I spent several days filming some fantastic Czech small arms with the VHU – the Czech Military History Institute. The Army Museum Žižkov is a part of the Institute, and they have a 3-story museum full of cool exhibits open to the public in Prague.If you have a chance to visit, it’s definitely worth the time! You can find all of their details (including their aviation and armor museums) here:
Machine pistol
Czech vz.61 Photos and Catalog
Thanks to reader Denny, we have some more information on the Czech vz.61 “Skorpion” PDW, including pages from a CZ catalog advertising three different versions of the gun for sale. These three variants are: vz.61 […]
Semiauto pistol
Laugo Alien: Mud Test
Is the Laugo Alien a rugged an unstoppable HiLux or a fastidious Maserati? I would like to use it as a go-to competition pistol for matches like Finnish Brutality and Desert Brutality, but first I […]
Ammunition
How Is Ammunition Made? A Tour of Sellier & Bellot’s Factory
Today I am in Vlašim in the Czech Republic, where Sellier & Bellot has allowed me to film a tour of their ammunition plant. This is one of the largest ammo manufacturers in the world, […]
Dior you see anyone without children? Apparently that would indicate a collapse of western civilization….
I noticed a Winchester 1895 in one of the displays and you never even mentioned it
There are also gazillions other – and MUCH more interesting guns, that were ommitted as well. Go there and see them all for yourself. And DO NOT run, like Ian did. I took seven hours to see all of the display and still got rushed off by the ladies who were already closing the museum 🙂
Prague museum was always one of the better such institutions in Europe, and only gained with the refurbishment. The only pinch of salt is the overabundance of TV displays, reflecting all over the cabinet windows. Plus it is really DARK in there. I can understand UV protection of the 15th Century flag or an ornamentally painted shield, but dark treatment to the display of the 1950s experimental guns is a waste of fine exhibit – and these 1950s models are simply KNOCKOUT! But you can’t see them anyway…
Boy oh boy… I just gotta get over to Praha someday… I figure I’ll elbow my way in past the German tourists to the “U Kalicka” and vibe with Jaroslav Hasek and the Good Soldier Svejk, hit the castle and the bridges, and then spend two weeks or so drinking excellent and reasonably priced beer and visiting a gallery or two at a time of this here museum! Gobsmacked just by the SMGs in the teaser!
…and you know what? In 1938/1939 our (= Czechoslovak + Polish) armed forces taken together would match the Wehrmacht. What’s more, they were complementary – the Czechs had industry, tanks & artillery, the Poles had hell a lot of well-trained infantry and cavalry. As for reluctant Slovaks and even more reluctant Sudeten Germans, we would had sort them out. Well; none of us had decent aviation, but let’s forget about it for the sake of the Dream Story.
However, both our countries were at that time run by idiots who were unwilling and – probably – uncapable of going out of their respective narrow-minded nationalistic boxes, constructed in the wake of the WW1.
And then, what happened – happened. A few years later – much too late – there was even a federation project. Personally, as a Czechofile, I would not mind it.
Will we repeat the same errors again? Hopefully, not.
Your error was not supporting the Rich against the Reds
“(…)the Rich(…)”
Who is said entity?
It remind me of the weapon gallery of “Le grand Curtius” museum in Liege Belgium, near Herstal.
I live near there and they have cool stuffs you’d love 🙂
https://www.grandcurtius.be/en/museums-collections/weapons