VZ-98/22

     Notes: For a short time after World War 1, Czechoslovakia was the place to get Mauser rifles; since the Germans were forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles from manufacturing Mausers (amongst other things), CZ in Czechoslovakia made a good fortune reconditioning tens of thousands of Mauser-type rifles, particularly the Gew 98 series and the Gew 1895 Mannlichers.  In addition, CZ produced thousands Mausers during this period for themselves and other countries.  Recognizing the superiority of the Mauser action over their then-standard Mannlicher-action rifles, CZ began to produce their own version of the Mauser, the VZ-24.  It should be noted that these rifles were refurbished and produced on German equipment; the Treaty of Versailles did not prohibit the sale of weapon-production machine parts.

     The VZ-98/22 is basically a Steyr-built Mauser that was originally built for the Mexican Army, with a pistol-grip wrist stock, improved sights, and a longer handguard.  The long rifle pattern was the original one, with a 29-inch barrel, but this was soon superseded by the VZ-98/22 Short Rifle and then the VZ-23 rifle (based on the Kar-98AZ, with a Gew-98 stock), and the VZ-23A (as the VZ-23, but new production, whereas the VZ-23 was built from cannibalized or refurbished parts).  The Short Rifles all had 21.5-inch barrels.

      The VZ-98/29 was simply a minor upgrade of the VZ-98/22.  It had wider barrel bands for strength, higher front sight protectors, and a third sling swivel was added in front of the trigger guard.  This weapon was used by the Czech military from 1930 until World War 2.  Several variants were built: The Model 08/33 Short Rifle, made for Brazil; the Model 12/33 Carbine, built for export to Central and South America; the Model 16/33 Carbine, the shortest member of the series and the basis for the VZ-33 Gendarmerie Carbine; the Model 32 and 35 Short Rifles, minor variants made for Peru (identical to the VZ-98/29 Short Rifle for game purposes); the VZ-98/29 Short Rifle, a shorter version of the base rifle; The Model JC Short Rifle, a lighter version of the VZ-98/29 Short Rifle built for civilian export; and the Model L Short Rifle, a version built for the Lithuanians, firing the .303 British cartridge and using a Austro-Hungarian 1895-pattern knife bayonet.

     The VZ-24 was also based on the Mauser 98 action, but while it was based on the plans for that action, it was entirely Czech-produced.  The VZ-24 was exported to several countries in Eastern Europe, South America, Latin America, China, and Turkey before World War 2, and thousands were built; CZ was literally swamped with orders for the VZ-24.  The VZ-24 had a 23.3-inch barrel, and is for the most part a standard Mauser-type rifle. (Note that, despite the designation, this is not the same as the VZ-24 submachinegun.)

     Two special versions of the VZ-24 were built for Persia.  The M-1310 was the same as the VZ-24, but has an extended fore-end and a 29-inch barrel; the M-1317 was the same rifle, but with a 17.9-inch barrel.  The Persians later set up their own factory to produce their VZ-24 variations; this facility produced those VZ-24 versions until the 1960s, when they were replaced by US-made weapons.  The Polish built a license-built copy of the VZ-24 at Radom, called the Wz.29; this differed in that the infantry version had a straight bolt handle while those intended for mounted units had a downturned bolt handle.

     After the German takeover of Czechoslovakia just before World War 2, CZ began producing exclusively for Germany.  The VZ-24 and VZ-16/33 continued to be produced as the Gew-24(t) and Gew-33(t), though later only the Gew-24(t) was produced.  The Gew-24(t) differed in having a laminated stock, short handguard, redesigned rear sight, and stamped trigger guards, buttplates, and barrel bands.  For game purposes, these are identical to the VZ-24 and VZ-16/33.

ZH-29

     Notes:  This weapon was designed by Brno in the mid-1920s.  It was one of the world’s first modern selective-fire rifles, operating by gas piston.  The design of the ZH-29 was very difficult to machine accurately with the technology of the time; that made the rifle expensive, and therefore not so desirable.  This is a pity, because the ZH-29 was a very reliable weapon that could stand up to sustained automatic fire, despite the length and weight.  In addition to Czech use, Brno sold the ZH-29 to China, Ethiopia, and Siam, and they could today turn up anywhere in Africa and the Far East.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: In one of the strangest turns in the Twilight War, 12 of these weapons were gathered by a Czech irregular and put together into a single squad.  These weapons were equipped with telescopic sights and used as combination sniper/automatic rifles against invading German troops.  These same partisans were adamant about their unwillingness to fire upon other NATO troops unless attacked first.

ZK-420

     Notes: This was the most common of what was also known as the “Koucky Automatic Rifle.”  The design began shortly before World War 2, and went through sever iterations before this type was developed.  It was a big, heavy weapon, with a large muzzle brake at the end of its 21-inch barrel and otherwise very reminiscent in appearance to the US M-14 of decades later.  Though Koucky tried unsuccessfully to shop around the design after World War 2, making at least 150 examples of the ZK-420 rifle and trialing them in places as far away as Ethiopia and Israel, there were no takers.  The world was simply more interested in intermediate-sized cartridges and new rifle concepts.