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An Archer from behind the curtain,

The Predom - Łucznik KL.187 air rifle

By Jan Paul Loeff


Polish research by Jaś van Driel

"Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet". Although Rudyard Kipling meant
a different kind of East than the region we will treat here there seemed to be some truth in this
beautiful ballad. In the time of the Iron Curtain none of us could dream of the situation as it is now.
We may now travel freely all over Europe and the difference between the quality of products coming
from the east and the west is slowly but certainly disappearing. The Polish air rifle we want to show
here still shows a marked difference in quality and in finish from the contemporary rifles from the
west (figure 1). It is a product of a distinguished arms factory that goes back to before the 2nd World
War. It is called the Predom-Łucznik KL.187. Łucznik means archer in Polish and this name was used
for the commercial products of the factory. The rifle is marked with a stamp of an archer near its name
and type number (figure 4). It seems that they changed the name for civilian products to Predom
Łucznik in 1972 upon being taken over by a larger conglomerate that was called Predom. This lasted
until 1992 when it was closed down. Now the factory only use their original name Fabryka Broni (in
short: FB) which just means Arms Factory.
The original firm was created in the town of Radom after Poland got its independence after the 1st
World War. There was no military industry in Poland as the occupying powers Russia, Germany and
Austria-Hungary did not trust the notoriously courageous Polish their own weapons and munitions
factories. The factory prospered and made all kinds of firearms of which the VIS Radom P35 pistol is
the most famous. After the war they made Kalashnikovs of course. All kinds of other mechanical
products like sewing machines, bicycles and typewriters were also made as military orders are a
uncertain source of income. In the late 1950's they started producing air rifles and the KL187 we show
here was the first one produced. They also designed a somewhat heavier rifle called Kl 188 and a
smaller one called KL 141. Their most famous product in the airgun branch however is the pistol KL
170 (figure 5), a direct clone of the famous Walther LP53. It was less well finished but it was still used
as a trainer for the Polish military. They also made a side lever air rifle in two variations called Kl167
for the light version and Kl.168 for the heavy one. This was also used in training the Polish military.

We had some trouble in determining the proper name of the factory and the type numbers that
correspond with it. We finally, after consulting a number of Polish auction sites and the factory site
concluded that the proper type numbers are as stated on that factory website. The products were called
Łucznik Kl 87 and 88 until 1972 (marked without the 'Kl' in most cases we found). In this period you
find the number combined with "Łucznik", "Mars", "Archer", "R&R Pty Ltd". The eldest markings
found is just Łucznik without Made in Poland. Then they eventually changed in 1972 into Predom
Łucznik Kl 187 and 188.
Our trouble was mainly caused by a list of prefixes that circulates on Internet. In this list it is stated
that a prefix letter before the four digit serial numbers was started in 1967 with an A. In each
subsequent year the prefix went one further in the alphabet. We were unable to find the source of this
list of number/year combinations. According to this list the present rifle with a C prefix would stem
from 1969. But it is marked as a product of the factory made after 1972 when they changed into
Predom Łucznik. We conclude from this discrepancy as well as all other ones found on the web that
the prefixes are probably to be interpreted as lot numbers to save digits and not as years of
manufacture.
No matter how we look at it, the rifle was made long before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the
liberation of eastern Europe. The rifle shows this. It is far better finished than its stable mate, the Kl
170 pistol but it falls way behind the products of Diana, Weihrauch or Feinwerkbau to name some
other continental air rifle makers.
It is a simple break open springer with open sights (figure 2 and 3). The caliber is 4.5 mm (.177") and
the barrel is 48 cm long. The rear sight is adjustable in height in steps (figure 6). Windage adjustment
is possible by drifting the fore sight in its dovetail (figure 7). The rearsight has a U shaped notch and
the foresight is a straight post under a short hood. The sights are all made of steel. A refreshing sight in
this day and age of plastics. Remember that some of the makers we compare this rifle with made
plastic sights in the same period that this rifle was made. The sight picture is perfect with an adequate
amount of light between foresight and notch. A dovetail for 13 mm scope mounts is milled into the
cylinder (figure 4). There is no provision for a stopper plate or pin. The scope will have to stay in
place during recoil on friction alone. The rear end of the cylinder is capped with an larger diameter
sleeve that has the mark, type number caliber and 'Made in Poland' stamped in it. It has clearly been
ground flat after this stamping as the surface is rough but flat. The whole rifle is blued with a deep
kind of black, The surface is rather rough and in this it falls short compared to its competitors from
across the Iron Curtain. One really nice feature of this rifle is the fit between breechblock and cylinder,
or rather the way the two are finished together behind the rear sight. The rear of the breechblock and
the cylinder are ground in the same operation. They are absolutely flush. The barrel is opened by
pulling a knob on the right-hand side of the breechblock backwards. It is a very solid feeling lock up
with a hook on the lower side of the breech and a spring driven bold in the lower part of the cylinder
(figures 6 and 8). This way of locking the breech is seen in more air guns from behind the iron curtain.
It is as if they had a central design office that ordered the factories around.
The barrel and stock are provided with narrow rather flimsy sling swivels (figure 9). We would
hesitate to really use them in the field. The trigger mechanism is crude and reminds of the early air
rifles we described some magazines ago. It is just a hook that catches the piston rod (figure 10). The
length of engagement may be adjusted with a screw in the front of the trigger guard. The trigger guard
is just a strip of stamped steel (figure 11). It is screwed into the stock with a wood screw at the pistol
grip and a bolt that keeps stock and system together at the rear end of the cylinder.
The rifle has a simple beech stock (figures 2 and 3) which is finished with a slightly rough matt
varnish with only a light brown stain. There is no recoil pad and the fore end has two grooves for the
fingers. There is no checkering and as a whole it is pleasingly slim. The whole rifle gives the
impression of pleasing slimness anyway.
Firing the rifle turned out to be less of a pleasure than we had expected. For one thing the dovetail for
the scope was 13 mm and not the now standard 11 mm. We had no scope mounts available for that
size that were not on a rifle in current use. So we fired with the open sights. This was not much of a
problem as they gave a good sight picture being nice and black. The cocking and firing cycle was
quite nice and smooth. The trigger however was definitely a problem. We had no scale to measure its
heavy pull off. We guess that it was in the neighbourhood of 4 Kg. The rifle would turn out quite nice
groups and then one would escape due to the horrible trigger. No adjusting of the screw would
improve it. If we did our work properly RWS Hobby pellets turned out groups of about 10 or 15 mm
round for five shots. The occasional flyer would spoil every group however (figure 1). The rifle
positively hated Marksman pellets. It would not group with them at all. All in all the rifle is accurate
enough to keep a tin can rolling or to keep all kinds of fun targets moving but I would not use it on life
quarry. It just does not have enough practical accuracy. It actually in this day belongs more with a
collector than with a shooter. For the collector it is a good example of a product made behind the Iron
Curtain and as such, coupled with its nice shape is a good addition to a collection of break barrel
springers. In good condition these rifles are seen for asking prices of £150 - £200 but there are
examples mentioned for very much lower prices (£20 - £40). If you can get one for that price, don't
hesitate. For the higher estimate I leave it to you.
Will East and West meet like in Kipling's ballad where the protagonists meet in the end? Yes...in this
case the story ends well also. This typical eastern rifle is at present in the west and is appreciated for
what it is. Its maker FB now manufactures Logun air rifles for the west that we are very willing to buy.

Maker: Predom - Łucznik,


Country Poland
Type: Kl. 187
Caliber. 4,5 mm
serienr C 9313
Length: 110 cm
Barrel length: 48 cm
Weight: 3.14 Kg

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