Hungarian Weapons - Danuvia Pistols

Vörös-Danuvia Pistol Model VD-01
Vörös-Danuvia Pisztoly VD-01, also called Forte VD-01 Pisztoly

Approx. 150 were manufactured by Danuvia Gépipari RT, Budapest, 1994-1998
Manufactured and marketed by Intermodul Weapon Shops since 1998
Caliber: 9x19mm Parabellum
33-round capacity unique helical loading cylindrical magazine
The magazine is 146mm long and 46mm diameter
Barrel: 127mm [5.0"], polygon rifling, manufactured by Lothar Walther in Germany
Empty weight: 2000g, with empty magazine: 2450g, fully loaded: 2860g
Full length: 303mm, height: 160mm, Width: 50mm
Muzzle Velocity: 350m/s
Trigger pull: 3.3 lbs

History

Robert Vörös, a Hungarian born engineer living in Germany, invented and manufactured the original prototypes during the 1980's. He received German Patent DE3809319A1 in 1989. Laszlo Paulenka, director of Magyar Fegyvergyarto KFT in Hungary provided great assistance during the experimental stages. Several examples were made by hand and were sold at DM4500.
Danuvia Gépipari RT, Budapest, purchased the Patent in 1994, made some modifications for easier mass production and started manufacturing these pistols with the designation Danuvia VD01. For financial reasons the manufacturing was stopped in 1998.
An export/import gun dealer, Intermodul Weapon Shops, purchased the right, all machinery, unsold guns and parts in 1998. Both semi-automatic and fully automatic versions were manufactured, but only the semiauto version is offered for sale.

Design features:

The magazine is a 45mm diameter steel pipe. There is an internal cylinder with spiral spines. The cartridges are inserted in between the 2 major parts one by one. The internal cylinder rotates to accept each cartridge. A coil spring is located inside the internal cylinder. The magazine release button is on the trigger guard. It takes about 3 seconds to drop the empty mag and install a new one.
The part, which is in place of the typical pistol slide is stationary in this design, only the large bolt moves inside it. The bolt itself is 495g, over 1 pound.
There are factory built-in scope or laser mounting provisions on top of the pistol. Vertically and horizontally adjustable rear sight is standard.

Shown field-disassembled.
The upper frame is steel, the lower frame/trigger assembly housing is aluminum. Single action. During firing there are no moving parts outside. Oversized cartridge ejection port. The heavy weight and the center of the gravity being out front, the pistol is very pleasant to shoot. There is very little muzzle lift. Even during rapid firing the VD-01 pistol stays on the target. Recoil is similar to a .22. Accuracy is very high. The distance between the front and rear sights is long, 263mm [10.35"].
The pistol has been tested in extreme conditions between -20C and +40C and functioned fine. The pistol feeds and fires all versions and makes of the 9mm Parabellum.
Manufacturing tolerances are very strict. The latest manufacturing technologies are utilized. For example the upper frame opening is cut by laser. The part which was cut off becomes the frame cover.

Operation:

During firing the pistol can be held with a single hand or the 2nd hand on the magazine or traditionally with both hands on the grip. Test results proved that the most accuracy was resulted when the 2nd hand was on the magazine. Placing a simple rubber jacket on the magazine provides an even better grip. The pistol can be carried on a neck-strap (or shoulder strap). Using a proper legth neck-strap during firing by pulling the gun away from yourself can improve accuracy by 33%.
Using the commonly available semiautomatic version by an experienced shooter it takes about 6 seconds to empty the 33-round magazine, while about 90% of the bullets hit the mansize target at 25 meters [80 feet]. This is 5.5 shots per second on the target. Compare that to typical US police shot effectiveness expectation of 2 shots per second on the target.
The VD01 can be disassembled in 10-15 seconds. The magazine disassembly is much more complicated, but cleaning and maintenance of it is only required after 5000 rounds.

The best uses for the pistol are home defense, target shooting. It is popular with security guards.
The semi-auto version was marketed for approx. USD600 in cca. 2000.

Bibliography/Articles:
Fegyver- es Pirotechnika: VD-01 Pisztoly
Kaliber Magazin: Danuvia VD-01 Pisztoly

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