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• Czech Vz24 Serial Numbers
• Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka Brno Vz24 Rifle
• Vz24 Serial Number 7766r1
• Mauser 98k Serial Numbers

The nine-shot vz 24 pistols were given a separate serial number range from 1 to approximately 3100. A small number of regular 8-shot vz.24 pistols in the serial number range from 95,000 to 115,000 were also fitted with shoulder stocks. The receiver serial is hard to read exactly what it is and the numbers look like ones you would see on Russian Nagants. Is it possible that this is a Romanian contract rifle that was captured and re-numbered by the Russians? CZ VZ24 8mm Mauser (R16743) Description: CZ VZ24 8mm Mauser caliber rifle. Czech Military rifle produced in 1930. Bore has strong rifling and is dark in the grooves. Bolt has been numbered to the gun. The gun has been expertly refinished at some point. Stock is very good with minor dents and dings. Serial number 9446R2 -.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The vz. 24 rifle^[3] is a rifle designed and produced in Czechoslovakiafrom 1924 to 1942. It was developed from the Mauser Gewehr 98 line, though isnot a clone of any specific Mauser model. The fit and finish are ofthe highest quality.

The vz. 24 rifle was designed in Czechoslovakia shortly after WWI. It was a newdesign, featuring a 600 mm (23.6') barrel which was shorterand more handy than the 150 mm-longer Gewehr 98. FN and Mauser Oberndorf producedsimilar-length Model 98 variants, the latter designating it the'Standard-Modell'. The thinking was, as with the British SMLE andUS Springfield, that a short rifle gave away little in ballisticefficiency at combat ranges, but was easier to handle on account ofits shorter length.

'vz.' is an abbreviation for vzor, which translates as model,'24' represents the year of the design, 1924 and replaced the 98/22 mauser that was inproduction before it. The vz. 24 was produced in Brno and Považská Bystrica (from 1938-1942).The only way to identify the production location is by the serialnumber pattern and the VTLU code. A Brno manufactured rifle wouldhave a serial number as such: 1234 T3. A Považská manufacturedrifle would follow this pattern: A5 2345. The VTLU code (Czechacronym VTLU stands for Vojenský technický a letecký ústav- Military technical and aviation institute, which wasresponsible for acceptance of Czechoslovak army weapons) was aninspection and acceptance stamp. A code observed would beE4-lion-38. The E4 would denote where the acceptance took place (inthis case it would be Považská Bystrica), the lion would bethe national symbol of Czechoslovakia and the 38 represents theyear, 1938. Here is a breakdown ofVTLU codes:

1. E1 - Pilsen(Plzeň)
2. E2 - Adamov
3. E3 - Brno
4. E4 - Považská Bystrica
5. E5 - Vlašim
6. E6 - Semtin
7. E7 - Strakonice
8. E8 - Prague (Praha)

The vz. 24 rifle was widely used the world over. Japan, Romania, Iran,Guatemala, China etc. Many of the contractrifles made for South American countries were chambered in 7mmMauser.

During WWII,the vz. 24 was produced for the German occupiers. The factory waslocated at Považská Bystrica in the SlovakRepublic.

Pre World War IIexport and combat employment

About 100,000 vz. 24 rifles were bought by Bolivian army^[4] whichemployed them, along with other Mauser rifle types, during the Chaco War^[5].

The vz. 24 next saw action, albeit in small quantities, in theSpanishCivil War by the Republican troops. Despite arriving late inthe war, the vz. 24 was used in Catalunya and theMediterranean coast of Spain and saw action in the Battle of theEbro.

WWII

After the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, the Germans tookexisting stocks of the vz.24 into service and continued production.The vz. 24 was easily incorporated into the German forces due toits similarity to the Kar 98k enabling the same training andmaintenance procedures and use of the same 7.92x57mm ammunition. Bythe start of the war the Wehrmacht had equipped 11 divisions withthe rifle. The Germans designated it Gewehr 24(t) ('t' being thenational origin designator tschechoslowakisch, the Germanword for 'Czechoslovak'; such national origin designators wereGerman practice for all foreign weapons taken into service). About762,000 rifles of this pattern were produced in Czechoslovakia forthe Czechoslovak army and some 330,050 for the German armed forces.

G24(t)

After the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938, productionof the vz. 24 and the shortened, lightened version, the vz. 33, continued. The vz. 24differed only in detail from the German Kar 98k. The action wasidentical except for markings, and the overall and barrel lengthswere very similar. The main differences were superficial; the vz.24's straight bolt handle, different sling attachments, a solidwalnut stock in place of the laminated stock of most Kar 98ks, anda full length upper handguard instead of the Kar 98k's shorteritem. The G24(t) produced under German control progressively gainedsome Kar98k features, but the Považská Bystrica plant (receivercode 'dou') switched entirely to Kar98k production in 1942. The Brno plant (receiver code 'dot')followed suit in 1943 after ceasing production of the G 33/40(t) carbine.^[6]

Romanian Vz.24s

The Czechoslovakian Armaments Factory started making speciallydesignated vz. 24s in 1938 after the German invasion. Romania was part of the Axis duringWorld 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 periodsof manufacturing, no rifle with 'ZR' has been found. The Czech'smade 25,000 rifles for each period roughly totaling 625,000Romanian vz. 24s. Romanian vz. 24's saw action in Ukraine,Bessarabia, and Stalingrad in the hands of Romanian Soldiersfighting for the Axis. It was not until 1944 that Romaniajoined the Allies.

Post-WarProduction

As post-script to the vz. 24 story, the production of the CzechKar98k-type Mauser continued after the end of the war. UnderCzechoslovak Army designation vz. 98N, it serveduntil around 1952 as the service rifle for the post-warCzechoslovak forces, and was extensively exported. Early post-warspecimens were identical with wartime versions, and the use ofexisting stocks of wartime parts continued until exhausted. Thereceiver marking reverted to a pre-war style Czech rampant lionsymbol, although a specimen using a German style receiver code of'tgf' and the date '1950' has been observed. The left side of thereceiver was marked 'CESKOSLOVENSA ZBROJOVKA, AS, BRNO'. Thestandard settled on was distinguished by a new magazine assemblymade from steel stampings, with an over-sized trigger guard forwinter use. The new stamping, unlike late-war German stampedtrigger guard/magazine assemblies, did not have a detachablemagazine floorplate, meaning whole trigger guard/magazine must beunscrewed and removed entirely to clean the magazine. The lockingscrews, which stopped movement of the bolts securing the action andtrigger guard to the stock, were deleted. Stocks were mostly solid(not laminated) beech with the German Kar 98k side slingattachments but no cleaning rod recess, and a German 'Kriegsmodell'type late-war buttplate with firing pin dismantling hole in theside. Examples produced after the Communist takeover in 1948 weremarked 'Narodni Podnik'.

The most famous employment of these rifles was being purchasedby Haganah arms buyers andsmuggled into Palestine before the British Mandate expired on 14May 1948, and their use in the Israeli independence war of 1948.Shipments to Israel continued after independence of bothnew-production Czechoslovak rifles, and German-era Kar 98ks,as Czechoslovak arms dealers sold a variety of German-patternequipment to Israel. With Israel's adoption of the FN FAL rifle in 1955, theCzechoslovak rifles were among the Israeli Mauser rifles convertedto 7.62 mm NATO for use as reserve weapons.

In common with elsewhere in Europe, Brno also refurbished largenumbers of German Kar 98ks in the immediate post-war period.These are distinguishable by a larger serial number stamped on theunderside of the stock behind the pistol grip adjacent to theoriginal German number. Czechoslovak-refurbished Kar 98ks were sold to otherCommunist states in Europe, and were used by military andparamilitary forces into the 1960s, and were retained for someyears afterwards as reserve weapons.

PersianBrno

The rifle found its way into Iran very quickly where it became known as the'Berno', following the name of the city of Brno, Czechoslovakia, where the rifles wereoriginally manufactured. The Mauser rifle was selected for theIranian Army during the reign of Reza ShahPahlavi, however Iran never ordered any from Germany insteadpreferring the Czechoslovak variant. CZ produced two versions forIran, a long rifle (comparable to the German Gewehr 98) designated vz. 98/29, and acarbine designated vz. 30. Both were known in Iran as the Model of1930 (or 1309, by the Iranian calendar), and the carbine wasnicknamed 'Berno kootah' (short Brno).

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

In the late 1940s Iran's Taslihat-e Artesh (Arms Factories ofthe Army), popularly known as Mosalsal-sazi (the machine-gunfactory), in Tehran started production of these Brno rifles. Therequired machinery and manufacturing knowledge was provided to Iranthrough the industrial firm Škoda, which had a long history ofcooperation with Iran. Iran produced two models: the vz. 24 as'Berno' and a short version under a licence from CZ. Initially thiswas a copy of the Model of 1930 carbine, which was soon replaced bya slightly modified Model of 1949 (1328 by the Iranian calendar),also known as 'Berno kootah'.

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

The Brno remained as the standard Iranian infantry weapon untilit was replaced by the more modern, semi-automatic, American M1 Garand rifle in 1960.Following the change, the Brno was confined to the gendarmerie andthe game wardens for a while, before it was decommissioned fromactive use. In the 1970s it was used mainly in ceremonialoccasions

The Iranian Brno rifles saw action in a number of places fromtribal uprisings in Kurdistan to the coup removing MohammadMossadegh from power. During the 1979 revolution, the gunre-appeared in the hands of the revolutionaries and tribesmen, whohad never abandoned their Brnos. Besides the rebels, the Islamicgovernment too had a use for Brno: It was, and is, used in officialFriday prayer ceremonies. The speaker is required to have 'theweapon of the day' by his side, according to the tradition of theProphet (he apparently used a sword).

Czech Vz24 Serial Numbers

Users

Bolivia
Brazil
China
Colombia
Czechoslovakia
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
Guatemala
Imperial Japanese Navy
Iran
Latvia
Lithuania
Mexico
Nazi Germany
Nicaragua
Paraguay
Peru
Romania
Siam
Slovakia
Spain
Turkey
Uruguay
Venezuela
Yugoslavia

Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka Brno Vz24 Rifle

See also

• Vz. 33 rifle

References

1. ^http://www.carbinesforcollectors.com/brazilpage.html
2. ^http://www.carbinesforcollectors.com/peru.html
3. ^Československé ruční palné zbraně a kulomety, Miroslav Šáda, Praha,Naše vojsko 1971
4. ^http://www.guns-info.cz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1338
5. ^http://www.carbinesforcollectors.com/granchaco.htm
6. ^R. Law, Backbone of the Wehrmacht, Collector Grade Publications,Ontario, Canada, 1993 p 179

Externallinks

• Gunboards.com G.24(t)Discussion

Vz24 Serial Number 7766r1

Mauser 98k Serial Numbers