The Unofficial P64 Resource Forum

What does the word "Wanad" (as in P-83 Wanad) mean? Is it a name or an acronym or what?

Pretty sure it's the element Vanadium; probably referring to the bore plating.

snailman153624 wrote:Pretty sure it's the element Vanadium; probably referring to the bore plating.

Looks like you were correct: http://en.bab.la/dictionary/english-polish/vanadium

Thanks!

If it makes you feel any better, I had to look it up to be sure, too

Well, you were a good "guesser"!

Hurryin' Hoosier wrote:What does the word "Wanad" (as in P-83 Wanad) mean? Is it a name or an acronym or what?

Yeah, it's vanadium. The Polish military(post WWII) has a history of naming their small arms after elements. Don't know why. Maybe just seemed like a good idea @ the time.

Sounded better than "Kielbasa", I guess!

You think naming a pistol after a chemical element is strange?
Check out "Wielkokalibrowy Karabin Maszynowy WKM" https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/12,7_mm_W ... zynowy_WKM or "WKM WKM" for short. In the Polish army a heavy machine gun is called a WKM and someone came out with the idea to call a Polish variant of the NSV machine gun chambered to fire NATO .50 cal ammunition gun a WKM (comes in two variants WKM-B for land forces and WKM-Utios for the navy).

You can't just call it a "WKM" since somone might mistake it for a "WKM NSV" or another type of "WKM" (HMG) used in the Polish Army, so you have to call it WKM WKM.

EMS wrote:You think naming a pistol after a chemical element is strange?
Check out "Wielkokalibrowy Karabin Maszynowy WKM" https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/12,7_mm_W ... zynowy_WKM or "WKM WKM" for short. In the Polish army a heavy machine gun is called a WKM and someone came out with the idea to call a Polish variant of the NSV machine gun chambered to fire NATO .50 cal ammunition gun a WKM (comes in two variants WKM-B for land forces and WKM-Utios for the navy).

You can't just call it a "WKM" since somone might mistake it for a "WKM NSV" or another type of "WKM" (HMG) used in the Polish Army, so you have to call it WKM WKM.

So, what's Polish for "Ma Deuce"?

To avoid confusion, P-83s are NOT made with Vanadium.

The original design intent to use Aluminum Vanadium never panned out. Originally in the 70s the project was code named Vanadium (Wanad in Polish). The intent was to design a pistol lighter, easier, and cheaper to produce than the P-64. The idea was to use Aluminum Vanadium to lighten the pistol. However by the 80s the engineers on the project abandoned the idea of using Aluminum Vanadium. They ultimately decided on stamped steel for the final Military production designated P-83.

You can read more about it here:
http://en.fabrykabroni.pl/?d=158
http://js2010.pl/index.php?option=com_c ... &Itemid=75

Sehr interesant. Thanks, Weasel!

What is "vanadium aluminum"? I've heard of vanadium steel, but not the other.

Donzi wrote:What is "vanadium aluminum"? I've heard of vanadium steel, but not the other.

You have it backwards, it's Aluminum Vanadium. Mainly because it was the Aluminum Alloys that were under research for firearms back then. Vanadium would have been used to strengthen the alloy.