The VZ61 Scorpion submachine gun was developed in Czechoslovakia at the end of the 50s of the 20th century, designed by Miroslav Ribaz and produced by the Urski Brod Brod Battalion Arsenal. The purpose of the gun was to provide non-front-line combat infantry with a lightweight, but more effective personal defense weapon than a pistol, and it has a place in the history of light weapons in the world that should not be underestimated.
The prototype VZ61 first appeared in Prague in August 1969 under the name S-59. In 1961, the gun was officially finalized and named "Model 1961 Submachine Gun", abbreviated as VZ61. Between 1962 and 1979, approximately 210,000 VZ61s were produced. Since 1961, the VZ61 has been in service. Not only was it widely equipped with Czechoslovak troops and police, but it was also exported abroad in large quantities. The gun is equipped with troops and police in a number of African countries, and it was used by the South Vietnamese National Liberation Front during the Vietnam War. Not only that, due to the VZ61 size
Small is easy to hide, and the sound attenuation effect is also very good, some terrorist organizations are also using it.
The VZ61 Scorpion submachine gun is well-made, simple and solid in structure, reliable in action, and good in parts interchangeability, which are all outstanding advantages. The gun adopts the traditional free bolt type working principle and closed-bore waiting method, it can shoot with one hand and a burst with both hands against the shoulder, and the accuracy of both shots is relatively good.
The VZ61 uses an enveloping bolt, but the bolt is very good, and it is difficult to identify the location of the gun from 50 meters away. However, after installing a silencer, the muzzle velocity of the VZ61 will decrease; In addition, the recoil of the gun can become violent and difficult to control, which will reduce the effective firing range. In addition to the 7.65 mm VZ61, the Scorpion submachine gun also has a short and light shot, plus the recoil stroke is also very short, so the rate of fire of the gun is easy to be too fast. To reduce the rate of fire, a slower was installed on the gun, consisting of a spring-loaded hook mounted in the tail of the receiver and a delay device mounted inside the grip. It reduces the rate of fire to 850 rounds per minute, which could have been higher than 1000 rounds per minute.
There is a fast and slow handle on each side of the receiver, so it can be operated with both left and right hands. There are three positions on the fast and slow handle: "0" means safety, "1" refers to single shot, and "20" means burst fire. When the fast and slow machine is in the safety position, it can play a double safety role: one is to lock the trigger, and the other is to use the trigger link to lock the bolt.
Another special design worth mentioning is the silencer used on the gun. The silencer is a plastic sleeve that replicates several other caliber variants: the VZ64 submachine gun was designed in 1964 with a caliber of 9 mm × 17 mm and fires 9 mm Browning short rounds. The VZ65 submachine gun, introduced in 1965, had a caliber of 9 mm × 18 mm and fired 9 mm Makarov PM pistol cartridges. Introduced in 1968, the VZ68 had a caliber of 9 mm × 19 mm and fired 9 mm Pyrabellarum rounds. In 1982, in order to fire Soviet 9mm PM pistol cartridges, the VZ61 submachine gun family introduced the VZ82 caliber of 9mm ×18mm. The gun was also used for export. #Military Fun Science#
Performance data
Muzzle caliber: 7.65 mm
Full gun length: 517 mm
Barrel length: 115 mm
Full gun weight: 1.30 kg
Effective firing range: 150 meters
Ammunition feeding method: 10-round, 20-round magazine
