Czech
Pistols 1922-1952

CZ22
This pistol
was originally produced by Mauser and the design was purchased by Czechoslovakia.
Brno was first set up to manufacturer the pistol but production was moved
to CZ Strakonice and began in 1923 The design is a locked breech
which is stronger than needed for a 9mm short.
Strakonice later
modified the design with help from Skoda Works as the M24, but again it
was the locked breech design simplified with some stamped parts to make
production easier. This pistol was kept in production when Germany
invaded and 3,385 were purchased by Finland. The top of the slide
is marked Ceska Zbrojovka A.S. Praze. Pre war pistols and holster
shown. Upper pistol is in the 12xxxx serial number range without
Army acceptance markings and lower pistol in the 17xxxx serial number range
with Army J Lion 31 acceptance. There is also a Romanian Contract
version of this pistol with longer grip.
The
Czech government realizing that the locked breech was stronger than necessary
started to develop a simple blow back design which utilized many of the
parts of the M24 and this became the M27. When Germany took over,
the name of the arsenal was changed to Bohmische Waffenfabrik A.G. Prag
and this is how they were marked until they started using the code assigned
to the arsenal which was fnh. After the war the M27 was continued
and marked Ceska Zbrojovka Narodni Podnik Strakonice.
100 of the M27 were sold to Finland in 1940 and bore the SA in a box mark.
Shown with Post war holster.
The CZ
M38 was designed by Frantishek Myshka and went into production in 1938,
but being a poor design, production was stopped by the Germans soon after
invading. 10 or 12,000 pistols were finished and issued to 2nd line
German troops, designated the M39(t). Some found their way to Bulgaria
and can be found with the Bulgarian T marking. The Germans sold 3,285 to
the Fins in 1940, where they were designated the M39. Holster shown
below is marked P39 under the flap and is the hardshell German type.
CZ52
Zbrojovka Praga
I am not aware that this
gun was ever used by the Military
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