From the Vault: Vz 61 Škorpion Machine Pistol

Brownells Gun Tech™ and resident firearm historian Keith Ford has another treat for us: show-and-tell with his Czech Vz 61 Škorpion. The Vz 61 is a blowback-operated machine pistol chambered in .32 ACP (aka Browning). It is not a downsized submachinegun, so “machine pistol“ is the correct term for it - like the Russian Stechkin or Polish PM-63 RAK. Although made by CZ (Česká zbrojovka), the Vz 61 Škorpion is not related to the current CZ Scorpion Evo 3. It sports the most skeletal of folding stocks, a trigger group surprisingly similar to the AR-15’s, and a dual recoil-spring operating system that’s VERY similar to the AR-180 / BRN-180™ system. While the standard Škorpion is a select-fire gun, Keith’s is semi-auto only. The Vz 61 was in production from 1961 to 1979 and served with the Czechoslovakian army and security services. It also found its way into the hands of the PLO, the Red Army Faction (also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang), and the Irish Repub