Bechowiec-1
Bataliony Chlopskie (Peasants' Battalions) clandestine workshops · Submachine Gun · Discontinued · 1943
Also known as: Bechowiec
Overview
The Bechowiec-1 is a 9x19mm blowback, closed-bolt submachine gun clandestinely designed and built by the Polish resistance during the German occupation in World War II. Conceived in 1943 by Henryk Strapoc for the Bataliony Chlopskie (Peasants' Battalions) - from which its name derives - it borrowed heavily from semi-automatic pistol design, using a reciprocating slide, an internal hammer, and a three-position external safety with an integral fire-mode selector giving both semi-automatic and fully automatic fire. Only around a dozen examples were completed in the Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski metalworks and Strapoc's own blacksmith shop, some using barrels recycled from First World War rifles.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 2430 g (85.7 oz) |
| Weight (loaded) | 2820 g (99.5 oz) |
| Overall Length | 445 mm (17.52") |
| Barrel Length | 240 mm (9.45") |
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Closed Bolt |
| Magazine Capacity | 32 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 365 m/s (1198 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 496 J (366 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 100 m (109 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Slide Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 9x19mm Parabellum · primary · 9mm NATO — also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, 9x19mm
- 7.62x25mm Tokarev — also known as 7.62x25mm, 7.62 Tokarev
Features
- Firing modes: Semi Automatic, Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Internal Open Breech Safety, Three Position External Safety Selector
- Features: Closed Bolt Firing, Internal Hammer, Pistol Like Slide Mechanism, Select Fire Selector, Recycled Rifle Barrel
Service history
Operators
- Bataliony Chlopskie (Peasants' Battalions) · adopted 1943 · as Bechowiec
Conflicts
- World War II (1939-1945)
Production
Estimated total produced: 13 · Production years: 1943-1944
Approximately 11-13 units built clandestinely; construction ceased before the end of the German occupation
Origin
Country of origin: Poland
Designer: Henryk Strapoc
Discontinued: 1945
Notes
Extremely rare: roughly 11-13 units were made, and a single surviving example is held by the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. A handful were reportedly chambered for 7.62x25mm Tokarev.
Background
Named for the Bataliony Chlopskie ('Bechowcy') peasant partisans who commissioned it, the Bechowiec-1 was the work of a self-taught blacksmith with no submachine-gun experience, so he simply scaled up pistol mechanics - the result fired from a closed bolt with an internal hammer, unusual among the crude open-bolt guns of the wartime underground.