Just have to say thanks to our Czech and Slovak brothers for developing this rifle. You guys have always produced top quality weapons, I enjoy shooting this rifle. Cheers from the US!
In general, Czech firearms are well-regarded in the US. Not necessarily well known, but those that know have a high opinion in general. (The vz. 58 is an underappreciated gem. More of us know about the CZ75 pistol, though. That one's hard to get because it seems that any shop that gets them in stock, sells them almost immediately.)
Czech firearms have a very loyal following, myself included. I’ve done 2 rewelds and would love to do another. I have the parts kit, just looking for a good cut up receiver
Jsem Čech a byl jsem v roce 1998 na vojně. Tuhle zbraň jsme používali. Teď jsem již 20 let policista České republiky a zbraň postupně vyřadili z naší výzbroje. Je to vynikající zbraň a stýská se mi po ní. Je to spolehlivá, jednoduchá, přesná, výkonná zbraň. Jedna z perfektních výrobků z naší země. A je jich celá řada.
This may have been pointed out already, but the furniture on that is not bakelite, it's a formed mixture of resin and wood chips. In Canada it's affectionately known as "Beaver Barf"
White Cavendish. Just to confuse the issue, some of the earliest VZ-58's (restricted length) that came over in 2003 had folding stocks and some kind of textured rubberish semi-synthetic furniture on the fore end (mine did). Apparently this furniture was Czech military issue for some models. On my first VZ-58 the colour of the fore-end furniture was a dark charcoal grey, almost black, and a different profile from the Beaver Barf on the CZ-858 and VZ-58 with a fixed stock that came from the BRNO works later on. The weird part was that even the early VZ-58's had a completely re-designed receiver/trigger group, so none of that was ever made for military rifles. The really uncomfortable folding stocks might have been, but there were not that many of those around to begin with. The whole CZ-858 situation got really strange after the aborted RCMP attempt to reclassify the CZ-858 and the Swiss Arms Classic Green in 2014, and it's not getting any better. And now they're trying to tar the SKS with the same brush. God Save Canada from the Liberal Party.
The VZ-58 and variants are popular up here in Canada. I have seen them for sale for as low as $400 but are usually in the $500-$600 range. After market parts are common and even manufactured domestically in Canada. I am pleased to see you guys did a video on this fine rifle. Keep up the superb videos.
Very nice to hear good review of our gun even after 50 years it was designed. Many people think it's just a clone of AK47, but wise person knows better.
Not to mention the overly large ejection port also allows you to load ammo directly into the magazine with a stripper clip while the magazine is STILL attached to the weapon. Which's great if you're in a situation where you don't have any spare mags available. And you can load your rifles with clips, WW2 style.
You guys have learned and improved so much with video quality (content is consistently awesome), I'm humbled that you've done it all for us. This video really sets the bar high. Real beauty here.
I did enjoy this video; I always enjoy any video you folks put out. I always "thought" I wanted an AK-47. Now I know I want a Czech Vz58 instead! Thank you for the excellent production you guys always make for us!
Canada's favorite rifle. AK's are "prohibited devices" here, so tens of thousands of the VZ-58 and the longer barreled CZ-858 were made for the Canadian market by the BRNO works and imported into Canada. They were priced very attractively, and sold like hotcakes. Incidentally, the red resin-and-wood chip moulded furniture is known locally as "Beaver Barf." A couple of different companies like Zahal and IDI made up aftermarket modern furniture to fit both the short-barrel VZ-58 and CZ-858. We're now (fall of 2018) in the middle of fighting a proposed ban of all handguns and all semi-automatic rifles, so wish us luck. All of the CZ/VZ family rifles that came into Canada were from Czech factories, mainly the BRNO works. No Century Arms kits or anything like that. In spite of the mags being pinned to 5 rounds, they're a great, fun rifle to shoot. Those and the SKS are the two main ComBloc rifles in the 7.62x39 round that we have up here. The Russian SKS's used to be very cheap, but have begun increasing in price as the surplus supplies dry up. There are still a lot of original military-manufactured Chinese SKS's to be had for anywhere from $180 - $240 Canadian. There was a huge stink around the VZ-58/CZ-858 platform, when the Mounted Police arbitrarily tried to reclassify the CZ-858 in particular as "Prohibited deivices", supposedly on the grounds that some of the rifles had parts in them originally made for Czech military issue rifles. This in spite of the fact that when they were first imported, the RCMP lab certified that there were no such parts in any of the rifles being imported. We're now fighting against a new attempt (fall of 2018) to ban all civilian handguns, and all semi-automatic rifles of any calibre. So wish us luck. There is a huge amount of push-back from the firearms community, but we have a bunch of flakes down in Ottawa who think that guns are bad because they look "scary." A hard mentality to argue with, since there's no actual thought or logic to any of it to begin with. Thanks for highlighting my favorite ComBloc rifle. I like the SKS too, but the original BRNO VZ-58 (2003) has a special place in my heart. Wonderful rifles, beautifully made as are all Czech firearms.
I also own a couple of these rifles. I have one that I customized myself with a left hand bolt conversion and M13 rail top cover, also milled by myself. I love the Com block weapons too and love the videos you put out. Thank you Eric.
dozens of these guns were recently smuggled into the UK (along with Skorpion pistols) from Slovakia via France. Obviously the media referred to them as "Kalashnikovs" "machine guns" and "AK-47s".
One of my favorite rifles hands down (in CZ CZ858 form)! I've been shooting the SKS and others for years and this rifle quickly rose to favorite position in short order. Thankyou for the video!
Hey brother. Check out the type 81. It's like an SKS and a SVD had a baby together. Looks even more AK than the CZ 858 and can take AK mags with a little work to the mag. Happy shooting.
John Baker Good thing a mass murderer would never break the law and drill that rivet out himself before going on a shooting spree. Those cap limits make me feel safe at night.
I hear you there. As John baker had said god help if Libtards get back in. We'll have tighter gun restriction than ever yet looser drug laws. Not much of a surprise considering their current leader.
You guys have really upped the quality of your videos, not that they were poor quality before, it's just that now they seem "extra premium". Always been a fan, keep up the good work.
Great review. I've been mulling a purchase of the VZ against an AK for a while now. One selling point for me that I was a bit disappointed you didn't mention was the ease of use for the fire selector.
In Czechoslovakian and now Czech army it's nickname was "scythe". "Vz." actually stands for "vzor" which is a czech word for "mark". It was put into service in 1958, hence the 58 number in the designation. Czech army used to call it a submachine gun, but it is assault rifle all the way. Nowadays it slowly phased out and replaced by the new CZ Bren family of rifles, but we still keep them. Lots of them were upgraded by soldiers deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq in the past decade - new stocks, rails for sights and so on. As a civilian you can by semi-auto folding stock for about 8000 - 10 000 Czech crowns (1 USD is about 20 Crowns). Some customized versions from gunsmith go up to a 30 000 - 40 000 thousand / 2000 USD. It is completely different in workings and the way it was made from AK-47. Only commonality was the ammunition. It is much more accurate, more dependable and more of a fine instrument than the AK. But they are similar in their appearance and people tend to mix them up. Over the years there were different variants developed aside from the three basic ones (fixed stock, folding stock and the third with muzzle break and mount for the cumbersome active IR night sight) - one even for the 5,56 mm NATO ammo. Nowadays few czech gunsmiths make a tailor made pieces - longer barrels, short ones, different stocks and so on. What I like about it is the huge ejection "hole" (it is not a port in this case:-) and bolt-hold-back after the last shot. The sights are not that great given the fact that rear post is well in front in fact, but hey - it was the 50's when it came out and the standards were different. Overall - it is the wonderful gun. Big punch, top reliability, great workmanship and if you spend a bit of money, you can bring it to today's tacticool shape with ease.
Ridiculously well made intro. You guys are making such progress with the camera. And you're just as informative as you used to be. Keep up the great work!
Hello Eric, nice to see that your video quality went up a notch. This video make me happy, because I am from Czech Republic, so it´s nice to see that you enjoy our guns :)
Hands down my favorite video of yours and my favorite Vz video on RU-vid! The opening cinematography is excellent! And of course so is the rifle, which is my chosen defensive rifle platform.
you'd rather not have anyone shooting at you with one of those things. it's a pce workhorse. that said, I find it important that magazines be standardized and a special mag makes it hard to like as much as I want to.
I will agree that the fact that it doesn't take AK mags was a sticking point for me, but with the popularity in sales over the past year, I would hazard to guess that it is now in the top 10 rifle magazines likely to be found in an American home. If not rounding out the top 5. The key is to just stock up. I'm slowly working towards that. Plus, as I have discussed before, if I'm alive more than a month in the PCE I can pretty much guarantee to have picked up and M-16 or M-4. Just based on where I live.
Hey guys, I bought an VZ58 a few years ago and just love the gun. It was nice to see you do a video on this rifle .I've never had any issues with it and for open sites, its pretty accurate. Thanks again for the video!
I hate how people are complaining about how it does not use AK magazines. when they bought their Glock they did not say the Glock did not come with AK magazines. most firearms you buy have proprietary magazines
+Sergei Ivanovich Mosin Strange, here in the Czech you get them for about 12 usd. Somebody makes good living on them up there. Taking into account that most CZ guns are way cheaper in the US than in my home country.
Excelent video! Thank you! And I have to say you certainly know how to shoot, nicely done! You made me remember my military times, I spent a lot of time with my Samopal vz. 58... Good old times... :-)
+MoreWar čaaau! And to guys talking about them being expensive in foregin countries its cause shipping costs etc, in here you can get one for about 200usd +/- depends on seller, but you have to get a carry permit etc which is pissy. Im myself more of AR15 fan, i guess you like what you cant get lol, since Daniel Defense ones chambered in .223 go all the way up to 2000usd +/- here
The quality of your videos just keeps getting better and better...Thanks for shedding some much needed light on the vz58 its one of my favorites...you should of also mentioned the ability to load it from the top with stripper clips, that's a great thing for the bullet button people out in comifornia!
+canadiantbone Nice....as I see I must visit Canada one day :) (cuz I own vz58 old school original made in czech republic :) . Co compare it with our products here :)
+canadiantbone Good to know. Here in Czech republic we miss them. 858 is nearly impossible go find, CSA are not so good (material of the receiver is not as durable) so we have to buy second grade military surplus guns adapted by suspicious resellers. And by the way 858 are over.. CZ annouced that suppy of parts from which the guns were assembled is nearly spent and they will not make new ones.
I hat AKs probably one of the only Gunsmiths you will every meet that dosen't like them. However I believe Larry Vickers said it best, "the reason it's so prevalent is because it's stupid simple you van train anyone in its use in a very short amount of time". Larry is one of the foremost authorities on firearms I have always wanted to go to any of his courses because I have the utmost respect for him. With that said the Czechs made the most perfect gun of its day Period!
For clarification. That VZ means in czech language "Vzor" which means "Model" in english. And this gun looks same like AK because that gun was designed after 2WW and it is "remake" of deutsch rifle StG 44 Sturmgewehr - like AK from soviets. And last thing - we are still using this gun for training our greeners (our CZ 805 BREN is expensive for those people...)
Stg44 has nothing to do with this thing at all..On the side not, yes STG and AK are comparable and STG was around way before ak's.. Many weapon designs were inspired by the German technology and AK might be one of them.
My Vz.2008 arrives on Friday. SO excited. I heard you say it's a Century Int'l Arms built Vz.58 which means it's a Vz.2008 right? I got mine from AIMSURPLUS.
+Steve Harrier The VZ58 was lighter, simpler, and cheaper than the AKM. The Czechs have a long history of advanced design and quality manufacture. Most American shooters have heard of BRNO. There are still ZB26s being used today. The 7.62x45 is pretty close to 6.8SPC, and the Czechs had it 40+ years sooner.
Yep, this is much better rifle than AK 47 or AKM. And btw, it is not 7.62x45 but 7.62x39. It is the exactly same round used in Ak based rilfes, or any other Easter Block rifle. :D
often times guns that are in movies or thought to be used by armies/terrorists are prohibited. Not any real reason for it, it's just the way they choose to prohibit more guns over time
If US troops had this gun in Vietnam there would have been a couple of thousand less causualities on their side there..... This gun has everything - is accurate, light, reliable and cheap. One of the best guns ever created.
laszu Just use imfdb.com next time, it tells and shows what weapons are being used in whatever film you look up and shows you what films a weapon you look up has been in.
Lol at these people talking shit about the AK being "vastly inferior to the Vz58". Vz 58 is a brilliant gun, i get it. Its my favourite assault rifle. But saying its "superior" to the AK doesnt make you better than an AK fanboy. There is a reason the AK is one of the most produced and copied firearms in the world and while the Vz58 is getting replaced (by the tacticool Bren 805), the AK family is still doing good with new members being developed by the Ruskies. The AK was not meant to be accurate, it was meant to be a mass-produced rifle that has an acceptable performance and unbeatable reliability, unlike the Vz58. Dont get me wrong, the Vz 58 is very reliable, but it is also 3 times more expensive to produce than an AK thanks to its "superior" design. AK and Vz 58 are both great rifles to each their own. That being said i still prefer the Vz58, it looks much sexier than my girlfriend.
I agree. AK was mass produced simple gun, VZ58 is much more complicated and expensive to made obviously. Also VZ is removed mostly because open bolt which is colidating with modern aiming systems, AK does not have this problem, that's probably main reason why AK is still produced and VZ58 design is abandoned.
I just love all the Czech Weapons Platforms! Ive got a VZ58, a VZ61, a new Scorpion 3+Micro, a Bren 805, and a couple Bren 2s. The are all among my favorites!
Agree... we should have stuck with our model. Like Colt did in the USA, Heckler and Hoh in Germany and Tulla in Russia too. We should have modernize its disadvantages in design, try to improve other things as well and we shouldnt have tried create whole new rifle... that was a huge mistake, probably driven by another "under table" order.
novoto05 I used CZ 805 in my pre deployment training, shooting is much more pleasant and accurate than vz 58. I had problem only with safety lever, everytime I switched from safe to single shots, it went directly to two shots. But it just needs more practice. Our soldiers also experienced some problems with reliability but it was just the issue of conservation, lubricants and maintenance.
Oworotoru Yes a lot of personal experiences. I am shooting from my CZ 858 (vz. 58) since I was 14. I have two of them at home. The only disadvantage of vz. 58 is the old Mkb. design but thats all. I dont know anything about your pre-deployment training, but CZ 805 Bren is not so good as some might say. Honestly a lot of guys from our Czech military complained about it and confirmed that they liked vz. 58 more. This new weapon of ours... CZ 805 well, lets say its another topic :-D. I dont know about any reliability problems with vz. 58, that is if you are not complete idiot and you dont put a rock inside of your barrel. As concerns lubrication problems? Are you joking? I would like to see that :-D. This weapon (vz. 58) is known for its reliability in harsh conditions, even AK 47 is more likely to jamm than vz. 58. Vz 58 shoots even when it is dug in the ground with open shaft for several days... that is my personal experience and one guy made even video about it here. The whole slide moves in big massive steel rails and there are not many parts that needs to be constantly lubed. Where are you serving?
I love my vz 58. I change the furniture and added an Aimpoint micro t on it. Shoots like a dream. Zahl is the plac re to gi for parts. Like you mentioned, it is not as prevalent as it can be. Hopefully this video will give it a push in popularity. Keep up the good work.
I've had one for a couple years now, and love it. It has quite a bit of aftermarket support, especially in Canada and Isreal, so don't be affraid to pick one up. Great video as always!!!
I own one and love it. One of the guns I will never be without. Mine is also a vz2008 from century ran 1000s of rounds not one single problem even went through 500 without cleaning just to see how the striker would handle it.
Czechsarge Semi yes :) Production of this weapon is Czechoslovakia. Production of semi-automatic weapons varies. I know that it also produced Yugoslavia and similar States
If you were ever thinking about getting one, now's the time. You can still find em for around 500 dollars which is silly cheap. I got mine a while ago for 430 bucks. Mags are expensive though, and so is any aftermarket furniture. Price will just got up.
I like almost any gun that can use the 7.62x39 ammunition. This VZ58 is a great gun. This is called a CSA VZ 58 here in Canada, same gun though, with a different choice of stocks. This one is on my " to buy soon list." Thanks Chad and Eric,
Alex K It's combined copy of SCAR and G36. It takes the worst from both rifles. It's action is big and heavy and it is imposible to clean it. Only good thing on CZ805 is piston.
Love the videos guys, you guys down at Moss Pawn are awesome, I've said this on many other videos but it's worth sayin again, I wish I could shoot with you guys. Keep the vids coming, this is my favorite channel.
very cool how the whole top of the rifle opens up like that, and Chad was great in this video. thanks! that one soda bottle and that watermelon were awesome.
tecnikal40. ALL of my best guns have been Czech, whether CZ handguns, like the CZ-75B, older BRNO heavy-barrel Model 4 .22LR match rifle (still a tack driver at 200 metres with vernier aperture & globe sights, built in 1957), or modern CZ bolt-action rifles chambered in various rounds from the .223 up - apart from the VZ/CZ rifles, I mean. There's a brand new CZ I'm itching to get my hands on - the CZ 557 chambered in .308/7.62x51 NATO submitted for trials to replace the .303 Lee Enfield used by the Canadian Rangers. Not the prettiest CZ rifle, or the lightest. However, they're a completely new design from the ground up - push-feed rather than a Mauser-type action. The triggers are crisp and break like glass. CZ lost out to the entry by Tikka strictly on price per rifle, which is a shame. Not that Tikka makes bad rifles - but the CZ is built for hard service in winter in the high Arctic as well as accuracy with iron sights or a scope. The civilian version - the "Range" - is now available. They're $1500-$1600 Canadian - not much for a rifle that good, but a big hit for a fixed retirement income. One of these days....
I own one with folding stock, my first gun. its awesome, recoil is quite nice for the caliber and the lenght of the stock is just right for me. I did use zastava m70 (ak) for one week, as a training part of my college. I did like it, but the stock was just too long for me, specialy when wearing body armor. also zastava is quite a bit heavier. All in all both great weapons. Cheers from Slovenia (i bet u cant find us on a map), keep on the good work :D
