Does anyone own a Polish Vis 35? Looking through my grandfather's archive of handguns he used to own it appears he owned (and very unfortunately sd) a mint condition Vis 35 made in 1942 during the Nazi occupation of Poland.According to his notes it even had the Nazi inspection markings on it and everything. I did a little research and it appears to almost be an American 1911A1 clone to some extent but fires 9mm Luger. I'm kind of upset he sold it without consulting any of us as we are all collectors and he knew that at the time of the sale and I most definitely would have made an offer (and he was the kind of grandpa who would just give it to you if you showed a deep interest). I have an old but very nice CZ52 in my possession and this would have been an awesome piece to keep next to it, Eastern Euro cousins lol. If anyone owns one or has shot one id love to hear more just to hear about how much I missed out woth this one XD
I had one for a while. It's like a cross between a Hi-Power, a 1911, and a little extra Polish weirdness with the slide-mounted decocker (who puts a decocker on a SAO pistol?)
It works fine, it has good ergonomics (way better than a CZ52), it's accurate. It was a pretty solid 9mm single stack pistol for its time but was never as good as a Hi-Power and became increasingly obsolete thereafter. It kind of creeped me out having a gun built by slave labor for the Nazis, too.
Basically this. I own one and agree fully.
It is an interesting piece of gun history but beyond that? Meh.
It shoots decently well and the ergos are fine though the positioning of the safety/decocker isn't great and the utility of a decocker on a single action pistol is dubious at best. (It seems to have been added purely for patent purposes)
They also aren't the most durable of pistols in my experience though given the circumstances of their manufacturer not surprising.
As with most of these early, single stack service style pistols the introduction of the Hi-Power made them effectively obsolete and the CZ 75 sealed the deal.
It is funny too but FN did bring sample Hi-Powers to the Poles who due to a few circumstances rejected buying the design but it certainly "inspired" the Viz.
Unrelated but man the Wikipedia article on the Viz is quite funny. Quite a bit of, hmm national pride, on display there. "Highly prized and one of the best firearms"
I understand why period gunwriters rated it so highly because there were so many other shitbox pistols still in serious military service (and pressed into service by the Wehrmacht) to compare it to. The Astra 300, 400, 600. The Mauser C96. The Dreyse M1907. The Steyr 1912. The MAB D. CZ 38. A dozen little Euro .380s and .32s like Rubys, Uniques, FNs, the CZ34, FEG37, etc. Lotta junk out there in the mix.
By that standard of comparison it's cream-of-the-crop. It's a recoil-operated pistol that works, is shooter-friendly, and is chambered in a good cartridge. It stands alongside a half dozen other contenders for "good" pistol in the 1940s. The 1911 (or Norwegian M1914), the Luger, the P38, the Hi-Power, the Star Model B, the Tokarev. In the 1940s that was some gourmet shit. Soon after it was average.
I have a 1943 production L series and even picked up an original German holster for it this year. They're great guns, if a little weird. As others have said they look like a 1911 but have a linkless barrel and no bushing like a Hi Power, but also some unique Polish touches like the decocker and a captive recoil spring.
They're great guns - like a P38 they're needlessly big for a single stack 9mm but that makes them soft shooting and mine's accurate and reliable.
https://preview.redd.it/txul2u6tos9g1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4da66fdc72a15812de6996f6e528b340f20e347