Along with the Ruby, I picked up this CZ vz. 27 at the recent Smithsburg auction. It has some pretty gnarly finish issues from being stored in a holster too long, but the damage is superficial (bluing only) and the metal underneath is fine, though someone clearly scratched at it with a wire brush but didn't do any real damage. It's not a showpiece because of this, which is a shame because the rest of the finish is fantastic. All of the non-blued small parts are still showing a strong straw finish, and the bakelite wrap-around grips are in impeccable condition. On to the details:
- This particular example (and the reason I threw a "Mawkie Price™" bid at it) has a very low serial number. According to several sources that I've found, the German occupation serial number range for these started at 20,400. This example is one of the earliest I've seen with an S/N of just 22,708, all the more shameful that it was improperly stored. This would make it the 2,308th pistol produced under German Occupation putting it squarely in the 1939 production year, likely very close to March of 1939 when German Occupation production of the pistols for the Wehrmacht began.
- Early pistols, such as this one, were serialized on 4 parts. The frame, side plate, top of the slide, and barrel were all fully serialized. Starting somewhere around serial number 200,000 they began serializing only the top of the slide before switching to a slide and frame scheme roughly 40,000-50,000 units later. The 200,000 serial number also saw a switch from a high-polish blue to a military blue
- The Waffenampts are Eagle over WaA76 on the right side of the frame, on top of the slide, and the barrel.
- Later production saw several stamped parts appear, including the side plate and magazine catch
- The late production 1945 variants starting around serial number 400,000 ultimately had a phosphate finish much like the very late war Mauser HSc pistols. These late pistols would also bear the FNH pre-fix and would have the CZ logo scrubbed from the grips.
On to the pictures:
You can clearly see the damage to the muzzle end of the slide and frame in these pictures. Luckily, the slide only suffered very minor pitting and the frame didn't actually pit, but did lose the finish.
Here you can see the German occupation legend: Bohmische Waffenfabrik A.G. In Prag followed by the Eagle over WaA76 and then the serial number
The Eagle over WaA76 on the frame
WaffenAmpt on the barrel
The bolt hold-open is a pin that slides into a recess in the follower of the magazine. When the magazine is empty, the pin slides into the recess and holds the bolt open. Removing the magazine will cause the bolt to slide forward. It's an awkward system and I don't particularly like it. I can't imagine what a pain in the rear it would be to reload under the stress of battle. The heel magazine catch is extremely stiff and the forward pressure of the slide on the magazine itself, combined with the fact that the slide then drops on an empty chamber, forcing you to re-rack the slide to chamber a round simply doesn't make sense in a military arm.
You can see the beautiful deep straw finish of the trigger here. It's a shame that the damage to the finish is so bad just ahead of it.
The hammer also retains a deep straw finish on the non-contact surfaces.
The worst of the damage. Again, it's more visual than physical as the metal under the areas where the blueing was destroyed is not pitted and in good shape.
Much like the Ruby I posted yesterday, I'm happy overall with this one given the very reasonable price I purchased it for. I think the poor condition of the finish turned a lot of folks off, especially since some more expensive firearms came up on the list AFTER this and the Ruby, including some high-end S&W revolvers, a Colt Woodsman, 1903 Colt (39XXX serial), and several 1911s.
- This particular example (and the reason I threw a "Mawkie Price™" bid at it) has a very low serial number. According to several sources that I've found, the German occupation serial number range for these started at 20,400. This example is one of the earliest I've seen with an S/N of just 22,708, all the more shameful that it was improperly stored. This would make it the 2,308th pistol produced under German Occupation putting it squarely in the 1939 production year, likely very close to March of 1939 when German Occupation production of the pistols for the Wehrmacht began.
- Early pistols, such as this one, were serialized on 4 parts. The frame, side plate, top of the slide, and barrel were all fully serialized. Starting somewhere around serial number 200,000 they began serializing only the top of the slide before switching to a slide and frame scheme roughly 40,000-50,000 units later. The 200,000 serial number also saw a switch from a high-polish blue to a military blue
- The Waffenampts are Eagle over WaA76 on the right side of the frame, on top of the slide, and the barrel.
- Later production saw several stamped parts appear, including the side plate and magazine catch
- The late production 1945 variants starting around serial number 400,000 ultimately had a phosphate finish much like the very late war Mauser HSc pistols. These late pistols would also bear the FNH pre-fix and would have the CZ logo scrubbed from the grips.
On to the pictures:
You can clearly see the damage to the muzzle end of the slide and frame in these pictures. Luckily, the slide only suffered very minor pitting and the frame didn't actually pit, but did lose the finish.
Here you can see the German occupation legend: Bohmische Waffenfabrik A.G. In Prag followed by the Eagle over WaA76 and then the serial number
The Eagle over WaA76 on the frame
WaffenAmpt on the barrel
The bolt hold-open is a pin that slides into a recess in the follower of the magazine. When the magazine is empty, the pin slides into the recess and holds the bolt open. Removing the magazine will cause the bolt to slide forward. It's an awkward system and I don't particularly like it. I can't imagine what a pain in the rear it would be to reload under the stress of battle. The heel magazine catch is extremely stiff and the forward pressure of the slide on the magazine itself, combined with the fact that the slide then drops on an empty chamber, forcing you to re-rack the slide to chamber a round simply doesn't make sense in a military arm.
You can see the beautiful deep straw finish of the trigger here. It's a shame that the damage to the finish is so bad just ahead of it.
The hammer also retains a deep straw finish on the non-contact surfaces.
The worst of the damage. Again, it's more visual than physical as the metal under the areas where the blueing was destroyed is not pitted and in good shape.
Much like the Ruby I posted yesterday, I'm happy overall with this one given the very reasonable price I purchased it for. I think the poor condition of the finish turned a lot of folks off, especially since some more expensive firearms came up on the list AFTER this and the Ruby, including some high-end S&W revolvers, a Colt Woodsman, 1903 Colt (39XXX serial), and several 1911s.
