In addition to proof marks on the receiver flats, a few of these that I have seen recently will have a two digit number stamped on the flat such as 54 or 66. Could this be the manufacture date or proofing date? I didn't realize that these ZP (at least they look like the ZP 47/49 etc. series BRNOS') were made prior the the 1970's.
Jorge

Jorge:

Typically the date is at the end of the proof data string and hyphenated(?). You can see the "77" at the end of the above date string on the left side of watertable. Also the date appears on the right flat atop the Shield "N" stamp. Some earlier versions didn't have the hyphen and I can't say just how many models there were but they seem to concide with the year of the change.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

I have a ZP 47 and a 49 with dates in the early sixties. I've always figured that was the manufacture date...Geo

How many models were there and what are the differences, or at least the variation between the ZP 47 & ZP 49?

I guess the number before the date is the Nth longarm to pass in that year.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

49 had ejectors...Geo

It would probably be worth $12 U.S. of A. to Cornell Pub. to see the description of the different models up to 1975: http://www.cornellpubs.com/old-guns/item_desc.php?item_id=122

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

I used to own one. The number after the dash is the year of manufacture. I have this this bit of info on one that was offered on Gunbroker a few years ago:

Česká zbrojovka a.s., Uherský Brod, (CZUB), is a firearms manufacturer established in 1936 in the small Moravian town in the Czech Republic. After World War II all the firearms manufacturers were managed by a single central agency which required that "Any firearm exported will bare the BRNO markings", this is why there are a great deal of CZ Uhersky Brod firearms with BRNO markings.
Throughout the Cold War CZ manufactured a wide variety of military small arms including the CZ 52 pistol, the CZ 58 assault rifle, the vz. 61 Škorpion, various .22 caliber training and target rifles and of course the CZ 75 family of pistols.
In 1991 the Czech weapons factories were "de-centralized" and began business as free market companies. CZUB was the first to move into the free world economy, establishing a small arms presence across the globe and dominating the market in over 60 countries.
In 1991 CZUB established a permanent presence in the United States with the founding of CZ-USA. CZUB and CZ-USA continue to expand and dominate the small arms market world wide, with military, police, defensive, sporting and recreational firearms of unparalleled design and quality.
The CZ factory employs some 2000+ highly trained engineers, craftsmen and business personnel, making it one of the largest firearms manufacturers in the world.

Barrels are forged chopper lumps with third upper bite (Purdey design) made of Poldi electro steel, silver brazed with solid concave rib 28.3” (720mm) in length choked modified and improved. Actual stamping on the bottom of barrels reads: 17.6 diameter on left and 17.8 on right, then both barrels have 18.35 diameter throats, obviously in millimeters. Czech required proof mark is stamped –95, which means gun was made in 1995. Production ceased in 1998. Chambers are 2. ¾” and fitted with selective ejectors (fired shell eject, unfired extract). Ejectors are operated by Anson & Deeley type splinter forend latch. Action is of true sidelock with etched game scenes finished in silver, complimented with cocking indicators and automatic safety on upper tang. Double triggers, oval cheekpiece, LOP 14.1/4”, Turkish walnut, recoil pad. In fact this model was the only gun, that Brno factory never made any profit on. Its production was staggeringly expensive and required a small group of craftsmen to hand fit all those machined pieces together. Interestingly, Brno Arms was the largest small arms production in the world in early 60s, having about 10000 employees. Yet, only a few hundred of SxS were produced yearly. They are history now, Brno production buildings are empty and turned into warehouses. For those who wonder what designation Brno ZP149 means, it goes like this: Brno – city and manufacturer place in Czech republic, Z – zbrojovka (weaponry/ armament), P – Pavlicek (name of designer), 149 – first introduced in 1949.

Thanks very much for the abundance of information. I owned a couple of these that were purchased in the late 70's. I'm looking at two now (one with ejectors and one with extractors)that are apparently dated in the mid fifties to early sixties according to my newly acquired education. I thought they were a good buy back then, but these older models have surprisingly sharp checkering as opposed to the flattened patterns that seemed to be the norm in the 70's. One of these seems to have lost a piece of filling at the muzzle where the rib is joined. Could a drop of solder in the cavity adequately fix this?

Raimey,
Last night I located an old catalog from BRNO which was sent to me along with a letter from their sales manager at the time. He apologized that it was over 10 years old (in 1974) and a new one was scheduled to go to press. Had I found it sooner, I would have known that that ZP's were made, if not imported, earlier than the 70's. The "catalog" is more of a history of the company, but the ZP series is mentioned along with the various Model 98's etc. Thanks for the Cornell tip. I looked it up and it is definitely worth having. Do you recall the old C.L. Schindler that you helped me dissassemble back in September? I found a few markings and sent a letter off to the museum in Zella-Mehlis but have not received a reply. Would you mind if I forwarded it to you (or post it here) to see if you can make any sense of the few markings on the barrels? Thanks agains for your help on the BRNO's.
Best regards,
Jorge

Jorge:
Any chance of posting the BRNO history? First, from what I've gleaned if your correspondence to the museums isn't in German, they pretty much blow it off. I could be wrong but this seems to be the case. Yes, go ahead and email me or a search should reveal the original thread and it could be posted there.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

I have strong reservations about the "-95" to have been a production date but rather a proof date because as stated above on the "Czech required proof" which was stamped as it passed thru the proofhouse. I wouldn't think the that the manufacture stamped the "-95" and the proofhouse stamped the other.

Another reservation surrounds Pavlicek & the ZP Models. I'm positive he was a designer for pistols but I haven't seen any info yet that suggest he was involved in scattergun design: http://waffenamt.net/wa/shop?lb=Item%5B108134%5D&rp=Catalog& . I still hold it goes back Nowotny, with Emanuel Holek being an apprentice at J. Nowotny and A. Nowotny founding Zbrojovka Praga, Prague in 1918.

Here's some composed info I continue to add to:
I could be mistaken, but the Models were ZP 47, ZP 49, ZP 50, etc(ZP749??). surfaced after WWII and up till 1950. For now I think the “ZP” to stand for Zbrojovka Praga as a possible reference or name resurrection. The Communist were in control in 1948 so arms after then should be marked “Narodny Podnik” / State Enterprises. But lets go back in time a bit to post WWI in 1918 when A. Nowtony formed Zbrojovka Praga in Prague. He and his clan of gunsmiths were manufacturing the Praga pistols and perfecting the Praga M-24 alloy machine-gun. His list of gunsmiths at least contained the names of Emanuel, Frantisek and Vaclav Holek, Karel Krnka and Frantisek Myska.
Emanuel Holek was an apprentice to J. Nowotny of Prague and after Zbrojovka Praga was liquidated in 1926, joined Ceska Zbrojovka of Strakonice and then in 1927 was on to Zbrojovka Brno in 1927.
Vaclav Holek(1886-1954) apprenticed in Pisek before working in Vienna in 1905 for Mulacz. Five years later he was back with Nowotny of Prague making H&H style sidelock scatterguns. Then he joined his brother Emanuel at Zbrojovka Praja researching the Praga M-24 and moved on to Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka, Brno after the 1926 liquidation. This fella could be the source of the ZP design.
Frantisek Holek(1894-1951) worked in Moscow and joined the Zbrojovka Praja ground in 1919 straightaway to chief of design. Upon the 1926 liquidation, Frantisek left to work for Frantisek Janecek, electrical engineer, who had attempted a business at tool, die and precision instrument which failed and sent he back to marking weapons in Prague about the time the Zbrojovka Praja experience failure. Janecek was into ammo, arms and autos.
Karel Krnka(April 6th, 1858 – Feb. 25th, 1926) was more of a theorist in gun design as well as writer. He apprenticed to his father, Sylvestr Krnka, who had been an apprentice to the Viennese gunamker Nowtony in the 1840s. Considering expiring in 1926, I don’t think he had much to do with the ZP series.
Frantisek Myska of Dvory at the age of 14 in 1913 was an apprentice to gunmaker Bedrich Kopriva of Nymburk(active from 1890 – 1925) from 1913 to 1917. On his Journeyman walkabout he worked for Austrian Emil Skoda, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0koda_Works & http://www.quel.nl/Toeleveranciers/skoda-steel/19041 , who in 1869 purchased the workshop of Graf Arnost after being deported from Germany due to the 7 Weeks War in 1866. Skoda made arms as well as opened a steel process facility in 1884. But getting back to Myska, he attended the technical college in Prague from 1919 to 1921 and joined Zbrojovka Praga in 1922. He designed pistols as well as the CZ 241 auto-loader.

Now onto the different Czech Zbrojovka companies. Karel Bubla founded the South Bohemian Arms Company, Jihoceska Zbrojovka, in 1919 to make the 6.35mm Fox pistols by hand and mechanization didn’t occur until 1920. Man and material was moved to Strakonice in early 1921. Ceska Zbrojovka(CZ – Bohemian Arms Company), Prague was formed in 1922 by uniting Jihoceska Zbrojovka and the Hubertus Company, which one I’m not sure of. But at this union and founding of CZ, the government shifted the pistol making operation of Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka, (ZB – Czechoslovakian Arms Company), Brno to CZ at Prague, which made tools as of 1928, bicycles in 1930 and motorcycles in 1934. And in 1955 due the auto and motorcycle effort, a sub was as Ceske Zavody Motocyklove which I think was a name change of an earlier 0.22” caliber sporting division under the Zavody name. ZB was formed in 1923 to absorb/purchase the government entity of Ceskoslovenske Zavody na Vyrobu Zbrani(CSZ –Czechoslovakian Factory for Military Products, Brno, which was a small arms factory or refurb facility which began in 1919 to refurb Mauser and Mannlicher rifles. If I’m not mistaken, CZ-N.P.(Ceska Zbrojovka Narodny Podnik(State Entity/Enterprise) makes sporting weapons in Brno and some of the aforementioned gunsmiths were instrumental in beginning the ZP Side by Side series.


For Lovena fans, I think, but am on the quest for additional info, that Lidove Druzstvo Puskaru 'Lov'('Dilo' Svratovich??) of Litomysl( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litomy%C5%A1l ) to possibly be the source of Lovena,
http://www.spcr.cz/en/firmy/lovena-druzstvo

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Although not a sidelock, I've often wondered who was the father of the robust Brno O/U and I now think it was Alois Tomiška, Little Tom pistol designer:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=xU1DAAA...;q=&f=false

Alois Tomiška (February 1867 in Pardubice - 1946 in Prague), and many other Bohemian craftsmen, seem to have spent a good deal of time in the shops of the Vienna craftsmen and Alois Tomiška was no exception as I think he spent about 20 years there, probably at different ones but I suspect Nowonty saw him quite a bit. I guess they went to Vienna due to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Alois Tomiška should have been a master by cira 1890 and he departed to Plzeň in 1918.

The Hubertus Company was a successor to J.Wenisch.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse