ZB vz. 26



"That's one cool Czechoslovakian machine gun that's been developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several other countries, but when it saw its major use during World War II, it also spawned related ones that influenced many other light machine guns like the Bren and the Type 96. Well, I'm guessing this is darn cool. Oh, and now these Hawaiian survivors are using it too."

--Su Ji-Hoon, Where Did They Come From?

The '''ZB vz. 26''' was a Czechoslovak light machine gun developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several countries. It saw its major use during World War II, and spawned the related ZB vz. 27, vz. 30, and vz. 33. The ZB vz. 26 influenced many other light machine gun designs including the Bren light machine gun and the Type 96 Light Machine Gun. The ZB-26 is famous for its reliability, simple components, quick-change barrel and ease of manufacturing. This light machine gun in the Czechoslovak army was marked as the '''LK vz. 26' ("LK" means "lehký kulomet", light machine gun; "vz." stands for "vzor", Model'' in Czech). ZB vz. 26 is incorrect marking because "ZB-26" is a factory designation (Československá zbrojovka v Brně), while "vzor 26" or "vz. 26" is an army designation.