Starting in 1927, the Chinese Nationalist government began ordering rifles, and by 1937 had purchased 195,000 vz. 24s. They saw action during the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s and many of these rifles were captured by Japanese forces. They were then used to arm five infantry divisions stationed in China as well as the Collaborationist Chinese Army. After the war, Japan surrendered the rifles to China, which were then issued to Nationalist forces for use during the Chinese Civil War. China manufactured a copy of the vz. 24 that featured a shorter barrel and a side folding bayonet. Some of these rifles were captured by the People's Liberation Army and used in Korea. Japan also ordered 40,000 rifles for the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1938.