No markings? No problem! German occupation Vz.24

[mawkie]

-There are days when I think if I was to assemble a list of firearm auction tips it would look like the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition (hey, I like The Mawkie Rules of Acquisition!). One of them is to look for unusual descriptions. In the latest example, I found this embedded in the description of a Vz.24 (aka CZ-24): Marked on the top of the slide “Ceska Zbrojovka AV s Praze”. Detachable magazine. May be a “lunchbox” gun as there are no numbers anywhere.
-So I'm instantly intrigued. Then there's something in the photos that really jumps out at me. The typical slanted grasping slots of the Vz.24 are vertical on this one. Just like the German occupation Vz.27s . Yet this was definitely a Vz.24 in 9mm short. Odd!
-Time to look for comps on the web. A search using "CZ24 no markings" gets me a couple of hits on GB and one on Jan Still's Luger Forum along with sales by Legacy and Pre98. And one here on MDS from our own KH195. Turns out a couple of years ago he found gold in one of these bundled in a really nice rig.
-Pulled out my copy of Jan Still's Axis Pistols and got additional confirmation on pgs 54 & 55. A photo with this description: A few CZ 24s that were made up from remaining parts during the occupation bear the E/WaA76 stomp on its barrel and the test proof over its chamber. It has 4 vertical slide serrations like the occupation CZ 27.
-So I'm all jacked up (ask somd_mustangs, I must have been annoying in my giddyness) and put in a firm bid. Bidding online before the PA auction goes live is very modest. It's obvious that those bidding against me think it's nothing but an odd Vz.24. So when the live bidding starts I'm very pleased to find nobody in the room wants to bid against me and so it goes to me for half of my max bid. Yay! I love being the only guy in the room who knows what it is.
-Already on the search for a nice holster.

 

[offthepaper]

Damn that's nice.

 

[SmokeEaterPilot]

Gorgeous example.

 

[emerald]

Very cool - congrats!

 

[somd_mustangs]

Wow, that's most excellent! One of those unicorns that most don't know about... and at a super Mawkie price(TM).
Do you think the Mod. 27 magazine was issued with that?
In theory it would/could be interchangeable.

 

[mawkie]

Wow, that's most excellent! One of those unicorns that most don't know about... and at a super Mawkie price(TM).
Do you think the Mod. 27 magazine was issued with that?
In theory it would/could be intercha

ngeable.

KH195's super sweet rig came with two 24 mags. Without deep diving into one of the safes to find my sole 24 to give me a mag to compare I took some .380 rounds and hand cycled them with success. But wouldn't know for sure without a live fire session. But this pistol is like brand new, including the mag. Certainly not fired much at all. Kinda leaning towards it being the mag issued with it. But could easily be wrong.

 

[KH195]

Outstanding!! Stunning condition as well..I absolutely love the high polish blue with the straw trigger on the early war CZs, such a beautiful look.

Without a doubt a keeper as these really don’t pop up often. As you said Legacy and Pre98 each had one fairly recently but other than that you just don’t see them…agree that many don’t seem to know what they are. As for the mag, could very well be correct..may not be enough examples out there to form a conclusive opinion but since they may have been assembled from leftover 24 parts it would make sense that anything would go. Mine came from the son of a deceased collector and he didn’t know if his father acquired the rig complete or if it was pieced together so my example isn’t much help.

Congrats on such a scarce gun!

 

[WatTyler]

uhhh...Actually, you should write up that list. Flesh it out with some pix and miscellaneous anecdotes and sell it as a book. ABC: Always Be Capitalizing.