Advertisements

Infantry Small Arms / The Warfighter

Ceska Zbrojovka vz. 52/57

Light Machine Gun (LMG) / Infantry Support Weapon [ 1952 ]

The Czech vz. 52/57 might have been a more respectable light machine gun system if not for Soviet involvement.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 08/07/2017 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Introduced in the period following World War 2 (1939-1945), the Czechoslovakian vz. 52 series light machine gun saw use in limited numbers. It was intended as a light support weapon for the Czech Army and thusly chambered for the local Czech 7.62x45mm rimless rifle cartridge which produced the vz. 52 designation. However, Soviet pressure - in an effort to have allied armies utilize a single cartridge for logistical reasons - soon forced a change to the more universal Soviet 7.62x39 M43 rifle cartridge instead - giving rise to the vz. 52/57 designator of 1957. The resulting design proved to be a mixed success - sound Czech engineering forced to use an unwanted foreign cartridge.

Firing from either a 25-round detachable box magazine or a 50-round belt feed, the machine gun maintained many features of the original ZB vz. 30 model of the World War 2 period. A specially-designed trigger allowed the operator to achieve single-shot or full-automatic fire rate based on the pressure placed on it. The weapon weighed 17.5lb and featured a length of 41 inches. A carrying handle set atop the barrel aided in transporting the weapon as well as changing an overheated barrel. Rate-of-fire was up to 1,150 rounds-per-minute based on the gas setting. Range was out to 2,800 meters.

The Vz. 52/57 series was in service from 1962 until 1964 with about 8,000 examples being produced out of the Zbrojovka factory of storied Brno. The Czech Army eventually replaced their vz. 52/57 stocks with the "Universal Machine Gun" Model of 1959 - otherwise known as the "vz. 59". This weapon continues in service today (2016) and saw combat exposure during the Vietnam War (1955-1975).©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

BASICS [+] MANUFACTURER(S) [+] OPERATORS [+] ROLES [+] DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT [+] ACTION [+] CARTRIDGE & FEED [+] PERFORMANCE [+] VARIANTS [+] HONORS [+]

Advertisements