[ UK vz.59 - Shooting ]
Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and yesterday we took a look at
some of the history and the mechanics of the vz.59 here.
And today we are out on the range doing some shooting with it.
So, first let's take a look at how we're going to actually load this thing.
Alright, so loading this thing is a two-part procedure.
What we need to do is first charge the bolt and then load the belt.
To charge the bolt, because we have this somewhat unusual
Czech pistol grip charging design,
we are actually first going to flip it over here.
This is our release lever for the charging handle.
And the trigger also cams open the ejection port.
So to charge it, I need to engage both the trigger and the handle,
I can then ... push the pistol grip all the way forward, right there.
It has now latched onto the bolt.
And so now when I pull it back, like so, it has charged the bolt.
So now we are ready for step two, which is loading the belt.
The vz.59 is somewhat unusual in that it uses a big rimmed cartridge, 7.62x54,
but it also uses a push-through belt.
Meaning that where most machine guns in a cartridge like this
would grab the cartridge and pull it backwards out of the link.
This one actually just shoves it, rim and all, right through this spring steel link.
So loading is pretty easy, you are just going to take the end tab,
run it through to there.
Pull it into position until that cartridge snaps in,
and then we are ready to shoot as soon as I pull the trigger.
Alright, now we're ready to go.
This is one of those guns that really kind of changes your perspective,
or ... let's say, limits your situational awareness while you're firing it.
This is a fairly light gun, it's a very low-profile gun.
And it does a lot of transmission of recoil into the shooter.
So the sights really kind of vibrate away,
and you don't have much good external perspective while you are shooting.
Definitely best suited to very short bursts
to stay controllable, and to keep aware of what your target is.
Huh, and the safety.
Alright, if you have just fired the gun dry, then the bolt is back
and you don't need to do anything but jam another belt in it.
If you have ... dry fired the bolt, then you need to charge it with the pistol grip again.
Then (put that in the right spot there), run this through, clicks in place, and we're ready to go.
Alright, one other thing that comes up with this gun is that it ejects the cases straight down.
So they are right here where you're going to probably be putting your hand
if you're moving or adjusting the gun, and it kind of sucks
to jam your hand down on a really hot freshly-ejected case.
Whoo!
Yeah, you know what?
Not my favourite gun ever for full-auto, this thing's kind of a real handful.
In semi-auto it'd be quite nice I think.
Short bursts, two round bursts, are pretty easy, pretty controllable, pretty nice.
But where with some guns like the PKM you can do mag dumps,
with this, nyah, not really worth your while.
The other interesting thing to compare this to
is the Finnish Kvkk 62, which is really, really similar.
In fact ... almost think of these two as the same guns,
but this is in 54 rimmed and the Kvkk 62 is in 7.62x39.
And that lighter cartridge makes the Finnish gun
a far more pleasant and far more shootable weapon.
In 54 rimmed, this thing honestly is just a little too powerful, I think.
You need to have either a little less cartridge or a little more gun
in order to be able to work it controllably.
So good reason why this didn't really get adopted
by any wider forces outside of really Czechoslovakia.
It's the interesting last take on the ZB-26, which was fantastic.
But by this point in its development, well maybe they've gone awry a little bit.
Hopefully you guys enjoyed the video.
I would like to thank the folks at Marstar up in Canada
for allowing me access to their full-auto vz.59 here.
It was certainly a very interesting experience, and I appreciate that.
And if you are in the shooting sports up here in Canada,
definitely check out Marstar for ammo, guns, accessories, and all sorts of cool surplus and stuff.
Thanks for watching.