The CZ Model 25 (properly, Sa 25 or Sa vz. 48b/samopal vz. 48b – ''samopal vzor 48 výsadkový'', "submachine gun model year 1948 para") was perhaps the best known of a series of
Czechoslovak designed
submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
s introduced in 1948. There were four generally very similar submachine guns in this series: the Sa 23, Sa 24, Sa 25, and Sa 26. The primary designer was
Jaroslav Holeček (September, 15 1923–October, 12 1997), chief engineer of the
Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod
Česká zbrojovka a.s. Uherský Brod (CZUB) is an engineering company based in Uherský Brod, Czech Republic whose main activities include the production of service, hunting and sports firearms. It is owned by the Czech holding company Colt CZ ...
arms factory.
Design
The Sa 23 series utilize a straightforward
blowback action, with no locked breech, and fire from the open bolt position. They also use a
progressive trigger
A trigger is a mechanism that actuates the function of a ranged weapon such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow, or speargun. The word may also be used to describe a switch that initiates the operation of other non-shooting devices such as a trap, ...
for selecting between semi-automatic fire and fully automatic fire. Lightly pulling on the trigger will fire a single shot. Pulling the trigger farther to the rear in a continuous motion will fire fully automatically, until the trigger is released or the magazine is empty.
The Sa 23 series were submachine guns with a
telescoping bolt, in which the forward part of the moving bolt extends forwards past the back end of the barrel, wrapping around that barrel. This feature reduces the required length of the submachine gun significantly and allows for better balance and handling. Handling was further improved by using a single vertical handgrip housing the magazine and trigger mechanism, roughly centered along the gun's length. The gun's receiver was machined from a single circular steel tube.
The design of the Sa 23 series submachine guns is most notable in the West for having inspired the
open-bolt,
blowback-operated
Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gas created by the ignition of the propellant charge.
Several blowback systems exist wit ...
,
telescoping bolt design of the slightly later
Uzi submachine gun.
Variations
*The Sa 23 (vz. 48a) was the first variant, using a fixed wood stock and firing standard
9×19mm Parabellum
The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Parabellum or 9mm Luger or simply 9mm) is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge.
Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901, it is widely considered the most popular handgun ...
ammunition. Has a straight vertical pistol grip and ammunition magazine. Magazines were issued with 24 and 40 round capacity.
*The Sa 25 (vz. 48b) was the second and perhaps best known variant, using a folding metal stock, still firing 9×19mm Parabellum ammunition. Other than the folding stock, is identical to the Sa 23 and uses the same 24 and 40 round magazines.
The Sa 24 and Sa 26 were introduced after Czechoslovakia joined the
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...
, and were redesigned to fire
7.62×25mm Tokarev
The 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridge (designated as the 7.62 × 25 Tokarev by the C.I.P.) is a Russian rimless bottlenecked pistol cartridge widely used in former Soviet states and in China, among other countries. The cartridge has since been repla ...
standard Soviet type pistol ammunition.
*The Sa 24 (vz. 48a/52) corresponds to the Sa.23, using a fixed wood stock and firing 7.62×25mm Tokarev ammunition. Can be visually distinguished from Sa.23 as it has a slightly forwards-slanted pistol grip and ammunition magazine, though the main receiver and other components are otherwise visibly identical. It was issued with 32-round magazines.
*The Sa 26 (vz. 48b/52) corresponds to the Sa.25, with a folding metal stock but otherwise identical to the Sa.24, using the same 32-round magazines.
Usage
The Sa 23 and 25 models were used by
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
during the 1960s and 70s, and some can be seen in photos of the
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...
.
After the Sa 25 was declared obsolete in 1968, many of the 9mm weapons were sold around the world. The surplus weapons were exported to other
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
countries including
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
. A somewhat-modified copy of the 9×19mm Parabellum model was produced in
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of So ...
in the early 1970s as the LDP and given the nickname "Rhogun". Manufacture was later transferred to South Africa where it was briefly marketed as the
Sanna 77
The Sanna-77 (from South Africa) is the end of a line of submachine guns which can trace their existence and lineage to the days of Rhodesia and their Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965.
History
The small landlocked Rhodesian state ...
in semi-automatic fire only. Some were also used by the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...
during
The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
in the 1980s and early 1990s, likely supplied by
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
.
After the
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
Many of these guns were still in the inventories of the Czech Military, and were sold of as surplus, many ending up on the
Black Market
A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the ...
. Others were deactivated for sale to civilian collectors, or demilitarized and sent to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
where many have been re-built as semi-automatic only carbines.
Users
* : purchased CZ-23s and C-25s in 1967
*
* : Unknown users
*
*
*
*
Lithuanian partisans after World War 2
* : Used by the
People's Revolutionary Army
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* used by
Biuro Ochrony Rzadu in mid 90s.
*
*
*
*
*
*
* : Unknown users
See also
*
List of submachine guns
*
Weapons of the Salvadoran Civil War
The Salvadoran Civil War was a military conflict that pitted the guerrilla forces of the left-wing Marxist-oriented Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) against the armed and security forces loyal to the military-led conservative gove ...
*
Weapons of the Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multi-sided military conflict that pitted a variety of local irregular militias, both Muslim and Christian, against each other between 1975 and 1990.
A wide variety of weapons were used by the different armies and ...
References
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sa vz. 23
7.62×25mm Tokarev submachine guns
9mm Parabellum submachine guns
Submachine guns of Czechoslovakia
Telescoping bolt submachine guns
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1948