PM63 Rak: An Interesting Polish SMG/PDW Hybrid 

Cold War drops a new gun, Forgotten Weapons slides into my recommendations.

This guy comes up every time a gun gets added to cold war

These dual wielded in a Nevada nuclear test town aren’t that bad

Keep on creating, while dying of cancer. Polish resolve will not be questioned! Respect.

Rak also means crayfish in polish. We have a lot of weapons that are named after crustaceans, for example AHS Krab (Crab in english) tracked howitzer. So the name is less weird in that context.

I’ve actually shot one, very cool design

I'm a simple Pole. I see Ian reviewing a polish gun - I like.

It is actually used in war. Vietnam had a bunch of PM-63s which might be supplied as military aid. During the China-Vietnam borderland war, PM-63s were captured by Chinese and later copied as Type 82 Submachine Gun.

It's the MP7 before the MP7. Also my BO1 SMG of choice

It is still a common sight with Polish Postal Service valuables convoys, railway Protection Service (SOK) and with the police on a rare occasion. I'm a big fan of Your work, Ian. Keep it up, cheers :) greetings from Gdańsk, Poland

I used that mofo in 2009(!) They assigned me one, I was a medic x) Gun was primary issued to drivers, medics etc, guys that don't need bulky AKMS. Cheers.

"In theory you can do it against your leg, but I wouldn't recommend that." I'm sure that has been tried more than once....

Pair it with an M79 grenade launcher for the optimum pirate-killing combo.

Oficers are used to use pistols like TT-33, P-64, P-84 not PM-63. He was used by crews of tanks ( T-54/T-55 - 3xPM-63+AKS/AKMS [loader], T-72 - 2xPM-63 + AKMS) drivers of some wehicles like SKOT, TOPAS, BWP, BRDM, soldier opereting RPG-7 as secondary wepon, WSW(Military Police) and Special Police units.

I went to a shooting range in Budapest where I fired one of these amongst other guns like a glock, 357, 44, MP5, M4, AK and a Draganov! Was good fun!

Now featured in Warzone! It's like the algorithm works sometimes!

"Poland joined the Soviet block" - hahahahahahaha good one

Has anyone said 'Nice Rak' yet? if not, I'm claiming it.

I own a PM63 it‘s an awesome design for its time periode. It‘s very controllable in fullauto and also single shots are easy to perform and even with the fact that it fires from a open bolt, it‘s very accurate

@ForgottenWeapons "That went nowhere, they've built around 20 prototypes" and I'm pretty sure you will soon have like 5 of them in front of you at once soon.

Hi Ian, Love your work. I'm retired Polish special forces lieutenant as well as a son of a special forces major. I have shoot the RAK on hundreds of occasions but my father was actually using it in Golan Heights mission. We called it a toothbreaker because of the slide and its a bit on the heavy side but it is a surprisingly good gun.

I was on a Polish air base recently, and the gate guards were equipped with these. It was quite neat to see in person.

When in late 1980s or early 1990s (very ear;y, it was still in USSR) I saw in a pop-sci / technology magazine for youth a drawing of several SMGs (IIRC, others were Tompson, MP40, M3 etc), including PM63, this one definitely was the most unusual and eye catching.

everytime cold war adds a gun i get these recommended

I loved using this gun in BO1

My dad used this while working with tanks! Thanks Ian!

It's a fun gun to shoot, very controllable in a full auto. Some commercial shooting ranges in Poland have them.

"After Poland joined the Soviet bloc"...that's like saying India "joined" the British Empire...Annexation

Rak is also means Crayfish in Polish.

There's a pretty common joke, that Rak is world's only SMG, which comes with bayonet by default.

I've actually had the pleasure to shoot one of these, and while the slide didn't hit me in the face it did lightly tap my glasses on the first burst. I quickly adjusted my face position. Yes, watching that slide slam back towards your face is a bit unnerving

When I see this weapon, I think of the Soviet general in Rambo III shoving this into Col. Truatman’s lower jaw. “I’ve tried to be civilized.”

MAC did a collab with Ian a few years ago in Las Vegas. They were at Littlefield Vegas and were able to film inside the armory. Ian chose this very weapon to shoot.

It's really cool finally see the pm 63 on here. My father served in Poland during the cold war and his stories are where I first learned about this gun.

I can imagine the conversation that took place prior to the development of this thing: Desinger's friend: You know, Poland's weird. Why did we put wings on our damn cavalry? i don't think we can do anything more bizarre than that! Designer:HOLD MY PIVO!

My Dad used one of this in the Polish Army in the 80's, he was a driver for an armored vehicle (BRDM 2) and he said it pretty much sucked to shoot. But still I was really excited to see you make a video of this! Please more Guns from Poland! Like the Błyskawica !

RAK- cancer, lobster or ręczny automat komandosow ( cant event translet or even interpratete but the best meaning is : hand-operated smg for commando/spe. units )

I've tried the semi-auto variant and it's a great PDW. Very controllable in rapid fire, very accurate despite the terrible sights, pretty light for a carbine, not that much bigger than an M17 (for example). It's not without its faults, but I enjoyed it way much than its competition (eg the vz61 or the Beretta 93R).

Hi Ian, now that you are "talking Polish" maybe IS a good time to talk about the "Polish home army" weapons ... We would surely appreciate/LOVE a good special about the Blyskawica... Greetings from Málaga, Spain

The RAK is may favorite of all the firearms I've fired I found the deflector helped quite a lot such a neat little gun.

A polish friend of mine who's grandfather was issued one of these says that RAK stands for " Ręczny Automat Komandosa" or "Commandoe's Automatic Weapon"

Saw this gun in Rambo III. Awesome video. Thanks for the detailed run through!

Rak has two meanings: 1 crawfish 2 cancer (either as a constellation or sickness) My uncle had one issued when he served as a tanker. He told me he couldn't hit nothing with that thing no matter how hard he tried.

I always loved this thing, it's just so unique and cool.

Yes, RAK has in Polish at least three meanings; "cancer", connstellation of Cancer and crawfish. It was made also as abbreviation from Ręczny Automat Komandosów - which literally means Hand Automatic (gun) (for) Commandos. ;) Piotr Wilniewczyc is exactly the same person, which made desing of famous wz. 35 ViS pistol - he is a "letter S" in the name of it. ;)

My grandfather was issued one while he was in the Polish-Soviet military, and they were told not to use the sights, and only use the gun from the hip, not just because the slide could hit him in the face, but the gun was actually designed for hip fire/spray and pray purposes, or as a speed draw type gun, unlike the AKMs that were issued, as they were more difficult to aim quickly in an unexpected “attack”.

Dammit I'm awake at this hour again, at least this is a lot cooler than a hand guard

I got the video recommended before the Amp comes out in warzone

2:27 "After Poland *JOINED* the soviet block". Bit triggered, must say. But great job, as always

I swear to god every time a new cold war weapon drops out there is a video from this guy reviewing it in real life

Everytime a cold war weapon gets added this youtuber shows up in my feed

My father, who was polish army officer told me, that RAK goes from Ręczny Automat Komandosów, which can be translated as Handheld Commando Automatic Weapon. RAK's had bad habbit of shooting because of shock, so jumping from the truck, with gun facing ground could end with discharge.

I have one. Compared to, for example, UZI, this machine gun is super light and comfortable. I have Uzi too, and for me it is simply too heavy and too big for 9mm. RAK is almost "elegant". Light, small, accurate.

There is also a legend that RAK stands for polish commando’s automatic pistol or dentist.

Ian, thank you for presenting polish home grown guns. I wonder when you will get to present the MSBS in its various configurations (regular/bulpup) Thanks anyway!

"After Poland Was forced against its will into the soviet block for the convenience of British and American Politicians" I think is what you meant.

Well Rak in Polish army is also known for cutting fingers. This "protector" can easly work as cutter. There were situations, when soldiers would cock Rak one-handed, by pushing the spoon in front to their leg. Due to not fully cocking gun, it couse missfire. Aditional thing is the slide, which sometimes punch shooter in the face, so some people call Rak the Dentist due to lost teeth after punch in the face 😉 most popular myth about Rak is the name it stands for, a lot od people says it stands for "Ręczny automat komandosa" which is wrong. The main constructor who was working on developing this gun died before finishing it. He died of cancer (Rak can be translated as cancer) also a lot of military equipment in Polish army is called by names of animalas.

2:26 "Joined" is an incorrect term, we were literally under Soviet Union control.

Looks like we are all being recommended this now that it’s coming to BOCW/warzone

The point is that at that time Polish Army was looking for a specific personal gun for auxilary units, mostly drivers, cooks , tank crew and so on .Easy to handle, with pretty shooting power and constructors just replied to the demand :) The so called ,by narrator" spoon" was used to unlock the gun by knocking the spoon to any hard object :) by one hand in case of the other being useless :)

Okay. I found the real life inspiration for PDW in my sci-fi novel. . This gun is perfect to model sci-fi weapon on. Thanks @Ian

Im waiting for the c58 and the mg82 and the nailgun to be recommended

One of my favorite firearms of all time!

Cold War: drops new weapon RU-vid recommendations: here, have a 1-10 year old video about it

Its Friday. Must mean a shooting video tomorrow.

Between the feed lip/ejector combo, the sear, the rate reducer, and the overall weirdness of the design, this has to be one of the best guns you've reviewed.

Id really like to see the spiritual succesor to the 63- the pm84 glauberyt, which is strictly superior. Nowdays it's valued so much the price is triple the price of the uzi.

"After Poland joined the Soviet block" - Nice one mate, we were forced under threat of killing to join them.

When Ian gets to 14:36 , "or in the hands of terrorists groups..." Well yeah, I distinctly remember the Baroness, Destro, and early Cobra Commander all rolling heavy with a Rak, circa '84-'86 graphic novels. Pretty sure this gun is directly responsible for launching my love for all things PDW/machine pistol. What's funny is how much this looks like a MakoGroup Glock "carbine" configuration, only in steel instead of polymers. Almost identical tactical principles, by the way. Compared to its contemporaries, like the Skorpion, the Barretta 93, the VP70, and Stechkin, it appears the Rak is the much better gun all things considered. High volume of fire, small profile, user friendly(ish), and mostly designed by Polish John Browning... DOBZE' DOBZE'

I'm in service and now we have PM-84 Glauberyt SMG's but i had occasion to fire this gun (my friend owns one) and it's one of the most comfortable smg's i had to deal with. Greetings from Poland and thx for this vid! ;)

In BOCW this is under the pistol section. Very fun to use against hordes of zombies.

There's a kid's poem about a crayfish (rak in polish) that's known propably by every native polish speaker. It basically says there goes poor wretch crayfish -sometimes forward, sometimes back. There goes poor wretch crayfish - if it pinches you - it'll leave a mark. It's sounds way better in polish: "Idzie rak nieborak Czasem naprzód, czasem wspak Idzie rak nieborak Jak uszczypnie, będzie znak"

I also heard the (impropper) explanation that RAK is an acronym for "Ręczny Automat Komandosa" (Commandos' Automatic Firearm)

This is by far my favorite 'weird combloc' gun. Glad it finally got a video. I wish we could get these in proper full auto easier.

I saw one of these in Umbrella Academy:Season 2 and had to go digging through Forgotten Weapons because I knew I saw it there. They had an assassin using it in America in 1963 which would have been very difficult to acquire. But the assassin was also a mute, time traveler who didn't seem feel pain and was taking orders from a talking goldfish.

Love your work Ian. Always so much to get to know. One thing to clarify on side. It felt weird when said Poland joined Soviet block. More likely it was joined or pushed. But history is what it is. Good job!

Anyone else get suggested this just before it's released to cold war??

This was my favorite SMG in Black Ops 1. I remember back when it first came out i googled it but found scant information on it online. Now here I am replaying BO1 and I find that Ian did a video on it three years ago

Looks like a more complex scorpion. Even have the spring loaded reducer. Very cool gun, but I think is not a coincidence that the scorpion became more popular.

Every time a new gun in cold war comes out, I get to see a video by YOU! I love it

Nice! As a big fan of this gun and owner of deko one, I'm very satisfied)

That lever and those weights in the back slowing down the slide is really cool and a clever way of reducing cyclic rate. Strange thing, weird to think that its from the early 60s. Taking a look at it, I'd guess its an 80s or even 90s Warsaw block design. It looks to be about as old as those late soviet and early Russian federation sub-machine guns like the pp-2000, Bizon etc. Not often you see a vertical grip on a 60s design.

You can be a bass ackwards SMG that slams Ian's range goggles and spits lead in his face and he's still polite enough to call you "Interesting"

One of the coolest on screen SMG/PDW guns IMO, seen in Rambo 3, and Delta Force

At least it has a shoulder stock, of sorts. It doesn't look particularly comfortable, and there's basically no cheek-weld, but that's a plus over the Jati-Matic.

Love this gun, surprisingly easy to control in full auto, even for a 9x18 Makarov which usually doesn’t kick all that much

i remember many broken cheekbones from my army times . This pistol is a nightmare for recruits

I wolud like to say that i work with a person that was in the Polish Army (10.Pułk Artylerii Mieszanej w Kędzierzynie-Koźlu) and was hurt by the PM63 Rak. His eye wasn't damaged, but he had a black eye ( His commander didnt warned him about the slide ). In his unit this weapon was distrusted and shot mainly as a pistol.

The feed lip/ejector is an interesting idea but it looks a bit flimsy. The slo-mo of the rate reducer working is awesome!

Just for the recond, mr Ian. There never was any "joining" soviets. Nobody ever "joined" them. Some of us are a bit sensitive on that matter. Other than this, your work is great. Keep up with it.

Also this version of gun it's China version (get during conflict with the USSR). China modified original PM, they added cover at barrel and change lock work. A more practical version, but still it's dangerous in use.

My favorite type of Forgotten Weapon episode: the gun is probably garbage, but has a fascinating development history, service history, mechanical design, and completely unique form-is-function looks.

One important correction. Poland NEVER joined the Soviet block!!!! NEVER!! We were invaded by the Soviets and betraded by western countires.

Folded in that thing looks like something Robocop would shoot and I am immediately in love with it.

There's a ton of kits out there for these, but it's quite difficult to properly convert them to semi-auto. A company called Pioneer Arms tried, and did make some, but they are not highly regarded for quality, and they were sold by Classic Firearms who I couldn't say enough bad things about.

The cycle rate reduction methods I find interesting. This gun is a good example. Thanks for another great video.

Another nickname they had for this was wybijacz zębów / Teeth knocker - I dont think I need to explain why

May not work in a warzone, but chuck one in a good ol' Pack-A-Punch machine and you're golden against the undead~

One correction. Poland never 'joined' the soviet block. We were sold out at The Yalta Conference by USA and England...

Slide bolt combo looks like a great idea on something like a 2 pounder, not so good next to your face. The immediate thought that came to mind when the name was mentioned was "Cancer might not get you straight away but will in the end. Much like that bolt and cocking procedure..."