Since the appearance of Glock pistols, only the lazy has not released their own version of a weapon with a similar design. The efforts of the designers of various arms companies in recent years are especially noticeable. However, so far none of the pistols has received such distribution as the Austrian Glock. Despite complaints about the reliability of individual weapons, the loss of interchangeability of individual units between different generations of pistols and characteristics that are not unique at the moment, the army of fans of this weapon is not getting smaller.
No less number of people consider Czech weapons to be the standard of reliability and quality. Indeed, Czech, and formerly Czechoslovakian hand firearms, most often can boast of reliability and quality, with rare exceptions, and some models have generally become "classics". This year, a new pistol, originally from the Czech Republic, has appeared, although it would be a stretch to call it Glock-like, nevertheless, it has already been dubbed the “Glock killer”. Let's try to get to know this pistol in more detail and evaluate its real competitiveness in the modern weapons market.
Weapon fashion pistol vz. 15
In fact, it is surprising why Czech gunsmiths have not yet tried to win their place in the short-barreled weapon market with a new pistol with a striker trigger with a pre-platoon and a plastic frame. Looking at what other weapons companies produce, it seems that people simply do not want to purchase pistols with a different design. Indeed, without demand there will be no supply, and judging by the number of new pistols that have appeared recently, the demand is very high.
It is noteworthy in such a general interest in pistols with a striker trigger is that almost all pistols are identical in design, except that small details introduce some kind of variety. And if earlier the designers tried to surpass competitors in unique solutions that ensured higher characteristics of the weapon, now all unique solutions are reduced only to the maximum reduction in the cost of the design, if possible without a negative impact on the characteristics and loss of durability with reliability. Apparently, it is understood that the consumer must decide for himself what he needs: a cheap pistol, which will spend most of the time in repair shops, or a weapon at a price one and a half to two times more expensive, but which has been working for more than one year without complaints. Interestingly, such decisions can sometimes be made within the products of one arms company and many buyers do choose cheaper options.
Thus, we can conclude that the current job of gunsmiths lies in the balance between quality and price, with a preponderance in one direction or another. The designers from the arms company Czech Small Arms also decided to balance and developed a new pistol, in accordance with all the latest trends in weapon fashion.
The first new weapons were seen in Nuremberg, which is somewhat strange, since the main market for handguns is the United States. CzechPoint, which exports Czech weapons to the United States, demonstrated a new pistol vz. 15 at IWA OutdoorClassics 2017, simultaneously launching sales of new weapons.
Despite the not the highest cost, equal to 400 US dollars, for which it is proposed to purchase the weapon itself, 2 stores and a cleaning kit, not everyone liked the new pistol. Moreover, the outward appearance of the weapon was criticized, and not its characteristics or individual design features.
Appearance and ergonomics of the pistol vz. 15
The appearance of the pistol is indeed somewhat strange. You can observe some disproportion between the handle and the breech casing. This is explained quite simply - the weapon has a barrel, the axis of which is placed as low as possible to the pistol grip, but the designers did not fill the empty space above the barrel, which not only positively affects the weight of the pistol, but also its price.
A lot of complaints are caused by the angle of inclination of the handle of the weapon, it seems to many to be too small, which should negatively affect, if necessary, quickly and accurately aim and shoot immediately after removing the pistol. If you superimpose the silhouette of the pistol vz. 15 on most other modern models of pistols, it can be seen that the angle of inclination of the handle is the same, that is, there is a simple optical illusion due to the same disproportion between the handle and the breech casing. So the uncomfortable grip of the weapon is more of a contrived problem, although it should be noted that the ergonomics of the weapon is an individual concept and what will be convenient for one shooter may cause discomfort to another.
Since we have touched on the issue of adjusting the pistol to the specific parameters of the shooter, then one cannot get around such a moment as the absence of even elementary replaceable linings on the back of the weapon grip. That is, you will have to be content only with the size of the handle, which is initially, and to fit your hand or a hand in a glove to your size, the weapon will not work. It is striking that there are only small protrusions on the front of the handle, although a small groove at least for the middle finger would make the grip more reliable and confident, leaving the convenience of using the weapon the same for a shooter with a small hand and a large palm.
Taking into account the general, if I may say so in this case, modularity, it is possible that with a sufficiently high demand for weapons, various options for plastic frames will appear, which will differ not only in color. In the meantime, the pistol is offered only in this form.
What can really be attributed to a serious flaw in the appearance of the weapon is the quality of the plastic molding. Perhaps the situation in production samples will change for the better, but the pistol that was presented at the exhibition has significant flaws. It is not the casting itself that raises questions, but the subsequent processing. So on the back of the handle, you can see a trace from the joint of the form, holes for pins holding the mechanisms of the weapon in a plastic frame, as if they were picking with a knife. The holes through which the barrel lock is controlled can also boast of not the most aesthetic appearance. Most of these moments could be eliminated right on the knee using a clerical knife and fine-grained sandpaper, but for some reason they did not do this, which greatly spoils the overall impression of the weapon.
The weapon is completely two-sided, all controls are initially duplicated on the left and right, in particular, this is the shutter delay key and the magazine eject button. There is no safety switch, the only element that ensures the safety of handling the weapon is the automatic safety button on the trigger. Judging by the shape of the shutter casing, it is unlikely that the fuse switch will appear in subsequent versions of the weapon, and if it is included in the design, it will be located on the pistol frame.
The shutter casing itself is made in the best traditions of "Glock" - all at right angles. However, at the same time, the pistol has its own unique feature, thanks to which it is easy to identify it among dozens of other modern pistols. In addition to the standard notch in the front and rear of the bolt casing, there are deep recesses. This detail not only makes the appearance of the weapon recognizable, but also has a practical purpose. If the shooter's hands are protected by warm gloves or the weapon is wet and dirty, it becomes much easier to pull back the bolt cover with this addition.
The pistol's sights are completely removable and have a front sight; their standard version has dots with light-accumulating paint, which will facilitate aiming in low light conditions. It is interesting that the ejector is located on top, it also serves as an indicator of the cartridge in the chamber, that is, it is possible to determine the presence of a cartridge in the chamber when aiming without paying attention to some individual elements. Additionally, a flashlight or laser designator can be installed under the barrel of the weapon.
The design of the pistol vz. 15
The trigger mechanism of the pistol vz. 15 striker, with pre-plucking striker when the trigger is pulled. The basis of the same weapon is an automation system with a short barrel stroke with a locking protrusion above the chamber behind the window for ejection of spent cartridges. The opening of the bore is carried out due to the lowering of the breech of the weapon barrel when it moves backward during reloading. A pin passes through the figured cutout in the projection under the chamber, interacting with these parts, they move the breech of the barrel downward when the bolt group with the barrel moves backward, and upward when moving forward.
Despite the general similarity with other pistols, the vz. 15 has some differences from common samples. Rather, not automation, but individual moments in the implementation of some nodes. Since the pistol has a barrel set very low in relation to the handle for holding, it is limited in its movement in the breech. Accordingly, the tide under the chamber and the cutout in it is much smaller than can be observed in other pistols with a similar design. Since the movement of the breech of the pistol vz. 15 is limited, then the protrusion above the chamber, due to which the barrel bore is locked, is minimal.
As a result of this decision, the pistol practically does not lead up from the aiming line when firing, the recoil itself is perceived much softer. But every decision, no matter how successful it may be at first glance, has its consequences. Reducing the size of the protrusion above the chamber negatively affects the resource of the pistol as a whole and limits it in the possibility of using powerful cartridges, even those that are available among the 9x19. The increased wear of the locking surfaces will sooner or later lead to the fact that the barrel bore will no longer be locked securely, or will cease to be locked altogether. This will lead, for example, to rupture of the shells during firing, followed by their sticking during extraction. And if you do not pay attention to the problem, then in the future, the integrity of the design of the pistol itself may suffer, and it is good if the shooter does not suffer.
Characteristics of the pistol vz. 15
The pistol, with its length of 198 millimeters and a barrel length of 116 millimeters, has a very modest weight - 570 grams without cartridges. At this point, one could say that the weapon would not be the most convenient for shooting, however, since the vz. 15 while it exists only for 9x19 cartridges and has a very low-set barrel, then the weapon is rather much more pleasant when shooting in comparison with its competitors than vice versa.
The pistol is fed from double-row magazines with a capacity of 17 rounds. Interestingly, the magazines themselves are completely identical to those of the Springfield Armory XD pistol and are interchangeable.
Pros and cons of the pistol vz. 15
The main advantage of the new Czech pistol vz. 15 is its location of the trunk. With such a low position, from this weapon, with proper skill, it will be possible to shoot with a very high rate of fire, and, importantly, to hit the target.
Together with the fact that the weapon practically does not take away from the aiming line when firing, the very low weight of the weapon is also a plus. With such a barrel length, the weight is slightly more than half a kilogram, this is clearly a painstaking work of designers who made everything that was possible easier.
An interesting, but not new, positive solution is the location of the indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber between the whole and the front sight. It is doubtful that in the event of a critical situation this will somehow affect the final outcome, but finding out that the pistol will not fire before it starts firing is definitely useful.
Weapons have much more disadvantages. The main disadvantage of the vz. 15 is his low-set barrel, or rather those changes in the design of the automation system to which he led. The reduction in overall reliability and durability when using relatively powerful cartridges is only one side of the coin. Such design features make the subsequent expansion of the model range based on this pistol problematic. If the manufacturer can still do something with variations in size and weight, then the use of cartridges that are more powerful in comparison with 9x19 will require significant refinement of the weapon.
The rest of the shortcomings of the weapon are not so critical, and their shortcomings can only be called because of the comparison with other modern pistols. This includes the lack of the ability to adjust the thickness of the pistol grip, flaws in the processing of the weapon frame and other unpleasant, but not critical little things.
Conclusion
From all of the above, we can conclude that the vz. 15 is undoubtedly an interesting weapon with its own unique appearance, its own special advantages and disadvantages, but this is not the “Glock killer”, as it was dubbed in absentia.
The new Czech pistol cannot cover the whole variety of Glocks, not only in terms of mass and size options, but also in terms of the variety of ammunition used. Of course, it is possible to further develop this weapon, but this will require serious processing of individual pistol units, which is actually comparable to the creation of a new weapon. If we compare this pistol with a similar Glock 17, then the Czech will undoubtedly win in all respects, only the Glock was developed in 1982.
