Posted: 3/8/2007 4:15:35 AM EDT
| I had a chance to handle one of these last weekend. Very interesting little pistol if I do say so. It belonged to a WW2 veteran who brought it back from Europe. It was made before the German occupation of Poland so it was one of the high-quality pieces. Stamped with the Polish eagle even. If you don't know what the P-35 looks like, it's sort of a cross between a 1911 and a Hi-Power. In short, it's a single stack 9mm with a slide mounted decocker, no external safety, no barrel bushing or recoil spring plug. You can see a parts breakdown here. Many of the parts look identical to a 1911's. What looks like a thumb safety is really just a catch to hold the slide back while you take out the slide stop lever to begin field stripping. It was a totally utilitarian design. I wouldn't trade a WW2 era 1911 for one, but it would be a neat piece to have around. MJD |