Poland's WW2 Battle Rifle: the Maroszek wz.38M

Had it not been for the German and Russian invasions in 1939, Poland might have entered the 1940s with a very modern semiauto infantry battle rifle - the wz.38M. Designed by Josef Maroszek (notably also the designer of the wz.35 Ur antitank rifle), the wz.38M is a simple and efficient rifle which includes elements from the BAR as well as several Czech firearms.
It is a gas operated action with a Browning/Petter locking system, in which the bolt tilts up and down, locking against a cut in the top of the receiver. It disassembles into 4 components (plus one pin) in moments - really quite impressive for its time - and even still very good by today's standards.
In total, just 55 of the rifles were made as an experimental trials batch, delivered to the Polish Army in 1939. Archival records of the weapon end at that point, as the German and Russian occupation ended Polish arms development. Only 5 examples are known to survive today, with two in Poland, one in Germany, and two in the United States.
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[@erospista69420]

I'm a simple hungarian man. I see polish, i give a like.

[@arkadiusztrzesniewski4237]

Thank you, my Friend.

[@wespolskaify]

Thanks brother!!

[@adrianukaszewicz7972]

Greetings from Poland!!

[@SLU2MOVIES]

I'm a simple polish lad I see Hungary in I say Love from Poland!!

[@tommygun333]

Love to Hungary!

[@ryebread095]

So basically, the Polish had a bunch of cool stuff in the works and then the Nazi's and Reds came in and destroyed everything.

[@ChillDudelD]

Cars, tanks, planes, subs...

[@KoRbA2310]

Ryebread095 we had no time between 1st and 2nd world war to back on tracks we did as much as posible for country that regain independence after 123 years and was created from teritories of 3 different countries with diferent governments and different level of industrialization

[@kepler4190]

No, we defeated Bolsheviks in 1919-21 and probably saved whole Europe and maybe world from communists and then we had problems, Piłsudski wanted to attack Germany in 1933 because he saw danger in Hitler but France and Britain didnt wanted next war in Europe

[@makorek]

And Western idiots didnt help like they promised and got fucked for next 100 years at least for that. I love so much following world news and see west dying today :)

[@kepler4190]

Just look at France and Britain: this whole war is because of these 2 countries, they didn't saw danger in Hitler even when he anschlussed Austria, conquered almost whole Czechoslovakia, took non aggression pact with Stalin and moved his renovated troops on border with Poland... How can someone be that stupid?

[@jasjasko3426]

"Z" - Zamknięty (closed) "O" (not zero) - Otwarty (opened) Regards from Poland and thanks for interesting video.

[@snugPL]

a może Odbezpieczony-Zabezpieczony

[@williambenedictblythebigcock]

@Ryan Marvees real smart arent ya?

[@williambenedictblythebigcock]

@Ryan Marvees i dont even have videos tf you are talking about?

[@williambenedictblythebigcock]

@Ryan Marvees what about them?

[@lakosta4534]

@Ryan Marvees fucking fascist

[@sitnam9054]

I think this rifle is actually pretty represenative how relatively modern the Polish military was pre-war. Prior to the invasion they had a host of projects set to be finished by 40 and 41,. Everything from better tanks, fighters, bombers, and the Mors subgun. Sucks that Poland has gained a unjustified reputation of being ill-equipped, not many countries have to deal with dual invasions from super powers of their era

[@erichouser2434]

The Germans are masters of propaganda, if nothing else.

[@Lightspit]

the Germans had an excellent training and tactics and this hide a lot of their issues in the weapons. Still, by the end of the war many more Allied soldiers died than Germans and that was regardless of the modernity of their weapons. Each army had it's own weaknesses. For Europe it is kind of OK the WW2 stopped as it did because if it would have gone longer then the first atomic bomb would have exploded in Berlin. It was made for this.

[@sitnam9054]

Honestly more Germans died then any Allied nation besides the USSR and China ( I think).

[@Lightspit]

per total, no.

[@Giaour]

Not only artillery, as I remember 85% was overall transport percent, by horses.

[@richardlahan7068]

Love Polish and Czech guns. High quality and well engineered.

[@mymodels1317]

Me: laughing in Polish tanks

[@qwertyuiop5530]

Yeeeeeea, better chek out polish rak.

[@diooverheaven6561]

@@qwertyuiop5530 chinese like it

[@invinciblemic]

Too few, too late. Press F

[@dman23827]

Too bad they surrender them when it comes time to use em.

[@Themanwithnoscreenname]

"One pin to join them all, one pin to find them; One pin to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."

[@niceserb84]

Hahahaha I will put a pin on me middle finger

[@pckkaboo6800]

AKA the Lord of pin??

[@Spurkadurka]

Knew there had to be a LOTR reference! Thank you. Great gun though, looks reasonable for average infantryman to clean.

[@anonymous-dk1is]

"National Armed Forces" would like to have this rifle! - ....kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZbFgYWDq7uBqMk

[@maotisjan]

The Lord of the Pins

[@richfairclough123]

So glad it went back to Poland. I’m from the UK and have so much love for Poles. They fought so bravely, defended my country with everything they had when their own was lost. It is to the eternal disgrace of the Allied powers that they sold the Poles freedom to the Soviets. In reality the Poles had probably more rights to the post war settlement than the French. I think Churchill probably knew this... hence Operation Unthinkabke. God bless the Poles

[@budus2]

thank you, sir.

[@richfairclough123]

@@budus2 I just wish more people understood this. I lost my shit when people started getting funny about Polish immigration.

[@coldtm]

@@richfairclough123 Well, thanks for saying that. Glad to see not everyone in the UK hates us. Some people choose to be ignorant, for their own convenience. It's much easier that way. In fact nowadays Polish immigration in the UK and other Western European countries is a long term effect of WWII outcome.

[@JCDenton3]

@@coldtm I think a lot of those negative feelings are not the fault of the Polish in the UK but instead a lot of other immigrants that have abused the system. Most Poles and Lithuanians in particular have been amazing people and hard workers. It is just they are a convenient outlet for bashing because they are European, and it could land you in jail to criticize non-white immigrants so basically it's "ok" to be rude to the ones who don't actually deserve it because of the color of their skin... it is very sad really.

[@ravenmoore8432]

We started one world war for them we could not afford another one

[@bosmanSaoirse]

Ian, I've got to tell you something: You are the first public person who said "Russian-German invasion in 1939". Not many people west of Poland knows, that Soviet Union and III Reich were alias for first two years of WWII. Thank you.

[@hjorturerlend]

Really? No one? o_O "Allies" is a bit too strong of a word, they struck a deal - you take that, we take that...

[@christinas.4342]

Everyone knows about the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939. You're not special. What very few people know is that Poland signed the first non-aggression pact with Hitler and supported his annexation of Sudetenland in 1938.

[@SadCheetah]

Kristina S. A non aggression pact is a little bit different than a secret plan to split a country in two and murder it's people en masse. The British bent over for the Nazis too, right up until the French jumped in and dragged them into a war.

[@ChillDudelD]

Poland signed non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union two years earlier as well, so what? Both pacts were broken by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 anyway.

[@christinas.4342]

ChillDudeID By signing a nonaggression pact, Poland and Germany agreed that they would not oppose each other, no matter what they did. Hitler's rearmament, his persecution of Jews, his annexations of Austria and Sudetenland, Poland was a-okay with all that.

[@jotjotpoland2696]

"Six weeks... it's like the design timeframe of the Sten gun." You have no idea how much you've made my day with this...

[@CBielski87]

The Polaks didnt have much time to exist :(

[@hugoflores5806]

@@CBielski87 They're the closest thing in the world to a feniz, tho

[@coaxill4059]

It's a sign of a truly excellent engineer to make something functional with so few parts. If they didn't get crushed by the impossible circumstances of WW2, we might today be talking about "Polish engineering".

[@ONEIL311]

All I can imagine is a polish ak is literally 3 parts held together with push pins like a ar 15

[@hungryburger1170]

POLISH ENGINEERING, JOJO!

[@marcusencarnacion7171]

​@@hungryburger1170POLISH ENGINEERING IS THE FINEST IN THE WORLD

[@masonhaggerty186]

Glad to see the polish government bought this gun instead of some rich dude honestly

[@BrainSeepsOut]

Awesome, it out-AK's the AK when it comes to ease of disassembly. The way it operates, particularly the bolt locking system that is quite ahead of its time, are something to behold.

[@m4rt1nDRK]

Thank you that you cared enough to know the history of Poland and that you said out loud that we were invaded by both Russia and Germany. We recently deal with people that think Russians are liberators...

[@dylantran9074]

Marcin Dobrowolski It's kind of retarded how those people who peddle that believe that in order to oppose facism you have to go communist, even though Poland has a VERY good reason to oppose both and do it's own thing.

[@chainoad]

"We recently deal with people that think Russians are liberators" Would you rather prefer that the Soviets stopped at their border and left you to the Nazis?

[@OttoVonGrillhelm]

First, the Soviet Union attacked, then they "stopped at the border" of Warsaw when the Warsaw Uprising took place, then they "liberated" Poland by marching into a pile of rubble, then faking elections and liberating for the next 45 years. Very nice liberation. Other than that, at least they pushed the Germans back.

[@mateuszrobsonowski7190]

For some point they did liberate us But not at all as for next 50 years we were under socialistic regime Especially first years after war weren't big change from nazis Old concentration camps didn't stop working... They weren't gasing ppl ofc but they used them as gulags There was terror massacres etc Seems not better than nazis...

[@richardlahan7068]

Hitler and Stalin agreed to split Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union once Germany invaded. This was part of the non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

[@KoRbA2310]

LOVELY! Polish government bought it! Now I can visit museum in Warsaw and take a look on this lovely gun!

[@fg42t2]

I'm glad they bought this one. The polish Government had another one confiscated by the IRS from a gun collector in the US and returned to Poland as a stolen treasure. I saw one of them in a Warsaw WWII museum It was this rifle.

[@anonymous-dk1is]

"National Armed Forces" would like to have this rifle! - ....kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZbFgYWDq7uBqMk

[@szymon3571]

Thanks for remembering that two countries attack Poland in 39. Many seems to forget about it in those days.

[@Radbot776]

Szymon no one remembers how the polish attacked Russia during civil war in 1920 to 1925 and then everyone crying Russia attacked with Germany, hysteria such as Poland got invaded from all sides, Poland kissed Germany’s ass before ww2

[@kamilkrupinski1793]

@@Radbot776 The Polish attacked innocent bolsheviks :D

[@miko8732]

@@kamilkrupinski1793 "innocent"

[@kamilkrupinski1793]

@@miko8732 Sorry, I might have not stated strongly enough, that I was being ironic :) Bolsheviks were as innocent here as Germans in Gleiwitz affair in 1939.

[@garystefanski7227]

​@@Radbot776commie

[@MsAmigo1990]

The polish ministry of defense states that they bought this rifle for display in a museum:) They want to make copies for the military representative company. Maybe FB Radom would make commercial models for collectors/sports shooters/hunters :) I guess the ministry watched your channel Ian :D

[@MsAmigo1990]

trybun.org.pl/2017/04/12/mon-kupil-na-aukcji-w-usa-karabin-maroszka-bron-trafi-do-muzeum-wojska-polskiego/

[@eisenkrieg553]

MsAmigo1990 The fucking Polish government watches gun jesus. Lol.

[@genghiskhan6809]

Does anybody know how to say praise be gun jesus in polish.

[@michagebicki5714]

@@genghiskhan6809 Chwała niech będzie Jezusowi Broni Palnej(sth like that)

[@Acin75]

@@michagebicki5714 that is a good translation

[@Alakarr]

That is a beautiful design for a military rifle. The simplicity is exactly what you need for infantry in the field. Would love to see how it shoots.

[@MrGourdman1]

Looks like it might be profitable to start making it again as a sporting rifle

[@moosemaimer]

It's amazing how some people are able to design guns, even semiautomatic guns like this, that are so simple in their function and design. Some of the guns on this channel look like an automatic transmission when they're taken apart and are just as complicated, and yet you see something like this made of so few parts that takes down so easily.

[@michalwarszawski]

We got one of them in Warsaw Rising Museum. And There is only one known example of military usage of this rifle in action which, almost uniquely, was by Maroszek himself. While personnel were evacuating from Instytut Techniki Uzbrojenia (Weaponry Technology Institute) the train they were traveling in was attacked near the city of Zdołbunow by two German warplanes flying at low altitude. As he states in his memoirs, Maroszek kept shooting through the window, eventually killing the gunner and wounding the pilot of one of the planes, forcing it to land. This event was also confirmed by other passengers

[@fragidistic]

I can't image why somebody wanted to sell this. This gun is so unique. It's worth more than it was sold for.

[@monikaszlek74]

Simple. Some people just need money.

[@kubawarzecha1770]

The one from Germany is in working condition, and it's now in Poland in the hands of private polish collector, a friend of mine, and member of the same shooting club. I had the pleasure to see it right after it returned to Motherland. Before shooting, they had to make replacement for original firing pin, as there are probably only two original firing pins surviving.

[@_-.-_-_.._--.-_-_----_-.--_._-]

Quite amazing! Glad to hear the rifle returned to proper hands. *Niech żyje Polska!*

[@ralfiasz]

Just for the record, it's fatherland not motherland;]

[@shotforshot5983]

Kuba Warzecha Machining quality looks wonderful on this example.

[@ToreDL87]

Glad to hear it returned and in working order. Will firing it be shown in a video for us all to see?

[@shotforshot5983]

And of course we would all like to see video of it on the range!!!! Design seems beautiful. Curious as to its key wear points and feed/ejection characteristics.

[@thegoldencaulk2742]

I am simple gun enthusiast. I see early semi-auto, I click like.

[@thomasluczak2868]

my grandfather had the honor of being a contemporary to the great MR M. they worked together in the early thirties. my sister has a pic of them at a drafting table. i have trouble strip cleaning my 870. oh well.

[@CBielski87]

I take it your family escaped to the US?

[@thespankdmonkey]

I know you said someone made a few hand built reproductions but I would love to see a company take on a full build of this rifle. Looks like an interesting design and I think even at a price for 2019 of $1,00 to $1,500 this rifle would sell. Congrats to the Polish Government for bringing this classic home as well!

[@psychologiccallynuts]

This rifle has a really slick disassembly, much simpler than some similar rifles from the period. That's something I definitely appreciate, not russian style loose tolerance pig iron simplicity, but well machined parts that were designed to fit together and do their job well while still being able to be easily serviced in the field with not much to go wrong.

[@everybodydothatdinosaur519]

This is one of the coolest and most interesting rifles I've seen. It's very similar to the BAR but noticeably different, and in my opinion better in a way in that it's locking mechanism is far simpler than the lever mechanism used in the BAR. The whole design is really ingenious when you look at it, and it makes the firing system a lot less complex, which in turn should have made it easier to produce as well.

[@crabmansteve6844]

That's a stunning rifle. The simplicity of it reflects on Mr. Maroszek's engineering prowess. Early semiautomatic rifles and conversions are my favorite type of firearms.

[@ETennScott]

That's a really nice rifle. As soon as I saw it I was intrigued; my daughters would say I fanboyed. I did wow all the way through the takedown and your narration. Thanks for making this video!!

[@lubossoltes321]

Heh, that is one very simple gun to take apart, total genius in the simplicity. I guess modification to a removable magazine would not be difficult.

[@davidmethvin1705]

Lubos Soltes ditto 30rds would work👍

[@Bialy_1]

Before WW2 started Maroszek designed version that was using Browning wz. 1928 magazines.

[@thisghy8126]

Lubos Soltes from looking at it in the video I think that a gun designer could easily take the main operating parts. add a folding stock and detachable magazine no problem and this would be a decent modern weapon

[@jameskazd9951]

that disassembly was clever as hell. really looks like a nice rifle, too bad it never got full production.

[@jesseb8927]

I’ve seen so many examples of pre WWII semi auto combat rifles. I imagine that if the war hadn’t started till the mid 40s or so that basically every country would’ve probably been fielding a semi auto on some level.

[@Gerilac001]

I am addicted to this channel! Love the work that you do. Keep up the awesome work! :)

[@JamesDiGrizz]

Thank you Sir for saying the truth about Polish September 1939 - dual invasion on Poland`s territory.

[@matthewmudgett7413]

There are a lot of comments like that on this video. Is russian propaganda trying to rewrite the narrative of the war or something? I remember learning that it was a joint invasion in school.

[@piotrd.4850]

@@matthewmudgett7413 Whole lot of it: first of all, Soviet part is usually ommited, like post-War events. Second - it is very common to say "Nazis" and "Communists" instead of Germans and Russians/Soviets (Russians and Ukrainians mostly).

[@brodaviing6617]

@@matthewmudgett7413 No, Russian propaganda has nothing to do with it. It just is conveniently forgotten in the West that the british did not attack the USSR (the reasons why they didn't is important, because they are sinister and cripple the official ww2 narrative) when they should have and left Poland to rot to the bolshevik and Nazi scourge.

[@Kalugaved]

@@brodaviing6617 British did not attack the USSR becose of fact that Russian troops came there according with Curzon Line and all Polish area west of Curzon line was taken them (Poland troops in 1920) by force. Easy come easy go.

[@anonymous-dk1is]

"National Armed Forces" would like to have this rifle! - ....kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZbFgYWDq7uBqMk

[@elektro3000]

Such a shame these were never mass produced, it might be at the top of my surplus rifle wish list. Although the European obsession with open notch rear sights ahead of the receiver continues to exasperate me. Had none of these people ever looked through an aperture at the back of the receiver and been filled with the joy of knowing The One True Rear Sight?

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Apetures at the back can't be dialed to 2000m, can they?

[@underpaidmook]

@@HappyBeezerStudios TBF, no one would be actually shooting a guy at 2,000 meters since most combat ranges were like 300 to 400 meters

[@johnym89]

Great review! The way you go into history and all the detail related to the life of these designs and their makers makes your channel by far the best in this subject

[@HiroNguy]

What a simple, elegant bit of engineering! It's a shame these weren't made in quantities.

[@bensigl3766]

"... I'm not going to shoot this one." Gun Jesus giveth, and Gun Jesus taketh away.

[@suma4m]

I was waiting for this piece for long time. I've read a "legend" that Maroszek himself brought down a German airplane with this rifle by shooting the pilot... from a moving train.

[@demezon6572]

This is true. Mr. Maroszek then proceeded to rescue the pilot, who jumped out, and was about to be executed for his war crime (machinegunning the civilian refugee treck).

[@mjtwardy]

The safety is not counterintuitive, as it is not a "zero" its an "O" corresponding to the word "odbezpieczyć" or "odbezpieczony" and the "Z" stands for "zabezpieczony", which in turn mean "unlocked-not safe" and "locked- safe" respectively.

[@pranker121]

Absolutely love your work, mate. Fantastic stuff. Been binge watching most of your videos. Keep up the good stuff. Look forward to your SA80 A2 video.

[@ditzylemmon5094]

yeah this guy is cool as hell

[@motooilermotooiler9597]

Like this series a lot Ian. Hadn't it been for the WWII and both Poland and the Poles would be a VERY different thing. This gun clearly shows the potential that was present at that time within the nation and believe you me - it was not only for the military industry of the time. Most of the educated and influential people were purpose killed by the Russians during the war and in the close post war time, beheading the country in a way so it could be taken over by the communistic regime which they just did... Glad you mention history the correct way.

[@Skyfighter64]

reproduction of this rifle would be amazing, I think. Such a ludicrously elegant (and remarkedly simple) would be brilliant to own, even if only a replica in .308 or .30-06. (.30-06 is based around my imagining it could take BAR mags if it were chambered that way)

[@maciejb.9072]

There is one polish gunsmith very well known of makin a replica of wz.38M here is the address tobys-rusznikarstwo.pl

[@Bjornieman]

The Polish Army was actually using BAR in 7.92 Mauser before WW2. Apparently, running both from the same mags kinda went over people's heads.

[@elpoderdelasgalaxias]

You are just an awesome communicator, Ian: pure passion. I adore this kind of obscure guns. Keep on Keepin' On

[@geraldgriffin8220]

Polish closed captions...Nice and very considerate touch for Polish and Polish American arms enthusiasts..Great video and great gun ! Thanks

[@KS-kb4zt]

Thanks Bro. Salute from Poland

[@seanjoseph8637]

It just looks so clean and simple. I'd love to see it fired.

[@richardthorpe8889]

Super cool rifle and video Ian. Thank-you. Poland really had some interesting things happening at that time.

[@troy9477]

Never heard of these. What a great design. The machining and finish are superb. The takedown is simple and effective. I always thought the Garand should have been along these lines, a 10 rd fixed mag which can be loaded via strippers or with loose ammo. More versatile, can be topped off, and the existing 03 stripper clips could have been kept. It really didn't make much sense to design a whole new e-clip system. The only possible advantage is the bottom of the rifle being flatter and nothing sticks out except for a slight protrusion of the mag well. Great video as always. Thanks for finding this one

[@Greg41982]

If I were rich, I would buy this and go hunting with it. What a classy looking rifle! And simple. My kind of awesomeness. Thanks Ian!

[@Infernal969]

In Polish the "sz" sound is just like your standard "sh", not "ch" like you pronounced it in the video. The way you were saying it, it sounded like "Maroczek", not "Maroszek". Just for the future, in case you get more chances to break your tongue with the Polish launguage. Loved the video. Cheers.

[@Infernal969]

Well, I simplified it, I'm pretty sure Ian isn't intersted in learning every phoneme for all the languages used in countries that produced firearms.

[@douglasfulmer5483]

o7

[@Weeljak]

What's the difference between "sh" and "ch" ?

[@quarthinos]

If you're an English speaker, shill and chill let you hear the difference.

[@Briselance]

Very detailed, Scoobby. Are you a professionnal in linguistics, per chance?

[@ianforrest]

Thank you Ian, it's great to see a review against a contrasting background - makes it so much easier to see what you are doing. Thank you Ian M Forrest

[@Crazyninja30]

I swear every time i find out more about Poland and its history, it turns into how Poland got screwed. Mad respect to a people always caught in the middle.

[@JarekZgoda]

Wz. 35 Ur got it's codename from Uruguay, it was disguised as export-only design for foreign customers. And "wz." is rather "pattern" than "model". I'm glad it was bought by Polish govt, we did not have one in our museums.

[@GentlemanBystander]

Thank you Poland for all you've suffered for the preservation of Western Culture.

[@notsosilentmajority1]

GentlemanBystander Niech Bóg błogosławi Polskę

[@sadektako2845]

Oui,la Pologne est un exemple à citer pour son patriotisme, démembrée,partagée,sa langue, sa culture effacée,plusieurs fois ,avec l abnégation de son peuple, tout avait été récupéré ...

[@Keckegenkai]

what preservation of western culture exactly?

[@CBielski87]

@@Keckegenkai fighting Nazi Germany and Communist Russia on Polak land

[@ThomasShatter]

@@CBielski87 Nazi germany was purely "western" culture of those times. Financed by capitalists like Ford and highly valued by many politicians in USA and Britain.

[@TimperialBroadcastingAgency]

This is absolutely elegant. One pin holds it together. The stripper clip cutout is also the locking surface. It looks like an absolute pleasure to field-strip, and the only weirdness is the occasional archaic feature (trigger-based bolt release) rather than a real design flaw. That inspiration to fix the prototype must've been an epiphany.

[@goodnamesareallgone1]

Thanks for doing all the background history in your videos. I really enjoy them.

[@FreedFenrir]

My bet for the gas screw thing, its a case of "Turn it around once ENTIRELY to the new number", with the numbers acting as convinenat indicators of tightness. So each turn would be 405 degrees.

[@gordoniusz]

I'm still waiting for a movie about anti-tank rifle wz.35 Ur!

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Ian! I want to thank you for all your hard work, I have learnt soooo much from watching your videos! This week I watched all 13 episodes of WWII in Color (2008) and I recognized a lot of weapons! (and a few germans eating scho-ka-kola hahaha) It was extremely satisfying to be able to generally identify most of the weapons and have some internal knowledge of them thanks to you!!! Keep up the great work! Love from Canada!!!

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

That is a beautiful rifle, simple and functional.

[@knopek65]

Greetings from Poland. Cool material with a unique weapon.

[@adrios86]

Pozdrowienia z Polski, bardzo fajny kanał ciekawe odcinki, często oglądam. Wszystkiego dobrego! With best wishes from Poland!

[@thevoxofreason8468]

This is one I truly had forgotten about. Always liked this one. Good pick.

[@J__C__]

Best channel on KZbin. No contest. Thank you, Ian! Happy New Year!

[@EliteOps1]

Will you ever make a video about the Polish Beryl or the new MSBS?

[@ozdavemcgee2079]

Awesome as always Ian. 4.5kg criteria. Nice thought..and in the 80's we carried 6.8kg unloaded rifles still,the SLR. Nice looking Polish rifle though. Shapewise on the action at first glance similar size to AK 47. Its an awesome bit of kit...if only hey...coulda ended up being the FN FAL in NATO.

[@marcintrueblue]

Thank you for posting this. Hats off to your command of the subject.

[@michaciozda7463]

The "zero" you were talking about on the safety is actually the letter O, which stands for, I presume, "odbezpieczony" and Z stands for "zabezpieczony". As in "with the safety off" and "with the safety on" respectively. Great video on an interesting karabin samopowtarzalny Ian, jesteś najlepszy ;)

[@JoL2910]

Danm..... i love this design.

[@averagedemographic8933]

I think I saw the two Polish examples when I went to Poland last, beautiful specimens, beautiful museums.

[@straightshootingtalk6715]

Very clean, clever design. Thank Ian, for profiling this.

[@madmanfred3]

I love how you mentioned the duel invasion, so many people forget about that!

[@clasdauskas]

Neither the Nazis nor (in some people's view) the USSR were 'socialist' despite their chosen appellations.

[@TheArklyte]

Just as many as what was done in 1938 or that despite western hypocrisy and self-indulgence WWII actually started with invasion of Japan into China in 1937 that everyone ignored.

[@LubKlubSH]

Ehehmmm, "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" - they acted like socialists, they looked like socialists, they named themseves "socialst", hell, they therefore must be far-far-right rightwingers. O tempora, o logic! The whole socialist system the NSDAP employed to run Germany is not obviously a clue to their true nature. Well, it seems that only self proclaimed, free of all the stain, socialists of today a well worthy of this prestigious (not) title. Seriously now, the whole socialist utopia never worked, whether in brown or red hue. It always resulted in tens of millions of innocent victims: Germany, USSR, China, Cambodia, various infected African regions. By gosh, I lived long enough under the international strain of the socialist utopia to cringe and shudder for the sound of the word.

[@anonymous-dk1is]

"National Armed Forces" would like to have this rifle! - ....kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZbFgYWDq7uBqMk

[@CleveAneki]

I suspect the 1/2/3 positions apply after making a single complete turn of the gas regulator bolt/screw in either direction.

[@mausermann7918]

That is one cool rifle! I have a pre-ww2 Polish made K98k rifle (Radom) and I love the build quality. The Polish really knew their business.

[@mistermanji]

I really like all of your videos on the strange pre-war semi-autos. So fun to see all of these neat systems at work. I especially liked the Holek Automat, which I wish I could have purchased.

[@willynthepoorboys2]

That looks like an amazing firearm for its time, quite unfortunate it was unable to finish the process and see full-scale production.

[@SearTrip]

Really is a shame this rifle didn't get started just a few years earlier. Would have been nice to have more of these around.

[@Piotrekwrocpl]

Great review as always Ian! Greetings from Poland

[@BarnabaRudge]

Thank you very much for the presentation of this rifle.

[@Dreju78]

I wonder how much difference would this rifle make for us, had it (or rather the improved version after trials) been fully adopted. Can't imagine much since it's not rifles that win wars but maybe some difference? Then again Germans would cintinue production and have a semiauto rifle for their use (assuming substantial production that would have been needed to equip Polish army) like they did with Vis. We got screwed over royaly back then btw. Attacked from the north (East Prussia), south (german seized Chechoslovakia) and west (Germany, proper) and then, just 17 days later from the east by Soviets... And the world laughs that we "fell easily"...

[@brendanh8978]

Andrzej Mydlowiecki- Poland couldn't trade space for time like the Soviets. USSR would have fallen just as "easily" if they hadn't had space to trade for time to get to those legendary Russian winters. Poland has nothing to apologize for. The rest of the free world standing by and watching, not so much.

[@The36th]

Nah. It wouldn't made any differences. Sanacja was pretty much full of retarded and stubborn quasi-patriotic socialists like that moron Piłsudski. They made a lot of mistakes in terms of economic choices, military doctrine choices, foreign politic choices and intelligence operation choices. Our faith was sealed the moment when soviet intelligence penetrated our 2nd Department of Polish General Staff - our counterintelligence and intelligence department, and fed out false intel which lead us to war against both Nazis and Soviets. In terms of military only the sudden appearance of Polish nukes before mid 1939 would made the difference.

[@MisdirectedSasha]

It's not clear that the allies did nothing; France did launch a limited invasion of Germany to try to take the pressure off Poland. It's conspicuous however that no country in 1939 was actually ready for war. Poland wasn't, for sure, and had not in fact called up its reserves when the German invasion started. Germany wasn't prepared, with its troops being highly variable in quality and its armoured units being equipped mostly with tanks intended for training. Even the Luftwaffe, despite its astronomical superiority to Poland on paper, managed to lose more planes than the Polish Air Force. The Soviets... well just look how they did fighting the Finns a year later. On the Western side, Britain had stripped most of its military branches in the late '20s/early '30s (partly because of treaties and partly because they were broke) and France was in the midst of a severe political crisis and a massive re-organization program that meant the majority of France's military assets were brand new and had not been properly tested yet. The USA had its head buried quite firmly buried in the sand. Germany managed to win against Poland because it got lucky and because the Soviets picked the wrong side. Seriously if the USSR had done nothing, Germany might well have burnt itself out overrunning every last Polish pocket and limited its ambitions substantially.

[@lucidnonsense942]

I think given that poland mostly used WWI era tankettes, and Germany picked up a large number of Czech P35s - I don't think that Poland had better tanks... by any measure except some developmental models that were far far away from mass production. Poland's greatest disadvantage was very rudimentary radio comms, an air force that was modernised in 1920s and not kept up to date and a doctrine that relied on holding as much ground as possible till allies arrive to relieve it. Even so, if they had to fight on a single front, it would have been a different scenario - might even have bought enough time for France and UK to get their ass into gear, imho, unlikely - but, not impossible. my 2c.

[@Gorg-oe1hu]

At least the poles weren't the French who had the British on there side, Colonies, More Men, Tanks and an easily defendable border but still managed to loose horribly.

[@Purpmaster]

Wow! This looks like a fantastic weapon for late 1930’s technology. I’m sure if this had been further along in production, I’m sure the Germans would have continued to produce this beauty. Crazy to think about, but in mass quantities it could have been a game changer if implemented early enough. Thanks for another informative video 👍

[@suprememarcus]

Haven't the nazis ripped off enough?

[@Purpmaster]

@@suprememarcus I wish they had “ripped off” this design as well lol. I’d love to have one in my collection.

[@tommygun333]

Great job. Both the gun and your work Ian!

[@weid7070]

A wonderful design. Thanks for sharing!

[@exorevbivoevturque]

Safety stands for: O - otwarty (opened fire)[it's not zero] Z - zamknięty (closed fire)

[@ag111ga]

Actually the rifle had one flow, it was breaking firing pins and they never found out why. The reproductions by Mr. Ryszard Tobys has, reportedly, the same problem. Other than that it's a fantastic rifle and it's a real shame it didn't go anywhere.

[@VoidCosmonaut]

flaw not flow

[@AtlasJotun]

It's like a BAR that took a year off of college to go backpacking in Europe, then came back real sophisticated. You can even disassemble it without cussing or pulling out your hair! In all seriousness, what a beautifully and monstrously built rifle; certainly a design I'd love to see carried on in the commercial market. A shame it never saw the light of day with all the slick features it boasted. The nice ramp front sight lacking any protective wings or a hood makes it look rather 'sporting' already (that integral muzzle brake is the bee's knees, too!). Thanks, Ian!

[@czabinator]

Great channel, thank you!

[@marcinmrozek2435]

Good work :) Greetings from Poland :)

[@StefanJerzySiudalski]

Piękna "rasowa" broń - w Warszawie w Starej Miłosnej jest rondo im. Józefa Maroszka

[@ArturZagaj-Izraelita]

Ty mi lepiej powiedz dlaczego mimo że było niemal po jednym karabinie na czołg wroga, nie pokonano atakujących? Podobno byli na amfeetaminie ale czy takich zombi noe da się zatrzymać?

[@krzysczarnecki5370]

@@ArturZagaj-Izraelita słuchaj żołmierze niewiedzieli że ur wz.35 jest w stanie jednym stszałem przebić pancerz nawet pantzer 38(t) i zdarzały się sytuacje że polak strzelił w czołg zabił kierowce a ten padł trzymając kierownice dziwingnie czy co tam w czołgu jest i jechał dalej

[@ArturZagaj-Izraelita]

@@krzysczarnecki5370 Miałem na myśli tylko karabiny przeciwpancerne, a one używane są inaczej, było ich pełne magazyny a wydano tylko 1/3 a i z tych nie zrobiono użytku! Ta cała kampania, centralny okręg przemysłowy too było zajęcie dla katolików, aby mieli co robić!

[@staszekgolab9319]

Your historical knowledge is fantastic.

[@bristleconepinus2378]

Nice looking rifle, plenty power, plenty range and streamlined.

[@yoitired]

Wow 69K for this gun, kinda nice to know it's back in Poland tho.

[@theHappyTobi]

great video, but the sound is a bit off...^^

[@mariow7818]

I am from Poland and its cool to learn about my own country from You. ThankYou

[@douglasfulmer5483]

I had no idea about this. Thank you Ian!

[@J9_j3]

what an awesome rifle. probably one of the best for it's time if it had a chance to go full development and troop trials cycle and evolution.

[@jeffreyskoritowski4114]

Really should've had a captive pin and a detachable mag. I wish someone in Poland would put this into production because I want one really bad.

[@adamcichon6957]

Richard Tobys, gunsmith from around the city of Poznań (Guinness Record holder for biggest 1858 Remington revolver), Poland, did made one new example of Maroszek. He took measurements from original documentation, immured during the war, and decades later accidentaly rediscovered. He stated, that after reworking the data to be CNC compatible, he is able to make next examples. But still... it's singular, expensive, semi handmade work... and i don't even know, that the old man is still around and capable to make one.

[@gerardburke2517]

another great video, thanks again

[@bwda666]

no idea how many times Ive seen this but........What a MAGNIFICENT piece of work? Beautiful clean & soooooo simple

[@bwda666]

im back again for another view and im STILL impressed

[@pharisaeus6493]

The marking on the selector is not a zero, it is an "O" as in "ogień", meaning "fire".