SERVICE – Polish military, sales to Middle East, Vietnam, and East Germany. Unlicensed copy produced in China as the Type 84
A native Polish design by Piotr Wilniewczyc, the Wz63 was designed in the late 1950s when the Warsaw Pact was under the heavy thumb of the Soviet Union, which was enamored of the assault rifle (AK-47) as the basic automatic weapons of the military forces. Because of the concentration on the AK-47 style weapon in the Warsaw Pact, development of the submachinegun had fallen out of style. Very few new designed were developed and adopted within the Warsaw Pat, the Wz63 being one of them.
The basic design of the weapon was for it to be a compact, automatic weapon capable of being carried in a holster. The application of the holster-carried design was for it to be used by reconnaissance units, special forces, platoon leaders, staff officers, vehicle and artillery crews, anti-tank missile crews and applicable non-frontline units. Such troops had other duties, or operated heavy weapons, that prevented them from needing a large personal weapon such as a rifle. And a regular pistol took a lot of training time to gain the skill to apply such a weapon. The automatic fire capability of a compact weapon such as the Wz63 gave it a much higher hit probability for those situations where the specialized troops suddenly had to defend themselves. This concept was later introduced into the NATO countries as the PDW, or Personal Defense Weapon.
The basic design of the Wz63 began in 1959. It was officially adopted by Polish military forces in 1965 and soon went into full production. The Wz63 has the general appearance and size of a large automatic pistol, one with some very unusual characteristics. Instead of having an internal bolt, the Wz63 utilized the entire slide of the weapon to be the basic operational part, like a standard automatic pistol. When the trough or lip-like protrusion is sticking out from underneath the barrel, the weapon is not cocked or ready to fire. The slide has to be drawn back to cock the weapon. When cocked, the slide remains to the rear and the front trough is squared against the muzzle of the barrel. The slide may be drawn back through the use of the heavy serrations on its rear surfaces, or the front of the trough may simply be pressed against a hard surface, pushing the slide back to the fully cocked position.
When the trigger is pulled, the slide is released to move forward, strip a round from the magazine, chamber and fire it. Normal blowback forces move the slide back to the starting position. A partial pull of the trigger releases the slide once for semiautomatic fire, a full pull of the trigger releases the slide for full automatic fire. To reduce what would otherwise be an excessive rate of fire on full automatic, there is a rate-reduced in the rear of the slide. A catch raises up into the bottom of the slide as it reached the rearward-most position of its travel. A spring-loaded piston within the slide continues a rearward motion, compressing its spring. The pistol them moves forward under spring pressure and strikes the slide catch, releasing the slide for the next shot in the cycle. This rate reduced brings the cyclic rate of fire on the Wz63 down to a manageable 600 rounds per minute.
When the slide is fully forward and fires a chambered round, the protrusion under the barrel is filly forward. The muzzle blast of the fired round bear down on the trough, forcing it down against the muzzle rise from recoil and making it act as a very simple muzzle compensator. The relatively slow cyclic rate and the actions of the compensator allow the Wz63 to be effectively fired with one hand as a pistol. For additional stabilization for two-handed fire, a forward handgrip folds down from the receiver for use by the non-firing hand. Additionally, there is a compact, sliding stock that extends from the rear of the weapon with a folding flat butt plate to allow the weapon to be shoulder fired.
For carry, the Wz63 is issued with a stiff-sided canvas holster, almost a belt box from the way it is made, that carries the weapon. The weapon is very convenient to carry in the holster when it is fitted with the short magazine. A secondary pouch carries the (usual) three long magazines and simple maintenance gear. A standard thumb safety is on the left side of the weapon, above and behind the trigger.
The Wz63 was a successful weapon with between 60 and 70,000 units being produced up to production being suspended in 1977. It was unique and useful enough that an unlicensed version was produced in China as the Type 82, being reverse-engineered from specimens captured from Vietnam. There is some slight argument about the common name of the weapon. RAK translates from Polish to “Crab” or “Crayfish” but it is also generally considered to mean “Reczny Automat Komandosow” or “Commando’s Automatic Weapon.” The small size and available volume of fire of the Wz63 has also made it popular with guerilla and terrorist forces for clandestine attacks as well as Airborne and Special Warfare troops.
