VZ 61 Questions

[BrettonJudy7]

I've recently been really into VZ 61's and I want to get one. I have some questions regarding them though...

How difficult is it to find one? I would prefer one with the wood furniture, and in .32 acp. Is it easy to source wood furniture if I purchased one with black furniture?
For those on here that have one, what are your experiences? Do you like them? Hate them? Carry them? Keep them in a car or a backpack? Taken them hiking?

Just generally interested, and I want one haha

 

[snorko]

Czechpoint for the win. https://www.czechpoint-usa.com/sa-vz61-pistols/categories

Great quality and wood grips in stock.

 

[JettaKnight]

I would have one if it wasn't for the right handed stocks.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

Owning one in 9mm Makarov would be a hoot. Put a folding brace on it, and it would make for compact PDW.

 

[BrettonJudy7]

Owning one in 9mm Makarov would be a hoot. Put a folding brace on it, and it would make for compact PDW.

Yes this kind of my idea. I was curious to see if anyone had experience with them in 9mm mak, or .32 acp and what their preferences would be.

 

[Fallschirmjaeger]

I bought one in 9mm Makarov. I had to return it under warranty because the takedown/hinge pin was warped from the factory, causing the gun to doubletap and then pop out of battery. This was after fewer than a hundred rounds. Czechpoint was really amazing and sent me a replacement gun with no hassle.

The replacement ran fine, although I will say that recoil is a little snappy in 9mm Mak. Also, be careful about the reciprocating charging handle- my thumb found that out the hard way at the range! It was surprisingly accurate with the iron sights. I never got a chance to outfit it with optics or an arm brace, even though I had the adapter for it. Also, the Mak version uses straight plastic mags that don’t look right in my opinion compared to the surplus military look of the .32 version (if you care about such things). I ended up tiring of the gun and selling it off when I found something else that struck my fancy.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d get one in .32, which is what the platform was designed for. You can get a lot more of the cool surplus stuff if you have one in .32.

 

[BrettonJudy7]

Also, the Mak version uses straight plastic mags that don’t look right in my opinion compared to the surplus military look of the .32 version (if you care about such things). I ended up tiring of the gun and selling it off when I found something else that struck my fancy.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d get one in .32, which is what the platform was designed for. You can get a lot more of the cool surplus stuff if you have one in .32.

I do happen to care about such things! haha

I'm leaning a lot more toward the .32. The only reason I wouldn't is because of locating ammo, but I think .32 may be just as easy as finding 9mm Mak? I don't know, but I do like the metal curved mags, and that's what I want.
Plus, I'm guessing that the .32 has better recoil.

 

[Fallschirmjaeger]

These days, .32 and 9mm Makarov are probably equally scarce. The only reason I went with the Mak version is that I had more of that ammo laying around at the time. On that topic: It functioned great with both steel ammo and brass, but the brass casings were noticeably blown out of dimension (due to the gun having an unsupported chamber, according to Czechpoint ). Be aware of that if you’re a reloader. I’m not sure if the same thing would happen with .32.

With the gun being pretty heavy for a pistol (as compared to, say, a Colt 1903), I’m guessing recoil is a non-issue with .32, as you guessed. The thing that’s also attractive to me about .32 is that the original military gun was chambered for that, so it seems that the gun would be much less likely to have issues in that caliber (as per my first post). And the surplus mag cases, etc., are designed to accommodate that curved mag!

Oh- to answer another of your original questions: Mine came in the black plastic furniture, but you can get the wood surplus stuff from Czechpoint- as long as it’s in stock. I definitely prefer the wood, but wanted the gun bad enough that I went with the plastic as soon as it was in stock. As I said, in the future it would be a .32 version with wood furniture and threaded barrel!

 

[BrettonJudy7]

These days, .32 and 9mm Makarov are probably equally scarce. The only reason I went with the Mak version is that I had more of that ammo laying around at the time. On that topic: It functioned great with both steel ammo and brass, but the brass casings were noticeably blown out of dimension (due to the gun having an unsupported chamber, according to Czechpoint ). Be aware of that if you’re a reloader. I’m not sure if the same thing would happen with .32.

With the gun being pretty heavy for a pistol (as compared to, say, a Colt 1903), I’m guessing recoil is a non-issue with .32, as you guessed. The thing that’s also attractive to me about .32 is that the original military gun was chambered for that, so it seems that the gun would be much less likely to have issues in that caliber (as per my first post). And the surplus mag cases, etc., are designed to accommodate that curved mag!

Oh- to answer another of your original questions: Mine came in the black plastic furniture, but you can get the wood surplus stuff from Czechpoint- as long as it’s in stock. I definitely prefer the wood, but wanted the gun bad enough that I went with the plastic as soon as it was in stock. As I said, in the future it would be a .32 version with wood furniture and threaded barrel!

Thank you for your input!
I definitely will go the route of .32 and wood furniture. I would also like the threaded barrel model. They are currently out of stock on the Czechpoint website, so I may just have to do some waiting, or find someone who is selling one. I rarely see them come up for sale though.