Bechowiec: Polish Teenager Makes a Resistance SMG
https://utreon.com/c/forgottenweapons/
http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
http://www.floatplane.com/channel/ForgottenWeapons
Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.forgottenweapons.com
The Bechowiec (or Beha) is a fascinating SMG produced in small numbers in southern Poland under German occupation during World War Two. It was made for use by the Bataliony Chłopskie (Peasant Battalions) by a young man named Henryk Strąpoć.
Henryk built his first (quite illegal) gun at the age of 15 in 1937, and was promptly arrested for it. He avoided prison only on account of being a minor, and promised not to do it again. Well, at least he promised not to get caught again - he built three more guns (two semiauto pistols and a revolver) by the time Germany invaded Poland in 1939. During the occupation he joined the the resistance and set to work doing what he must have fantasized about; building clandestine small arms.
Being more or less familiar with pistols but having never handled a submachine gun, he made some creative design choices. His SMG is basically a scaled-up Ruby-type action - chambered for 9x19mm with a simple blowback slide, it is hammer fired from a closed bolt. He designed a complex but effective selective-fire trigger system, complete with a correct auto sear. The first gun was ready in the spring of 1943, and he had a makeshift production going by early 1944. A total of 11 of the guns were made by July 1944, some in 9mm (using bored-out WW1 Mauser barrels) and some in 7.62x25mm Tokarev (using Mosin Nagant barrels).
Only one example survives today, and it is housed in the Polish Army Museum (and sadly, deactivated). Many thanks to the Museum for giving me access to film it for you! Check them out at: http://www.muzeumwp.pl/?language=EN
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N. Oracle 36270
Tucson, AZ 85740
-
7:09
Forgotten Weapons
1 year agoPolish and German Police Silenced CZ-27 Pistols
4591 -
15:25
Forgotten Weapons
1 year agoProject Lantan: Poland Designs a Modular AK in 7x41mm
5882 -
20:45
Gun reviews and range fun
5 months agoPolish P64 Makarov 9x18 (9mm) ...The Poor Man's PPK
98 -
5:22
World Of Weapons
2 months agoFN P90 🇧🇪 Belgian ingenuity at the service of defence
57 -
3:16:38
TalkingLead
5 months agoThe AK-47 From Radom, Poland - Pioneer Arms Corp
283 -
0:59
Cav Trooper 19D
11 months agoRussian AK74 , Molot RPK74M , Russian AK47 🤩🫡 #asmr #ak #akm #callofduty #pubg #escapefromtarkov
90 -
5:02
ButwhatdoIknow
1 year agoRevenge of the Sccy - Finally Got a Sccy DVG-1 That Works! (Part 2)
301 -
18:11
Print Shoot Repeat
1 year agoThe Slovenian Glock
1.97K6 -
5:29
Machine Gun Dad
6 months agoI Have this gun on my wall. WW2 Polish (Nazi) Radom Pistol Type 2
74 -
2:38
World Of Weapons
2 months agoPPSh-41 🇷🇺 The Roar of the Red Army
30