Unfortunately, gun laws in Poland preclude most decent guys from legally posessing a gun, but on the other hand - there isn't any law forbidding shooting them, is it?
Actually, I was - and still I'm - too lazy to apply for a license. To get one, I have to join the club, accumulate several years of membership (paying fees each year), and actively pursue the shooting sport by taking part in competition (and of course paying the starting fee every time). Does that sounds like fun to you? Neither to me, even when I have accumulated many years of membership, have a referee and firearms instructor papers, IPSC Range Officer papers, sporting licenses of every size, color and description. No, when I need to pump some lead downrange, I just pick up a telephone and arrange for a shooting session, parasiting on the poor guys who gone through all these ordeals to get their own guns.
Now I'm a deputy editor-in-chief of the Poland's longest-published gun magazine, the STRZA£ (Polish for "Shot"), and for some 15 years I have been earning my keep by writing about guns, translating military technical books - as well as Tom Clancy novels, history books on submarine warfare (including the Silent Victory) and even the paratrooper saga of the Band of Brothers. Over the years spent on the ranges, military R&D facilities, firearms manufacturers etc., I have shot a considerable array of mostly military type small arms, ranging from 4.6 mm HK MP7 we have reviewed for our magazine up to the 23 mm dual AA-gun.
Now if I'd to point out one favorite handgun round, that would be the .45 ACP. I LOVE the KA-BOOM noise it makes instead of sharp CRAACK of the smaller calibers, and I love the gentle rising swell of a 45 ACP pistol (be it a 1911, CZ97, HK USP, Mk23 or Para-Ordnance) as opposed to sharp wrist-bending jump of many other pistols.
7.62x25? In an SMG, yeah, why not. A good PPSh 41 can brighten the day of anyone who loves the smell of gunpowder in a morning. But certainly not in a vz.52 - sorry to break your hearts, fellas. The prorotype CZ491 of 1948 was a 9 mm Luger pistol, with SA/DA trigger, and could have been a good gun. Then came the Commies (Czechs called their "the Commanches") and ordered it re-built into this monstrosity, we now know - with an oversized, flat grip extended to accomodate for the long bottle-shaped case of the 7.62x25.
P-64? Yeah, she's sweat, but my fingers are too long and my palm's too big for her - when the pictureshack is back online, I plan to get myself an avatar, showing my hand struggling to get a grip on the Czak. The P-83 with it's longer grip was much more comfortable. And I loved the grip of the 1967 .380-chambered prototype P-64. Only a handful of these were ever manufactured, and I had the opportunity to handle S/N PB-01 and PB-03. The top is just like an ordinary P-64, but the frame was patterned after the "Czak W" prototype with a 7 rd magazine, and a decent beavertail (never bitten by the hammer of your sweet gals?really?). Again, when I got some free time, you'd get the photos of the .380 P-64, as well as "Czak W" and "Czak M".
I know a guy in Warsaw, who carries a P-64. It took him EIGHT years to get the personal protection (Polish equivalent of CCW) license, despite he is a firearms instructor, owner of ca. 20 rifles, pistols, revolvers etc. I knew a policeman, who shot IPSC matches (!!!!!) with a P-64! Poor Wojtek just wanted to play with us, the dynamic shooting crowd, and all he had was his duty P-64 with two 6rd magazines. When we had a shoot going on, he sweeped his unit's (Police garage) arms locker collecting all magazines he could muster. One time he was only able to get four and the string called for 32 shots. He had to holster his Czak and reload his magazines, while the clock still ticked on! Certainly he became the Red Lantern, but this shows his spirit. Later on his unit got Glocks, and he shot them as well as his P-64. Because, if you can shoot, you would shoot anything shootable - if not, you'd start to find what's wrong with the gun, not with your ability. I know, I'm one of those ::)
OK, I have to get back to work.