Interchangeability 7.62 X 25 and 7.63 Mauser, other alter..?

[His lordship.]

Now that I have my CZ-52 and would like to shoot it some more, the ammo selection seems to be limited.  I have seen various surplus ammo advertised, tried the Bulgarian dated 1955, mediocre accuracy and it is corrosive, and not cheap.  And some of the surplus stuff is made hot for the sub machine guns, I want to avoid that!  I have used the Winchester (Czech made) ammo, found it to be nice stuff, and will pickup some S & B at the next gun show to try.

What are the alternatives other than handloading?  Is the 7.62 Mauser stuff an alternative, if so, where do you find it?  And if you have an old broom handle mauser, is it a risk to use the surplus Tok. ammo in it?

Back in 1990 I bought a beat up, mismatched Mauser broomhandle pistol that came from China.  As I did not know any better I used Yugo surplus in it, and Russian WW 2 surplus.  The gun jambed repeatably due to being mechanicaly in need of repair, but I did not have any accidents with the ammo I used.

Between the Broom handle pistol, and my Chinese Tokarev in 7.62 X 25, I recall both having quite a muzzle blast, but when I shot the CZ-52, the CZ seemed smooth and tame compared to what I remember of the Chinese imports.  Does the design of the CZ tame the bite of the hot 7.62 round?

Also, the CZ-52 pistol has an incredable throw in regards to ejected cases.  I found the empty shell cases out in the parking lot behind me.  I am lucky that my car was not in the path, or anyone elses car/truck for that matter as there may have been a risk of paint damage. :shock:   I have never seen a semi-auto gun with such muscle in ejecting spent cases, wow!

[John Traveler]

Chris,

Rifles and pistols using the Stecke ("hesitation lock") characteristically give violent fired case ejection.  Examples include the CZ52 rifles and pistols, CETME rifles, and almost the entire H&K product line of military rifles and carbines.  This design characteristic is an advantage in military designs and gives reliable operation in severe climatic extremes.  Witness the G3 design used everywhere from artic Scandanavia, to tropical jungles (Central America and Indo China) to middleeastern desert (Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia).  It works superbly everywhere.

The roller-locked breech is designed to hold tightly during peak chamber pressures (the "hesitation" part of the lock) and yet still blow back to extract and eject the empty case from residual pressure.  It's also called a delayed blowback action, for the same reason.

The CZ 52 design is one of the few pistols that can handle submachinegun ammunition safely.  Subgun ammo is loaded with slower burning powders for longer barrels, and gives higher muzzle velocity, but not chamber pressure.  Typically it gives greater muzzle flash in pistol barrels, and feels "hotter" when fired, but still operates as safe pistol pressures.  Firing subgun ammo in other recoil-operated pistols is not recommended because the resulting higher slide recoil velocity can damage pistols.

The 7.62x25 Tok cartridge is loaded to higher pressures than the 7.63 Mauser.  It is not a good idea to fire modern Tok ammo in the old broomhandle mausers because a lot of them have soft recoil springs, brittle extractors/ejectors, and excessive headspace.  The old mausers pistols also have relatively soft steel receivers/barrels.  That combination can result in an unglued pistol.

HTH
John