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Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod

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This article is about the firearms manufacturer. For the motorcycle works company, see Česká zbrojovka Strakonice.
Česká zbrojovka a.s.
Company typeJoint stock company
IndustryFirearms
PredecessorČeská zbrojovka Strakonice
Founded1919; 105 years ago (1919) (Jihočeská zbrojovka)
1936; 88 years ago (1936) (Uherský Brod factory)
Headquarters
Uherský Brod, Moravia
,
Czech Republic
Area served
Worldwide
Products
Revenue4,996,687,000 Czech koruna (2017) Edit this on Wikidata
773,098,000 Czech koruna (2017) Edit this on Wikidata
675,162,000 Czech koruna (2017) Edit this on Wikidata
Total assets4,777,464,000 Czech koruna (2017) Edit this on Wikidata
OwnerColt CZ Group
Number of employees
1,800
ParentColt CZ Group
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.czub.cz/en/
Česká zbrojovka 2024

Česká zbrojovka a.s. (CZ, lit. 'Czech armory'), is a Czech armament manufacturer that is based in Uherský Brod. The company is famous for producing service, hunting and sporting firearms. It is owned by the Czech holding company Colt CZ Group SE, which also owns other brands with related production programs.

CZ currently has around 1,800 employees. It is one of the highest volume exporters in the Czech Republic, sending its products to more than 100 countries. The company is among the top ten small arms manufacturers in the world and five that manufactures automatic firearms.[1] In 2021, CZ acquired the Colt's Manufacturing Company;[2] the following year, the parent company changed its name to Colt CZ Group.[3]

History

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Jihočeská zbrojovka was founded in Strakonice in 1919. Today's Česká zbrojovka a.s. was built as part of a large-scale transfer of strategically important production capacities of the former Czechoslovakia as far as possible from the western borders threatened by Nazi Germany. In Uherský Brod in the south-east of Moravia, a brand-new arms factory was established in 1936, which was one of the most modern and most efficient factories at the time. In the first years of its existence, it was successfully engaged primarily in the highly demanding production of aircraft machine guns.

1945 – 1992

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After World War II, the joint-stock company Česká zbrojovka was nationalized and its branch factory in Uherský Brod, which became independent in 1950, gradually became the main Czechoslovak manufacturer of small firearms. Its most famous products from the immediate post-war period were the Sa vz. 23 submachine guns, chambered in the common 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge (Later the 7.62×25mm Tokarev in vz. 24/26 after Czechoslovakia joined the Warsaw Pact). The Sa vz. 23 were the first production-model submachine guns with a telescoping bolt, which the bolt wraps around the barrel, which made the vz. 26 shorter and more compact than the other submachine guns at the time. By 1953, 545,000 were produced in Uherský Brod, 345,000 of which were of the 7.62 mm Tokarev variants.

Submachine gun Sa 23/25 were the main infantry weapons of the Czechoslovak army
Assault rifle Sa vz. 58

The vz. 58 assault rifle chambered in the 7.62×39 mm cartridge, was a Czechoslovak alternative to the Soviet's AK-47 with an original design. This firearm was produced in Uherský Brod for the national armed forces as well as for export until 1984 and the total production volume reached about 920,000 units.

Sa vz. 61 Skorpion featured in many movies

In 1961 Sa vz. 61 Škorpion machine pistol was introduced to fill the gap between submachine guns and semi-automatic pistols. More than 200,000 of these machine pistols in the standard .32 ACP cartridge were produced in Uherský Brod until 2000, and small batches of these machine pistols in the .380 ACP version were produced in the 1990s.

Original CZ 75 model

The CZ 75 semi-automatic pistol, revolutionary in a number of aspects, was the work of the well-known designer František Koucký, who worked on its development based on an assignment of today's Česká zbrojovka a.s since 1969. This firearm with perfect ergonomics and unique double-action trigger mechanism co-defined the category of Wonder Nines, i.e. large capacity SA/DA pistols chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum and has long been one of the most popular of them.

1992 – present

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In 1992 Česká zbrojovka was privatized and transformed it into a joint-stock company, which concentrates its activities in its main plant in Uherský Brod on the development and production of high-quality firearms, while utilizing its remaining capacity for the production of high-precision components for the automotive and aerospace industry. The position of Česká zbrojovka, a.s. on the world's firearms market has significantly strengthened by the establishment of the subsidiary distribution and service company CZ-USA in 1997. This subsidiary started its activities in California, but in 1998 it relocated to Kansas City, Kansas, where it still operates. Within the creation of the international holding Česká zbrojovka Group (now Colt CZ Group), CZ-USA became an independent business entity.

In order to preserve the famous tradition of firearms production in Brno, Česká zbrojovka a.s began preparing to take over the firearms division of Zbrojovka Brno, a.s. The newly created company, originally named BRNO RIFLES, started its activities at the turn of 2006 and its domain was the production and development of break action firearms. In 2008 it became a subsidiary company of Česká zbrojovka a.s. In 2010 the company was renamed to Zbrojovka BRNO, s.r.o. In 2005 CZ became the owner of Dan Wesson Firearms through its subsidiary CZ-USA.

In 2011 the company began production of the new generation of CZ 805 BREN A1/A2 assault rifles, CZ SCORPION EVO 3 A1 submachine guns and CZ 805 BREN G1 grenade launchers for the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. Česká zbrojovka a.s significantly penetrated foreign markets by opening a separate space for the assembly and repairs of CZ pistols at the FAME army plant in Lima, Peru. The Czech company participated in the project by supplying modern equipment and tools and training of technical personnel. This enabled the Peruvian company to assemble CZ guns, provide service and sell them on the Peruvian market and then throughout Latin America. It was the first case of technological transfer of Česká zbrojovka a.s to this promising region.

Since 2018, Česká zbrojovka a.s has been part of the international holding Česká zbrojovka Group SE that, in addition to the parent plant in Uherský Brod, gradually incorporates other companies with related production and development programmes. In cooperation with CZ-USA, the production of the first CZ firearms was launched in Kansas City, Kansas, US. These include selected models of the CZ P-10 series of pistols. In 2021 CZ bought Colt's Manufacturing Company and their Colt Canada subsidiary.

Notable developments

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Over the years Česká zbrojovka has developed several revolutionary or highly influential designs in various fields of small arms, most notably:

Current production

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Pistols

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  • CZ 75 - 9mm high-capacity semi-automatic pistol with cam unlocking
  • CZ P-07 - CZ P-07 (compact) and CZ P-09 (full-size) polymer pistols
  • CZ P-10 - Striker-fired pistol with polymer frame
  • CZ SHADOW - A double-action sport shooting version of CZ 75
  • CZ TS - Championship Pistols CZ 75 TS and CZ TS 2 series

Submachine guns

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Rifles

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Discontinued products

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CZ 45
CZ 82
CZ 100
Model 244
CZ 452 A
CZ 527 rifle
The Prague Castle Guard with Vz. 52 rifle
Sniper rifle vz. 54
ČZ 2000 variants

Handguns

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  • ČZ pistol, Modell 27 Kal,7.65 mm
  • ČZ pistol, caliber 7.65 mm
  • ČZ pistol, caliber 6.35 mm
  • Model LK 38 pistol, 9 mm caliber
  • DUO pistol, caliber 6.35 mm
  • Target pistol, Model ZKP 493
  • CZ 40B pistol, a Joint venture with Colt
  • CZ 40P (Limited run, no longer in production)
  • CZ 45
  • CZ 50
  • CZ 52
  • CZ 70
  • CZ 82 and CZ 83
  • CZ 97B/BD.45acp B = DA/SA; BD = DA/SA with de-cocker
  • CZ 100
  • CZ 110
  • CZ 122
  • ZKR-551 revolver, chambered in 7.62 Nagant, .22 LR, .32 S&W Long and .38 Special. Was manufactured from 1957-1971 and continued in 1990s until 2006.[4]
  • ZKR-590 Grand revolver, in calibers .38 and .22 and 7.62 Nagant short

Smallbore rifles

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  • Model 242
  • Model 243
  • Model 244
  • Model 245
  • Model 246
  • Model 247
  • ZKM 452 2E
  • CZ 452
  • CZ 453
  • CZ 455
  • CZ 511
  • CZ 512 - Semi-automatic rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle
  • CZ 513
  • CZ 527, caliber .17 Hornet; .204 Ruger; .223 Rem; 7.62x39, etc.

Bigbore rifles

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  • CZ 550
  • CZ 557
  • CZ 584 combination gun,12 ga.x calibers 7x65R; 7×57R; 5.6×52R; 6.5×57R; .243, .308, .30-06, etc.
  • CZ 807 - Chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62x39mm

Aircraft machine guns

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  • LK 30
  • MG 17

Assault rifles

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Submachine guns

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Shotguns

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  • The CZ 581 Over and under shotgun, 12/12 bore;
  • The CZ 585 Over and under shotgun; the over and under rifle/shotgun; the CZ 582 prepared for SKEET shooting

Miscellaneous

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  • Signal/flare pistol
  • Components for the infantry fire-support machine gun models MG 34, MG 81, and the K 35 anti-aircraft cannon
  • Alarm/starting pistols: UB 070 and 071
  • Signal pistols: 44/67, produced between 1981–1983
  • Target pistol: Model ZKP 493
  • Air rifles: Z 47, 235, 236, 237, 612, 614, 618, 620, 624, 630, 631, 632, 634, 800, 801 and 802
  • Air pistol: Model ZVP, 4.5 mm
  • Gas-fired pistol: The APP Automatic
  • Air pistol: Tex, Model 3
  • CO2 pistol: Model CZ 75D Compact, 4.5 mm
  • Three shot automatic shotgun: CZ 241, 12, 16 and 20 gauge
  • Over and under shotguns: 12, 16 and 20 gauge
  • Over and under ČZ models: 581 and 584 - 586
  • Hunting rifles: ZKK 600, 601 and 602, calibers ranging from .243Win-.248Win
  • Rifles: The ZKW 465 Hornet and the ZKW 465 Fox
  • Small bore rifles: ZKM 452, 561, 573 and 581
  • Rifles: ZKW 465, 680
  • Rifle: CZ 537

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Příběh firmy Česká zbrojovka: kde se rodí pistole". E15.cz (in Czech). 28 December 2016.
  2. ^ "CZG – Česká zbrojovka Group SE kupuje společnost Colt" [CZG - Česká zbrojovka Group SE acquires Colt]. Armádní noviny (in Czech). 12 February 2021.
  3. ^ "CZG - Česká zbrojovka Group Has Changed Its Name to Colt CZ Group SE" (Press release). Colt CZ Group. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  4. ^ Rusty S. (March 3, 2021). "Wheelgun Wednesday: Czech Revolver – The ZKR-551". The Firearms Blog. Retrieved March 10, 2024. The ZKR-551 was manufactured by Zbrojovka Brno. From 1957 until 1971, about 2500 of these guns were made, chambered in 7.62 Nagant, .22 LR, .32 S&W Long (a popular UIT/ISSF competition chambering) and by far the most used in competition, .38 Special. A further run of 300 pieces was made during Zbrojovka Brno's second incorporation in the 1990's-2006. They were a success in the UIT competitive setting, helping Czechoslovakian shooters win and place well.

Literature

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  • David Pazdera, Jan Skramoušský: Česká zbrojovka. Historie výroby zbraní v Uherském Brodě [Česká zbrojovka. History of weapon manufacturing in Uherský Brod], 2006, ISBN 80-903450-9-3. Two chapters online [1] and [2].
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