Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod

History

In 1918, several former members of the Austro-Hungarian military service assumed a controlling interest in the Austro-Hungarian armament shop in Brno, Czechoslovakia, renaming it Státní zbrojovka a strojírna v Brno (State Armament and Engineering Works of Brno). Approximately a year later, the name was changed to Českáslovenská Zbrojovka (Czechoslovak State Armament Works). The former provinces of Bohemia and Moravia had long been firearms manufacturing centers within their regions. Prior to 1924, this firm was involved mainly with Mauser Model 98 type rifles (both assembly and mfg.). Around 1923, pistol manufacture was transferred from Brno to Ceská Zbrojovka, located in Strakonice, Czechoslovakia.

Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod or ČZUB was first established on 27 June 1936 as a branch of the Česká zbrojovka Strakonice armament firm in the small Moravian town of Uherský Brod in Czechoslovakia, now in the Czech Republic. The decision was made in the light of the rising power of German Nazi expansionism, especially after the Hitler's unopposed Remilitarization of the Rhineland with the aim of moving the manufacturing of firearms further from German border. The factory was built within 16 weeks of the initial decision.

After World War II all the firearms manufacturers were managed by a single central agency which required that "Any firearm exported will bear the BRNO markings"; this is why many ČZUB firearms, even those made in Uherský Brod or Strakonice, bear BRNO markings.

Firearms principally designed by the famed Czech firearms engineers Frantisek and Josef Koucký bear the ZKK, ZKM, ZKP, or ZKR acronyms:

During 1964-1966, the Czech government transferred the production of long guns from Zbrojovka Brno to Ceská Zbrojovka Uhersky Brod (ČZUB). Throughout the Cold War ČZUB manufactured a wide variety of military small arms including the Sa vz. 58 assault rifle, the Škorpion vz. 61 submachine gun, various .22 caliber training and target rifles and the very successful CZ 75 family of pistols. While many firearm designs originated in Brno, Zbrojovka Brno was not the manufacturer. Because of this, the long guns manufactured in the mid-1960s, including the ZKK 600 and ZKK 602 series and the ZKM rimfires, were actually manufactured by CZ Uhersky Brod (ČZUB). Because of the Czech government's decision to merge manufacture within both companies, the Brno trademark was also used by Ceská Zbrojovka Uhersky Brod. By the early 1980s, firearms production at Zbrojovka Brno accounted for less than 3% of its total capacity, as production was shifted to the manufacture of typewriters, diesel motors, and automatic machine tools.

In 1991 the Czech weapons factories were "de-centralized" and began business as free market companies. In 1992, Česká zbrojovka a.s.(PLC), Uherský Brod became private, moving into the free world economy and eventually establishing a small arms presence in over 90 countries.

In 1997 ČZUB established a permanent presence in the United States with the founding of CZ-USA. ČZUB and CZ-USA continue to market small arms worldwide, with military, police, defensive, sporting and recreational firearms.

The ČZUB factory employs some 1800+ engineers, craftsmen and business personnel, making it one of the largest firearms manufacturers in the world. The company manufactured over 260,000 firearms in 2014 alone.

Notable developments

Over the years Česká zbrojovka has developed several revolutionary or highly influential designs in various fields of small arms, most notably:

Handguns

Rimfire rifles

Centerfire rifles

Shotguns

Air rifles

Military and law enforcement

Other

Handguns

Smallbore rifles

Bigbore rifles

Aircraft machine guns

Military rifles

Submachine guns

Shotguns

Miscellaneous

Literature