SA Vz.58 assault rifle (Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic / Slovak Republic)

Vz.58V with folding buttstock

Vz.58P with fixed buttstock

Caliber: 7.62x39 mm

Action: Gas operated, tilting breech block

Overall length: 845 mm (635 mm with folded stock)

Barrel length: 390 mm

Weight: with empty magazine 3.10 kg, with loaded magazine 3.60 kg

Magazine capacity: 30 rounds

Rate of fire: 800 rounds per minute

Effective range: about 400 meters

The Samopal vzor 1958 (submachine gun,model of 1958) was the standard assault rifle of the Czechoslovak army from thelate 1950s and until the dissolution of the ČSSR in the 1993. At the present time the SA Vz.58 is still used by the Czech and Slovak armies, as well as soldfor export in some quantities. The SA Vz.58 saw not much of real combat, so itis hard to judge how it stakes up against the most known contemporary rivals,like the Soviet / Russian AK-47 or the US M16A1. But the overall quality, fitand finish of this rifle is excellent. This rifle had been designed by the Czecharms designer Jiří Čermák, under the project codename "KOŠTĚ",or "Broom", in English. Development began in Januaryof 1956, and the rifle was adopted for service only 2 years later, in 1958. The rifle was manufactured by the state-owned arms factory "Česká zbrojovka", located in the town of Uherský Brod (CZ-UB).

The Czech army planned to replace the SAVz.58 with the newest CZ-2000 rifle system, chambered for 5.56mm NATO ammunition, but the financial difficulties severely slowed down this process.

The SA Vz.58 strongly resembles externally the famous Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle, but internally it is entirely different and of original and well-thought out design.

Technical description.

The SA Vz.58 is a gas operated, magazine fed, selective fire weapon. It uses more or less conventional short stroke gas piston, located above the barrel. Thegas piston has its own return spring. The locking system features a linearly moving bolt (breechblock) with a separate tilting locking piece. The breechblock(bolt) is located under the bolt carrier, and the locking piece is hinged to thebolt and located under it. Gun fires from the closed bolt all times. When gun isfired, the gas piston gives a short tap to the bolt carrier. After a free movement of about 22 mm (.9 inch) the bolt carrier swings the locking piece upfrom the locking recesses in the receiver, and thus unlocks the bolt. From this moment on the bolt group moves back at once, extracting and ejecting the spentcase and chambering the fresh cartridge. At the end of the return stroke thebolt stops in the forward most position against the breech face, while the boltcarrier continues to move forward, swinging the locking piece down and into the locking recesses, thus locking the bolt to the receiver. The overall system can be roughly described as a mix between the Walther P-38 pistol and the CzechZB-26 (or British Bren) machine gun locking. The charging handle is attached to the right side of the bolt carrier.

The trigger / hammer unit also differs from the most common designs in that it is a striker fired design. The massive cylindrical striker is located at the rear, hollowed part of the bolt, and has its own spring located under the bolt group return spring. The striker has a lugthat interacts with the sear and is used to hold the striker in the cocked position. The overall design of the trigger unit is relatively simple and has few moving parts. The safety / fire mode selector switch is located at the right side of the receiver, and has 3 positions for safe, single shots and full automatic fire.

The basic variant, SA Vz.58P, has a fixed buttstock, and furniture made either from wood (early models) or from wood-impregnated plastic(late production models). The SA Vz.58V has a side-folding metallic buttstock,and the SA Vz.58Pi is similar to the SA Vz.58P except that it has a large mounting bracket on the left side of the receiver, that allows for the IR /Night sights to be mounted.

The sights are of open type, with hooded front post and open notch adjustable rear.

Special thanks to MiroslavNovák (Czech republic) for additional information on the SA Vz.58 rifle

CZ 805 BREN A1 / A2 assault rifle (Czech republic)

CZ 805 BREN A2 assault rifle with short barrel and red dot sight; iron sights are folded

CZ 805 BREN A2 assault rifle with short barrel, butt folded, iron sights raised.

CZ 805 BREN A1 assault rifle with standard barrel

Caliber: 5.56x45 mm NATO, 7.62x39 M43 interchangeable; also 6.8x43 Rem SPC proposed in near future

Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt

Overall length: 910 mm (butt extended)

Barrel length: 360 mm standard, other lengths available

Weight: 3.6 kg less magazine and accessories

Rate of fire: ~ 700 rounds per minute

Magazine capacity: 20, 30 or 100 rounds

The CZ 805 assault rifle was first introduced to the public in 2009, as a possible future replacement for aged Sa. Vz. 58 assault rifles still in use by Czech armed forces. According to the recent news, early in 2010 the CZ 805 was selected as a next standard military rifle for Czech armed forces, with production contract issued to the famous Czech arms factory CZ-UB in the city of Uhersky Brod. It is quite possible that CZ 805 rifles also will be offered for export, either in military (select-fire) or in civilian (semi-automatic only) versions.

The CZ 805 (which is apparently dubbed as "CZ 805 BREN A1" in Czech sources) is a modular weapon of modern appearance. In its layout it is somewhat similar to the Belgian FN SCAR assault rifle (against which CZ 805 competed and won in Czech army trials), but similarity is not exact and there are significant design differences between these two weapon systems.

The CZ 805 assault rifle is of modular, multi-caliber design, with aluminum alloy upper receiver and polymer lower receiver / fire control unit. The magazine housing is a separate detachable unit, which can be replaced in the field in the course of caliber change. CZ 805 also features quick-change barrels, allowing to change calibers and barrel lengths according to the mission profile (in each caliber there there are short carbine barrel, standard barrel and long "marksman" or "squad automatic" barrel). The basic action uses fairy common piston-operated gas action with manual gas regulator, and a rotating bolt locking. For each proposed caliber, there is a separate bolt with appropriate dimensions.

Fire control unit includes ambidextrous safety / fire selector switch, which permits single shots, 2-round bursts and full automatic fire. Charging handle can be installed on either side of the gun, depending on user preferences.

Feed is from detachable box magazines, which are inserted into detachable magazine housing. In standard configuration, the CZ 805 will use proprietary 5.56x45 caliber 30-round magazines made of translucent polymer. Other magazine housings will allow use of STANAG or HK G36 5.56mm magazines, as well as various 7.62x39 and 6.8x43 magazines.

CZ 805 assault rifle is fitted with integral Picatinny rail on the top of receiver, with additional rails running on the sides and the bottom of the forend. Rifle will be issued with folding iron sights, and will also accept a wide variety of additional sighting equipment (red-dot or telescope day sights, night sights, lasers etc). Rifle is equipped with side-folding buttstock, which is adjustable for length of pull, and can be completely removed if maximum compactness is required. Additional equipment also includes new, specially designed 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher CZ G 805 and also a new knife-bayonet.