There is one absolute “Must-See” military museum in the Jakarta area in regard to small arms. It has amazing dioramas on the first floor, but once you find the basement full of small arms, and the back yard full of cannon, mortar, recoilless, vehicles and aircraft, it will be worth the trip. The upper floor of carefully made dioramas showing important events in Indonesian military history is carefully displayed and well crafted. The downstairs held a lot of surprises in that hundreds of small arms were on display. We found examples of most of the common small arms of the pre- and World War II era, but there were many treasures of local origin or adaptation that have never been shown outside of Indonesia. Heading back outside, there is a large cannon display with many historic pieces, and an aviation display as well. If you are in Jakarta, it’s definitely worth a side trip to spend time in this museum. The next IndoDefence Jakarta is scheduled for 10-13 November, 2010.

Museum Satria Mandala
(Armed Forces Museum)
14-16 Jalan Gatot Subroto
Kuningan Timur Village
Jakarta Pusat, 12710
Phone: +62 21 522 7949

A good photo review of this museum can be found at: www.aroengbinang.blogspot.com/2007/02/satria-mandala-museum.html.

In response to a Polish government request in the late 1950s for a light, hand-held defensive weapon for use by rear echelon/support troops, design of the Wz 63 was initiated by Piotr Wilniewczyc. Upon Wilniewczyc’s death in 1960, the design in 9x18mm Makarov caliber was finished by a team at the Lucznik Arms Factory located in Radom, Poland, in 1963. Production began in 1964, with the Polish Armed Forces and police adopting it for service in 1965. Also known as the PM-63 (pistolet maszynowy wz. 1963 or submachine gun model 1963) and the RAK (Reczny Automat Komandosa or hand-held automatic commando firearm), approximately 70,000 weapons were manufactured before production ceased in 1974.

Easily distinguished by its shovel shaped muzzle compensator, the Wz 63 is blowback operated and fires from an open bolt that is incorporated inside its slide. Capable of semi or fully automatic fire, the rate of fire is determined by the operator’s trigger manipulation. Rearward movement of the trigger to the first position results in semiautomatic fire; continued rearward movement results in fully automatic fire. In order to keep the fully automatic rate of fire to approximately 600-650 rounds per minute, the slide incorporates an inertia firing rate reducer that causes the slide to remain open for a fraction of a second during recoil when the slide is at its most rearward position.

The complete method of operation for fully automatic fire begins with the insertion of either a 15 or 25-round magazine into the magazine well located in the pistol grip. The operator then retracts the slide by either grasping the slide via the serrations on the rear of the slide and pulling the slide to the rear or by placing the end of the compensator against a hard surface and pushing the weapon forward. When the trigger is pulled fully to the rear, the slide moves forward and strips a cartridge from the magazine. When the cartridge becomes fully seated in the chamber, the extractor snaps over the cartridge rim and the slide’s fixed firing pin strikes the primer while the slide is still moving forward. Cartridge initiation causes the slide to stop forward movement and begin rearward movement against the recoil spring that is located under the stationary barrel. The empty casing is extracted from the chamber and travels with the slide until it reaches the ejector (which is a raised side of the magazine), where it is ejected through the ejection port located on the right side of the slide. The slide continues its rearward movement until the recoil spring is fully compressed and passes over a retarder lever, which snaps up to hold the slide to the rear. An inertia buffer in the rear of the slide continues rearward movement and compresses a buffer spring. When the buffer spring becomes fully compressed, it propels the buffer forward. The forward movement of the buffer pushes the retarder lever down, which allows the slide to move forward if the trigger is still fully depressed and cartridges remain in the magazine in order to repeat the firing cycle. Upon firing the last round in the magazine, the slide catch locks the slide open. To assist with accuracy when firing with both hands, the Wz 63 has a folding vertical grip made of plastic for the support hand and a retractable metal stock with a pivoting butt plate.

In the early 1970s, versions were made at the Radom factory in 9x19mm (designated the PM-70) and .380 ACP (designated the PM-73) calibers, but production soon stopped due to lack of demand. An unlicensed version, designated the Type 82, was produced by the People’s Republic of China in 9x18mm Makarov caliber.

While the author was examining the Wz 63, the curator related an amusing tale. A Polish visitor became very animated when shown the Wz 63 that included a lot of hand waving and loud speaking. It seems the visitor, a veteran of the Polish Armed Forces, did not heed Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper’s firearms safety rule number two, “Don’t point the muzzle at anything you are not willing to destroy.” While operating the Wz 63, the Polish veteran used the forefinger of his support hand to push back on the muzzle compensator to cock the weapon. For whatever reason, he failed to remove his forefinger from in front of the muzzle before pulling the trigger. The animated hand gestures of the visitor were an attempt to bring attention to his missing finger tip!

Wz 63 Specifications

Caliber: 9x 18mm Makarov
9x 19 Parabellum (PM-70)
.380 ACP (PM-73)

Operation: Straight blowback, slide with integral breech bolt firing
from open bolt, automatic, selective fire trigger system
with slide-mounted thumb safety. Short pulls of the
trigger result in semiautomatic fire; full pulls result in
automatic fire.

Weight, empty: Approximately 56 ounces (1.6 kg).

Length, overall,
stock stored: 13.1 inches (333 mm).

Length, overall,
stock extended: 23 inches (583 mm).

Height (15-round magazine inserted): 5.7 inches (145 mm).

Height (25-round magazine inserted): 8.4 inches (213 mm).

Barrel: Chrome lined with either four or six grooves with a
right-hand twist of one turn in 10 inches.
Barrel length: 6.0 inches (152 mm).

Magazine: 15 or 25-round, double column, detachable box-type.

Sights: Flip, fixed rear (settings for 492 feet (150 meters)
and 246 feet (75 meters) and front blade.

Sight radius: 6.0 inches (152 mm).

Grip panels: Black plastic.

Status: No longer in production, but still in service with
Poland. An unlicensed copy known as the Type 82 is
still in service with the People’s Republic of China,
Cuba and Vietnam.
Manufacturer: Lucznik Arms Factory, Radom, Poland; Type 82,
Norinco, China.

Racine, Wisconsin gets cold in November, and November 20, 1933 was no exception. But, it was soon to heat up with the excitement caused by the arrival the Dillinger Gang. John Dillinger, noted bank robber and public enemy, had cased Racine’s American Bank and Trust Company as his next target.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., the robbers entered the bank. Barney Cowan, a customer attempting to make a deposit, was manhandled and had a pistol stuck in his ribs. Harold Graham, the head teller, was counting a stack of bills. He had just put his “next window please” sign in place, when he heard someone yell, “Stick ‘em up!” Graham, his back to the widow, ignored the order, thinking someone was joking. When he heard the command again, he replied with a curt, “Next window, please.” Without a word, gang member Charles Makley shot him. The bullet entered Graham’s right arm and lodged in his hip. Although he was seriously injured, he was able to press the alarm button.

At police headquarters, Officer Chester Boyard heard the alarm, grabbed two men and headed for the bank. Boyard was the first to enter the bank, and was immediately taken prisoner by gang member Russell Clark. Sergeant Wilbur Hansen was next through the door, armed with Colt Thompson serial #3363. But, with the Thompson pointed at the floor, he was taken by surprise. Charles Makley fired and a bullet grazed Sergeant Hansen’s right hand. He dropped the Thompson, which was recovered by Makley. The third officer, who was still outside the bank, ran for help.

The bank alarm and the police presence soon drew a crowd of onlookers, there by blocking the exit from the bank. Dillinger, scooping up the loot ($27,700), realized there was a large crowd out front, and he ordered his men to grab hostages. As the gang and hostages moved through the crowd, two detectives came around a corner twenty yards away. Makley turned and fired a burst from his newly acquired “Tommy Gun,” chasing the detectives into Wylie’s Hat Shop to seek cover.

Three hostages were taken by the gang: bank president Grover Weyland, teller Ursula Patzke and police officer Chester Boyard. At the getaway car, the hostages were forced to stand on the car’s running boards, with Officer Boyard on one side, Weyland and Patzke on the other. Hotrodding through town and running two red lights, Dillinger soon realized he couldn’t get away with people on the running boards. He slowed momentarily and forced Boyard off, while pulling the other two hostages inside the car. Ursula Patzke later recalled that she was forced to sit on a pile of guns and money. When she complained that she was cold, Harry Pierpont, another gang member, gave her his coat.

Dillinger and the gang continued along the back roads of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Approximately thirty-five miles from Racine, the hostages were tied to a tree with a shoelace and left otherwise unharmed. The gang turned around and headed for Chicago, taking Thompson submachine gun #3363 with them.

The Dillinger gang worked their way south through the fall and early winter of 1933, ultimately spending Christmas in Florida. Early January, 1934 found them back in the midwest in East Chicago, Indiana, where they robbed the First National Bank. As he had done in Racine two months before, Dillinger took hostages and used them as a human shield. Outside the bank awaited a heavily armed force of seven East Chicago police. Officer Hobarts Wilgus was one of the hostages, having been captured early in the robbery while on routine patrol in front of the bank. As Dillinger and the hostages moved down the street, he locked eyes with one of the police detectives at a range of twenty-five feet. Just a few feet away from the getaway car, Dillinger, thinking he had made it, relaxed for just a second, and Detective Patrick O’Malley shouted, “Wilgus!”

Wilgus turned, giving O’Malley a clear shot at Dillinger. O’Malley fired his pistol four times, hitting Dillinger once in his bullet-proof vest. Dillinger, shocked, lost his temper, shoved Officer Wilgus aside and shouted, “I’ll get that son of a bitch.” He raised his Thompson and fired a burst directly into Detective O’Malley. The officer, a father of three, died with eight bulletholes in his chest.

Dillinger, making his escape, again headed south through St. Louis, ending up in Tucson, Arizona. The Dillinger Gang, relaxing and enjoying the western hospitality, was taken by surprise and arrested by the Tucson police. Among the items captured were two Thompsons; one of them, #3363, was the one taken in the Racine robbery. Dillinger, now in the Pima County Jail, and awaiting extradition toIndiana, had some time on his hands, and the Tucson police allowed him to carve his name in the detachable buttstock of his Tommy Gun #3363.

During the time the gun was in the possession of the Dillinger Gang, they committed several robberies; but there is no proof that the gun was used by the robbers. However, the fact that gun #3363 was in the gang’s possession at the time of their arrest in Tucson leads one to assume it was carried, if not fired, in some of these escapades.

Racine Police Chief Grover C. Lutter traveled to Tucson and arrived at the Pima County Jail. He had requested the return of Thompson #3363, a weapon originally belonging to the Racine Police Department. Chief Lutter returned with the gun in 1934, shortly after Dillinger had been extradited to Indiana. #3363 has been in the Racine Police Arms Room since then. While doing historical research on the Dillinger Gun, Sgt. David M. Beranis, of the Racine Police Academy, sent a request to the Pima County Jail in 1971 to confirm information about the return of #3363. A reply from Sgt. Jack Wollard, of the Pima County Sheriff’s Records Department, dated September 27, 1971, confirms the return of #3363 to Chief Lutter. It is interesting to note that Sgt. Wollard had to contact his mother to confirm this information,as she was there in 1934 when Chief Lutter of Racine picked up the gun.

Like most Thompsons bought by police, #3363 spent most of its duty time locked in the police arms room. It was bought as “preventive medicine,” just in case a group of “motorized bandits” of the time should come to town. An invoice dated September 10, 1932, shows the original purchase of a 1928 AC Model Thompson submachine gun with accessories as listed below. Chief Grover C. Lutter of the Racine Police Department was the customer and ordered the following items:

• 1 – 1928 AC Thompson submachine gun $225
• 2 – 20-round magazines $6
• 1 – 18-round shot cartridge magazine $3
• 1 – 50-round drum magazine $21
• 2 – bullet-proof vests $160
• 1 – extra fore grip $2.75

The gun and accessories were bought from Federal Laboratories, Inc. of Pittsburgh, PA., a major police equipment sales company. During the Depression era, $225 was a lot of money. Today, collectors pay as much as $35,000 for an original Coltmade Thompson in good condition. It’s clear that “Tommy Guns” have never been cheap.

Occasionally used for training and demonstration, #3363 was rarely pressed into active service. The May 14, 1972 issue of the Racine Journal Times reported that the venerable Colt Thompson submachine gun #3363 was to be retired from active duty.

An article in the November 8, 1995 issue of the Racine Journal Times reported that a photo opportunity was arranged to raise money for a display about the “Dillinger Thompson” and the 1933 bank robbery. For the sum of $25, you could pose with Thompson #3363 and receive an 8×10 color print. Only four people showed up.

Today, the “Dillinger Thompson” is carefully preserved, cleaned, oiled and cared for by Officer Joseph Villalobos, senior training officer, Racine Police Department.

Our sincere thanks to Racine Police Chief Kurt Wahlen and Officer Joe Villalobos for their kind hospitality and assistance in examining and photographing this historic weapon.

Gun Specifications

Make: Colt Patent Firearms Mfg. Co.
Model: 1928 US Navy
Caliber: .45 ACP
Weight: 9 lbs. 13 ounces
Barrel Length: 12-1/2 inches with compensator
O.A. Length: 33 inches
Sights: Lyman Adjustable
Magazines: 20-round box; 50-round drum
Cyclic rate of fire: 600 rpm
Date of manufacture: Sometime between July 29 and August 27, 1921
Distinguishing marks: Signature carved by John Dillinger on left side of buttstock