Two fun facts: You can remember the fire selector like "none for the ground, all 30 for the enemy and one for yourself." They did actually teach it that way. The fixed stock variant is known as "a Paddle" and is exactly meter long with a bayonet and the variant with collapsible stock is often called "a scythe".
also: while the word samopal means "automatic" as Ian mentioned, it is usually understood as a submachinegun, the story (which i cannot prove) goes that the armies of the warsaw pact were all "peace armies" and no army of peace army could be armed with something categorized as an assault rifle, therefore the vz. 58 was called "samopal", the same way as vz. 26 or vz. 61 scorpion.
@@petrsidlo7614 To be fair, "assault rifle" is a very "american" term. In my country for example, the type of weapon is simply called an "automatic carbine" ("Automatkarbin" or "AK") in military terms.
@@lavrentivs9891 Assault Rifle, Sturm Gewehr, has originated from Germany, specifically Hitler himself. NATO then used the term as well, first as a substitute of Automatic Rifle (let's be real, despite ROF, you can basically use a M14 as a BAR), then to identify rifles with intermediate cartridges, like M16, StG 77 and so on. It's true that the M14 and AK were also intended to be used like SMGs, but both sides realized it just didn't work.
@Martin Čelko Pozri si výsledky volieb po vojne. Česi jasne volili komunistov a dodnes ich majú v parlamente. Havel si poslušne podával ruky s nimi. Preto Karel Kryl povedal, že sa vlastne nič nezmenilo. A netreba zabúdať, že v Protektoráte bol najmenší odpor voči nacistom v celej Európe. My sme mali aspoň to nepodarené SNP. Dokonca aj v atentáte na Heydricha mali prsty slováci. Gabčík bol Slovák. Česi a slováci sú rovnaká banda. Hitler mal pravdu, že existujú silnejšie a slabšie národy. My a česi sme submisívni. Podobne ako poliaci či ukrajinci. Raz Nemci, raz rusi, teraz EÚ. Keby prišla Čína, tak nás tiež prevalcujú ako psov. A hlavne vidno aké máme komplexy, hlavne z rusov, lebo nás ponížili. Je to trápne. Oni sú proste silnejší a my sa chováme ako Churchill, ktorý bol pokadený zo Stalina. Takí fíni, ktorí sú o niečo väčší národ ako my, sú omnoho schopnejší a bojovnejší. A dali rusom na držky. Nie je národ ako národ.
Aleksej Rakić The 58 was one of the first guns outside of ARs and AKs that I learned about. As a kid, it’s actually the reason I learned czechs exist at all. Can’t help but appreciate it for that :)
@@steelcider-9508 Ahh, I was joking. On InRange Karl used a 52 during Red Oktober, the gun showed how terrible it is. I was saying it is very Czech by how weird and terrible it is.
Aleksej Rakić wasn’t offended at all. I remember watching that match and being kinda bummed that it performed so bad. Cause it is such a cool looking rifle
I am just here to tell you to prepare for waves of enthusiastic Czechs, giving you free Czech language and history lessons. We are always happy to take over the comments any chance we get...
Slovak infantrymen I worked with in Kandahar Afghanistan carried these back in 2014. They're the damned coolest guns I got to shoot while there. Been wanting one of my own ever since. The rifles they had, had been "modernized" with plastic rails like those cheap ones made for AKs and red dots and I think one guy had an m4 style stock... the mods were kind of ghastly. Most of the infantrymen had the old folding stocks though. The one I shot had all the original furniture on it except the upper heat shield. I'll be honest, if I had to fight for a warsaw pack country... I'd take the vz.58 over an AK any day.
Most likely FAB Defence kits... they work way better than they look, as long as you dont magdump during weekend with temps around 35°C in the shade... I have half-melted mine, so switchover to CNC'd parts was necessary.
@@vaclavjebavy5118 They were solid soldiers. Helped us out quite a bit and were good with the Afghans. Very professional and knew what they were doing.
@@Sseltraeh89 eh. Too memey. Also, mathematically incomplete. Is it a Real infinity? Complex? Integers? Natural Numbers? 0,1,n would be more accurate, but still too memey.
You Germans always liked our shit in the case of weapons :D .Almost 1/3 of German tanks during invasion of Poland and France were Czech made Pz. 38(t) :D
@@4mageo it always hard for me because in russian we write it - Чех - I dont get that letter Z there - also in russian we call Chechens - similar - Чех
I remember when I was a little kid and went to a summer camp. At night they gave us a deactivated vz.58 and told us to guard the camp. It was cool we were always sitting at the fire with the gun and felt badass.
"Samopal" is the term used for SMGs. (An MG would be called "kulomet" and an assault rifle would be called "útočná puška".) Even though the vz.58 is an assault rifle, the older Czechoslovak firearm terminology only recognized "lehký samopal" (light SMG, or today just SMG) and "těžký samopal" (heavy SMG, the equivalent of an assault rifle). That's the reason why the vz.58 was dubbed "samopal" (SMG), even though with the modern terminology we would call it "útočná puška" (an assault rifle). Fun trivia: "Samopal" literally means "something that can fire on its own".
More fun facts. Early arquebuses were called "самопал" (samopal) in Russian. It literally ment "self-igniting" as opposed to hand cannons that needed separate ignition rods. And now this word transformed into an adjective "samopalny" that means DIY stuff in a little bit ironic way.
It might be autoshoot. :-D EDIT: I'm thinking about and autofire is just better because pálit means to shoot but also to burn (and to destill if you're talking about moonshine)
Tbf, Most of the time the age of a gun really doesn’t determine it’s reliability, It’s just how well it has been maintained through out its life (And of course its initial build quality)
And it also feels like firing a fake 47 or AKM.. The grip and trigger feels werid, the selector is horrible, or at least in my case it was, very jaggy and sticky, just horrible, maybe it was faulty, and if thats normal then I imagine troops using this never switch it to safety unless they storing it somewhere.. For todays standards it really feels outdated, but granted just as most AKs its super sturdy and insanely reliable, thats its biggest streghts I guess.. With a bit of modding, making it a bit more modern in terms of ergonomics and trigger system I think this could be one of the best firearms out there, but that pretty much once again goes for many AKs and variants, well at least those in 7.62 and not the baby ones in 5.45
@@NotEvenDeathCanSaveU the fire selector is supossed to be uncomfortable when in safe possition, so because of that you remember to switchit off and don´t run in to any significant emotional events like gun not firing because you forgot to disengage safety.
@@DOMINIK99013 banned along with the vz58 recently because a guy impersonated an rcmp officer and went on a killing spree using stolen/undocumented firearms. not any of the ones on the list of banned weapons, but thats not important right?
Why? They were classified as prohibited but that just means they are hard to sell to anyone but the government and almost impossible to buy it does not actually mean they will be confiscated. There is no reason to "lose" them.
We Czechs had a lot of military material made on our own cause we had a lot of experience and the industry from beeing the industrial hearth of Austria Hungary. We were also one of the most independent eastern block countries cause we liked to do stuff in our way. So that's kind of one of the reason for our partial independence.
@Loran2014 Very true. The fact is, we elected some communists in '46 in the parliament and in early '48 they basically took over in a paramilitary coup (see People's Militia) and a reign of terror ensued, which kind of loosened in '53 after Gottwald's death and '56 after Khrushchyov denounced Stalin. But we were still tamed by the party, unlike the Poles or Hungarians, who had to be crushed in the 50's. We took until '68...
Actually, we slavs are all the same. We even understand each other without any translation, albeit using completely different alphabets. Russians just have different government. And neither of us completely agree with what they (I mean the governments) are doing.
Mate, that's spot on. I am finding my kind of people on these gun channels. I've been opposed to guns as I thought people will come to their senses after the fall of Soviet Union, but once I see the craze all around the world I have totally changed my point of view.
@@girishmahajan3646 It's okay, many an AKM owner will freely admit as much. We love our AKs, and they are quite rugged and well-built (we... uh, we just won't talk about Century guns) but we'll certainly concede they're not perfect. That CZ's gettin' close though! I've dreamt of beaver barf for several years now, but haven't yet found any that aren't Century-built; sucks that both of those platforms are afflicted with CAI. Sorry, I said we weren't gonna talk about that...
Also Czechs: Fight all the way through Russia to fucking Vladivostock, piss there on russian AK AND fight all the way through Russia back to home! (OK, there was no AK in 1920, but you get the point, no?) :)))
I was imagining myself holding a gun and putting a bayonet on it, ergonomically it also makes more sense, you stretch your arm out less, stay a more compact and you can more easilly see what you are doing while still pointing your gun facing enemy.
Folding stock version was for paratroopers thats waht the V stands (výsadkový). tankers sued scorpion as side arm. rifle would be too big to move round with.
As a Czech person I deeply respect your knowledge and research you have done into this rifle. And most of your assumptions and conclusions are absolutely correct!
version vith movable stock was called "a scythe" between soldiers due its shape and version with solid (wooden) was called "a paddle." It was durable and simple weapon. If you gave it proper care, it was excelent weapon. I was using this weapon in late 1990s during my Czech army duty.
I have a left-handed friend who traded his AR for another friend's VZ, and it works so much better for him. He can switch the safety with his firing hand thumb and eject mags with his trigger finger like I can with my AR, and it is a wonderful little rifle.
21:00 "It's kind of interesting, that this is a rifle that, from about 1961 on... this was its form, it wasn't ever really modernized in any substantial way... which is a little bit unusual compared to some of the work that was done to various AK patterns." Well, seemingly in Czechoslovakia they appreciate the virtue of "getting it right the *first* time."
The reason why vz.58 was never modenized was soviet invasion in 1968. We were not alowed to invite our weapons from that time until Gorbacov came in lead position.
I am a machinist in the medical implant industry so my parts are required to have tight tolerances and very good machined finishes. I think the Czech machinists make EXCELLENTLY machined weapons. This is a beautifully made rifle. If you are a Czech machinist, keep up the great work. Your country puts out some super quality weapons. CZ rifles and pistols are always flawless when they are being ran and are really accurate too.
It had nothing to do with "permission". None of other Warsaw Pact states had a domestic arms industry worth speaking of. You'll notice that in WW1 and WW2 they were all using foreign sourced armaments. The Bohemian industrial regions were the industrial heartland of the former Austro Hungarian empire...they had the infrastructure and skills, the other states didnt.
"The Bohemian industrial regions were the industrial heartland of the former Austro Hungarian empire" Steyr: am I a joke to you? In terms of general heavy industry you're probably right though, look at how much misery Austria-Hungary went through trying to build battleships.
The area of the crown of bohemia6had close to 70% of all the industry in Austro-Hungary. Hungary had no industry to speak of so the rest was in Austria lol
Memories: I had one of these when I lived in Soviet Kanuckistan. It came with the bayonet & sheath, six magazines, an original leather mag pouch, both kinds of stocks (fixed and folding), a muzzle nut, a muzzle brake, an original cleaning kit, and a 1968 dated crate of ammo (about 1200 rounds, IIRC, all on 10-round stripper clips). If memory serves, it cost me $650CA for the whole package. Mine was built on a full-auto receiver but didn't have the FA parts so it was semi-auto only. I took one of my first carbine classes with that gun and at first I was cringing as I performed reloads and watched my spent magazines fall into the wet sand at the range, feed lips down every time. I banged the mags on my knee pads to knock as much sand out of them as possible but it still made a gritty sound every reload. I shot over 1000 rounds at that class and had one malfunction (stuck case which I mortared out). After that class the Vz became my go-to carbine until I moved to the USA.
I used to.have one. Had an AK too..I preferred the underfolding AK stock compared to the skeleton stock VZ in a vehicle or when I didn't want the bloody thing in my way. The VZ is far more accurate.. And it's fire is more controllable. The AK is easier to clean though. But as shown, this is pretty simple. I just pulled it all apart soaked it in brake kleen and used Hoppe's to install it. Ten minutes if you're slow. I even preferred it to the Armalite based stuff
Ya the Canadian with the semi-automatic rifle and 30 round magazines which he never used to either end tyranny or hunt game with is upset about...and upset about this enough to fuck off to the US. lel
Also Czech Army reserves still use them. And even Sa VZ.58 is considered as obsolete is still in ARMY inventory (curent service rifle/AR is CZ 806 BREN II / same unit still use CZ 805 BREN)
The one in video is full auto though...however many of the Canadian owned Vz58 are converted auto, meaning most of the rifle are build with original hardware, with slightly bubbahed receiver.
@@kospencer1 That's actually not true nowadays. Most of the Canadian owned ones are made brand new by CSA (Czech Small Arms) with no repurposed parts. They are completely devoid of cutouts in the receiver that would be required to even accept full-auto parts. The repurposed full-auto receivers were probably an early-import thing. They're all new production now. Source: My closet.
@@aviciouswalrus1303 CSA was using surplus parts a few years ago (bolt carriers, strikers, possibly receiver covers) but as those parts sources started to dry up, they use newly made parts, as of 2020 possibly all new parts only (source private email from CSA). Barrel, bolts and receivers were always newly manufactured.
AViciousWalrus Mine had weldment around where the sear sits, I was under the impression that’s the sign of a converted auto. Obviously I did bother to find out more about it because I sold my riffle to John. Source: John
I've always admired the ingenuity of this rifle. I never imagined (and never bothered to check) that it's lighter than the AK! It looks so sturdy and beefy compared to the AK. A real masterpiece.
An interesting fact about the Vz. 58 is that it was used frequently by loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland, following importation in the mid-1980s. The source of the weapons was South Africa, who agreed to send arms including the Vz. 58s in exchange for missile technology stolen by loyalists from a missile factory in Belfast. The rifles were originally PLO weapons, captured by the Israelis and then bundled into the arms deal by the Israel-friendly South Africans, who arranged for the weapons to be transported from Lebanon. However, much of the consignment was captured immediately after importation, including a one-third share which was destined for the Ulster Defence Association. One of the three groups involved in the importation was a newly-formed group, Ulster Resistance, who never carried out a significant campaign but who are believed to have retained a large portion of the weapons. That said, it isn't believed that UR actually hold many of the rifles anymore, as they gave many of the weapons to the two more active loyalist groups. One of the rifles imported was actually on display in the Imperial War Museum in London until recently, when it was discovered to have been used in 7 unsolved murders, including a sectarian massacre in a bookmaker's in South Belfast in 1992. It is now being used to assist the investigation of the bookmaker's massacre and has been removed from display, but had originally been handed into the police by an informant, who then neglected to perform proper forensic analysis of the weapon. It's strange how the weapons had such an international profile, and the actual story of the loyalist arms importation of the mid 1980s is fascinating, involving a British army agent within the UDA and lots of Le Carré-style action. If anyone is interested in learning more about arms importation to Ireland, then I recommend the book 'Gunrunners: The Covert Arms Trail to Ireland' by Sean Boyne.
Slovaks call the wooden furniture (material) on it "drevotrieska" and it is basically cuz those are splints glued together by epoxy or smthing. Splint=trieska, drevo=wood so. Great vid btw :) And I think that the Vz is still in service iirc
Fun fact, the standart version has nickname "pádlo" or paddle and the airborne version is called "kosa" or scythe in english. I used to have deactivated kosa :)
Ondrej Urban well yeah, its old nickname since it reminded soldiers of said paddle during their service, another nickname for it was “koště” or broom, but that was only during the early days of development.
@@minedynamiter Well, as far as my knowlage goes (and I'm from military family), the name "pádlo" was given due to the training, that claimed it could be used as a paddle if the situation needed it. I guess it can, still it's rather strange
This is a _stunningly_ good rifle. Head and shoulders above the AK--which itself, of course is an excellent gun. I really don't think Czech arms manufacturers get the acclaim and respect they deserve. The weapons they produce are just as good as Western offerings and in some cases superior. Just a lovely gun.
They say that the greatest honor a product can get is being copied by everyone. The CZ 75 is the second most copied gun in the world. Makes me feel proud of my country.
@EliteJag Mauser was produced 9 million, and sold only 4 million. For the basis of AK, I also took only the model of the 47th year. This number of sales can be much larger if you take into account such a Kalashnikov model as AKS, AKM, AKMS, AK74, AK74u, AK74H, AK74M, AK101, AK102, AK103, AK104, AK105, AK106, AK107, AK108.
During one of exercises we were doing some "advance on enemy position" in pairs, from cover to cover, fire 2-3 shots per cover (blank) number of covers was calculated that when we reached the end of track for this exercise we should fired atleast 3 magazines and some rounds from last one (you carry 4 full magazines as standart) and then fire the rest of ammo from last magazine in full auto inside bunker which was the end of track. (about that full auto, we were told at the doors to bunker where instuctor threw a training grenade inside as if we were breaching it) so Me very clever guy, thought before that, that i will shoot only so much that i spent only one magazine through whole track so i dont have to clean the gun so much after.........my clever idea crumbled at the entrance of that bunker where i was told to shoot rest of my ammo (3 magazines) so i did, gun did not jammed, but the barrel got so hot i could not hold the gun for the handguard even when i had leather gloves
8:15 If anybody is interested, the writing says: "It is forbidden to turn on during daytime without a shutter and aim against bright light Range for light machine gun and assault rifle"
@@iplaygames8090 Because you wold have damaged property of socialist people and you would have been useless in combat when blind and due to betrayed the trust put into you by socialist people. Thats a communist desription why they wrote that there.
The bolt lock up is really quite elegant. In fact, internally it’s all very elegant. The wood and finish are a bit crude, but the design is far from crude.
looks can be decieving look up demo ranches torture tests on hi points lol people always think cheap means junk but simple is alot of the times better than complicated
@@MoarteaLunii Double barreled shotguns (like revolvers) have rather delicate trigger work inside, and like any shotguns, have comparatively fragile barrels. I wouldn't say a hunting shotgun is a super reliable bombproof firearm, when put next to any military firearm at all. They're just used in low-wear conditions, never thrown around, just carried slowly and fired a couple dozen times a season. Add to that very low pressure ammo for essentially endless barrel life and low wear on lockwork. And STILL double-barrels' hinges and locks tend to become very loose with use over decades, needing refurbishment.
I'm always so happy when you showcase Czechoslovakian guns, I'm from Slovakia and gun history in our country is basically non-existent, so when i see something from our brothers its really nice :D
Marek, look up the PS 97 pistol made by Považské strojárne POVZBROJ. Very beautiful and comfortable to shoot. Too bad that it desintegrates itself after merely 2000 shots.
If you are interested in Czech weapons try CZ BREN 2 or CZ 805 Mk II. It is modernised version of Bren 805. Completely new weapon which Czech army use now as a replacement for Vz. 58. Available in 5.56x45 mm NATO and 7.62 x 39 mm. You can easily change the barrel.
Glad to hear that, we love you too, guys! I hope your future president will not be the one who wants to ban or tax your assault rifles... Greetings from the Czech Republic!
@@ABC21129 If the situation gets to the most drastic measures, I would be happy to come to help... I guess they would not let me bring my 7.62x51 AR, so you would have to let me use one of yours... :-)
I took my VZ to a weekend rifle course where one arm of the locking wedge snapped off midway through. Didn't realize it until I got home and cleaned it. Disassembled and the broken piece fell out of the receiver. Gun ran just fine, no change in operation, and ate through approx 500 rounds in that condition.
One has to appreciate the valiant effort that went into your pronounciation of the name Jiří Čermák. That's not a name that rolls out of foreigner's tongue easily.
pretty sure it was an old ww2 g41 if you mean the sniper and the other gun she used was an ak-47 actually i take that back i looked it up it is the vz 58
Iraq 2004: we are searching / clearing buildings in Fallujah during Operation Vigilant Resolve. We find a Mercedes Benz with Texas plates and a VZ 58 with folding stock in the front seat, in a garage. I knew what gun it was, but didnt know how to operate it.
12:35 - it takes time to learn the trick to remove the "hammer" 15:23 - actually the rifle continues to cycle even when the spring breaks down or is removed - the bolt carrier slams the protruding piston while going into battery. Seen three rifles (over course of time) doing this and the only way the operator found out the piston return spring was broken was during cleaning. 19:59 - thats not entirely correct - Czech Small Arms (CSA) makes brand-new (no spare parts) rifles - including the recievers (wich were and still are precions-cast and machined to finish specs - I had the opportunity to see the casting tooling) 20:56 - not yet fully replaced - some reserve units of the AČR are still equiped with Vz. 58 rifles. Also Slovakia still uses Vz. 58 rifles.
I love that Ian is obsessed with mechanical engineering. I feel like how the gun locks up is mostly overlooked when it's the most interesting part of firearms. IMO
I have one of the semi-auto civilian versions by Czechpoint USA. It feels so solidly built for its light weight, and I think that all over again every time I pick it up. The ease of disassembly is very impressive for a firearm from its era. Gun store folk will tell you there isn't much of an aftermarket for these rifles, but don't believe that; I've been able to find every darn thing you could think of. Many stock options, drums, you name it.
Thanks for this video. It used to be my father's service rifle, he said it's pretty reliable in any conditions. And in my opinion also quite controlable (for such ammo and not "straight-line" recoil construction). It's one of few things we made well in that era :)
The wood originally used had an undesirable property in combat. It shattered into splinters when hit by a projectile. These splinters could injure the owner of the weapon. So they switched to plastic.
Taking off the bayonet by pulling it might not be a bad idea. It works as a safety mechanism to prevent you from stabbing someone by moving the blade towards you instead of moving it outwards
i think the the more important action - putting it on is much better from the rear as you arent unnecesarily putting your hand before the muzzle and seems to be more ergonomic and faster way to do it too
Fun fact: the legend has it that the VZ58 could not be named "assault rifle" for propaganda reasons: the Czech state was the western-most part of Eastern bloc countries, thus enclosed in Iron curtain and would be first in line in case of invasion both ways. So the border patrol could not be armed with anything that would suggest assault from communists, because they would never do such a thing - of course ;) So because there are no "defending rifles" (despite what some Americans would like you to believe), the VZ58 was designated as "samopal", which is "sub machine gun", although it does not use pistol cartridge.
Basically, the submachine gun vz. 58 assault weapon, but only the magazine capacity separates it from the full definition of an assault weapon. This was "solved" by a "bag" on the 4th magazines, which really went to fire in a row without cooling the barrel. As for the attack on the part of Czechoslovakia, and who has experience from the western circuit, it would not really be possible with what was available on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The buffer zone was to serve first for a small confrontation. The use of "psychological" atomic warheads of the enemy before the deployment of tactical warheads was assumed. There were basically no specially trained crews or modern technology in the buffer zone. The vast majority were Potemkin's villages, ergo deceptive targets. The imprialists were given empty warehouses of nuclear weapons in buffer zones that behaved like real ones, including the movement of material, etc., or infantile plans of attacks to begin the activity of many armies from their movements near the Iron Curtain ... simply nonsense. The Russian was only waiting for the mistake of the other party, because his policy demanded and still requires justifiable reason for the future.
You seem to forget that the AK47 was also devised as a submachinegun, not for propaganda reasons but that's simply the role it was meant to fill. STG-44 was devised a rifle with the capabilities of a Submachinegun AK-47 was devised a submachinegun with the capabilities of a rifle
Its hearth-warming to realise, that THIS excelent piece of our arsenal is loved for same reasons anywhere. PS.: Greetings from city of beer, Pilsen. And of course, thanks Ian for this episode.
I remember that. I think it was called the AK-CZ or something like that. It had a three-round burst, just like the game's AK74. Which was odd because the game was developed in the Czech Republic.
This video almost brought tear to my eye because the channel is called "Forgotten Weapons" and I used this weapon a lot 8 years ago on my basic military training. But luckily we use Bren now which is much much better (especially the Bren 2)
Which is funny, because it always makes me think of Operation Flashpoint where I first saw it. IIRC it's incorrectly known as the AK47(CZ) or something in that despite the game being made in the Czech Republic, and also incorrectly accepts AK mags.
I have a one I picked up as a curiosity a while back, planned on selling it. But after a few mags at the range it is a permanent part of the collection. Such a great gun. Thanks Czechoslovakia! Keep up the good work!
Oh yes, this was my favorite arm, when I was at my military service (Czecho-Slovakia 1988 - 1990) :-) It was very accurate. It was easy to hit the target at a few hundreds meters. Thanks for this nice video, short return to my youth :-)
Thanks Ian for a great presentation. Used AK's in the Middle East for a while until we had to give them back and then we were issued with these (brand new, but old, in 2014...yes...they had never been used) and at first glance we thought "Oh no" when we saw how "cheap" it looked. Well, that was my reaction. At the range I was pleasantly surprised with its accuracy and it was exceptionally accurate considering what it looked like. Our were also the full auto models, issued with the sling and a leather magazine pouch. We did not get the bayonet though as it would have anyway not be functional for the purpose we used them for. In short, the VZ58 impressed despite the "cheap looking" bits.
I've referred to it as a linear hammer since that makes the most sense when you consider what it does and the general mechanism that it uses. I also heard a number of people refer to it as a better rifle than the AK. Owning a VZ. 58 makes me agree with that from an overall shooting perspective I would definitely say I love it and its much funner to shoot than the few times I've shot an AK and, while not strictly related much beyond cartridge, my SKS. I haven't fired a VZ. 58 or an AK from full auto so I'm speaking strictly from a semi-auto perspective. I also built mine from a kit and honestly, after machining, the assembly seems much simpler than an AK especially considering how much tighter the tolerances are compared to an AK. The VZ. 58 has closer tolerances while being much simpler and easier to properly headspace and function properly. From a "soldier" perspective issuing these takes a similar aspect as the AK as its pretty well a "Point gun at enemy and shoot," and you dont need to teach the soldier much about maintaining it, its field disassembly was pretty much shown by Ian; It has 4 basic parts in form of the piston cover, piston, receiver cover, and bolt/bolt carrier. One of the things Ian didn't show(unless I missed it) was that on the inner right side of the receiver is a "lever" mechanism that pivots around a rivet and keeps the trigger and sear pins from falling out similar to anti-roll/walk pins.
Fun fact: You can’t own an AK in the state of Maryland, but you’re allowed to own a VZ. Absolutely love this gun. Never had a single issue with it, and no one I know owns one.
I've considered the idea of getting this rifle for a few years now. Seeing the beautiful craftsmanship and how well-designed this rifle is, I have no choice but to get one.
Fun fact: That scene was actually pretty realistic as it was first version of vz.58 with full guarded front sight and a lot of these guns along with the vz.61 and vz.24 were actually sent to the Vietnam to help NVA with their communism bullshit
When I served in the Czech Army, I had exactly this weapon and fired from it countless times. Disassembling the set and then completely assembling it was a matter of less than 30 seconds. The weapon is incredibly durable, very reliable and at the same time very accurate. Nice video in which I remembered. Thanks.
Two fun facts: You can remember the fire selector like "none for the ground, all 30 for the enemy and one for yourself." They did actually teach it that way.
The fixed stock variant is known as "a Paddle" and is exactly meter long with a bayonet and the variant with collapsible stock is often called "a scythe".
also: while the word samopal means "automatic" as Ian mentioned, it is usually understood as a submachinegun, the story (which i cannot prove) goes that the armies of the warsaw pact were all "peace armies" and no army of peace army could be armed with something categorized as an assault rifle, therefore the vz. 58 was called "samopal", the same way as vz. 26 or vz. 61 scorpion.
Thank you.
@@petrsidlo7614 Very interesting.
@@petrsidlo7614 To be fair, "assault rifle" is a very "american" term. In my country for example, the type of weapon is simply called an "automatic carbine" ("Automatkarbin" or "AK") in military terms.
@@lavrentivs9891 Assault Rifle, Sturm Gewehr, has originated from Germany, specifically Hitler himself.
NATO then used the term as well, first as a substitute of Automatic Rifle (let's be real, despite ROF, you can basically use a M14 as a BAR), then to identify rifles with intermediate cartridges, like M16, StG 77 and so on.
It's true that the M14 and AK were also intended to be used like SMGs, but both sides realized it just didn't work.
1) Boots - Check
2) Vest - Check
3) Food - Check
4) Water - Check
5) Ammunition - Check
6) Rifle - Czech
Not a proper pun unless you groan out loud when you hear it.
I kicked myself for not seeing this coming when reading this. Take my like, I lol'd in real life. :P
Take my like, friend. That was clever
@@dabritishgamer4328 I snickered. Close enough?
@@dabritishgamer4328 Or it registers on a Sighs-mograph.
"Only the Czechs insisted on going their own way"
Well, that's almost all of Czech history for you
We bent over to other countries for the last 80 years. First the nazis, then the communists, and now the EU.
@Martin Čelko Pozri si výsledky volieb po vojne. Česi jasne volili komunistov a dodnes ich majú v parlamente. Havel si poslušne podával ruky s nimi. Preto Karel Kryl povedal, že sa vlastne nič nezmenilo. A netreba zabúdať, že v Protektoráte bol najmenší odpor voči nacistom v celej Európe. My sme mali aspoň to nepodarené SNP. Dokonca aj v atentáte na Heydricha mali prsty slováci. Gabčík bol Slovák.
Česi a slováci sú rovnaká banda. Hitler mal pravdu, že existujú silnejšie a slabšie národy. My a česi sme submisívni. Podobne ako poliaci či ukrajinci. Raz Nemci, raz rusi, teraz EÚ. Keby prišla Čína, tak nás tiež prevalcujú ako psov.
A hlavne vidno aké máme komplexy, hlavne z rusov, lebo nás ponížili. Je to trápne. Oni sú proste silnejší a my sa chováme ako Churchill, ktorý bol pokadený zo Stalina.
Takí fíni, ktorí sú o niečo väčší národ ako my, sú omnoho schopnejší a bojovnejší. A dali rusom na držky.
Nie je národ ako národ.
CGTOW
@Martin Čelko The youtube translate is just barley helps get your point across
Damn
Can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for this one. To me, it’s the ultimate symbol of czechnology
Isn't that the vz. 52/57? That gun screams Czech..... and screams of huffing diesel fumes.
Same
Aleksej Rakić The 58 was one of the first guns outside of ARs and AKs that I learned about. As a kid, it’s actually the reason I learned czechs exist at all. Can’t help but appreciate it for that :)
@@steelcider-9508 Ahh, I was joking. On InRange Karl used a 52 during Red Oktober, the gun showed how terrible it is. I was saying it is very Czech by how weird and terrible it is.
Aleksej Rakić wasn’t offended at all. I remember watching that match and being kinda bummed that it performed so bad. Cause it is such a cool looking rifle
Recently banned in Canada, my friend luckily lost his in a boating accident.
SBR laws are dumb.
@@Cowboycomando54 The reasoning for them isn't even valid anymore.
@@Cowboycomando54 well you see, someone stole guns, impersonated a cop, and killed people. So ban guns, obviously.
It’s funny, my “friend” had the same problem!
@@Hansengineering yeah because you can impersonate a cop with 1958 czechoslovak assault rifle :D apparently :D
French guns: Named after the man and his friends who designed and built the thing
Czech: A U T O M A T I C M O D E L 5 8
Straight to the point. This is Hmg this is SMG and this is a Plane
Its military weapon so its got military name. We have no intention of giving it a compliments and fuck it later. Get over it
@@neuzdost1939 So you're telling me I didn't have to spend all that money on rose petals and scented candles for my gun?
Machinegun vz.58
SA58 = Samočiný automat 58 => self working automatic 58
I am just here to tell you to prepare for waves of enthusiastic Czechs, giving you free Czech language and history lessons. We are always happy to take over the comments any chance we get...
Jo
If you bring your excellent beer, you’re always welcome 🍻
Patrioti spojte se :)
Matt Hayward you know your beer is good when an entire class of beer is named after one of your cities
The CZ range of pistols dominating Production Div in IPSC certainly gained your country many admirers down this way I can tell you!!!
World: Upgrades its rifle and changes caliber.
Czech: Ne, puška je v pořádku
Souhlas.
Velkopopovice arms
Čest pádlu soudruhu!
Czech: we have lots of these and for mobilized army it’s good enough (pardon, že to není česky, ale chtěl jsem, aby si to mohl přečíst každý)
@@Hetschoter nejak to uz rozchodim :D:D:D
Slovak infantrymen I worked with in Kandahar Afghanistan carried these back in 2014. They're the damned coolest guns I got to shoot while there. Been wanting one of my own ever since.
The rifles they had, had been "modernized" with plastic rails like those cheap ones made for AKs and red dots and I think one guy had an m4 style stock... the mods were kind of ghastly. Most of the infantrymen had the old folding stocks though. The one I shot had all the original furniture on it except the upper heat shield.
I'll be honest, if I had to fight for a warsaw pack country... I'd take the vz.58 over an AK any day.
Most likely FAB Defence kits... they work way better than they look, as long as you dont magdump during weekend with temps around 35°C in the shade... I have half-melted mine, so switchover to CNC'd parts was necessary.
What were the Slovaks like?
@@vaclavjebavy5118 They were solid soldiers. Helped us out quite a bit and were good with the Afghans. Very professional and knew what they were doing.
@@OspreyKnight Cool.
I suppose you'd figured why I asked :p
Lovely to hear that. Greetings from Slovakia ;-)
I always love "0, 1, 30" markings. Like "just go ahead and shoot the whole mag. You know you're gonna."
There's a saying here about it. "One for yourself, zero/none into the ground, 30 (vz.58) / 20 (vz.61) for the enemy" :)
My favorite is the H&K markings: No Bullet, One Bullet, Three Bullet and Many Bullet.
0, 1, ∞ are even better, makes you think of 1980s action movie shootouts
Just once I'd like to see a rifle with the markings "S" "1" and "FU"
@@Sseltraeh89 eh. Too memey. Also, mathematically incomplete. Is it a Real infinity? Complex? Integers? Natural Numbers? 0,1,n would be more accurate, but still too memey.
Always had a soft spot for Czech engineering and beer.
I'm saying that as a German.
You Germans always liked our shit in the case of weapons :D .Almost 1/3 of German tanks during invasion of Poland and France were Czech made Pz. 38(t) :D
@@saiien2 Try to take it as a compliment, we recognize quality when we see it :)
Chech engineering is something genious. Just look at thei best truck in the world in my opinion - Tatra - thats unique
@@zenly_csgo Czech...not chech...Chech is for Chechnya.
@@4mageo it always hard for me because in russian we write it - Чех - I dont get that letter Z there - also in russian we call Chechens - similar - Чех
I remember when I was a little kid and went to a summer camp. At night they gave us a deactivated vz.58 and told us to guard the camp. It was cool we were always sitting at the fire with the gun and felt badass.
I do own deactivated vz 58
It was gift for my like umh 10th birthday xd
Dude, why didnt they give me a deactivated m31 when i was in summer camp?!
How can one guard anything with a deactivated weapon?
@@horeageorgian7766 we were kids man
@@ahrenscat8517 sure, but still, even as a kid did it not hit you how illogic that was?
"Samopal" is the term used for SMGs. (An MG would be called "kulomet" and an assault rifle would be called "útočná puška".)
Even though the vz.58 is an assault rifle, the older Czechoslovak firearm terminology only recognized "lehký samopal" (light SMG, or today just SMG) and "těžký samopal" (heavy SMG, the equivalent of an assault rifle). That's the reason why the vz.58 was dubbed "samopal" (SMG), even though with the modern terminology we would call it "útočná puška" (an assault rifle).
Fun trivia: "Samopal" literally means "something that can fire on its own".
More fun facts. Early arquebuses were called "самопал" (samopal) in Russian. It literally ment "self-igniting" as opposed to hand cannons that needed separate ignition rods. And now this word transformed into an adjective "samopalny" that means DIY stuff in a little bit ironic way.
It might be autoshoot. :-D
EDIT: I'm thinking about and autofire is just better because pálit means to shoot but also to burn (and to destill if you're talking about moonshine)
Samopal = Selfshooter
@@KoudZ robíme reklamu Československu >:D
@@comNartheus
Yup, "samopal" is russian name for "zip guns"
When she's a 3 on the street, but a 10 under the sheets.
That furniture do look pretty, I'd simp for the Vz. 58 with no shame
If Google weren't tracking keyboard strokes, I'd say something about moving to Czech Republic, but I don't want to be bombarded by ads
I don’t think it’s any uglier than an ak
@Vladimir Kozlovsky beaver barf😫😫😫
I've had the chance to shoot this rifle multiple times in shooting ranges in Slovakia. For its age its surprisingly reliable and accurate
It's surprisingly easy to update the design as well. It's just such a handy, easy to carry and shoot little rifle.
Ahoy, from Slovakia
Tbf, Most of the time the age of a gun really doesn’t determine it’s reliability, It’s just how well it has been maintained through out its life (And of course its initial build quality)
And it also feels like firing a fake 47 or AKM.. The grip and trigger feels werid, the selector is horrible, or at least in my case it was, very jaggy and sticky, just horrible, maybe it was faulty, and if thats normal then I imagine troops using this never switch it to safety unless they storing it somewhere.. For todays standards it really feels outdated, but granted just as most AKs its super sturdy and insanely reliable, thats its biggest streghts I guess.. With a bit of modding, making it a bit more modern in terms of ergonomics and trigger system I think this could be one of the best firearms out there, but that pretty much once again goes for many AKs and variants, well at least those in 7.62 and not the baby ones in 5.45
@@NotEvenDeathCanSaveU the fire selector is supossed to be uncomfortable when in safe possition, so because of that you remember to switchit off and don´t run in to any significant emotional events like gun not firing because you forgot to disengage safety.
Headline: 10,000 Canadians lose recently prohibited CZ 858 rifles in rash of boating accidents.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine global warming, snow melting
What is with that gun now?
@@DOMINIK99013 banned along with the vz58 recently because a guy impersonated an rcmp officer and went on a killing spree using stolen/undocumented firearms. not any of the ones on the list of banned weapons, but thats not important right?
Why? They were classified as prohibited but that just means they are hard to sell to anyone but the government and almost impossible to buy it does not actually mean they will be confiscated. There is no reason to "lose" them.
@Robert Ross My buddy shoots a 32acp at the range...
We Czechs had a lot of military material made on our own cause we had a lot of experience and the industry from beeing the industrial hearth of Austria Hungary. We were also one of the most independent eastern block countries cause we liked to do stuff in our way. So that's kind of one of the reason for our partial independence.
@Loran2014 I meant militarily. Cause our military industry was pretty unique compared to the rest of the east block.
Tito of Yugoslavia, the real independant leader, all my respect to him
@Loran2014 You forgot Romania Ceausescu and Albania Enver. Very indepence.
@@peterthepeter7523 We still used the 7.62, so I am guessing that was enough for the soviets.
@Loran2014 Very true. The fact is, we elected some communists in '46 in the parliament and in early '48 they basically took over in a paramilitary coup (see People's Militia) and a reign of terror ensued, which kind of loosened in '53 after Gottwald's death and '56 after Khrushchyov denounced Stalin. But we were still tamed by the party, unlike the Poles or Hungarians, who had to be crushed in the 50's. We took until '68...
Czech history in gun form:
On the outside, we comply...
On the inside, we're very, very differant....
Actually, we slavs are all the same. We even understand each other without any translation, albeit using completely different alphabets. Russians just have different government. And neither of us completely agree with what they (I mean the governments) are doing.
@@atomotron biggest overstatement I've seen in my life
@@shilopnamreg6468 how about even bigger one: all people are the same. They have more similarity than discrepancy.
@@atomotron hmm yes culture doesn't exist
Mate, that's spot on. I am finding my kind of people on these gun channels. I've been opposed to guns as I thought people will come to their senses after the fall of Soviet Union, but once I see the craze all around the world I have totally changed my point of view.
AK guys: Rifle is fine
CZ: Rifle is finer
How can you say something so controversial yet so true?
@@girishmahajan3646 It's okay, many an AKM owner will freely admit as much. We love our AKs, and they are quite rugged and well-built (we... uh, we just won't talk about Century guns) but we'll certainly concede they're not perfect. That CZ's gettin' close though! I've dreamt of beaver barf for several years now, but haven't yet found any that aren't Century-built; sucks that both of those platforms are afflicted with CAI. Sorry, I said we weren't gonna talk about that...
Exactly 😂
No
VZ is not better than AK, remember that
USSR: "Comrade, you want AK?"
CZ: "Uhh... No comrade, we good."
USSR: "We make good gun."
CZ: [Laughs in Czechnology]
Actually csr no cz
CechoSlovakisch Republik
You also write UdSSR not Russia only
;)
Soviets: (proudly display their AK-47)
Czechs: "That's nice..." 🙄
Branislav Průžek Don't be that guy....
Pavel D.
Im not Bro
Im also half cz and half sk
And we was csr not only cz
Just for corekt writeings ;)
Russians: we made a perfect assault rifle!
Czechs: Hold my Pilsner!
😂😂
How accurate :D
thats perfect :D :D
that made me laugh
Also Czechs: Fight all the way through Russia to fucking Vladivostock, piss there on russian AK AND fight all the way through Russia back to home!
(OK, there was no AK in 1920, but you get the point, no?) :)))
I believe that the main benefit of their bayonet design is that it keeps you from putting your hand in front of the muzzle when attaching it.
I was imagining myself holding a gun and putting a bayonet on it, ergonomically it also makes more sense, you stretch your arm out less, stay a more compact and you can more easilly see what you are doing while still pointing your gun facing enemy.
And there's no way the bayonet is gonna Carcano off from recoil.
Beautiful pronunciation of Czech words, it can be seen that he cared. Thanks, it's flattering and professional from you.
Jiří Čermák vyslovuje ako Jizi Čemak.
@@adrianakuzmikova1697 Tak jasně, není to dokonalý, ale snaží se, je vidět, že si dal práci.
9th 😅I⁸9 loop
80@@hollohlaway5320
Vz. 58 is actually still in service in the Czech army. It is used by the reservists.
dont forget Slovakia, they still use it as theyr primary combat rifle
What replaced the vz.58 as the current primary rifle?
Lavrentivs the CZ 805 Bren and the later CZ 806 Bren 2, I believe.
@@jason1182000 806 was 7.62 variant of 805, Bren2 is its own gun, no 800-ish number designation to it at all
Replaced by Bren 805 as primary combat rifle and 806 in SPR role in active forces. Vz58 still remain as primary for reservist.
VZ 58 facts: It mesures exactly one meter with bayonet on.
Coplapsible stock was used by tankers and such other mechanized troopes used paddle vz 58.
I was trained for 30 mm PLDvK, we used Vz 58 with side-folding stock there, too.
Folding stock version was for paratroopers thats waht the V stands (výsadkový). tankers sued scorpion as side arm. rifle would be too big to move round with.
As a Czech person I deeply respect your knowledge and research you have done into this rifle. And most of your assumptions and conclusions are absolutely correct!
version vith movable stock was called "a scythe" between soldiers due its shape and version with solid (wooden) was called "a paddle." It was durable and simple weapon. If you gave it proper care, it was excelent weapon. I was using this weapon in late 1990s during my Czech army duty.
May I know more please.
@@josephpearson3947 same
Yes tell us more please Kamil
Do you sacrifice children?
@@denpabacon8501 Yeah, but only orphans. ;)
One the best firearms I've ever shot
Out of curiosity, may i ask why so?
@@madingahmar4420 No you may not.
@@Ean.oo7 lmao
@@Ean.oo7 Roasted.
🤤
I have a left-handed friend who traded his AR for another friend's VZ, and it works so much better for him. He can switch the safety with his firing hand thumb and eject mags with his trigger finger like I can with my AR, and it is a wonderful little rifle.
Greetings from CZ. Stay strong there over ocean in this weird time.
Ahoj from USA!
Thank you. We need it
Hello from Texas I want to go to Czech Republic to visit my ancestral background
STOP
Czech yo’ self.
Thank you from Alaska
21:00 "It's kind of interesting, that this is a rifle that, from about 1961 on... this was its form, it wasn't ever really modernized in any substantial way... which is a little bit unusual compared to some of the work that was done to various AK patterns."
Well, seemingly in Czechoslovakia they appreciate the virtue of "getting it right the *first* time."
The reason why vz.58 was never modenized was soviet invasion in 1968. We were not alowed to invite our weapons from that time until Gorbacov came in lead position.
No actually it's called it was so bad they didnt want to touch it again
@@AlmazZGruppa But why, if it is better than an Ak?
I am a machinist in the medical implant industry so my parts are required to have tight tolerances and very good machined finishes. I think the Czech machinists make EXCELLENTLY machined weapons. This is a beautifully made rifle. If you are a Czech machinist, keep up the great work. Your country puts out some super quality weapons. CZ rifles and pistols are always flawless when they are being ran and are really accurate too.
It had nothing to do with "permission". None of other Warsaw Pact states had a domestic arms industry worth speaking of. You'll notice that in WW1 and WW2 they were all using foreign sourced armaments.
The Bohemian industrial regions were the industrial heartland of the former Austro Hungarian empire...they had the infrastructure and skills, the other states didnt.
Not that bad idea even from Soviet standpoint. And they were not paying for the development, so why not.
"The Bohemian industrial regions were the industrial heartland of the former Austro Hungarian empire"
Steyr: am I a joke to you?
In terms of general heavy industry you're probably right though, look at how much misery Austria-Hungary went through trying to build battleships.
The area of the crown of bohemia6had close to 70% of all the industry in Austro-Hungary. Hungary had no industry to speak of so the rest was in Austria lol
@@MalikCarr yes, Styer, you're a joke to us.
We had the luck that our cities and industries were not turned into rubble in the WW2 .. most of our neighbors didnt have this kind of luck
Memories: I had one of these when I lived in Soviet Kanuckistan. It came with the bayonet & sheath, six magazines, an original leather mag pouch, both kinds of stocks (fixed and folding), a muzzle nut, a muzzle brake, an original cleaning kit, and a 1968 dated crate of ammo (about 1200 rounds, IIRC, all on 10-round stripper clips). If memory serves, it cost me $650CA for the whole package. Mine was built on a full-auto receiver but didn't have the FA parts so it was semi-auto only. I took one of my first carbine classes with that gun and at first I was cringing as I performed reloads and watched my spent magazines fall into the wet sand at the range, feed lips down every time. I banged the mags on my knee pads to knock as much sand out of them as possible but it still made a gritty sound every reload. I shot over 1000 rounds at that class and had one malfunction (stuck case which I mortared out). After that class the Vz became my go-to carbine until I moved to the USA.
Where is kanukistan?
@@Bandera123 Canada. Get it: Kanuck + stan?
I used to.have one. Had an AK too..I preferred the underfolding AK stock compared to the skeleton stock VZ in a vehicle or when I didn't want the bloody thing in my way. The VZ is far more accurate.. And it's fire is more controllable. The AK is easier to clean though. But as shown, this is pretty simple. I just pulled it all apart soaked it in brake kleen and used Hoppe's to install it. Ten minutes if you're slow. I even preferred it to the Armalite based stuff
Ya the Canadian with the semi-automatic rifle and 30 round magazines which he never used to either end tyranny or hunt game with is upset about...and upset about this enough to fuck off to the US. lel
im ex-canadian too.
Vz58/Cz-858s are available to get too.
if you were still interested in owning one again.
absolutely love mine.
These are still used by the Slovakian army, although they are modernized. They are also pretty popular on the Slovakian civilian market.
Also Czech Army reserves still use them. And even Sa VZ.58 is considered as obsolete is still in ARMY inventory (curent service rifle/AR is CZ 806 BREN II / same unit still use CZ 805 BREN)
Nechcete si konečně od nás koupit už ty Breny? :D
Finally, a Forgotten Weapon that I actually own.
The one in video is full auto though...however many of the Canadian owned Vz58 are converted auto, meaning most of the rifle are build with original hardware, with slightly bubbahed receiver.
I know right!
@@kospencer1 That's actually not true nowadays. Most of the Canadian owned ones are made brand new by CSA (Czech Small Arms) with no repurposed parts. They are completely devoid of cutouts in the receiver that would be required to even accept full-auto parts.
The repurposed full-auto receivers were probably an early-import thing. They're all new production now.
Source: My closet.
@@aviciouswalrus1303 CSA was using surplus parts a few years ago (bolt carriers, strikers, possibly receiver covers) but as those parts sources started to dry up, they use newly made parts, as of 2020 possibly all new parts only (source private email from CSA). Barrel, bolts and receivers were always newly manufactured.
AViciousWalrus Mine had weldment around where the sear sits, I was under the impression that’s the sign of a converted auto. Obviously I did bother to find out more about it because I sold my riffle to John.
Source: John
I've always admired the ingenuity of this rifle. I never imagined (and never bothered to check) that it's lighter than the AK! It looks so sturdy and beefy compared to the AK. A real masterpiece.
I had a deactivated vz 58 in my hands during the sumer, and it is kinda light
Warsaw Pact: Now we all agree how to make our new gun.
CZ: ahem, *MY GUN*
An interesting fact about the Vz. 58 is that it was used frequently by loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland, following importation in the mid-1980s. The source of the weapons was South Africa, who agreed to send arms including the Vz. 58s in exchange for missile technology stolen by loyalists from a missile factory in Belfast.
The rifles were originally PLO weapons, captured by the Israelis and then bundled into the arms deal by the Israel-friendly South Africans, who arranged for the weapons to be transported from Lebanon. However, much of the consignment was captured immediately after importation, including a one-third share which was destined for the Ulster Defence Association. One of the three groups involved in the importation was a newly-formed group, Ulster Resistance, who never carried out a significant campaign but who are believed to have retained a large portion of the weapons. That said, it isn't believed that UR actually hold many of the rifles anymore, as they gave many of the weapons to the two more active loyalist groups.
One of the rifles imported was actually on display in the Imperial War Museum in London until recently, when it was discovered to have been used in 7 unsolved murders, including a sectarian massacre in a bookmaker's in South Belfast in 1992. It is now being used to assist the investigation of the bookmaker's massacre and has been removed from display, but had originally been handed into the police by an informant, who then neglected to perform proper forensic analysis of the weapon.
It's strange how the weapons had such an international profile, and the actual story of the loyalist arms importation of the mid 1980s is fascinating, involving a British army agent within the UDA and lots of Le Carré-style action. If anyone is interested in learning more about arms importation to Ireland, then I recommend the book 'Gunrunners: The Covert Arms Trail to Ireland' by Sean Boyne.
Wow that is super interesting
Really interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing
Slovaks call the wooden furniture (material) on it "drevotrieska" and it is basically cuz those are splints glued together by epoxy or smthing.
Splint=trieska, drevo=wood so. Great vid btw :) And I think that the Vz is still in service iirc
we czechs call it "dřevotříska"
Interesting.
there was also another material used in electronics construction, the hovňák(TM)... roughly meaning "made of 5h1t"
"dřevotříska" is actually DTF, so it's kind of joke (closes thing to this is modern OSB finished with epoxy resin).
@@dr.cheeze5382 Si zabil! :D
Fun fact, the standart version has nickname "pádlo" or paddle and the airborne version is called "kosa" or scythe in english. I used to have deactivated kosa :)
Slapnuts here had too many nicknames .., kosa is most known.., :)
Now they (we) don't use the pádlo nickname at all, and the kosa is used for all 58.
Ondrej Urban well yeah, its old nickname since it reminded soldiers of said paddle during their service, another nickname for it was “koště” or broom, but that was only during the early days of development.
@@minedynamiter "Koste" was official name for the project ;)
@@minedynamiter Well, as far as my knowlage goes (and I'm from military family), the name "pádlo" was given due to the training, that claimed it could be used as a paddle if the situation needed it. I guess it can, still it's rather strange
This is a _stunningly_ good rifle. Head and shoulders above the AK--which itself, of course is an excellent gun.
I really don't think Czech arms manufacturers get the acclaim and respect they deserve. The weapons they produce are just as good as Western offerings and in some cases superior.
Just a lovely gun.
They say that the greatest honor a product can get is being copied by everyone.
The CZ 75 is the second most copied gun in the world.
Makes me feel proud of my country.
I know I love my CZ 75!
Russians: "Everyone, we built a new gun for everybody to use and defend communism everywhere!"
Czechs: *laughing in czechoslovakian*
CSK: Yo, that AK is cool and all, but what if it was better?
It sold 0.9 million copies of vz.58 and 112.6 million copies of AK, guys. Only American shotgun Remington and Soviet RPG-7 can compete in sales of AK.
Although no, I was wrong. It sold 10 million copies of Remington and 9 million copies of RPG-7. So AK out of competition in the global market.
"Sold" copies dont matter for vz.58, it was never a commercial product, only used by czechslovak military and noone else.
@EliteJag Mauser was produced 9 million, and sold only 4 million. For the basis of AK, I also took only the model of the 47th year. This number of sales can be much larger if you take into account such a Kalashnikov model as AKS, AKM, AKMS, AK74, AK74u, AK74H, AK74M, AK101, AK102, AK103, AK104, AK105, AK106, AK107, AK108.
During one of exercises we were doing some "advance on enemy position" in pairs, from cover to cover, fire 2-3 shots per cover (blank) number of covers was calculated that when we reached the end of track for this exercise we should fired atleast 3 magazines and some rounds from last one (you carry 4 full magazines as standart) and then fire the rest of ammo from last magazine in full auto inside bunker which was the end of track. (about that full auto, we were told at the doors to bunker where instuctor threw a training grenade inside as if we were breaching it) so Me very clever guy, thought before that, that i will shoot only so much that i spent only one magazine through whole track so i dont have to clean the gun so much after.........my clever idea crumbled at the entrance of that bunker where i was told to shoot rest of my ammo (3 magazines) so i did, gun did not jammed, but the barrel got so hot i could not hold the gun for the handguard even when i had leather gloves
Best piece of particle board I've seen in my life.
That was my thought: "That is fleck board and resin."
Right
Czechs were true madlads in weapon-o-logy.
We still are. You should check (or Czech? :D) CZ-806 Bren. Czech army is starting to use them instead of CZ-805.
If you want to be a bit more academic, the term is "hoplolgy."
21:32
"Czech them out"
I'll see myself out.
Haha nice
8:15 If anybody is interested, the writing says:
"It is forbidden
to turn on during daytime without a shutter
and aim against bright light
Range for light machine gun and assault rifle"
Damm commies not allowing to destroy expensive equipment and blind you self :)
@@iplaygames8090 Because you wold have damaged property of socialist people and you would have been useless in combat when blind and due to betrayed the trust put into you by socialist people. Thats a communist desription why they wrote that there.
@@jansvoboda4242 vtip.....
The bolt lock up is really quite elegant. In fact, internally it’s all very elegant. The wood and finish are a bit crude, but the design is far from crude.
looks can be decieving look up demo ranches torture tests on hi points lol people always think cheap means junk but simple is alot of the times better than complicated
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Like a double barrel shotgun, it's not going to fail unless the ammo is pure shit.
@@MoarteaLunii Double barreled shotguns (like revolvers) have rather delicate trigger work inside, and like any shotguns, have comparatively fragile barrels. I wouldn't say a hunting shotgun is a super reliable bombproof firearm, when put next to any military firearm at all. They're just used in low-wear conditions, never thrown around, just carried slowly and fired a couple dozen times a season. Add to that very low pressure ammo for essentially endless barrel life and low wear on lockwork. And STILL double-barrels' hinges and locks tend to become very loose with use over decades, needing refurbishment.
You nailed the Samopal and Vzor pronunciation! Congrats! ;-)
Long have I waited for vz. 58...
Awesome video :)
I'm always so happy when you showcase Czechoslovakian guns, I'm from Slovakia and gun history in our country is basically non-existent, so when i see something from our brothers its really nice :D
as a proud owner of 2 VZ58's and other CZ made guns, I am a huge fan.
Thanks
Marek, look up the PS 97 pistol made by Považské strojárne POVZBROJ. Very beautiful and comfortable to shoot. Too bad that it desintegrates itself after merely 2000 shots.
@Cristian Rudi politics decided,not people.
@Cristian Rudi Do you still live with your borther?
Czechs looked at the AK and were like "pfft, casual, watch this shit" and thus the vz. 58 was born.
One of my favorite rifles I own! lots of love for Czechia from the USA.
If you are interested in Czech weapons try CZ BREN 2 or CZ 805 Mk II. It is modernised version of Bren 805. Completely new weapon which Czech army use now as a replacement for Vz. 58. Available in 5.56x45 mm NATO and 7.62 x 39 mm. You can easily change the barrel.
Glad to hear that, we love you too, guys! I hope your future president will not be the one who wants to ban or tax your assault rifles... Greetings from the Czech Republic!
@@TheCzechmate007 i hope not as well. But we will fight the legislation if the need arises
@@ABC21129 If the situation gets to the most drastic measures, I would be happy to come to help... I guess they would not let me bring my 7.62x51 AR, so you would have to let me use one of yours... :-)
Please don't ever use that "Czechia" title again... It's Czech Republic... I don't know what moron made that up...
I took my VZ to a weekend rifle course where one arm of the locking wedge snapped off midway through. Didn't realize it until I got home and cleaned it. Disassembled and the broken piece fell out of the receiver. Gun ran just fine, no change in operation, and ate through approx 500 rounds in that condition.
One has to appreciate the valiant effort that went into your pronounciation of the name Jiří Čermák. That's not a name that rolls out of foreigner's tongue easily.
This weapon is not so much forgotten here in Czechia, as it's a part of pretty much every single army museum.
Furt se i na některých útvarech používá, není to jenom muzejní relikvie :D
tak hlavně je tu pořád hodně lidí co byli na vojně. a pokud nebyli u tankánů a neměli škorpíky, tak přišli do styku výhradně s sa-58...
I'm kind of missing the obligatory "that's the gun from the sniper girl at the end of Full Metal Jacket" comment. So here it is.
pretty sure it was an old ww2 g41 if you mean the sniper and the other gun she used was an ak-47 actually i take that back i looked it up it is the vz 58
@@gcart7675 You're talking about the sound effects, right?
Iraq 2004: we are searching / clearing buildings in Fallujah during Operation Vigilant Resolve. We find a Mercedes Benz with Texas plates and a VZ 58 with folding stock in the front seat, in a garage. I knew what gun it was, but didnt know how to operate it.
i've heard the term ounces are pounds. this is literally pounds lighter.
That's what is "mind blowing" to me. Karl and Ian had to do a whole Thing to make a 6 pound rifle and the vz58 is just there, being 6 pounds.
Ounces make pounds, pounds make pain.
Not so forgotten, I use to carry one of these during my time in the army.
Maybe he wanted to explain a nice weapon cuz he was bored and liked the looks of the vz:58
He said in one of his Q&A videos that he’s planning on doing some more well known weapons
Wow, I'm really impressed by your knowledge about this rifle. This is the best video about VZ.58 I've ever seen.
Operation flashpoint Vet: ahh yes, memories.
12:35 - it takes time to learn the trick to remove the "hammer"
15:23 - actually the rifle continues to cycle even when the spring breaks down or is removed - the bolt carrier slams the protruding piston while going into battery. Seen three rifles (over course of time) doing this and the only way the operator found out the piston return spring was broken was during cleaning.
19:59 - thats not entirely correct - Czech Small Arms (CSA) makes brand-new (no spare parts) rifles - including the recievers (wich were and still are precions-cast and machined to finish specs - I had the opportunity to see the casting tooling)
20:56 - not yet fully replaced - some reserve units of the AČR are still equiped with Vz. 58 rifles. Also Slovakia still uses Vz. 58 rifles.
why you have 0 subs...
@@dixienormous1559 Just to make ppl point it out and rave
I love that Ian is obsessed with mechanical engineering. I feel like how the gun locks up is mostly overlooked when it's the most interesting part of firearms. IMO
I have one of the semi-auto civilian versions by Czechpoint USA. It feels so solidly built for its light weight, and I think that all over again every time I pick it up. The ease of disassembly is very impressive for a firearm from its era. Gun store folk will tell you there isn't much of an aftermarket for these rifles, but don't believe that; I've been able to find every darn thing you could think of. Many stock options, drums, you name it.
There was a prototype of a VZ 58 machine gun and it is named: VZ 58 Kleč
few of these has been made
Thanks for this video. It used to be my father's service rifle, he said it's pretty reliable in any conditions. And in my opinion also quite controlable (for such ammo and not "straight-line" recoil construction). It's one of few things we made well in that era :)
I was extremely surprised by the pronunciation of the word "SAMOPAL" , great job :-D
Average people: Wood-embedded bakelite
Intellectuals: *_B E A V E R B A R F_*
For some unknown reason I have remembered this comment for 3 months ago and just now I found it funny
@@ricardohernandez1685 I'm glad I made your day!
The wood originally used had an undesirable property in combat. It shattered into splinters when hit by a projectile. These splinters could injure the owner of the weapon. So they switched to plastic.
As a Canadian I should be insulted. But I can't stop laughing! Lmao
Have wondered how to (roughly) duplicate this stuff.
I appreciate how clearly and well you said "Samopal"!
Great work on the video as always, greetings from Slovakia.
Taking off the bayonet by pulling it might not be a bad idea.
It works as a safety mechanism to prevent you from stabbing someone by moving the blade towards you instead of moving it outwards
i think the the more important action - putting it on is much better from the rear as you arent unnecesarily putting your hand before the muzzle and seems to be more ergonomic and faster way to do it too
Fun fact: the legend has it that the VZ58 could not be named "assault rifle" for propaganda reasons: the Czech state was the western-most part of Eastern bloc countries, thus enclosed in Iron curtain and would be first in line in case of invasion both ways. So the border patrol could not be armed with anything that would suggest assault from communists, because they would never do such a thing - of course ;) So because there are no "defending rifles" (despite what some Americans would like you to believe), the VZ58 was designated as "samopal", which is "sub machine gun", although it does not use pistol cartridge.
It reminds me how they banned our first car with front drive, because it was unacceptable to have more advanced car then Soviets.
Basically, the submachine gun vz. 58 assault weapon, but only the magazine capacity separates it from the full definition of an assault weapon. This was "solved" by a "bag" on the 4th magazines, which really went to fire in a row without cooling the barrel. As for the attack on the part of Czechoslovakia, and who has experience from the western circuit, it would not really be possible with what was available on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The buffer zone was to serve first for a small confrontation. The use of "psychological" atomic warheads of the enemy before the deployment of tactical warheads was assumed. There were basically no specially trained crews or modern technology in the buffer zone. The vast majority were Potemkin's villages, ergo deceptive targets. The imprialists were given empty warehouses of nuclear weapons in buffer zones that behaved like real ones, including the movement of material, etc., or infantile plans of attacks to begin the activity of many armies from their movements near the Iron Curtain ... simply nonsense. The Russian was only waiting for the mistake of the other party, because his policy demanded and still requires
justifiable reason for the future.
Source on this?
@SlimyKlerburt that's not a source homie, that's fuddlore.
You seem to forget that the AK47 was also devised as a submachinegun, not for propaganda reasons but that's simply the role it was meant to fill.
STG-44 was devised a rifle with the capabilities of a Submachinegun
AK-47 was devised a submachinegun with the capabilities of a rifle
Its hearth-warming to realise, that THIS excelent piece of our arsenal is loved for same reasons anywhere.
PS.: Greetings from city of beer, Pilsen. And of course, thanks Ian for this episode.
Brings me back to *Operation Flashpoint: Resistance.* Yeah, I'm dating myself, I know....
OFP will never die!
I remember that. I think it was called the AK-CZ or something like that. It had a three-round burst, just like the game's AK74. Which was odd because the game was developed in the Czech Republic.
Haha, same. vz.58 = Resistance completely in my mind.
And Arma 2! Btw... you do some good music. ;-)
discord.gg/qsd4RCm
This video almost brought tear to my eye because the channel is called "Forgotten Weapons" and I used this weapon a lot 8 years ago on my basic military training. But luckily we use Bren now which is much much better (especially the Bren 2)
This looks like a low poly gun from a PS1 era game.
Do not dishonor our holy "Kosa" :-D
What a shame
I love the looks but it might be nostalgia as my father and his father served their years in military with this gun
Which is funny, because it always makes me think of Operation Flashpoint where I first saw it. IIRC it's incorrectly known as the AK47(CZ) or something in that despite the game being made in the Czech Republic, and also incorrectly accepts AK mags.
It is even worse in person lol
The term "samopal" is used for submachineguns. The vz. 58 is called like that because there was no term for assault rifle
Back in time, there was two words-"těžký samopal" a "lehký samopal". Now, "těžký samopal" is assualt riffle and "lehký samopal" is simply "samopal"
The AK was originally designated as a sub machine gun as well
samopal means asualt rifle or submachine gun
@@patrikhvizd14118 tvl, to že nějakej jouda řekne že je útočná puška(assault rifle) samopal, neznamená, že to tak je
Samopal .. to by se dalo přeložit jako "It self firing gun .)
So apparently due to the wood shortage (2021) my company is receiving crates made out of beaver barf material. Kinda funny
Never clicked faster
asi tak nějak :-)
Same! "bucket list" rifle for me
I have a one I picked up as a curiosity a while back, planned on selling it. But after a few mags at the range it is a permanent part of the collection. Such a great gun. Thanks Czechoslovakia! Keep up the good work!
Beaver Barf. I’m glad I stuck around to hear Ian say that.
Oh yes, this was my favorite arm, when I was at my military service (Czecho-Slovakia 1988 - 1990) :-) It was very accurate. It was easy to hit the target at a few hundreds meters. Thanks for this nice video, short return to my youth :-)
Terrific video as always. I picked up a new production VZ58 from Czechpoint USA and what a quality rifle. I really like the design and feel of it.
Operation Flashpoint: Resistance AKs
For the longest time I thought the rifle models for the resistance militia's ak's in that game
were a bit wonky and off then it hit me...
One great game
Yes!!! You know it! What a game.
Thanks Ian for a great presentation. Used AK's in the Middle East for a while until we had to give them back and then we were issued with these (brand new, but old, in 2014...yes...they had never been used) and at first glance we thought "Oh no" when we saw how "cheap" it looked. Well, that was my reaction. At the range I was pleasantly surprised with its accuracy and it was exceptionally accurate considering what it looked like. Our were also the full auto models, issued with the sling and a leather magazine pouch. We did not get the bayonet though as it would have anyway not be functional for the purpose we used them for. In short, the VZ58 impressed despite the "cheap looking" bits.
I've referred to it as a linear hammer since that makes the most sense when you consider what it does and the general mechanism that it uses. I also heard a number of people refer to it as a better rifle than the AK. Owning a VZ. 58 makes me agree with that from an overall shooting perspective I would definitely say I love it and its much funner to shoot than the few times I've shot an AK and, while not strictly related much beyond cartridge, my SKS. I haven't fired a VZ. 58 or an AK from full auto so I'm speaking strictly from a semi-auto perspective. I also built mine from a kit and honestly, after machining, the assembly seems much simpler than an AK especially considering how much tighter the tolerances are compared to an AK. The VZ. 58 has closer tolerances while being much simpler and easier to properly headspace and function properly. From a "soldier" perspective issuing these takes a similar aspect as the AK as its pretty well a "Point gun at enemy and shoot," and you dont need to teach the soldier much about maintaining it, its field disassembly was pretty much shown by Ian; It has 4 basic parts in form of the piston cover, piston, receiver cover, and bolt/bolt carrier. One of the things Ian didn't show(unless I missed it) was that on the inner right side of the receiver is a "lever" mechanism that pivots around a rivet and keeps the trigger and sear pins from falling out similar to anti-roll/walk pins.
Fun fact: You can’t own an AK in the state of Maryland, but you’re allowed to own a VZ. Absolutely love this gun. Never had a single issue with it, and no one I know owns one.
This, combined with the fact that criminals by definition don't follow the law, is why gun laws always fail.
@@logicplague sounds like DC and Baltimore to a T. Gun free cities, but there’s a shooting every other day
I've considered the idea of getting this rifle for a few years now. Seeing the beautiful craftsmanship and how well-designed this rifle is, I have no choice but to get one.
Now playing: "Kde domov můj".
Fun fact: it was the gun used by the sniper girl in "Full Metal Jacket"
Fun fact: That scene was actually pretty realistic as it was first version of vz.58 with full guarded front sight and a lot of these guns along with the vz.61 and vz.24 were actually sent to the Vietnam to help NVA with their communism bullshit
Have been waiting for ages for a video on probably pinned of the best but unknown weapons ever made.
Thanks
The slang name of the material from which the stock is made when translated from russian is "beaver's poo"
Thank you Gubanov, very cool!
Как по русски?
@@fiatlux4058 бобриная какашка. 8-)
When I served in the Czech Army, I had exactly this weapon and fired from it countless times. Disassembling the set and then completely assembling it was a matter of less than 30 seconds. The weapon is incredibly durable, very reliable and at the same time very accurate. Nice video in which I remembered. Thanks.
If I remember correctly, I did it in less than 20 seconds.. And with my eyes covered by the scarf..
That is an impressive rifle. Masterfully engineered. Simple and reliable.
It's always so interesting to watch these especially when you open it up, show internals and tell how it functions!
Will always be my favorite rifle will choose it over my M&P anyday.
Very good presentation, author has very much information. I remember my Vz.58 from my compulsory military service. Amazing weapon.
Quite a few of these made its way to the conflict known as "The Troubles" in my home country of Northern Ireland.
Bout time to clean off the cosmoline, then!
Together with a couple of boxes of Semtex, I guess..
tastychunks those tended to be for the other side
Over 200 bought from Lebanese Arms dealers in a joint operation by the UVF, UDA and Ulster Resistance.
At first it looks like a bootleg AK
But the more I look at it, the more genius it looks. All those little things that are done better.