- #VIS RADOM P35 SERIAL NUMBERS SERIAL NUMBER#
- #VIS RADOM P35 SERIAL NUMBERS MANUAL#
- #VIS RADOM P35 SERIAL NUMBERS SERIES#
It will fire any commonly available 9mm Luger ammo. This gun is in excellent shape for being 70 years old, and could still give good service. The "VIS" on the right grip panel is Latin for "power" or "force." The "FB" on the left grip panel stands for Fabryka Brony (Weapon Factory), the Polish government manufacturing facility in Radom, Poland.
Earlier ones were slotted for a shoulder stock. Later guns dispensed with the takedown latch. This particular pistol was made in Poland in 1942, and bears the German waffenamt acceptance stamps. Later, to stop sabotage, the Germans started making barrels for the pistols in Austria, and later moved all the machinery to Austria. When the Germans found out about this practice, they executed a dozen plant workers in front of their co-workers.
The native Polish workers promptly began smuggling parts of the pistol out of the plant to arm resistance forces. When Germany overran Poland in 1939, it took over the Radom plant and began to produce the pistol for its armed forces, including the Navy, fallschirmjaegers (paratroopers), police and the SS. Men on horseback wielding pistols were not a good match for German tanks, however. The decocker was put on the gun in response to a request by the Polish cavalry to help in operating the pistol one-handed the other hand had to control the reins of a horse.
#VIS RADOM P35 SERIAL NUMBERS MANUAL#
There is no manual safety the design relies solely on a half-cock notch or the floating firing pin which allows safe carry with the hammer down. The slide release is just above the trigger on the left side. The lever to the rear of the grip frame is not a safety - it's a slide retaining latch to aid in disassembly. The lever on the slide is a decocker - it retracts the firing pin into the slide and drops the hammer on the hammer retaining plate. It has a grip safety like the M1911, and the barrel is unlocked via a cam like the High Power. Poland produced this pistol, which had a blend of features from the M1911 pistol and the Belgian 9mm High Power. At first glance it might appear homely, but the Radom is considered by many experts as one of the best pistols to come out of the WWII period. I thought you might be interested in seeing a Polish P.35 9mm Radom pistol. The Soviets invaded Radom in December of '44, so my best guess is that the year of manufacture for your pistol would be 1944. While simplified, pistols of this era were still quite usable as weapons.
#VIS RADOM P35 SERIAL NUMBERS SERIES#
I've seen a picture of a pistol in the second A series (# A6836) with a later number than yours that still had the latch. The elimination of the takedown latch started in the second A series with and without were intermixed. Since yours has an A prefix, it was probably made at Radom. It went A through K, with the final pistols being made by Steyr, not at the Radom plant since the Soviets were about to invade Radom.
#VIS RADOM P35 SERIAL NUMBERS SERIAL NUMBER#
The serial number is in the second alphabet series, which I believe started in '44. The eagle over 77 waffenamt stamp (a short form of the earlier eagle over Wa77) was being used by Radom in '44. The plating (or polishing?) was not done at the factory. It is definitely a late war model - the lack of a takedown latch and the staked roll pins to replace it is the giveaway. I believe it to be a later model from the information I have read here. Is there a way to determine an exact date (year) of manufacturing? I'm trying to learn more about these pistols. PlI recently inherited a Radom from my wifes grandfather.