CZ-52 or Nagant M1895 - info on values/desirability without import marks

[carrguy1]

...I bought dozens of CZs in the mid 90's from several different suppliers, I never had a blued one.
I know it's anecdotal, but I was a gunshow and surplus hawk back in the early 90's when piles of this stuff was coming in, the blued ones were rather scarce if my memory serves me...

From someone who has seen and had what sounds like quite a few can you tell me what the gray ones are supposed to look like then? I've seen and held a few in person and I've seen many online but it looks to me like the coloring varies from picture to picture. I know that could be the camera or the lighting but some I see are clearly a lighter gray almost like a flat stainless color and others are much darker gray. I may be incorrectly calling these the blued ones because they still seem to matte or flat in finish. Looking closer at some pictures of more clearly blued ones they seem to be darker than the dark gray ones and have a bit of a glossy finish to them. There may be fewer blued ones out there than I thought and instead they're just darker gray ones. I've read that originally they were either finished with gray phosphate or parkerized. Maybe that accounts for the difference in gray coloring.

[39flathead]

Gray phosphate was the original finish for many CZ's, including the 52.
The color variations could most likely be due to the chemicals getting weak as the batch is run as well as a slightly different mix between batches.

I sold dozens of these 20+ years ago, every one was gray of some sort, not a single blue one.
I also don't remember ever seeing a blue one for sale at the big shows like the Greengate or Expomart.

The blued ones iirc showed up later.
now I suppose they could have just been the end of the stores and the last ones imported.
But now there are two examples here being mentioned without import marks.
Just seems odd to say the least.

I know I had ones in that had very light import marks.
Also back then the rules on markings weren't enforced like now, it was really common to see import marked slides.
Im still wondering if the blued ones were done here by an importer looking to salvage some bad guns that they brought in.

But I'm just using anecdotal instances, again, I'm probably wrong.

[carrguy1]

Here are some examples I've found just for reference in the range of gray coloring that I found:

Lighter gray:
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/621953349

Darker gray:
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/622143110

I believe blued:
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/619744814

Those are pretty representative of what I've been seeing out there. Most of what I see are the darker gray. I believe I was initially mis-categorizing them as blued but you can see that they are a darker matte gray while the blued one is a bit glossy. My research shows that the Czechs originally used either gray phosphate or parkerization so I'm wondering if that doesn't also account for the change in color or even the lighting and camera like I mentioned before.

[carrguy1]

I know the discussion is a few day old at this point but more research indicates that the darker gray ones are probably blue, probably by the factory, and there is color variation in the blueing because of the method used. Later in the batch they came out lighter. Regardless, if gunbroker is a barometer it seems that a good number of what is available or being sold now are the darker ones. I got some more pictures of the CZ-52 from the guy I had been talking to and it looks like it does have an import mark but it's in a location I haven't seen before. Most import marks I have seen are on the right side frame above the trigger guard, on the right side slide either under the ejection port or forward of that location, or on the frame under the barrel. The pictures he sent show it on the right side of the slide but on the underside of the edge of the slide under the ejection port or above the year stamping (you have to turn it over to see it). He also lowered his price. It does look nice. I am tempted. Part of me thinks I should get it and part of me thinks I should just wait for a gray one. A tiny part thinks I should get this one and keep looking for a gray one. My wallet disagrees with all parts of me though.

[Hodgie]

Part of me thinks I should get it and part of me thinks I should just wait for a gray one. A tiny part thinks I should get this one and keep looking for a gray one.

Most of my collection was bought that way. I would find the nicest one of a lot and buy it then always keep an eye out for a better one. I've done it with about a dozen Mosin Nagants, CZ82, P64, and several TOK's from different nations. Some of the pistols I ended up keeping doubles others I parted ways with to other collectors on this site.