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CZ 805 BREN

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CZ 805 BREN

The CZ 805 BREN is a gas-operated modular assault rifle designed and manufactured by Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod.

The CZ 805 BREN was developed to replace the Vz. 58 in the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic in 2006. CZUB continued to refine and evolve the CZ 805 BREN’s design, which led to the development of the CZ BREN 2, CZ BREN 2 BR, CZ BREN 2 DMR, CZ 807, and CZ BREN 3.

The CZ 805 BREN and its variants are used by various police and military forces, including in the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Mexico, and Ukraine.

Czechoslovakia had the distinction of being the only Warsaw Pact member whose army did not issue a rifle based on the Soviet AK-47/AKM. They developed the Vz. 58 in the late 1950s and although it fired the same 7.62×39mm cartridge and externally looked similar, its operating system and features were dramatically different. It was effective at the time it was introduced, but by the next decade was obsolete and hard to modify.

In 1977, the Brno General Machine-Building Plants R&D Center began a program to create a new rifle under the name Lada S. A design was approved in 1984 that fired the smaller 5.45×39mm cartridge and could fill three roles: a subcarbine with a 185 mm (7.3 in) barrel; a rifle with a 382 mm (15.0 in) barrel; and a light support weapon with a 577 mm (22.7 in) barrel. They followed the variant family of AK-74 rifles and mostly took after their designs except for differences in the receiver cover, sights, and safety selector. The weapons were built by late 1985, tested starting in 1986, and was approved for production in November 1989. Shortly after that time however, the Cold War was ending and Czechoslovakia's communist party had stepped down following the Velvet Revolution. 300,000 Lada systems were planned, but by the time it was declared fit for production in February 1990, the Army had no funds. The country itself was splitting apart, and on 1 January 1993 it separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, ending 74 years of the country of Czechoslovakia. The Lada was not likely to be bought in large numbers by the smaller army. By then Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod, which had taken over the design, had become privatised, and the company shelved the weapon for several years.

In the late 1990s, the Lada project was restarted with the prospect of the Czech Republic becoming a full member of NATO. It had been converted to fire .223 Remington ammunition shortly before it was shelved, mainly because the program did not involve producing 5.45×39mm ammunition and Sellier & Bellot was already producing .223 cartridges. The restarted rifle program rechambered the rifle to NATO standard 5.56×45mm ammunition, but retained a magazine well that accepted AK-74-type magazines. Converting it to accept STANAG magazines would have required the receiver to be redesigned and to have cost too much. The Army of the Czech Republic was interested in acquiring a new rifle but did not award any contracts. The Lada was then offered for export under the name CZ 2000.

For the domestic Army Replacement Rifle program development, the Lada was re-designated Project 805. The Army still did not wish to buy a new rifle for the entire military, but special forces did receive Bushmaster M4A3 carbines. With the prospect that the Army would re-arm gradually rather than on a large scale, CZUB drew up entirely new specifications in late 2005. Project 805 became the CZ XX, and then the CZ S805.

Two types of guns were drawn up: 'A' models chambered for intermediate rounds including 5.56×45mm NATO, 7.62×39mm, and 6.8mm Remington SPC; and 'B' models chambered for rifle rounds like 7.62×51mm NATO and even .300 Winchester Magnum.

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