Gun of the Month - CZ 858

Pat goes over a popular Czech rifle - the CZ 858 Tactical 4V. Initially designed in the mid 1950s, the Vz. 58 entered service with the Czech military in 1959, during the Cold War. Despite being in the Warsaw Pact, Czechoslovakia resisted adopting the AK-47, preferring instead to design their own rifle using the new Soviet 7.62x39mm cartridge. The rifle is still in service today. Despite looking externally similar to an AK, the CZ 858 is completely different and shares no parts. It uses a short-stroke piston operating system with a tilting bolt, as opposed to the AK's long-stroke piston and rotating bolt. Also somewhat unusually, the CZ 858 uses a linear hammer, or striker, instead of a conventional hammer.