My new-to-me vz52 Grenada War Bring Back

[joefrank64k]

I finally got the vz52 Grenada War Bring Back that I bought recently out of the box today. Wow is this thing clean! It's an arsenal rework, and the bore is perfect. No cracks anywhere. Stock looks like new. Numbers not matching, but that's the norm with vz52's.

The coolest part of this deal? I actually spoke on the phone to the Marine who brought this back from Grenada. He said that these weren't being carried by the enemy troops (they were equipped with AK-47's), but that at war's end, they were allowed to go into the armory to take what they wanted.

He said that there were Mosin's, SKS's, and the vz52's. He grabbed the vz52 because he didn't know what it was and thought it was unusual. He's a big time gun collector/nut like us, BTW

It turns out that at that time, vz52's weren't supposed to be allowed in as war trophies, but they screwed up and allowed it back into the USA. So at the time, this was a rare bird here in the US. (IIRC, there was an American Rifleman article around that time about a War Trophy vz52 going for big money). Of course, they were eventually allowed in and the price on these dropped quite a bit.

Anyway....I've got a ton of surplus 7.62x45 and will hopefully have this guy out to the range shortly. Enjoy the pics.

[Saigon1965]

I love it! Superb find -

They Mil was still using the form DD603 in 1983 -

Saigon1965 -

[Enfield47]

Very cool rifle. Love the fact that it was a bring back too.

[John Browning]

Beautiful! That is an awesome piece. Sucks that they can't bring back any more trophies.

[sealocan]

Very nice find and cool getting to talk to the Marine who picked it up.

[joefrank64k]

Very nice find and cool getting to talk to the Marine who picked it up.

Thanks! He's a really nice guy, lives in Georgia. We talked for about 30 minutes about the rifle, his time in Grenada, and guns in general. He even said it would be OK to call him in the future if I had any other questions.

[nick]

Nice rifle, congrats! It's pretty rare to be able to match a story to the rifle, but sooo satisfying

[nick]

I mean,

Damn phone.

[Capybara]

Epic Joe. That rifle has some cool history to it and it also looks like it is in amazing condition. Nice that that Marine took such good care of it.

[shooter1975]

Beautiful rifle bud!!!

[pitfighter]

Brilliant score - love it!!!!

[empirearms]

Did you also find the rolled-up copy of the capture papers in the butt-trap?

Very nice carbine, and the detective-work to find the original owner is also a plus.

[Citadelgrad87]

That's awesome

I was a knob at the citadel in 1983. My dad was CINC 23af and air mission commander for that invasion.

Pretty cool to see a bring back.

[joefrank64k]

My new-to-me vz52 Grenada War Bring Back

Did you also find the rolled-up copy of the capture papers in the butt-trap?

Very nice carbine, and the detective-work to find the original owner is also a plus.

You bet I did, Dennis! That other copy is yet another bonus of an already super-cool rifle.

I've got a ton of surplus ammo, and a set of 7.62x45 RCBS dies (along with some 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schonauer brass) for when the surplus runs out.

[McNally M.]

That is very cool! I didn't know the US military allowed bring backs as late as the Grenada campaign. When did that all change?