Polish Standard Wz.88 Tantal Assault Rifle PALLAD

The Wz.88 Tantal assault rifle was the Polish replacement for the AK-74, first appearing in Polish service in 1990. At first, the design work was based directly on the AKS-74, but new firing mechanisms were eventually used, a new buttstock, four selector positions on two selector levers (the large characteristic AK lever is used only to switch the rifle to safe), and the gas system modified to prevent the bolt cover from falling off when firing rifle grenades (a persistent problem with the AK-74 series). It may fire Polish or other Pact rifle grenades, as well as mount the GP-25 or PALLAD. Tantal production had barely gotten off the ground when the first cracks appeared in the Warsaw Pact and the Iron Curtain in general, and the Gdansk shipyard riots and the subsequent elections led the General Staff of Polish Armed Forces to put a hold on Warsaw Pact-caliber weapons production.

Wz.88 Tantal Assault Rifle

The Wz.88 Tantal Assault Rifle became a stopgap rifle until the Tantal could be rebuilt into a 5.56mm rifle, especially after Poland became the first former Warsaw Pact country to join NATO. Construction of the Tantal included a large amount of polymer and updated versions of steel stampings, along with some light alloy parts – the Tantal looks more like an AK “Hundred Series” design than the traditional AK series. The barrel is longer than that of the AKM, being 17 inches in length. The folding stock is of a totally different design (often called the “fire poker” stock due to its strange shape), and no fixed stock version was designed.

Kbk wz/88 Assault Rifle

Wz.88 Tantal Assault Rifle

The Russians had two policies towards their Warsaw Pact allies and some other countries  “You can buy your AKs directly from us, or you can buy a license for production in your own country, and pay through the nose for it.” The Czechs bucked both of these by designing and building most of their own small arms, and the Hungarians later also built several of their own assault rifles, light machineguns, and pistols. By the late 1970s, the Poles too were tired of Moscow’s dictates and decided to starttheir own program for producing a domestic assault rifle the Tantal project. The project kicked off in earnest in 1981, though it was not deemed fit for service until 1989. This rifle also produced a short assault rifle variant, the Onyx, and the current Polish standard assault rifle, the 5.56mm Beryl.