Nagant wz. 30

The Nagant wz. 30 was a Polish revolver, developed in 1930 by the state-owned Fabryka Broni works in Radom as a slightly modified copy of the Nagant M1895. Compared with the Russian or Belgian models it was a little lighter and had a shorter barrel. In 1932 the sight was moved and the design was redesignated wz. 32, and between 1929 and 1935 the Radom works produced 7,166 revolvers of the two variants. The Polish Army had inherited captured Nagant revolvers after 1918 but withdrew them once it settled on the 7.92 mm cartridge, so the type became chiefly a police weapon. A poll of officers in 1927 picked the Nagant system as the State Police standard sidearm for its durability and simplicity, and the revolvers also served with the Postal Guards. They stayed in use through the 1930s, were gradually displaced by the Beretta M1934 and Walther PPK, and were carried by mobilised policemen during the German and Soviet invasions of Poland in 1939.