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I know the ammo in the colonies are hard to find.
NO. the ammo is. I bought reserves with mine.
Sometime ago the Soviet 7,62x39mm cartridge was difficult to find and shooters had to form it from other cartridges such as 6.5 M/S. Someone got the idea to reform the 7,62x45mm into the 7,62x39mm Soviet cartridge and it was steel cased too. Most of the steel case 7,62x39mm that I have shot in a VZ52/57 was headstamped bxn 53 and bxn 54. Attachment 42362
so the ammo is rare and the rifle itself is common right?
That says it all. The rare one is chambered for the AK round.Quote:
Originally Posted by victor00785040
The ammo isn't rare, just hard to find in shootable condition or quantity. Singles and the occasional box are dirt common.
The 7,62x45mm with a brass case has always been a little more difficult to find than the steel cased cartridge. Some years ago, there was a 22 cal wildcat that used the brass 7,62x45mm caseAttachment 42396Attachment 42395
It's rare gun. Majority rifles was converted to 7.62x39 since 1957 when Czechoslovakia accepted Soviet caliber ( vz.52/57 ).
Same ammo was used in dual feed light machine gun vz.52. ( converted to vz.52/57 model as well )
Actual ammo got better external ballistic than soviet 7.62x39.
The original rifles in the Czech 7.62 x 45 are not exactly common. Ammo for those beasties was never common outside the old Czechoslovakia or some of their middle eastern clients; Syria springs to mind.
The later Vz 52 / 57 in 7.62 x 39 is even scarcer. being chambered for "global" ammo meant that from the start, they were on the "run til fail" track, especially in the hands of some of the "interesting people who received them. It was only about a year later that the Czechs fielded the similarly eccentric, but very nice Vz 58, thus easily keeping up with their eastern Bloc "cousins" whilst maintaining a vestige of "national identity".
If you get the dies, cases are fairly easy to form, (as long as you like bulk trimming and neck reaming), from 6.5 Carcano or 6.5 x 54 MS brass. Any .308” - .311”, 125-130 gn spire-point should work OK. If you can find bulk "pulled" 7.62 x 39 "military" (ball) bullets, they work fine as well. Start with recommended propellant loads for 7.62 x 39 and experiment.
If you like a challenge and have original ammo in bulk (good luck), as I recall it takes the standard "European" Berdan rifle primer; as per RWS 5608 ("Mil-Spec" and VERY hard to find) or RWS 5627 ( thinner cup and not quite as hard to find). Some of the "majors" have apparently made limited runs of the dies in the past. They may be expensive, but them's the breaks.
If you find a collector who is willing to swap a Vz 52/57 (7.62 x 39) for your original 52, you can save a lot of effort if you want a "shooter" that is a bit "different".
Have fun!
Know this is a old thread but I came up with a nice VZ 52 that shoots great, I ordered the dies and made brass for it and it shoots better than any SKS I have ever owned. JMHO
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Regards,
Doug
You could have started a whole new thread, more to the point...we'd like to see the pics of this one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Freightman
Should be in the WTS forum...Quote:
Originally Posted by tlandon
Ammo is real tough but occasionally can still be found, you just have to ask everyone at the gun show if they have it. I got lucky last year, first table in the show had 10 boxes of it cheap.
Recognizing that it used an odd ball cartridge when I bought my VZ-52 from the importer, I bought a few cases of the then plentiful ammo. The ammo that originally came in with the rifles has been pretty much it, with most of that going down range decades ago. However before bemoaning the "good old days", I hasten to add that the issue ammo is arguably the most corrosive ammo made in the 20th Century. I know there is fierce competition for that title, but 7.62x45 is certainly a strong contender. As such I started to make my own well before I even came close to exhausting my surplus ammo.
Now it isn't a regular shooter since I'm more into BP cartridge rifles these days, however it is a very sound design and more accurate than the counterpart carbine length mid size cartridge arms of the era. Now that the ammo is essentially gone, many shooter collectors are shedding this rifle in favor of something you can readily get ammo for. As such, while there weren't that many imported (compared to arms that came in by the ship load), they are not uncommon in the resale market as they move from owners who shoot or sell, to owners that collect without concern for ammo availability. Personally I think it is worth the effort to make the cases and if loaded at 7.62x39 levels, those cases will last a very long time. Since my primary round used these days is 577/450, I obviously know nothing concerning the concept of affordable ammo.