FB Vis

Background The Polish Army inherited a large collection of different types of weapons following the country independence after World War I, and in 1929 the Department of Armaments decided buy a license from Czechoslovakia to build vz. 24 pistols to simplify logistics, but the Army and Polish experts objected to the decision, saying that the design was too complicated and the cartridge it used was too weak. Spurred by the announcement, two Polish designers Wilniewczyc and Skrzypiński began working on a Browning-type locked-breech prototype firing the 9×19mm Parabellum round. Design The pistol bears many internal and external similarities to the famous Colt M1911A1, which was the main inspiration behind the project – to the point that some consider the Vis to be an iteration of the Colt M1911. The Vis was designed by Piotr Wilniewczyc, and in 1930 at the Fabryka Broni (Arms Factory) in Radom under Director Kazimierz Ołdakowski. The first prototype version was ready in 1930 and patented in 1932, when 134 prototype handguns of the Vis wz. 32 were produced. The pistol operates on the short-recoil principle, with the barrel being cammed down and away from the locking lugs in the slide. Unlike the M1911, the Vis was not cammed by a link, but by a ledge of sorts, which contacts a portion of the barrel and forces it down as it is moved rearward with the slide by the recoil force. It shares some similarities to the Spanish Ruby .45 ACP. A characteristic feature was a trapezoid grip shape, wider at the bottom, offering good ergonomics and firm grip. According to Hogg, about 375,000 pistols were produced for the Heer. Polish technicians working in the armoury stole many handgun parts to be assembled clandestinely and supplied for use by the Home Army in their fight against the German occupation; when the Nazis discovered this, some of the Polish workers were hanged publicly in front of the factory while others were sent to concentration camps. In 2012 IWA Radom Factory has presented the piece dated 2010 that was chromium coated instead of blued. On the 90th anniversary of the arms factory, 50 more handguns were produced for collectors in 2015. ==Overview==

The Vis pistol is a single-action, hammer-fired, locked-breech design. The control on the slide is a decocking mechanism that releases the hammer while camming the firing pin up into the slide. There is a grip safety blocking the sear unless fully compressed, but the control in the same position as a thumb safety on a Browning Hi-Power or M1911-style pistol is not a safety. The take-down lever is used to lock the slide back (as the Browning Hi-Power safety is used) during disassembly to allow removal of the slide release lever. In later variants, this lever is omitted and the slide must be manually aligned to remove the slide release lever. Once the slide and frame are aligned (by the disassembly lever or manually), the recoil guide is pulled forward to release the slide release lever and allow it to drop free. The slide will then be free to run forward and be removed from the frame. The magazine catch is to the rear of the trigger guard and not at the heel of the grip in the typical European fashion of the time. A pistol lanyard is installed in the heel position for pistol retention. There is no magazine safety. == Users ==

• − Standard issue sidearm of the Polish Army from 1935 to 1939, later they were used by Polish Underground, and also by the Polish post-war independence and anti-communist underground. • − Factory captured in World War II, used primarily by the Heer and Waffen-SS. Designated as the Pistole P 35(p). • − Used by the Volkspolizei, withdrawn from service during the 1980s Non-state actors • Italian Partisans − Captured from German soldiers. • − Captured from German soldiers and used by resistance fighters. ==References==