Radom VIS shoulder stock for sale

[Piwo2]

RADOM VIS wz35 P35 Mod35 SHOULDER STOCK : Other Pistol Accessories & Parts at GunBroker.com

The above link will take yo to a recent offering on Gunbroker.com.

It is an alleged Radom VIS shoulder stock. It does not claim to be original but for the Radom VIS.

What are your impressions of this most elusive of Polish forearm accessories??

thanks,

Piwo

[SteveR]

Please post the pictures here for future reference. Without them this thread becomes useless.

[Adrian Stevenson]

I have added the pics to the post.

This is a modern repro. But nicely made.

Cheers, Ade.

[A.J. Zawadzki]

. . . It does not claim to be original but for the Radom VIS. . .

The listing reads “100% ORIGINAL, NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT”, referring to the shoulder stock itself, so unless I am missing something they do claim that it is a genuine pre-WW2 piece.



Agreed with Ade, it is very nicely made, with solid looking metal fittings finished in a hot-blue appearing in the photos to be quite similar to that of pre-war pistols.

It does differ from the batch of reproductions made in Poland some years back, which were made supposedly as exact copies from original blueprints. Posted below is one of these copies, which have now became scarce and are commanding steep prices when put on the market. Note the differences from the example posted above, among which are the hinge, presence of a spring plate inside rear door to hold the pistol in place within the storage compartment, and the use of beechwood, which was standard for pre-war Polish rifle stocks and one would expect would be used for these as well. The shoulder stock posted above uses what looks to me very much like stained Asian rubberwood. Perhaps a hint as to this item's origin??













Regards,
Tony

[Piwo2]

I clearly erred in my statement by the vendor about originality of the stock being offered for sale on Ebay.

More importantly has anyone ever seen an original Radom VIS shoulder stock?

How about original factory drawings?

How about a period photo of a Polish soldier carrying one?

I know there have been a number of books published on Radom VIS but I do own any of them.

Can anyone shed some light on the elusive accessory?

Its construction is so very similar to the FN Browning High Power P-35 shoulder stock including the belt suspension device that where manufactured by Inglis in Canada for the National Chinese government.

thanks,
Piwo

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi Piwo,

I haven't seen a known genuine Vis shoulder stock, nor a period photo of a Polish soldier carrying one. William York's recent book "VIS Radom", the definitive work on this pistol, states that ". . . a few were manufactured before the war, originals appear to be nonexistent." According to a photocopied article I have from a 2001 issue of "Broń i Amunicja" magazine, there is an original in the private collection of the family of an AK veteran. This shoulder stock along with a Vis pistol were supposedly originally issued to a Police officer shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939. This officer worked in an anti-Soviet counter intelligence cell located in Lwow, and the shoulder stock was received as part of a top secret delivery of arms and equipment. This shoulder stock ended up making its way into the hands of the underground resistance operating in southern Poland.

Original drawings dating from 1939 exist. A portion are reproduced in the York book. The first drawing is dated January 27, 1939, and the second March 1, 1939. The earlier drawings show a shoulder stock with larger dimensions than the second. They also show different locking mechanisms. I do have an image of the complete original drawings in one of my books, which for the life of me I can't find at the moment.

Regards,
Tony