I got one and although the guys at the gun store had to open the shrink warp to read the serial number for the transfer everything is in their bags and greasy as heck. But the ad reads unissued and in Excellent condition, not unissued and new in box. Which I think they would say if these had never been used at all? When the pistols went back to a depot to be refurbished or fixed they got a complete do over and everything cleaned and replaced as necessary. Then sealed up and sent to a supply dump to be reissued to the troops. Normally a weapon even the Russian ones when they were brand new and never used at all, come packed in/with Cosmoline or whatever the other countries equivalent is. And that stuff not only stinks to high heaven, but is thick yellowish heavy grease packed into every place they can get it and takes forever to clean before it can be used. At least that's the military version, Civilians are done differently. When the weapons depot got them they didn't have Cosmoline are their equivalent and just oiled them with as much oil as they could get into and on them. I suspect they were actually dipped and left to so the oil got in everywhere, then removed and bagged and tagged. Someone once said that when it was a refurbished weapon the gunsmith would put a little dimple in the top of the slide I think close to the rear sight to show it had been worked on? And some 52's still working to this day have as many as four or five dimples in a row.
That's what I have read about 52's, but when I got mine I couldn't find the dot, but since I have no idea where I read that information, since it was at least a year ago, I'm not sure about the dot bit or where it's supposed to be. And if I'm wrong about how the Russian Factories packed their weapons for shipping then please tell me since I do not like to get things incorrect and give folks the wrong information. But considering the way the ad is worded I think I may be at least partly correct. Excellent is as high as you can go with the ratings unless it's actually Old/New and unfired, by anyone except the factory. And they aren't using Factory new/unissued or even unused, they are calling them unissued. Which is a whole lot different than NEW, at least with US Weapons?
Anyone? Please jump in and clarify anything I got backwards? Like I said I bought one and I like it a lot, and it's going to stay just the way it is, but unless anyone tells me different when I sell it if I do, I'm not posting it as new just unissued. I AM NOT AN EXPERT on these or most any other weapon, All I can do is read what I can find about them and then hope someone corrects me if what I learned was incorrect. I'm not ever totaly sure about the way these get evaluated even by NRA standards, let alone antique dealers standards.
