RWGŁ-3: Poland’s Riot Squad AK-Based Tear Gas Launcher

Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! When Polish workers held massive protests in Poznań against the communist Polish government in 1956, the Army was sent in to quell the unrest. In the aftermath of these events, the government decided to create a riot police squad to handle any future such situations. When this unit was put to use in the 1968 Student March, they found that hand-thrown tear gas could be thrown back into police ranks - and development began of tear gas launchers that would have a much longer range. The final iteration of this program was the RWGŁ-3, made using as many AK parts as possible for cost-efficient production. It was essentially a stamped-receiver AK with no gas system and a gas launching cup in place of a barrel. A pair of AK grips allowed the user to control the not-insubstantial recoil c