VZ-23 value
- Thread starter CalFed
- Start date
Welcome to the forum, - while you are free to post this in this forum, you might be better off taking this to the forum that covers WWII German Contract Rifles, it covers foreign rifles in German service. A better place might even be Gunboards Mauser or Czech sections, they have the key players in this hobby in those fields, that are on line anyway, and you might get answers there that you will not get anywhere else.
Of course, to entice responses and good answers you will need more pictures. Few experienced collectors will answer such questions without pictures. Good luck!
Of course, to entice responses and good answers you will need more pictures. Few experienced collectors will answer such questions without pictures. Good luck!
So far, what you have shown I would guess at least $800-1,000 (matching Vz-23 stock, special front sight protector--slits on sides, maybe VG original condition). Could be worth double that if the bolt is original matching. Rear band is on backwards. Bands would have likely been numbered to the rifle on this model.
I think a really nice & original vz23 could be worth $2k or more, they are very rare in original condition. John Wall once wrote in 2002 that he had only seen one original all-matching vz23 in Czech Army configuration. He said then, 12 years ago, that to the right collector it could be $800-1000, maybe more.
Whether John holds the same views today I do not know, but I would think the right rifle could be worth $2,000 to the right buyer. These are often discussed on Gunboards, often enthusiastically, but it seems the condition the rifle is in is extremely important to whether it has great value.
Whether John holds the same views today I do not know, but I would think the right rifle could be worth $2,000 to the right buyer. These are often discussed on Gunboards, often enthusiastically, but it seems the condition the rifle is in is extremely important to whether it has great value.
That certainly is a nice rifle, the bolt looks about right, the serial including prefix should be on the handle stem, like with the DRP's, though straight like this. I have recorded half a dozen with matching bolts, plus a couple nazi "matching", BiO had a etched matched serial, others stamped on the stem, some with suffix some w/o, though I am not knowledgeable enough on Czech rifles to authenticate one of these.
I would say if nazi era replaced odds are good they would have re-numbered to match. They were sticklers, generally, for matching up bolt bodies when replaced and of course the vz23 was before the Czechs adopted interchangeable parts manufacture, which accounts for the extra serialing on these, and probably why they are more valuable to collectors.
Might check Gunboards, John Wall would know
I would say if nazi era replaced odds are good they would have re-numbered to match. They were sticklers, generally, for matching up bolt bodies when replaced and of course the vz23 was before the Czechs adopted interchangeable parts manufacture, which accounts for the extra serialing on these, and probably why they are more valuable to collectors.
Might check Gunboards, John Wall would know
