Is the VZ 58 A Good AK Alternative? Personal Experience

A few years ago, I was visiting an acquaintance at the gun market in the city of Sulaymaniyah, in Northern Iraq. His small shop had an excellent selection of rifles, primarily AKs and some new M4s that looked like they were at the US military warehouse just a few months ago. You know what they say: “Never ask a woman her age, a man his salary, an Iraqi gun dealer - where did he get the guns displayed at his store”.

I asked him what the least expensive rifle in his shop is, and he pointed me towards the Czech VZ 58. At the time, the retail price for this rifle was just $250, two times less than some old AK of questionable pedigree.

Unfortunately, the VZ 58 often gets this treatment. Once I talked to C.J. Chivers, The New York Times Magazine writer and the author of the best-selling book “The Gun’, which is probably the most popular book about firearms history of all time. He mentioned that when the VZ58 rifles were issued to the Afghan police, there were rumors among Afghans that these rifles were simply “bad Pakistani knockoffs of the AK” manufactured in the caves of the Tribal area in Pakistan.

Being overshadowed by the AK was always part of the VZ58's history. When I did my armorer course, a US Marine pointed at the VZ58 and asked, “Isn’t that thing just another AK variant?” An instructor made fun of him, but I couldn’t, because I remember my first introduction to the VZ58, and wasn’t too familiar with it myself.

It was my first maritime security contract, and we got our weapons from the floating armory at the port of Galle in Sri Lanka. The guns and ammo were all packed in neat plastic cases. When we opened the cases, I only caught a glimpse of the guns that we would be using, only to realise I was totally unfamiliar with them. I knew the name and country of origin of the VZ 58, but even the field strip process was a mystery to me.

Once we settled on the ship, the team started to figure it out. There was no manual or internet access, so we had no choice but to teach ourselves how to use and disassemble that weapon. Most of my colleagues were Greek, so they also never had a chance to shoot this weapon during their military service.

Our team leader was the first man to try to field strip the rifle. He took it apart, but could not put it back together - the bolt carrier didn’t go back into the receiver. He went to his room to deal with it all alone, and after a few minutes, I decided that I should give it a try.

I had little faith in my skills, so I took photos of every part I detached from the gun, so I could at least put it back together. I encountered the same problem - the bolt carrier did not go back in. I remembered cleaning bolt-action rifles and did something fairly obvious - pressed the trigger and guided the bolt carrier inside.

The ergonomics are questionable, especially compared to the AR-15. VZ 58 safety is not bad; many find it to be more ergonomic than the AK safety selector, but it is still not as intuitive and fast as the AR-15. The VZ 58 mag release essentially prevents left-handed shooters from doing a reload quickly.

And we are not even starting with logistics. If you live outside of Czechia and Slovakia, finding spare parts and magazines for an AK would definitely be easier compared to the VZ 58.

All of that does not mean the VZ 58 is a bad weapon. It is brilliant - designed by a young weapon engineer who managed to beat senior colleagues, creating one of the most interesting Eastern Bloc rifles of the Cold War. In a way, it is a symbol of quiet defiance; Czechia was the only Warsaw Pact country that designed its own service rifle.

And the VZ 58 is quite ubiquitous, since at least 920,000 VZ 58s were produced over the years, and you can encounter them all over the Middle East. So even if you don’t plan to use one, it makes sense to familiarise yourself with it, so when you encounter it, you won't embarrass yourself, as I did on that ship.

If this post has you ready to hit the range, head over to gunranges.com - a free directory to help you find shooting ranges near you, wherever you are in the United States.