There are two kinds of famous guns in the world. Everyone likes to classify them as AK, but they are not AK. 8 1 rod, because its piston and frame are completely different from AK. The other is the Czech Vz.58, which is not even a tumbler, but a latch. So although it looks like it, it feels completely different from AK.
It makes sense to explain the name first. The full name of the gun is Samopal vzor 58, Samopal= submachine gun, vzor= type/type, which means 58 submachine gun.
Then some people will say, this is obviously an assault rifle, why is it called a submachine gun? In fact, in the 1950s, individual soldiers could carry and shoot automatically, and the weapon that replaced the traditional submachine gun was still called submachine gun. Just as our Type 56 gun was only used to replace the 54/50 submachine gun, the name assault rifle was not widely recognized until the semi-automatic rifle was completely replaced by automatic weapons.
Let's start with the post-war period. Although Czechoslovakia joined the Soviet camp after World War II, because this country was originally the military heart of Austria-Hungary, its self-research and production capacity of weapons was not comparable to that of other younger brothers in Eastern Europe. When other countries were equipped with SKS, the Czech Republic developed Vz.52 semi-automatic rifle.
This gun combines the air guiding system of Stg44, the locking system of SVT40 and the firing system of Garland. Even the bullets are 7.62x45mm, so their internal OS is different from yours (but in 1957, due to the general consideration of ammunition in China, Vz52 is 7.62x39mm).
In the late 1950s, with the maturity of AK47. The Warsaw Pact countries, including the Soviet Union, began to think that semi-automatic rifles were out of date, and the era of assault rifles was officially opened, as was the Czech Republic. However, their stubborn temper was still unwilling to equip Soviet weapons, so they developed Vz58. As for its appearance, it is a bit AK because they made some modifications based on AK in the early 1950s, but if we look at vz.58 carefully, we can still see that the details are quite different from AK.
From the structural principle, AK is long piston air guide+rotating bolt locking, and VZ is short piston air guide+iron clamping lifting locking. The short piston structure of Vz is similar to that of Svt40, and the latch pendulum lock is mostly used in modern pistols with short recoil principle. In those days, rifles generally took off and landed with full bolt, because there were many bolt parts and they were more sensitive to dust.
I don't know why Czechs adopt this locking structure that almost no one uses on automatic rifles. Maybe this is persistence.
Compared with long piston, short piston has obvious advantages. AK's long piston is connected with the gun rack, and its overall mass is very heavy. When you recoil, you will hit the back of the gearbox, so we often say that AK has a strong recoil. However, the short piston is not connected to the frame. When the piston recoils, it just pushes the frame, and the frame recoils separately together with the bolt. Although the reliability is not as good as that of the long piston, the smaller recoil can make the dispersion of Vz58 in automatic shooting much smaller than that of AK.
Comparing the 25 rounds of AK and VZ, the impact point of AK is orange, and VZ is green (including the bullet hole in the target's head). The firing rate of VZ is as high as 800 rounds per minute, while that of AK is only 600 rounds per minute. When the firing rate is higher than AK, the ballistic dispersion of VZ is still much better than AK (especially horizontal dispersion).
AK stock and wooden guard are standard wooden parts, and VZ is bakelite, which is lighter in weight. Moreover, Vz is a milling machine box, and AKM is a punch box. Theoretically, the stamping parts are lighter, but the structure of VZ is simpler, so the empty gun is only 2.9 kg (AKM 3. 1 kg, which is much heavier if it is a milling machine box). In addition, although their magazine can hold 30 rounds of 7.62x39, vz58 adopts aluminum magazine, which is lighter.
Moreover, the firing assembly of Vz is completely different from AK, AK belongs to rotary hammer, while VZ is translation hammer. Besides, Vz58 has an empty warehouse, but AK doesn't. If 8 1 at least the smell of AK is found on the firing assembly and lock, then Vz58 is completely similar to AK.
The first is stocks. VZ is not a flat strand like AKM, but an oblique strand. The problem with diagonal bracing is that it is difficult to find the position of chin support point accurately, especially the chin support point of vz58 is more difficult to find than other diagonal bracing rifles. For a large person, it is easy to stick to the front of the bracket, and once this position is supported, the whole line of sight will be low and the aiming center will be high, so it is very uncomfortable to shrink your face.
Then the speed machine. We know that AK's speed reducer has always been a big piece of iron, which can be insured by the middle finger of the right hand or single/continuous firing, while VZ58' s speed reducer looks quite modern, looks like AR, and can be dialed with the thumb, but the problem is that this speed reducer is on the right! In other words, on the right, only left-handed people can move with their thumbs.
If the gun is held in the right hand, it is very difficult to dial the speed machine only by the index finger. If the speed machine only makes people suspect that the designer is left-handed, then the magazine release button makes people believe that the designer is left-handed.
The red circle is the magazine release lever, which is on the left front of the trigger. If it's really convenient for the left-hander, you only need to stretch out your index finger and push it, while the right-hander has to vacate his whole left hand to pull out the magazine. Moreover, his magazine release lever is extremely short, just fitting the trigger holder, and it is easy to get stuck with his fingers when unloading the magazine. There is also the problem of ammunition supply. Because Vz is a latch type latch, there is a latch surface of a latch slot in its housing.
His Vz58 often had problems when replenishing ammunition, and found that there was a corner under the two lock surfaces near the magazine, which was not polished. Therefore, when the bolt is pushed back into the chamber, it will often get stuck on the lock surface with bullets, and it is necessary to pat the bolt to enter the chamber smoothly. It may be the bullet or the hard spring of the magazine. Under normal circumstances, a military rifle should not have such a problem.
Handle, Vz handle is placed on the right side like AK (in fact, this is also suitable for left-handed people). However, AK can easily hold the gun with his right hand, then tilt the gun slightly to one side and pull the bolt with his left hand, but improper operation will lead to fingers being caught between the handle and the gantry.
On the whole, Vz.58 represents the Czechs' psychology of "once rich in ancestors" to a certain extent, so they will never compromise with the Soviet Union. But the gun is still a long way from AK as a whole, which is mainly reflected in its reliability. Although the short piston is a trend, there are many problems in its iron-clamped pendulum lock. In addition to the clamping problem, this swinging small clamping iron is also very resistant to sediment.
In the1980s, many foreign light weapons were tested in China. Vz58 failed to re-enter every round after testing the water through the Yellow River. So it's good to have personality, but there's no need to overdo it.