New Military Black Version Of Czechpoint vz.58

Quick—what isn’t an AK-47, but sure looks like one, and is arguably the best Combloc military rifle ever? If you answered “vz.58, then you know what’s up, and you might be interested to hear Czechpoint now has a new Military Black version of this classic Cold War rifle available.

“It’s not an AK!” @ TFB:

• 10 Reasons Why Vz. 58 is NOT an AK
• CzechPoint Now Producing Vz. 58 Rifles In-House
• Gun Review: VZ2008 Vs. 700 Rounds
• POTD: Canadians with VZ-58 Rifles

High-quality firepower from the Czech Republic

Back in 1958, the country of Czechoslovakia was a satellite state of the Soviet Union, but they weren’t necessarily excited about dancing to the tune of their Communist overlords. When the Russkis designed and issued the AK-47 assault rifle, the Czechoslovakians decided they could do a better job, and came out with the vz.58 rifle in (you guessed it) 1958. While it looked a lot like the AK-47 from a distance, it was not the same thing at all. The Czechs went with a striker-fired short-stroke gas system instead of the AK’s long-stroke gas system, and many smaller differences.

You might think that at least they’d make the magazines interchangeable, but no, even though they look very much alike, the vz.58 won’t take AK mags. Chalk it up to Cold War unhappiness with the next-door neighbors.

Now, the Cold War is long over, Czechoslovakia has split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but the vz.58 is still very much around. It served as the standard rifle of the Czech Republic for a while before being replaced by the Bren 2, but the vz.58 is still in use with the Slovakian military. During the GWOT, the standard military-issue vz.58 was extremely popular with mercenaries in the sandbox, and at the same time, semi-auto versions of the rifle became popular with the North American civilian market. That’s  what Czech Small Arms makes in-house and sells to average Joes, in jurisdictions where that’s legal.

Military Black Is The New… Black?

Although Czechpoint sells a few different variations of the vz.58, the new Military Black model looks a lot like the version that Czechoslovakian troops used to tote. It comes complete with the “beaver barf” furniture and a black-over-phosphate finish on the metal that looks like it might have been issued to protect a key government installation in Prague in the 1970s.

Of course, it is semi-auto only, and chambered in 7.62x39. The receiver is milled, and the 16-inch chrome-lined barrel is from German manufacturer Lothar Walther. Although it’s an old Cold War design from the years before optics were common, that receiver is drilled and tapped for an optic rail on the side (not included). The rifle weighs 6.9 pounds without a mag. MSRP is $1,729, making it one of the more affordable vz.58-pattern rifles available. For more details, see Czechpoint’s website here.