What is a CZ-52?
Česká Zbrojovka vzor 52 pistol and 7.62x25mm Tokarev ammunition.
The Name
What is a CZ-52? Let's start with its name.
The pistol is commonly called the CZ-52 but that isn't really its name. Its real name is the Česká Zbrojovka vzor 52, usually shortened to ČZ vz. 52.
Česká Zbrojovka is Czech for "Czech Armory". You would pronounce it as Cheska Zbroyovka, and to be authentic, a Czech would pronounce ČZ as cha zet.
Vzor, commonly abbreviated as vz., means "model".
So, a literal translation of its full name is the Czech Armory Model 52. Compare that to a name like the Springfield Armory Model 1911.
The CZ-52 was designed by brothers Jan and Jaroslav Kratochvíl.
The entrance to the Česká Zbrojovka factory in Strakonice. Image from Wikimedia Commons
Manufacturer
Several Czech firearms makers have used the trading name Česká Zbrojovka, including one established in 1919 in the city of Strakonice as a branch of the Škoda Works Armament company.
ČZ Strakonice is most famous for building motorcycles, having been a prominent builder of them from 1932 through 1997 and still producing automotive parts. ČZ Strakonice was the second largest motorcycle manufacturer in Europe after World War II and through the 1950s and 1960s was among the world's most successful makers of competition and street motorcycles.