by Dan
Reynolds
Poland lost her independence
in 1795 and the country just disappeared from the map, being swallowed up
by Russia and Germany, and there it remained until November 11, 1918 when
Poland won its
independence following WW1 and established its eastern border after
defeating the Red Army in the Russo-Polish War. She was caught between
two major powers, Germany and Soviet Russia, both, who had territorial
claims on her border areas. It also had a dispute with Lithuania
over the city of Vilnius. She had to maintain strong-armed forces
to survive.
Upon establishing
independence, Poland was armed with various foreign rifles. Poles
had served in three armies during the Great War. Imperial Russian, Imperial
Austro Hungarian and French. From Germany, she received the machinery
from Danzig Arsenal to produce the Mauser Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98AZ.
From France, she had received M86/93 Lebel and Mannlicher Berthier M07,
M07/15 and M16 rifles and carbines. From Austro Hungary, she had
Mannlicher M88/90 rifles and M1895 rifles and carbines, as well as a few
M1903/14 6.5mm Mannlicher Schonauer rifles. During this time they
also modified some captured Steyr Mannlicher M1895 rifles to a short rifle
configuration but apparently left it in the original caliber of 8X50R.
From Russia, Imperial and Soviet, she had M1891 Mosin Nagants of all types,
including some captured/reissue types in 8x50mm. She also had
some .303 Pattern 14 Enfields, which may have either been given as British
aid or captured from the Soviets.
The Mauser was selected
as the standard rifle type and existing rifles of this type were reworked
and copies of the German Gewehr 1898 and Kar.98AZ
were produced at arsenals established at Warsaw and Radom.
The Kar.98AZ Mauser, later officially adopted in the 1920's as Kar.98A,
was originally called Kar.98AZ for German Aufpfanzvorrichtung meaning with
bayonet, and Zusammenstellen meaning stacking rod. Minor changes
were made in design detail, and the quality of steel and workmanship was
inferior to the original German products, these being more like the German
later World War "* marked" expedient weapons in terms of fit, finish and
inter-changeability of parts. Karabinek (English figurative translation
= Rifle) and Wzor (English figurative translation = Model of the Year)
along with a number are used in official designations of Polish rifles and
carbines. Thus Kb Wz 1898 means Rifle Model 1898. The letter K added to
Kb modifies it to mean short rifle or carbine. A carbine has a bent down
bolt handle. Thus KbK Wz. 1898 means Short Rifle/Carbine Model 1898.
The Kb Wz 1898 was
the Polish made copy of the Gewehr 1898 with simplified tangent sight and
butt stock bushing. The KbK Wz.1898 was the Polish copy of the German
Kar. 98AZ with altered stacking rod, butt plate, sling attachment points
and upper band. The trigger guard was also changed so that it was
the same size as the Gewehr 1898. Production of the KbK Wz.1898 began in
late 1924 at Warsaw. Some later versions made at Radom had straight
bolt handles, these presumable being intended for infantry. Variants
with stock bolts and modified handguard are found. German made Kar.98AZ
in
Polish service may be found altered to incorporate Polish design changes,
this presumably being done when weapons required rebuilding.
In 1929, a new short
version of the Mauser, the KbK Wz29 ,
seemingly based on the Czechoslovak VZ24 made at the ZB rifle factory
in Brno, Moravia, was adopted. Despite its close appearance to the
Vz24 it was not an exact or licensed copy. It should be pointed out
that Slavic languages have a great deal in common and this is true of Polish,
Czech and Slovak. Vz is an abbreviation of what may figuratively be translated
into English as "Model of the Year". Thus Vz24 would be translated
as Model of 1924. Wz in Polish would be the same, as in Wz29 being Model
of 1929. In an attempt to achieve a greater degree of standardization,
some Polish made KbK Wz. 1898 and German made Kar. 98AZ carbines were converted
to KbK Wz. 1929 form in an Army facility in Warsaw (Zbro- jownina NR.2)
but this proved too costly, costing far more than an entirely new Mauser.
The infantry short rifle version KbK Wz29 had a horizontal bolt handle
and the cavalry short rifle or carbine had a turned down bolt handle.
A .22 training rifle
was made as the KbKS Wz.1929. The S= sportowy ( English figurative
translation = sporting or training). The bolt was altered to fire
rimfire ammunition. The handguard is stamped with 22 to readily show
that this is a trainer. Standard Mauser rifle sights are used and
user must mentally move decimal point one digit left for approximate range
so that 300 meters would be setting for 30 feet. Some 7.92mm KbK
Wz.29 Mausers were converted to KbKS Wz.1929 pattern.
In 1926, a front
company was established by the Polish War Ministry to handle sales of surplus
war material and later it evolved into a full scale weapons dealership,
buying, selling and trading. It was known as SEPEWE for the initials
of its Polish name (which could be translated into English as "War Material
Export Organization") or by dealers as the "Syndicate". In the early
1930's, it bought a group of reworked Mausers in 7.92x57mm from Soley
Grimard & Co. in Liege. It would have later dealings with this
company. The Poles used many second hand and refurbished parts in their
rifle production. The Poles traded for and purchased used Mausers
on the world arms market.
The secondary official
standard rifle was the Mosin Nagant Model 91/98/25 in 7.92x57mm.
These were made by reworking captured stores of Mosins Nagants in 7.62x54R
by commercial firms in Poland in the 1920's. The goal was to have
all rifles in issue to regular and reserve forces use 7.92mm ammunition.
All the other rifles on hand were considered surplus as soon as new Mausers
could replace them. Surplus arms were sold or traded to pay for production
of new Mausers for the Polish Army.I
During the Spanish
Civil War, many Polish Mausers including KbK Wz.1929 were sold to the Reds
through brokers in order to earn hard currency to pay for more new Polish
made Mausers for the Army. Click on Link for more information. http://www.carbinesforcollectors.com/spaintable.htm
In 1935-39 they
produced a shoulder-fired Mauser bolt action antitank rifle called the
Kb Ppanc Wz35 (Antitank Rifle Model 35.) It had a 47-inch barrel,
muzzle brake, bipod, open sights, a detachable 4-round box magazine and
fired a 7.92x107mm armor piercing cartridge based upon the standard 7.92x57mm
Mauser rifle round, differing only in the case length, bullet mass and
propellant charge. Captured versions of Wz35 were used by the Germans
and Italians in WWII. (M.Kreca)
In 1936 a slightly
modified long Mauser based on the Gewehr 1898 was placed in production
at Radom. It was the Kb Wz. 1898A. It was of better quality manufacture
than the earlier Polish made Kb Wz.1898 which was produced in limited numbers
in the period 1923-24. It remained in production until Germany captured
the Radom Arms Works in 1939. It would seem strange that an obsolete form
of Mauser would be placed into production at the same time the more modern
form KbK Wz.1929 was being made in large numbers and Poland was selling
off to the Spanish Reds some existing stocks of the Gewehr 1898 and some
Kb Wz.1898 rifles. The reasons are these: the Polish Army perceived the
need for accurate rifle fire at long range and thought the long Mauser
barrel would give greater velocity and accurate fire at longer range in
the hands of well trained marksman, and for every rifle sold to Spain two
new ones could be made for Poland.
ln the 1930's
an attempt was made to sell the Wz.29 to Argentina and other South American
nations. In 1938 or 1939 Yugoslavia acquired Polish KbK Wz.29 rifles as
well as M91/98/25 rifles. Numbers and route of transfer are not known.
Polish bayonets
of the period covered by this article are well covered in another web page
at this link: http://www.bagnety.pol.pl/pbp/wersja_angielska/przed_22.html.
After the defeat
of Poland in 1939 by Germany and Soviet Russia, large numbers of Polish
Mausers were taken over by these powers. Some came into Romanian
control by Polish troops crossing into its territory where they were interned.
The Germans failed to efficiently secure many Polish rifles in a timely
fashion. The collection and preservation of rifles was poorly organized.
At times, rapidly advancing German troops would simply remove bolt and
smash the butt stock at the wrist, other times just leave the rifles in
a ditch. Over the course of weeks some would be taken by local Poles
and eventually find their way to the Home Army or just a peasant's barn.
The rest would rust away until clean up units collected what they could
find. Eventually the Germans sorted the rifles they collected and
those unserviceable were used for parts, and, along with parts captured
at Zbrojownina Radom these were sent to Steyr where they were used in the
production of M29/40 Mausers for the Luftwaffe and Kreigsmarine.
The M29/40 Steyr Mausers were stamped G29/40 on rail. G=Gewehr(German for
rifle).
During WW2, the
Polish Home Army was chiefly armed Mauser rifles of Polish pattern as well
as captured German issued Mausers. As the Soviet armies drove the
Germans westward, the USA and the British recognized the Communist controlled
"Lublin Government" and as Polish troops in Soviet controlled units of
the Red Army moved into Polish lands, a puppet administration was established.
The Home Army revolted in Warsaw against the Nazi occupation at the behest
of the Allies as the Soviet Red Army stopped their advance on the Vistula
River until the Home Army was destroyed.
The new "Polish
Army" was armed with Soviet Russian rifles, M1891/30, M1938, M1944 Mosin
Nagants and SVT40 Tokarevs in 7.62x54mmR. Operations against anti-communist
partisans of Polish and Ukrainian origin went on into the late 1940's.
The resistance groups had Mausers and Mosin Nagants of various models.
Communist era
Eagle
no Crown
Information corrected
by Remov
The production of
the Mosin Nagant M1944 started in 1950 and was finished in 1955 and not
1962 as has been previously published This rifle was called,
by the Polish Army, the "7,62mm kbk wz.1944". During this time
there were about 373,000 kbk wz 1944's produced in Poland.
The training 5,6mm
(.22LR) rifle was designed by Bohdan Szpaderski and was called "karabinek
sportowy wz.1948" (or "kbks wz.48" for short). In fact it was based
on the Polish kbks wz.31 made before WWII and not on the Russian Mosin.
It was produced from 1950 to the late 50s in large numbers. It was
bolt action .22LR training rifle, weight 3,8kg, length 1130mm, barrel length
630mm, sight line 530mm, Vo=350m/s.
The SKS wasn't called
"KsS Wz.49" as we previously reported, but "7,62mm karabinek
samopowtarzalny
Simonowa" or "7,62mm ksS" without wz, which means "wzor", or mark in English.
The word “wzor” has always been translated as model which we now find is
wrong.
Post War Polish
Rifles
by Remov
Polish-English Dictionary
(part I):
karabin (kb) -
a rifle
karabin samopowtarzalny
(ks) - a self-loading rifle
karabin szturmowy
(kbs) - an assault rifle
karabin wyborowy
(kbw) - a sniper rifle
karabinek (kbk)
- a carbine
karabinek-granatnik
(kbkg) - a carbine-grenade launcher
karabinek sportowy
(kbks) - a sport/training rifle
pistolet (p) -
a pistol
pistolet maszynowy
(pm) - a submachine gun
Here is the full
list of all individual weapons used in the Polish Army after WWII. without
machine guns.
(7,62mm x 54R)
(1) 7,62mm karabin
wz.91/30 (7,62mm kb wz.91/30)
(2) 7,62mm karabinek
wz.38 (7,62mm kbk wz.38)
(3) 7,62mm karabinek
wz.44 (7,62mm kbk wz.44)
(7,62mm x 39)(4)
7,62mm karabin samopowtarzalny Simonowa (7,62mm ksS)
(5) 7,62mm karabinek
AK (7,62mm kbk AK)
(to the mid 60s
known as "7,62mm pistolet maszynowy Kalasznikowa" =
"7,62mm pmK")
(6) 7,62mm karabinek-granatnik
wz.60 (7,62mm kbkg wz.60)
(7) 7,62mm karabinek
AKM (7,62mm kbk AKM)
(8) 7,62mm karabinek-granatnik
wz.60/72 (7,62mm kbkg wz.60/72)
(9) 7,62mm karabinek
AKMS (7,62mm kbk AKMS)
(10) 7,62mm karabinek-granatnik
wz.74 (7,62mm kbkg wz.74)
There were also
some special versions adopted - with tritium sights
AKMP
and AKMSP, with
rail used to mount a night vision sight AKML * and
AKMSN
The folding stock
is a little different than in normal AKMS and versions
with gas light
sights and rail used to mount a night vision sight - AKMLP **
and AKMSNP)
(5,45mm x 39 )
(11) 5,45mm karabinek
wz.88 Tantal (5,45mm kbk wz.88 Tantal)
(12) 5,45mm karabinek
wz.89 Onyks (5,45mm kbk wz.89 Onyks)
(13) 5,45mm karabinek-granatnik
wz.74 (5,45mm kbkg wz.74)
(5,56mm x 45 NATO)
(14) 5,56mm karabin
szturmowy wz.96 Beryl (5,56mm kbs wz.96 Beryl)
(15) 5,56mm karabinek
wz.96 Mini Beryl (5,56mm kbk wz.96 Mini Beryl)
(16) 5,56mm karabinek-granatnik
wz.74 (5,56mm kbkg wz.74)
(17) 5,56mm karabin
szturmowy wz.04 Beryl (5,56mm kbs wz.04 Beryl)
(9mm z 18 Makarov)
(18) 9mm pistolet
wz.64 (9mm P-64)
(19) 9mm pistolet
wz.83 (9mm P-83)
(20) 9mm pistolet
maszynowy wz.63 (9mm PM-63)
(21) 9mm pistolet
maszynowy wz.84 Glauberyt (9mm PM-84 Glauberyt)
(9mm x 19 Parabellum)
(22) 9mm pistolet
wz.94 WIST (9mm WIST-94)
(22a) 9mm pistolet
wz.94 WIST with integral laser pointer (9mm
WIST-94L)
(23) 9mm pistolet
maszynowy wz.84P Glauberyt (9mm PM-84P Glauberyt)
(24) 9mm pistolet
maszynowy wz.98 Glauberyt (9mm PM-98 Glauberyt)
(sniper rifles)
7,62mm x 54R
7,62mm karabin
wyborowy SWD (7,62mm kbw SWD)
7,62mm karabin
wyborowy SWD zmodernizowany (7,62mm kbw SWD-M)
7,62mm x 51 NATO7,62mm
karabin wyborowy TRG-21 (7,62mm kbw TRG-21)
(training rifle)
5,6mm (.22LR)
5,6mm karabinek
sportowy wz.48 (5,6mm kbks wz.48)
* in fact this is
AKML/, the last letter I've marked "L/" is a Polish
diacritic mark,
resembling a letter "L" with oblique line crossing it
"/"-shaped, looks
a bit like the British pound sign
** the same as
above AKML/P
