Чехословацкая винтовка vz. 58

Czechoslovakian rifle

The vz. 58 (or Sa vz. 58) is a 7.62×39mm assault rifle designed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia and accepted into service in the late 1950s as the 7,62 mm samopal vzor 58, replacing the vz. 52 self loading rifle and the 7.62×25mm Tokarev Sa 24 and Sa 26 submachine guns. While externally the vz. 58 resembles the Soviet AK 47, it is a different design based on a short stroke gas piston. It shares no parts with Kalashnikov rifles, including the magazine.

Development of the weapon began in 1956; leading the project was chief engineer Jiří Čermák assigned to the Konstrukta Brno facility in the city of Brno. The Soviet Union had begun insisting that the Warsaw Pact forces standardize on a common ammunition. As a result, the prototype, known as the "Koště" ("broom"), was designed to chamber the intermediate Soviet 7.62×39mm M43 cartridge, rather than the Czech 7.62×45mm vz. 52 round, used in both the earlier vz. 52 rifle and the vz. 52 light machine gun. The assault rifle entered service in 1958 and over a period of 25 years (until 1984), over 920,000 weapons had been produced, fielded by the armed forces of Czechoslovakia, Cuba and several Asian and African nations. The vz. 58 was produced in three main variants: the standard vz. 58 P (Pěchotní or "infantry") model with a fixed buttstock made of a synthetic material (plastic impregnated wood, older versions used a wooden stock), the vz. 58 V (Výsadkový—"airborne"), featuring a side folding metal shoulder stock, folded to the right side, and the vz. 58 Pi (Pěchotní s infračerveným zaměřovačem—"infantry with infrared sight"), which is similar to the vz. 58 P but includes a receiver mounted dovetail rail bracket (installed on the left side of the receiver) used to attach an NSP2 night sight; it also has a detachable folding bipod and an enlarged conical flash suppressor. For the first two variants, the two types of stock are interchangeable and mount to the same mounting point on the rifle itself, which is identical in either variant. A successor to the vz. 58 was proposed in the 1990s; the 5.56×45mm NATO ČZ 2000 assault rifle has been suggested as a possible replacement but due to a general lack of defense funds within the Czech Republic, the program was postponed. Another recent contender is the ČZW 556 assault rifle and ČZW 762 light machine gun which both use lever delayed blowback which has more reliable accuracy and performance over the gas operation. In 2011, the Czech army started replacing vz. 58 with CZ 805 BREN. While vz. 58 still remains the main assault rifle of the Slovak army, the Slovak army has also been eyeing CZ 805 as a possible replacement to the aging vz. 58 rifles.

The vz. 58 is a selective fire gas operated weapon that bleeds expanding combustion gases generated in the barrel from the ignited cartridge through a port drilled in the barrel, from the chamber, opening into a hollow cylinder located above the barrel that contains a short stroke piston. The vz. 58 does not have a gas regulator and the full force of the gas pressure is exerted on the piston head, propelling it backwards in a single impulsive blow. The piston is driven back only when a shoulder on the piston rod butts against the seating and no further movement is possible. There is a light return spring held between the piston shoulder and the seating which returns the piston to its forward position. The gas cylinder is vented after the piston has traveled back and the remaining gases are exhausted into the atmosphere on the underside of the cylinder via two ports. The entire piston rod is chromium plated to prevent fouling. The locking system features a locking piece hinged from the bolt and housed in the bolt carrier that contains two locking lugs which descend into and engage locking shoulders in the receiver's internal guide rails. The weapon is unlocked by the short tappet like stroke of the piston rod as it strikes the bolt carrier and drives it rearwards. After of unrestricted travel, a wedge like surface on the bolt carrier moves under the hinged breech locking piece and lifts it up and out of engagement with the locking recesses in the steel body. The hinged breech locking piece swings up and this movement provides the leverage required for primary extraction. The breech block is then carried rearwards extracting the empty cartridge casing from the chamber. A fixed ejector passes through a groove cut in the underside of the bolt and the case is flung upwards clear of the gun.

The spring loaded extractor and firing pin are both housed inside the bolt, while the fixed ejector is slotted inside the receiver. The extractor retains the firing pin and is powered by its own plunger and spring. The weapon does not have a conventional rotating hammer but a linear hammer instead. The hammer is a steel cylinder hollowed from one end almost throughout its entire length to accommodate its own operating spring. At the open end of the cylinder, a plate is welded and a groove is cut in each side of this to slide on the receiver guide rails. This linear hammer enters the hollow bolt and drives a free floating firing pin forward with each shot. FSN Series: Newly manufactured civilian semi automatic variants. Available in standard (FSN 01, 390 mm), with or without folding stock (FSN 01F and FSN 01W, which has a wooden stock and cheek piece), or shortened (279 mm) barrel lengths (also with folding stock), outer parts are blued. All variants with the exception of the 01W have bakelite stocks. CSA vz. 58 Sporter: Available in .222 Remington, .223 Remington (5.56 NATO), or 7.62×39mm, these rifles and carbines were newly manufactured by Czech Small Arms, and not Česká zbrojovka. They came in Compact (190mm barrel, folding stock), Carbine (300 or 310mm barrel, folding stock), and Rifle (390 or 410mm barrel, fixed sporter stock) models. In addition there was a "Tactical" model chambered in .223 Remington, featuring a 410mm barrel, railed handguard, and collapsible buttstock. All featured synthetic handguards, although the 7.62×39mm rifle model is available with either a synthetic or phenolic wood handguard. Rimfire VZ 58: "Ogar 58" developed and manufactured by Highland Arms in Czech Republic, together with the cal. .22 LR conversion kit "Ogar 22). The conversion kit is intended for all calibers and variants of VZ 58. Vz 2008: A variant by Century Arms built using a Czech parts kit with a U. S. made receiver and barrel. Rung Paisarn RPS 001: an adaptation of the vz. 58 with components from the M16A2 first manufactured in 1986 by Rung Paisarn Heavy Industries of Thailand. AP 67: 7.62×51mm NATO variant