The 52 is a well made, accurate gun that is cheap to shoot. I love mine.
I would get a cz52. They seem to be built better than the others. Also by a machined steel firing pin, you'll eventually need it. These pistols used to be everywhere at gunshows, but I haven't seen any around lately.
Hey bud! I've had about a dozen Toks and CZ-52s. I loooove CZs of all kinds, but never could warm up to the 52. I even riced one out with all the goodies that makarov.com would sell me back in the day, even the Novak sights. The grip is awful, even with some dremel work, the safety is useless and even dangerous to use, even with an aftermarket firing pin. Trigger was bad no matter what I tried, no slide release stock, heel magazine release, etc.
On the other hand, I've never met a TT-33 variant I didn't like. I personally believe they're stronger than the 52, and I just love them all the way around. Like a baby 1911, or a 1903 that fires a hot load, reliably. Chinese models are nice, but Chinese, soooo.....Romanians are tough, Polish can be the best finished if you find a clean one (and closest to the Russian models that cost a fortune nowadays), and Yugos are just different. Not necessarily better, but different, and several parts including magazines are non-interchangeable with the other models and tough to find.
Toks are Tits!
On the other hand, I've never met a TT-33 variant I didn't like. I personally believe they're stronger than the 52, and I just love them all the way around. Like a baby 1911, or a 1903 that fires a hot load, reliably. Chinese models are nice, but Chinese, soooo.....Romanians are tough, Polish can be the best finished if you find a clean one (and closest to the Russian models that cost a fortune nowadays), and Yugos are just different. Not necessarily better, but different, and several parts including magazines are non-interchangeable with the other models and tough to find.
Toks are Tits!
I know what you mean about the grip on the -52 - I don't mind it at all, but firing one would be smart before buying. It's a heavy gun, and it would be better if a more comfortable grip was possible (it's big, and contoured and wrap-around grips only make it bigger).
Bought one at a surplus store few years ago. A big old heavy gun, but a powerful cartridge. Don't trust the decocker as was mentioned. I personally like the makarov better.
The surplus stores selling them for $89.00 and C&R collectors buying them by the create loads has a lot to do with the scarsity in numbers nowadays!
Same thing happened with the Argentine colt 1927 sistema's
Actually it is the other way around. The Tokarev is much stronger than the CZ52. A few years back a materials testing engineer did some strength testing on both the CZ-52 and the Tokarev and found out that the CZ-52 would not take much of an overload at all before the chamber & slide cracked, whereas the Tok would take a much higher overload. Just measure how thin the chamber wall is in the CZ52 at its thinnest spot, and compare that with the Tok's chamber. The CZ52 chamber is much thinner.
I wouldn't've thought that, but now that you mention it, I do think I've ran across that somewhere.
I'd go with the 52, And start looking for a 9mm barrel just because. I have one for mine it's great to have the option. They are hard to find and expensive if you do. Expect to pay about 70-80 bucks now. it's a straight barrel swap if you do find one. the 9mm works fine in the 7.62 mags.
