Finding a needle in a haystack
Every now and then it pays to be diligent and a little bit lucky,
Many years ago I purchased a Czech VZ54 sniper rifle from Dennis Kroh @ Empire Arms. It was mismatched ( as most are) with the barreled action and bolt being one S/N and the other 3 S/N's ( trigger guard, magazine cover, stock) being another, but it was complete with scope and was a very clean rifle. Fast forward 4 years and while cruising Gunbroker I notice a Scope less VZ54 for sale and after opening the auction I noticed the S/N, which looked very familiar. I pulled up the pics of the auction and of my sniper and what do I find but the rifle on the auction has all my parts to go with my action, and I have all it's parts for it's action.
So after checking and rechecking the pics a dozen times, and e-mail a collector friend of mine to verify what I was seeing was not a figment of my imagination , I did what any collector would do, I placed a healthy bid on the rifle and sweated out the next 10 days until the auction closed !
Well after the rifle arrived and after getting a healthy dose of pics to document the story I returned both rifle back to there former glory, and in the process learned something new about the VZ54.
1st there are not 5 but 7 serial numbered parts on them, they are the
1- barreled action
2-bolt
3-trigger guard
4-magazine cover
5-stock
6-bolt head
7-underside of hand guard
My 1956 rifle is now all matching with a mismatched scope, and my scope less 57 has 6 of it's 7 matched parts with the bolt head being replaced at some point by the Czechs.
So here the are in all there glory
1957 VZ54 as received
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165453-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165513-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165527-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165539-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165551-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165620-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165706-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165747-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165813-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165846-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165918-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_165948-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170009-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_171614-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_171248-1.jpg
My 56 VZ54 as received
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170042-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170110-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170133-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170202-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170205-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170214-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170225-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170232-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_171631-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_170852-1.jpg
My now my 56 & 57 VZ54's returned to there former glory !
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_172541-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_172616-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_172636-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_172658-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8_172703-1.jpg
