CZ Yearbook 2019 /eng

86 | | 87 BATTLE RIFLE IN 7.62×51 MM NATO CAL. Between 10 th and 12 th September 2018, Česká zbrojovka held the third Meeting of Pro- fessional Journalists. The event, which welcomed about sixty journalists, bloggers, vloggers and many other professionals, took place at the Testing Shooting Range in Bzenec. Here, several new firearms made their world debut, including the CZ BREN 2 BR assault rifle in 7.62 × 51 mm NATO calibre. It must be noted that this pow- erful calibre had been planned for the CZ BREN weapon sys- tem as early as January 2006, during the idea phase of the project. However, CZ first con- centrated on the development of amodel in 5.56×45mmNATO calibre. This calibrewas request- ed by the Czech Army and sub- sequently became the stand- ard choice for the CZ 805 BREN A1/A2 models. Further calibres were being added gradually, hand in handwith the improve- ments of the design, which is now truly multi-calibre. Thus, the CZ 807 model came into existence, primarily intended for the 5.56×45 mm NATO and 7.62×39 mm calibres, though CZ rifles in 7.62×51 mm NATO were also included in a tender for Pakistan. Despite the fact that the 807 model enjoyed reasonable commercial success, in the end it played the role of a quality “in-between” product. In fact, CZ BREN 2 BR during that time, the devel- opment of the brand new CZ BREN 2 model series was f i- nalized, with serial production beginning in 2016. Battle Rifle The September presentation of CZ rifles in Bzenec revealed a version of the BREN 2 in 7.62×51 mm NATO calibre. For now, it bears the name Battle Rifle, a term given to semi-au- tomatic or automatic military rifles equipped with a detach- able magazine using full-pow- er chamberings such as the 7.62×51 mm NATO calibre (or 308 Win, the slightly different commercial alternative). The traditional models of this category, the FN FAL, M14 and H&K G3, are now being joined by their modern successors. Af- ter years of being overlooked, the tried and tested 7.62×51 mm NATO calibre is enjoying a comeback. That is because in the asymmetric warfare of the global war on terrorism, the need for signif icantly greater effective range at the small unit level has become very apparent. New elements At f irst glance, the CZ BREN 2 BR gives an impression of aslightly larger assault rifle. Such impression is basically right, as the Senior Product Manager for military weapons from CZ, Ing. David Kreisl, explains. The de- sign has been based as much as possible on the 5.56×45 mm NATO/7.62×39 model. We have retained the technical design, all the controls, the method of stripping, assembly and clean- ing. Some minor parts are in- terchangeable, the telescopic folding stock is identical. Other- wise, everything else has been enlarged and strengthened so that the firearm is reliable with the considerably larger and more powerful cartridges. This has led to the only significant difference in the design: to pro- vide reliable extraction of the cartridge cases, the CZ BREN 2 Battle Rifle is equipped with two ejectors. Another feature worth not- ing is the STANAG magazine. The company has not only de- signed it but also manufac- turers it f rom subcontracted