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Radom Vis 35

• moderate
• Shop tier 2
• medium confidence
• Pistol
• single action
• decocker
• grip safety
• surplus
• historic
• collectible

field strip ~3 min · reassembly ~4 min · detail strip ~30 min

Specifications

Model-specific safety

• The lever on the slide that looks like a manual safety is a DECOCKER, not a safety. Operating it lowers the hammer on a chambered round. The Vis has no slide-mounted manual safety in the conventional sense — the frame lever is a takedown catch.
• Confusing the decocker for a safety is the characteristic mistake with this pistol. Learn its controls before handling it.
• The frame catch above the grip is the takedown lever, which holds the slide for disassembly. It is not a safety either.
• The recoil spring is under tension when the slide comes off.
• Surplus ammunition of this era is frequently corrosively primed. Clean with a water-based solvent the same day you shoot.
• Newly imported pistols are often packed in cosmoline including the firing pin channel. Clean it out and reinstall the firing pin dry — a pin held forward by congealed grease causes slam fires.
• Wartime German-occupation production (P.35(p)) declined in quality over time, with late examples omitting features. Inspect any example carefully.

Under spring tension

• Recoil spring and guide
• Hammer spring
• Magazine spring

Easily lost parts

Slide stop · Takedown catch · Recoil spring and guide

Tools

No tools required for the field strip.

Shop difficulty

Shop tier 2 Tier 2 — moderate among pistols, for the full job: strip to the parts that get coated and put it back together working. 40 parts on a Hi-Power-type action with a grip safety and a hammer-lowering (decocking) catch added; captive recoil spring helps, but the slide stop needs the guide rod pulled forward or force (and scratches), the barrel needs wiggling into the slide, and the frame carries mainspring housing, grip safety and decocker springs.

Parts: 40 numbered parts (complete pistol per the American Rifleman 'Exploded View: Vis 35 Radom Pistol' parts legend (keys 1-40); magazine is a single key (19), not broken down; only the left-hand grip (22) is keyed), from Exploded View: Vis 35 'Radom' Pistol (downloadable exploded view, American Rifleman, August 2016, p. 73) — NRA / American Rifleman, p. 73 americanrifleman.org [3].

Bench time: about 30 min to strip, 45 min to rebuild (estimate). Slide (firing pin plate, firing pin, extractor, decocking lever and spring, rear sight) and frame (mainspring housing, grip safety, hammer, sear/disconnector, trigger, magazine catch, takedown latch); rebuild longer for the mainspring housing and decocker spring.

Small parts: 6 pins, 7 springs, 0 detents or plungers (counted by name in the same list: pins = 9 hammer strut pin, 17 main spring retainer pin, 20 main spring housing pin, 25 sear and disconnector pin, 26 hammer pin, 31 spring guide retainer pin; springs)

What comes off for coating

• Slide: firing pin retainer plate, firing pin and spring, extractor, hammer lowering catch (decocker) and spring, rear sight — pin punches, sight pusher
• Frame: grips, mainspring housing, mainspring and cap, grip safety, hammer, strut and pin, sear, disconnector and pin, trigger, magazine catch, spring and guide, take-down latch, slide stop — pin punches

Special tools

• dovetail sight pusher (or brass drift and padded vise) — Removing and refitting dovetailed sights for coating

Known pain points

• The slide stop goes in easily only while the recoil guide is pulled forward; pushed in without that it takes force and scratches the frame. (reassembly)
  Source: Exploded View: Vis 35 'Radom' Pistol — American Rifleman (NRA) americanrifleman.org [2] — “Alternatively, the slide stop can be pushed directly into place without holding the guide rod, but this will require some force to push into place and one should be careful not to scratch the frame in the process.”
• The barrel has to be wiggled into the slide and kept up in its locking lugs or the slide will not go back on. (reassembly)
  Source: Exploded View: Vis 35 'Radom' Pistol — American Rifleman (NRA) americanrifleman.org [2] — “If the barrel drops out of those lugs, it will prevent the slide from moving into place properly.”

Fit or check on rebuild

• Decocker drops the hammer safely and returns — The hammer-lowering catch is spring-loaded and must reset; this page records hammers falling when the 'safety' is applied
• Function check: trigger reset, sear/striker engagement, safeties — Standard post-reassembly check on any pistol whose fire-control parts were removed; a mis-seated spring shows up here, not on the bench

This is Pew-Takedown's rating, not the manufacturer's. How tiers are rated. Forum reports are owners' experience, not specifications.

Procedures

Torque specifications

No sourced torque values from the manufacturer are recorded for this firearm. Where a fastener has a specified torque — action screws, scope bases, muzzle devices, barrel nuts — get it from the manufacturer or a gunsmith rather than estimating it.

Function check

• Verify the pistol is unloaded with no magazine inserted before each check.
• Cock the hammer and operate the slide lever. The hammer should fall safely — confirming it is a decocker, not a safety.
• Rack the slide and press the trigger for a single-action break.
• Hold the trigger back, rack the slide, release slowly and confirm the reset.
• Confirm the takedown catch holds the slide in the takedown position and releases cleanly.
• Confirm the slide locks open on an empty magazine.

Maintenance

Lubrication points

• Frame rails and slide grooves
• Barrel locking lugs and cam
• Hammer and sear pivots
• Takedown catch

Cleaning notes

Surplus ammunition of this era is frequently corrosively primed. After shooting it, flush the bore, bolt face, and gas system with hot soapy water or a water-based solvent the same day, dry completely, then oil. Keep the firing pin channel clean and dry — a pin held forward by congealed cosmoline causes slam fires.

Suggested inspection interval: roughly every 1000 rounds. This is a general guideline, not a manufacturer specification.

Wear parts to inspect

Recoil spring · Extractor · Decocker components · Magazine feed lips

Common issues

Also covers

The procedures above are reported to apply to: Polish pre-war wz. 35 Vis · German-occupation P.35(p) production. Verify against the manual for your specific model.

Similar manual of arms

• Browning Hi-Power
• M1911A1 / 1911 Government Model

Sourcing