Description

Czechoslovakia was the worlds largest small arms maker in the 1920’s & 1930’s & were known to make fine arms which were exported around the globe. The VZ24 battle rifle is a bolt-action carbine, designed & produced in Czechoslovakia at the CZ factory from 1924 to 1942.

Known as the ‘Czech Mauser’, it was developed from the German Mauser Gewehr 98 line & features a very similar bolt design. The rifle was designed in Czechoslovakia shortly after World War I, to replace the VZ 98/22, also a Czech designed derivative of the Gewehr 98. The VZ24 featured a 590 mm (23.2 in) barrel which was shorter & considered more handy than the 740 mm (29.1 in) Gewehr 98 barrel. The VZ24 was chambered in 7.92×57mm Mauser like its predecessors.

The VZ24 equipped the Czech Army & was the mainstay battle rifle used to resist the Nazi invasion. Germany acquired hundreds of thousands of the rifles in 1939 when they occupied Czechoslovakia & pressed them into service under the designation “Gewehr 24(t)”. During the occupation, production of the rifles continued until 1942, when the factories were converted to the German-designed Karabiner 98k (K-98). During this period, several hundred thousand rifles were also built for the Romanian Army. VZ 24 rifles saw extensive service during World War II in multiple theaters, predominantly with the German & Romanian armies on the Eastern Front. Lithuanian VZ24’s, which had been captured during the German invasion in 1941, were later seized by Soviet forces, who in turn used them to arm the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War making these a rifle with an interesting history.

This particular rifle has definitely seen service (perhaps with several different armies) & has some unique marks where the soldier used the wood to push the bolt down on to strip it for cleaning. This rifle is in good honest condition for its age with the Czech Lion crest intact on the receiver & the stock disc still in place.

This is a relatively rare rifle & would make a great addition to your Mauser collection or perhaps the start of one.

Please view the photos carefully & ask for more if desired as these form the main description, overriding all others.

Sold on consignment for a collector.