Brno
.22 LR Mod 2 Secondhand Rifle

The second largest city in the Czech Republic is Brno. It is the home of the Zbrojovka Brno factory, which has been manufacturing goods as diverse as tractors and typewriters, as well as firearms, for over a century.

Although the light-machine gun designed there in the 1930s and later produced under license in the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, became a mainstay of the British Army as the Bren (taking its name from the first two letters of each factory), mention Brno to any shooter and they will almost inevitably think of inexpensive, unpretentious and totally dependable hunting rifles.

While Brno other model numbers were popular, it is the Brno Model 2 or ZKM-452 that really caught the attention of shooters in Britain. Intended to update and refine the original Model 1, production started in 1953 and continued until around 2011, with a few minor changes to the basic design and a name change to the CZ 452. Owners of a more modern CZ .22 rimfire will find that it has a lot in common with a CZ 452 – and still shoots just as well. Brno barrels were made to last and, where they have had only to cope with soft lead bullets in relatively low velocities, have stood up to the years very well compared with faster, ‘hotter’ .22 centrefires, which are more prone to wear.