VZ52 rifle question

[Anzac15]

Bought this incomplete VZ52 today (no upper hand guard, no mag) as a project. Didn't dawn on me til I got home that the rifle had vent holes over the gas system. Somewhere I heard there was something about this. Most '52's I've seen do not have these. Tried looking it up, the only rifle I found with these vents are the 52/57. Was this just an upgrade?

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[Aragorn243]

Been two years since I had mine apart and it's buried somewhere in the safe so I can't check it. Perhaps previous owner was trying to rebuild it and bought the wrong part.

[RCS]

I have fired both the VZ 52 in 7,62x45mm and the VZ 52/57 conversion to the Soviet 7,62x39mm, both are nice rifles to shoot, light recoil and trouble free. The original VZ 52 might be worth more as a collectors rifle and worth the time to restore it while parts are still around. Magazines might be difficult to find.

My photos show the brass cased 7,62x45mm which is not common to find as most was steel cased. Early during the import years, some steel cased 7,62x45mm was converted
to 7,62x39mm as I have some examples as few survivedAttachment 94659Attachment 94660

[Aragorn243]

Ammo is pretty much gone now. I got in at the very tail end of it and managed a couple hundred rounds, pretty sure it is all brass. Hoping Privi starts making it.

[Anzac15]

I've owned one 52/57. It was a hoot to shoot..its one I really regretted selling.
A few years ago, a seller at one of the gun shows here had a number of these Century imports (as this one is) all were in the same condition as this one, no upper handguards, cracked stocks, some with mags, etc. I bought one, never did anything with it. Then a friend of mine contacted me saying he had a huge box of loose 7.62x45. The stuff looked as though it had been dug up somewhere in Africa..probably around 500 rounds. Of all that, I think I managed to pull out 175 rounds that actually were serviceable and fired them. It was a great shooter, shame Prvi or SB does not produce this round. I've often wondered where these Century imported rifles came from, I have heard it mentioned El Salvador.

[bob4wd]

Bought this incomplete VZ52 today (no upper hand guard, no mag) as a project. Didn't dawn on me til I got home that the rifle had vent holes over the gas system. Somewhere I heard there was something about this. Most '52's I've seen do not have these. Tried looking it up, the only rifle I found with these vents are the 52/57. Was this just an upgrade?

That tube with the holes in it is actually the operating rod. My original VZ52 and my VZ52 conversion to 7.62X39 have the operating rod/tube without the holes, which leads me to think that the VZ52/57, which was manufactured from the beginning in 7.62X39 caliber, had the holes added to possibly lighten the reciprocating mass, due to the lower energy of the smaller cartridge. Just a guess, though. Good luck on finding a hand guard, I’ve got a couple of rifles that need them, too. Dunno where they all went. They do really help to keep your hand off of the tube when it actuates!