The Radom ViS 35

The Vis was adopted in 1936 by the Polish military as Vis wz. 1935. They started producing them in the same year and continued until the fall of Poland in 1939. The original Vis wz. 35 was the standard pistol of the Polish army and air force before W.W.II. Germany restarted the production of Vis in the middle of 1940 after their occupation of Poland. Pistols were manufactured in Radom but were assembled in Steyr factory in Austria. The Germans issued their pistols to Waffen SS and SS Police.

The Vis is is a recoil operated, single-action pistol. It looks and functions like a Browning Hi-Power. When fired, the barrel and slide recoil together for a short distance until the barrel cam catches the lug in the frame forcing it down and unlocking it from the slide. Slide continues to travel rearwards cocking the hammer then returns stripping of a fresh round out of the magazine. The forward movement continues until the barrel and slide are again locked together.

Vis is made from carbon-steel with a rust-blue finish. Controls consist of a slide stop, a magazine catch, a decocker and a take-down latch. The decocking lever, when depressed, draws the firing pin in its tunnel then hammer is then released. A grip safety is also present.

So, now all that history gobbledygook is out of the way - how does it shoot?

Short answer: Pretty good.

Long answer: This gun rides well in my hand. It's point of aim feels natural to me, the same way a 1911 or Hi-Power feels. The grip safety is easier to grip fully than a few 1911's I've shot and with the round hammer it doesn't bite. The recoil is a bit on the snappy side, but not abusive by a long shot. I did have a few ejection/feeding problems but I think it was because I didn't clean the extractor good enough after it had been sitting in the safe for 20 years. I think that the extractor was a little gummed up and slipping off of the case rim for ejection problems and I think the same cause made a few rounds jam on the feed ramp. Outside of those few problems, the Vis is a pretty accurate pistol. It's not match grade, but for a 60+ year old combat pistol, it hit where I pointed it.

The Vis is a pretty cool military surplus piece. If you dig military history and guns, I don't think you'd be disappointed in it.