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ZB26: The Best of the Light Machine Guns
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2024
- The ZB-26 stands as one of the best magazine-fed light machine guns developed during the 1920s and 30s - it was a very popular gun for small military forces and many countries which did not directly buy it were strongly influenced by it. The Japanese Nambu Type 96 and 99 were heavily based on the ZB, the the British Bren was a direct evolution licensed from Brno.
The design dates back to 1921, when the Czech government began searching for a modern light machine gun. They tested pretty much all the guns available on the market at the time, and also solicited guns from Czechoclovak designers. Brothers Vaclav and Emmanuel Holek submitted their I-23 light machine gun, which would become the ZB-26 (LK vizor 26 in Czech terminology) and become the official Czechoslovak light machine gun as well as a popular commercial export for the ZB factory. More than 120,000 were made in several different calibers and sold to 24 countries between 1926 and 1939.
When the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia, they seized a huge number of these guns both from the military and guns still in the factory. This particular one was part of a Spanish purchase contract, but was completed under the oversight of Heinrich Krieghoff and supplied to German forces.
Mechanically, the ZB-26 uses a tilting bolt and a long stroke gas piston, in a combination that would be copied in many later designs. It is robust, accurate, controllable, and handy - a truly excellent all-around light machine gun.
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I am a simple Czech. I see video about great czech gun, I press like.
I know
Were there any poorly designed Czech weapons? Or anything else? I believe the Skoda was the Only Soviet era automobile to survive into free market competition.
Dude, same! Dobry den, soudruh
@@johndix1820 nope Lada is still going as well, škoda is owned by vw otherwise it would have likely died, Ural and GAZ are also still in the market. But you are right škoda is the only one of them that you could call successful in the Western market.
@BubbaMetal Thanks!
Listen mate...I am Czech and I have one of those things home. When I saw video from american I was thinking " Ohhh my god, lets see this guy and gues how many things he say wrong". But....you are really profesional. Thank you. Thumbs up!
Thanks!
@Zenbun Katatakala na to nemusis byt sberatel
@Adam Chlebovec buďto má znehodnocenou verzi nebo má zbrojní pas typu A. Neřekl bych, že ho má nelegálně jinak by o tom nepsal.
@@adamtisler2838 znehodnocení je vražda 😀
@Ubal_Blunt Tahle věc funguje i v samonabíjecí verzi? To bych netipoval... ale proč by vlastně nemohla.
You know, for the past couple of months, I've been feeling like Ian's been in a mood of "screw it, this channel has become the de facto video encyclopedia of all things gun-related, so I'm no longer holding myself back to only the 'forgotten' guns, i'll just cover whatever I damn-well please"; and I have to say, I love the new mood. Ian has talked about this gun on like 5 different occasions in different videos, and it's great to finally get a video on it.
"This gun...I like it. *Burst* ANOTHER!"
I kinda noticed this, and I agree that it may be for the best. I mean sure, please keep finding rare and strange guns, but these segways into these better known, but important historically, guns, is valid content too!
Guns that people know of, but not a whole lot about.
The common person wouldnt know about this, its not featured in any games or movies.
@@mbsb1376 Actually, Hidden & Dangerous 2 has ZB26
ZB-26 might be forgotten in the west but it is a very well-known gun in China, it was largely used in the second sino-japanese war by the Chinese army. The Chinese communist army (pla) even use this gun in service till 1980s, but they chambered the gun into 7.62 by 39, and modify the mag well to suit ak mags
It’s mostly remembered in the West for being the basis for the Bren. Was the initial batch of ZB-26 in China supplied to the Nationalist Army by the Germans?
Before Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in '39. China had been embargoed on military firearms until '28. And Czechoslovakia's ZB26 was able to be sold to China almost right after the embargo lifted when ZB26 just came out.
That...sounds beautiful...
hoi4
Japanese forces also captured a number of ZB-26 and developed Type 97 heavy tank machine gun based on ZB-26 for use on armored fighting vehicles
China adopted ZB26 (probably domestically made though) before fighting against Japanese invasion back in WW2. My grandfather can't appreciate ZB26 more for saving his squad countless times.
More than 20k was send to China before war, And after that Czech send licence to China to Forge "brotherhood"
To the good china
A number of them were also made by Inglis for the Chinese in WW2 iirc.
A citizen of Czechoslovakia (I forget his name) also designed some of the new public buildings in Shanghai during the 1920s and 1930s. I suppose interwar Czechoslovakia and interwar China had a peculiar connection for a number of years, despite being at other ends of the world. :-p :-)
Granted, you had successful Czechoslovak companies like Baťa, Tatra and Škoda also exporting goods like shoes and footwear, cars and trucks, Baťa even opening many factories abroad, on different continents, so it's not all that shocking that trade was fairly international before it became much more limited during the Cold War.
I am not surprised that the Czechs made one of the best light machine guns of its time. The Czechs have always been really good at weapon production.
True arms hipsters, making tank before was mainstream
@Jan Krynicky didnt daladier vote for war in the french parlament but lost by like one vote?
@Jan Krynicky yeah if france had one more politician with more balls then hitler then WW2 wouldnt happen at that scale.
@@iplaygames8090 I do not know about the vote in French parliament, but as far as I know, French did not have much choice. On one hand they had defense treaty with us (Czechoslovaks) and with Brits. But Brits basically told the French, that if they would go to war with Germany with Czechoslovakia, they would be on their own, which the French did not feel like doing. The rest is history with Munich agreement and so on.
But there is also I think testimony from someone in Daladiers entourage, that was returning from Munich that says that after Daladier got off from the plane and was greeted by cheering French, he commented something along the lines of "Ah, the fools, if only they knew"
Which tells me French leadership, or at least part of it were not actually too happy with the deal with Germany.
It helps that the Czech lands already had some seasoned arms production companies, in multiple areas, already during the days of Austria-Hungary (and the overall firearm manufacturing tradition in Czechia is, of course, centuries old).
When the Germans "showed up." Well, I suppose that's one way to put it...
@Deniz Metinoğlu T. All the while ordering five beers at a time....
Thanks, Neville Chamberlain, You big NOB!
The Germans encountered only 1 case of resistance in their occupation of Czechoslovakia so "showed up" is accurate.
@@stalkinghorse883 The Czech military and general population at the time was ready to defend their homeland against the Germans, but the Czechoslovak government was forced to stand down by the British.
@Michael Srite LOL. Whut mate? Sudetenland was part of Bohemia for hundreds of years. It was never "stolen" from Germany or anyone else... German minority was invited to Sudetenland by one of bohemian kings of middleages. Their task was to cultivate the area (cut trees, grow fields) because Sudetenland (at that time) was a land of deep forests and nothing else. You simply CANNOT(!) compare Sudetenland to Saarland or Rhineland which had been inhabited by germanic tribes for ages.
Just me or do the Czechs generally knock it out of the park when it comes to firearm design?
Generally...see the blunders with CZ-805 Bren.
well CZUB isn't the same arms manufacturer as the ZB from the interwar period, different people, CZUB just profits from the name ZB
Either that or it's a piece of shit (although this is much less common)
Zbrojovka Brno went out of business and Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod just bought it and uses it for some of their hunting rifles.
agreed. the machining and bluing on these old czech guns is just amazing to behold. true craftsmanship
Finally the gun that is mentioned in every other LMG video 😂😂
S P A N D A U
Stephen Pokowitz I know right!?
+tom madden not here
Sexy, simple, effective. Gotta love Czech weapons, in many ways quality like a German and simplicity of a Russian gun.
We are german blood speaking slavic language but i don't like russia honestly
vojta mal German DNA has up to 10% of the Czech population. We are Slavs, Celts, Romanesque tribes etc.
@@vencazatlec4570 odkud čerpáš?
@@vencazatlec4570 According to a 2000 study, 35.6% of Czech men have haplogroup R1b, which is very common in Western Europe among Germanic and Celtic nations, but rare among Slavic nations.[29] A mtDNA study of 179 individuals from Western Bohemia showed that 3% had East Eurasian lineages that perhaps entered the gene pool through admixture with Central Asian nomadic tribes in the early Middle Ages.[30] A group of scientists suggested that the high frequency of a gene mutation causing cystic fibrosis in Central European (including Czech R.) and Celtic populations supports the theory of some Celtic ancestry among the Czech population.[31]
@@vencazatlec4570 Češi jsou mnohem blíž k Němcům než k Rusům, ať už kulturně a historicky, nebo pokrevně. Panslovanismus se jen hodil obrozencům a pak Masarykovi. A od tý doby někdo mele "slované". Zajímavý to řešit pod tímhle videem :D
Probably one of the more influential LMGs, where its legacy was carried onto the Bren and STG 44, and still lives on in weapons like the VZ 58, VZ 52 LMG and the UK 59.
I'd love to have one of these in my collection.
I just want to take a second to thank Gun Jesus for making these awesome videos. This channel is bringing education and entertainment to the masses despite opposition from TH-cam. Thanks Ian for being so great.
Benjamin Detseuh Yeah fuckin TH-cam, betraying all the creators that made it what it is just because they are biased and want to push a flawed political agenda
We, the people who are on the side of freedom and liberty, need a new platform
The Czechs "knocked it out if the park with this gun" - so that would be 'Czech mate'.
I do love the simple and elegant design of the bolt & bolt carrier - sometimes things are just so 'right' in design.
Everything about it is so beautifully done - the acid etched crest & the serial number stamps. How often on otherwise great looking guns do we see serial numbers all askew?
I know that it doesn't matter at all, but it's just a tiny detail that sticks out IMO.
I hate you for that joke...but thanks.
This is the model of machine gun my grandfather was operating in WWII. He was seventeen years old when he joined the Yugoslavian partisans. I've heard many great stories from him about the battles where he used it and it he said it was a great weapon and he loved it. He never refered to it with a model number, only called it "Brno" whenever he was referring to it.
Shockingly great condition for a transferable! I just bought a Bren, and the similarities are definitely easy to spot. Great video as always!
I've live fired one of these and that big reciprocating mass pulls the gun forward after you feel the recoil. Really unique feeling. I recall my helmet rocking around humorously
If somebody is interested in that crest: it's the crest for the land forces of the Spanish Army, the ornament in the middle of the eagle is the sword cross of Santiago(Saint James); the crest was adopted after the Civil war and the fact that it features the crown is pretty surprising, due to the fact that the spanish monarchy wasn't present in Spain from 1939 to 1947.
Skolt the Franco government although was a far right fascist regime it was more Catholic church and monarchy friendly than its other European counterparts in fact Franco wasn't as pro fascist as you'd think he didn't want to fight another war when Spain wasn't recovered from the civil war yet ,so when Hitler wanted help against the Reds he rounded up all the hard core war mongering phalangest he could and created the Spanish blue division and shipped them out to the eastern front hoping theyd get their fill of the war and relieve some of the war pressure in Spain.
Franco adopted many of the monarchy's trappings, even fancying himself as a king in all but title, with things such as having his portraits depict him wearing an ermine cape, and exiting churches/cathedrals under a cloth canopy, a middle-ages privilege of kings and popes.
It's fascinnating how you pronounced Praha and vzor just right, but butchered the names of the designers. :D Anyway, thanks for the great video!
He didn't pronounce either one "just right." He used an English r, rather than a Czech one. You have to roll it a bit if you want it to sound right, and anglophones generally don't/aren't capable of doing it. ...Not that it really matters.
It's simply not clear to Anglophones that C is not pronounced like K, becuase it is almost always in English....
Liitle late, but i think he wanted to say Praga
That feel when Ian covers one of your personal favourites and lavishes it with praise.
For whoever made czech subtitles: good job man, i would never expect such quality at this kinda niche yt channel, very nice!
I live close to a forest that was once a military training area that has been used by the Austrian imperial army from 1700 until the end of WW1. In WW2 it was used by the Wehrmacht and SS. I go metal decting there from time to time and of course there are tons of 8x57IS casings in the ground. But some have a weirdly shaped dent in their struck primers. It's not round like if they were used in a K98k, MG34 or MG42, it's kind of rectangular. From doing some research I've found out that they were fired with a ZB26.
Probably the ZB30 also, we could always spot if a 7.62 Nato case came from an LMG because of the oval/rectangular shape of the primer strike, and from a GMPG (FN-FAL) because of the dent about 1/3 of the way down from the shoulder where the case banged the ejection aperture.
Ricardo Davidson
When I was metal detecting in lower Austria in some German positions where they ambushed and totally crushed the Sowjets back in 1945, I found tons of 8x57IS casings. They were all heavily dented at the mouth. That's from hitting the trigger-guard of a MG42, when they are ejected.
I didn't know that, thanks.
Ricardo Davidson bro a fn fal is not a gpmg, fal is magazine fed battle rifle and gpmg is belt fed machine gub
Sorry, my mistake, comes from typing things in a rush sometimes.
Splendid LMG, splendid video (plus added bonus of the ZB-26 firing video afterwards). I own a Bren MKII, so it is nice to see the grandfather of all LMGs/LSWs/SAWs in all it's rightful glory! Fine work Ian :)
Not only is it one of the best light machine guns ever made, but it is one of the best looking ever made.
I remember reading a book about WWII infantry weapon, written by an ex officer from British Army. He wrote alot of guns, usually would explain at least one or two cons of those weapons except zb26, he described it as the perfect light machine gun
From my much more modern perspective, I'd say the only thing it gets "wrong" is magazine fed.
But aside from that, which really took the fighting of WW2 to establish, it's really just about perfect.
Oh, sorry, one more "issue": it's not using the constant reaction long recoil spring.
But as I said, those are newer developments not really available when the zb entered service.
Many Czech original weapons were structurally modeled for many legendary weapons:
E.g. ZB 26 - BREN, VZ 24 - Mauser, Sa vz. 26 - UZI etc. Nice video !!!
Don’t forget the VZ 61 Skorpion, a legendary weapon in its own right. Honorable mention to the CZ75, which is a fantastic clone of the Hi Power.
:DDD so funny to hear that pronouncing :DDD love it, awesome video and thank you from Czech Republic for this video.... the bad thing about this is, that it is unique and absoluttely forgotten weapon ! You can go in any řopík ( small fireing bunker) or in those huge border fortresses, and you will see these guns everywhere, but most of people think it is BREN and what is terrifying is that people dont even know about that BREN means BRno and ENfiled. Also I would like to just say something for disassembly: the lower reciever is openable downwards because of those fortresses which were supposed to fire instantly for 2 weeks to stop German soldiers, also those fortresses were build backwards so guns were situated in our country and not on enemy, just to slow them and to shoot without being suppresses or demaged from attacking force, so they could just shoot in Wehrmacht from behind... That is why constructers of this weapon made a gun like this, to have it mounted in bunker and just shoot and shoot and if something went wrong, you could just open it and replace or repare the fireing mechanism and not puting the gun out from the turret or mount :) ..... I am not proud ouf our politics, our people, but what I am at least proud of our beer and these beautiful weapons !! Thank you Ian !!! Go here and I will buy at least 10 of liquid gold in glass ( beer) in one of fortresses :)
Top fed light machine guns... instant like from me and what a weapon!
Also: that’s a very efficient and modern looking way to field strip a gun: makes you wonder why any one else did it differently
I have always had a soft spot for Czech made guns. They always just seem to make something that is rugged and durable while being decently accurate and affordable.
Romanian Army used it too... Romania bought 18000 from Czechoslovakia and also they manufactured 5000 under the license. But it was ZB vz 30 , an upgraded variant of ZB vz 26 like in video. Romanian Army used that excelent gun until they introduce the new Russian RPD and RPK 1964 model. But ZB vz 30 was for a long time in Patriotic Guards Formation until1975 or around.
Great video, Ian, it sparked a warm glow of patriotic pride in me. Your Czech pronounciation was very good. I'm greatly looking forward to see you shooting it. I hope that one day I'll be able to do so myself. I still remember the day when head teacher lend me his demilled one for Halloween and 16 year old me spent the whole day prancing around school with a zb.26, Czech steel pot and NBC poncho. Ah, happy days.
Hiromuz I don't think you should link to the unlisted videos before their release ;)
Yeah. It's quite probably just a day away from release. There's no point. Don't be a plonker.
Erik Blackboar Such is life in the Zone, huh?
Exactly. "cosplayed" as low budget stalker. Or could've said that if I just didn't want an excuse to sperg in gear in public.
Abbott and Costello in "So, you want to go into the Arms Business"
Abbott: We need a new light machine gun!
Costello: Czech!
Abbott: It's got to do everything an LMG does really well!
Costello: Czech!!
Abbott: It's got to already be commercially successful, but I'm not paying John Browning any more royalties!
Costello: Czech!!!
Abbott: Are you even listening to me??
Costello: Check, check and checkmate, the Czech ZB-26!!!!
Abbott: There's a method to your madness Lou! We'll make million$!
>see some post about how a relic mag for one of these was found on the former eastern front, used by the Germans presumably
>immediately think “That looks cool and somewhat obscure, I bet there’s a forgotten weapons video on it”
Godamn ian you really have done everything
The machining quality on that looks really good. I feel as if the Czech's deserve to better known for their firearms manufacturing than what they are.
A fantastic gun. I havn't fired a ZB26 but have fired a Bren Gun in .303 cal with the Australian Army. A wonderful and very reliable LMG.
When the gun is quality, cost effective, AND aesthetic
This is hands down the best channel on the interwebs.
I've been waiting for this episode. One of my favorite LMG's :)
That bolt/carrier design blew my mind. Awesome machining.
Makes me even more proud to be half Czech
During my time on active duty I had the chance to fire these weapons in 6.5 x 55, 7 MM, 30-06, 7.62 x 54 R and 8 MM!!! The 6.5, 7 MM 'n' the 30-06 were a hoot to shoot. The 6.5 'n' the 7 MM were the most accurate automatic weapons I have ever shot. I had to clean them and prepare them for return to storage after the fun time was over and they were no longer NIB!!!
Nid?
Nib?
You know you’re doing something right when other nations start making their own copy based on your model
Shot a ZB-26 (and a DP-27 and MG42)in Warsaw recently. Having shot a Bren as an Australian Army cadet it was instantly recognisable.
man I love the Czech,s and there freakin awesome firearms and engineering
You pronounce it correctly - Praha:) You have great channel and I enjoy every one of your videos. And Czech gun of course is great thing to see. Keep going great job. Thank you Ian.
Love all my CZ guns. Excellent quality and design. Wish I had the $$ to own one of those!
Judging by the estimated price on the auction page this is indeed very well appreciated.
Thanks for amazing video about my lovely weapon. And thanks for czech substitles. I'm from Czech republic, so I don't understand every words, so I sometimes need help for substitles. I really love the first republic weapons and army and I'm really proud for ZB-26 :D Thanks you!
Greetings from czech republic !! We still are very gunfriendly coutry and still produce shit load of guns ( so much better then switzerland ) and its actually much easier (and cheaper ) to own a machine gun here then in the US
I wouldn't say it's much easier. For most people it's pretty much impossible to get the exception for a prohibited weapon / accessory, even when it was just for a laser sight (those are now legal). You must have some very sympathetic police officer in your area if it's "easy" for you. If you do get the exception, it is actually relatively cheap - because it's that hard to get, so there isn't that much of a market.
I just checked, there were just 1240 exceptions in the whole of Czech republic as of the end of 2016.
Greetings from Switzerland, and you're wrong !
Nonetheless you've got great beer at much better price - I'm coming over ....
Switzerland doesn't produce anymore a shit load of guns, and ccw is also nearly gone since 1999 (may issue only since then, and not many private citizens get it), I think I'll move over as well :)
That's it I'm immigrating....
Finally an accurate estimation of guns produce
A beautiful weapon, the machine work is top-notch. I imagine this light machine gun inspired many others.
The daddy of the Brno-Enfield.(Bren)
I'm from Czech republic. I'm proud of the old and new weapons produced in my country.
That rear sight adjustment is impossibly cool.
Your knowledge of weapons is very impressive.
About time you revisited the Bren again
Your videos is getting more and more profesional Ian!
Gun Bingo;
Beistigui Hermanos MM31
Whitworth Confederate Sniper
30 '06 Chauchat
Hotchkiss M1909 Benét-Mercié machine gun
BAR
Excellent video as usual Ian
always gets me excited when theres a little special Ian intro at the beginning! thats when you know its gunna be a good video haha
Loving that intro to the ZB26.
So at last,I now know what that side wheel is for! Adjusting the rear sight,very clever. Altogether,an extremely ingenious LMG. Also,I thank the Powers that be,that our people had the good sense to adopt it as the Bren,just in time!
Your Czech pronounciation is pretty good actually. No need to be worried it seems :D
His pronounciation of Václav is *off "a bit" of :D
'Vaatslove :D
Yeah but i mean, for someone whos language is FAR different from slavic language, hes pretty good.
I think a video on the procurement of foreign small arms of the Germans during WWII would be a good one.
Lovely. Lovely. Lovely. Thanks for this.
the czechs have an amazing history of arms development and manufacture, there must be scope for video on the subject
you know its gonna be a good vid when the gun gets a special intro
Wow, what a nicely made machine gun. The machining work is amazing.
This LMG is really famous in China during the Japanese invasion war.
LineOfCars Republic of China basically had a plethora of foreign guns... though I think they licensed production of ZB26. The standard rifle was a copy of Mauser, the HMG was the maxim, the LMG was ZB26, and post-pearl harbor some were armed with American weapons.
@@zacksima8333 Chinese forces even had Panzer 1 and He-111
That stocked broomhandle with 20 round looks pretty good
gabber88ful lmfao
why it was the best light machine gun even thought it has only 20 rounds in its magazine
Your videos are top notch Ian.
Intelligent design, really !
I'm drooling just watching this.
Jen jsem viděl zbraně a Českou vlajku, tak jsem na to kliknul... :D Greetings from Czech republic.
Produkt of Zbrojovka Brno but close prior to WWII. Czech Guys exported all drawings to GB and sell the Licence to produce them as the BREN. When Japaneese heard the sound of BREN they jump to lay down in fear because of accuracy. The Brittish they told us "gun is not good" BREN is shooting very accurate We need to have machine which is shooting "everywhere".
Indeed a fine weapon. One that obviously elicited mission confidence. mission
Machining work is awesome, yet kept very simple.
i live literally half an hour drive from place this gun was manufactured in
I’ve got pictures of my father firing such a gun during is military service at the end of the forties (1947 or 1948) in Spain. As a brilliant Law student went through the NCO and then sub-lieutenant or junior lieutenant (“Alférez”) courses offered to students, which would serve two periods in apring and summer of their third and fourth year in University. He then left active service as a sub-lieutenant ant of “Milicias Universitarias” (which would later be called IMEC for Instruccion Militar de complemento. As an officer in the reserve, if mobilized he would have been a junior Lieutenant. This was the standard squad light machine gun in these late forties early fifties in Spain. Our army would later use the MG42 (or MG3).
Fox 2/3 Found one in Marjah, Afghanistan 2011. Took us a couple months to figure out what it was I have pics but dont know how to upload
You can send them to Ian at admin@forgottenweapons.com, I'm sure he would appreciate that. That won't help *us* see it, but it would still be nice.
Thanks so much!
change it to your profile pic
Your pronounciation of "Praha" was spot on
Great video,. Particularly interesting is the comparison to the Bren, what came with the Brno weapon and what Enfield added.
Firstly, there seems to be no gas regulator in the ZB26, perhaps tapping so close to the muzzle made it unnecessary, but you lose the ability to adapt to different ambient temperatures and fouling. The .303 was cordite filled, and the 7.92 Mauser would presumably be filled with another dibasic powder, again that would affect the need for a regulator (but the Besa had one I think, and it was in 7.92). When the Bren was reworked back to 7.92 Mauser for export it kept the port position and regulator of the .303.
Secondly, the Bren (and the 7.62 Nato version) has a spring loaded unlocking hook, it must have been a really strong spring (it was definitely an armourer's job to mess with it), this related to the unlocking and extraction, perhaps with the port so far forward it became superfluous, and no oiling of cartridges either, obviously the brothers knew their stuff.
Thirdly, the rear sight is nice, like a Bren but turned forwards! Obviously benefiting soldiers accustomed to tangent rear sights, whilst the Bren matched the aperture sights on the Nº 4 rifle.
Finally, 20 rounds is really not enough for an LMG, it avoids the issues with long springs and perhaps is why it is so reliable, but there is nothing wrong with the 30 round magazines on the 7.62 Nato version, and the .303 worked better than most people think.
PS that horizontal foregrip is sturdier in the Bren and it is awesome to hold and fire the weapon with, the FN-MAG is clumsy by comparison although not in the same league as the M60!
Everything that came on the Bren Mark 1 came from Brno. It was the Czechoslovak ZGB 33 mentioned in the video, adopted under license as the Bren. The ZB vz. 26 itself underwent further development and some changes were made specifically for the British trials.
Bren: who are you?
Zb: i am your father
Ian,you are brilliant on small arms !
Let's face it, those cooling fin's on the barrel Are.... Wait For It .... Just Cool!! 😁👌
Thanks for this video, comrade!
Is the ZB-30 an improved version of the ZB-26 or a simplified version, like the Bren? From what I can tell the ZB-30 has a bunch of small changes to things like the barrel-release latch and bipod, all of which seem to have required more time to machine than the original. The later ones also had a more intricate barrel with checkering added for better grip near the carry handle as well as a longer flash-hider. I watched some of Machinegun Dad and TFB TV's videos about the gun and from what the guy says the ZB-30 was definitely an improvement over the 26, and that the Czechs made the changes for a good reason. He also says that the 30 shoots as smooth as butter and blows the BREN gun and Type 99 out of the water. Maybe you can do a video on all the ZB variants and show how they have eloved, and which were improvements and which were simplifications? This gun may not be as iconic as things like the BREN, MG-34, MG-42 and BAR, but it is considered by many to be the best LMG of WW2. I think it deserves more screen time, and I think this channel would be the perfect place to do an in-depth look at this family of guns.
Your pronunciation of Praha is just perfect. You sound like a guy born there.
@
Forgotten Weapons to your best knowledge, was there ever a 30rd version of ZB-26/30 magazine? Some accounts assert that they exist but I've never seen a surviving example.
Sweden bought this weapon from Germany as "Kulsprutegevär m/39" and it was issued to home guard units as it had an unusual caliber of 8x57mm.
It was found to be reliable and liked so in the 1950's the guns where re-barrelled for 6,5x55mm ammunition.
Fun fact: this gun was THE machine gun adpoted by chinese forces during WW2. It was simply refered to as "Czech light machine gun" by most users. I think this gun is one of the two weapons in China to be refered to by their nationalities. The other one is the 75 MM M1987 artillery. normally refered to as "the italian canon"
Now that is a beautiful weapon.
Cool video ian im impressed with your piece knowledge. More videos please thank you
Dear Ian, Would you please do a video on the ZB-60 and the ballistics of the 15mm cartridge for it if you are able to find one existent?
The Type 96 and type 99 really do not have much in common with the ZB26 other than basic gun layout. The Type 96/99 are more related to Hotchkiss in action. The Japanese Type 97 tank machine gun was essentially a copy of the Zb26 with the usual Japanese craziness in aesthetics/ergonomics. You did not mention the butt plate is spring loaded to reduce felt recoil even more. I was waiting to see if you removed it since when I took mine off it took 3 hands and a lot of swearing to get it back on.
Mongo63a how did you make this comment a week ago if this video was released today? You some sort of time traveling space man?
The similarity on the basic gun layout is what Ian meant, he took apart Type 96 and 99 before.
I doubt Ian is gonna fuck with a gun for sale on that level of disassembly
Ian does make mistakes occasionally and saying 2:40 "the Type 96/99 is heavily based on the ZB26" is a common misconception that should not be perpetuated. Ian covers way too many guns to be error free on every gun and has extensive knowledge of guns I do not. That said I own transferable ZB26 and Type 99 and know them and their history pretty well as well as mistakes often attributed to their description.
IrrelevantGeOff you know what I may recall that too. But I like the time traveling space man idea better.
Wow when you pulled the gas tube and bolt carrier out, I thought to myself dam that looks just like a m249!
Actually the ZB-26 (albeit tank coaxial version) was adopted as a standard Tank Machine Gun in Germany via the Panzer 38(t) and Panzer 35(t) and the likes, it entered service as the (if memory serves me righ) MG 718(t) it served alongside the heavier Zb-53 / MG 37(t) which was used in most tanks while its Infantry cousins Wehrmacht designation was MG 26(t) (they had designations for all its versions and the likes such as the MG 30(t) it was issued to mostly Waffen SS in the MG 30(t) configuration, but also Saw use With Sicherungschutze (security/garrision/third echelon Units) Units aswell as with Festung (fortress unit) and Gebirgjägare (mountain Infantry).
And consider this: the Panzer 38(t) or PzKpfw 38(t) was originally Czechoslovakian LT vz. 38, one of the best tanks in the pre WW2 world... After Germans have taken over Czechoslovakia, they adopted these tanks and used them as PzKpfw 38(t) to win Blitzkrieg against France, Poland and later (unsuccessfully) USSR...
i.pinimg.com/736x/ba/8c/94/ba8c947245ea112643adb3535a1c0a18--rommel-normandy-france.jpg
What a beauty
According to Wiki ZB26 was adopted by Wehrmacht under designation MG 26(t) and ZB30 as MG30(t). That's the reason that on this gun are Waffenamt stamps, they were stamped only on things which were officialy adopted by Wehrmacht.
You are correct. They issued field manuals on how to implement these in german infantry units.
i think in pre-WW2 weapons manufacturing there is kind of a holy trinity, the Czechs, the Belgians, and the swiss
I dig the cold open.
I really like those Czechs guns(And bikes because in Russia CZ was a THING 30 years ago) :D
Good video And i am Czech too i give like