CZ Czech DUO 6.35mm Pistol

The CZ Duo was masterminded by Frantisek Dusek, born in 1876, who established himself as a gunsmith
in the town of Opocno in 1908. Interestingly, he refused to manufacture weapons or parts for the Austro-Hungarians during World War I, and he likewise refused to cooperate with the Nazi occupation during World War II.  After World War I, he made rifles, shotguns, air rifles, and gunsmith supplies.  He bought some unfinished pistols from the Praga Zbrojovka company when it went out of business in 1926,
and finished and sold them under the Praga name.  Then he began to import Spanish pistols under the trade names Singer and Ydeal. Around 1934 or 1935 he probably began to manufacture barrels for                     the Mars pistols made by the Posumavska Factory, and by 1935 he was selling .25 caliber Mars
pistols with the Mars name removed and the slides marked ‘Automat Pistole “DUO”,’ which was an abbreviation of “Dusek, Opocno.”  Finally, in 1937, Dusek began to manufacture a .25 caliber pistol (a copy of the MARS, which in turn was nearly identical to the Slavia) based on the Browning design, but with no grip safety.  Due to the Spanish Civil War, he was no longer able to import Spanish-made pistols, but because his customers were familiar with the trade names used by the Spanish, Dusek’s
first pistols bore the name Singer, and later Ydeal. However, by 1938, he was using the name DUO.                
Some of the DUOs sold in Germany were marked with the distributor’s name, Eblen. Some pistols from the 1939/40 period were marked JAGA on the slide and grips, probably also for sale in Germany.  When Dusek
refused to cooperate with the Nazis during World War II, they took over his factory and proceeded to produce over 110,000 DUO pistols.   The DUO was also very popular with the Germans and was sold
to the public at large through various sporting goods stores.   After the war, under the Soviets, production of the DUO continued until 1948 when the factory was nationalized.  After nationalization, production
was moved to Ceska Zbrojovka in Uhersky Brod and the pistol was marked “Z” and carried the old trademark of Praga Zbrojovka and  Czechoslovak Zbrojovka, thus contributing to the ongoing confusion about what is or is not a “CZ” pistol.  From the first, Dusek’s pistols were very well made. His production standards were higher than those of the Spanish manufacturers whose pistols he imported, and his pistols were more expensive as well.  The DUO is a single action pistol virtually identical to the original Browning-designed Colt .25 hammerless vest pocket model, which was introduced in 1908, and to which a magazine safety disconnect was added in 1917. The DUO eliminated the grip safety but retained the magazine disconnect. Like the Colt, it is a true hammerless pistol. The DUO has a groove down the top of the pistol, like the Colt and the CZ 45, but no other sights.  (The Colt actually has minimalist sights in the groove.)

Czech CZ DUO in 6.35 Cal

Franzite Grips

Sports, Inc. of Chicago made pistol grips for many popular as well as hard to
find revolvers and semi automatic pistols.  Item #82 in their catalog were 
 grips for the 6.35mm Czech pistols, including the DUO.    Designs included faux ivory and walnut grips.  Shown below are the Faux Ivory Grips and the Faux Walnut Grips.

Czech CZ Duo Franzite Grips in Faux Ivory Item #82

Czech CZ Duo Franzite Grips in Faux Ivory Item #82

Czech CZ Duo Franzite Grips in Faux Walnut Item #82

Czech CZ Duo Franzite Grips in Faux Walnut Item #82