The Brno ZP49's are to my mind the greatest value in a shotgun under $1,000.00 in the market place. If you are lucky enough to find one made in the late 1950's you will see that they have the "Soul" of the best gun concepts of both the English and European gunmakers. They were imported into Canada during the 1950-60's but not into the USA because of political objections, so we shooters here are not that familiar with them. They were made from high quality electric arc furnace steel and the action are through hardened, with striker discs also hardened and as you showed they have very high quality chopper lump barrels. If a shotgun can be called "bullet proof" in regard to its long life and maintainability then the ZP49 is a top candidate.
They make ideal candidates for double rifle and one double rifle maker in Canada, Ron Vella has even encountered a Brno factory double rifle with the ZP 49 action.
You can turn your 16 bore into a very nice upland gun.
Gunwolf (Wolfgang) is very correct about the quality concepts that went into designing the ZP-49 and these concepts are equal to concepts of such gunmakers of the time as FN. It is just amazing that Brno could build the ZP-49 for the price that they built it. Later in the 1970's they begin to make changes to the overall design, so it is best to buy the ones that were made before 1970.
I spent more than a year building and engraving a double rifle using a 1960's ZP49 and barreled it with shoe lump barrels and engraving it in a Fine English Scroll pattern, leaving the stock as it was originally--straight grain Beech.
If you would like to see what the ZP49 shotgun looks like engraved in an English pattern and finished in French Grey send me a PM with your email address and I will send you some photos of the double rifle; and if you want to post the photos here so that Gunwolf, Ellenburg and Double Take can see them you can do that as well.
Kindest Regards;
Stephen Howell
Last edited by bushveld; 06/14/22 04:16 PM.
