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I'm tempted to buy a $200 surplus CZ-82s(9x18 Makarov) just to feed the "something different" collector bug -- NOT a a serious defense/carry gun. Has anyone here had experience with one of these? Comments/suggestions/emotional outbursts welcome.
One source: http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.as...Makarov+Pistol
Great little guns, can be decently accurate, ammo prices are not absurd. I do not have one but will grab one whenever I see one locally for around $200. For a plinker that is not rimfire they are great.
I had one of the first of the "commercial" 9 X 18 CZ83s imported by CZ USA in the mid 1990s as I recall-same as the CZ82, albeit with a nicer finish and no lanyard loop. The gun was excellent; exceptionally accurate and had a beautifully smooth trigger. I had Kramer make one f their IWB #3 holsters for it (their first for a CZ83 also), and it was exceptionally comforably. The 9 X 18 CZ 82/83 guns have a polygonally grooved barrel (unlike the conventionally land-and-grooved barrels of the .32 and .380 CZ83 versions) which may have a bearing on the gun's accuracy, as well as making it very easy to clean the bore. The gun was also very reliable, and has "real" sights-pretty much the same sights as on the CZ75, a decent post-and-notch set-up.
Cons: It's a blowback action, so the recoil will be a bit stiffer than most 9mm guns with a Browning or drop-lock action. The grips are ok, but a bit cheesy looking, and for some reason CZ decided to use Phillips head screws to secure them (at least on the newer guns, and perhaps only on the guns designated for commercial sale), which makes it look like the gun was made in someone's garage (ok, I'm probably exaggerating a bit, but they are asthetically challenged). Definitely don't bother with CZ's wood grips-they're incredibly fragile. I ordered the gun with Meprolite nightsights; the rear sight was somewhat loose in the dovetail, solved by my gunsmith prick-punching it in. For what it is, the gun is somewhat large-think Glock 19 large, which somewhat obseletes it in an objective comparison. Nevertheless, I found it to be a very viable gun, and rewarding to shoot. The gun's largish size (the Czechs designed it to be a service gun caarried in an external flap holster, much like the old FN 1922) effectively absorbs and spreads the blowback action's recoil forces. As a DA/SA gun, there are a fair number of small parts, which would make a detailed disassembly fairly interesting, but I never had to take mine down beyond field-stripping.
They essentially compete against the Bersa Thunder/Beretta 84, among others. I consider them to be an excellent value; they're inexpensive and designed from the onset to be a issue/service handgun, so they're quite durable (and reliable). CZ82s and earlier CZ83s come with a rounded triggerguard, making re-holstering easier than with the clunky-looking recurved triggerguard offered on contemporary production CZ83s
The late Stephen Camp also has an excellent review of them on his www.highpowersandhandguns.com site.
Best, Jon
Your gunsmith sounds like a hell of a man.Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInWA
I had a police trade-in (Euro) .380 82. It was a very nice little gun with a challenging trigger; I sold it to someone who wanted it more than I did, but it worked fine.
Triggers in DA mode aren't great. The grips on the milsurp guns suck. They don't like Wolf 9x18 Mak ammo. Decent little pistols, probably one of the better ones to come from the communist block.
I carried one as my primary for a little over a year until I got my g17.
They are ridiculously accurate, especially if you used good ammo instead of monarch steel case from academy. My reloads were extremely accurate in that gun, even though I took no particular pains to make them that way.
Excellent manual safety. I carried C&L, so this was nice.
DA trigger on mine was very nice. Well broken in. SA was okay, but mushy. This no longer bothers me, but at the time I thought 1911 triggers were the best ever, so...
Blowback action. Slide is stiff and stout recoil for size, caliber, and weight. My fiancee does not like it. Gets dirty fast, but never jammed on me. Got to 1200 rds on the 2k challenge before I got the glock and stopped shooting it.
Takes cz-75 sights, very convenient.
eta: Factory grips suck. they have this gigantic shelf that blocks your thumb from hitting the mag release. I removed this on both sides on mine, and it was much improved. If you re-polish the grips, it looks like it came from the factory that way.
I got one a few weeks ago as a birthday present for myself. I can't give any real opinion of it because I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I did detail strip it. Some parts are fairly straight forward and most of the pins are easily driven out, but it's pretty complicated.
Reassembly can get pretty frustrating when you try to install the ejector block/sear/sear spring/auto safety. No real easy way to do it and I think I got lucky after half an hour of fiddling with it.
It is pretty big as in duty weapon sized and probably not originally intended for concealed carry.
If mine works which I think it probably will, I think it was a great buy at around the $250 out the door they seem to be going for.