The Browning influence on the wz.35 could clearly be seen with its large slab-sided slide fitted over a short cylindrical barrel, integrated trigger group and pistol grip magazine. The hammer protruded from the rear of the frame and was "kicked back" when the slide recoiled rearwards during firing. During this action, the spring loaded magazine forced a fresh cartridge into the chamber while any expended cartridge case was jettisoned from the port at the top of the weapon. The action was termed "recoil-operated" and further utilized a closed-bolt arrangement. The trigger unit was a solid, curved assembly held within a thin, oblong trigger guard. The wide pistol grip gave a good firm hand-hold and was straddled along either side by wooden grips (checkered or smooth) screwed into the frame at two points. The slide featured a small section of ribbing to be used as a grip when cocking the weapon y the slide. The magazine release was a simple button along the left side of the grip. The slide release was also set to the left side of the body, just above the trigger group. A slide lock above the pistol grip assisted in stripping the weapon. The wz.35 was chambered for the widely-accepted 9x19mm Parabellum pistol cartridge of German origin and fed from an angled 8-round detachable box magazine inserted through the base of the grip. When compared to its contemporaries, the wz.35 was dimensionally larger and heavier than competing 9mm semi-automatic handguns but it would be these qualities that would make for an excellent pistol solution.
In practice, the wz.1935 proved a reliable, relatively comfortable and accurate semi-automatic offering thanks to its sound combination of power and weight. Break down and cleaning of the weapon was conventional and rather non-eventful, removal of the slide exposing much of the internal working components. As in other weapons seeing adoption prior to World War 2, construction materials used in the manufacture of wz.35 pistols series was considered top-notch which aided in reliability especially under battlefield abuses (dirt, debris, consistent use). Accuracy was helped by the fact that the loaded handgun weighed in at 1.123 kilograms and this transferred some of the violent recoil effects away from the operator. At the time of its inception, the wz.35 was largely regarded as the finest semi-automatic pistol anywhere in the world - quite a charge considering there still existed many Browning-inspired handguns and other quality offerings such as those from Beretta.
Production of wz.35 pistols ramped up in the years following with its formal introduction into service coming in 1938. Some 49,000 were in circulation by the fall of 1939 when, in September, the Germans and Soviets invaded Poland to officially begin World War 2. At this time, the wz.35 pistols in circulation were largely in cavalry hands, infantry resorting to whatever else was available. The Polish Army, now in defense of their homeland, could do little to stem the tide along two unforgiving fronts and the fighting ended with a complete Polish defeat on October 6th, leaving the country divided as two halves among the victorious powers.
In the western portion of the country, Fabryka Broni w Radomui fell under German control. In an effort to outfit their growing army, German authorities ordered continued production of the Polish wz.35 as the "9mm Pistole 645(p)" (the "p" signifying its Polish origins) and streamlined the production process through simplification of the base design (the hammer release catch and slide lock were dropped and rough finishes using lower-quality materials were the norm). These weapons were inspected by German officials and marked as "P Mod 35(p)" along their slide, replacing any Polish national markings in the process. To avoid funneling of the weapon to Polish resistance forces, the Germans took the extra step of relocating wz.35 barrel supplies and final assembly to Austria before ultimately moving all production to Steyr by the end of 1944. Despite its Polish origins, it would be with German forces that the wz.35 series would see most of its combat service. Numbers were assigned to German paratrooper elements as well as the enforcement wing of the Nazi Party - the Waffen-SS. German wz.35 pistols were, of course, of second-rate quality when compared to the Polish originals. Polish workers did manage to funnel numbers of wz.35 pistol frames to their underground and the barrels were fabricated in secret shops when possible. In all, production spanned five major batches of pistol (including the prewar models) and numbers ultimately topped 360,000 examples by the end.
Poland was eventually "liberated" by the Red Army in 1945 and the Soviets quickly moved in to assert their influence on all levels. With this new reality, production of the wz.35 series pistol was abandoned as attention turned to local production of the crude though effective Soviet Tokarev "TT-33" semi-automatic pistol chambered for the rifle-caliber 7.62mm round. It would not be until 1992 that the wz.35 would see a rebirth for it was offered on a limited basis by Lucznik Arms Factory (of Radom) as a commercial collector's piece built to the original 1937 finalized specifications. As can be expected these exhibited excellent finishes and represented their prewar counterparts rather finely.
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