The history of the Brno company or Czechoslovak Armory (Československá zbrojovka) as it was known prior to WWI, began in the city of Brno in the Czech Republic, formerly known as Czechoslovakia. In 1918, the Brno Rifles factory was established. Before 1918, Brno Plant was an arsenal located in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Brno started producing Mauser 98 rifles in 1920 after buying excess weapons and equipment from Mauser-Oberndorf. These Brno-produced Mausers had a 98/22 designation stamped onto the receivers marking the year of production.
In the period between WWI and WWII, Brno collaborated with the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, England to develop a well-known Bren light machine gun. They produced weapons for the Czechoslovakian and Germanarmies during World War II. After the war, the company was nationalized by the Czechoslovakian government and renamed Zbrojovka Brno. While it was under socialist control until 1989, it switched to the production of sporting weapons which quickly gained a reputation for their reliability. For some time, the company also produced light artillery and several other products such as tractors, typewriters, and early computers.
During the years they presented numerous models of weaponry such as the ZB vz. 26 light machine gun, ZB-50 heavy machine gun, the MG34, several bolt action rifles, ZKM and ZH series, ZKR 551 handgun etc.
The company was privatized in 1990, just three years before Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Zbrojovka Brno was acquired by Česká zbrojovka (CZ) in 2008. With the new ownership, they agreed to a longer lease, which allows the business to continue production in rented facilities. They still make high-end products for hunting and competition, including pistols, single-shot and double rifles, combination rifles, as well as over/under shotguns.
Brno ZH 324 Rifle Review
Brno ZH marks the series of combination rifles and shotguns manufactured by Zbrojovka Brno and later by the CZ company. Apart from minor finish differences and being chambered for various caliber options, the structural design remains the same throughout the series.
Brno ZH 324 has a robust locking mechanism with strong hatches on both sides that lock into place when the bascule is closed, providing extra safety. The rifle is based on the ZH 304 model and is chambered for the same 7x57R rifle caliber; however, it uses 16-gauge shotgun shell instead of the 12-gauge one that is found on the ZH 304.
ZH 324 is opened and loaded by pushing the lever on the upper rear side of the action to the right which is a common feature in almost all combination weapons. The upper barrel is chambered for standard rifle calibers and the lower barrel for shotgun calibers – although it is usually the other way around. Another interesting feature is the arrangement of the two triggers. The front trigger only activates the upper barrel whereas the rear one has the option to activate both – first the lower and then the upper barrel. This allows for faster repetitive shots, especially when using a shotgun barrel configuration. The rear one comes set at a pull weight of 1900 g (4.1 lbs) for the upper and 2500 g (5.3 lbs) for the lower barrel, whereas the front one is pre-set at approximately 1400 g (3.1 lbs).
The safety is positioned at the front end of the trigger guard protruding outward in the direction of the barrel which is somewhat unusual. It comes in a form of a circular knob which blocks the triggers and firing spring.
The barrels are interchangeable between the rifles in the ZH series, meaning that whenever the user decides to change the barrel combination, what they are really doing is not only changing the barrel but rather converting the rifle to another model. In other words, different model numbers are really just there to mark different barrel configurations. Disassembly of the rifle and changing of the barrels is done easily by pressing the small knob on the left side of the action body.
Figure 1: Brno ZH 324, chambered for 7x57R and 16 ga (Source: https://www.beareka.cz/pusky/1132-2-brokovnice/kulobrokova-kozlice-brno-arm-zh-324-7x57-r-1670-komise.htm)
Brno ZH 324 Calibers
The rifle is chambered for the following calibers:
7x57 R
Gauges
16 ga
Brno ZH 324 comes with milled 14.5 mm dovetail grooves at the top of the receiver which are suitable for installing scope mounts.
Figure 2: The receiver of Brno ZH 324, chambered for 7x57R and 16 ga (Source: https://armureriesafari.fr/produit/brno-zh-324-vendu/)
A: /
B: /
C: /
D: 14.5 mm
BHU: 0 mm
Ø: /
R1: Prisma 14.5/60°
R2: Prisma 14.5/60°
Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Brno ZH 324
Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Brno ZH 324
For one-piece mounts to fit on a rifle, mounting surfaces on these rifles must match in every dimension. Rifles that have one-piece mounts interchangeable with Brno ZH 324 are the following:
Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Brno ZH 324
For two-piece mounts to be interchangeable, the mounting surfaces of the rifle must match in every dimension except the action length which can vary. Rifles that have two-piece mounts interchangeable with Brno ZH 324 are the following:
This fixed scope mount manufactured by the Czech company Kozap is made of high-quality steel and will fit the mounting surface of your rifle perfectly.
Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Brno ZH 324
Due to the specific design of a recoil notch, there are not many scope mounts suitable for Brno ZH 324. However, if you are looking for a detachable mounting solution to fit on your rifle, we recommend this Rusan roll-off mount. It is made of high-quality steel and comes with a ten-year warranty.
Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database
If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the scope mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.
Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: info@optics-trade.eu
In recent years we can observe that a trend of Picatinny rail has become widespread and global. It is driven by the NATO standardized rails, more commonly known as the Picatinny rail standard. Picatinny rail being the New Jersey Arsenal that developed it in 1995.
These mounting options are revolutionary. The biggest and best advantage being that the Picatinny rail can be used its entire length and not bordered to a few pre-designed slots like for example the Weaver rail standard was before.
The other main advantage is the ease of use and interchangeability. If a product is meant for a Picatinny rail design it will fit all Picatinny-rails, no matter the manufacturer or date of production.
Picatinny Rail and Weaver rail profile
Design
The Picatinny rail is almost exclusively crafted from a single piece of metal (in some cases aluminum). In this manner, the axis of the Picatinny rail is perfectly straight and aligned with the axis of the firearm. Therefore the rifle scope which is mounted onto this kind of configuration is certainly aligned with the rifle / gun and the trajectory of the ammunition.
Weaver rail design on the other hand is usually manufactured in two separate pieces, greatly increasing the possibilities for the axis to be crooked, overlapping, and out of line.
It is always harder to align two separate pieces to a third line than it is to align one piece to another. In this way, the lapping of two mounting rings on a single-piece Picatinny rail is no longer required.
The single-piece rail will assure that both rings are perfectly aligned to each other and that no unwished stress is transferred to the riflescope.
Picatinny compare to Weaver Rail
The Picatinny rail itself is an evolutionary step forward from the older Weaver rail. The main difference between Picatinny rail and Weaver rail is the spacing of the slots. Picatinny rail design has them evenly placed exactly 5.23 mm from one slot to the other, 3 mm deep. For this reason, the mounting options are repeatable and the same as other firearms using the Picatinny rail standard.
Interchangeability was a major driving force in the development of the new standard as different NATO armies need to be compatible with each other.
Weaver rail has 3.8mm wide slots and these slots can be placed anywhere on the Weaver rail and in any number that the producer wished.
Advantages of Picatinny design
A big advantage for using the Picatinny rail design is the ever-present recoil stop. Furthermore, the manufacturing of the rail is not very technically demanding and can be done without the use of state-of-the-art machines which greatly reduces the cost of the finished product, making it very affordable.
The Picatinny rail is easy to mount and usually, this type of configuration does not transfer negative stresses and forces from the fired weapon to the rifle scope.
In addition, the Picatinny rail with its very long useable surface works well for mounting longer rifle scopes or to achieve optimum eye relief.
The durability and toughness are other big pluses for this solution.
Manufacturers of Popular Models
A majority of the Picatinny rings are fixed, but a number of best rated European manufacturers (EAW, MAK,..) have, in recent years, put a lot of effort into the development of detachable ring with100% repeatability, with which it becomes easy to remove the scope from the weapon without the use of tools.
No re-zeroing is needed with such mount options, but these models tend to be expensive.
Weaver and Picatinny Rings
Picatinny rail and weaver rail share one more thing. It is possible to use the Weaver ring and the Picatinny ring on the Picatinny-rails, but it is usually impossible to use the Picatinny ring on the Weaver base. The reason being the above-mentioned positioning and spacing of the slots.
Picatinny mounts have a 5mm recoil stop that goes into the rail slot and since
Weaver rail only has 3.8mm wide slots such rings do not fit on Weaver rails.
Due to this reason, the Picatinny-rails are popular and prevailing on the market in recent years and eventually, these options will completely oust the Weaver rail from the market.
