The vz.50 pistol was a compact .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning) double action pocket pistol used by police forces. It was given a face lift and redesigned the vz.70, and there were plans at one point to further modernize it. The new design would have been the vz.80, but only a few prototypes were made – one of which we are looking at today from the CZ reference library. The would-be vz.80 has a barrel about 1cm shorter than the vz.50/70, and a revised mechanism for removing the slide. And other than a few cosmetic changes to parts like the safety, that’s it…
Semiauto pistol
RIA: Praga 1921 One-Handed Pocket Pistol
This cute little pocket pistol was an early project of Vaclav Holek, who would become much better known for his work with the ZB-26 light machine gun and ZH-29 rifle. It is a very small […]
Prototype
Italian Trials Czech ZK-391 Semiauto Rifle
The ZK-391 is one in a series of Czech developmental semiautomatic rifles designed by Josef Koucký. It was developed initially in 1939 (hence the “39” in the designation), and was tested by the Italian military […]
Bolt Action Rifles
A Unique Partnership: Czech Mausers for Ethiopia after WWII
After World War Two, the Czech economy was in serious need of money to recover from the ravages of war. The arms factory at Brno was not bound by the same restrictions as German manufacturers, […]
The vertically moving disassembly lock is to a degree like that of the vz 52 pistol. Although, because the vz 52 is recoil operated, slide and barrel come off as a single unit after a short forward (not backward) movement. The hard thing is to lift the vz 52 barrel out of the slide against the powerful recoil spring.
I am glad the (at the time unique) automatic firing pin safety introduced with the vz 50 was kept.
Serial Number 3250…. as in 32ACP-vz50.
Not too enigmatic. I don’t think a lot of thought went into it since it was a manually done serial number in the first place.
“(…)32ACP(…)”
Wait. Czechoslovakia in 1970s used metric system, CZ 50 has marking 7⁶⁵ as can been seen in 1st photo from top http://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/czech-republic-semi-automatic-pistols/cz-50-cz-70-eng/ Why they would use U.S. designation of said cartridge for their internal use, rather than 7,65 mm?
improving the takedown button is a great start, now the real trick would be relocating the mag release.
Interesting! @escape road, Do you know why they ultimately didn’t move forward with its production?