FB P-64

History

Poland was under communist rule from 1945 to 1989, and despite Soviet influence, Poles maintained a largely independent small arms defense industry, producing several notable Cold War-era weapons , including the FB PM-63 submachine gun (see details elsewhere on this site) and the FB PM-64 semi-automatic service pistol - the latter being the focus of this article. The development of the pistol began in the second half of the 1950s at the Artillery Institute and ended with the introduction of the P-64 in 1965.

It was produced by the legacy group FB Radom (Lucznik Arms Factory, Radom) and until today (2018), the collection will still be found worldwide.

The weapon is designed to use the Soviet 9x18mm Makarov pistol cartridge - the eastern counterpart is the western German 9x19mm Parabellum pistol cartridge. Six rounds are loaded in a spring-loaded magazine at the bottom of the grip. The slider covers the entire upper part of the frame in the usual way, and the trigger is curved while being protected by a half-thick ring. Internally, the action revolves around the recoil principle (double action trigger mechanism).

A rear notch and front blade are used for aiming and have an effective range of up to 50 yards. Bullets are fired at an initial velocity of 1,000 feet per second.

The origins of the P-64 began in 1958, when the Polish military was looking for a state-of-the-art replacement for the Soviet 7.62mm TT semi-automatic rifle for its various services. Within a few years, an official competition was designed and launched, and two pistol shapes, the "Model M", were introduced. Both the 38 ACP and the 9x18mm Makarov long tube "Type W" are rated. Both have six ready-to-fire cartridges in the magazine and are more or less traditional semi-automatic pistols.

The competition began in 1961 and resulted in the selection of the 38 ACP frame - although it was eventually redesigned to fire the ubiquitous 9x18mm Makarov cartridge and several other required modifications were implemented, to create a more service-oriented pistol.

The P-64 had a healthy service life at the time and was also used abroad - the type was used by the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). With the fall of Communism and the opening of relations with the West, the pistol found its way into the hands of private American collectors.

In 2008, the Polish Armed Forces adopted the WIST-94 NATO standard semi-automatic pistol after its integration into NATO, donating about 1,000 to the Lebanese Army.

During its life cycle, there were some attempts to improve the production line: the P-70 was a 1972 prototype (with a 14-round magazine), and the P-75 was a proposed 1976 model. In 1978, the P-78 was offered to Polish police and security forces with a 12-round modular trigger unit capability, but this proposed form lost out to competitors.

In its heyday, the P-64 was always confused with the Sidwalther PKK pistol (described in detail elsewhere on this page). It is also known as "Polish Makarov" due to some systematic similarities between the two. It is still widely used today (2018), although it is no longer actively manufactured.

Specification

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Changes