VZ24. Any owners out there?

[Bobby Ricigliano]

So I am picking up a VZ24 tomorrow. Nothing exotic, not matching, and worn bluing. I'd love hear from any owners as to their opinions and how they stack up against Yugo Mausers or other variants.

I'll post pics tomorrow!

[plumbum]

I had a trashed, mis-matched, counter-bored one that was slick and shot well - sold it only because I had too many 8mm mouths to feed. Great guns, but I don't think I have ever seen any that aren't "well experienced".

[rojocorsa]

Good rifles, very smooth.

I like the straight bolt. That being said, my personal Mauser is a bnz45.

[ThemBastards]

It's ok, seems bulky compared to a 98k and the zero is at 300 meters so that can be interesting. The one I have has a pitted bore but I thought it shot "ok"

[Emdawg]

They were rode hard and put away wet, but they are good rifles.

It's ok, seems bulky compared to a 98k and the zero is at 300 meters so that can be interesting. The one I have has a pitted bore but I thought it shot "ok"

They were based off of the GEW 98.

[Low Light]

Mine is a mismatched bolt Romanian contract version from about 1944. Shoots like sh**. When combined with my lack of marksmanship I'm stoked whenever I hit paper. It's counter bored and beat to hell but man if that rifle could talk.

[Crunch130]

Very nice rifles when they were built. Most of them now have unserviceable bores. There were a few that managed to remain in good shape.

Buy one with a good bore ($300 and up) or buy one with a trashed bore for less than $100 and build a sporter off the action.

The best deals on shooter Mausers are probably the Yugo 24/47's.

Crunch

[Marcus von W.]

They are top quality, Czech made, Mausers with quite a history to them. But as has been pointed out above, a lot of them saw continuous use from the pre-WW2 or WW2 era up through the end of the Communist era in places like Romania and Yugoslavia. Many of the Romanian issued ones suffer from extreme wear, abuse, and neglect. There were also a number of them made for foreign contracts ranging from Europe, Persia, China, Japan, and Central/South America. Some of these are quite rare and collectable, and some are found in quite trashed condition.

With the German annexation of Western Czechoslovakia in 1938 and later more in 1939, most of the Czech military issue VZ24's (and Czech military personel, like my grandfather), became military property of the German Reich. At the beginning of WW2 a lot of German forces, including Waffen SS, were armed with VZ-24 rifles, and the Germans continued production of this rifle for their allies as well as modifying existing examples and gradually transforming production into the 98k rifle for their own use.

Other VZ24 rifles were in the hands of anti-Communist German allies like Slovakia and Romania. Yugoslavia also used these both before and after the war, and the various Communist and anti-Communist factions in WW2 fought with them.

The Soviets captured a number of VZ-24 rifles from Germany and German allied nations, as did Yugoslavia, and Romania after they switched sides and joined the Soviets late in the war. Most VZ-24 rifles one encounters these days are the Romanian used and issued ones, which usually have their original Czech or Romanian crests scrubbed and can be pretty rough. Rifles with their original Czech or Romanian Royal crests are scarcer, more collectable, and more valuable. Instead of a crest, many just have a date on the receiver ring, and these were not scrubbed by the Communist bastards because they did not offend their hateful and dirty Marxist sensibilities.

Looking forward to the details and information on yours when you get it, then we can tell you more about it.

By the way, if anyone is interested I have a WW2 German used VZ24 bayonet listed for sale in one of my ads on the "Firearms Parts and Accessories" Marketplace forum. Here is a quick run-down on it:

Czech VZ24 Mauser bayonet, WW2 German used. This is something I found in an old barn in Bavaria back around 1971. Czech lion marked and dated 1927, with some old light pitting on the pommel and patina and spots of old light surface rust on the blade. No scabbard, muzzle ring has not been removed like the Germans did with some of these bayonets. There is a very slight bend in the blade (you have to sight down the top of the blade to see it) but does not affect funtion or appearance. This will work on any Mauser rifle that uses the German style bayonet lug, including Czech, Polish, Yugoslavian, Spanish, Persian, etc. $35 + shipping.

[Emdawg]

I need to get myself one with the old Lion crest on it. Me gusta.

[Marcus von W.]

Czech Lion crests are definitely cool and very desirable.

So are Romanian royal King Karl and King Michael crests, pre-Communist Yugo markings, and the beautiful Persian "Sun Lion" marked ones.

[Emdawg]

So far all the ones I have seen have been scrubbed or are junk.

[CEDaytonaRydr]

I have one. I bought it from Big 5 for $89 back around Y2K. It's always been a bit of a dog; floorplate sticks, counterbored, ugly wood...

...not my favorite rifle, by a long shot.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

They are top quality, Czech made, Mausers with quite a history to them. But as has been pointed out above, a lot of them saw continuous use from the pre-WW2 or WW2 era up through the end of the Communist era in places like Romania and Yugoslavia. Many of the Romanian issued ones suffer from extreme wear, abuse, and neglect. There were also a number of them made for foreign contracts ranging from Europe, Persia, China, Japan, and Central/South America. Some of these are quite rare and collectable, and some are found in quite trashed condition.

With the German annexation of Western Czechoslovakia in 1938 and later more in 1939, most of the Czech military issue VZ24's (and Czech military personel, like my grandfather), became military property of the German Reich. At the beginning of WW2 a lot of German forces, including Waffen SS, were armed with VZ-24 rifles, and the Germans continued production of this rifle for their allies as well as modifying existing examples and gradually transforming production into the 98k rifle for their own use.

Other VZ24 rifles were in the hands of anti-Communist German allies like Slovakia and Romania. Yugoslavia also used these both before and after the war, and the various Communist and anti-Communist factions in WW2 fought with them.

The Soviets captured a number of VZ-24 rifles from Germany and German allied nations, as did Yugoslavia, and Romania after they switched sides and joined the Soviets late in the war. Most VZ-24 rifles one encounters these days are the Romanian used and issued ones, which usually have their original Czech or Romanian crests scrubbed and can be pretty rough. Rifles with their original Czech or Romanian Royal crests are scarcer, more collectable, and more valuable. Instead of a crest, many just have a date on the receiver ring, and these were not scrubbed by the Communist bastards because they did not offend their hateful and dirty Marxist sensibilities.

Looking forward to the details and information on yours when you get it, then we can tell you more about it.

By the way, if anyone is interested I have a WW2 German used VZ24 bayonet listed for sale in one of my ads on the "Firearms Parts and Accessories" Marketplace forum. Here is a quick run-down on it:

Czech VZ24 Mauser bayonet, WW2 German used. This is something I found in an old barn in Bavaria back around 1971. Czech lion marked and dated 1927, with some old light pitting on the pommel and patina and spots of old light surface rust on the blade. No scabbard, muzzle ring has not been removed like the Germans did with some of these bayonets. There is a very slight bend in the blade (you have to sight down the top of the blade to see it) but does not affect funtion or appearance. This will work on any Mauser rifle that uses the German style bayonet lug, including Czech, Polish, Yugoslavian, Spanish, Persian, etc. $35 + shipping.

You sir are a walking encyclopedia. Thanks for the great info. I will post pics of it when I get it home.

[MasterChief]

Mis-matched bolt, matching stock. Unusual serial prefix and never crested. $59.95 on sale from Big 5 awhile back. They were plentiful back in the day but most were well-used. This example cleaned up well, has a good bore and a handsome stock. My favorite rifle and also the 2nd least expensive rifle in my humble collection.

[BruinGuy]

Handsome stock is an understatement. That striping is fantastic!

Although I don't own one yet, I've had the good fortune to shoot a few. They were slick, with a bolt operation smoother than my Yugos or my k98. Most I've seen have significant loss of bluing, probably due to either not being rearsenaled or perhaps due to service longer than others? Who can say...? They shot well; the sights were high for 100 yards so you may have to adjust poa a few inches lower.i think this is pretty typical. Czech production quality seems to be high, so I'd expect it to be well-made and sturdy.

I hope the one you get is a good one, Bobby. Looking forward to the pictures.