Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats BRNO Questions

FM is correct here and I have also heard that they were made in the superb 9,3x64B, my choice as THE best big game round for BC hunting. I have never seen one, but, there is a doctor in Prince Rupert, BC, an immigrant from Africa, who has quite a number of these older Brnos and I think he may have one.

There is a considerable variation in these rifles,only 21,000 made and my very minty 7x57 has a 22" tube while most have 23.6" barrels. The shorter ones are less common and I have only had one other of this type.

My very good friend, FM, found an action, polished receiver, from a factory 9.3x62 and, knowing how I longed for one, sold it to me. Just last week, I found him the nice "shooter grade" long-tubed .30-06 that he wanted and he will make this into an "iron sight" rifle, about perfect for that type and the tasks he will use it for.

I hope to get a few more of these and also a couple more Dakota 76 rifles from the era when Don Allen ran the show. For the price of nice, used ones of these three rifle models, there is nothing that is equal, IMHO and they just plain work for an old geezer like me.

Well said,just wish I could find more of them down here!

Why oh why did I have to read this thread? I have owned several 21H's..a couple of 7x57s and a couple of 8x57s, but sadly I sold them.

Well, they are not hard to find and there are some FINE specimens available for sale. I am now going to sell a number of my rifles, as I am pushing 67, have 35 rifles and will never use or probably even shoot most of what I still have after selling several since last year, when this thread was started.

Obviously, I know these rifles and am going to ask and get top market dollar for mine, I have an ill wife and we want to go to Europe before much longer, so, I need some $$$$ as I will not spend on credit.

IF, you are SERIOUS, PM me, tell me what you want and we may be able to do business. I can provide excellent references here and in the Vancouver gun trade to aleviate any concern that you may have in buying from a stranger.

That said, I do not respond to the requests I often receive to assist someone to "find" a rare gun at a "sweet deal" as I am too busy to engage in anything other than liquidating my collection for cash. So, there it is, if you are interested.

Oh how I wish I was in a position to pick through your collection Kuteney!

+2....I saw/handled my 1st 21H last fall. It was not all original, although it was in good shape and commanded a premium price. After handling it, I know I'd like to have one. They are very smoooth.

Terry, you are one of a few guys on the 'net,that I would do anything I can to help buy one of the nice ones I have, BobNH is another.

I love these guns, but, I want to do some hunts in the Yukon, NWT and travel and I not "rich". There is some neat stuff coming on the Canadian market now, lots of Brnos and so on.

I don't want to hi-jack this thread, but would love to hear about the m70-style trigger Bob...maybe I will PM you for details on the 'why'

setch no real mystery on the M70 style trigger...I have always liked the open architecture design;rugged, simple,everything in the open where you can see it. Free of little springs,and the enclosed design that can accumulate gunk or water that can freeze up.

Not the only thing that works,of course, but just a feature that I happen to like.

Johnny B turned me on the the fact that Alaskan Arms now makes them for Mausers.I think they are a neat trick and if I were doing up a mauser would definately get one.

The Brno's I have handled, are some of the smoothest and tightest actions I have used. They are some of the highest quality production guns ever made.

ddj

Bob, do yourself a favour and use Alaska arms mounts.

HERE

Something not mentioned is that the ZG47 action is slightly wider in the rails and would make a smashing 375 Ruger, also not mentioned is that follower in the Model 21 is pressed not milled, and features the hold open as on military Mausers...easy fix is to replace with a milled ex-mil follower that has been ground to allow the bolt to slip over the side of the follower.
The magbox on the ZG47 is not milled, it is just pressed...but works perfectly.
And as Kute mentioned, the '56 Model 21 with the round bolt and ZG47 bolt shroud in 7x64 is the Holy Grail.

ps, Kute, I have another coming in about two weeks...I am going to strip it for a store of parts.

Nice collection Trouthunter. Tell us more about them!

Eric

Anybody here want a Brno ZKW465 in 22 K Hornet? Spooky accurate and class/style in spades like all of the 1950's Brno stuff. Double set triggers, of course. I have piles of fdireformed brass, ammo, dies etc that go with. PM me if interested.

Thanks Eric,

The first is a BRNO 22 Carbine in 7x57. I bought it from TC1 and he had change the bolt knob and the trigger. IT is a fine rifle.

The second is a 22 Mannlicher Carbine in 7x57.

The third is a 21 rifle in 7x57.

The forth is a Parker Hale Hussar which used the ZG47 action.

And lastly is a ZG47 in 30-06.


ddj

Of the two, I prefer the ZG47 just for it's greater strength and durability. I have seen 21's which had fractured along the dovetail. I suspect the culprit was a too-tight barrel thread in this case which started the crack that split upon firing. Another fractured in the same way but at the top of the right raceway when a fellow 'smith attempted to remove the barrel with an inside action wrench.
Still, I always admired both models simply because they were attractive, well-made, rifles.
I recently saw one of the Parker-Hale Hussars in 308 Norma and had to struggle against the stirrings of acquistive desire.
The later BRNO models, the ZKK's, were somewhat more crudely made but were a solid, robust action and the pop-up peep sight was a gem. Sadly, the designer of the trigger seemed to have been paid by the piece and the trigger was complex and required more stock material to be removed. Today's CZ550's are descended from these. The trigger is still far from perfect but it is better. Minor design changes could have made it much better.
GD

Thanks, DDJ. I really like that ZG47 in 30-06! Schnabel forend with the red pad, ooo yeah!! Great caliber, too. How's it shoot?

Eric

Both of the ZG47's shoot well. My per load for the "true" BRNO is 180 Barnes over a charge of H4350. The 30-06's will be my son and my rifles if we do a African hunt.


ddj

Awesome. Congrats on your collection!

Eric

At the risk of being ...obtuse..., I must aay that young "GD" is well worth listening to on this and related topics.

I have never seen a 21/22 show any issues, other than the abortion of a safety that they were equipped with at the factory, except those few fabulous specimens made with the ZG bolt-safety...and, I have one, seen four others in almost 50 years with the "roundbolt" but that gawdforsaken safety that lets your bolt open when your rifle is shouldered.

However, as with my beloved P-64-70s, I can see how this can/would happen and a very well known BC smith, now retired, once split a P-64 action that Joe Dlask had surface ground and detailed for me at considerable cost and over three years.......

So, with this in mind and now that Alaska Arms offers their fine triggers to fit the ZGs, I have to agree with Bill and I have often stated that it is THE "best" action ever for serious big game rifles up to .416 Rigbys, etc. IF, they had kept the original Mauser trigger lug and had the EARLY type "peep"of the first ZKKs,it would be "perfect".

I have wanted a P-H Hussar in .308Norma for 20+ years and would gladly buy one for a very good price if anyone has one that they want to sell. I can be reached here by PM, or, at my e-mail, wodaxemsn.com. I love ZGs, just find they work for me like P-64 .338 Alaskans and .270 Fwts do, I can always use another one.

So, some nice pix of fine rifles here, there are still decent ones for sale here in Canada and at good prices, so, get one while you can and see what CAN be done in a factory to produce a fine rifle...I will take my polished receiver ZGs in 9,3x62 over my fine Dakota, .338WM and they cost maybe 1/3 as much, fully customized by Martini.

I am not that keen on the ZKKs, owned five of them and now have a CZ-550 9.3 being customized by Martini's former assistant in Cranbrook, this with one of AHR's discontinued Micky handles. I think that the 550s can be made into VERY fine rifles and at a cost that most can handle, not always the case with less available actions/rifles.

JSTUART,thanks...those are very nice looking rings.