CZ BREN 2

The Czech rifle gone global — the CZ BREN 2 is a light, fully ambidextrous, modular assault rifle from Česká zbrojovka that can switch between 5.56mm NATO and 7.62×39mm and across a family of barrel lengths from short carbine to battle rifle. The standard service rifle of the Czech Army, it has broken out internationally — adopted by elite French units and licence-built in Hungary — making it one of the more successful modern European service rifles, and a flagship of the Czech small-arms industry.

Overview

The CZ BREN 2 (factory designations CZ 806 in 5.56mm and CZ 807 in 7.62×39mm) is a gas-operated, selective-fire modular assault rifle designed and manufactured by Česká zbrojovka (CZUB), part of the Colt CZ Group. It is the lighter, refined successor to the CZ 805 BREN, which had replaced the long-serving Vz. 58 in Czech service. The BREN 2's design priorities are modularity, ergonomics and weight: fully ambidextrous controls (including the fire-mode selector), quick-change barrels of several lengths, and the ability to be configured in different calibres (5.56 NATO or 7.62×39, with a 7.62×51 battle-rifle version), all in a notably light, handy package. It is a thoroughly modern infantry weapon designed to be adaptable to different missions and easy to use from either shoulder — qualities that have won it both its national army and discerning foreign customers.

Development

The BREN line began with the CZ 805 BREN, developed to replace the Czech Army's Vz. 58 from around 2006, per Wikipedia. CZUB then refined the design extensively, and from around 2015–2016 introduced the CZ 806 BREN 2 — lighter and improved enough, per Military Today, to be considered effectively a new weapon — with the modular, multi-calibre CZ 807 (7.62×39) drawing on the export-oriented CZ 807 developed for Indian trials. The redesign moved the magazine catch and added a bolt stop, among many refinements, per Modern Firearms. The BREN 2 became the Czech Army's standard rifle and an export product: France adopted it for elite units — the gendarmerie's GIGN, which sought a heavier-bullet close-quarters rifle and chose the 7.62×39 version after trials — and it is licence-produced in Hungary (a major program to re-equip the Hungarian Defence Forces with a domestically-built BREN 2 family). Multiple barrel lengths and a BREN 2 BR battle-rifle variant (7.62×51, 16-inch barrel) broaden the line.

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