The more I shoot my other .22 rifles, the more I love my old Romanian M69 .22 military training rifle!

It may be ugly, but it’s the most accurate .22 that I’ve ever owned, and it cost less than $175.00 out the door! Adding a scope set me back $15.00 for rings (I already had a 3-9x32 Simmons in need of a rifle), which required some modification with a file to work on the M69’s narrow rail, but it took less than 30 minutes to do, and has held a perfect zero since originally set up, so who could ask for more?!?

I have owned much more expensive rifles in the past, including CZs and Ruger Target models, but this is still by far my favorite, despite being cheap, and ugly, and found in a pawn shop! Go figure...

Some of those European Target rifles can be extremely accurate.
My Polish kbks Wz.78 Military Training rifle is probably the most accurate .22 LR Rifle that I own.
When they were surplused, no one knew anything about them and I bought one for $230 (unissued). I wish I had bought several.



They came with detachable AKM sights calibrated out to 100 meters.


It would be nice if .22 LR ammo was more consistent. It is capable of some amazing accuracy as evidenced by this 100 yard group with Wolf Match Target.

Yours looks fairly similar to the Romanian version training rifle, though definitely much nicer condition! From what I've read, all of the com-bloc cold-war era training rifles were pretty similar in overall design and construction without a whole lot of variances. Mine also has the calibrated rear sights set for 25, 50 and 100 meters, though mine is not removeable. Since my aging eyesight doesn't pick up the hooded front post very well, I decided to add a scope to mine so I can actually hit something beyond 25 meters (scope not shown in photo)...

Yes, The one I have has similar rear sights.


Here is the front post:



I ended up having to scope my rifle too. I just can't do iron sights like I used to.

Regarding iron sights, funny thing is I can still shoot my little Winchester 9422 XTR .22 lever action just fine with them! In fact, I took the scope OFF of it that my brother had installed because I wanted one rifle with irons, and I do quite well with that particular one!

I assume it’s because the sight radius is so much shorter than that long 23” barreled Romanian rig with its fat front post, and allows my eyes to focus on multiple objects at the same time just a little bit better... but that’s just a guess.

How long ago did you buy that Polish kbks Wz.78?

I really don't know why, but I have a real soft spot for those old Eastern European cold-war era military rifles! Polish, Czech, Romanian, whatever they may be, I'd just love to get my paws on one when I can. My Romanian M69 is my first to actually own, but hopefully not my last; would love to add a Polish Wz.78 like yours eventually. Have owned a modern CZ in the past, and it was super-nice, but didn't have the "mystique" of the military surplus rifles.

I bought it in 2014, I believe. I got it from Wideners when they still sold guns.
They occasionally pop up on GunBroker or sites like that. They didn't make very many. We think only a few hundred.
Magazines are as scarce as hen's teeth.
These were guns that became surplus when Poland left the Warsaw Pact and joined NATO.
They got rid of all their Warsaw Pact equipment and re-equipped with western weapons. The Wifama kbks Wz.78 had AKM sights because that was the main assault rifle at the time they were built.
Mine was built in 1991 and believe it or not, it has a hammer forged barrel.