Blow back action auto's???

HAWKEYE10

HAWKEYE10

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:) It has been 40 or 50 years since I fired a blow back action hand gun. How are they to shoot? I have heard they have quite a kick compared to others. I have been looking at the Sig 232 and the CZ 83. I was just wondering if I should buy one of these. Don
 
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My wife carries a CZ82, which is almost identical to a CZ83. While a little bulky for caliber in my opinion it is very comfortable to shoot.
 
I find my P232 very nice and comfortable to shoot - smooth and hardly anything worth mentioning for kick. My daughter in law shot it this last weekend and found it very pleasant to that end and has decided to acquire one for herself.
 
I have a Bersa Thunder .380 that is pretty close to those. They all rip off the Walther PPK to some degree. I love mine. Simple, reliable, low tech / low cost. Fixed barrel guns can offer some impressive accuracy if you do your part. I have been curious about finding a threaded barrel one to maybe support buying a suppressor some day. Just for giggles it would be all sorts of fun at the range.
 
I have two quality 9mm Parabellum blowback semiautos.

The first is this VP70 Z, made by H&K in 1981. Extremely reliable and comfortable to shoot.

VP70Z-target-small-captioned.jpg


The second is this WWII-era Astra Model 600/43, made in Spain for the Germans. Very accurate; the recoil is a bit brisk.

ASTRA-RIGHT-SMALL-captioned.jpg


It IS possible to make a nice blowback full-power semiauto pistol, but I would not prefer one for general use - locked breech systems are much more efficient.

John
 
A few more things about the VP-70Z...
  • These things will reliably feed anything, from subsonic rounds to high velocity sub-gun ammo. Someone once wryly commented that if you could get a brick into the magazine, the gun would feed it. :D
  • The "horrible" trigger that these guns have are not nearly as bad as one is led to believe. Wolff sells a striker spring that will reduce the trigger pull to about 10 pounds (at least it has on mine). I think you could go lower without affecting reliability by clipping coils on the striker spring. I'm currently experimenting with this.
  • The trigger has a lot of takeup with heavier pull at the end. Again, this can be mastered with practice.
  • And of course, this was the first polymer frame pistol, predating the Glock by a decade.

The original VP-70M was a machine pistol designed for the general population (VP = Volkspistole, people's pistol) for the West Germans to resist the expected hoard of Eastern Block troops pouring over the border. It is simple, easy to maintain, and will shoot any 9x19 including the hardest military primers.

Buck
 
About the only pistols made in calibers below 9MM Parabelleum that did NOT use a blowback action were the Frommer pistols from Hungary. .22s are always blowback, no need for any sort of locked breech action with thoe lower powered cartridges.
 
All your Hi-point pistols are blowback. Ugly and heavy but utterly reliable for not much coin.
 
Been using a Walther PPK/S for over 30 years, .380 cal. Recoil is about the same as a .38 special, easily under control. I use Pachmayr grips on mine for comfort. The fixed barrel gives very good accuracy for it's intended use - 25yrds or less. Had a TPH model several years ago - deadly accurate with HP ammo. Fine little gun.
 
PALADIN85020 said:
I have two quality 9mm Parabellum blowback semiautos.

The first is this VP70 Z, made by H&K in 1981. Extremely reliable and comfortable to shoot.

VP70Z-target-small-captioned.jpg


The second is this WWII-era Astra Model 600/43, made in Spain for the Germans. Very accurate; the recoil is a bit brisk.

ASTRA-RIGHT-SMALL-captioned.jpg


It IS possible to make a nice blowback full-power semiauto pistol, but I would not prefer one for general use - locked breech systems are much more efficient.

John
Click to expand...

Everything said here is true. Let me add one thing about the Astra. Disasembling one for cleaning is easy. Putting it back together is not complicated. Buuut, you will need strong hands. (all three of them)
 
I bought a CZ-83 primarily because I liked the looks and feel. It has that PI/James Bond appeal. It's very accurate under controlled slow fire conditions. Double taps and rapid fire are almost uncontrollable. My wife and I both prefer the model 60 with 38 spl plus P's.
 
I think the "nasty blowback" pistol reputation comes from the 380 caliber Walther PPK. The Beretta Cheetah and its Browning cousin are OK to shoot.

I can think of a few .380 pistols that use a locked breech IIRC.

Colt Pony (or was it the Mustang?)
Feg B9R
KelTec 3AT
Walther PK380
Star S series
Star D series
 
Locked breech pistols have less felt recoil for some obscure reason of physics that I can't understand. A Colt Mustang 380, even with the alloy frame, has less recoil that an equivalent weight blowback 380. I had an Astra 400, like the 600, but chambered for the 9mm Largo. I shot it with 9mm P and it kicked a lot more than several 9mm locked breech pistols of equal weight. Of course the grip had something to do with it: holding the Astra tightly is like trying to hold a watermelon seed.
 
The great think about the quality blowback 380's is the fixed barrel and how accurate they are.

I have several but one of the most accurate is the CZ 82 9x18 bought as a surplus for next to nothing. It has polygonal rifling and is a tack driver.

Either of the guns you mention the Sig or CZ are scary accurate and the recoil is nill.
 
Rule3 said:
The great think about the quality blowback 380's is the fixed barrel and how accurate they are.
Click to expand...

Absolutely right. Blowback .380's by nature of their fixed barrels are usually very accurate.

As for recoil, the PPK/S in .380 can be uncomfortable to shoot for the size and weight of the gun. In comparison, the similarly sized Colt 1908 in .380 has very mild recoil with the same ammo and is downright pleasent to shot.

373619123.jpg
 
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