"You must see the factory," Milan insists. That is why I'm here in Uhersky Brod. I expect it will be worth the interminable waits in security lines, the absurdity of relinquishing a tube of toothpaste to TSA people who cannot recall an airplane being brought to Earth by 3 1⁄2 ounces of Colgate. "You're allowed 3.4 ounces," explained the supervisor, as if this recitation would mollify. But I digress. Losing the dentifrice-- and yogurt, cream cheese and bottled water at other TSA counters--is a small price to pay for security in the skies. (Imagine how risks would multiply if every passenger packed a family-size Crest with whiteners!)

"There is a national holiday," Alice Poluchova, who heads CZ's U.S. sales, had apologized over the phone before I left the States. "No one will be working that Friday." But she was as resourceful as I was determined, and a fast ride in a powerful Mercedes from Vienna got me to Uhersky Brod in 2 1⁄2 hours on Thursday. Milan met me at the plant and talked as we walked. The complex of buildings stretches about a mile. "It is big," he says. "We'll see the main sections."

CZ produces all the parts for its firearms, save, predictably, composite grips and small springs--items commonly out-sourced industry-wide. "We also contract for the alloy frames of lightweight Model 75 pistols," says Milan. "Of course, we do final machining here." Barrels are all rifled by hammer-forging (an exception: barrels for spring-powered air guns). The CZ hammer machine is as quiet as any I've seen, though its massive steel muscles knead the barrel blank with 40 tons of pressure, reducing its diameter and increasing its length by 50 percent as it turns slowly with the mandrel. In other factories the floor shakes and conversation is impossible. But this big chartreuse device hums like a diesel power plant. So do the CNC machines that chisel out parts at the Uhersky Brod plant. "When our first CNCs arrived from Spain 20 years ago, each took the place of roughly 20 workers," Milan tells me. Though due soon for retirement, these machines still hold tolerances to .02mm.

The 1,300 people employed by CZ at Uhersky Brod stick to their own tasks. Tight security on the grounds prevents ready access to departments or buildings other than one's own. "It has always been that way," shrugs Milan, who has worked in several parts of the factory.

We see many of the operations briefly. To my eye, they seem ordinary; other firms I've visited use similar processes. One surprise: I notice barrel blanks stored outside and sheathed in rust. "It is intentional," says Milan. "The weather and rust relieve stresses in the steel. After some months, it is seasoned--much in the way a stock blank is seasoned by air-drying for a period."