-
CZ's New P09 Nocturne: DA/SA Polymer Frame Now With Optics
CZ has just released their new P09 Nocturne pistols, an update to the previous P07/P09 pairing. These guns fundamentally go back to the classic CZ-75. While that was (and still is) a very popular design, military and police tenders more recently have required more modern elements. So in 2007 the ...
-
CZ Bren 2 MS: The Civilian Version of a Modern Combat Rifle
CZ's Bren 2 is one of the more successful recently developed military service rifles, having been adopted by the Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as entering licensed production in Ukraine. The semiauto Bren 2 MS is a fine rifle on its own merits, but also offers an opportunity to build a near...
-
Prototype vz.80: Improved Czech vz.50/70
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 -...
-
Prototype Czech Silencer-Ready vz70
Courtesy of CZ and their reference library, we are looking at a prototype model of the vz.70 pistol intended to use a suppressor. It has an extended and threaded (with interrupted threads for quick attach/detach) barrel, and a mechanism to allow for locking the slide. This will prevent the slide ...
-
Hangfires & Ballistics Gel: Czech vz.52 at the Range
Yesterday we took a look at the vz.52/57 rifle in 7.62x39mm, and today I have one of it's 7.62x45mm predecessors out at the range. Not so much to do some shooting, as it turns out, but to fix malfunctions and wait for hangfires and duds...
However, we did have enough success to put some 7.62x45m...
-
CZ-75 Automatic: The Czechoslovak Machine Pistol
In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, CZ started exploring more commercial export options for its guns. In addition to resurrecting (well, attempting to) the vz.64 Skorpion in 9x19mm, they also developed a selective fire version of their landmark CZ-75 pistol. Production began in 1995,...
-
Czech vz. 52/57: The SKS We Have At Home
We don't need the SKS, we have gun designers at home! In the early days of the Cold War, the Czechoslovak communist party was on very good terms with Josef Stalin, and were able to design and use their own small arms. A whole new slate of small arms were developed in the early 1950s, with a rifle...
-
New Laugo Creator 500 Alien at the Range
Today I'm taking the new Laugo Alien out to the range to see if it matches up to the original. Spoiler, it does - and it's even better. The new grip angle is much more natural for me, and the trigger is actually a bit better than the original...
-
Improved Laugo Alien for the American Market: The Creator 500
When the original Laugo Alien came out, it was designed with a grip angle rather steeper than a lot of people (including most Americans, it seems) preferred. In response, Laugo redesigned the grip to be more like a 1911, and made the whole grip assembly modular in the process. Original magazines ...
-
SA vz61 Blank Firing Pistol
Whilst Matt is off enjoying himself (and working) in Vegas at the SHOT Show, Vic looks at an interesting piece he finds in one of the surplus dealers he visits in Germany. The Czech Small Arms SA vz61 'Skorpion' blank firing pistol in 9mm knall (blank). A pistol manufactured for the reenactor and...
-
CZ 805 • BREN 1 to 500yds: Practical Accuracy
Watch latest videos, sometimes even early releases! Sign up for the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hkbJYn [or] slateblackindustries (dot) com 👉 Newsletter The transitional CZ805 BREN was a deliberate adaptation towards the NATO 5.56 cartridge by the Czech Armed Forces to directly integrate into NA...
-
Vz61 Škorpion - The OG modern PDW - CZ Scorpion
Watch latest videos, sometimes even early releases! Sign up for the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hkbJYn [or] slateblackindustries (dot) com 👉 Newsletter We dive into the history of the 🇨🇿 Škorpion Vz. 61 and how this little communist PDW has made it's way far past protecting soldiers, into inter...
-
CZ 806 • BREN 2 to 500yds: Practical Accuracy w/ ACSS ACOG TA31
Watch latest videos, sometimes even early releases! Sign up for the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hkbJYn [or] slateblackindustries (dot) com 👉 Newsletter The CZ 806 "BREN 2" is the latest and final (so far) iteration of the Czech Military's formally adapted weapon system. Greatly improving up on ...
-
Czech Vz58 to 500yds: Practical Accuracy
Watch latest videos, sometimes even early releases! Sign up for the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hkbJYn [or] slateblackindustries (dot) com 👉 Newsletter The Czech/Czechoslovakian Vz.58 was a legendary rifle, serving Czechoslovakia, (later the Czech Rep., Slovakia) for more than 60 years. Known f...
-
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 .25ACP selfloader, intended to be operated with one hand only. The trigger locks into a folded position to allo...
-
G33/40: German Elite Alpine Troops' Carbine
The G33/40 was made by the excellent Czech factory at Brno under German occupation (between 1940 and 1942). It was essentially a copy of the Czech vz.33 carbine, and was specifically issued to the Gebirgstruppen (mountain troops). It is easily distinguished from a typical Mauser by a couple chara...
-
Czech ZK-383 Transferable Submachine Gun
The Czech-made ZK-383 submachine gun is a bit of an oddball in the world of submachine guns. It has several design features typically associated with rifle-caliber light machine guns - an integral bipod and a quick-change barrel. In fact, the ZK-383 was designed to be a hybrid gun, usable as eith...
-
CZ Model S Prototype (1929)
This CZ Model S rifle is one of many prototypes made between the world wars in Czechoslovakia in an effort to develop a military semiautomatic rifle. Similar efforts were underway in most other countries at the same time (basically every place that had a mature arms industry), and a huge variety ...
-
Little Tom: the World's First DAO Automatic
The Little Tom pistols designed by Alois Tomiška are notable for two particular features: their unusual reloading system and for being the first commercial DAO automatic pistols. Made in both .25ACP and .32 ACP in the 1920s (the .25 versions are much more common than the .32s), these beat out the...
-
Ladislav Findorak's Prototype Lever-Delayed PDW
This really neat compact PDW prototype was developed by Ladislav Findorak in the 1990s for a Czech military program, although nothing was adopted as a result. The lever-delayed system allows it to have a much lighter bolt and carrier than a typical blowback action, while also remaining very compa...
-
CZ Makes a 45 for the Americans: the CZ-97B
Introduced in 1997, the CZ-97B is a .45ACP caliber addition to CZ’s line of globally popular handguns. However, the 97 has some substantial mechanical differences from the CZ-75 line. Most significantly, it locks on the front of the chamber and the ejection port instead of having locking lugs cut...
-
The Model SS41 - A Czech Bullpup Anti-Tank Rifle for the SS
The SS41 was a bullpup, bolt action antitank rifle manufactured in small numbers by CZ for the SS. contrary to common assumption, the SS were not a part of the standard German military arms procurement system, and were forced to scrounge for their weapons from other sources. Czech factories were ...
-
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 pistol the next year. It was purchased by both Czech military and police ...
-
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 marginally more effective in the LMG, but not so much that the Czechs put up a big...