Were there any poorly designed Czech weapons? Or anything else? I believe the Skoda was the Only Soviet era automobile to survive into free market competition.
@@johndix1820 nope Lada is still going as well, škoda is owned by vw otherwise it would have likely died, Ural and GAZ are also still in the market. But you are right škoda is the only one of them that you could call successful in the Western market.
Listen mate...I am Czech and I have one of those things home. When I saw video from american I was thinking " Ohhh my god, lets see this guy and gues how many things he say wrong". But....you are really profesional. Thank you. Thumbs up!
You know, for the past couple of months, I've been feeling like Ian's been in a mood of "screw it, this channel has become the de facto video encyclopedia of all things gun-related, so I'm no longer holding myself back to only the 'forgotten' guns, i'll just cover whatever I damn-well please"; and I have to say, I love the new mood. Ian has talked about this gun on like 5 different occasions in different videos, and it's great to finally get a video on it.
I kinda noticed this, and I agree that it may be for the best. I mean sure, please keep finding rare and strange guns, but these segways into these better known, but important historically, guns, is valid content too!
@@iplaygames8090 I do not know about the vote in French parliament, but as far as I know, French did not have much choice. On one hand they had defense treaty with us (Czechoslovaks) and with Brits. But Brits basically told the French, that if they would go to war with Germany with Czechoslovakia, they would be on their own, which the French did not feel like doing. The rest is history with Munich agreement and so on. But there is also I think testimony from someone in Daladiers entourage, that was returning from Munich that says that after Daladier got off from the plane and was greeted by cheering French, he commented something along the lines of "Ah, the fools, if only they knew" Which tells me French leadership, or at least part of it were not actually too happy with the deal with Germany.
It helps that the Czech lands already had some seasoned arms production companies, in multiple areas, already during the days of Austria-Hungary (and the overall firearm manufacturing tradition in Czechia is, of course, centuries old).
China adopted ZB26 (probably domestically made though) before fighting against Japanese invasion back in WW2. My grandfather can't appreciate ZB26 more for saving his squad countless times.
A citizen of Czechoslovakia (I forget his name) also designed some of the new public buildings in Shanghai during the 1920s and 1930s. I suppose interwar Czechoslovakia and interwar China had a peculiar connection for a number of years, despite being at other ends of the world. :-p :-) Granted, you had successful Czechoslovak companies like Baťa, Tatra and Škoda also exporting goods like shoes and footwear, cars and trucks, Baťa even opening many factories abroad, on different continents, so it's not all that shocking that trade was fairly international before it became much more limited during the Cold War.
@@stalkinghorse883 The Czech military and general population at the time was ready to defend their homeland against the Germans, but the Czechoslovak government was forced to stand down by the British.
@Michael Srite LOL. Whut mate? Sudetenland was part of Bohemia for hundreds of years. It was never "stolen" from Germany or anyone else... German minority was invited to Sudetenland by one of bohemian kings of middleages. Their task was to cultivate the area (cut trees, grow fields) because Sudetenland (at that time) was a land of deep forests and nothing else. You simply CANNOT(!) compare Sudetenland to Saarland or Rhineland which had been inhabited by germanic tribes for ages.
I just want to take a second to thank Gun Jesus for making these awesome videos. This channel is bringing education and entertainment to the masses despite opposition from RUclips. Thanks Ian for being so great.
Benjamin Detseuh Yeah fuckin RUclips, betraying all the creators that made it what it is just because they are biased and want to push a flawed political agenda We, the people who are on the side of freedom and liberty, need a new platform
@@vencazatlec4570 According to a 2000 study, 35.6% of Czech men have haplogroup R1b, which is very common in Western Europe among Germanic and Celtic nations, but rare among Slavic nations.[29] A mtDNA study of 179 individuals from Western Bohemia showed that 3% had East Eurasian lineages that perhaps entered the gene pool through admixture with Central Asian nomadic tribes in the early Middle Ages.[30] A group of scientists suggested that the high frequency of a gene mutation causing cystic fibrosis in Central European (including Czech R.) and Celtic populations supports the theory of some Celtic ancestry among the Czech population.[31]
@@vencazatlec4570 Češi jsou mnohem blíž k Němcům než k Rusům, ať už kulturně a historicky, nebo pokrevně. Panslovanismus se jen hodil obrozencům a pak Masarykovi. A od tý doby někdo mele "slované". Zajímavý to řešit pod tímhle videem :D
Probably one of the more influential LMGs, where its legacy was carried onto the Bren and STG 44, and still lives on in weapons like the VZ 58, VZ 52 LMG and the UK 59. I'd love to have one of these in my collection.
This is the model of machine gun my grandfather was operating in WWII. He was seventeen years old when he joined the Yugoslavian partisans. I've heard many great stories from him about the battles where he used it and it he said it was a great weapon and he loved it. He never refered to it with a model number, only called it "Brno" whenever he was referring to it.
I've live fired one of these and that big reciprocating mass pulls the gun forward after you feel the recoil. Really unique feeling. I recall my helmet rocking around humorously
The Czechs "knocked it out if the park with this gun" - so that would be 'Czech mate'. I do love the simple and elegant design of the bolt & bolt carrier - sometimes things are just so 'right' in design. Everything about it is so beautifully done - the acid etched crest & the serial number stamps. How often on otherwise great looking guns do we see serial numbers all askew? I know that it doesn't matter at all, but it's just a tiny detail that sticks out IMO.
If somebody is interested in that crest: it's the crest for the land forces of the Spanish Army, the ornament in the middle of the eagle is the sword cross of Santiago(Saint James); the crest was adopted after the Civil war and the fact that it features the crown is pretty surprising, due to the fact that the spanish monarchy wasn't present in Spain from 1939 to 1947.
Skolt the Franco government although was a far right fascist regime it was more Catholic church and monarchy friendly than its other European counterparts in fact Franco wasn't as pro fascist as you'd think he didn't want to fight another war when Spain wasn't recovered from the civil war yet ,so when Hitler wanted help against the Reds he rounded up all the hard core war mongering phalangest he could and created the Spanish blue division and shipped them out to the eastern front hoping theyd get their fill of the war and relieve some of the war pressure in Spain.
Franco adopted many of the monarchy's trappings, even fancying himself as a king in all but title, with things such as having his portraits depict him wearing an ermine cape, and exiting churches/cathedrals under a cloth canopy, a middle-ages privilege of kings and popes.
Splendid LMG, splendid video (plus added bonus of the ZB-26 firing video afterwards). I own a Bren MKII, so it is nice to see the grandfather of all LMGs/LSWs/SAWs in all it's rightful glory! Fine work Ian :)
>see some post about how a relic mag for one of these was found on the former eastern front, used by the Germans presumably >immediately think “That looks cool and somewhat obscure, I bet there’s a forgotten weapons video on it” Godamn ian you really have done everything
I remember reading a book about WWII infantry weapon, written by an ex officer from British Army. He wrote alot of guns, usually would explain at least one or two cons of those weapons except zb26, he described it as the perfect light machine gun
From my much more modern perspective, I'd say the only thing it gets "wrong" is magazine fed. But aside from that, which really took the fighting of WW2 to establish, it's really just about perfect. Oh, sorry, one more "issue": it's not using the constant reaction long recoil spring. But as I said, those are newer developments not really available when the zb entered service.
Great video, Ian, it sparked a warm glow of patriotic pride in me. Your Czech pronounciation was very good. I'm greatly looking forward to see you shooting it. I hope that one day I'll be able to do so myself. I still remember the day when head teacher lend me his demilled one for Halloween and 16 year old me spent the whole day prancing around school with a zb.26, Czech steel pot and NBC poncho. Ah, happy days.
Top fed light machine guns... instant like from me and what a weapon! Also: that’s a very efficient and modern looking way to field strip a gun: makes you wonder why any one else did it differently
I have always had a soft spot for Czech made guns. They always just seem to make something that is rugged and durable while being decently accurate and affordable.
:DDD so funny to hear that pronouncing :DDD love it, awesome video and thank you from Czech Republic for this video.... the bad thing about this is, that it is unique and absoluttely forgotten weapon ! You can go in any řopík ( small fireing bunker) or in those huge border fortresses, and you will see these guns everywhere, but most of people think it is BREN and what is terrifying is that people dont even know about that BREN means BRno and ENfiled. Also I would like to just say something for disassembly: the lower reciever is openable downwards because of those fortresses which were supposed to fire instantly for 2 weeks to stop German soldiers, also those fortresses were build backwards so guns were situated in our country and not on enemy, just to slow them and to shoot without being suppresses or demaged from attacking force, so they could just shoot in Wehrmacht from behind... That is why constructers of this weapon made a gun like this, to have it mounted in bunker and just shoot and shoot and if something went wrong, you could just open it and replace or repare the fireing mechanism and not puting the gun out from the turret or mount :) ..... I am not proud ouf our politics, our people, but what I am at least proud of our beer and these beautiful weapons !! Thank you Ian !!! Go here and I will buy at least 10 of liquid gold in glass ( beer) in one of fortresses :)
He didn't pronounce either one "just right." He used an English r, rather than a Czech one. You have to roll it a bit if you want it to sound right, and anglophones generally don't/aren't capable of doing it. ...Not that it really matters.
Abbott and Costello in "So, you want to go into the Arms Business" Abbott: We need a new light machine gun! Costello: Czech! Abbott: It's got to do everything an LMG does really well! Costello: Czech!! Abbott: It's got to already be commercially successful, but I'm not paying John Browning any more royalties! Costello: Czech!!! Abbott: Are you even listening to me?? Costello: Check, check and checkmate, the Czech ZB-26!!!! Abbott: There's a method to your madness Lou! We'll make million$!
I live close to a forest that was once a military training area that has been used by the Austrian imperial army from 1700 until the end of WW1. In WW2 it was used by the Wehrmacht and SS. I go metal decting there from time to time and of course there are tons of 8x57IS casings in the ground. But some have a weirdly shaped dent in their struck primers. It's not round like if they were used in a K98k, MG34 or MG42, it's kind of rectangular. From doing some research I've found out that they were fired with a ZB26.
Probably the ZB30 also, we could always spot if a 7.62 Nato case came from an LMG because of the oval/rectangular shape of the primer strike, and from a GMPG (FN-FAL) because of the dent about 1/3 of the way down from the shoulder where the case banged the ejection aperture.
Ricardo Davidson When I was metal detecting in lower Austria in some German positions where they ambushed and totally crushed the Sowjets back in 1945, I found tons of 8x57IS casings. They were all heavily dented at the mouth. That's from hitting the trigger-guard of a MG42, when they are ejected.
During my time on active duty I had the chance to fire these weapons in 6.5 x 55, 7 MM, 30-06, 7.62 x 54 R and 8 MM!!! The 6.5, 7 MM 'n' the 30-06 were a hoot to shoot. The 6.5 'n' the 7 MM were the most accurate automatic weapons I have ever shot. I had to clean them and prepare them for return to storage after the fun time was over and they were no longer NIB!!!
Many Czech original weapons were structurally modeled for many legendary weapons: E.g. ZB 26 - BREN, VZ 24 - Mauser, Sa vz. 26 - UZI etc. Nice video !!!
Thanks for amazing video about my lovely weapon. And thanks for czech substitles. I'm from Czech republic, so I don't understand every words, so I sometimes need help for substitles. I really love the first republic weapons and army and I'm really proud for ZB-26 :D Thanks you!
Greetings from czech republic !! We still are very gunfriendly coutry and still produce shit load of guns ( so much better then switzerland ) and its actually much easier (and cheaper ) to own a machine gun here then in the US
I wouldn't say it's much easier. For most people it's pretty much impossible to get the exception for a prohibited weapon / accessory, even when it was just for a laser sight (those are now legal). You must have some very sympathetic police officer in your area if it's "easy" for you. If you do get the exception, it is actually relatively cheap - because it's that hard to get, so there isn't that much of a market. I just checked, there were just 1240 exceptions in the whole of Czech republic as of the end of 2016.
Switzerland doesn't produce anymore a shit load of guns, and ccw is also nearly gone since 1999 (may issue only since then, and not many private citizens get it), I think I'll move over as well :)
You pronounce it correctly - Praha:) You have great channel and I enjoy every one of your videos. And Czech gun of course is great thing to see. Keep going great job. Thank you Ian.
So at last,I now know what that side wheel is for! Adjusting the rear sight,very clever. Altogether,an extremely ingenious LMG. Also,I thank the Powers that be,that our people had the good sense to adopt it as the Bren,just in time!
Romanian Army used it too... Romania bought 18000 from Czechoslovakia and also they manufactured 5000 under the license. But it was ZB vz 30 , an upgraded variant of ZB vz 26 like in video. Romanian Army used that excelent gun until they introduce the new Russian RPD and RPK 1964 model. But ZB vz 30 was for a long time in Patriotic Guards Formation until1975 or around.
11:00 where the term "dial it in" came from A gunner could easily dial a target in while firing the weapon and remember the range settings for future reference
Is the ZB-30 an improved version of the ZB-26 or a simplified version, like the Bren? From what I can tell the ZB-30 has a bunch of small changes to things like the barrel-release latch and bipod, all of which seem to have required more time to machine than the original. The later ones also had a more intricate barrel with checkering added for better grip near the carry handle as well as a longer flash-hider. I watched some of Machinegun Dad and TFB TV's videos about the gun and from what the guy says the ZB-30 was definitely an improvement over the 26, and that the Czechs made the changes for a good reason. He also says that the 30 shoots as smooth as butter and blows the BREN gun and Type 99 out of the water. Maybe you can do a video on all the ZB variants and show how they have eloved, and which were improvements and which were simplifications? This gun may not be as iconic as things like the BREN, MG-34, MG-42 and BAR, but it is considered by many to be the best LMG of WW2. I think it deserves more screen time, and I think this channel would be the perfect place to do an in-depth look at this family of guns.
Fun fact: this gun was THE machine gun adpoted by chinese forces during WW2. It was simply refered to as "Czech light machine gun" by most users. I think this gun is one of the two weapons in China to be refered to by their nationalities. The other one is the 75 MM M1987 artillery. normally refered to as "the italian canon"
Just wondering, which of the 7.92 Mauser cartridges does ZB26 use? I imagine that it doesn't use patrone 88, but does it take both S patrone and sS patrone, or only one of them?
Sweden bought this weapon from Germany as "Kulsprutegevär m/39" and it was issued to home guard units as it had an unusual caliber of 8x57mm. It was found to be reliable and liked so in the 1950's the guns where re-barrelled for 6,5x55mm ammunition.
LineOfCars Republic of China basically had a plethora of foreign guns... though I think they licensed production of ZB26. The standard rifle was a copy of Mauser, the HMG was the maxim, the LMG was ZB26, and post-pearl harbor some were armed with American weapons.
@@ForgottenWeapons Ian? I knew the Bren was essentially the a Czech design built in the UK (BRno - ENfield) but I guess what I was trying to say was the design was so good / successful that it was still in use 60 years later (until being replaced by the LSW when we Brits moved to 5.56mm with the Rifle 5.56 - a.k.a the SA80 L1A1). Great vids by the way!
I’ve got pictures of my father firing such a gun during is military service at the end of the forties (1947 or 1948) in Spain. As a brilliant Law student went through the NCO and then sub-lieutenant or junior lieutenant (“Alférez”) courses offered to students, which would serve two periods in apring and summer of their third and fourth year in University. He then left active service as a sub-lieutenant ant of “Milicias Universitarias” (which would later be called IMEC for Instruccion Militar de complemento. As an officer in the reserve, if mobilized he would have been a junior Lieutenant. This was the standard squad light machine gun in these late forties early fifties in Spain. Our army would later use the MG42 (or MG3).
Before you disassembled the gun, you cocked the action off camera, and when you took off the lower, the recoil spring remained held back by the sear, right?
Actually the ZB-26 (albeit tank coaxial version) was adopted as a standard Tank Machine Gun in Germany via the Panzer 38(t) and Panzer 35(t) and the likes, it entered service as the (if memory serves me righ) MG 718(t) it served alongside the heavier Zb-53 / MG 37(t) which was used in most tanks while its Infantry cousins Wehrmacht designation was MG 26(t) (they had designations for all its versions and the likes such as the MG 30(t) it was issued to mostly Waffen SS in the MG 30(t) configuration, but also Saw use With Sicherungschutze (security/garrision/third echelon Units) Units aswell as with Festung (fortress unit) and Gebirgjägare (mountain Infantry).
And consider this: the Panzer 38(t) or PzKpfw 38(t) was originally Czechoslovakian LT vz. 38, one of the best tanks in the pre WW2 world... After Germans have taken over Czechoslovakia, they adopted these tanks and used them as PzKpfw 38(t) to win Blitzkrieg against France, Poland and later (unsuccessfully) USSR... i.pinimg.com/736x/ba/8c/94/ba8c947245ea112643adb3535a1c0a18--rommel-normandy-france.jpg
I am a simple Czech. I see video about great czech gun, I press like.
I know
Were there any poorly designed Czech weapons? Or anything else? I believe the Skoda was the Only Soviet era automobile to survive into free market competition.
Dude, same! Dobry den, soudruh
@@johndix1820 nope Lada is still going as well, škoda is owned by vw otherwise it would have likely died, Ural and GAZ are also still in the market. But you are right škoda is the only one of them that you could call successful in the Western market.
@BubbaMetal Thanks!
Listen mate...I am Czech and I have one of those things home. When I saw video from american I was thinking " Ohhh my god, lets see this guy and gues how many things he say wrong". But....you are really profesional. Thank you. Thumbs up!
Thanks!
@Zenbun Katatakala na to nemusis byt sberatel
@Adam Chlebovec buďto má znehodnocenou verzi nebo má zbrojní pas typu A. Neřekl bych, že ho má nelegálně jinak by o tom nepsal.
@@adamtisler2838 znehodnocení je vražda 😀
@Ubal_Blunt Tahle věc funguje i v samonabíjecí verzi? To bych netipoval... ale proč by vlastně nemohla.
You know, for the past couple of months, I've been feeling like Ian's been in a mood of "screw it, this channel has become the de facto video encyclopedia of all things gun-related, so I'm no longer holding myself back to only the 'forgotten' guns, i'll just cover whatever I damn-well please"; and I have to say, I love the new mood. Ian has talked about this gun on like 5 different occasions in different videos, and it's great to finally get a video on it.
"This gun...I like it. *Burst* ANOTHER!"
I kinda noticed this, and I agree that it may be for the best. I mean sure, please keep finding rare and strange guns, but these segways into these better known, but important historically, guns, is valid content too!
Guns that people know of, but not a whole lot about.
The common person wouldnt know about this, its not featured in any games or movies.
@@mbsb1376 Actually, Hidden & Dangerous 2 has ZB26
I am not surprised that the Czechs made one of the best light machine guns of its time. The Czechs have always been really good at weapon production.
True arms hipsters, making tank before was mainstream
@Jan Krynicky didnt daladier vote for war in the french parlament but lost by like one vote?
@Jan Krynicky yeah if france had one more politician with more balls then hitler then WW2 wouldnt happen at that scale.
@@iplaygames8090 I do not know about the vote in French parliament, but as far as I know, French did not have much choice. On one hand they had defense treaty with us (Czechoslovaks) and with Brits. But Brits basically told the French, that if they would go to war with Germany with Czechoslovakia, they would be on their own, which the French did not feel like doing. The rest is history with Munich agreement and so on.
But there is also I think testimony from someone in Daladiers entourage, that was returning from Munich that says that after Daladier got off from the plane and was greeted by cheering French, he commented something along the lines of "Ah, the fools, if only they knew"
Which tells me French leadership, or at least part of it were not actually too happy with the deal with Germany.
It helps that the Czech lands already had some seasoned arms production companies, in multiple areas, already during the days of Austria-Hungary (and the overall firearm manufacturing tradition in Czechia is, of course, centuries old).
China adopted ZB26 (probably domestically made though) before fighting against Japanese invasion back in WW2. My grandfather can't appreciate ZB26 more for saving his squad countless times.
More than 20k was send to China before war, And after that Czech send licence to China to Forge "brotherhood"
To the good china
A number of them were also made by Inglis for the Chinese in WW2 iirc.
A citizen of Czechoslovakia (I forget his name) also designed some of the new public buildings in Shanghai during the 1920s and 1930s. I suppose interwar Czechoslovakia and interwar China had a peculiar connection for a number of years, despite being at other ends of the world. :-p :-)
Granted, you had successful Czechoslovak companies like Baťa, Tatra and Škoda also exporting goods like shoes and footwear, cars and trucks, Baťa even opening many factories abroad, on different continents, so it's not all that shocking that trade was fairly international before it became much more limited during the Cold War.
Just me or do the Czechs generally knock it out of the park when it comes to firearm design?
Generally...see the blunders with CZ-805 Bren.
well CZUB isn't the same arms manufacturer as the ZB from the interwar period, different people, CZUB just profits from the name ZB
Either that or it's a piece of shit (although this is much less common)
Zbrojovka Brno went out of business and Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod just bought it and uses it for some of their hunting rifles.
agreed. the machining and bluing on these old czech guns is just amazing to behold. true craftsmanship
When the Germans "showed up." Well, I suppose that's one way to put it...
@Deniz Metinoğlu T. All the while ordering five beers at a time....
Thanks, Neville Chamberlain, You big NOB!
The Germans encountered only 1 case of resistance in their occupation of Czechoslovakia so "showed up" is accurate.
@@stalkinghorse883 The Czech military and general population at the time was ready to defend their homeland against the Germans, but the Czechoslovak government was forced to stand down by the British.
@Michael Srite LOL. Whut mate? Sudetenland was part of Bohemia for hundreds of years. It was never "stolen" from Germany or anyone else... German minority was invited to Sudetenland by one of bohemian kings of middleages. Their task was to cultivate the area (cut trees, grow fields) because Sudetenland (at that time) was a land of deep forests and nothing else. You simply CANNOT(!) compare Sudetenland to Saarland or Rhineland which had been inhabited by germanic tribes for ages.
Finally the gun that is mentioned in every other LMG video 😂😂
S P A N D A U
Stephen Pokowitz I know right!?
+tom madden not here
I just want to take a second to thank Gun Jesus for making these awesome videos. This channel is bringing education and entertainment to the masses despite opposition from RUclips. Thanks Ian for being so great.
Benjamin Detseuh Yeah fuckin RUclips, betraying all the creators that made it what it is just because they are biased and want to push a flawed political agenda
We, the people who are on the side of freedom and liberty, need a new platform
Sexy, simple, effective. Gotta love Czech weapons, in many ways quality like a German and simplicity of a Russian gun.
We are german blood speaking slavic language but i don't like russia honestly
vojta mal German DNA has up to 10% of the Czech population. We are Slavs, Celts, Romanesque tribes etc.
@@vencazatlec4570 odkud čerpáš?
@@vencazatlec4570 According to a 2000 study, 35.6% of Czech men have haplogroup R1b, which is very common in Western Europe among Germanic and Celtic nations, but rare among Slavic nations.[29] A mtDNA study of 179 individuals from Western Bohemia showed that 3% had East Eurasian lineages that perhaps entered the gene pool through admixture with Central Asian nomadic tribes in the early Middle Ages.[30] A group of scientists suggested that the high frequency of a gene mutation causing cystic fibrosis in Central European (including Czech R.) and Celtic populations supports the theory of some Celtic ancestry among the Czech population.[31]
@@vencazatlec4570 Češi jsou mnohem blíž k Němcům než k Rusům, ať už kulturně a historicky, nebo pokrevně. Panslovanismus se jen hodil obrozencům a pak Masarykovi. A od tý doby někdo mele "slované". Zajímavý to řešit pod tímhle videem :D
Probably one of the more influential LMGs, where its legacy was carried onto the Bren and STG 44, and still lives on in weapons like the VZ 58, VZ 52 LMG and the UK 59.
I'd love to have one of these in my collection.
This is the model of machine gun my grandfather was operating in WWII. He was seventeen years old when he joined the Yugoslavian partisans. I've heard many great stories from him about the battles where he used it and it he said it was a great weapon and he loved it. He never refered to it with a model number, only called it "Brno" whenever he was referring to it.
I've live fired one of these and that big reciprocating mass pulls the gun forward after you feel the recoil. Really unique feeling. I recall my helmet rocking around humorously
Shockingly great condition for a transferable! I just bought a Bren, and the similarities are definitely easy to spot. Great video as always!
That feel when Ian covers one of your personal favourites and lavishes it with praise.
Not only is it one of the best light machine guns ever made, but it is one of the best looking ever made.
The Czechs "knocked it out if the park with this gun" - so that would be 'Czech mate'.
I do love the simple and elegant design of the bolt & bolt carrier - sometimes things are just so 'right' in design.
Everything about it is so beautifully done - the acid etched crest & the serial number stamps. How often on otherwise great looking guns do we see serial numbers all askew?
I know that it doesn't matter at all, but it's just a tiny detail that sticks out IMO.
I hate you for that joke...but thanks.
For whoever made czech subtitles: good job man, i would never expect such quality at this kinda niche yt channel, very nice!
If somebody is interested in that crest: it's the crest for the land forces of the Spanish Army, the ornament in the middle of the eagle is the sword cross of Santiago(Saint James); the crest was adopted after the Civil war and the fact that it features the crown is pretty surprising, due to the fact that the spanish monarchy wasn't present in Spain from 1939 to 1947.
Skolt the Franco government although was a far right fascist regime it was more Catholic church and monarchy friendly than its other European counterparts in fact Franco wasn't as pro fascist as you'd think he didn't want to fight another war when Spain wasn't recovered from the civil war yet ,so when Hitler wanted help against the Reds he rounded up all the hard core war mongering phalangest he could and created the Spanish blue division and shipped them out to the eastern front hoping theyd get their fill of the war and relieve some of the war pressure in Spain.
Franco adopted many of the monarchy's trappings, even fancying himself as a king in all but title, with things such as having his portraits depict him wearing an ermine cape, and exiting churches/cathedrals under a cloth canopy, a middle-ages privilege of kings and popes.
Splendid LMG, splendid video (plus added bonus of the ZB-26 firing video afterwards). I own a Bren MKII, so it is nice to see the grandfather of all LMGs/LSWs/SAWs in all it's rightful glory! Fine work Ian :)
A fantastic gun. I havn't fired a ZB26 but have fired a Bren Gun in .303 cal with the Australian Army. A wonderful and very reliable LMG.
>see some post about how a relic mag for one of these was found on the former eastern front, used by the Germans presumably
>immediately think “That looks cool and somewhat obscure, I bet there’s a forgotten weapons video on it”
Godamn ian you really have done everything
I remember reading a book about WWII infantry weapon, written by an ex officer from British Army. He wrote alot of guns, usually would explain at least one or two cons of those weapons except zb26, he described it as the perfect light machine gun
From my much more modern perspective, I'd say the only thing it gets "wrong" is magazine fed.
But aside from that, which really took the fighting of WW2 to establish, it's really just about perfect.
Oh, sorry, one more "issue": it's not using the constant reaction long recoil spring.
But as I said, those are newer developments not really available when the zb entered service.
Great video, Ian, it sparked a warm glow of patriotic pride in me. Your Czech pronounciation was very good. I'm greatly looking forward to see you shooting it. I hope that one day I'll be able to do so myself. I still remember the day when head teacher lend me his demilled one for Halloween and 16 year old me spent the whole day prancing around school with a zb.26, Czech steel pot and NBC poncho. Ah, happy days.
Hiromuz I don't think you should link to the unlisted videos before their release ;)
Yeah. It's quite probably just a day away from release. There's no point. Don't be a plonker.
Erik Blackboar Such is life in the Zone, huh?
Exactly. "cosplayed" as low budget stalker. Or could've said that if I just didn't want an excuse to sperg in gear in public.
This is hands down the best channel on the interwebs.
The machining quality on that looks really good. I feel as if the Czech's deserve to better known for their firearms manufacturing than what they are.
Top fed light machine guns... instant like from me and what a weapon!
Also: that’s a very efficient and modern looking way to field strip a gun: makes you wonder why any one else did it differently
I have always had a soft spot for Czech made guns. They always just seem to make something that is rugged and durable while being decently accurate and affordable.
:DDD so funny to hear that pronouncing :DDD love it, awesome video and thank you from Czech Republic for this video.... the bad thing about this is, that it is unique and absoluttely forgotten weapon ! You can go in any řopík ( small fireing bunker) or in those huge border fortresses, and you will see these guns everywhere, but most of people think it is BREN and what is terrifying is that people dont even know about that BREN means BRno and ENfiled. Also I would like to just say something for disassembly: the lower reciever is openable downwards because of those fortresses which were supposed to fire instantly for 2 weeks to stop German soldiers, also those fortresses were build backwards so guns were situated in our country and not on enemy, just to slow them and to shoot without being suppresses or demaged from attacking force, so they could just shoot in Wehrmacht from behind... That is why constructers of this weapon made a gun like this, to have it mounted in bunker and just shoot and shoot and if something went wrong, you could just open it and replace or repare the fireing mechanism and not puting the gun out from the turret or mount :) ..... I am not proud ouf our politics, our people, but what I am at least proud of our beer and these beautiful weapons !! Thank you Ian !!! Go here and I will buy at least 10 of liquid gold in glass ( beer) in one of fortresses :)
It's fascinnating how you pronounced Praha and vzor just right, but butchered the names of the designers. :D Anyway, thanks for the great video!
He didn't pronounce either one "just right." He used an English r, rather than a Czech one. You have to roll it a bit if you want it to sound right, and anglophones generally don't/aren't capable of doing it. ...Not that it really matters.
It's simply not clear to Anglophones that C is not pronounced like K, becuase it is almost always in English....
Liitle late, but i think he wanted to say Praga
Abbott and Costello in "So, you want to go into the Arms Business"
Abbott: We need a new light machine gun!
Costello: Czech!
Abbott: It's got to do everything an LMG does really well!
Costello: Czech!!
Abbott: It's got to already be commercially successful, but I'm not paying John Browning any more royalties!
Costello: Czech!!!
Abbott: Are you even listening to me??
Costello: Check, check and checkmate, the Czech ZB-26!!!!
Abbott: There's a method to your madness Lou! We'll make million$!
When the gun is quality, cost effective, AND aesthetic
I live close to a forest that was once a military training area that has been used by the Austrian imperial army from 1700 until the end of WW1. In WW2 it was used by the Wehrmacht and SS. I go metal decting there from time to time and of course there are tons of 8x57IS casings in the ground. But some have a weirdly shaped dent in their struck primers. It's not round like if they were used in a K98k, MG34 or MG42, it's kind of rectangular. From doing some research I've found out that they were fired with a ZB26.
Probably the ZB30 also, we could always spot if a 7.62 Nato case came from an LMG because of the oval/rectangular shape of the primer strike, and from a GMPG (FN-FAL) because of the dent about 1/3 of the way down from the shoulder where the case banged the ejection aperture.
Ricardo Davidson
When I was metal detecting in lower Austria in some German positions where they ambushed and totally crushed the Sowjets back in 1945, I found tons of 8x57IS casings. They were all heavily dented at the mouth. That's from hitting the trigger-guard of a MG42, when they are ejected.
I didn't know that, thanks.
Ricardo Davidson bro a fn fal is not a gpmg, fal is magazine fed battle rifle and gpmg is belt fed machine gub
Sorry, my mistake, comes from typing things in a rush sometimes.
During my time on active duty I had the chance to fire these weapons in 6.5 x 55, 7 MM, 30-06, 7.62 x 54 R and 8 MM!!! The 6.5, 7 MM 'n' the 30-06 were a hoot to shoot. The 6.5 'n' the 7 MM were the most accurate automatic weapons I have ever shot. I had to clean them and prepare them for return to storage after the fun time was over and they were no longer NIB!!!
Nid?
Nib?
Many Czech original weapons were structurally modeled for many legendary weapons:
E.g. ZB 26 - BREN, VZ 24 - Mauser, Sa vz. 26 - UZI etc. Nice video !!!
Don’t forget the VZ 61 Skorpion, a legendary weapon in its own right. Honorable mention to the CZ75, which is a fantastic clone of the Hi Power.
That bolt/carrier design blew my mind. Awesome machining.
Shot a ZB-26 (and a DP-27 and MG42)in Warsaw recently. Having shot a Bren as an Australian Army cadet it was instantly recognisable.
Thanks for amazing video about my lovely weapon. And thanks for czech substitles. I'm from Czech republic, so I don't understand every words, so I sometimes need help for substitles. I really love the first republic weapons and army and I'm really proud for ZB-26 :D Thanks you!
Greetings from czech republic !! We still are very gunfriendly coutry and still produce shit load of guns ( so much better then switzerland ) and its actually much easier (and cheaper ) to own a machine gun here then in the US
I wouldn't say it's much easier. For most people it's pretty much impossible to get the exception for a prohibited weapon / accessory, even when it was just for a laser sight (those are now legal). You must have some very sympathetic police officer in your area if it's "easy" for you. If you do get the exception, it is actually relatively cheap - because it's that hard to get, so there isn't that much of a market.
I just checked, there were just 1240 exceptions in the whole of Czech republic as of the end of 2016.
Greetings from Switzerland, and you're wrong !
Nonetheless you've got great beer at much better price - I'm coming over ....
Switzerland doesn't produce anymore a shit load of guns, and ccw is also nearly gone since 1999 (may issue only since then, and not many private citizens get it), I think I'll move over as well :)
That's it I'm immigrating....
Finally an accurate estimation of guns produce
Makes me even more proud to be half Czech
I've been waiting for this episode. One of my favorite LMG's :)
man I love the Czech,s and there freakin awesome firearms and engineering
You know you’re doing something right when other nations start making their own copy based on your model
Judging by the estimated price on the auction page this is indeed very well appreciated.
Love all my CZ guns. Excellent quality and design. Wish I had the $$ to own one of those!
Loving that intro to the ZB26.
I'm from Czech republic. I'm proud of the old and new weapons produced in my country.
Lovely. Lovely. Lovely. Thanks for this.
Your videos is getting more and more profesional Ian!
You pronounce it correctly - Praha:) You have great channel and I enjoy every one of your videos. And Czech gun of course is great thing to see. Keep going great job. Thank you Ian.
Gun Bingo;
Beistigui Hermanos MM31
Whitworth Confederate Sniper
30 '06 Chauchat
Hotchkiss M1909 Benét-Mercié machine gun
BAR
Excellent video as usual Ian
A beautiful weapon, the machine work is top-notch. I imagine this light machine gun inspired many others.
you know its gonna be a good vid when the gun gets a special intro
The daddy of the Brno-Enfield.(Bren)
So at last,I now know what that side wheel is for! Adjusting the rear sight,very clever. Altogether,an extremely ingenious LMG. Also,I thank the Powers that be,that our people had the good sense to adopt it as the Bren,just in time!
Your videos are top notch Ian.
Romanian Army used it too... Romania bought 18000 from Czechoslovakia and also they manufactured 5000 under the license. But it was ZB vz 30 , an upgraded variant of ZB vz 26 like in video. Romanian Army used that excelent gun until they introduce the new Russian RPD and RPK 1964 model. But ZB vz 30 was for a long time in Patriotic Guards Formation until1975 or around.
Bren: who are you?
Zb: i am your father
Salute to Czech zb26 from China
That rear sight adjustment is impossibly cool.
About time you revisited the Bren again
Your knowledge of weapons is very impressive.
Dear Ian, Would you please do a video on the ZB-60 and the ballistics of the 15mm cartridge for it if you are able to find one existent?
I think a video on the procurement of foreign small arms of the Germans during WWII would be a good one.
11:00 where the term "dial it in" came from
A gunner could easily dial a target in while firing the weapon and remember the range settings for future reference
Now that is a beautiful weapon.
Your pronounciation of "Praha" was spot on
Is the ZB-30 an improved version of the ZB-26 or a simplified version, like the Bren? From what I can tell the ZB-30 has a bunch of small changes to things like the barrel-release latch and bipod, all of which seem to have required more time to machine than the original. The later ones also had a more intricate barrel with checkering added for better grip near the carry handle as well as a longer flash-hider. I watched some of Machinegun Dad and TFB TV's videos about the gun and from what the guy says the ZB-30 was definitely an improvement over the 26, and that the Czechs made the changes for a good reason. He also says that the 30 shoots as smooth as butter and blows the BREN gun and Type 99 out of the water. Maybe you can do a video on all the ZB variants and show how they have eloved, and which were improvements and which were simplifications? This gun may not be as iconic as things like the BREN, MG-34, MG-42 and BAR, but it is considered by many to be the best LMG of WW2. I think it deserves more screen time, and I think this channel would be the perfect place to do an in-depth look at this family of guns.
always gets me excited when theres a little special Ian intro at the beginning! thats when you know its gunna be a good video haha
Fun fact: this gun was THE machine gun adpoted by chinese forces during WW2. It was simply refered to as "Czech light machine gun" by most users. I think this gun is one of the two weapons in China to be refered to by their nationalities. The other one is the 75 MM M1987 artillery. normally refered to as "the italian canon"
Just wondering, which of the 7.92 Mauser cartridges does ZB26 use? I imagine that it doesn't use patrone 88, but does it take both S patrone and sS patrone, or only one of them?
Thanks for the vid sir.
Intelligent design, really !
im czech and listening to this makes me proud of my nation
I'm drooling just watching this.
What a beauty
the czechs have an amazing history of arms development and manufacture, there must be scope for video on the subject
Thanks for this video, comrade!
Sweden bought this weapon from Germany as "Kulsprutegevär m/39" and it was issued to home guard units as it had an unusual caliber of 8x57mm.
It was found to be reliable and liked so in the 1950's the guns where re-barrelled for 6,5x55mm ammunition.
This LMG is really famous in China during the Japanese invasion war.
LineOfCars Republic of China basically had a plethora of foreign guns... though I think they licensed production of ZB26. The standard rifle was a copy of Mauser, the HMG was the maxim, the LMG was ZB26, and post-pearl harbor some were armed with American weapons.
@@zacksima8333 Chinese forces even had Panzer 1 and He-111
Gotta love this gun.
Ian,you are brilliant on small arms !
With only a couple of differences (like the finned barrel) this weapon is basically the same as the LMG I carried in the 1990's with the British T.A.
The Bren was originally the ZBG-33, which was basically a ZB26 in .303.
@@ForgottenWeapons Ian? I knew the Bren was essentially the a Czech design built in the UK (BRno - ENfield) but I guess what I was trying to say was the design was so good / successful that it was still in use 60 years later (until being replaced by the LSW when we Brits moved to 5.56mm with the Rifle 5.56 - a.k.a the SA80 L1A1).
Great vids by the way!
Jen jsem viděl zbraně a Českou vlajku, tak jsem na to kliknul... :D Greetings from Czech republic.
Your pronunciation of Praha is just perfect. You sound like a guy born there.
I’ve got pictures of my father firing such a gun during is military service at the end of the forties (1947 or 1948) in Spain. As a brilliant Law student went through the NCO and then sub-lieutenant or junior lieutenant (“Alférez”) courses offered to students, which would serve two periods in apring and summer of their third and fourth year in University. He then left active service as a sub-lieutenant ant of “Milicias Universitarias” (which would later be called IMEC for Instruccion Militar de complemento. As an officer in the reserve, if mobilized he would have been a junior Lieutenant. This was the standard squad light machine gun in these late forties early fifties in Spain. Our army would later use the MG42 (or MG3).
Your Czech pronounciation is pretty good actually. No need to be worried it seems :D
His pronounciation of Václav is *off "a bit" of :D
'Vaatslove :D
Yeah but i mean, for someone whos language is FAR different from slavic language, hes pretty good.
Machining work is awesome, yet kept very simple.
Fox 2/3 Found one in Marjah, Afghanistan 2011. Took us a couple months to figure out what it was I have pics but dont know how to upload
You can send them to Ian at admin@forgottenweapons.com, I'm sure he would appreciate that. That won't help *us* see it, but it would still be nice.
Thanks so much!
change it to your profile pic
Wow, what a nicely made machine gun. The machining work is amazing.
Let's face it, those cooling fin's on the barrel Are.... Wait For It .... Just Cool!! 😁👌
Your pronounciation was actually excelent!
I came here from the game Enlisted, and since it worked so well in the game, I became interested in the gun
Before you disassembled the gun, you cocked the action off camera, and when you took off the lower, the recoil spring remained held back by the sear, right?
Actually the ZB-26 (albeit tank coaxial version) was adopted as a standard Tank Machine Gun in Germany via the Panzer 38(t) and Panzer 35(t) and the likes, it entered service as the (if memory serves me righ) MG 718(t) it served alongside the heavier Zb-53 / MG 37(t) which was used in most tanks while its Infantry cousins Wehrmacht designation was MG 26(t) (they had designations for all its versions and the likes such as the MG 30(t) it was issued to mostly Waffen SS in the MG 30(t) configuration, but also Saw use With Sicherungschutze (security/garrision/third echelon Units) Units aswell as with Festung (fortress unit) and Gebirgjägare (mountain Infantry).
And consider this: the Panzer 38(t) or PzKpfw 38(t) was originally Czechoslovakian LT vz. 38, one of the best tanks in the pre WW2 world... After Germans have taken over Czechoslovakia, they adopted these tanks and used them as PzKpfw 38(t) to win Blitzkrieg against France, Poland and later (unsuccessfully) USSR...
i.pinimg.com/736x/ba/8c/94/ba8c947245ea112643adb3535a1c0a18--rommel-normandy-france.jpg
Good video And i am Czech too i give like
Indeed a fine weapon. One that obviously elicited mission confidence. mission
JEEEEE TYY VOLEEEE PRAVDAA VITEZI!!!!
Another win for czechnology! My first rifle i bought on my own was a vz24 that wad made in the first year or two
1:45 Praha is (also) the Czech term for Prague, so we have a hint of where it was manufactured. You pronounced it perfectly by the way.