I have had my interest sparked by this firearm, the Cz-52, chambered in 7.62x25, but my research has only brought up some safety issues which I haven't found to be explained to my liking.

Questions:
1. Of the different versions or variants, are some versions of the Cz-52 stronger or weaker than others, or does any version have anything particular to watch out for in a purchase?

2. What ammo is safe to fire, and what is dangerous? The only info I can find indicates that some Bulgarian made ammo had poor quality control and can have very high pressures in the 55,000 range, causing the gun to fail/explode whatever term you prefer.

3. What are some reputable sources to obtain this firearm and its ammunition? Gun shows I assume will have several available. Has anyone seen these in local gun shops?

I understand the decocker and firing pins to be problematic, but these are things which are manageable in my mind. I see a few on gunbroker so I have an idea of the current price range. Can anyone provide some more insight on these things for me? I see it is in the C & R category also, for the price and novelty, as well as an addition to my (small) arsenal I want to be prepared when I buy, and ultimately as safe as possible while using it.

Long post but just tried to cover all the areas.

Thanks to anyone that knows more than me on this (that isn't saying much!)

Nobody but the Czechs made the Vzor 52 pistol, so I am not entirely sure what you mean by variants.

Bulgarian ammo is definitely something to stay away from. Some Czech and Yugoslavian ammo has been loaded to higher pressures for use in SMG's, but I am not aware of any sudden catastrophic failures of Vz52 with it. Using it exclusively supposedly shortens the pistol's service life, but I have not seen any conclusive evidence to this effect. Any new production ammo should be safe.

Decocker is best not used. Firing pins are OK unless you dry-fire with the pin in the gun. Given how easy it is to pull it out, that's a silly thing to do. Replacement pins are available.

I bought mine from a local dealer a few years ago. He doesn't have any more, but they do come up from time to time.

MY CZ52 ejects shells about 30 to the right and behind me. I'm told it's because it's machine gun ammo. Real loud but real cheap. I doubt the gun will blow up however.

I plan to pull the ammo apart and replace the powder to quiet things down a bit.

Gun is real accurate, my buddy can hit a 10" gong at 100 yards about 90% of the time.

The magazine release is hard on mine, it doesn't want to slide out.

You can buy the gun and a thousand rounds for less than a thousand rounds of anything else, I think. In 10 years youy'll be glad you own it.

Buy from Classic Arms (Google), talk to Ben if possible.

Thanks guys, was beginning to wonder if anyone here had a CZ-52 although I couldn't imagine that being possible.

I think my ultimate concern was answered, just wanted a little assurance as to how volatile these things are. There is a lot of information available on the internet, but sifting through what is reliable and what is a waste of time gets old fast. Horror stories of grenading pistols to guys saying the things will handle any ammo you give it; is about the spectrum I've seen so far.

Nice to hear some word of mouth thoughts. Also thanks for the recommendation on where to buy Dick!

Try the S&B ammo for the CZ, it is hot and non-corrosive. Some of the surplus ammo floating around must have for an open-bolt SMG or something because it is hot and the primers are REALLY hard I really don't like the idea of recocking a hammer on a hangfire or light strike, I'm pretty sure that slide would mangle my thumb something fierce

My buddy has one, cant remember a whole lot besides the fact that it kicks like a son of a bitch.

Yeah, the recoil is a little sharp. It reminds me of shooting a 40 S&W, it has a fast, hard slap to it

Well for a pistol that will defeat Kevlar, I guess a sharp recoil is to be expected

I've seen videos on Box of Truth, as well as phorvick's word of mouth information, but if its comparable to a .40 that isn't too bad.

Sold me anyway.

Years ago we did some tests with the CZ52 and some old AP ammo for it and it was blowing through plate that was defeating 7.62x39 FMJ ammo out of an AK. Car doors won't slow it down much either. We tested it against the 9mm in that capacity as well. We shot thru the doors and pillars of a car with the CZ using new production 7.62x25 ammo and with a MAC-11 SMG and the CZ would have been my choice if I was shooting at someone behind hard cover like that. We were finding 9mm rounds stuck in the pillars and stuck behind the panels on the doors, whereas the CZ blew holes through the door and out the door on the other side

I just wish someone made a larger thumb safety for it.

I've got some of the "too hot", but cheap, Berdan primed ammo. It's loaded with 9 grains of some kind of fine powder, and an 85 grain bullet, with a copper jacket.

I recently pulled a bunch of bullets, dumped the powder and reloaded the cartridges with 7 grains of Unique powder and the pistol works flawlessly with that. 6 grains would probably be enough.

I think I got the SMG ammo for less than 10 cents/@, but don't have a cheap source of the jacketed bulllets, which shoot real nice. I do have some reloadable brass from Gunstop.

The thumb safety would be wonderful, I'd have enough confidence to carry with that. It's a fun gun. It can hit a steel plate at 100 yards every time, if you've got good eyes .

I see these are listed at Classic Arms for about $220 and ammo at 12.5 cents a round as of today.

Likely a hard deal to beat.

I bought from Classic. I did have an issue and they replaced it no hassle, good service, even paid the shipping. Ben is the MAN at Classic. If yoyu have questions, he's pretty good.

I paid less a couple years ago before the dollar went south.

I love my CZ-52s.

The "bad" ammo that got out there was proofing ammo, meant to test the pistols' function at the extreme. All of it was Bulgarian, and came in 16-round pink paper packages. All other surplus ammo, even other Bulgarian, should be reasonably safe. (As safe as 50 year old surplus ammo from Iron Curtain countries can be, I guess) That said, I'd avoid the Czech ammo that came on 8-round strippers in white 40-round boxes, it's pretty well-known to have many failures to fire. Other ammo, such as the 70's era Romanian stuff, is known to cause problems with feeding, due to badly sized necks. I run this stuff through a crimping die, and then it works well.

I have reloaded a great deal of 7.62x25, and would have to say it's not a round for beginners to reloading. Nevertheless, good results are obtainable, and I have had success with Bullseye and Accurate Arms #5, among others.

A wide variety of bullets can be used in 7.62x25, I have used:
71 gr. Remingtons, meant for .32 ACP,
94 gr. lead Meisters, meant for .32-20 cowboy loads,
110 gr. Remingtons, for .30 Carbine,
some dusty Norma 77 gr. found on a gunshop's back shelf,
85 gr Sierras, meant for the purpose,
85- and 90- gr. Hornady XTPs,
100 gr. plated Rainiers, meant for .32 H&R Mag,
100 gr. Hornady semi-jacketed,
and 100 gr. Speer plinkers. (pics to follow)

As for firing, I don't think the CZ-52 is anything like as snappy as a .40 S&W. It has a much lower bullet mass, and an all-steel frame to soften the blow. It does, however, sometimes give a nice fireball of burning powder (when firing the surplus), and a very satisfying crack! for a sound, often attracting the attention of others on the range. Heckuva lot of fun.

Never rely solely on any decocker!

Don't dry-fire your CZ-52!

I've got to say, I've toiled with Chunk's Cz and the SA trigger is "sick yo". This is on my list of old guns to buy one of these days. (hopefully I won't need to make a panic buy before Jan 19th.)