CZ858 / Vz58
The Czech military rifle the Canadian sport-shooting community wrongly called an AK for thirty years. SOR/2020-96 named it as one of the original nine families.
Is the CZ858 / Vz58 banned in Canada? Yes. The CZ858 / Vz58 is prohibited in Canada. It was named in SOR/2020-96 (May 2020). If you owned one before the deadline, confirm whether it appears on the federal Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program list. The current amnesty for prohibited firearms expires 90 days after the latest Supreme Court appeal termination under SOR/2026-114.
Classification: Prohibited · OIC/SOR: SOR/2020-96 · Ban-Risk: Already Gone · Compensation: Confirm federal list · Amnesty: SCC appeals + 90 days
Verdict
The Vz58 is the Czechoslovak military service rifle adopted in 1958 — chambered for the Soviet-bloc 7.62×39mm cartridge, visually resembling an AK-47, and mechanically nothing like one. The Vz58 uses a short-stroke gas piston and a linear-hammer fire control rather than the AK's long-stroke piston and rotating-bolt mechanism; the parts do not interchange. The CZ858 was the civilian semi-automatic export variant CZ produced for the North American sporting market through the 1990s and 2000s. Canadian shooters bought it as the European 7.62×39 alternative to the SKS, often misidentifying it as an AK variant in classified ads and forum threads. SOR/2020-96 named the CZ858 / Vz58 family on May 1, 2020 as one of the original nine principal prohibited families — alongside the AK pattern itself, the AR-15, the Mini-14, and the rest. Six years on, the platform remains Already Gone.
Tracking a rifle on this list?
The Ban-Risk Index updates as classifications and the federal compensation list change. Get those changes, and the SCC + 90-day amnesty deadline reminders, in The Dispatch.
Lineage
Parents: Czechoslovak Vz52 (predecessor service rifle, military only)
Siblings: Other 7.62×39 semi-auto rifles in the AK-adjacent category (SKS — different family — and the named AK family itself, all prohibited)
Derived: CZ858 Tactical, Sporter, Carbine sub-variants
Primary sources for this entry
- Canada Gazette — SOR/2020-96 — Canada Gazette. accessed 2020-05-01
- Vz58 — Wikipedia reference — Other. accessed 2026-05-27
Safety note: the Ban-Risk Index is editorial estimation, not legal advice or a substitute for current official guidance. The classification field reflects current RCMP FRT status as of the last-scored date. For any transfer, surrender, deactivation, or transport question, consult primary RCMP / Public Safety Canada sources and, where appropriate, a Canadian firearms lawyer.