Czechoslovakian VZ.54 Sniper (pics)
Initially I was going to post this in the milsurp forum at CGN but thought against it. So I'm posting here instead :)
Probably one of the rarest mosin nagants out there - The VZ.54 Czech Sniper made between 1954 and 1957.
I just wanted to share a fairly rare Mosin Nagant with you. Probably the slickest mosin sniper I've ever owned (I've had and held a few in my time). I was a little suprised how well made this rifle is. The Czech's certainly paid attention to detail. Certainly the bolt is effortless to cycle and the trigger is very light. Although not a 2 stage trigger it takes very little effort to set off (maybe 3lbs).
The rifle is mint and if I didn't know better I would say unfired. Havind said that I don't know any better. Either way the bore is pristine and the rifle does not show any typical evidence of army service usually denoted by scrapes and dents. All parts are matching and the rampant lion is pretty much stamped everywhere.
Anyhow I thought I would post a few pictures for you to enjoy.
Cheers
Richard
Riflechair.com
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As Czechoslovakia tended to do during their Warsaw Pact days, the Czechs went their own way with a lot of their weapons. One of these was the VZ.54 sniper rifle; as long as they accepted the 7.62mm Nagant cartridge, the Russians allowed them to design this weapon. The Czechs took a Mosin Nagant action, and integrated several mauser adaptations. The production quality was very good, and the rifle was built to close tolerances.
Czechoslovakia did not utilize their post war BRNO mauser tooling to produce sniper variants during this period and adopted the mosin platform instead. BRNO mausers (both pre and post war) are considered by many to be amongst the BEST of any mauser in it's day and I agree.
It would seem a political decision to provide amnesty from the Soviets in the mid-50's due to the mounting pressure and impositions placed on Czechoslovakia.
Some historical background (post vz.54)
The Soviet general dissatisfaction within the Czechoslovakian military became increasingly evident. In 1966 Czechoslovakia, following the lead of Romania, rejected the Soviet Union's call for more military integration within the Warsaw Pact and sought greater input in planning and strategy for the Warsaw Pact's non-Soviet members.
On August 20, 1968, Warsaw Pact forces--including troops from Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, and the Soviet Union--invaded Czechoslovakia. Approximately 500,000 troops, mostly from the Soviet Union, poured across the borders in a blitzkrieg-like advance.
Czechoslovak joy was tempered by the knowledge that a sizable army of occupation would remain after the bulk of the invading force had departed. The Bulgarian, East German, Hungarian, and Polish troops were ordered to leave the country, but Soviet units were to remain in what was referred to as "temporary stationing." In the agreement, Czechoslovakia retained responsibility for defense of its western borders, but Soviet troops were to be garrisoned in the interior of the country. As events transpired, however, the major Soviet headquarters and four of its five ground divisions were deployed in the Czech Socialist Republic, where they remained in mid-1987.
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