The previous thread got pretty long, so this will start a new one, same basic subject.
Yesterday, I bought William J. York's book VIS Radom, A Study and Photographic Album of Poland's Finest Pistol.
It does not answer all the questions raised in the previous discussion but some are addressed. One is the question of what was made at Radom in the war years. According to the book, complete pistols were made except for the barrels. For security reasons, all wartime Radom barrels were made at Steyr. The parts "kits" (York's term) with numbered parts, were shipped from Radom to Steyr for assembly and proof/acceptance. This not only put a damper on the theft of guns from the factory but was a security measure during shipment as any guerilla forces intercepting a shipment would not have functional pistols. While this was inefficient, I can see that security was more important than inconvenience under the circumstances.
He also addresses the role of the Znaim facility, though with less detail since there seems little information available. He hints at, but apparently could not confirm, that the Radom tooling and machinery were evacuated not to Steyr itself but to the factory at Znaim. He does reproduce German documents spelling out the hair-tearing that went on as Znaim managers, pressed for production of thousands of "kits", found critical machines missing, and the unskilled labor nearly useless.
He still seems to believe that "77" was at Radom in those years; I plan to write the publisher and see if the author will comment further.
There is considerably more of interest. There are some failings, not counting a couple of inconsequential typographic errors. He provides photos of German and Polish language documents (including the original patent 15567) but translates only excerpts of most documents and no translation at all for the patent document.
Is the book worthwhile? Yes, for anyone interested in those pistols, it is, and I recommend it. Like most worthwhile books, it is not cheap ($60) but writers who do extensive research should be rewarded for their efforts.
Jim
Yesterday, I bought William J. York's book VIS Radom, A Study and Photographic Album of Poland's Finest Pistol.
It does not answer all the questions raised in the previous discussion but some are addressed. One is the question of what was made at Radom in the war years. According to the book, complete pistols were made except for the barrels. For security reasons, all wartime Radom barrels were made at Steyr. The parts "kits" (York's term) with numbered parts, were shipped from Radom to Steyr for assembly and proof/acceptance. This not only put a damper on the theft of guns from the factory but was a security measure during shipment as any guerilla forces intercepting a shipment would not have functional pistols. While this was inefficient, I can see that security was more important than inconvenience under the circumstances.
He also addresses the role of the Znaim facility, though with less detail since there seems little information available. He hints at, but apparently could not confirm, that the Radom tooling and machinery were evacuated not to Steyr itself but to the factory at Znaim. He does reproduce German documents spelling out the hair-tearing that went on as Znaim managers, pressed for production of thousands of "kits", found critical machines missing, and the unskilled labor nearly useless.
He still seems to believe that "77" was at Radom in those years; I plan to write the publisher and see if the author will comment further.
There is considerably more of interest. There are some failings, not counting a couple of inconsequential typographic errors. He provides photos of German and Polish language documents (including the original patent 15567) but translates only excerpts of most documents and no translation at all for the patent document.
Is the book worthwhile? Yes, for anyone interested in those pistols, it is, and I recommend it. Like most worthwhile books, it is not cheap ($60) but writers who do extensive research should be rewarded for their efforts.
Jim
