3/28/24 - The Czech vz.22 pistol was manufactured by Zbrojovka Brno (the Brno Weapons Factory) between 1920 and 1923. Though it was initially intended to be a production military pistol, it ultimately served as a mere prototype for the vz.24 which was manufactured by Ceska Zbrojovka (CZ). In October of 1918 Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and in 1919 took steps to establish an arms factory in Brno, which was initially staffed largely by Austrians and Hungarians because the Austrians had the requisite expertise in arms manufacture. The Prototype CZ-22 was notoriously unreliable and generally required individual tweaking with each pistol, which led to the full order of nearly 20,000 pistols largely being full of pistols that were quite dissimilar. This pistol is chambered in 9mm Nickl, which is like a rimless .380 ACP. It is also unit marked on the right side, reading '17P.208'. This particular pistol retains 95-96% original blue, as it doesn't have major finish loss but there is patina coming through. It comes with original wooden "wrap around" grips that are in excellent condition. Just as with later CZ's this gun has the similar bottom release magazine. It has a strong bore with no major flaws. There is a Czech Lion and 1923 date on frame / trigger guard.
