Vz . 24 The vz . 24 rifle is a bolt - action carbine designed and produced in Czechoslovakia from 1924 to 1942 . It was developed from the famous Mauser Gewehr 98 line , and features a very similar bolt design . The rifle was designed in Czechoslovakia shortly after World War I , featuring a 600 mm ( 23 . 6 " ) barrel which was shorter and considered more handy than the 150 mm ( 5 . 9 " ) - longer Gewehr 98 . The carbine followed a similar trend in weapon design at the time , that a short rifle gave away little in ballistic efficiency at combat ranges , but was easier to handle on account of its shorter length . During World War II , the vz . 24 was produced for the German armed forces during its occupation . The rifle was also produced in nearby Slovakia , a German ally and puppet state during the war . The vz . 24 rifle was widely exported and enjoyed usage during and after World War 2 , noticeably by Romania , Iran , Guatemala , China and others . Many of the contract rifles made for South American countries were chambered in 7mm Mauser or 7 . 65×53mm Argentine . Pre World War II export and combat employment . About 100 , 000 vz . 24 rifles were bought by the Bolivian army which employed them , along with other Mauser rifle types , during the Chaco War . The vz . 24 next saw action in the Spanish Civil War by the Catalan Republican troops . About 40 , 000 vz . 24s were bought by the Soviet Union from Czechoslovakia to be sent to the Spanish Civil War . The vz . 24s were shipped from Murmansk on 1 March 1938 , along with other material ( T - 26 tanks and 76mm French field artillery ) . The French freighter , which carried all the material , managed to get the weapons to Bordeaux from where they were sent by land across the border , to Catalonia . Despite arriving late in the war , the vz . 24 was used in Catalonia and the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula and saw action in the Battle of the Ebro , where the vz . 24 showed good results despite the fascist victory . After the defeat of the Second Spanish Republic , Generalissimo Francisco Franco kept the rifles that survived the battle until 1959 , when they were sold to Interarms . World War II . After the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939 , the Germans took existing stocks of the vz . 24 into service and continued production . The vz . 24 was easily incorporated into the German forces due to its similarity to the Kar 98k enabling the same training and maintenance procedures and use of the same 7 . 92×57mm Mauser ammunition . By the start of the war the Wehrmacht had equipped 11 divisions with the rifle . The Germans designated it Gewehr 24 ( t ) ( ' t ' being the national origin designator " tschechoslowakisch " , the German word for " Czechoslovak " ; such national origin designators were German practice for all foreign weapons taken into service ) . About 762 , 000 rifles of this pattern were produced in Czechoslovakia for the Czechoslovak army and some 330 , 050 for the German armed forces . G24 ( t ) . After the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939 , production of the vz . 24 and the shortened , lightened version , the vz . 33 , continued . The vz . 24 differed only in detail from the German Kar 98k . The action was identical except for markings , and the overall and barrel lengths were very similar . The main differences were superficial ; the vz . 24 ' s straight bolt handle , different sling attachments , a solid walnut stock in place of the laminated stock of most Kar 98ks , a full length upper handguard instead of the Kar 98k ' s shorter item , and a minimum rear sight setting of 300 meters instead of 100 meters . The G24 ( t ) produced under German control progressively gained some Kar98k features , but the Považská Bystrica plant ( receiver code ' dou ' ) switched entirely to Kar98k production in 1942 . The Brno plant ( receiver code ' dot ' ) followed suit in 1943 after ceasing production of the G 33 / 40 ( t ) carbine . Romanian vz . 24s . The Czechoslovak Armaments Factory started making specially designated vz . 24s in 1938 after the German invasion . Romania was for a time part of the Axis during World War II . " Romanian " vz . 24s have a letter followed by an " R " in the serial number ; for example SR 1XXX . Romanian vz . 24s " AR " , " BR " , " CR " . . . all the way through " YR " represent different periods of manufacturing , no rifle with " ZR " has been found . The Czechs made 25 , 000 rifles for each period roughly totaling 625 , 000 Romanian vz . 24s . Romanian vz . 24 ' s saw action in Ukraine , Bessarabia , and Stalingrad in the hands of Romanian soldiers fighting for the Axis . It was not until 1944 that Romania joined the Allies . Post - war production . As post - script to the vz . 24 story , the production of the Czech Kar 98k Mauser continued after the end of the war . Under Czechoslovak Army designation vz . 98N , it served until around 1952 as the service rifle for the post - war Czechoslovak forces , and was extensively exported . Early post - war specimens were identical with wartime versions , and the use of existing stocks of wartime parts continued until exhausted . The receiver marking reverted to a pre - war style Czech rampant lion symbol , although a specimen using a German style receiver code of ' tgf ' and the date ' 1950 ' has been observed . The left side of the receiver was marked " ČESKOSLOVENSKÁ ZBROJOVKA , A . S . , BRNO " . The standard settled on was distinguished by a new magazine assembly made from steel stampings , with an over - sized trigger guard for use with thick winter gloves . The new stamping , unlike late - war German stamped trigger guard / magazine assemblies , did not have a detachable magazine floorplate , meaning whole trigger guard / magazine must be unscrewed and removed entirely to clean the magazine . The locking screws , which stopped movement of the bolts securing the action and trigger guard to the stock , were deleted . Stocks were mostly solid ( not laminated ) beech with the German Kar 98k side sling attachments but no cleaning rod recess , and a German " Kriegsmodell " type late - war buttplate with firing pin dismantling hole in the side . Examples produced after the Communist takeover in 1948 were marked " Národní podnik " . The most famous employment of these rifles was being purchased by Haganah arms buyers and smuggled into Palestine before the British Mandate expired on 14 May 1948 , and their use in the Israeli Independence War of 1948 . Shipments to Israel continued after independence of both new - production Czechoslovak rifles , and German - era Kar 98k ' s , as Czechoslovak arms dealers sold a variety of German - pattern equipment to Israel . With Israel ' s adoption of the FN FAL rifle in 1955 , the Czechoslovak rifles were among the Israeli Mauser rifles converted to 7 . 62×51mm NATO for use as reserve weapons , utilizing Mauser factory equipment provided by Czechoslovakia . In common with elsewhere in Europe , Brno also refurbished large numbers of German Kar 98k rifles in the immediate post - war period . These are distinguishable by a larger serial number stamped on the underside of the stock behind the pistol grip adjacent to the original German number . Czechoslovak - refurbished Kar 98k s were sold to other Communist states in Europe , and were used by military and paramilitary forces into the 1960s , and were retained for some years afterward as reserve weapons . Persian " Berno " . The rifle found its way into Iran very quickly where it became known as the " Berno " , following the name of the city of Brno , Czechoslovakia , where the rifles were originally manufactured . The Mauser rifle was selected for the Iranian Army during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi , however Iran never ordered any from Germany instead preferring the Czechoslovak variant . CZ produced two versions for Iran , a long rifle ( comparable to the German Gewehr 98 ) designated vz . 98 / 29 , and a carbine designated vz . 30 . Both were known in Iran as the Model of 1930 ( or 1309 , by the Iranian calendar ) , and the carbine was nicknamed " Berno kootah " ( " short Brno " ) . The Iranian version had a Pahlavi crown and lion and sun crest atop the receiver ring , as well as an inscription in Persian ( in Nasta ' liq script ) on the side of its receiver giving the model and the factory name . In the late 1940s Iran ' s Taslihat - e Artesh ( Arms Factories of the Army ) , popularly known as Mosalsal - sazi ( Machine - gun Factory ) , in Tehran started production of these Brno rifles . The required machinery and manufacturing knowledge was provided to Iran through the industrial firm Škoda , which had a long history of cooperation with Iran . Iran produced two models : the vz . 24 as " Berno " and a short version under a licence from CZ . Initially this was a copy of the Model of 1930 carbine , which was soon replaced by a slightly modified Model of 1949 ( 1328 by the Iranian calendar ) , also known as " Berno kootah " . The only difference between the local Iranian version and the Czech version was the markings on the side of the receiver : instead of naming Brno as the maker , it was written " sakht - e aslah - e sazi - e artesh " ( made by the Army Arms factory ) . The Brno remained as the standard Iranian infantry weapon until it was replaced by the more modern , semi - automatic , American M1 Garand rifle in 1960 . Following the change , the Brno was confined to the gendarmerie and the game wardens for a while , before it was decommissioned from active use . In the 1970s it was used mainly in ceremonial occasions The Iranian Brno rifles saw action in a number of places from tribal uprisings in Kurdistan to the coup removing Mohammad Mossadegh from power . During the 1979 revolution , the gun re - appeared in the hands of the revolutionaries and tribesmen , who had never abandoned their Brnos . Besides the rebels , the Islamic government too had a use for Brno . It was , and is , used in official Friday prayer ceremonies . The speaker is required to have ' the weapon of the day ' by his side , according to the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad , who carried a sword in this capacity .