WHEN I was fifteen, a friend granted me unrestricted use of his Brno De Luxe .22 Hornet. Until then, I’d mostly been a shotgunner, along with air-rifles and rim-fire .22s within their range limitations. We placed a one-gallon paraffin can 200 long strides off – further than any shot I’d ever taken. I set the Brno’s rear sight, went prone and squeezed off three shots. The Hornet’s 45gr bullets brought back three deeply satisfying clanks. My respect for Brno rifles took immediate root and rapidly grew during my use of that little rifle.
Prior to WWII, German, Austrian and British-made hunting rifles faced little competition in Africa. However, when production of Oberndorf and Suhl Mausers ceased after that conflict and post-war economic woes largely destroyed the British sporting rifle industry, Czechoslovakia’s CZ Brno rifles on cloned Mauser M98 actions began making their presence felt. By the 1960s, Western world labour costs had soared to where manufacturers still machining the labour-intensive Mauser 98 pattern actions (among them Winchester, FN and Husqvarna) could no longer compete. However, those in the Communist Bloc (CZ Brno and Zastava) still enjoyed cheap labour. Consequently, after Winchester replaced their Mauserpattern pre-64 Model 70
