VZ24
Czech military training air rifle VZ24
This model, with the initials TGF, is one of 20,000 of the 65,000 designed for the Czechoslovak army.
Other serial numbers indicate assignment to the police, for example.
The Czechoslovak army then assigned models like mine to SVAZARM.
SVAZARM is the UNION FOR COOPERATION WITH THE ARMY.
During communist Czechoslovakia, it was the largest paramilitary organization. It was founded in 1951.
It resembled scouting, with 25 hours of military training per year for each soldier.
The Czechoslovak army also complained that the recruits sent by SVAZARM were too soft and insufficiently trained. This was so true that some instructors gave advice to future recruits on how to avoid enlistment.
The weapon was designed to teach the loading motion of a Mauser-type rifle.
C.S.
