Getting a VZ-24 Mauser!

[Col. Plink]

After another few emails (and some pictures!) I've decided to move on a VZ-24 Mauser for a nice price (several boxes of ammo included).

I'll do my best to post the images as accessable as I can, but I haven't posted photos here before so we'll see...

Hoping to get other VZ-24 owners' comments on theirs' performance, quirks, etc. Thanks in advance!

 

[Robert]

The VZ24 is a great rifle. Makes a great platform for a custom rifle should you choose to go that route. And if you are not a fan of the straight bolt you can use a K98 bolt body. As long as you have a gun smith make sure the head space is ok with the new bolt. Yours is in way better shape then mine. Mine is slated for a conversion to .35 Whelen for Elk.

 

[SaxonPig]

Can't go wrong with a Mauser and the Czech is a good one.

This one started out looking just like yours.

 

[Col. Plink]

Thanks for the tips! This one's so nice I'm just going to leave it 'as is'. I like things in their original condition, they have such character! I found out this one was in the first 8000 of one of 25 blocks of 25,000 the Nazis had the Czechs build for the Romanian army on the Eastern Front. I believe that puts its manufacture at 1940. I'm glad its such a good design and maker; in those numbers it would be hard to get a good one otherwise!

 

[NCsmitty]

Congratulations Col. Plink, your rifle appears to be in above average condition for that model. I can only assume that you paid a premium for it. Excellent choice.
As mentioned, check the headspace before shooting, if possible.


NCsmitty

 

[kansas coyote]

I can get you a k98k nazi proofed for $450 . Nice rifle you are getting though congrats.

 

[Col. Plink]

I don't know if I paid a 'premium' or not, is $150 premium?

It is in very nice shape, though.

 

[Flash!]

these are nice rifles..... I have a beat up one and one in excellent condition... both are great shooters.

 

[kansas coyote]

you did good col. plink if it is shootable and not bore pitted or barrel pitted

 

[NCsmitty]

I don't know if I paid a 'premium' or not, is $150 premium?

Unreal good deal for one that nice.

The one that I bought had the crest removed, yours looks like it may have been scrubbed too. That's not uncommon.


NCsmitty

 

[MikeJackmin]

Just a head's up, most of the cheap surplus 8mm ammo is corrosive. The gun must be cleaned the same day that ammo is used.

 

[Storm]

Sounds like a great deal assuming it has a decent bore. Many of the VZ 24 have pretty shot out bores. I paid $225 for mine and was very happy with the price, all things considered. It has a ground crest, but that isn't that big of a deal to me.

 

[Col. Plink]

Yes, it's certainly a deal in terms of a discount off of pre-BHO prices; he's a great guy, we're childhood friends. I admit that I have not seen the bore/barrel.

 

[Float Pilot]

The Czechs made a few variations of the VZ-24. They had contracts for South American countries as well as China during the 1920s and 1930s.

The JS lightweight models are fairly intersting. They feature a turned down bolt and are slightly lighter than the regular rifles. The most recent of these being imported were the SAO PAULO Constituational Revolution rifles that had recently been imported from Brazil.

Those CZ JS model rifles were part of a Chinese contract in 1928-29, but the Chinese could not pay. So CZ barreled them for 7x57mm and sold them to a small Army of revolutinaries who were holding off the Brazilian Army in Sao Paulo. Unfortunately the revolt did not last long enough and the Brazilian government eventaully ended up with the rifles.

So Brazil added another serial number to match their system on the opposite side of the receiver. These rifles do not have the Brazilian crest.

A third number was added for import to the US my the importer.

 

[Col. Plink]

Does anyone know if these 'Nazi occupation' VZ's have anything particularly good or bad about them? I have read of sabotage by the slave labor driven by the Nazis, but don't know under what conditions the Czechs were forced to produce these rifles or if evidence of sabotage or poor workmanship resulted.