Tag Archives: VZ-59

Psst, need a GPMG? (paperwork required)

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unissued-czech-uk-vz-59-machine-gun-made-in-1994

Pic of post-sample Czech UK vz. 59 belt-fed general purpose machine gun in 7.62x54R that arrived at CzechPoint this month from the bonded warehouse after U.S. Customs clearance.

Paperwork will be submitted tomorrow to begin transfer to the SOT Dealer who purchased it. These are beautiful *unissued original factory machine guns* dated from 1994 and, if you are a LE or Mil end-user or SOT dealer with a signed letter, they are $3950, which is a steal for new-in-crate GPMGs.  Form 6 and Form 3 required.

The UK vz. 59 is an abbreviation for Univerzální kulomet vzor 59 (Universal Machine Gun model 1959), routinely shortened to UK-59. It is a right-hand belt fed machine gun utilizing non-disintegrating metallic 50 round link belts of which multiple belts can be linked together. Full auto-only, they have a 700-800rpm cyclic rate and weigh just 19.10 lbs.

The legendary Vz.58 rifle, CZ’s answer to the AK-47

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In the 1950s, the Czech military, going their own way as usual, took a look at the Soviet AK-47 and decided, while the AK was nice, they could do better. The result was the Vz-58, which, produced by CZ, became one of the best modern rifles of the 20th Century.

After World War Two, the military of Czechoslovakia was, for better or worse, integrated into the Soviet-backed Warsaw Pact organization largely by fault of 1945 battle-lines and a deal made among the Western Allies in Yalta before the final defeat of Hitler. The Czechs had a robust military industrial complex prior to the war, making their own Mauser rifles, ZB light machine guns, and CZ-series pistols by the thousand.

Well membership in the Soviet super-friends club brought certain standards that all junior members were expected to follow. This included
using Soviet-designed weapons systems to ease commonality in the (eventual) war to ‘liberate’ the rest of Europe.

The Czechs looked at the two 1950s Russian designs, the SKS-45 and the AK-47/AKM and decided that, while they were nice, they just were not for them. This led first to the Brothers Kratochvl-designed Vz.52/57 rifle (which is very similar to the SKS), and then to something a little more…zippy.

Czechoslovakian Vz. 58
Read the rest in my column at CZTalk.com