Czech vz. 58 – Improving Upon the Most Reliable Combat Rifle in the World?

In 1958 the world was trying desperately to burst. It had been fourteen years since the Allies had crushed the Axis, and the reverberations of that war still resonated around the planet.

The USSR was the in charge of satellite and slave states in the Warsaw Pact. Soviet doctrine drove both military procurement and tactics. Despite being surrounded by nations that accepted Russian rule the state of Czechoslovakia clung to its own individuality, and that was true for their arms industry as well.

It was in 1958 that the Czechs released their newest assault rifle, the vz. 58 — short for 7.62 samopal vzor 58. This literally translates to “7.62mm submachine gun model 1958.” The new gun was intended to replace vz. 52 rifles as well as several submachine guns in Czech service. While the vz.58 resembles the AK-47, it is an entirely different design.