ČZ vz. 27
The vz. 27 is a Czechoslovak semi-automatic pistol, based on the pistole vz. 24, and chambered for 7.65 mm Browning/.32 ACP. It is often designated the CZ 27 after the naming scheme used by the Česká zbrojovka factory for post-World War II commercial products. However, it is correctly known as vz. 27, an abbreviation of the Czech "vzor 27", or "Model 27".
Background
During the early 1920s, Czechoslovakia adopted the Pistole vz. 22 chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge to replace the large variety of handguns inherited following the country independence from Austria-Hungary in 1918. While it was an adequate design, it used a locking system which serves no purpose on pistols chambered for low-power rounds such as the .380 ACP. The reason it was there was that the pistol was originally designed to fire 9×19mm Parabellum rounds, but after trials the Czechoslovak Army decided to adopt a pistol chambered for a smaller cartridge. It was easier to just change the chambering than redesign the pistol into a blowback. After being slightly modified into the Pistole vz. 24, the pistol was completely redesigned into a blowback pistol as the vz. 27.[3]
Description
The vz. 27 uses a simple blowback action, ditching the rotating locking barrel of its predecessors.[4] Pistols produced during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia can be distinguished by the "fnh" (the German letter code for Česká Zbrojovka, Strakonice) slide markings. Some German-manufactured pistols had a special barrel allowing a silencer to be attached while some others lack the "CZ" logo on the grip plates.[2]
History
The pistol was issued to police and security guards under the designation vz. 27 (CZ 27 was the designation for pistols commercially sold). More than a half a million pistols were produced from 1927 to 1951. During World War II, the Česká Zbrojovka factory operated under the name Böhmische Waffenfabrik AG in Prag (Bohemian Weapon Factory Ltd. in Prague).[5] Captured and German-made pistols were used by Heer under the designation Pistole 27(t).[6] Following the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, the company name was changed to Česká Zbrojovka Národni Podnik (Bohemian Arms Factory People's Enterprise).[5]
During the post-war period, West German intelligence made use of WWII-era silenced vz. 27s.[7] In 1969, during the last stages of the North Yemen Civil War, Czechoslovakia offered to supply the Yemen Arab Republic with uniforms and obsolete small arms including vz. 27 pistols, but no deal materialized.[8]
Users
Czechoslovakia[8]
Nazi Germany − Captured pistols designated as the Pistole 27(t)[6]
West Germany − Used by spies[7]
South Yemen − 2,100 pistols, from the stocks of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Interior[9]
Failed bids
See also
References
- ^ Chamberlain, Peter (1976). Axis pistols, rifles, and grenades. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco. p. 11. ISBN 0668040769. OCLC 2388349.
- ^ a b Ezell 1993, p. 580.
- ^ Hogg 1987, pp. 72−74.
- ^ Hogg 1987, p. 74.
- ^ a b Ezell 1993, p. 582.
- ^ a b Bull 2021, pp. 136−137.
- ^ a b Melton 2009, p. 174.
- ^ a b c Smisek 2023, p. 130.
- ^ Smisek 2023, pp. 140, 142.
Bibliography
- Bull, Stephen (2021). German Army Uniforms of World War II: A photographic guide to clothing, insignia and kit. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-3804-9.
- Ezell, Edward Clinton (1993). Handguns of the World: Military Revolvers and Self-loaders from 1870 to 1945. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 978-0-88029-618-2.
- Hogg, Ian V. (1987). Military Pistols & Revolvers. Poole: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 978-0-85368-807-5.
- Melton, H. Keith (2009). Ultimate Spy. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-7566-6818-1.
- Smisek, Martin (2023). Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East: Volume 4 - Iran, Iraq, Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen 1948-1989. Helion and Company. ISBN 978-1-80451-524-2.