Vz . 58 The vz . 58 ( " model 58 " ) is a 7 . 62mm assault rifle designed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia and accepted into service in the late 1950s as the " 7 , 62 mm samopal vzor 58 " ( " 7 . 62mm submachine gun model 1958 " ) , replacing the vz . 52 self - loading rifle and the 7 . 62×25mm Tokarev vz . 24 and vz . 26 submachine gun s . The vz . 58 externally resembles the Soviet AK - 47 but is internally a substantially different design based on a short - stroke gas piston , which shares absolutely no parts with the Kalashnikov design - including the magazines . History . Development of the weapon began in 1956 ; leading the project was chief engineer Jiří Čermák assigned to the Konstrukta Brno facility in the city of Brno . The Soviet Union had begun insisting that the Warsaw Pact forces standardize on a common ammunition . As a result , the prototype , known as the " Koště " ( " broom " ) , was designed to chamber the intermediate Soviet 7 . 62×39mm M43 cartridge , rather than the Czech 7 . 62×45mm vz . 52 round , used in both the earlier vz . 52 rifle and the vz . 52 light machine gun . The assault rifle entered service in 1958 and over a period of 25 years ( until 1984 ) , over 920 , 000 weapons had been produced , fielded by the armed forces of Czechoslovakia , Cuba and several other Asian and African nations . The vz . 58 was produced in three main variants : the standard vz . 58 P ( " Pěchotní " or " infantry " ) model with a fixed buttstock made of a synthetic material ( wood impregnated plastic , older versions used a wooden stock ) , the vz . 58 V ( " Výsadkový " — " airborne " ) , featuring a side - folding metal shoulder stock , folded to the right side , and the vz . 58 Pi ( " Pěchotní s infračerveným zaměřovačem " — " infantry with infrared sight " ) , which is similar to the vz . 58 P but includes a receiver - mounted dovetail bracket ( installed on the left side of the receiver ) used to attach an NSP2 night sight ; it also has a detachable folding bipod and an enlarged conical flash suppressor . A successor to the vz . 58 was proposed in the 1990s ; the 5 . 56×45mm NATO ČZ 2000 assault rifle has been suggested as a possible replacement but due to a general lack of defense funds within the Czech Republic , the program was postponed . Another recent contender is the ČZW - 556 assault rifle and ČZW - 762 light machine gun which both use lever - delayed blowback which has more reliable accuracy and performance over the gas operation . Vz . 58 still remains the main assault rifle of the Slovak army , however , in 2011 , the Czech army started replacing vz . 58 with CZ - 805 BREN . Design details . Operating mechanism . The vz . 58 is a selective fire gas - operated weapon that bleeds expanding combustion gases generated in the barrel from the ignited cartridge through a port drilled in the barrel , from the chamber , opening into a hollow cylinder located above the barrel that contains a short - stroke piston . The vz . 58 does not have a gas regulator and the full force of the gas pressure is exerted on the piston head , propelling it backwards in a single impulsive blow . The piston is driven back only when a shoulder on the piston rod butts against the seating and no further movement is possible . There is a light return spring held between the piston shoulder and the seating which returns the piston to its forward position . The gas cylinder is vented after the piston has traveled back and the remaining gases are exhausted into the atmosphere on the underside of the cylinder via two ports . The entire piston rod is chromium - plated to prevent fouling . The locking system features a locking block hinged from the bolt and housed in the bolt carrier that contains two locking lugs which descend into and engage locking shoulders in the receiver ' s internal guide rails . The weapon is unlocked by the short tappet - like stroke of the piston rod as it strikes the bolt carrier and drives it rearwards . After of unrestricted travel , a wedge - like surface on the bolt carrier moves under the breech locking piece and lifts it up and out of engagement with the locking recesses in the steel body . The breech locking piece swings up and this movement provides the leverage required for primary extraction . The breech block is then carried rearwards extracting the empty cartridge casing from the chamber . A fixed ejector passes through a groove cut in the underside of the bolt and the case is flung upwards clear of the gun . Features . The spring - loaded extractor and firing pin are both housed inside the breech lock , while the fixed ejector is located at the base of the receiver . The weapon does not have a conventional rotating hammer but is striker - fired and the striker is a steel bar hollowed from one end almost throughout its entire length to accommodate its own operating spring . At the open end of the striker , a plate is welded and there is a groove cut in each side of this to slide on the receiver guide rails . This hammer - striker enters the hollow bolt and drives a fully floating firing pin forward with each shot . The rifle uses a trigger mechanism with a lever - type fire mode selector , which is also a manual safety against accidental discharge . When the selector lever is placed in its rear position ( " 1 " — single fire ) the sear is disabled and the left striker catch is rotated by the disconnector , which is depressed by the bolt carrier after every shot and is therefore disconnected from the striker catch . The forward setting of the selector lever ( " 30 " — automatic fire ) disables the disconnector , and the left striker catch meshes with the sear mechanism . The center ( " safe " ) setting with the selector lever pointing vertically downwards , mechanically lowers the trigger bar and the disconnector so there is no connection between the trigger and the semi - automatic sear which holds the hammer . The rifle also has an internal safety , which prevents the weapon from discharging when out of battery . The right striker - hammer catch disables the striker - hammer , and it can only be released by pulling the charging handle back and cocking the weapon . The weapon is fed from a detachable box magazine with a 30 - round cartridge capacity and made from a lightweight alloy . When the last round from the magazine is fired , the bolt will remain locked open on the bolt catch , activated by the magazine ' s follower . The magazine release tab is located at the base of the receiver on the left side , behind the magazine well . The bolt carrier has a built - in guide rail used for reloading from 10 - round stripper clips ( from the SKS rifle ) . Despite their similarity , vz . 58 magazines are not interchangeable with those of the AK - 47 and its derivatives . An interesting feature on this rifle is the ability to quickly change the type of stock it has . The vz . 58 can appear either with its original wood stock or folding steel stock , or with one of the many aftermarket stocks available - including AR - 15 style stock adapters that mount a buffer tube to the receiver . The latter usually has the buffer tube slightly angled down as to compensate for the very low ironsights on the vz . 58 . Switching between the various options requires merely removal of a bolt at the rear of the receiver and swapping in the stock of choice . Sights . The rifle ' s iron sight s consist of a fully adjustable front post and a tangent rear sight with a sliding notch with range denominations from 100 to 800 m , graduated every 100 m . Besides this , the left side of the rear sight leaf is marked with the letter " U " ( " univerzální " meaning " universal " ) , for snap shooting , firing at moving targets and night combat at ranges up to 300 m . The rifle ' s sight radius is . The front sight base also serves as a mounting platform for the vz . 58 edged bayonet . Accessories . Several modernization accessories have been manufactured for the vz . 58 platform from companies such as Neit Arms Inc and North Eastern Arms . Accessories include " tactical " bolt release , extended and / or ambidextrous magazine release paddles , ambidextrous fire mode selectors , custom handguard rails , several types of sight mounting options and various muzzle brakes and compensators . Both civilian and military users use these upgrades , and they also see frequent use with private military companies in the Middle East . Additional equipment supplied with the rifle includes : 4 spare magazines , a magazine pouch , vz . 58 bayonet and scabbard , cleaning brush , muzzle cap , oil bottle , unified sling , front sight adjustment tool and a threaded blank - firing adaptor . The vz . 58 also has a proprietary bipod .