vZ-58 at the range

[armoredman]

Well, I picked it up yesterday,






Compared it to the wife's WASR 10,




Much lighter, easier handling, the whole nine yards. The basic look of the rifle is SOLID, and very well constructed, the machining seemingly perfect.
So, this morning, after my son went off to school, I grabbed some assorted factory and handloaded ammo, and headed to the range. I fired about 200 rounds all told, just breaking it in a bit. Not one failure of any kind, except for me! I lined up on the first paper plate, and shot a group right under it - Huh? Heh, heh.... rear sight was on the 200 notch, and I test all new rifles at 50 yards...oops...

The rifle had been lightly cleaned by me on reciept, and showed it, as the first 10 rounds poured smoke out of the barrel/handguard area as goop burned off. No sweat. Each group got tighter, it seemed. Here is a paper plate group of Wolf original, the black box stuff I was lucky enough to get some of a few years ago. Nothing to write home about, but it is certainly minute-of-felon!



I interspersed shooting the vZ-58 with some 38 Spl work, also at 50 yards. Got a few nice groups, nothing real special, (and a bunch of shotgun patterns!), but I reused one .38 Spl target, (printer died, can't make new targets for a bit), shown here, so you know the "group" at the lower left has nothing to do with the vZ-58.



Now THAT'S not bad, for a 16" barreled carbine, from the bench without support.

And one more,



I am quite happy with this rifle, very nice, has only two drawbacks.

One, the same drawback anything remotely based on the AK has, the rock-the-mag in action. I would LOVE to see a vZ-58 with AR-15 type mag well/mag button arrangement.
Second -this puppy gets HOT! I mean, feel it through the handguard hot after 1.5 magazines. A differant handguard might be in order. i've been told it is more based on the German STG-44 than the AK, and that was a problem with the STG44, IIRC. I can work around it.
It has proven itself to me so far, and assumes primary rifle duty as of now...

And I am itching to get my Midway order in to start loading even more for it. There is the perfect load to get her to 1 MOA accuracy, I think.

 

[mstirton]

Unfortunately, I am not in a gun buying situation at this time. Otherwise, I would definitely have one of these. Looks like a nice shooter. I prefer the other stock though.

 

[saigafreake]

Is it one of the new orf builds or the cz sporter.

 

[nalioth]

Is it one of the new orf builds or the cz sporter

Bite your tongue, sir.



http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=4946621&postcount=43

 

[Eric-WA]

Does it accept AK mags as well? or are they slightly different?

 

[nalioth]

Does it accept AK mags as well? or are they slightly different?

This is not a Kalashnikov in any way, shape, or form.

The only similarities are the cartridge they both utilize (which gives both the distinctive magazine curvature).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa_vz._58

 

[saigafreake]

They take a special propietary mag that are half the weight of standard ak mags. I plan on getting one the new orf built ones soon.

 

[R.W.Dale]

OH man OH man! You have so gotta participate in the steel cased match with this beauty! Why it wouldn't be much of a match if we didn't have at least 1 CZ shoot in it.

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=394293

Could you please take the rifle down and show us some pics of it's naughty bits

 

[armoredman]

FEG has a detailed thread in here showing the stripped vZ58 he has, even though his camera makes it grey, not blued...
A steel case match? I'll look at the link.
I am sold on this rifle so far, I can tell you that!

 

[nalioth]

FEG has a detailed thread in here showing the stripped vZ58 he has, even though his camera makes it grey, not blued...

That's because it is gray.

My Cz-USA rifle on top, dummy gun built with a military parts kit on the bottom.

They've been imported with both the military gray and the commercial blueblack finishes.

 

[armoredman]

OK, but his thread stated his was black, not grey, and the camera made it so. No big deal. I am glad mine is a deep, rich blue. Fit and finish is excellent!

 

[Rmac58]

Nice rifle!

 

[45B@cav]

I want one. Nice rifle.

 

[wizzegun]

The original VZ58's are gray. The "sporter" models from CZ are black. I will agree that these are sweet shooting rifles. I have used mine at local tac shoots. I went up against AR's with red dots and all the goodies and thoroughly beat most of them with iron sighted baby. I actually prefer shooting my VZ to my AR. It just feels right to me. I have yet to read a bad review.

 

[dispatch55126]

Being striker fired, does it have the same drop dead reliability like a standard AK?

 

[nalioth]

Being striker fired, does it have the same drop dead reliability like a standard AK?

These are not Kalashnikovs in any way, shape or form.

In a comparison, the only point the AK has in its favor is in "numbers produced".

 

[armoredman]

I had zero issues, but from what i have heard, they are every bit as reliable as an AK. nalioth is correct, the only resemblance to an AK is superficial and shared caliber.
wizzegun, I'd like to do that to, but no local matches. But I am having lotsa fun with it!

 

[Vaarok]

Oh great, rub it in, mine doesn't arrive till Saturday. C'mon UPS Package Tracking...

 

[armoredman]

Heh, heh...
you will love it.

 

[only1asterisk]

I'm a little jealous. All my gun money is tied up foreseeable future. I lust.

David

 

[Scott7891]

I have the military sporter version and I love it. Never had a problem with it except the stock which I didn't like (it had a chunk missing in it) so I bought the traditional wood style stocks floating around. It now looks so much better than before. Other than that I have never had a hiccup or any failures with it. The only problem I see is finding mags for it and being in Maryland doesn't make it that much easier.

 

[armoredman]

Yikes.

 

[mainmech48]

Heavy sigh.

Why is it that I always seem to hear about these things when I'm in no position whatsoever to be able to wrangle getting one?

At least not without sacrificing something I already love, and that's sort of like trying to choose which one of your relatives to throw outta the sleigh. Harder, actually. I'm not all that fond of some of my cousins.

 

[Proinsias]

Very nice. If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost you?

 

[candr44]

I think you will like the VZ58 much more than the AK. I have had a VZ58 that I built from a parts kit back before they were being imported. I also built a AK at the same time and I much rather shoot my VZ58. Its more accurate than my AK and I also like the more open ejection port, bolt hold open, and the way it recoils better than the AK.

I had the same problem with the fore grip getting hot but I took care of that problem by installing a heat shield. You can also get extra magazines at Copes Distributing and they also sell U.S. made followers and floor plates If you need them. Centerfire Systems also has magazines but no U.S. made parts.