Image credit
- Title
- File:Błyskawica machine gun in Warsaw Uprising Museum.jpg
- Author
- Przemek P(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 3.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Błyskawica_machine_gun_in_Warsaw_Uprising_Museum.jpg
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m7.452 g115.0 grverifiedsource115 gr as published, converted to grams.
- v359.7 m/s1,180 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 101.6 mm barrel, not this arm's 197 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
nearest sourced barrel length, no extrapolation
Inputs
- v at 101.6 mm359.7 m/s1,180 fpsverifiedsource1180 fps as published.
Assumptions
- This figure belongs to a 101.6 mm barrel. It is shown because it is the closest measurement that exists, not because it applies here.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm3.22 kg7.099 lbestimatedsourceFrom the infobox; no inline citation is given there.
- v_recoil0.8324 m/s2.731 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights. This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity32estimatedsource32-round detachable box magazine, from the infobox, uncited there.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m7.452 g115.0 grverifiedsource115 gr as published, converted to grams.
- v359.7 m/s1,180 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 101.6 mm barrel, not this arm's 197 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass7.452 g115.0 grverifiedsource115 gr as published, converted to grams.
- diameter9.03 mm0.3555 inverifiedsourceCartridge maximum, dimension G1.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass7.452 g115.0 grverifiedsource115 gr as published, converted to grams.
- velocity359.7 m/s1,180 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 101.6 mm barrel, not this arm's 197 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Inputs
- n32estimatedsource32-round detachable box magazine, from the infobox, uncited there.
- rpm600 rpmestimatedsourceFrom the infobox, uncited there.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table, and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Submachine gun
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Fully automatic
- Operating system
- Blowback, simple
- Roles
- Designed in
- Poland
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1943
- Production
- 1943–1944
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
From the infobox; no inline citation is given there.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
Stock extended, from the infobox, uncited there.
- Length, folded
Stock folded, from the infobox, uncited there.
- Width
- not recorded
- Height
- not recorded
- Barrel length
From the infobox, uncited there.
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Chamberings
- 9x19mm Parabellumprimary32 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- Błyskawica submachine gun730 mm28.74 inheight not recorded
Representative outline: the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. Błyskawica submachine gun records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion. That height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Gallery
Image credit
- Title
- File:Warsaw Uprising by Lokajski - 3435.jpg
- Author
- Eugeniusz Lokajski
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Warsaw_Uprising_by_Lokajski_-_3435.jpg
Detail
The Błyskawica (“Lightning”) is a simple-blowback submachine gun the engineers Wacław Zawrotny and Seweryn Wielanier designed in 1943 in German-occupied Poland for the Home Army resistance, chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum so that captured German ammunition could be used. Its parts were joined with screws and threads rather than welded, so that it could be made in small workshops by inexperienced engineers; neither designer had built a gun before. Its outward layout, a retractable stock with the magazine below the gun, came from the German MP 40, and its mechanism from the British Sten.
Final assembly of many examples took place in a Warsaw workshop that officially manufactured metal fencing, with the guns test-fired in a cellar to avoid detection. Plans were distributed to a number of clandestine workshops across occupied Poland from November 1943, and roughly 740 were produced between 1943 and 1944. It saw combat with Home Army fighters, most notably during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
Mass, length, folded length, barrel length, cyclic rate and effective range on this page come from Wikipedia’s infobox, which carries no inline citation for any of them, so all are recorded as estimated rather than verified. No published twist rate was found for this entry.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- Błyskawica submachine gun · Wikipedia · 1372726074 · read 2026-09-24 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-09-24 · review status: draft