CZ Yearbook 2019 /eng

98 | | 99 THE CZ FAMILY The subsidiaries of Česká zbrojovka a.s. Customers from all over the world traditionally associate the CZ brand with the fire- arms factory in Uherský Brod whose history in this field of business dates back to 1936. Although this is largely true, as the vast majority of CZ firearms are manufactured in south-eastern Moravia, the CZ family has grown considerably over the years and keeps growing still. In 2017, it became a part of the international holding, Česká zbrojovka Group. Let us meet some of the holding’s other prominent members, namely those who are also engaged in the firearms industry. CZ-USA In the United States, Česká zbrojovka has been represent- ed by the company CZ-USA since 1997. In 1998, CZ-USA made its headquarters in Kan- sas City, Kansas. The compa- ny is headed by its President, Alice Poluchová, and its ac- tivities include much more than just distributing CZ guns in the prestigious market of North America. One of their extremely success- ful projects has been launching a line of high-quality affordable shotguns, sold under the CZ brand today. This family includes break-action models, pump-ac- tion models and semi-auto- matic models manufactured by outside companies under the direct supervision of CZ-USA which is also the sole distributor. In addition, CZ-USA was the prime mover in the creation of the SAFARI CLASSICS series that has successfully followed in the long Czech tradition dat- ing back to 1967 concerning the manufacture of powerful, accu- rateand reliablebolt-action rifles for the hunting of African big game. The first SAFARI CLAS- SICS models were introduced in 2005 and quickly gained a great reputation within the target group of customers. This series includes premium quality guns from serial production as well as individually-tuned rifles whose design is based on the popular CZ 550 model, chambered for a wide range of powerful hunt- ing cartridges. Moreover, their extensive portfolio of accessories forms an integral part of this product line. In recent years, CZ-USA grad- ually started assembling and then also producingmodern CZ firearms in the United States. In the first phase, it focused on the semi-automatic variants of the CZ 805 BREN assault rifles and the CZ SCORPION EVO 3 sub- machine guns. Currently, the Kansas City company is produc- ing the CZ P-10 pistols. DanWesson Firearms The activities of CZ-USA are also closely connected with the Dan Wesson Firearms brand. The company was originally found- ed under this name in 1968 as a business venture of Daniel Baird Wesson (1916-1978), the great-grandson of the co-found- er of the Smith &Wesson empire. It was a small business based in Monson, Massachusetts, bear- ing the name Dan Wesson Arms Inc until 1983. To begin with, the company was planning to deal with the wholesale of firearms (incidentally, in April 1968, Dan Wesson even made a personal visit to what is today Česká zbro- jovkaa.s.). However, in theend the company succeeded with the production of original revolvers, whereby it used patents of Karl R. Lewis, an unfairly ignored gun designer. The revolvers gained great fame for their performance, accuracy and reliability. In the early 1980s, the Dan Wesson company relocated to Palmer, followed by relocation to new premises near Norwich, New York, in the late 1990s. There, it launched the produc- tion of DW revolvers in 2000, after adopting new manufac- turing processes and the latest technology. At the same time, a crucial strategic decision was taken to expand the exclusively revolver DW brand with clones of the timeless M1911, or the M1911A1 pistol. With the new millennium, the Dan Wesson Firearms company got back into shape with good prospects of further growth. Not long after that, it caught the eye of CZ-USA who were looking for new alternatives to strength- en their position on the North Americanmarket. The DanWes- son Firearms brand became a part of the CZ family in 2005 when it was purchased by CZ- USA. Initially, it appealed to CZ- USA largely due to the popular revolvers, though it soon tran- spired that the pistols based on the ingenious M1911 held a far greater sales potential. DanWes- son 1911s are quite possibly the Assembly of the CZ SCORPION EVO 3 S1 semi-automatic carbines in CZ-USA