Vz. 24
Encyclopedia
The vz. 24 rifle is a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

 designed and produced in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 from 1924 to 1942. It was developed from the Mauser Gewehr 98
Gewehr 98
The Gewehr 98 is a German bolt action Mauser rifle firing the 8x57mm cartridge from a 5 round internal clip-loaded magazine that was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k. It was hence the main rifle of the German infantry during World War I...

 line, though is not a clone of any specific Mauser model. The fit and finish are of the highest quality.

The vz. 24 rifle was designed in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 shortly after WWI
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. It was a new design, featuring a 600 mm (23.6") barrel which was shorter and more handy than the 150 mm-longer Gewehr 98
Gewehr 98
The Gewehr 98 is a German bolt action Mauser rifle firing the 8x57mm cartridge from a 5 round internal clip-loaded magazine that was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k. It was hence the main rifle of the German infantry during World War I...

. FN and Mauser Oberndorf produced similar-length Model 98 variants, the latter designating it the "Standard-Modell'. The thinking was, as with the British SMLE and US Springfield, that a short rifle gave away little in ballistic efficiency at combat ranges, but was easier to handle on account of its shorter length.

"vz." is an abbreviation for vzor, which translates as model; "24" represents the year of the design, 1924, and the rifle replaced the 98/22 Mauser that was in production before it. The vz. 24 was produced in Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

 and Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism.- Profile :...

 (from 1938–1942). The only way to identify the production location is by the serial number pattern and the VTLU code. A Brno manufactured rifle would have a serial number as such: 1234 T3. A Považská manufactured rifle would follow this pattern: A5 2345. The VTLU code (Czech acronym VTLU stands for Vojenský technický a letecký ústav - Military technical and aviation institute, which was responsible for acceptance of Czechoslovak army weapons) was an inspection and acceptance stamp. A code observed would be E4-lion-38. The E4 would denote where the acceptance took place (in this case it would be Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism.- Profile :...

), the lion would be the national symbol of Czechoslovakia and the 38 represents the year, 1938. Here is a breakdown of VTLU codes:
  1. E1 - Pilsen (Plzeň)
  2. E2 - Adamov
    Adamov
    Adamov may refer to:* town Adamov in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic * village Adamov in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic...

  3. E3 - Brno
    Brno
    Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

  4. E4 - Považská Bystrica
    Považská Bystrica
    Považská Bystrica is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism.- Profile :...

  5. E5 - Vlašim
    Vlašim
    Vlašim is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has 12,689 inhabitants. River Blanice runs through Vlašim.Medium age of inhabitants is 36.8 years.History...

  6. E6 - Semtin
  7. E7 - Strakonice
    Strakonice
    Strakonice is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Estimated population: 24,000.-History:The settlement of this region took place in the second half of 12th century when a castle was built...

  8. E8 - Prague
    Prague
    Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

     (Praha)


The vz. 24 rifle was widely used the world over, by Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and others. Many of the contract rifles made for South American countries were chambered in 7mm Mauser or 7.65x53mm Argentine.

During WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the vz. 24 was produced for the German occupiers. The factory was located at Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism.- Profile :...

 in the Slovak Republic
Slovak Republic (1939-1945)
The Slovak Republic , also known as the First Slovak Republic or the Slovak State , was a fascist state which existed from 14 March 1939 to 8 May 1945 as a puppet state of Nazi Germany. It existed on roughly the same territory as present-day Slovakia...

.

Pre World War II export and combat employment

About 100,000 vz. 24 rifles were bought by Bolivian army which employed them, along with other Mauser rifle types, during the Chaco War
Chaco War
The Chaco War was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region of South America, which was incorrectly thought to be rich in oil. It is also referred to as La Guerra de la Sed in literary circles for being fought in the semi-arid Chaco...

.

The vz. 24 next saw action, albeit in small quantities, in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

 by the Republican troops. Despite arriving late in the war, the vz. 24 was used in Catalunya and the Mediterranean coast of Spain and saw action in the Battle of the Ebro
Battle of the Ebro
The Battle of the Ebro was the longest and bloodiest battle of the Spanish Civil War...

.

WWII

After the occupation of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 in 1938, the Germans took existing stocks of the vz.24 into service and continued production. The vz. 24 was easily incorporated into the German forces due to its similarity to the Kar 98k enabling the same training and maintenance procedures and use of the same 7.92x57mm ammunition. By the start of the war the Wehrmacht had equipped 11 divisions with the rifle. The Germans designated it Gewehr 24(t) ('t' being the national origin designator tschechoslowakisch, the German word for 'Czechoslovak'; such national origin designators were German practice for all foreign weapons taken into service). About 762,000 rifles of this pattern were produced in Czechoslovakia for the Czechoslovak army and some 330,050 for the German armed forces
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

.

G24(t)

After the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938, production of the vz. 24 and the shortened, lightened version, the vz. 33
Vz. 33
The puška vz. 33 was a Czechoslovak bolt action rifle that was based on a Mauser type action, designed and produced in Československá zbrojovka in Brno during the 1930s in order to replace the obsolete Mannlicher vz. 1895 carbines of the Czechoslovak četnictvo...

, continued. The vz. 24 differed only in detail from the German Kar 98k. The action was identical except for markings, and the overall and barrel lengths were very similar. The main differences were superficial; the vz. 24's straight bolt handle, different sling attachments, a solid walnut stock in place of the laminated stock of most Kar 98ks, and a full length upper handguard instead of the Kar 98k's shorter item. The G24(t) produced under German control progressively gained some Kar98k features, but the Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism.- Profile :...

 plant (receiver code 'dou') switched entirely to Kar98k production in 1942. The Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

 plant (receiver code 'dot') followed suit in 1943 after ceasing production of the G 33/40 (t) carbine.

Romanian Vz. 24s

The Czechoslovakian Armaments Factory started making specially designated vz. 24s in 1938 after the German invasion. Romania was part of the Axis
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...

 during World War II. "Romanian" vz. 24s have a letter followed by an "R" in the serial number; for example SR 1XXX. Romanian vz. 24s "AR", "BR", "CR"... all the way through "YR" represent different periods of manufacturing, no rifle with "ZR" has been found. The Czechs made 25,000 rifles for each period roughly totaling 625,000 Romanian vz. 24s. Romanian vz. 24's saw action in Ukraine, Bessarabia, and Stalingrad in the hands of Romanian Soldiers fighting for the Axis. It was not until 1944 that Romania joined the Allies
King Michael's Coup
King Michael's Coup refers to the coup d'etat led by King Michael of Romania in 1944 against the pro-Nazi Romanian faction of Ion Antonescu, after the Axis front in Northeastern Romania collapsed under the Soviet offensive.-The coup:...

.

Post-War Production

As post-script to the vz. 24 story, the production of the Czech Kar 98k-type Mauser continued after the end of the war. Under Czechoslovak Army designation vz. 98N, it served until around 1952 as the service rifle for the post-war Czechoslovak forces, and was extensively exported. Early post-war specimens were identical with wartime versions, and the use of existing stocks of wartime parts continued until exhausted. The receiver marking reverted to a pre-war style Czech rampant lion symbol, although a specimen using a German style receiver code of 'tgf' and the date '1950' has been observed. The left side of the receiver was marked 'CESKOSLOVENSKA ZBROJOVKA, AS, BRNO'. The standard settled on was distinguished by a new magazine assembly made from steel stampings, with an over-sized trigger guard for use with thick winter gloves. The new stamping, unlike late-war German stamped trigger guard/magazine assemblies, did not have a detachable magazine floorplate, meaning whole trigger guard/magazine must be unscrewed and removed entirely to clean the magazine. The locking screws, which stopped movement of the bolts securing the action and trigger guard to the stock, were deleted. Stocks were mostly solid (not laminated) beech with the German Kar 98k side sling attachments but no cleaning rod recess, and a German 'Kriegsmodell' type late-war buttplate with firing pin dismantling hole in the side. Examples produced after the Communist takeover in 1948 were marked 'Narodni Podnik'.

The most famous employment of these rifles was being purchased by Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...

 arms buyers and smuggled into Palestine before the British Mandate expired on 14 May 1948, and their use in the Israeli independence war of 1948. Shipments to Israel continued after independence of both new-production Czechoslovak rifles, and German-era Kar 98ks, as Czechoslovak arms dealers sold a variety of German-pattern equipment to Israel. With Israel's adoption of the FN FAL
FN FAL
The Fusil Automatique Léger or FAL is a self-loading, selective fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal . During the Cold War it was adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, with the notable exception of the United States...

 rifle in 1955, the Czechoslovak rifles were among the Israeli Mauser rifles converted to 7.62 mm NATO for use as reserve weapons.

In common with elsewhere in Europe, Brno also refurbished large numbers of German Kar 98ks in the immediate post-war period. These are distinguishable by a larger serial number stamped on the underside of the stock behind the pistol grip adjacent to the original German number. Czechoslovak-refurbished Kar 98ks were sold to other Communist states in Europe, and were used by military and paramilitary forces into the 1960s, and were retained for some years afterward as reserve weapons.

Persian Brno

The rifle found its way into Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 very quickly where it became known as the 'Berno', following the name of the city of Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

, Czechoslovakia, where the rifles were originally manufactured. The Mauser rifle was selected for the Iranian Army during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, however Iran never ordered any from Germany instead preferring the Czechoslovak variant. CZ produced two versions for Iran, a long rifle (comparable to the German Gewehr 98
Gewehr 98
The Gewehr 98 is a German bolt action Mauser rifle firing the 8x57mm cartridge from a 5 round internal clip-loaded magazine that was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k. It was hence the main rifle of the German infantry during World War I...

) designated vz. 98/29, and a carbine designated vz. 30. Both were known in Iran as the Model of 1930 (or 1309, by the Iranian calendar
Iranian calendar
The Iranian calendars or sometimes called Persian calendars are a succession of calendars invented or used for over two millennia in Greater Iran...

), and the carbine was nicknamed "Berno kootah" (short Brno).

The Iranian version had a Pahlavi crown and lion and sun crest atop the receiver ring, as well as an inscription in Persian (in Nasta'liq script) on the side of its receiver giving the model and the factory name.

In the late 1940s Iran's Taslihat-e Artesh (Arms Factories of the Army), popularly known as Mosalsal-sazi (the machine-gun factory), in Tehran started production of these Brno rifles. The required machinery and manufacturing knowledge was provided to Iran through the industrial firm Škoda
Škoda Works
Škoda Works was the largest industrial enterprise in Austro-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia, one of its successor states. It was also one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Europe in the 20th century...

, which had a long history of cooperation with Iran. Iran produced two models: the vz. 24 as "Berno" and a short version under a licence from CZ. Initially this was a copy of the Model of 1930 carbine, which was soon replaced by a slightly modified Model of 1949 (1328 by the Iranian calendar), also known as "Berno kootah".

The only difference between the local Iranian version and the Czech version was the markings on the side of the receiver: instead of naming Brno as the maker, it was written "sakht-e aslah-e sazi-e artesh" (made by the Army Arms factory).

The Brno remained as the standard Iranian infantry weapon until it was replaced by the more modern, semi-automatic, American M1 Garand
M1 Garand
The M1 Garand , was the first semi-automatic rifle to be generally issued to the infantry of any nation. Called "the greatest battle implement ever devised" by General George S...

 rifle in 1960. Following the change, the Brno was confined to the gendarmerie and the game wardens for a while, before it was decommissioned from active use. In the 1970s it was used mainly in ceremonial occasions

The Iranian Brno rifles saw action in a number of places from tribal uprisings in Kurdistan to the coup removing Mohammad Mossadegh from power. During the 1979 revolution, the gun re-appeared in the hands of the revolutionaries and tribesmen, who had never abandoned their Brnos. Besides the rebels, the Islamic government too had a use for Brno: It was, and is, used in official Friday prayer ceremonies. The speaker is required to have 'the weapon of the day' by his side, according to the tradition of the Prophet (he apparently used a sword).

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Pahlavi dynasty
The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi (reg. 1925–1941) and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty ...


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Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...



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Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....


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