Strange Incident involving the CZ-52
Here's a funny anecdote about one strange guy and his CZ-52.
When I was heavily active in the Bullseye competition scene, a guy nobody had seen before showed up at a match. We were always welcoming to new shooters, so we were happy to see him and talk to him. He told us about his CZ-52 pistol, and how it shot a super-accurate bottleneck cartridge that was great for longe range shooting. ("OK, sounds interesting", I thought to myself.)
So, when it comes time to shoot the slow fire stage of the centerfire match, he lets loose with this pistol. If you don't know the match format, the targets were set up in large metal target frames at 50 yds. The frames were about 3 feet by 3 feet, and spaced a couple feet appart.
He was standing to my immediate left. (How lucky for me!). As noted, the muzzle blast was just awful! The empties seemed to fly pretty far, and luckily none hit me.
The worst part, though, was that his bullet impacts were all over the place! A couple occasional actually struck somewhere on his target paper (though not necessarily within one of the scoring rings.). The majority hit the berm behind the targets, the ground in front of the targets, or occasionally made errant hits on the targets to either side. The latter would've been annoying, as excess hits on your target count to the detriment of your score. However, the the odd shaped holes, not to mention the bizarre spectacle of the scene, made them easy to distinguish and disregard. A couple shots struck the metal target frames, which ticked off the match director.
This scene repeated itself through the slow fire stage and into the National match stage. As we moved our cardboard target holders from the 50 yd line to the 25 yd line for the timed and rapid stages, this guy quietly packed his stuff and slipped away, never to be seen at another match.
I remember spotting some of his empties. They were Berdan primed, looked to be made of some crude copper-like metal (plated steel?), and quite a few were split at the shoulder.
This is not necessarily a condemnation of the pistol, as it was obviously not designed for target shooting, nor is it a criticism of the guy.
It was just an odd encounter that was well outside of the typical match day.
I can't help but recall the incident with a bit of a smile, though, whenever I see a CZ-52.
Here's a funny anecdote about one strange guy and his CZ-52.
When I was heavily active in the Bullseye competition scene, a guy nobody had seen before showed up at a match. We were always welcoming to new shooters, so we were happy to see him and talk to him. He told us about his CZ-52 pistol, and how it shot a super-accurate bottleneck cartridge that was great for longe range shooting. ("OK, sounds interesting", I thought to myself.)
So, when it comes time to shoot the slow fire stage of the centerfire match, he lets loose with this pistol. If you don't know the match format, the targets were set up in large metal target frames at 50 yds. The frames were about 3 feet by 3 feet, and spaced a couple feet appart.
He was standing to my immediate left. (How lucky for me!). As noted, the muzzle blast was just awful! The empties seemed to fly pretty far, and luckily none hit me.
The worst part, though, was that his bullet impacts were all over the place! A couple occasional actually struck somewhere on his target paper (though not necessarily within one of the scoring rings.). The majority hit the berm behind the targets, the ground in front of the targets, or occasionally made errant hits on the targets to either side. The latter would've been annoying, as excess hits on your target count to the detriment of your score. However, the the odd shaped holes, not to mention the bizarre spectacle of the scene, made them easy to distinguish and disregard. A couple shots struck the metal target frames, which ticked off the match director.
This scene repeated itself through the slow fire stage and into the National match stage. As we moved our cardboard target holders from the 50 yd line to the 25 yd line for the timed and rapid stages, this guy quietly packed his stuff and slipped away, never to be seen at another match.
I remember spotting some of his empties. They were Berdan primed, looked to be made of some crude copper-like metal (plated steel?), and quite a few were split at the shoulder.
This is not necessarily a condemnation of the pistol, as it was obviously not designed for target shooting, nor is it a criticism of the guy.
It was just an odd encounter that was well outside of the typical match day.
I can't help but recall the incident with a bit of a smile, though, whenever I see a CZ-52.
