Before I got out of shooting sports entirely, I used to own a Czech-made VZ52 rifle. It was unusual because it had a folding bayonet
which would swing out sideways from a hollow machined in the right side of the forestock. Initial versions were chambered in 7.62 x 45, an oddball round the Czechs developed in an attempt to avoid following the Soviet lead too closely. Subsequent pressure from the Russkies forced changeover to the then-standard Warsaw Pact 7.62 x 39 round. The VZ52 was interesting because it had a tilting breechblock not unlike the FN FAL, and was gas operated, with a ten-round magazine. Most interesting of all was how closely the rifle was patterned after the Gewehr 43 rifle issued to Nazi snipers in 1943. The fact that the Czechs patterned the VZ-52 after the Gew 43 is not surprising, since many examples of the Gew 43 saw service in the Czech army after WWII.
Perhaps oddest of all, the VZ52 ejects spent cartridge casings to the shooter's left, instead of the more common rightwards direction.
The VZ52 was my favourite because not only was it an oddity, but it was a relic of an interesting transitional period in history. The example I owned was an arsenal refurbishment rechambered for 7.62 x 39, designated VZ-52/57, since 1957 was the year the rechambering was done. It was reliable, overbuilt (very heavy for a carbine-type rifle) in the Czech fashion, and about as accurate as a surplus ChiCom SKS with iron sights.
lee enfeild 303 mark 3 sniper ;D
