Karabin maszynowy obserwatora wz.37
Encyclopedia
The karabin maszynowy obserwatora wz.37 (Polish for "observers machine gun") is a Polish
version of the Browning wz.1928
. It was a flexible machine gun used in the some Polish airplanes in the beginning of World War II
.
. The changes included rising theoretical rate of fire to 1100 rds/min, eliminating buttstock, adding spade grip in the rear of receiver, moving the main spring under barrel and most importantly changing the feed system. Keeping the 20 rds box magazine was impossible in the gun firing so fast. The solution was found in developing feeding mechanism, which was added as a pack to standard receiver. It contained a spring-loaded lever, which pressed by the lock during locking would grab a round from 91 rds pan magazine located over receiver and force the round into feed line during unlocking.
The weapon is world's only specialised aerial flexible machine gun based closely on M1918
.
The wz.37 was dubbed "Szczeniak" (Polish for pup) due to its lightness and compactness compared with previously used Vickers E and Vickers F machine guns. The wz.37 was used mostly in Polish PZL.37 Łoś bombers.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
version of the Browning wz.1928
Browning wz.1928
The Browning wz.1928 is a Polish version of the M1918 BAR. It was a light machine gun used by the Poles in World War II.-History:After Poland regained its independence in 1918, the Polish Army was equipped in all sorts of machine guns inherited after the armed forces of the partitioners, as well as...
. It was a flexible machine gun used in the some Polish airplanes in the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
History
In mid 1930s Polish small arms designer Wawrzyniec Lewandowski was charged with developing a flexible gun based on Browning wz.1928Browning wz.1928
The Browning wz.1928 is a Polish version of the M1918 BAR. It was a light machine gun used by the Poles in World War II.-History:After Poland regained its independence in 1918, the Polish Army was equipped in all sorts of machine guns inherited after the armed forces of the partitioners, as well as...
. The changes included rising theoretical rate of fire to 1100 rds/min, eliminating buttstock, adding spade grip in the rear of receiver, moving the main spring under barrel and most importantly changing the feed system. Keeping the 20 rds box magazine was impossible in the gun firing so fast. The solution was found in developing feeding mechanism, which was added as a pack to standard receiver. It contained a spring-loaded lever, which pressed by the lock during locking would grab a round from 91 rds pan magazine located over receiver and force the round into feed line during unlocking.
The weapon is world's only specialised aerial flexible machine gun based closely on M1918
M1918
Under the old Model-year nomenclature system many different Pieces of equipment had the same Model number.* M114 155 mm howitzer* M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle* M1918 light repair truck* 3-inch Gun M1918* Ford 3-Ton M1918* M1918 trailer, 10-Ton, a tank hauler...
.
The wz.37 was dubbed "Szczeniak" (Polish for pup) due to its lightness and compactness compared with previously used Vickers E and Vickers F machine guns. The wz.37 was used mostly in Polish PZL.37 Łoś bombers.