VZ58 M.A.R.S. - First impressions
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:39 am
Finally picked up my VZ58 yesterday;
The gun comes in a card/cut polystrene box with the warranty, CD-ROM instructions, 2 x 10rd magazines, cleaning kit and shoulder strap.
First impressions are excellent! When i found out that the green receiver was not an additional option that the others i'd seen had chosen, but all of the were green i immediately started thinking about getting it repainted (more expense
), but when you see it in the flesh its actually rather pleasing on the eye (well mine anyway). For those of you wanting to colour match accessories, its closest to Magpul OD green, rather than foliage green, but does sit somewhere inbetween.
The gun is solid and feels like you could throw it down some concrete stairs and it would be the stairs that would come off worse, a proper Eastern Bloc beast. And beast would be the appropriate description regarding its looks :lol: I'm still not sold on how the gun looks but lets face it, this thing is all about its function tongueout
After an hour or so of sweary 'fun' mine now looks like this:
Added:
FAB Defense railed polyer handguard
FAB Defense folding stock
CSA AR magazine well adaptor
CSA dedicated quick-release ACOG scope rail
ACOG (TA01 - i think)
ARMS 45 degree scope mount
Burris Fastfire III red-dot
Magpul AFG
Magpul 0.75" cheek riser
I'm waiting on a Magpul CTR stock for it (thank you Jason) but other than that i'm done (for now......) The magazine in the gun in the picture is a FAB Defense Ultimag but as stated in the magwell adaptors instructions, its designed for metal GI mags, i just can't find any for a decent price at the moment. I did get some Magpul E-mags with it and after a minor alteration these work fine in it. (Although i haven't test fired it with them yet)
Installing the magwell adaptor is relatively straightforward and theres a few Youtube videos to guide you through it. I think it took around 5-10 minutes.
Changing the handguard was a bit more tricky and required some 'fettling', which is never a good thing when its me thats doing it! The top cover has a 'heat shield' insert that has to be removed from the original and inserted into the aftermarket version. This is done by rotating it out and then you have to rotate it back in (there are Youtube videos). The problem with the FAB handguard is the nuts and bolts that hold the side rails on interfere with the heat shield going into the handguard - i had to grind them down to clear it and chamfer the edges of the nuts;
Left side done, right side untouched;
Once fitted the handguard is rock solid and can be used for sights - but bear in mind that you have to remove the handguard to clean the piston so it may need precise re-zeroing afterwards. As i am using a back-up/close range red-dot on the handguard i'm not worried about this as i only expect a 8" group at 25m from it.
The ACOG mount is supposed to give a repeatable zero but i'll have to wait and see - N.B. this must also be removed to clean the gun. You can get a higher mount that allows the back cover to come off without removal but as i'm using an ACOG it was high enough (hence the massive cheek riser) without adding to it.
Hopefully i'll be shooting it on Sunday and will obviously be followed up with a range report inc. video, but i'm on a stag do on Saturday which may scupper the plan..... :cheers: zzzzom
Oh and just to add that Scott and Feroza at CAA have been excellent, sending me all of the info, including pictures of the stuff i needed. They do operate a different (to me) way of actually putting the rifle on your FAC (you must send your FAC to them for them to complete and return), but it was no big deal.
The gun comes in a card/cut polystrene box with the warranty, CD-ROM instructions, 2 x 10rd magazines, cleaning kit and shoulder strap.
First impressions are excellent! When i found out that the green receiver was not an additional option that the others i'd seen had chosen, but all of the were green i immediately started thinking about getting it repainted (more expense
), but when you see it in the flesh its actually rather pleasing on the eye (well mine anyway). For those of you wanting to colour match accessories, its closest to Magpul OD green, rather than foliage green, but does sit somewhere inbetween.The gun is solid and feels like you could throw it down some concrete stairs and it would be the stairs that would come off worse, a proper Eastern Bloc beast. And beast would be the appropriate description regarding its looks :lol: I'm still not sold on how the gun looks but lets face it, this thing is all about its function tongueout
After an hour or so of sweary 'fun' mine now looks like this:
Added:
FAB Defense railed polyer handguard
FAB Defense folding stock
CSA AR magazine well adaptor
CSA dedicated quick-release ACOG scope rail
ACOG (TA01 - i think)
ARMS 45 degree scope mount
Burris Fastfire III red-dot
Magpul AFG
Magpul 0.75" cheek riser
I'm waiting on a Magpul CTR stock for it (thank you Jason) but other than that i'm done (for now......) The magazine in the gun in the picture is a FAB Defense Ultimag but as stated in the magwell adaptors instructions, its designed for metal GI mags, i just can't find any for a decent price at the moment. I did get some Magpul E-mags with it and after a minor alteration these work fine in it. (Although i haven't test fired it with them yet)
Installing the magwell adaptor is relatively straightforward and theres a few Youtube videos to guide you through it. I think it took around 5-10 minutes.
Changing the handguard was a bit more tricky and required some 'fettling', which is never a good thing when its me thats doing it! The top cover has a 'heat shield' insert that has to be removed from the original and inserted into the aftermarket version. This is done by rotating it out and then you have to rotate it back in (there are Youtube videos). The problem with the FAB handguard is the nuts and bolts that hold the side rails on interfere with the heat shield going into the handguard - i had to grind them down to clear it and chamfer the edges of the nuts;
Left side done, right side untouched;
Once fitted the handguard is rock solid and can be used for sights - but bear in mind that you have to remove the handguard to clean the piston so it may need precise re-zeroing afterwards. As i am using a back-up/close range red-dot on the handguard i'm not worried about this as i only expect a 8" group at 25m from it.
The ACOG mount is supposed to give a repeatable zero but i'll have to wait and see - N.B. this must also be removed to clean the gun. You can get a higher mount that allows the back cover to come off without removal but as i'm using an ACOG it was high enough (hence the massive cheek riser) without adding to it.
Hopefully i'll be shooting it on Sunday and will obviously be followed up with a range report inc. video, but i'm on a stag do on Saturday which may scupper the plan..... :cheers: zzzzom
Oh and just to add that Scott and Feroza at CAA have been excellent, sending me all of the info, including pictures of the stuff i needed. They do operate a different (to me) way of actually putting the rifle on your FAC (you must send your FAC to them for them to complete and return), but it was no big deal.
