to use Tokarev ammunition, which requires a couple of changes.
The original 9mm version of this pistol had a magazine release button up on the trigger guard
where we would typically expect it on a western pistol.
It had a double-action/single-action trigger mechanism.
And both of those features had to be scrapped when the cartridge changed
because the Tokarev cartridge is substantially longer, it took up more space in the frame.
And we end up with a single-action trigger
(still with a de-cocker, but only a single-action trigger),
and a heel magazine release because that's what there was space for.
Anyway, there is continuing interest in 9mm Parabellum, in particular for the export markets.
So by the 1960s and '70s Czechoslovakia is looking for pistols to export for hard currency.
And nobody on the export market is looking for a gun in 7.62 Tokarev,
9mm Parabellum is really much more the commercial western European standard cartridge.
And so they are actually approached by a Belgian businessman
who has this proposal to sell 9mm pistols.
Well, what does CZ have that they can offer in 9mm?
They have what was originally designated by CZ as the CZ 67.
They've been experimenting with taking this pistol back to 9mm, which is actually pretty easy.
They re-designate it the vz. 70 and offer it,
like there's an intent to put this into production for commercial sale.
Obviously it didn't happen, but before we talk about why
let's take a quick look at what's required to ... make this in 9mm Parabellum.
So pretty much it just looks like a stock CZ 52 on this side.
And by the way I should point out, "CZ" is the CZ Company commercial designation for pistols.
"vz." is an abbreviation of "vzor" (v-z-o-r), which is the Czech military "model" designation.
So in many cases like this one, the CZ 52 pistol
is adopted by the Czech military as the vz. 52 pistol, and the two refer to the same gun.
We have our slide markings here, the CZ factory symbol.
And you'll see that this has been designated vz. (Model) 70.
The project was originally 67.
It suggests they probably had been working on it on and off,
and when they had this opportunity to sell it they re-mark it "vz. 70".
When they modernise the vz. 50 pistols, those also get designated vz. 70.
And the calibre is 9mm Parabellum.
Just a little subtle thing: they misspelled "Parabellum" with only one "L"
because the Czech language actually does not ever use double consonants.
And so they kind of retrofitted the spelling of "Parabellum" there.
This is actually a late production military vz. 52 pistol
serial number E 19400, made in the Strakonice factory.
And in fact if we flip it over, we have a 1953 army approval date.
So this is a gun that was taken into military service,
and then taken back out to turn into an experimental 9mm conversion.
It is marked "Made in Czechoslovakia" as part of the intent of this being a commercial project.
And it is an all-matching gun, so the slide and the frame are both matching.
As is the barrel, despite the barrel being a 9mm Parabellum barrel.
So we know this isn't just a conversion barrel dropped into an existing pistol.
Now there are only a couple of differences between this and the 7.62 Tokarev guns.
One of them that's visible from the outside is the profile of the extractor.
On the standard 7.62 calibre pistols it's flat all the way across the top of the slide.
The 9mm conversion has it cut inward a bit like that.
So the magazine is identical.
9mm actually works fine in one of the Tokarev magazines.
And then if we pull this apart ...
the other difference, aside of course from the barrel being 9mm in diameter
(there's no need to change the breech face,
9mm and 7.62 Tokarev have essentially the same breech face
so that can stay the same, just the diameter of the bore of course has to change),
and the ejector right here changed.
Not by a lot, but the 7.62 ejector is shorter because of the longer case length.
The 9mm ejector has this curve to it, and is lengthened.
And then of course the major conversion part is the barrel,
which is externally the same, just bored out to 9mm instead of 7.62mm.
So what appears to have actually happened
when ... CZ's Belgian business partner gets a good look at this pistol
he's not really impressed, the CZ 52 is not a particularly fantastic pistol.
The conversion to 9mm doesn't really make it worse in any way.
But it's still not really a great pistol, it has durability problems, it has ergonomics problems.
It won't really stand up to a long-term endurance test, which is a problem.
And this Belgian commercial relation realises that,
"Hey, CZ's working on this new project for a different, more modern, 9mm pistol that looks a lot better."
That would in fact be the CZ 75.
And so interest goes away in this in favour of what would be the CZ 75.
As a result, only a small handful of these guns are actually manufactured.
Obviously it's kind of funny, the idea remains valid.
You see after these guns get imported into the United States,
high demand for 9mm conversion barrels.
For the exact same reasons: because 9mm is a more available cartridge than 7.62 Tokarev.
So, what's cool about this one of course is that it is an original CZ factory conversion.
A big thanks to CZ for giving me access to take a look at this out of their vault.
Definitely check out all of their social media stuff,
they've got some cool stuff that they post on a regular basis.
I've got links to all of it down in the description text.
Thanks for watching.