Today we’re looking at VIS Radom: A Study and Photographic Album of Poland’s Finest Pistol, by William J. York. The Radom is not a as well known as other pistols of the era (like the 1911, Browning High-Power, or Walther P38), but is an excellent gun and has a devoted following. It is also one of those pistols that would up being used on all sides of a conflict – in this case by the Polish Army, the German Wehrmacht, and the Polish underground resistance.
William York’s recently published book is a wealth of information on the Radom, and a must for anyone seriously interested in the history and evolution of this pistol.
Despite its quality, we are pretty sure this book will fall out of print relatively quickly, simply because the audience for such a specialized book is small. So if this is something that interests you, we recommend picking up a copy now while it’s still available new. Once the printing is sold out, the price will take a nice jump up.
Thanks for the review, Ian. Very informative, as always – I have been following the activities of this small publishing house with great interest and this might well be the first book I will order from them. By the way, the Rashid carbine was a nice touch; I’d love to see a full video feature on this handy 7,62×39 Ljungmann!
Besides the Hi Power, the Radom was probably the best handgun of the late 1930s.
That’s very true Nathaniel – interestingly, the Czechoslovak gun industry failed to produce something similar in the same time frame, maybe because they clung stubbornly to their own designs instead of playing with Browning’s (just think of their Cz 38)…
I apologize for my English. I have showed the book to 92 years old veteran of Polish Underground Army. He said me that he had and had used for fight, Polish version of VIS from 1942 to 1944, and next, during the Warsaw Uprising, German version. According to his assesment, the Polish version was better than the German one. He borrow the book from me and had showed it to a few his fellow veterans. All of them were delighted, because in Poland VIS (without RADOM – it is adjective only for foreigners) is the same legend as for example Colt in US or Nagant in Russia. In Poland we haven’t got such complex own book in Polish on VIS.
Great Review Ian, I ordered my copy this week as a resul of your recommendation. Would be very keen to see an actual review on the pistol itself, any plans to do so?
Thanks, Chris – we do have a Radom in the collection, and will do a video on it in the future.