Thread: WWII Pistol?
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Old March 2, 2005, 10:13 AM   #2
Jim Watson
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Join Date: October 25, 2001
Location: Alabama
Posts: 18,543
He has a Polish Radom, model of 1935. It is an in-house design at the Polish Radom arsenal, mostly a Colt-Browning pistol with local ideas. The lever on the left rear of the receiver is not a safety catch, all it is for is a manual slide holdback for disassembly. The lever on the slide is a hammer drop, on a single action auto at that. The legend is that the famous Polish Cavalry was to carry the gun in Condition 2 and cock it for use by rubbing the burr hammer across the pommel of their saddle or down the stripe on their pants leg. (Which can be done, I have tried it.)

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 they took over the local arms industry to supply their war effort. So a Radom may be a 1935-1939 gun used by the Polish Army, known as the Polish Eagle version from its national crest; a captured gun used by the Germans, or a gun made under German control of the factory.
A Polish Eagle is of commercial quality fit and finish, a really good looking gun. But quality steadily declined throughout the war as the Germans lost men and materiel. The last ones made had no disassembly lever, sheet metal action pins, and rough finish.

Clear plastic grips with cheesecake are probably post-capture US GI additions, and the holster with oval logo sounds like an American "tanker" shoulder rig.

We need a complete description as to features and markings. Pictures help.
The Blue Book breaks them down into six groups.
"Polish Eagle" guns and early production under German control have a slot for a shoulder stock. Actual shoulder stocks are scarce to nonexistent.
Polish Eagle - used by Polish Army
Polish Eagle, Nazi capture
Nazi Type I with shoulder stock slot
Nazi Type II without slot
Nazi Type III without takedown lever
Nazi Type III without takedown lever, parkerized, wood grips.

Dollar value varies a lot depending on version and, of course, condition. The grips are a neat folk art souvenir type thing but don't help the value, being non-original.
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