CZ-2000
Notes: The CZ-2000 is a Czech assault designed
to replace older Czech and Slovakian assault rifles in the wake of those two
countries joining NATO and needing an assault rifle that matched the standard
NATO assault rifle cartridge (5.56mm NATO).
Attention was also paid to export sales, and versions of the CZ-2000
were also developed to fire the 5.45mm Kalashnikov cartridge. Though it appears to be just another cousin
of the AK, the CZ-2000 is internally more similar to the VZ-58 and FNC than the
AK.
The 5.45mm Kalashnikov version did
not prove to be popular, and no CZ-2000s were built in that caliber after 1999
except for special orders.
Both versions
of the rifle can use the 75-round drums used by the CZ-2000 squad automatic
weapon (see Czech automatic rifles), and the 5.56mm NATO version can use M-16
magazines. The 5.45mm Kalashnikov version may use AK-74 magazines. The bipod
from the CZ-2000 SAW may also be attached to the CZ-2000 rifle, and the CZ-2000
also readily accepts a variety of optical sights and laser sights. The CZ-2000 Short Assault Rifle is basically
the same idea as the M-4 Carbine or AKS-74U, being a short-barreled model of
the basic CZ-2000.
While it appears
almost certain that the CZ-2000 will eventually replace the VZ-58 as the Czech
Republic’s standard assault rifle, the production of the CZ-2000 family has
been snail-slow due to the economic problems that have beset most of Eastern
Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Twilight 2000 Notes: Czechoslovakian special forces operating deep behind NATO lines began using
the CZ-2000 so that they could utilize captured enemy ammunition, and regular
Czech forces began using the 5.45mm Kalashnikov version in limited numbers in
1997 to supplement their AK-74 rifles.
Neither version is very common, but the
5.45mm Kalashnikov model was made in larger numbers.
Merc 2000 Notes: Without the Czech and
Slovakian introduction into NATO, and the worsening economic climate, the
impetus for the design of this weapon was greatly reduced. Any CZ-2000s found in action are rare
indeed, and probably means your enemy’s sponsor has some money and an eye for
novelties; beware of what he might also have issued his troops!
|
Weapon |
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
|
CZ-2000 |
5.56mm NATO |
3 kg |
20, 30, 75 |
$757 |
|
CZ-2000 |
5.45mm Kalashnikov |
3 kg |
30, 40, 45, 60, 75 |
$681 |
|
CZ-2000 Short Assault
Rifle |
5.56mm NATO |
2.6 kg |
20, 30, 75 |
$677 |
|
CZ-2000 Short Assault
Rifle |
5.45 Kalashnikov |
2.6 kg |
30, 40, 45, 60, 75 |
$601 |
|
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
Mag |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
|
CZ-2000 (5.56mm NATO) |
3/5 |
3 |
1-Nil |
4/5 |
20, 30, 75 |
3 |
4/6 |
36 |
|
CZ-2000 (5.45mm Kalashnikov) |
3/5 |
2 |
1-Nil |
4/5 |
30, 40, 45, 60, 75 |
3 |
4/6 |
40 |
|
CZ-2000 Short Assault Rifle (5.56mm
NATO) |
3/5 |
2 |
1-Nil |
3/4 |
20, 30, 75 |
3 |
4/6 |
10 |
|
CZ-2000 Short Assault Rifle (5.45mm
NATO) |
3/5 |
2 |
1-Nil |
3/4 |
30, 40, 45, 60, 75 |
3 |
4/6 |
12 |
VZ-52
Notes: The VZ-52 managed to get developed in that
short time between the end of World War 2 and the beginning of Soviet
occupation of Czechoslovakia.
The
operation is adapted from the Nazi MKb42(W), and the
trigger owes much to the M-1 Garand rifle.
The bolt locking system seems to be one that works only on this rifle;
other attempts to use the same system have been unsatisfactory. The magazine can be clip-loaded. The VZ-52 was not made in large numbers, but
many that were built were later converted to fire the standard Soviet 7.62mm
Kalashnikov cartridge, and these were called the VZ-52/57. Both versions have a permanently-attached
side-folding sword bayonet.
|
Weapon |
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
|
VZ-52 |
7.62mm Czech |
4.08 kg |
10 |
$927 |
|
VZ-52/57 |
7.62mm Kalashnikov |
4.08 kg |
10 |
$844 |
|
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
|
VZ-52 |
SA |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
4 |
Nil |
64 |
|
VZ-52/57 |
SA |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
4 |
Nil |
62 |
VZ-58
Notes: Though externally, the VZ-58 appears
to be just another AK-47/AKM clone, the VZ-58 is internally a very different
weapon from the AK.
Though it too is
gas-operated, the operating system is very different, and apart from the
magazines, almost no VZ-58 parts are interchangeable with AK parts. In addition, the VZ-58 is a more robust
design than the AK-47, and at the time of its introduction, was about 10 years
ahead of its AK-47 counterpart.
(Unfortunately, it is also much more mechanically complex than the
AK.)
The earliest production examples of the
VZ-58 used wooden stocks, pistol grips, and fore-ends, and were chambered for
the 7.62mm Czech round. Under Soviet pressure, the chambering was quickly
changed to 7.62mm Kalashnikov, and a short time later, the VZ-58 switched to
stocks, pistol grips, and fore-ends made using a hard plastic shell filled with
wood fiber, which lightened the VZ-58 considerably. There were three standard
military versions of the VZ-58: the VZ-58P, with a fixed stock, the VZ-58V,
with a folding tubular steel stock (with an ergonomic buttplate), and the
VZ-58Pi, equipped with a long dovetail bracket on the left side of the receiver
to allow the use of any Russian, Chinese, or former Warsaw Pact-type night
vision scope.
The VZ-58Pi is also
equipped with a light bipod and a large conical flash suppressor (so that the
shooter and his night vision scope are not blinded by the muzzle flash).
The VZ-58 was the standard Czech and
Slovakian assault rifle for nearly a half a century, but was in 2000 starting
to be replaced by the CZ-2000.
(The
replacement of the VZ-58 has been agonizingly slow however, and most Czech and
Slovakian troops still use the VZ-58 as of 2006.) It is no longer being manufactured by Ceska
Zbrojovka, but limited
production is still being done by Caliber Prague. These newer versions of the VZ-58 generally
are updated with synthetic furniture, sight mounts for use with equipment from
all over the world, mounts under the fore-end for laser aiming modules or
tactical lights, or even MIL-STD-1913 rails.
In addition, several companies in Europe and the US are building or
selling semiautomatic versions of the VZ-58.
The VZ-58 can be found in nearly every corner of the globe, from Vietnam
to Cuba, in addition to the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
It should be noted that the magazines of
the VZ-58 and the AK series are
not
interchangeable.
The magazine wells and
the method of fitting the magazines in place are very different. In addition, VZ-58 magazines are made from
light alloy, while AK magazines are steel.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain, CZ
opened a branch in the US, called CZ-USA.
One of the items they produce at CZ-USA is the VZ-58 Military Sporter, a civilian version of the VZ-58 designed for sale
in the US, complying with US laws. For the most part, the VZ-58 Military Sporter is identical to the VZ-58P, but the barrel has been
extended to 16 inches.
The receiver is
milled instead of stamped and the metalwork is better finished than the
standard VZ-58P.
Other than being deliberately
designed to be extremely difficult to convert to automatic fire, the mechanism
is identical to that of the standard VZ-58 series.
|
Weapon |
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
|
VZ-58 (Original) |
7.62mm Czech |
3.26 kg |
30 |
$877 |
|
VZ-58P |
7.62mm Kalashnikov |
3.13 kg |
30 |
$797 |
|
VZ-58V |
7.62mm Kalashnikov |
3.13 kg |
30 |
$817 |
|
VZ-58Pi |
7.62mm Kalashnikov |
3.44 kg |
30 |
$1163 |
|
VZ-58 Military Sporter |
7.62mm Kalashnikov |
3.32 kg |
30 |
$799 |
|
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
|
VZ-58 (Original) |
5 |
4 |
2-Nil |
6 |
4 |
9 |
45 |
|
VZ-58P |
5 |
4 |
2-Nil |
6 |
4 |
9 |
44 |
|
VZ-58V |
5 |
4 |
2-Nil |
4/6 |
4 |
9 |
44 |
|
VZ-58Pi |
5 |
4 |
2-Nil |
6 |
4 |
9 |
44 |
|
(With Bipod) |
5 |
4 |
2-Nil |
6 |
2 |
5 |
57 |
|
VZ-58 Military Sporter |
SA |
4 |
2-Nil |
6 |
4 |
Nil |
44 |