Kbk wz. 1929

Karabinek wz.29
Type	Service rifle
Place of origin	Poland
Service history
In service	1930 to 1945
Used by	Poland Nazi Germany Second Spanish Republic
Wars	Spanish Civil War, World War II
Production history
Designed	1929
Produced	1930 to 1939
Number built	264,000
Variants	none
Specifications
Weight	4.0 kg (8.8 lb)
Length	1,100 mm (43 in)
Barrel length	600 mm
Cartridge	8x57mm IS
Caliber	7.9 mm
Action	Bolt-Action
Rate of fire	approx 15 round/min
Muzzle velocity	745 m/s (2,440 ft/s)
Feed system	5 rounds internal box

The Karabinek wz.29 (Kbk wz.29) - (Polish: carbine model 29) was a Polish bolt-action short rifle based on the German Kar98AZ. Identifying attributes include a 98/05 style mast bayonet lug ending directly beneath the front sight, and winged protective ears to either side of the front sight blade. Cavalry models featured a turned-down bolt handle, and early versions had a stacking hook near the end of the stock on the right side.

Design History

After regaining independence, the Polish Army were armed with Russian rifles (Mosin), Austrian (mainly Mannlicher M1895) and German (Mauser M1898) Along with the Blue Army soldiers French rifles appeared (Berthier and Lebel). The guns were placed in the United Kingdom (Lee Enfield) and Japanese (Arisaka)

As a result, at the end of Polish-Soviet War in 1921 the Polish army was armed at the approximately 24 types of guns and 22 rifles firing different ammunition. Since such a combination of design and supply of weapons impede training, has since 1919 carried out work on the choice of one type of rifle. Finally, after the award of the Council of Ambassadors to Poland by the Gdansk branch plants Mauser, was admitted to the Military Rifle Gew98 (German version of the Mauser wz.98) as wz.98. Machinery factory in Gdansk to Warsaw to the newly created National Rifle Factory. Production at new plants started in July 1922.

Two years later production rifles wz.98 stopped. Analysis of the Experiences of World War I and the Polish-Bolshevik war made the military decided to put in place a rifle gun. The basis for its development became a German Kar98a (Kar98AZ). Polish rifle wz.98 differed from him only a minor technical details.

Operation wz.98 rifle units showed that infantry weapons in the weapon was originally proposed for the gunners and sappers is not a good solution. The greatest flaw was weak in the bayonet mount rifle wz.98 (kbk difficult to use in melee combat, bayonets are often departed from the nest when faced with hard objects such as bones) and the excessive recoil (insufficient weight). Therefore it was decided to develop a new model with features intermediate weapon between the gun and the hook (so-called short gun).

Construction works were completed in 1929. The new rifle had wz.29 vehicle based on the rifle wz.98. The new bed was shortened, the anvil (the grandmother) to cutting the lock on the flask and ground wz.29 bayonet and barrel to a new alloy and reinforced wytrzymalszego castle chamber of the fixing barrel and locking latch. It also introduces a number of minor design changes in certain parts of the lock, allowing increased dimensional tolerance (kbk wz.29 all parts are fully interchangeable.) There were two versions of the rifle, the lock handle infantry and cavalry of the simple lock with handle folded down.

Production of new weapons was launched in 1930 at the National Arms Factory in Radom. In Warsaw Armory No. 2 was rebuilt as a standard feature of kbk kbk wz.29 wz.98. Despite starting in 1936 wz.98a production of rifles, carbines wz.29 production continued until September 1939. Produced a total of approximately 264 000 kbk wz.29 (including a large part of export - no signs wz.29 factories, mines sold. To Spain and Afghanistan).

During the September campaign kbk wz.29 arms were comparable with the German Karabiner 98k. After the war, the defense they were armed guerrillas. Acquired copies wz.29 rifle were also taken to arms by the Wehrmacht as the Gewehr 298 (p).

Technical Overview

Carbine wz.29 was a bolt-action rifle, with typical Mauser-action lock, with two large main lugs at the bolt head and a third safety lug at the rear of the it. Ammunition was supplied from a fixed, two-row box magazine holding five rounds. A three-position safety catch was attached at the rear of the bolt, securing firing pin. The sights consisted of an open post type front sight, and a tangent-type rear sight with a V-shaped rear notch; the rear sight was rear tangent sight was graduated 100 to 2000 meters at 100 meters intervals. The weapon was equipped with a knife-type bayonet wz.29.

Bibliography

Zbigniew Nail, Piotr Zarzycki, the Polish construction arms, SIGMA NOT 1993. ISBN 83-85001-69-7 Roman Matuszewski, Ireneusz J. Wojciechowski, TBiU no. 91 Mauser rifle wz. 1898, WMON 1983. ISBN 83-11-06993-X Instruction on infantry weapons, carbine Polish wz. 29, Publisher of Military Bookshop Min Spr. Prov 1928