Conversion
Semiauto ZK-383 on the Range
The Czech ZK-383 is a magnificent submachine gun, but sadly very scarce in the United States. So when I saw the semiauto example, I wanted to take it out to the range for some plinking. […]
Czechoslovakia
Light MGs
Bren MkI: The Best Light Machine Gun of World War Two
In the years after World War One, the British military wanted a new machine gun, and they wanted it to replace both the Lewis and the Vickers. Through the 1920s the British would tinker with […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Czechoslovakia Recycles Mosins: The vz.54 Sniper
Czechoslovakia adopted a whole new slate of small arms in the 1950s, including the vz.52 pistol vz.52 rifle, and vz.52 light machine gun. They also adopted a new sniper rifle, developed by a Moravian designed […]
Semiauto pistol
Kohout & Spol 7.65mm Mars Pistol
The “MARS” pistols made in Czechoslovakia began with the “Slavia” line, designed by one Antonin Vilímec in 1920 or 1921. Those were basically simple copies of the vest-pocket Browning pistols, and were made until 1935. […]
Select-fire Rifles
Samopal vz.58: The Czechoslovakian Answer to the AK
Among the nations of the Warsaw Pact, only Czechoslovakia designed and produced its own infantry assault rifle – everyone else used the Kalashnikov. The Czech vz.58 is often mistaken for an AK because it has […]
Uncategorized
Last of the Czech Mausers: the East German TGF1950 Goes to Ethiopia
The last batch of Mauser K98k rifles made by Brno after World War Two was a run in 1950 for East German border guards. These rifles have receivers marked “tgf 1950” in a style just […]
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, […]
Semiauto pistol
Czechoslovakia’s First Pistol: Praga Model 1919
Having gained independence after World War One, Czechoslovakia looked to standardize and improve its armaments. Václav Holek went to work for the Zbrojovka Praga factory in Prague in 1918, and they introduced the Model 1919 […]
Light MGs
Last Gasp of the ZB26: Czech vz 52/57 LMG
Czechoslovakia adopted the 7.62x45mm cartridge after World War Two, introducing both a vz.52 rifle and vz.52 light machine gun using the round. It was about 200 fps faster than the Soviet standard 7.62x39mm. It was […]
Uncategorized
CZ-2000 “Lada” – AK Czechnology in 5.56mm
Development of the CZ-2000 began in the 1970s as a replacement for the vz.58 rifle. The project was named “Lada”, and was essentially an improved AK-74 rifle chambered for the 5.45x39mm cartridge. The new rifle […]