Gear And Accessories
Did Poland Make the Uzi Obsolete? The FB Radom PM-98 "Glauberyt"
Poland’s overlooked PM-98 submachine gun blends clever design, controllability, and modern refinements
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✍️By ZRIntel Editorial Team📍Radom, Poland
When discussions turn to iconic 9mm submachine guns, the usual names surfacethe Israeli Uzi, Germanys MP5, or Italys Beretta PM-12. Yet Polands PM-98 Glauberyt, one of the smoothest and most controllable designs of its era, rarely earns recognition outside specialist circles. Despite its advanced ergonomics and innovative rate-reducing mechanism, the platform remained a niche player in the global arms market. The Glauberyt story traces back to the PM-63 Rak, a compact machine pistol adopted in the 1960s. The Rak proved serviceable but quirky, lacking the refinements of a true subgun. By the 1970s, Polish designers initiated a competition for a more capable weapon. The PM-84 Glauberyt won out, formally adopted in 1984. While it borrowed the telescoping-bolt concept of the Uzi, the Polish team introduced meaningful innovations: ambidextrous charging handles, closed-bolt operation, a folding foregrip, and even a last-round bolt hold-openfeatures rarely combined in the period. Production delays meant significant numbers only appeared by 1990, just as Poland pivoted away from the Warsaw Pact toward NATO. This transition forced a caliber shift from the Soviet-standard 918mm to the NATO-standard 919mm. Radom responded in 1993 with the PM-84P chambered in Parabellum, a stopgap that exposed shortcomings in ergonomics and durability. The PM-98, unveiled in 1998, marked the true maturation of the platform. Designers addressed earlier flaws with a sturdier twin-rod collapsible stock capped by a rubber buttplate, a thumb-operated magazine release for quicker reloads, a larger side-mounted charging handle (dubbed the ear), and an oversized trigger guard to accommodate gloved hands. A foregrip socket allowed integration of accessories such as flashlights or lasers. Most importantly, engineers retained the unique inertial rate reducer housed in the pistol grip. Without it, the lightweight bolt would cycle at an uncontrollable 770 rounds per minute. With it, the weapon slowed to around 640 rpmdeliberate, predictable, and remarkably smooth. On the range, shooters noted that the PM-98 outperformed the Uzi in controllability. Whereas the Uzi relied on mass and bolt travel, the Glauberyt achieved stability through mechanical design. Short bursts remained tight, even in one-handed firing. The stock, though minimalist in appearance, locked firmly enough to deliver surprising comfort and stability. Variants quickly followed. The PM-98S dropped the rate reducer for higher cyclic speed, while the PM-06 added a Picatinny rail, an improved telescoping stock, and ambidextrous controls, modernizing the design for 21st-century expectations. Export demand produced the BRS-99, a semi-automatic version introduced in 1999 for civilian markets. Collectively, these models showcased Polands ability to iterate effectively within constrained budgets. Despite technical strengths, the Glauberyt never attained the global status of its peers. Roughly 60,000 were produced, with the PM-84P forming the bulk. The PM-98 and successors found service among Polish police, military police, and border guards. Internationally, about 3,000 units went to Iraqs National Police in the 2000s, while smaller consignments reached Indonesian special police. References to Lithuanian and Philippine adoption appear in some sources but remain unconfirmed. The Glauberyts relative obscurity is partly due to timing. By the late 1990s, Western forces increasingly favored carbines like the M4, eroding the submachine guns role. Nonetheless, the PM-98 remains a compelling study in clever engineeringproof that smaller arms industries could innovate beyond simple clones of established icons.