Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and by the generous invitation of CZ
I'm here today in Uherský Brod taking a look at
some of CZ's more interesting military firearms.
Specifically, today we have the CZ 807
which is, I think, this very interesting hybrid between
the original 805 Bren and the more modern Bren 2.
Now this rifle ... is a sort of a side path off of the 805 and the Bren 2.
And it was initially conceived as specifically a replacement for the AK
in countries that had AKs and wanted to continue using that same cartridge,
but modernise their small arms to something that was more accurate,
and brand new, and more serviceable, and modular, etc.
So what they did was basically take a mixture of original Bren and Bren 2 elements,
and put them together at a price point that's a little bit lower than the Bren 2.
It's not quite as fancy, and it doesn't have some of the fancy features.
... And it's also a little bit less customisable, the Bren is made in a variety of barrel lengths,
this ... was available only in this configuration with a 16 inch barrel.
So, let's take a closer look at this and see which elements came from which different rifles.
So I should start by pointing out that the CZ 805 was only made in 5.56.
The Bren 2 is made in both 5.56 and 7.62x39,
and it's fairly easy actually to swap one gun between the two calibres, if you want to.
The 807 is offered in both calibres,
but it's not intended to be interchangeable between them.
This is designed to be a rifle that is used in exactly the configuration that it's purchased in.
I'm pretty sure that 7.62x39 was the more popular of the two calibres
through the various contracts that were made with the 807.
So this has all of the same controls as the Bren 2,
however it actually has the selector markings in the style of the 805 with dots,
where the Bren 2 actually has alphanumeric characters.
And that would make sense, especially if you're going to be marketing this
... to a variety of different languages.
So rather than having to change your selector markings,
for example "A" for auto,
rather than having to change those to fit different languages,
well, it's got the red dots and the white dot, and those are universal.
Note that the magazine release is a STANAG-style button.
And we have the same ambidextrous magazine release on the opposite side.
That is not compatible with an AK magazine.
So, while this is designed to replace the AK in service,
it does not use AK magazines, it uses a proprietary CZ magazine.
That of course has the curvature of an AK magazine dictated by the [cartridge].
But it attaches and locks in place just like a STANAG magazine.
Now if we go through the features here from front to back, we'll start with the muzzle device.
This is similar to an early style of Bren 2 muzzle device, three prong but straight.
The Bren 2 was later ... improved to have a sort of a curved
... tine muzzle device that prevents it from ringing when firing.
And that wasn't considered a problem on these.
There is a bayonet lug, these ... use a proprietary Czech made bayonet.
And then we have the gas block here.
This has essentially the gas piston from the Bren 2 (and we'll pull it apart in just a moment),
but it has the adjustment plug in the style of the 805, so it doesn't have a big wing.
You still have to use a little tool or get your finger in there
to depress this plunger to actually adjust the gas block.
It does have two settings though, a normal and a fouled setting.
We have all the same rails that are on the Bren 2 and the 805 for that matter.
The front sight is the same style as ... again both the Bren 2 and the 805.
The rear sight is actually unique,
it's only this and the Bren 2 BR that have a BDC cam built into the rear sight.
So this one is of course calibrated for 7.62x39, so you have a huge jump from 500 to 600.
That starts with 1, 2 and 3, and goes all the way out to 600 metres for the folding rear sight.
Of course you also have a full-length Picatinny rail for mounting optics.
One element of simplification here is that the bolt hold open and release
from the Bren 2 located inside the trigger guard has been omitted.
So a couple of fewer parts there to work with.
And frankly this is going to simplify training with,
presumably, sub-professional armies that are used to using the AK.
Instead you have a charging handle, you have a safety.
The magazine release and the safety are slightly different than the AK, but
this is kind of an unusual control that's not often seen.
So you can simplify the rifle by getting rid of it.
Interestingly, the checkering on the pistol grip is also a lot subtler than it is on the Bren 2.
I'm not sure exactly what the rationale is for making that change.
But it still has the interchangeable back straps,
although there are no alternative options for the back strap.
So ... this is the only style, but you can take it off.
And lastly before we take it apart, let's take a quick look at the markings there.
It is marked "CZ 807", that is the official designation.
And "Made in Czech Republic".
Oh, and I should also point out, the charging handle is a reciprocating style.
Again, like the 805, not so much like the Bren 2.
And that helps simplify the internal parts.
In fact, let's take it apart right now and I'll show you.
So, we are going to disassemble this just the same way as the Bren 2.
We've got one pin in the fire control group, it is captive.
Once that pin's out ...
I can lift the lower receiver assembly out.
Next up we're going to fold the stock, which gives us access to the button here.
I can push that in, pull the stock assembly off.
This is identical to a Bren 2 stock.
Recoil spring.
Charging handle comes out, right there.
And the bolt and carrier come out.
Up at the front end I can depress this pin in,
rotate the gas ... plug,
and pull out the gas piston assembly.
Alright, so now we have a really cool layout here.
So this is a Bren 805,
this is an 807, and this is the Bren 2.
And you can see how the 807
is a hybrid of the 805 and the Bren 2.
So to start with, we have a reciprocating charging handle.
So our charging handle ... sits directly in this carrier, physically attached to the bolt.
Where on the Bren 2 we have this separate non-reciprocating charging handle element.
And the 805 also has a fixed charging handle.
Now, none of these parts interchange with each other.
But when it comes to the gas piston,
on the 805 there was really a quite large-diameter gas piston
with this sort of pre-assembled return spring in the middle of the thing.
The Bren 2 has a simplified better system,
three parts that all disassemble like so.
It's smaller, it's lighter, and it's got this big flag
to make it easy to adjust between gas port settings.
Well, the 807 combines the two, it's got the piston design from the Bren 2,
but it's got the gas block from the 805.
Now the 805 is not field disassemblable, you can't take the bolt out of it.
So on the 807 I have a removable pin with a little rubber gasket,
which then allows me to drop the firing pin out,
pull the cam pin out, and pull the bolt out.
So of course this level of disassembly can be done on the Bren 2.
But on the 805 the bolt and carrier assembly was considered not a field serviceable part,
and this pin is essentially permanently in place.
So you can take it out, but it's an armourer's job.
So there is the bolt assembly and gas system assembly up close from the 807.
The bolt head is of course a bit larger than the 805 or the Bren 2
because it's in 7.62x39 instead of 5.56.
This one's a bit dirty from being fired, don't worry about that.
You'll notice on here we have a 2016 proof mark, so.
Now the 807 is actually no longer in CZ's catalogue.
This was introduced in 2016 basically alongside the Bren 2,
or approximately at the same time as the Bren 2.
It lasted about 5 years and then dropped out of the catalogue.
There were at least a couple of nations that did purchase these,
Ghana in particular purchased 807s.
But it's kind of been dropped, as without ... any really big customers
there's not that much incentive for CZ to continue producing this specific pattern.
When they do offer the Bren 2 at almost the same price with some extra features.
And they can simplify their production lines by not having this sort of oddball rifle in the mixture.
There was certainly a hope for a while of
getting a major contract from a country like India or Pakistan.
But neither of those trials ended up adopting, actually, anything.
So, I think this is actually a really cool configuration of the Bren platform,
despite it being sort of the weird step-child.
In fact, maybe it's because it's the weird step-child that I think it's kind of cool.
But a big thanks to CZ for giving me the opportunity to take a look at this and show it to you guys.
Unfortunately these were never available as semi-auto civilian rifles,
so now that they're out of the catalogue they are going to become pretty darn scarce guns.
Hopefully you enjoyed the video. Check out the description text below
for links to all of CZ's social media where they post stuff like this,
as well as some of their older guns and some of their newer guns.
Thanks for watching.