Polish Radom VIS 35 M1935 Grade II Nazi Marked 9mm P.35(p) Semi-Automatic Pistol, WWII 1940-1944 C&R

SOLD FOR $1,410.00
LSB#: 180514WM02

Make: Fabryka Broni (Arms Factory), in Radom, Poland

Model: VIS 35 (Vis is Latin for “force”) Grade II, Subvariation 1 (“Axis Pistols”, Vol. II, by Jan Still)

Serial Number: K0064

Year of Manufacture: 1940-1944

Caliber: 9mm Parabellum

Action Type: Single Action Semi-Auto Pistol with Removable Magazine

Markings: The left side of the slide is marked “F. B. RADOM VIS Mod.35. Pat. Nr.15567. / “P.35(p)”, an Eagle holding a globe with Swastika, “Eagle / WaA77” (Waffenamt Used in Poland at Broni) and “Eagle / 623” (Waffenamt for Final Acceptance at Steyr). The left side of the frame is also marked with an “Eagle / WaA77”. The right side of the frame is marked “K0064” and with an “Eagle / 77”. There is a “W” inspection mark on the left side of the grip safety and a “-Y-“ mark on the right side of the trigger guard, along with other marks we can’t make out. There is part of a “3” or “8” on the left side of the slide above the front edge of the frame. The right side of the hammer is marked with a script “H” and a diamond with a dot in the center.

Barrel Length: 4 11/16”

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a short narrow blade fixed to the rib on the slide. The rear sight is a “V” notch dovetailed into the slide. There is a thin narrow rib running down the center of the entire length of the slide with a finely checkered finish.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The grips are checkered black plastic with “FB” in an inverted triangle on the left grip and “VIS” in an inverted triangle on the right grip. The checkering is sharp on the left grip and shows light wear on the right. There are no mars in the checkering and only a few light marks in the smooth borders of the grips. The grips are in about Excellent overall condition.

Type of Finish: The pistol has a thin blued finish over wire brushed metal.

Finish Originality: We think this finish is an original wartime finish as produced in Poland. It is almost as nice as the brushed finish applied to Colt 1911 pistols in 1916.

Bore Condition: The bore is bright with sharp rifling. There is no erosion in the bore.

Overall Condition: This handgun retains about 88% of its original metal finish. There is thinning in the front strap, trigger guard, mainspring housing and grip safety, with light plum colored patina developing. There is also thinning on the edges of the slide, frame and decocker, with several light handling marks scattered over the surfaces. There are light wear marks in the underside of the slide from rubbing on the frame, on the left rear of the slide where the decocker rubs, and marks where the safety was raised into the rear of the slide. The tips of the slide serrations on the right side are ground flat. The grip screw slots are sharp. Most of the markings are crisp. The mark on the left side of the slide and some of the inspection marks on the trigger guard have been ground off. Overall, this handgun rates in about Fine condition.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. The trigger is crisp and the slide is tight to the frame. There is a de-cocker on the slide and a grip safety. There is no groove in the mainspring housing for attachment of a shoulder stock. These are all characteristics of the Grade 2 1^st Variation pistol. There is a lanyard ring on the bottom of the mainspring housing. We did not fire this handgun. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This pistol comes with a total of one Parkerized eight round magazine. There is light erosion under the finish of the body and thinning in the floorplate.  The magazine shows light wear and is in about Fine condition as refinished.

Our Assessment: This is a Fabryka Broni Radom VIS 1935 Grade II, Subvariation 2 pistol made in 1942-1944 during WWII under German occupation before manufacture was moved to Steyr in Austria in late 1944.  The design of the pistol was roughly based on John Browning’s M1911 with a slide release, de-cocker and grip safety. The VIS was designed for the Polish Army and according to Wikipedia, many considered it one of the best military pistols of that period. After the war, the Russians forced the Poles to adopt the Soviet TT-33 Tokarev even though the Tokarev was considered inferior in both ergonomics and reliability, and the VIS was no longer produced. This pistol has a brushed blue finish that we believe to be original. Many of the proof and acceptance marks are crisp. The pistol is in about Fine condition with about 88% of its finish remaining. The bore is bright with sharp rifling and no erosion, and the grips are in Excellent condition. The pistol is correctly marked for a Grade II Radom. There were only about 70,400 of this variation made during the war, and a lot less surviving to this day, making the Radom a very collectable piece. This should be of interest to collectors of Polish firearms and of German weaponry used during WWII. The finish, bore and grips on this pistol are in way too nice of a condition for it to be used as a shooter.

CA Legal or CA Private Party Transferable: This C&R eligible handgun CAN be transferred as a dealer sale in California but CANNOT be sold as a Private Party Transfer (PPT) at our Simi Valley shop. All cartridge firing handguns (even C&R’s and antiques) sold to a California resident must be DROS’d. This does not apply to out of state residents.