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The gun’s name start to cloud the history of this gun model out of Eastern Europe even more. After World War II all the firearms manufacturers in the then Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) were managed by a single central agency, which required that "Any firearm exported, will have the BRNO markings", this is why there are a great deal of CZ Uhersky Brod and firearms made in other towns, with BRNO markings. The question is, is Zbrojovka Brno (Brno Arms) a factory in Brno or a name given to a gun made in any/another Czech factory? If we now look at this shotgun series, ZP 47, ZP 49, ZP 50, ZP 149 etc. which first surfaced between the end of WW2 and 1950. First let us look at the name ‘Brno ZP 47’: Brno – made in a city/manufacturer in the Czech Republic. Z – zbrojovka (armourment/ weaponry/ arms). P – Praga(Prague – city with CZ factory) or Pavlicek (name of designer. Proof can be found that Pavlicek designed pistols and machine guns, but not shotguns?). Does the P point to a design brought from Prague? 47 – the date of first introduction or manufacture, 1947. Let us look at the important Czech Firearms Companies: Zbrojovka Praga (Prague Arms) was started in 1918 in Prague by Novotny and they made shotguns, pistols and machine guns. Their trademark was a ‘Z inside a rifle bore’. This mark was sold to Ceskoslovenka Zbrojovka with all other assets. Jihoceska Zbrojovka (South Bohemian Arms) – Karel Bubla founded the Company in 1919. The operation was moved to Strakonice in 1921 Ceska Zbrojovka (CZ) (Bohemian Arms Company) in Prague was formed in 1922 by uniting Jihoceska Zbrojovka and Hubertus Company, now the pistol making was moved from Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka, Brno, to CZ in Prague. Their trademark is a ‘Z inside a C, all in a circle’. The CZ Company moved to Strakonice, still making pistols. They planned to move to Uhersky-Brod but WW2 intervened and this move was only made in 1955. Ceskoslovenka Zbrojovka was formed in 1918 in Brno and bought Zbrojovka Praga assets after liquidation. In the late 1940s Ceskoslovenka Zbrojovka and Ceska Zbrojovka seized to exist and became Ceska Zbrojovka Narodny Podnik. See below. Ceská Zbrojovka a.s., Uherský Brod, (CZUB), is a firearms manufacturer established in 1936 in the small Moravian town in the Czech Republic. Zbrojovka Brno, in Brno was a small factory/refurbing facility to repair Mauser and Mannlicher rifles. Ceska Zbrojovka Narodny Podnik(State Enterprise)(CZNP) in Brno makes sporting weapons and some of their gunsmiths were instrumental making the ZP side by side series. This company is better known for their automatic machine guns. At some stage the factory in Brno was renamed Zbrojovka Brno and inherited the ‘Z in a Riflebore’ Trademark, which lead us to this factory for our ZP series shotguns. The factory in Uhersky Brod became part of Narodny Podnik and used the ‘Z in a C, in a circle’ Trademark, found on pistols. The facility in Prague was used to manufacture vehicles for the military. We can try to tie this shotgun’s design to tradesmen in Czechoslovakia’s backgrounds: More than one of the above gunmakers could have made shotguns, but the only one that made enough, that it is noted through history, is Zbrojovka Praga. Now Zbrojovka Praga’s gunsmiths include names like Emanuel Holek, Frantisek Holek, Vaclav Holek, Karel Krnka and Frantisek Myska. Frantisek Myska was an aprentice with Bedrich Kopriva of Nymburk in 1913 at the age of 14. As a journeyman he worked for Austrian Emil Skoda who were a gunmaker and owned a steel plant. Karel Krnka(1858-1926) apprenticed with his father, Sylvestr Krnka. He was more of a theorist in gun design and a writer. As he died in 1926, he couldn’t have designed the ZP series. Emanuel Holek was apprentice with J Novotny and could have been involved in the very popular, H&H style shotguns of this company. After Zbrojovka Praga was liquidated in 1926, he joined Ceska Zbrojovka of Strakonice and then in 1927 was on to Zbrojovka Brno. Emanuel Holek could have been involved in the ZP series shotguns is, but there is a lot of evidence of him designing and making automatic pistols and machine guns at Zbrovojovka Praga and Zbrojovka Brno. Vaclav Holek(1886-1954) apprenticed in Picek before working in Vienna for Mulacz in 1905. In 1910 he was back with Novotny in Prague making very popular, H&H style, sidelock shotguns. He then joined his brother Emanuel at Zbrojovka Praga and after the 1926 liquidation, move on to Ceska Zbrojovka in Brno. Vaclav Holec could be the source of the ZP series design, as he had the right background and worked in the right factory and town. The 28.3” (720mm) long barrels are made of Poldi electro steel, and are silver brazed to a solid concave rib. This is more robust than soft soldered barrels with top and bottom rib of the English guns. Both barrels have 18.35 mm diameter throats(bore) and are choked modified and improved, the actual stamping on the bottom of barrels reads: 17.6(mm) diameter on left and 17.8(mm) on right, The barrels close on double forged lumps with third upper bite (a Purdey design). Chambers are 2 ¾” and fitted with extractors. The fore-end has an Anson & Deeley type latch. The action is a true sidelock on this model ZP-47 with plain blued side plates, complimented with automatic safety on upper tang. Higher level guns have cocking indicators as well. Different to the English designs this modern action uses only coil springs. The mechanism however, lack an intercepting safety to catch the hammers. The action functions with double triggers, and length of pull is 14.1/4”. The furniture is made of Turkish walnut with an English pistol grip with hand cut checkering, cheek-piece and a hard-plastic butt plate. Even if this is the plain, work-model of the ZP range, fit and finish is very good. The more upmarket guns in this series feature stamped engraving, with selective ejectors. Good quality equipment normally fitted to much more expensive guns. Ron Vella in Canada is very familiar with this quality machine made shotgun and has made several double rifles using the actions. One of his most famous double rifle made from a ZP49 is in .450 #2 Nitro Express. With this double rifle he has killed much game in Africa and elsewhere, including long shots at around 200 yards. The Brno ZP49 series of side lock back action shotguns are a credit to the great skill and knowledge of the Czech gunmakers as nowhere else in the world has any other manufacturer taken the classic English design concept and engineered a process to build a "machine made" replica of same (even with chopper lump barrels), at a very low price. The guns were made with electric arc furnace steel of what seems to me to be of such high quality that allowed the barrels to be built almost as thin as a handmade English shotgun. The shotguns made in the 1950's are exceptional good, but beginning in the 1970s design changes for cost reduction eliminated some of the exceptional features of the early shotguns such as the removable striker discs. Remember that these shotguns were designed and made for the European market and the stocks are shaped to that goal. The actions of the ZP49 have a feature (in 1950's and 1960s guns) that is now a technique used by Holland & Holland in their double rifles for added strength. The feature is a "straight draw and forward rear lump (what we call the circle) that is shaped accordingly and is fitted to very close tolerances. This design allows the contacting of the draw and rear lump surface upon the firing of the cartridge thereby causing both the hinge pin and the draw of absorb shock. Of course many will say that Purdey and others used the classic circle design and fitted it to do the same, which they did. But Brno took thier concept and cleverly designed it from circle to straight angle (about 87.5 degrees from the action flats) where it could be done with machines (milling machines) and then with a few file strokes during assembly fitted. Brno also designed and made the action slot with a extra strong cross piece to support their draw/circle concept. The hinge pin is removable with typical English design of threads and a screw slot, and is 8mm in diameter. The actions were surface hardened as well as the lock plates. The action locking bolt is about 40% thicker than what one sees in a English shotgun and will tolerate much abuse. In the ejector guns the Southgate ejector system is used, but with only 1 spring of clever design. Both the ejector kickers and the action cocking levers are built for strength and are much more robust than what other gunmakers would build for a gun for the common hunter and sportsman. The fore-end iron therefore for the ejector guns is about 6-7 ounces more heavy than the extractor guns. The ejector system is hardened properly and made to be trouble free due its robustness. Brno has always been known and still is known for quality guns, rifle and pistols. The ZP49 guns deserve respect as here as they have elsewhere in the world. (Ref. Dictionary of Guns and Gunmakers p568 by John Walter, https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=496489&page=all )

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