wz.35: Poland's Remarkably Misunderstood Antitank Rifle

[@grzegorzkowalski5100]

While Germans were surprised when they saw this weapon, Uruguayans were even more surprised when they didn't.

[@TheNevada666]

Good one xD

[@kevinmullner4280]

@@TheNevada666 better than good... 🤣

[@jozefcyran2589]

Haha laughing my ass off

[@paulkosoff8851]

The Uruguayans were first of all surprised, that they should have received something they didn't order :D

[@scandinerdian1961]

At first I imagined a bunch of sad Orcs without their support weapons, but it turns out they are Uruk-Hai. Battle for middle earth would've been much shorter so I'm glad they never showed up in the books either 😅

[@JohnHughesChampigny]

Actually having an example of the round is great. So often we see rare guns but the ammo is even rarer...

[@nicolatesla9429]

They pop up every once in a while in the cartridge collector community. At least in Europe they do. If you ever find one with a German bullet, be mindful as often people will top an empty case with a regular steel cored tracer projectile (S.m.K. L'spur), instead the original tungsten cored projectile (S.m.K-H) Both have a black tip, but the tungsten cored bullet has a fatter profile.

[@YouOnlyIiveTwice]

Yea I wish he would have the round sitting out with the gun when he goes over them in a lot more of his videos. Perhaps even have some more common rounds of the time sitting out to compare it to.

[@4thforcon426]

I have one of each, (live) both the polish and the german version. They are two of my most prized pieces in my collection. Very Unique. The polish (1937) has a cupro nickel clad jacket, while the german (1939) has a black tip (tracer) and a red primer annulus indicating a Hardened steel core.

[@andrzejsitkowski3084]

​@@4thforcon426long time ago i find part of Ur WZ 35 and two bullets in forest near Kałuszyn . Change on Adrian cavalary helmet in good condition, mayby its time to check again this area with Nox , modern metal detector is more powerfull then 20 years ago.

[@timbirch4999]

Yep, this ammo is more like medium-rare.

[@RaiderCat12]

That is actually the most beautiful anti-tank rifle I’ve seen so far. Usually they look so bizarre or crude, but this is just a thing of beauty.

[@jalpat2272]

They simply applied KISS and produced it in relatively peaceful time, while german took more freestyle approach and soviet simply turns steel pipe into 14,5 mm spitter somehow.

[@kbilsky]

Because the Essence is in Simplicity...

[@Weisior]

Its just a big ass rifle. Simply beautiful.

[@jfangm]

T-Gewehr would like a word.

[@AceFoxx70001519]

Agreed, this rifle is a big blued work of art

[@Grubnar]

Poland: "Simple. Effective. Elegant." Germany: "Nein, nein, nein! It is not complicated enough, at least let me mess with the ammo a bit."

[@MrKotBonifacy]

Oder "warum einfach wenn's auch kompliziert geht"... ;-)

[@player400_official]

It’s more like ,,simple, effective, half the parts come from our standard-issue infantry rifle so it’ll be easy maintenance”

[@ElfinHat96]

*Proceeds to make the ammo useless*

[@MichaDwuznik]

Germans: QUADRATISCH, PRAKTISCH, GUT!

[@MrKotBonifacy]

@@ElfinHat96 No, not useless. In fact this would improve the ammo... in a sense, but then ammo and armour work in tandem, so "who knows". See, the density of tungsten is nearly twice of that of lead (19.2 g/cm3 vs 11.3 g/cm3, so 1.7 times denser), therefore a tungsten bullet, shot with the same powder charge, would have "substantially higher" kinetic energy. Its muzzle velocity, however, might be tad lower - since due to its higher mass it couldn't be accelerated as easily - but then the higher mass would make up for this, "to some extent". How, EXACTLY is to be seen by trial. And then a higher kinetic energy means more penetrating power, and (most likely) a longer effective range, but then lower velocity could affect flatness of the trajectory but then maybe the higher mass to cross-section ratio would overcome that - anyway, my guess is that a tungsten bullet would deliver "bigger kick" overall. HOWEVER, this was in early day of tank armour, so all of it was basically so-called "rolled homogenous steel" (low-alloy steel, probably, I reckon). And as one member of a Sherman tank crew (form Allied forces liberating Western Europe in WW II) has said, "Shermans, apart from being no match for Tigers in direct tank combat, had a relatively soft armour, which was both bad and good. Bad, because it was easy to penetrate, but then because it was soft the sub-calibre shot [aka "armour-piercing composite rigid", back then] would often just fly through it like a knife through cheese - while Tigers had much harder plates, and our shots could hardly penetrate it, but then this caused huge spalling on the inside, often killing the entire crew inside". "Spalling" is the effect where an outer high-energy impact is transferred through the armour and causes the inner part of it to "flake" - sending a high velocity shrapnel flying around the inside of the tank, killing or maiming the crew, effectively rendering the tank inoperable - and this is the effect which British HESH anti-tank ammo employs, and this UR-35 anti tank riffle (and its soft, lead bullet) used too (albeit to much lower extent). But for this the bullet has to be soft and non-penetrating - should it be made of tungsten it would (most likely) just punch clean through, and if there wouldn't be anyone in its path it'd just hit some wall at t he back of the inside of the tank, and that'd be it. So, "stronger" does not always mean "better". In some rather long interview with a certain Russian Army contract soldier, taking part in "special military operation" in Ukraine, he mentioned one of his comrades being hit by a 7.6 mm machine gun bullet - and he commented "thanks God, it was that, not some small calibre bullet - the big one just punches through you and goes out, so if no vital organ is damaged you're OK, while these 5.56 mm form AKs when they enter your body they start to zip around like a mad sparrow in a barn, so you're 'forked'". And then, last but not least, tungsten back then was expensive, very hard to produce and work with, thus making such ammo rather expensive - while the goal of this whole "Uruguay Project" was exactly the opposite. That is, to produce (relatively) cheap, sufficiently effective anti-tank riffle and equally sufficient and easy to mass produce - on existing ammo making lines - round for it. Shermans were lousy tanks (ditto for T-34) , and true widow-makers, but then they were cheap and easy to produce in HUGE quantities - and in war "quantity is a quality of itself". Soviet's PPSh-es (early submachine guns, latter supplanted by AK-47) were as crude and inaccurate as they could get - but dirt cheap and churned out by thousands every day - and then an average "GI Ivan" was hardly any sharpshooter (in fact they were all considered "disposable material", aka "cannon fodder", but that's another story), so yes, a stout stick might not be a great weapon, but "good enough" for knife wielding drunk. (One "short sharp shock" and the fight is over.) But then yes, Germans always had this fixation with "let's improve this a little, shall we?" - no matter how useful it'll be and how costly - which is reflected in this humorous/ sarcastic German quip "warum einfach...", which I quoted in my earlier post here.

[@Del_S]

Most other nations: We need a big bullet. Poland: _I feel the need, the need for speed_

[@garolstipock]

...and they won?

[@qdlaty1996]

Speed and power

[@mareksicinski3726]

nations idk

[@chainsawmelee2026]

@@garolstipock well, Poland is there, one of the safest and fastest developing countries in the world at the moment, while the 3rd Reich doesn't exist and, to put it mildly :D, nowadays Germany is quite different in every aspect from the pre 1939 one, the 3rd Reich lost the war loosing 8 million people in the proces comapred to 6 by Poland (99% of them being defenceless civilians, which were rounded up and murdered by the Germans between 1939 and 1945). And what's left of Hitler and millions of his troops? their skeletons are still littering fields and valeys of every corner of European continent. You decide who won in the end.

[@johan13135]

@@chainsawmelee2026 Poland got fucked by the soviets for 40 years and had their culture and government wiped out during the communist rule. So both nations lost. While Poland is still an very cheap country with a relative weak currency, Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe

[@blaskitrzask]

Dziękujemy Panu Leszkowi za pomoc w rozwoju tego kanału. Wspaniała robota. Polscy widzowie Forgotten Weapons zawsze mogą wesprzeć Pana Leszka kupując jedną z kilku jego książek o tej tematyce. Pozdrawiam serdecznie.

[@MalleusSemperVictor]

"A gun that has an interesting history", he says, sitting behind a rifle with a barrel longer than the history of the universe.

[@evenjohansen4584]

HAH!

[@JPR3D]

Same energy as saying "this is quite a rare and expensive gun today..." while sitting in front of a rack of prototype FG-42's

[@thomashendron4356]

The barrel is so long it resides in two zip codes

[@danielboudreau8404]

I guess adjustable sights aren't really a necessity when you measure accuracy by minute of tank.

[@fabiogalletti8616]

Not by the users for sure. The front sight seems adjustable, I guess the barrel is zeroed at the factory and sent out ready to use. With a life of 200 bullets, flat trajectory and tank-sized target at max 200meters, seems more than enough.

[@andreambuter6806]

They still needed to aim at specific internal components or crew members because it's a rather small projectile compared to anti-tank artillery. Accuracy still matters

[@The_Big_Jay]

​@@andreambuter6806 True, but adjustable sights are usually for drop and windage, right? This thing apparently has neither within optimal range.

[@captainnyet9855]

also has a mere 200m of effective range.

[@The_Big_Jay]

@@captainnyet9855 300m actually, able to punch through 15mm of armor at a 30° angle. At 100m it could punch through 33mm of armor.

[@YaBoiZackbannedmefordissent]

Somewhere in Kentucky, a man is deeply disappointed there is no "Get entered to win" section on this video.

[@brainkill7034]

Deeply disappointed is an understatement.

[@mikoajpietrych6168]

It has fairly low recoil to things he shoots. More specifically it has less recoil energy than 500 S&W Magnum.

[@johnpublic6582]

I live in Arizona.

[@jozefkozon4520]

Repro would be quite simple, ain't it?

[@christophfriedrich5289]

​@@mikoajpietrych6168 Just build one without the muzzlebreak...

[@BulletsNBrass]

Now that is designing a gun to meet the need without getting bogged down in fancy design. Simple to use, relatively cheap to produce, no overly rare materials or processes required. Great design.

[@davidcox3076]

It really is a great design. When you are handing these out to the infantry, the fewer features the better.

[@imnomoremaverick]

I fell in love with this rifle when it was added to Call of Duty WWII The comically long barrel,the deaf sound it made everytime it fired,the insane damage and the "heaviness" of the bolt action made it my best weapon of that game. I miss it everyday,and IRL it's my favourite WW2 weapon ever,both for its insane history (that was explained wonderfully in this video) and for its aesthetic

[@DokDo1995]

Yay I'm not the only one that only knew the rifle from CoD WW2. And yes I 100% agree with you. It was one of the best guns in the game...

[@franciscoosuna259]

did the secret "philosophy" to to use velocity spread to other anti-tank armament? I doubt any tank in existence today could withstand an attack by a railgun

[@modzel2481]

I am lucky to be able to attend Leszek Erenfeicht's lectures on history of small arms in Warsaw and the man's knowledge and experience, as well as his storytelling skills are incredible.

[@revolverocelot6334]

Where does he do them and where?

[@modzel2481]

@@revolverocelot6334 Warsaw, Poland, at my local shooting range (KS Cover). Lectures are held monthly, however they have a holiday break and they'll be back in September or October.

[@StalowyZolw]

@@modzel2481 KS Cover, czyli co? Warszawianka?

[@modzel2481]

@@StalowyZolw tak jest.

[@StalowyZolw]

@@modzel2481 Wielkie dzięki, szkoda że nie wiedziałem wcześniej.

[@aidanfarnan4683]

The sights on the barrel so eachbarrel comes pre zeroed is just a great simple practical idea.

[@imaginedmountains2311]

The 8mm Polish Ultra Mag. Decent deer round.

[@magnumvanisher]

Is the round effective against Nokotan?

[@Miazger]

Pros- no need for adjusting for drop or wind Cons-you only have half a deer

[@geodkyt]

😂

[@geodkyt]

😂

[@Bartek2750]

@@magnumvanisher you should try it

[@MrBenski81]

How can one possibly talk about a particular firearm for 23mins and expect viewers to remain engaged.... Answer is this bloke! You my friend, are a a wealth of knowledge. I watched every second, just like your last vid and the many before.

[@MIKE1313B]

The problem with the use of these rifles in September 1939 was somewhere else. The soldiers firing them did not know what effects to expect from their use. They were shooting at a tank. There was no fire, the tank kept going. So they kept shooting at it, thinking that the rifle was ineffective. They did not know that after their first shots the crew inside the tank was wounded or dead.

[@JimmySailor]

In general pre-war militaries over estimated how much a single projectile bouncing around could do. There’s just lots of stuff inside a tank and a surprising amount of it can absorb some damage. It’s why in the desert campaign the Brits started replacing their 75mm solid shot US projectiles with German AT projectiles of the same caliber. Both would penetrate but the German shell had an HE bursting charge. An added benefit was solid shot was much harder to spot misses with. I do wonder if Poland would have increased the caliber of these rifles, the cartridge has a 16mm shoulder which is probably too small for .50 bullets but there’s room for significantly bigger rounds than 8mm. The barrels being so easily changed you would just have to issue new ammo and barrels.

[@bezimienny_andzej6425]

Well, generally, with any AT weapon, you keep shooting till you're CONVINCED the threat is neutralised. A lot of WW2 tanks got penetrated more than once even with 75mm and 88mm high velocity AT guns that packed SERIOUS punch.

[@Kenjis9965]

I believe the chieftain explained that's why so many tanks end up burned out. If the turret pops off or the tank erupts in flames it's pretty sure it's knocked out

[@justarandomtechpriest1578]

The german at shells werent the same caliber, they were longer​@@JimmySailor

[@stanstelmach5326]

@@justarandomtechpriest1578 Length and caliber are two different things...

[@n.a.4292]

In WW2, the Italian Army received from Germany several Wz-35 and deployed them in North Africa. According to official documents, in 1941 the troops in Africa had 144 rifles, 432 spare barrels, 576 magazines and 27000 rounds. In Italian service, the rifle was called "fucile controcarro 35 (P)" Edit: since people asked here's what the Italian General Staff of the Army said: "The 7,92 mm AT rifle can pierce 40mm of armor at 100m. Effects are limited to the bullet hole, and they are only effective when hitting (a tank's) vital organs or the driver. As such, the weapon is outdated, and can only be successfully used against armored cars and light tanks."

[@piotrstrzelczyk5013]

"Fucile cotrocarro polacco"

[@bitterdrinker]

Did they see any success against British tanks?

[@karlbrundage7472]

@@bitterdrinker There's a litany of jokes that write themselves, here, but I'm not going there................................

[@davidcox3076]

@@bitterdrinker Very good question. With only 144 of them, they weren't likely to have had a big impact. But the thin armor of the British cruiser tanks may have gotten some holes poked in it.

[@n.a.4292]

@@bitterdrinker They were mostly used against armored cars and light tanks

[@s.sradon9782]

Under polish law you can own this if you have a hunting firearms permit. We have a silly law that makes getting .50+ caliber guns difficult to obtain, making this one of the few AT rifles you can easily own here (provided you can find and afford one).

[@kiiik8801]

pozwolenie kolekcjonerskie jest do 20 mm

[@exxs96]

@@kiiik8801 Ostatnio dostanie pozwolenia to jest bardzo szybki proces. Wystarczy ani razu nie trafić na izbę wytrzeźwień , nie mieć jakiś przestępstw i nie dokuczać sąsiadom.

[@StalowyZolw]

AFAIK with hunting and collectors You can go up to 20mm. Its sporting permit that ends at 12mm.

[@asteroidrules]

@@s.sradon9782 That's a funny thing to have in common, in the US firearms over .50 caliber are restricted so these are some of the few anti-tank rifles you can own unmodified here too.

[@s.sradon9782]

@@kiiik8801 Czy trzeba dez-aktywować broń w jakiś sposób, czy można z niej nawet strzelać?

[@Stukov961]

Just shy of Mach 4. That is a very impressive muzzle velocity for the 30s

[@44lucas]

Almost hypersonic, LMAO

[@piotrkijak1774]

​@@44lucas Russians claimed they had hypersonic missiles first, we had hypersonic AT's in 1932

[@ajuc005]

@@piotrkijak1774 every long-range ballistic missile is hypersonic

[@piotrkijak1774]

@@ajuc005 not every but if you mean MRBM's, ICBM's yes.

[@davidgoodnow269]

Slightly hotter than its contemporary .220 Swift varminting cartridge, a 7,9x57 or 7x57mm Mauser necked down to fire .223", usually 45-grain, bullets at a nominal 4,000 feet per second -- also known for rapidly eroding barrels -- that was completely superceded by the 22-250 (same case head, but I believe necked-down from the 250-3000 Savage), which is slower but has longer barrel life. Now I want to try a 220 Swift against an AR500 plate to see if it will spall holes from it!

[@AnjaliyaIronwolf]

That acknowledgement of how its still your fault if the information is wrong, even though you could blame it on someone else speaks to the quality of Ian. You could see him going for the easy joke, and back off, and thats just a level of integrity that really makes the channel what it is

[@scottcarroll7782]

When, timestamp?

[@Kowalski089]

@@scottcarroll7782 0:37

[@scottcarroll7782]

@@Kowalski089 thanks bub, didn't feel like searching through the whole video to find it. 😆😜 I appreciate it.🤙

[@Kowalski089]

@@scottcarroll7782 Yup, anytime 🤙

[@andrewfleenor7459]

To be clear, that's a pretty standard line in academia, but Ian certainly is a good scholar so that makes sense.

[@genericpersonx333]

The efficacy of this gun is testified in one of Chris Bishop's books on tanks where he relates one Panzer division saw 57 of 120 panzers knocked out in a matter hours, overwhelmingly to AT rifles. The only reason the Germans kept on was that they had the leadership to operate with units reduced to as low as a third of their strength.

[@brittakriep2938]

A question out of context: Why do you call german tanks Panzer? I (german) call every tank of world Panzer.

[@richardjames1812]

@@brittakriep2938 Because in English we say "tank" so that if we say "panzer" it clearly denotes a German tank.

[@brittakriep2938]

@@richardjames1812 : Strange. As noted, in german language every tank is a Panzer. A similar thing is Stahlhelm, in german every military steelhelmet , not only german ones, is a Stahlhelm.

[@genericpersonx333]

@@brittakriep2938 Not a bad question! I try to know the terminology of other cultures when studying subjects because there is a lot to glean from those details. To help me remember that terminology, I try to use it consistently no matter the context. I say Panzers when talking about German tanks because that is the favored term in German. If talking about French tanks, I'd be saying Char. If talking Britain or America, I say tank. If talking Russian, I say tank because I don't have a Cyrillic keyboard to write out танк every time. Also helps that танк is just Tank using Cyrillic script. Does that answer your question?

[@davidgoodnow269]

Thanks for the reference to Chris Bishop; I have known of this rifle since I was a child, but I have never seen any reference to its use.

[@Goc4ever]

The history of the WZ.35 was pretty engaging and the gun itself is beautiful to look at, once again you never cease to amaze me Ian.

[@Eksistenssi]

So essentially they had non-explosive squash head ammunition for anti-armor use. Brits took long time getting the High-Explosive Squash Head (HESH) ammo to working levels to counter the ever increasing armor thickness of post war soviet heavy tanks. Poles were actually way ahead their time

[@alekjanowski9847]

On several other ideas as well, but we got cucked by the time-war-constrains...

[@hanscooks3027]

@@alekjanowski9847 and Politics...

[@wryyyy]

Poles in general had lot of innovations that got transferred to other nations during interwar and war years. Good example is the Gundlach periscope (Vickers Tank Periscope) that got copied for almost every tank on the European theatre.

[@bezimienny_andzej6425]

@@wryyyy German tanks lacked these for whatever reason, because somebody assumed all gunner needs is gunner's sight, and loader got a fixed periscope which was largely useless.

[@alexxu3004]

it's more like the complete opposite to HESH, this is a high velocity high kinetic energy round that defeats armor through energy transfer, HESH is a slow moving piece of high explosive

[@asteroidrules]

A pretty crazy concept for an anti-tank weapon. I can see how people failed to understand it, but despite being bigger than the guys who used it they made a surprisingly handy anti-tank rifle given the relatively low weight and recoil. Also pretty hilarious to think that the Germans basically self-sabotaged their own anti-tank rifles purely because they refused to admit the Poles had a viable idea, the German tungsten core 8mm ammo was less effective than the Polish lead core.

[@mikoajpietrych6168]

It also performs better at an angle.

[@Zbigniew_Nowak]

This effect was theoretically known before. It appeared in the domes of armored bunkers after being hit by a bullet and in armored trains.

[@tedarcher9120]

Problem is that it can knock out tanks but it can't destroy them. Tungsten API rounds like 14.5 can easily ignite fuel or ammunition after penetrating, you could not just patch up the driver after a hit, whole tank went kaboom forever

[@Darwinawardrecipient]

0:02 Ian McCollum jumpscare

[@WasLostButNowAmFound]

Here's Johnny!

[@hamaljay]

Reminiscent of Mr Carlson.

[@itsprobablydean]

lmao

[@jacobkrout1627]

AAAHRGH

[@Darlexis]

HEY GUYS!!

[@bengunderman5382]

This is the perfect kind of gun for this channel

[@russbilzing5348]

Incredible rifle/ammo combo. A tremendous amount of understanding of it's history, as well. I don't suppose we will ever have the opportunity to see you or Mae shoot one of these, but time will tell. Great video.

[@tylerlange4949]

Overbore cartridges are capable of some pretty wild stuff, especially at "close" range inside 150yds. I've blown through several AR550 steel plates while sighting in my .257 Weatherby at 3600fps with standard lead core/copper jacket bullets. The price you pay for this performance is barrel erosion. My first thought when I saw that cartridge was barrel life.

[@roberto125919]

Probably most of these rifles have not fired more than a 100 rounds...

[@jellysquiddles3194]

For a normal rifle it sounds attrocious to have to swap out barrels after 200 shots. However, comparing this to rocket launchers / recoiless rifles this seems way more economical.

[@zackzittel7683]

Yep….. but why use plates when sighting in a rifle? Especially a fast one….. it’s far easier to measure MOA/Sub MOA groups on paper than steel. I just know I can’t shoot plates under 200 yds with my 280AI or 22-250 or 243 but I don’t have any interest in doing so because it’s such a large target it might as well be the broadside of a barn at those ranges.

[@tylerlange4949]

@zackzittel7683 I'm generally not measuring group sizes with this rifle. Just checking zero and point of impact, so steel works just fine for me. (Plus, it's expensive chasing groups at $4 a round.) When it happens, it always puts a smile on my face to punch through steel with a hunting cartridge developed in the 1940s.

[@davidgoodnow269]

​@@tylerlange4949 How is case life, for reloading? Those fine Weatherby cartridges fascinated me as a kid, my dad had a friend who went on safari every couple of years who primarily used a .257 Weatherby rifle for game such as springbok and such; more rarely, the larger ones for Cape buffalo or other dangerous game.

[@jakublitwinowicz8554]

I have read a record of Polish resistance using those as marksman rifles to rather spectacular effects

[@revolverocelot6334]

Yes, I think it was during ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna region. Approaching German pacification party was ambushed by partisans, and commander was headshotted with this rifle, with effects supposedly similar to close range shotgun shot.

[@szariq7338]

Which makes it one of the earliest known examples of using an antimaterial rifle as sniper rifle capable of doing longe distance shots. Think of it like Barret or Cheytac.

[@Nimrawid]

I can just imagine what this rifle does to a human body yikes.

[@gotfrydzbouillon4191]

Aye my grandpa use it to vaporize (he says that he see as round just rip of 1/3 of shoted dude) Germans and Soviet. They dont use optics but still cause the performence of shells (very flat trajectory of flyight) they use it as marksman guns.

[@MrAstrojensen]

@@Nimrawid The words "cavitation shockwave" come to mind.

[@RRak]

I am from Gdańsk, Poland - where the WW2 started. I remember the first time I saw this rifle in a museum. It stood out so much I had to read all about it. Thank you for conveying the full story in more detail than you usually can find even in our local expositions! :)

[@SarionFetecuse]

Danzig* you never took it back

[@Anna-ej9yh]

Ok...nazi ​@@SarionFetecuse

[@123sssfddd]

@@SarionFetecuseThe Vietcong kicked your ass

[@zayzay3r]

​​@@SarionFetecuse Isnt Danzig a fake name? Gdansk was build by Poles and owned by Poles the most

[@Rei-internet-fox]

I love this channel so much. Genuinely one of my favorite channels of all time. I'm not really much of a gun person but what I love is that Ian gives a lot of historical context every single video, and that historical context is what's interesting to me. I'd heard of this gun but didn't know too much about it because it isn't featured a lot in video games and movies, and learning more about it here was a treat!

[@TheZinmo]

A perfect "forgotten weapon". Thanks!

[@themeatpopsicle]

I wonder if Ian's camera can zoom out any farther than this

[@andersjjensen]

He had to walk three minutes to set it up.

[@Xeonerable]

I think NASA spun the Hubble around to point at Earth just for this video.

[@whyjay9959]

A note on recoil; If I understood correctly, momentum scales linearly (weight*velocity) while kinetic energy scales exponentially (half weight*velocity squared?), and most recoil is normally from the bullet. So there should be less recoil from this than from a cartridge with the same muzzle energy and bigger bullets, though it would be sharper, and achieving this velocity probably means less efficient use of powder which adds more(but that's also what powers the muzzle brake).

[@mikoajpietrych6168]

You're right. The amount of momentum produced is only 10-20% higher than 500 S&W magnum. (which has substentially lower muzzle energy, in terms of energy 500 Bushwhacker would be more equivalent but still falls short) And also it's fired from 4 times heavier gun (than a S&W model 500), from a shoulder and with excellent muzzle break.

[@stunningandbased5516]

The very high v0 is prob. also responsible for the massive wear and tear of the barrels

[@MatterMadeMoot]

It's mass not weight, but yeah pretty much.

[@mikel1998100]

Kinetic energy scales with the power of two. Exponential would look like some constant^variable. Other than that, spot on.

[@ReDFox-fq4co]

Thanks for this video! I've never seen wz.35 being disassembled. So few rifles were preserved that every piece and every part of it are like a Holy Graal for Polish collectors

[@geodkyt]

I had an opportunity two years ago to handle one of these and some original ammunition (didn't shoot it, however) in a private collection. It's even more impressive and "weird" seeming in person (despite being a pretty Bog-standard bolt action rifle and ammo, aside from proportions and dimensions). Handles rather better than you would expect (it ain't no 98K or No4 Enfield, but it isn't a Barret, either).

[@79marchewa]

I would love to verify claims of unusual power of this rifle on some reproduction gun. Maybe in the future. It would have to be reproduction of powder also.

[@asteroidrules]

@@geodkyt How heavy would you say it feels? Often spreading the weight over a greater area makes an object feel lighter than it is, and I can't say I've ever handled a gun that's 5'9" before.

[@nick291002]

I have an empty casing from this rifle, found while metal detecting where the battle of stonne took place during the invasion of france

[@davefellhoelter1343]

that's a treasure from history

[@Nimrawid]

Polish participation in defence of France is not very explored topic. Sad and interesting I would say. Polish army had high hopes and high morale back then, only to be squandered by incompetence of the French (not the first time).

[@nick291002]

@@Nimrawid I think this particular one might have been a beutewaffen used by the germans, the case is unfired but missing the tip, and was found in a small hillside among both german and french fired and unfired rifle ammo

[@irishpsalteri]

What a fascinating gun. Love seeing the ingenuity involved in these.

[@P2501-y6u]

"How do I know the tank is in range?" "You'll hear the barrel dink against its armor"

[@tomasz9429]

Poland's first foray into the creation of a railgun. Velocity is king.

[@jmialtacct]

If the target is really close, yes. Further out, super-fast bullet loses velocity very quickly - it's what the Germans found with the squeeze-bore Panzerbüchse 41.

[@belthesheep3550]

​@@jmialtacct That's fine, they are on the defensive so they can use these as ambush weapons. Not to mention the stories of cavalrymen charging german tanks with these - that would have been fun to see.

[@leszekkadelski9569]

@@belthesheep3550 A) Polish cavalry charging German tanks - that never happened. It was just Russian propaganda after the war. B) Even if, not a single soldier on a horse would use it. Polish calvalry had 37mm anti-tank guns.

[@RM97800]

@@belthesheep3550 Polish Cavalry fought dismounted, using horses for transport only, just like motorized infantry doesn't fight from the back of their trucks. Dragoons (cavalry that dismounts to fight) is a concept from at least the 16th century.

[@DPRK_Best_Korea]

​@@RM97800Bicycle infantry > Dragoons.

[@Token_Civilian]

47" barrel. Dang....in naval gun terms, that's about 150 calibers long. A "long" naval gun is 50-55 calibers long. No wonder it had such high MV.

[@ScottKenny1978]

The old rule of thumb was to aim for a 90 caliber barrel for a rifle.

[@AntiPlatitude]

My initial reaction to this weapon is that it’s an elegantly simplistic solution to a fairly straightforward problem (needing a rifle and cartridge to be able to deliver a shot to an armored vehicle that would incapacitate the vehicle, its crew, or both). Pretty cool.

[@wojtekkozak4738]

In late 80'ties I had a chance to talk to man using this rifle in September 1939 in town on east of Poland. They stopped every Soviet vehicle coming as long, as they had ammo. Only 2 days.

[@iozjik]

But in September 1939 Soviet forces didn't invade Poland, only reclaimed occupied parts of Ukraine and Belarus. It was on a day, when Poland's government fled from country.

[@miniMrStanley]

​@@iozjikYeah and now Russia is also reclaiming occupied parts of Ukraine... Educate yourself and then write comments and don't spread misinformation.

[@iozjik]

@@miniMrStanley modern conflicts have no influence on events in past. Except for propaganda-brushed minds, of course.

[@Hasmasnafg]

​@@iozjik дада и восемь лет дамбили бомбас

[@Archimedes.5000]

@@iozjikyeah and also accidentally arrested and killed several thousand soldiers

[@2thomask833]

Years ago when he posted his Maroszek video, he mentioned him working on another project code named Uruguay, and said “that’s a story for another day” and I was super curious about that story until today

[@mightychicken7774]

THIS is the stuff I love you covering - not so much the modern items. I was glued to my screen watching this - So interesting!

[@44R0Ndin]

Interesting phenomena at work here, it's pretty much just "HESH minus the HE" in concept at least. Both rounds weaponize the very armor they impact, the WZ.35's round doing it by simple kinetic transfer (which would, strangely enough, work less effectively on softer armor that is maybe thicker to compensate), and the HESH round doing it by the expedient and far more scalable method of bringing the energy source (high explosives) to the soon-to-be spallation fragments, and detonating after spreading out over a sufficiently large area of a slab of armor. Both are very effectively countered by adding a Spall Liner to the inner surface of the armor, at least for the first impact. It is however incredibly difficult to scale up this "HESH minus the HE" effect, as the firearm the projectile is fired from quickly grows in mass, size, and cost of production. Even .50BMG Ball ammo would have trouble being scaled up to cause this kind of effect, which is probably why we have more "conventional" .50BMG AP and SLAP rounds rather than ".50 Browning Magnum" (based on .50BMG, but with a stronger, longer case holding more powder, firing the same .50BMG Ball projectile). Would be interesting to see if someone could wildcat something like that, just to see if it can be done, but the cartridge drawing and forming tooling to make a longer version of .50BMG would be prohibitively expensive. EDIT: The higher velocity of a Magnum cartridge version of .50BMG would likely be of interest to snipers, counter-snipers, and other people who have need for a large-caliber but highly accurate (and therefore high velocity) firearm. I bet it has the potential to out-range .338 Lapua Magnum, assuming a switch to a solid copper projectile. Would also potentially be a good host for something like DARPA's XACTO round, because having longer range doesn't matter if you can't hit the target, and even a normal .50BMG round has a range sufficient to make optimal accuracy involve the wind conditions along the entire path of flight not just at the target and at the firing position (you need a few data points somewhere in the middle, but if you have the XACTO round you don't need those mid-course wind data points, the round will just automatically compensate for any wind it encounters on the way thanks to the onboard guidance).

[@JRockySchmidt]

I wont lie I either want the history of the 10/22 or Ian to narrate a series of audio books, his tone and timbre lulls me to sleep better than a lullaby

[@paemt6220]

This is cool. It reminds me of an article years ago with the .243 Ackley Improved. It had a similar velocity to this( close to 4000fps) and a standard lead core bullet that outperformed steel core 7.62x51 in defeating armor plate.

[@kaminarihachi]

I have heard stories about the use of the wz. 35 during the Zamosc uprising ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamo%C5%9B%C4%87_uprising ). It is said that partisans used this weapon dug out from a soldier's hiding place as a sniper's weapon and thanks to an accurate shot they stopped the pacification of one of the villages. The German troops were reportedly deprived of their German commander with an accurate shot. At the sight of the commander's head exploding into the air like a melon, they hurriedly left the area.

[@0rmir]

The Germans sent the officer's body for examination. They thought they were dealing with a new unknown weapon.

[@eduardocharlier7560]

This is one gun that could indeed be improved by a bullpup configuration...

[@noobmaster4412]

i can SEE IT! do you think bullpup shotgun is better

[@k.m.maroszek]

I've been waiting for this one for a long time

[@edwardphillips8460]

My only question is which was longer? Time or barrel? 😂

[@mikoajpietrych6168]

@@edwardphillips8460 It's always the barrel.

[@jackcausey1449]

one of the best anti-tank rifles of WW2 glad you covered this beautiful unique gun

[@TheBlahblahblahhh]

One of your best videos historically I think. Really enjoyed it.

[@kbilsky]

It is a shame, that Polish Army Museum management guys don't make possible to you to make a video about wz.35 during your visit there, Ian. That's really sad and embarassing even to me. Thank you Ian!

[@Rickardsson99]

Long barrel + more powder = better bang pop

[@simekon80085]

"damn it Bożydar we only have lead core fmj's we can't afford any proper AT rounds due to economic downfall and lack of industrial facilities" "Okay but what if we make a big Mauser and make the projectile FAST"

[@chris7384bu]

Great episode! I really like when you venture more into the history of those weapons in your videos 👍. Nice work.

[@NoBody-og8wf]

You had me at "sheer velocity"

[@ss181292]

Thanks! I was waiting for the Ur (this is actually the usual way we refer this gun in common speaking) for years! Thanks again!

[@jakobc.2558]

7:08 a muzzle velocity of 4200f/s / 1280m/s? That is actualy insane. For ww2 that is one of the fastest muzzle velocitys period. For compairison with other anti tank rifles: PTRD/PTRS are around 1000m/s and the boys, Lathi, Type 97 are all around 800m/s. The only thing that comes close is the Panzerbüchse at 1210m/s and that thing was extremely unreliable.

[@larry648]

It had to eat barrels.

[@Ink_25]

I've put this in a calculator. That's roughly Mach 3.7 at sea level, or about 4600 km/h!

[@michalkamil808]

i didynt se movie yet but that was the point of this gun, there was a large amount of powder and long barrel to make it posible.

[@davidgoodnow269]

And then there was the squeezebore advancement of this rifle, which I have read started the bore at 13mm at the breech and tapered to 7,9mm before the muzzle. Firing a tungsten core wrapped in a lead jacket, I have read its reported muzzle velocity as 6,000 feet per second, penetrating 45mm of armor at 600 meters if memory serves! The French were unable to get it into production before they were overrun -- but if they had had a heavy machine gun to fire it, they could have turned the Nazi tanks into collanders!

[@lanny148_]

Thanks for reviewing this classic! ❤

[@jfess1911]

You can see the effect used by this rifle (a plug of the plate, larger in diameter than the bullet, is punched out) in a KZbin video showing bullet impacts. It can be found at about 3:10 in a video labeled "1 million fps Slow Motion video of bullet impacts made by Werner Mehl from Kurzzeit".

[@christopherbales1269]

One day a little kid turned on the history channel, and fell in love with "Tales of the Gun" and now I watch your videos nearly every night. Thanks Ian.

[@paulszymanski3091]

The gun Ian is presenting is probably the gun brought to UK by Krystyna Skarbek, who traveled from the UK to Poland through the High Tatra's rout to recover this gun. Skarbek was one of the most interesting intelligence agent of the WW II. The story about Skarbek's escapade to Poland is described in at lest two books, one written by her biographer and the second is by Polish historian who specialized in documenting Tatra's curriers.

[@wjlasloThe2nd]

Is there anything significant in English that we can read about her?

[@Walend]

​​@@wjlasloThe2nd Ian's Fleming Casino Royale 😏

[@paulszymanski3091]

@@Walend Yeap, Skarbek was an inspiration to Ian's Fleming Casino Royale.

[@paulszymanski3091]

@@wjlasloThe2nd Christine: A Search for Christine Granville, GM, OBE, Croix de Guerre Hardcover - January 1, 1975 by Madeleine Masson: (Author) is one of the earlier biographies of Skarbek and it mentions her trip for this anti tank gun.

[@wjlasloThe2nd]

@@paulszymanski3091 Cool thanks!

[@johnsowerby7182]

Said it before, and I'll say it again. I love that Ian goes into these weapons in such detail.

[@buckinthetree1233]

I bet there are some interesting harmonics going on with that barrel when you fire it.

[@joer.6458]

Thank you again for the expose on this rifle. Crazy big round. Really like the safety configuration/operation.

[@Coltbreath]

Great to see the weapons of my countrymen! Thank You Mr Ian!

[@Transmisjanazywo]

Dziękujemy Panu Leszkowi za pomoc w rozwoju tego kanału.

[@michaelwright2986]

What a wonderful piece of design. On the one hand, KISS: adjustable sights? We don't need any stinking adjustable sights, it shoots flat out to its maximum effective range. OTOH, instead of trying for some elaborate or expensive projectile, it works by energy transfer, anticipating HEAT and HESH, without explosives. If Germany had understood it better, it would have made a useful anti-materiel rifle, without requiring scarce tungsten.

[@Szejski]

I waited a long time for a video about the Ur rifle, but it was worth it. Thank you and greetings from Poland!

[@tomaszszczech218]

My grandfather fought in 1939 Campaign against Germans, was wounded and surrendered on September 18th when Germans cornered big number of Polish soldiers between the rivers Wisła and Bzura. I heard some WW2 stories from him while he was alive. As far as I remember, these guns were deployed in boxes with the inscription "Optical instruments". Thank you from Poland.

[@Godisinkontrol]

Ian your channel is something special. One of the best on the entire internet.

[@SayakMajumder]

Slap a scope and a polymer frame and that thing can still serve as a nice modern shooter.

[@simekon80085]

Call Mark Serbu NOW

[@ronaldjohnson1474]

Excellent presentation, thanks, Ian. Your information matches and expands on my research through 2007. I didn't know about the cartridge development.

[@micumatrix]

The effect of hitting a steel plate and shrapnel coming on the opposite side off the steel plate after hitting was already observed in WW1. Sharpshooters used after a while steel plates to watch and hide behind. I think after this effect was observed, the brits reversed the bullet with the blunt part forward and the power of the broader part of the bullet increased this effect. Seen this in at least two WW1 documentaries mentioned.

[@johnnyenglish583]

weren't the ballistic properties very bad if the bullet was front part forward??

[@jmackmcneill]

Not the British... German. It was possible to do the conversion in the field with Mauser ammo, but not Enfield ammo. There is also a good argument to be made this was a retroactive excuse for having "Dum-Dum"-ed your ammunition, which was a violation of the Hague convention and could lead to you being executed if captured.

[@micumatrix]

@@johnnyenglish583 guess so. I don’t remember how much this trick was used and if it was even mentioned. Rest is speculation and needs further research… But the trenches were sometimes not more than 1-200m away from each other. This was a very specific case, when they had such a target. I think german machine gun crews also had at a specific steel plate armor, since they were prioritized target.

[@BarnabaRudge]

I read somewhere that the bullet from this rifle reached a speed of 4,600 m per second. The rifle was such a secret that until the outbreak of war in 1939, few Polish soldiers knew of its existence. Unfortunately, the soldiers did not know how to use them effectively. They were not trained in the use of this rifle. It is about shooting at specific places on enemy tanks or combat vehicles. And it was a very effective weapon in destroying German equipment.

[@obserwator1766]

A while ago I saw a video on YT. It was a collection of photos of various rifles and other weapons (often strange, homemade, etc.) that coalition forces found and seized in Afghanistan. This rifle was one of them. Only God knows how it got there. 🙂 Thanks for this episode. I was waiting for it.

[@HubiKoshi]

Used against Germans Captured by Germans Used against Soviets Captured by Soviets Then... who knows maybe they gave them to Israelis? It's the peak of irony that Soviets supplied tons of Nazi gear to Israel, sometimes with the Swastikas still on.

[@McRingil]

Probably the Anders’ army guys got it maybe from the Russians

[@mateuszosuch6267]

In Poland there is also a story about how some of theese were secured during invasion and used by partisan movements. Famously it was used as a marksman rifle and resulted in reportedly "head blown off" off one german officers in ambush.

[@jakubstrumillo]

Finally! This weapon is the most legendary gun ever made in Poland.

[@puszkowniczy]

Thank you Ian for this video. I appreciate your precision of technical descriptions but also accuracy of historical context presentation. I believe the rifle was typically called with short form "Ur".

[@mromanowicz72]

Polish soldiers haven't been very familiar with those guns. There where some case's during polish defence war in 1939 when soldiers shoot german panzer with WZ. 35 even 10 times. Why? They just didn't know how it works. After 2 or 3 shots, Germans inside the panzer where seriously wounded or dead. But panzer didn't blowup, it wasn"t set on fire, engine was running, it just keept going. So polish soldiers not knowig what was effect of their action keept shooting to pazers as many times as possible until they realised that nobody out of tank is sooting at them.

[@tkg__]

@@mahu5766 Wiemy, oglądaliśmy filmik. Gość dokładnie o tym mówi...

[@arthursadlovsky6313]

This implies that the weapon system itself was top secret in polish army and how hopelessly that army was guided by its brass and politically mindless post pilsudski elites b4 war explosion.

[@tomaspabon2484]

Love that the Poles essentially made a cartridge with the ballistic trajectory of a Spartan Laser

[@konradadamczyk5755]

We can say that it is the ancestor of HESH ammunition, only instead of an explosive that transfers energy to the armor, it is the velocity of a lead bullet that does it. The effect is similar.

[@d3faulted2]

Did a quick and dirty ballistic trajectory calculation. That thing only drops like 17 inches at 500yards. Insane....... Would love to see the guys at 9-hole reviews run this through their course.

[@jozefkozon4520]

Repro.

[@razta4038]

Don't make a laughing stock of yourself ... the initial velocity of the projectile was 1250/1275 m per second and even today it's one of the highest in the world (second or third in the history), as a single soldier's firearm.

[@ScottKenny1978]

Henry would giggle maniacally while shooting this.

[@paulszymanski3091]

Another side story to this gun is related to Stefan Witkowski and his famous Polish Intelligence organization code name Muszkieterowie (Musketeers). He organized this group just after the Battelle of Kock from soldiers who operated this rifle. The operators of this gun got a nickname the Musketeers from common soldiers and it stuck. Stefan Witkowski used this nickname as a code name for his operations. His intelligence gathering operations were legendary. They successfully obtained plans for Barbarrossa and penetrated V-2 development sites. One of the operators was famous Kazimierz Leski.

[@jfangm]

The Poles don't get enough credit. They were THE chads of WWII. They held off the Nazis AND Soviets, alone, for three weeks, despite being outnumbered 40:1. They continued to fight in the form of free and resistance forces. They developed new weapons in total secrecy, and they attempted to free themselves from Nazi rule. Fucking. Badasses.

[@DefaultProphet]

@@jfangm*always have been meme*

[@DPRK_Best_Korea]

​@@jfangmThey also invaded most of their neighbors in order to try and restore historic borders of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, which is why most of their neighbors were happy to see them get wiped out by the Germans and Soviets.

[@jfangm]

@@DPRK_Best_Korea Found the Nazi-lover.

[@kamilpotato3764]

@@DPRK_Best_Korea It's more complicated than this.

[@chrisalbrecht2894]

7:02 *THE EARGESPLITTEN LOUDENBOOMER HAS ENTERED CHAT*

[@philllax1719]

We all share one brain cell don't we

[@KR-hg8be]

​@@philllax1719one of us one of us

[@ArmandKarlsen]

It boomens louder and splittens earge!

[@WpNsXpRt87]

"Clever" and "Unorthodox" usually go hand-in-hand ;)

[@andersjjensen]

Yes, but unorthodox and clever do not... the order seems to be important.

[@Ink_25]

I assume you haven't seen the Zip .22 yet, right? That's unorthodox, but veeery far from clever :D

[@janwacawik7432]

I've had a chance to handle this bad boy, courtesy of Central Forensic Laboratory of the Police in Warsaw, and boy howdy, it's a hefty piece of kit. Happy to hear the shout-out to Leszek Erenfeicht, hopefully one day we'll see him as a guest on the channel!

[@przemysawwnuk3286]

A correction The bulk of the German panzerwaffe in Sept. 1939 consisted of Panzers I and Ii with only a handful of P IIIs. The Panther and Tiger were not invented until 1943. Thus the gun was very effective against contemporary tanks.

[@MrHat.]

Also the Germans used captured czechoslovak tanks like the pz 35

[@billyraydavis3400]

Love the videos thank you for all the hard work making them

[@psychobeam99]

So cool to see the real thing after loving it in Enlisted for so long.

[@macewindu9121]

Where is it? Is it a gold weapon order?

[@psychobeam99]

@macewindu9121 Nah was part of an old Event. We got two AT squads, one was a 5 man german squad with 4 WZ. 35s and an engineer, the other was 5 soviets with a Shokalov ATR, basically a modified T-Gewehr and an engi.

[@jestocost8210]

Another great presentation, Ian. This gun is actually mentioned in the Harry Turtledove's alternative history series Worldwar: In the Balance. I never realized it was an actual thing until this video, (although I suspected it was true based on Turtledove's attention to detail).

[@cactusdoge]

The first time I heard about these rifles was a reddit tale more focused on the confiscation of than history of weapon. Apparently one existed in a private collection in America, it got back to Poland, they were able to have it confiscated through US channels. Owner claimed war, prize, Poland claimed can not be war prize as Poland and American never went to war.

[@McDylanNuggets]

I love how perfectly the camera is placed to fit it just in frame.

[@julzpep]

5:01 so.. it's like hesh but without the explosives.... Amazing

[@Dusty747]

This comment appeared as I was saying spalling after hearing what it did....

[@thumperpaul]

Thank you Ian, for another great video about a weapon that I had never heard about before.

[@miloszruczynski1230]

Oh yes! I remember asking for Urugwaj a few years back when You visited Warsaw and now we've got it!

[@gerwheelz3154]

Ian puts so much effort into these videos he even knocked out a wall to get the camera back far enough to get the gun in frame .

[@GazalAlShaqab]

FINALLY! The "Ur"!

[@robertsolomielke5134]

TY Ian. We see it works on the HESH round principle , and we know that system is an effective way of disabling armored vehicles. Never knew of this gun, so TY all the research.