Czechpoint's New VZ. 58: The UN-AK rifle

The AK-appearing rifle that has nothing in common with the Kalashnikov beyond the 7.62x39 chambering.

January 31, 2026 By Patrick Sweeney

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At the conclusion of WWII, the country of Czechoslovakia had to start over again. Unfortunately, their occupation by the Soviets meant that there was just one way to start over, and that was as part of the Warsaw Pact. The Czechs and Slovaks were expected to contribute their portion of the defense of the new “alliance.” This meant armed forces and the equipment needed. No problem, the Czechs had been making firearms for some time, and they dove right in. The end result, in short order, was the vz. 52, a box-magazine fed carbine that was basically the pre-war idea of a rifle
combined with a new cartridge, the 7.62x45.

The Czechs and Slovaks quickly found out what it meant to be members of the Warsaw Pact. Cartridges other than the accepted Soviet ones were not to be tolerated. The vz. 52s quickly became the vz. 52/57, chambered in 7.62x39 Soviet (ditto with the vz. 52/57 machinegun). And the fixed box magazine? That wasn’t going to fly, either. However, the Czech designers weren’t going to just knuckle under and make ’47 clones, no sirree.

Instead, they came up with the vz. 58, an AK-appearing rifle that had nothing in common with the Kalashnikov except the chambering of 7.62x39. For a while, there were parts-kits-built vz. 58s here in the USA, in 7.62x39. Which was cool, but the days of dirt-cheap Soviet ammo are now gone, and the rifle world in America is now a 5.56 environment. So, CzechPoint, Inc., while they offer imported vz. 58s in 7.62x39, the main interest for a lot of shooters will be their updated model of the vz. 58 in 5.56. That’s what we have here today.

Left and right side views of VZ 58 — The CzechPoint vz.58 is lightweight, compact, handy and runs very well indeed.While it outwardly seems to be kinda-sorta an AK, the vz. 58 is not. The only thing it has in common is the chambering, and then only some of them. (Photo provided by author.)

The CzechPoint vz. 58 is a faithful reproduction of the vz. 58, with modern materials and finishes where doing so would be better. If you’ve ever handled a vz. 58, the CzechPoint will be like old times, and if you haven’t, then you are in for some fun times.

Okay, not an AK? Not at all. First of all, the vz. 58 works with a short-stroke piston, not a long-stroke piston and carrier like the AK. The ‘58 gas port taps gas out of the barrel and drives the piston, which pushes the carrier, but the piston only travels three-quarters of an inch or so before stopping, and then it gets pushed back to its starting point by its return spring.

Stock adapter — Here is the stock adapter that lets CzechPoint mount an AR-15 buffer tube and stock. (Photo provided by author.)

The carrier cams the locking piece out of engagement with the receiver, and then the bolt, carrier and locking piece travel back to extract, eject and then feed the next round when traveling forward. The locking piece, or block, tips up and down. No rotation, just a hinging or tipping up and down as its mode of work. The carrier has a fixed cocking handle on the right side, which reciprocates. This was not considered a big deal back in the 1950s, because that was just the way a self-loading rifle worked. Well, except for the FAL, but that’s a different story and a different international competitor to the Warsaw Pact countries.

The original design apparently had some minor issues with misfires, so an extra part, the push-down plate, installed in the carrier, was patented, and used in production. The imported vz. 58 has this, so we’re good to go there.

Ejection port? Really? The entire upper opens up to allow brass free exit to the rifle, its job having been done. (Photo provided by author.)

The receiver cover contains the two springs needed, the action spring and the firing spring. Having the springs both in the cover means that the stock is simply a means of support, not part of the recoil mechanism. So, it was possible (and was done) to have a fixed stock or a folding stock, when being built or rebuilt. Also, the springs aren’t loose parts, they are attached to the cover. What initiates all this? A striker. Well, it is called, in some circles, a linear hammer, but hammers pivot, and the firing parts of the vz. 58 do not pivot. The striker/linear hammer drives forward inside of the bolt and impacts the firing pin, which is held in place by the extractor.

The original vz. 58 magazines were made for 7.62x39. They were not at all interchangeable with the AK mags, made out of aluminum, and while they used the same kind of “hook and hinge” insertion and removal, (the mag release is a paddle just forward of the trigger guard) they would not fit an AK. Part of this was the bolt hold-open section of the magazine tube, which no AK has (or ever had) and so I would surmise that the vz. 58 mags wouldn’t even fit AK47 mag pouches, either. The CzechPoint 5.56 magazines are polymer, the same shape as the originals, and dimensioned in this case to hold 5.56 ammunition. Using a double-stack and double-feed design, they are easy to load simply by stuffing the next cartridge being loaded down between the feed lips. You’ve done it a bunch; this is the same.

Receiver and guide rails — The receiver of the vz. 58 is a steel trough that holds the guide rails and locking slots. (Photo provided by author.)

So, load a magazine (the vz. 58 comes with two polymer magazines) and then what? Hook the front lip into the receiver and hinge back until it locks in place. Grasp the cocking handle, pull back until it stops, then let go. The safety is a lever on the right side of the receiver just above the trigger. When it is down and you can feel it with your trigger finger rubbing against it, it is on safe. To fire, rotate the lever until it is horizontal and out of the way. Push the safety horizontally to fire, aim, press the trigger. Repeat as necessary until the bolt locks open. Remove the magazine and repeat.

The vz. 58 has to be 922(r) compliant to adhere to President Bush Sr.’s imported “assault weapons” ban of 1989, which is still in effect, unfortunately. This means some USA-made parts are needed for the rifle to be considered as “Made in USA” and not affected by the regulation.

The model sent for testing has the muzzle brake on it, and it is surprisingly good. My test fire crew one day were all USPSA Multi-Gun competitors, and they are accustomed to braked rifles. So, when shooters used to custom-tuned ARs with brakes on them comment on how flat the vz. 58 shot, you should pay attention. The sights did not lift off of the target, at least not when inside of 50 yards. For the rapid firing we tested, we didn’t try it further than that. For being an effective brake, it wasn’t very flashy, and it took some work to get even a marginally flashy image.

Since the vz. 58 was originally built for steel-cased ammo, I tried a couple of those, as well as a couple of brass-cased loads. I included the Black Hills Match load to see what the vz. 58 could do, plus the Speer Gold Dots just in case someone was interested in the vz. 58 for defense. (A good choice, by the way, both rifle and load.)

rear sight — The sights are standard and ubiquitous 1950s sights as found on many rifles then and even before. (Photo provided by author.)

If one is intending on reloading the brass, not only does the vz. 58 eject vigorously, it puts a dent in the cases as well. Nothing awful, just noticeable. One other detail regarding ejection. It was pretty much straight up, and with a good amount of velocity. I suspect that if you use the vz. 58 on an
indoor range you are going to have fired empties hammering the ceiling pretty hard. Don’t stand under a light fixture.

For those who insist on using optics, there is a permanently attached COMBLOC optics rail secured to the left side of the receiver, this addition differs from the original vz. 58. Lacking a mount for that setup, I used the iron sights at 100 yards. I had forgotten how hard AK-style sights are to use, but very happy with my new eyes, and the vz. 58 produced gratifyingly good groups.

Target showing accuracy — The vz. 58 rifle delivered the goods once you remember how the old sights work. (Photo provided by author.)

Disassembly of the vz. 58 takes a different approach than other rifles. As usual, remove the magazine, unload and show clear. Leave the bolt forward. Push the safety to the fire position, and dry fire the vz. 58. On the left side of the back end of the receiver/cover joint, you’ll see the head of a pin. Push this in and across, out to the right. It is a captured pin and will stay in the receiver. Next step: use your thumb to push the serrated plate on the rear of the cover into the cover (towards the muzzle) and hinge the cover up out of the receiver. Once hinged, pull it back out of the receiver and carrier. It will have the two springs attached as an assembly.

Pull the carrier assembly back and lift it up out of the receiver. The carrier assembly is a bit tricky. Pull the linear hammer back until it stops. You can now lift the bolt and locking block out. Yes, the locking block looks very much like the Walther P38 or Beretta 92, scaled to work with a rifle cartridge. The linear hammer does not come straight out of the carrier, you’ll have to rotate it until you line up the hammer retention lug with the carrier clearance slot, and then you can remove it. If you want to remove the piston for cleaning the handguard covering it is held in place by the same kind of pin, moving in the same direction.

Author firing VZ58 rifle — Right or left-handed doesn’t matter, because the empties go up. This one has just begun its journey. (Photo provided by author.)

With the vz. 58 stripped, you can see why the Czechs were so enamored of it, and why the designers proud of it. The receiver is basically a bar of steel machined to be a trough with guide rails and locking slots in it. The only real protuberance is the rear sight block, which is the guide for the piston, and I can see it having been used in the pre-CNC machining era as the fixturing block for the cutting to be done.

The stock on the vz. 58 sent is the Tactical model, which uses an AR-15 stock. There’s an adapter to change the angle of the buffer tube (pitched down, to let you properly use the iron sights) and it is comfortable to use. The beauty of the vz. 58 design is that swapping stocks is simple. Unbolt the stock that’s on there (in this case, the buffer tube with adapter) and then bolt on the replacement.

Safety selector — The safety is a lever on the right side, and when it is horizontal (like this) it is on fire. Down is safe, and you can feel it with your trigger finger. (Photo provided by author.)

Lastly, if you are interested, but the idea of proprietary magazines just doesn’t float your boat, CzechPoint offers an adapter for AR-15 magazines. It runs an extra $85, and you have to be selective with magazines. Czechpoint has done extensive testing and found that new aluminum magazines work best. They will lock the bolt open and drop free. CzechPoint has a comprehensive list, and in this day and age of common and widely available magazines, setting up a batch of mags just for use in your vz. 58 shouldn’t be a problem.

The muzzle nut instead of the muzzle brake version is $100 less but considering what AR-15s go for these days, owning a COMBLOC classic that isn’t a common-as-dirt AK-type rifle isn’t all that expensive.

Handy, ergonomic, a nice trigger, and plenty-good accuracy. Yep, the Czechs got it right back in the Eisenhower Era. And it is still good today.