There is a Polish VIS 35 coming up for auction locally, and I'm thinking of buying it and transferring it to my Polish-born friend who has developed a new interest in firearms. I got him started off right - his first pistol is a very nice 5904. He's out of the country building schools in Uganda for the next month.

I have no idea what the values are on these things. This looks to be a good 70%, most of the finish is still there. It appears to be made after the occupation, but not toward the end of production or German assembly. It has some German stampings on the slide, but still has the take-down lever at the left rear.

Opinions?

I looked at the one for sale locally. It does not have the safety, but it has the lever on the slide. I would call the finish rough and it has 80-85% finish. It comes with 2 mags and the posted price is $600. I think it could be bought for $500 otd.

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Luke 22:36

These guns never had a "safety"! Just the grip safety. The lever on the slide is just a hammer-dropper, not a full function normal safety. The item that appears to be a safety on a Colt is just a lever to lock the slide open during takedown.

There's early and late 1st , 2nd and 3rd models. The pre-war Polish Eagles are simply exquisite. They are like pre-war Colts in fit & finish. They had cut-outs for shoulder stocks , but I have never seen an original stick. Early Nazi occupation guns were the same , but were marked with Waffenamts.

The most commonly encountered second models had different markings and fit/finish went the same way their war effort did. Started out decent , but got rough.

Oddly enough , rough , often unmarked (late) third models which had the takedown lever deleted and had really odd wood grips can bring far more money than a nice second model , because there were far less of them.

I've got two , both bought at auction. Both are later 2nd models. They're still great shooters. Prices are on the rise though. If ya get one , put a fresh set of springs in it before shooting.

Be sure to check out Paladins thread shown below.

Might your brown holster be for a Browning HP-35? Looks like it to me. The Radom holster is distinctly different, and all that I've seen were black, although I haven't seen all of them, to be sure. I'm not an advanced collector of such items, but have seen and handled many. And read quite bit about Axis pistols...

BTW, I believe the F B marking on Radom grips means "Fabrika Bronika." (sp?) I like the brown grips on your upper pistol. Don't see those a lot, compared to black ones. All the wooden ones that I've seen were the crude, grooved, late type. Has anyone here ever seen ORIGINAL good wooden Radom grips?
I've seen no reference that they were made. Normal, checkered ones, I mean.

Here's the two pictures I have of the one to be auctioned.

Can you tell from this if it's a 1st or 2nd gen model ?

Attached Images

	VIS_1.jpg (128.1 KB, 222 views)
	VIS_2.jpg (108.4 KB, 150 views)

My dad brought one of these FB Radoms, a Walther P-38, and a 1913 Luger home from Germany in 1945. The info on the FB Radom was outstanding! I now have to go to my gun cabinet and dig it out as I believe it was a post German occupation edition. Excellent condition w/ holster. Not for sale but SO interested in trying to dig and discover the pistols origin. I know how it came into dads possession. I've fired the luger, but never the FB Radom (VIS). Thanks for the info

A friend of mine inherited one from his dad. His dad was in the Army in WW II and liberated it from a German officer. The officer for some reason thought it would be a good idea to try to draw the weapon and my friend's dad convinced him it wasn't by hitting his face with the butt of his rifle.

It's in excellent condition and fun to shoot. It was about as accurate (in my hands) as my 6906 was. My impression was of a very well made WW II era semi automatic.

As I recall the holster was brown, but it's been a few months since I've seen it.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Brown holsters are certainly possible. All that I've seen were black. They're pretty distinctive, if you see one in wartime photos.

BTW, when I was a young teen, Mother had a workman in to do some sort of repairs, I think electrical. We got to talking, and it turned out he was a crewman on a Sherman tank in Europe in WWII. He said the crew wore their .45's openly, but that most also wore captured German pistols concealed. The reason was twofold: one is that a visiting officer might object to them having non-issued pistols. The other reason was if a German sniper saw a German pistol on their belt, he might shoot them in preference to a soldier not so armed. Made sense.They were in and out of the tanks a lot when a sniper could have had a go at them.

He confirmed what I'd read about Allied tank crews greatly fearing the heavier, better armed Panther and Tiger tanks of the enemy.

A high school classmate of mine had a Radom M-35. I think he paid $17.50 for it in a gun shop back when Lugers went for maybe $30. Yes, a parent had to sign the purchase papers, as when my mother or an aunt (I forgot which; both were with me that day) officially bought my Webley MK VI when I was 13. I think it cost the lofty sum of about $15. Of course, money was worth more then, and surplus guns were a glut on the market.

The boy who owned the Radom also had a DEWAT Lewis light machinegun as well as other firearms handed down in his family and his modern guns. No one recoiled in horror about teens with guns in our social circle. One guy even brought Civil War guns to his history class for show and tell.

They are a well made pistol............well worth the price if in the ball park.

My "Black" Radom had the Black holster, two clips and a second barrel.

Good luck.