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 second of these designs was the RWGŁ-2, made using a Mosin-Nagant action on a new frame, with a pair of Polish AK grips and a gas launching cup. It fed from a 10-round AK magazine blocked to fit only (well, mostly only) blank 7.62x39mm cartridges. The result was a launcher that would heave a tear gas grenade substantially farther than it could be thrown by hand. However, this was still an experimental development, and only a small number were made before it was replaced by the RWGŁ-3 (which is a subject for a later video).

Many thanks to Works 11 for giving me access to film this very cool rare item for you!