The CZ-36 is the predecessor to the CZ-45 and CZ-92.
See this article:
http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/2CZ25s/2cz25s.html Also this article:
http://www.freeexistence.org/vz45.html Also some very good info in the article copied inline below.
CZ Model 45: a little-known but much-copied pocket pistol.(FIRING LINE REPORT)(Ceska Zbrojovka)
Article from: Handguns
Article date: August 1, 2006
Author: Gangarosa, Gene, Jr.
Czechoslovakia became involved in the manufacture of small automatic pistols soon after declaring independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. Even before that the talented and industrious Bohemians of the new country's western region already had notable arms designers to their credit. Before World War I, Alois Tomska had created one of the first double-action automatic pistols. This "Little Tom" appeared in 6.35mm Browning (.25 ACP) and 7.65mm Browning (.32 ACP) versions. Though production attained only 20,000 or so, the Little Tom established the mechanical and commercial viability of a double-action automatic pistol two decades before Walther "discovered" it with the Model PP.
Despite its name. the Little Tom was a fairly large handgun. Though capable of concealed carry in the large pockets of the day, an even smaller vest-pocket model was desirable. Czech manufacturers created several of these, but all with single-action triggers. Along with Tomiska, Frantisek Myska, another Czech designer employed by the Ceska Zbrojovka (CZ) factory, decided a small double-action pistol would sell well. Myska had already made a name for himself by creating the simple, rugged and reliable vzor (abbreviated vz, meaning Model) 1927.32-caliber service pistol from the problem-plagued CZ Model 1924. Though suited to police and military use, the CZ 27 was larger than desired for deep concealed carry and still used a single-action trigger.
Myska, likely with Tomiska's help, developed a double-action mechanism, which he patented in 1927. In this system the trigger fired with a long double-action pull for all shots; no provision existed for cocking the hammer for single-action shots. At the close ranges at which such a pistol was likely to be used, it made little sense to complicate the mechanism by adding the extra parts necessary to allow both double-action and single-action fire.
First fitted to a small run of modified Model 1924 pistols in 1931, the new trigger mechanism initially met with little success. Afterward, however, Ceska Zbrojovka adapted this mechanism both to the .25-caliber CZ Model 36 pocket pistol and the .380-caliber CZ Model 1938 service pistol.
Ceska Zbrojovka's CZ 36 proved quite popular. Small, thin and light, it was well shaped to the hand and made a good pocket companion. Before 1940 the CZ 36 sometimes included a manual safety located on the left side of the flame above the trigger. However, the designer felt that a manual safety was redundant and only complicated the design, so pistols made before the Nazi occupation frequently omitted it.
Ceska Zbrojovka sold considerable numbers of vz 36 pistols to Czech government bodies before the Nazi occupation began in late 1938. The Chinese also bought several thousand in the same period.
The Germans took over the factory after Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia, and they kept the CZ 36 in production until 1942. War-era CZ 36 pistols may have the markings of German dealers like Geco (Gustave Genschow Company). The Germans made the manual safety a required feature.
With the war's end and Ceska Zbrojovka's return to Czech management, in 1945 CZ 36 production resumed briefly when Czechoslovakia's armed forces ordered 11,000. Ceska Zbrojovka delivered these in 1946, and in all, the company built an estimated 30,000 CZ 36 pistols.
By then company designer Jan Kratochvil had redesigned the CZ 36, notably by eliminating the manual safety once and for all and adding a magazine safety. However, the external appearance and mechanical operation remained much the same. The resultant CZ 45 remained in production until 1970 and enjoyed extensive worldwide sales. CZ 45 production far outstripped the CZ 36's; by the time the communists took over Czechoslovakia in early 1948, Ceska Zbrojovka had already made about as many CZ 45s as the entire CZ 36 production run.
Despite the CZ 45's worldwide popularity, only modest numbers made it into the United States. Once Czechoslovakia fell to the communists, trade with the U.S. was severely restricted. Moreover, after 1968 the pistol's small size made it unimportable to the United States due to the Gun Control Act.
In 1970 the CZ 45 underwent a slight redesign that changed its external appearance somewhat. Mechanically, it remained unchanged, and as the CZ 70 it remained in production until supplanted by the CZ 92 in 1992--another slight outer redesign but still essentially the same gun. This latter gun remains in production and sells well in the world market, though it remains unavailable in the U.S.
THE AMERICAN CONNECTION
The Gun Control Act of 1968 states that pistols less than six inches long and less than four inches high cannot be imported. However, smaller pistols may be built locally or even assembled domestically from imported parts.
An American knockoff, the Seecamp, appeared in 1982 in .25 ACE A slightly larger version appeared in .32 ACP in 1985 and remains in production, and a limited number in .380 have been made. The Seecamp-inspired .32-caliber Autauga and North American Arms Guardian models also have the CZ 45 as their grandfather.
The Intratec company, now out of business, made the .25 ACP-caliber Protec 25 from 1992 to around 2000. A more radically updated variation on the CZ theme, the .32 ACP-caliber Kel-Tec P32 has a locked breech and a polymer flame and weighs less than the CZ 45 despite firing a more powerful cartridge.
DOUBLE-ACTION-ONLY
The CZ 45, and all pistols descended from it, uses a trigger mechanism that fires only in double-action mode. After each shot the hammer follows the slide forward and down, decocking automatically. This leaves the pistol ready for a subsequent shot but only in double-action mode. Except for the Kel-Tec P32, the pistols employ a simple unlocked breech (blowback) action. In the CZ 45 the barrel is retained by an early Browning system, in which a lug machined into the barrel's bottom rear portion locks into a matching recess in the inside of the frame.
The CZ 45's sights consist of a simple groove machined down the top of the slide; it's an arrangement suited for close range only, though it works within 25 feet or so. The magazine release is a clip at the frame's heel (bottom rear portion), a location particularly popular in Europe. This location not only offers ambidextrous operation but also prevents accidental magazine release when the pistol is laying in a pocket.
The Czech designers created the vz 45 only for emergency self-defense at short range. At this mission the gun remains efficient, though low-powered. An eight-shot, full-magazine group fired offhand from 10 feet away went into just under four inches. At 15 feet from the target, a five-shot group measured 3.1 inches. Extending the distance to 25 feet, a five-inch offhand group measured 8.8 inches. From the 25-yard bench, I couldn't get the pistol to hit at all. These would represent terrible results for most pistols, but given this pistol's tiny size, long trigger pull and minuscule sights, it's to be expected. With a gun like this, you have to keep your shots close.
In test-firing a Protec 25, the closest American-made copy of the CZ 45, I got a well-centered 2 1/2-inch, five-shot rapid-fire group at a target 10 feet away. From 15 feet away and taking a little more time between shots, the best five-shot effort measured just 2.3 inches across. At 25 feet, a typical five-shot offhand group measured 4.6 inches across. Curiosity getting the better of me, I decided to try a group from 50 feet away. Settling behind a solid rest, I managed to fire a five-shot group just 4 1/2 inches across at that distance.
There's the issue of what little .25 ACP bullets do if they hit. Some users favor the traditional FMJ (ball) round, citing reliable feeding in the mechanism and improved penetration on the target. Others favor hollowpoint rounds for expansion. There's also a market for specialty ammunition in this small caliber, seeking to harness the latest technology to make the most out of this tiny round.
Being flat, the CZ 45 is easily concealed. Within its accuracy and power limitations a CZ 45 or related gun makes a reasonable choice as a pocket pistol, but use a pocket holster to avoid an accidental discharge and keep lint out of the guns mechanism.
