Hello gents, today I received via trade from my fathers friend, an interesting rifle that has had quite a few owners beforehand and who's origins aren't known. All I really know is that it is Czech in its manufacturing origins as it has"zbrojovka brno" written on it and it has the Czech rampart lion, but I also noticed a small "Israeli Star" (As I've read) and that it could have been used by the Israeli's. Some pics to follow and all help would be appreciated!
It would appear to be a post war Czech vz24 - apparently the 7.62 version was only the Israeli model, the recalibre being done by the Israelis themselves once the FN came into service in 1955. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vz._24
Thank you very much Nigel, apparently this gun has passed hands many times (Which is interesting upon seeing the Provincial coins that were hammered into the stock so I'm very pleased to have an interesting peace of history!
You're welcome - by all accounts it is a nice enough weapon to fire, although i couldn't find anything talking about the 7.62 version - like you say an interesting piece of history Seems like it must have been produced 1945-1948; http://www.servinghistory.com/topics/Vz._24::sub::Post-War_Production If you can give us a close up of the coins, might be able to identify them if you haven't already - could tell something interesting.
these might be also of interest; Collecting and Shooting the Czech BRNO Vz24 Mauser - Disassembly and Reassembly http://www.surplusrifle.com/brnovz24/rifledisassembly/pdf/brnovz24disassembly.pdf Czech Sling Overview http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?101760-Czech-vz.24-Sling
Those were pretty neat, thank you Nigel. I found that quite neat about the cleaning rod, I though it was just for attaching the Bayonet (Which I hope to acquire soon) Also on the coins, they were both different and had "Prince Edward Island" in English and French and the other has "Nova Scotia" same, each had the provincial crest on them. I'm not sure what the significance of them are but it certainly makes the mystery of the previous owners all the more interesting.
Best guesses for the coins would be that possibly there was originally something there that one of the Canadian collector's didn't like (perhaps Jewish stars that weren't to his taste?), or that the original discs had been removed/lost and the coins happened to fit the holes. - Would the coins come out without any damage to see if there's anything underneath perhaps? It seems from the photos i could find that all the Israeli ones had some sort of circular 'thing' in that spot, although not as big. I just wondered - could the 'coins' be shooting medals perhaps - unlikely if there's no rifle related stuff on them, but you never know. I did dig out a load of info on the bayonets which I could find again if you want it - silly I didn't post it at the time - heres one set of phots; Knife Bayonets Middle East and Africa - there was quite a wide selection made if i remember right, and one specific type that went with the Israeli ones. If you're going the whole hog, there was a scope made (this is a Romanian one); Google Image Result for http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq39/Oaksnorth1/vz24rum4.jpg Edit; The only reference i could find for a PEI coin with it written in both English and French was a special issue from 1973. post us some pics if u like and I can make sure.
There are the coins themselves, I don't really sense any significance, but as you said it may have been some sort of personalization or "re" personalization. That is an interesting selection on Bayonets, so it seems that it can take a wide variety of different styles, interesting For the scope though, I am somewhat mixed, ever since I had lain eyes on the Kar98 sights, (I had fired one some years back) I knew that I would love them over a scope. I suppose it works better that way as I imagine it would be quite difficult to acquire that scope and I don't like the idea of drilling into the wood of an already old gun to fit a modern one one on. Again Nigel, thank you for your interest and help
The significance of the 2 dates on the coins seems to be that they were the last years for each province when they minted their own money - haven't found a definite hit yet but from comparable ones it would appear they are probably each worth considerably more than the rifle! Think would need to see both sides to be sure, or a visit to a coin expert might be in order. Possibly they were both a special coin, perhaps even non-monetary ones issued to mark the transfer of minting to Canada. Can't find any exact matches online. will keep looking
