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It's cleaning / oiling time for my collection so I had my Czech Vz.52/57 rifle out. This rifle is pretty special for me as I was able to pick it out of a crate of new unissued rifles. I was with a group of friends one of which had obtained the crate of rifles. We all got to pick our rifles. We were all giddy, as none of us had ever really heard much about them, much less seen one in person. This was prior to any of these being commercially imported. We all sat around that night with our new rifles sharing good stories while having a few cocktails.
Anyway this particular rifle is a all matching unissued example. It's not import marked. It was made in 1959 as evidenced by the "59" on the left side of the receiver. When new these rifles will have a greenish color to their stocks and black paint on the rear action cover and the metal of the top cover. The remainder of the parts will have different colors of parkerization. They are also marked "she" which was a code for the plant where they were produced. Sometimes these rifles are referred to as "she" rifles, but that's not a accurate designation.
The Vz.52/57 is a semiautomatic rifle chambered in the standard Soviet 7.63x39mm cartridge. It has a ten round detachable magazine and a side folding bayonet. It is a adaptation of the earlier Czech Vz.52 which was chambered in the Czech model 49 7.62x45mm cartridge. There are a few differences between the two models in addition to the chambering. The Vz.52/57 has a chrome lined bore and it's sight is only calibrated to 900 meters, where the Vz.52's rear sight extends to 1,000 meters.
The magazines for the two rifles are very similar, and in a pinch you can use the Vz.52 magazine in the Vz.52/57 however there could be some function issues.
Visually the easiest way to differentiate between the two models is the visible cross pin which holds the barrel into the receiver of the Vz.52/57. On the Vz.52 the pin is below the wood line and not visible without removing the action from the stock.
Some Vz.52's were converted to shoot the 7.62x39mm cartridge in the US by gluing a chamber adaptor into the chamber. Not a real reliable way to convert them, but somewhat functional as the original 7.62x45mm ammo wasn't readily available.
These rifles are on the heavy side and weigh just over 9 pounds. they also eject empty cartridges to the left rear over the shooters shoulder.
Many of these Vz.52/57 rifles which were imported were refinished prior to import. Often the black paint found on new rifles top covers and handguards was replaced with a heavy grey paint found on the later produced Vz.58 rifle.
My rifle came with it's proper sling as well as it's cleaning kit in it's buttstock and a extra magazine and mag pouch.
They are definitely unusual rifles and finding a matching new condition rifle is pretty hard. At the time it was kind of expensive ($550) but that was over three decades ago.
If anyone else has one of these or the Vz.52 rifle please post it here, as it's good to see what we all have.
For more information on these rifles take a look at the linked video from 'Forgotten weapons" Ian there does a great job explaining more about them.
Anyway this particular rifle is a all matching unissued example. It's not import marked. It was made in 1959 as evidenced by the "59" on the left side of the receiver. When new these rifles will have a greenish color to their stocks and black paint on the rear action cover and the metal of the top cover. The remainder of the parts will have different colors of parkerization. They are also marked "she" which was a code for the plant where they were produced. Sometimes these rifles are referred to as "she" rifles, but that's not a accurate designation.
The Vz.52/57 is a semiautomatic rifle chambered in the standard Soviet 7.63x39mm cartridge. It has a ten round detachable magazine and a side folding bayonet. It is a adaptation of the earlier Czech Vz.52 which was chambered in the Czech model 49 7.62x45mm cartridge. There are a few differences between the two models in addition to the chambering. The Vz.52/57 has a chrome lined bore and it's sight is only calibrated to 900 meters, where the Vz.52's rear sight extends to 1,000 meters.
The magazines for the two rifles are very similar, and in a pinch you can use the Vz.52 magazine in the Vz.52/57 however there could be some function issues.
Visually the easiest way to differentiate between the two models is the visible cross pin which holds the barrel into the receiver of the Vz.52/57. On the Vz.52 the pin is below the wood line and not visible without removing the action from the stock.
Some Vz.52's were converted to shoot the 7.62x39mm cartridge in the US by gluing a chamber adaptor into the chamber. Not a real reliable way to convert them, but somewhat functional as the original 7.62x45mm ammo wasn't readily available.
These rifles are on the heavy side and weigh just over 9 pounds. they also eject empty cartridges to the left rear over the shooters shoulder.
Many of these Vz.52/57 rifles which were imported were refinished prior to import. Often the black paint found on new rifles top covers and handguards was replaced with a heavy grey paint found on the later produced Vz.58 rifle.
My rifle came with it's proper sling as well as it's cleaning kit in it's buttstock and a extra magazine and mag pouch.
They are definitely unusual rifles and finding a matching new condition rifle is pretty hard. At the time it was kind of expensive ($550) but that was over three decades ago.
If anyone else has one of these or the Vz.52 rifle please post it here, as it's good to see what we all have.
For more information on these rifles take a look at the linked video from 'Forgotten weapons" Ian there does a great job explaining more about them.
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