cz? duo

[cpt-t]

john1999:  My Uncle brought back a DUO pistol from WW11. He gave the DUO and a P-38 to my Dad. We have shot them as long as I can remember. When My DAD past away his guns were past down to me. The little DUO pistol is very well made and I shoot it several times a year. My DUO does not say anything about CZ but I have been told for years, that it was made by them. The little gun is really pretty accurate and I can`t remember any problems ever with the gun. What I have been told the pistol is not very worth a lot of money. But mine is not for sale and like I said my Son and I shoot it several times a year, or when ever we come up with a couple of boxes of 25 caliber ammo for it. When I am threw with it my guns will be past down to my Son. If your gun is in good shape I would say shoot it if you want to. GOOD LUCK TO YOU:   ken

[skucera]

My bad, sorry. Tried to edit the post on a droid phone late at night and when that wasn't working well I tried the Remove button for the first time. Didn't know it would remove the whole post . Then I tried finding the link again, but that didn't happen  . It is on my laptop, but all I have been using are the droid and the tablet. I missing a keyboard, a mouse and a large screen.

Well, that makes sense.  I was afraid that my post just intimidated you into "cover my tracks" mode.  I didn't mean it to.  It's reassuring that I didn't scare you out of the forums altogether.  We welcome your posts, especially with links like that.

Scott

[miguel]

cpt-t: Can you post a picture of your DUO pistol, it should be very interesting to know, if it was made before or during the WWII. Sounds like a nice long story having this gun for so long time as a family treasure. I hope your duo will last for another generations!   

[john1999]

First let me say thanks for all the input. I tried to post a picture and almost have it done. We took the pistol out for a test run and it shot perfect, no problems at all. Because of the rules at the outdoor public range we had to shoot at 25 yards (pretty wild groups) but that was expected. Does anyone or would you dare carry it for defence or is this now more of a novelty gun? I know 25 is pretty small but that is why I bought it.Im not sure how I would feel with a bullet in the chamber of a striker fired sa gun in my pocket? Does that sound too crazy?? I have a walther ppk/s that I was going to let the wife use but she couldn't rack the slide I thought she would feel more comfortable with a smaller gun. From what I have read this might be a true cz, but even if it is would doing mods to this hurt its value, I was thinking about bead blasting the front and back strap just to get a better grip and having it reblued just for the heck of it

[cpt-t]

miguel:  I might as well tell you, that I can barely turn this computer on & off. I don`t have a clue how you send pictures. And I don`t have camera any way. But you sound like you have a lot of knowledge about DUO pistols. And I have a question for if you don`t mind. The only writing on my DUO is on the left side of the slide. 1ST line says: AUTO PISTOLE  " DUO"  CAL 635 then there is a crest that I can`t make out and the numbers 4  1 .   The 2ND line says: F DUSEK, OPOTSCHNO.  The serial number is above the trigger on the left also, it is a 5 digit number 23###. Do I Have something special or it just a run of the mill DUO. Could you tell me when it was made. I think that my DUO is at least 90% could you also tell me what is worth It is blue with black plastic grips, with a big circle with DUO inside the circle on both sides, and the grips are in real good shape not cracked or chiped, and no ware marks from neglect or heavy usage. Thank YOU in advance for any information.    ken

[miguel]

john 1999: It's better to have .25 in the pocket, than .45 in the safe when you need one. And about racking the slide - it is not about the strenght, but about the technique. I can recommend you the website http://www.corneredcat.com/Rack_the_Slide/ where racking the slide by the nicer half of the mankind is described.
I don't know much about the prices of DUO pistols in the U.S., but as I know, they are worth of about 200 bucks, so if you want to do some modification on it, you will not lose that much money. But in MY opinion, this little piece of history will be beter treated as an occasional carry gun, bedside table backup and funny shooter. I think there are much more modern and better guns now for your wife - CZ45 (.25, similar to DUO, but in DAO), walther PPK in .32 (I think your PPK/S is in 9mm short) and many many others. It is all about personal choice, weight and operation with the gun... My wife is also unable to rack the slide of my CZ75 compact and she is also scared of the 9mm recoil. She is able to shoot it, but don't like it. But she's bleep good with PPK ).

[miguel]

cpt-t: Never mind about the computer or camera, I was curious about the markings on the slide and you rewrote them perfectly.
For the beginning, here is the link provided by AZ_CZ about CZ pistols and there is info also about DUO pistols: http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/2CZ25s/2cz25s.html.
Basically and in simple way, there were three periods during the production of DUO pistols:
1. Prewar, with the F. Du?ek, Opo?no on the slide (the strange characters ? in Du?ek is similar to "sh" in english word "shock" and ? is similar to "cz" in Czech),
3. After the war and nationalization of F. Dusek company, those pistols were marked Pistole model Z, Made in Czechoslovakia
and finaly
2. War production of DUO pistols in the occupied Czechoslovakia, when Franti?ek Du?ek's company were seized by Germans. During this time, about 100 000 DUO pistols were made, as they were popular in Germany. At this time, they were signed Automat. pistole DUO, and F. Duschek, Opotschno. Duschek and Opotschno are in german transcription of those Czech names (sch=? and tsch=?). As you can see, you have the wartime model, by the sign 41 it was made in 1941.
Well, I do not think you have something "special", but as I know, wartime relics are quite popular, so it should be more, than average price of DUO pistol, but I do not know much about U.S. market and prices.
The speciality of your gun is in its family history and it is a way much more, than any bleeped money  .

[cpt-t]

MIGUEL:  Thank you very much for all the information. As I said I have shot this little gun all my life, and can`t remember any problems with it. I have taken this pistol to many LGS and many Gun Shows over the years and have not found very many people that knew any thing about it, or even seen one of them. THANKS AGAIN:     ken