[IDEF 2025] PZD MK1 - Combat-Proven Machineguns From Czechia
Despite rising demand for armaments in Europe, it seems that very few new manufacturers are coming to the market. Mostly, there are already established companies that reap the benefits of increased defense spending.
However, there are some new companies on the market and today we will talk about one of those companies - Defense and Security Services from Czechia.
Initially, the company did defense trading and consulting work, but later decided to start manufacturing firearms.
TFB already covered one of their products, The PZD Mk24 Light Machine Gun, but the company makes not one, but three different machine guns.
Today we will talk about MK1, a belt-fed light machine gun that has two different versions, one chambered in 5.56x45 and another one in 7.62x51.
MK1 was extensively tested by the Ukrainian army and Czech special forces. The feedback from combat led to some additional design features. In Ukraine, there were so many types of ammunition available that machine gunners had a hard time adjusting the gas system to every new type of round.
As a result, MK1 has a gas regulator with 11 positions, so you can adjust the gas to work reliably with nearly every type of 5.56 or 7.62 ammo.
The machine gun is using standard NATO links and unlike M249 was not designed to use STANAG mags. According to the manufacturer, Czech special forces concluded that the dual feed mechanism is unreliable and unnecessary. This opinion is commonplace with many who used magazines on M249.
Considering that European governments prefer to spend money within the EU, PZD machineguns will likely be in high demand in the near future, since other big manufacturers in Europe will be unable to produce enough machineguns to meet the increased demand from European militaries.
Vladimir Onokoy is a small arms subject matter expert and firearms instructor. Over the years he worked in 20 different countries as a security contractor, armorer, firearms industry sales representative, product manager, and consultant. His articles were published in the Recoil magazine, Small Arms Review, Small Arms Defence Journal, and Silah Report. He also contributed chapters to books from the "Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov" series. Email: machaksilver at gmail dot com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vladimir-Onokoy-articles-and-videos-about-guns-and-other-unpopular-stuff-107273143980300/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vladonokoy/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/machaksilver
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I'm literally too dense to tell the difference between them, the Minimi and the Mk48. I got like faceblindess, but for machineguns derived from the M249.