BFC Pocky .22

== About ==
The BFC Pocky .22 is a Zedrutian semi-automatic pistol produced and designed by the Byeradzina Firearms Company (Zedrutian Polish: Przedsiębiorstwo Broni Palnej Byeradzina), which was one of Zedrutia's largest firearm manufacturing firms which produced hunting and bolt action rifles. The pistol was introduced in 1985 as a prototype, before production of it began the following year. The pistol uses a 15 round 22. magazine. Despite being a pistol that was given praise for its affordability, accuracy and small size. The pistol was designed by Miłosz Mickiewicz, who designed a few of the firearms for the company, and had been with the company for 10 years. BFC had largely praised Mickiewicz's firearms and had mostly anticipated huge sales for the pistol, mostly due to how cheap it was to produce the pistol.
That was unfortunately not the case for the Byeradzina Firearms Company. A lack of overview over the design of the pistol and the rushed production of the pistol led to its demise as soon as the pistol was introduced in 1985. The pistol had massive flaws; the gun was often prone to frequent jamming, and would often times fail to chamber a bullet. However, these flaws were the least concerning, as in worse cases, the Pocky .22 would explode into pieces, causing the users hand to sustain major injuries, or, in the worse cases, the users hand would be blown off. A large number of shooters did not report having the pistol explode when it was introduced, only citing many of the pistols various problems, until on February 16th 1986. when a man by the name of Borys Oktawiusz was rushed to the hospital in Czeladz; his right hand was blown into pieces, and he also sustained severe injuries to the forehead and the right maxilla. Borys was in a shooting range outside of Czeladz, when he tried to shoot with a Pocky .22, when the pistol suddenly exploded into pieces.
The Oktawiusz incident was the final nail in the coffin for the Byeradzina Firearms Company, when Zedrutian media outlets began reporting on the incident. A week after the incident, BFC announced that it stopped all production of the Pocky .22, and soon was met with numerous lawsuits, including one by Borys, in which he won. The Pocky .22 has become one of Zedrutia's worst guns, with the gun's designer, Mickiewicz, being humiliated by the public opinion which led to his suicide in 1991. The Pocky .22 nearly brought doom to one of Zedrutia's largest firearm manufacturing firms, and cost the company millions of dollars in losses.
== History ==
Miłosz Mickiewicz was a firearms designer for the Byeradzina Firearms Company, having been in the firearm manufacturing firm since the 1970s. He designed a few firearms for the Byeradzina Firearms Company, which were modified bolt-action or hunting rifles. However, Mickiewicz would soon rise to fame in the company, when he designed a semi-automatic pistol that was cheap, reliable, and, according to him, "could easily fit in our pockets". The CEO of BFC was baffled by such a design, but initially doubted that the pistol could be produced by the company, as for decades the company had largely specialized in hunting rifles, and had never produced pistols throughout the company's existence. But, the CEO of BFC had changed his mind, believing that BFC should shift to making different firearms, rather than the decades old tradition of producing hunting rifles. The first prototype was tested on May 1985, around a month after Mickiewicz designed the gun. This was where the first massive problems started to arise. Those who tested the firearm had praised it initially for its low recoil, but soon the pistol had severe jamming issues; after a few shots, the gun constantly jammed which had become a major issue. This problem was ignored by the company and the CEO himself, and instead praising Mickiewicz for his design and dedicated work to the company.
The pistol was widely advertised to the market for its cheap cost, accuracy, low recoil and small size. Since BFC was one of Zedrutia's largest firearm companies, the pistol's advertising was met with a lot of praise and support for its development nationwide, with some becoming too overhyped about the gun. Mickiewicz received a large promotion, and even had his salary doubled due to his contributions. BFC also invested heavily into the gun, mostly for advertising, and the equipment which was needed to produce the gun. BFC gave it the name "Pocky .22", with the word, Pocky, being a nickname for "pocket", which came from Mickiewicz's words that the gun could easily fit in the pockets of their users. Finally, BFC announced on October 1st 1985 that the gun was finally released, and production began immediately, and afterwards a massive hype had followed, especially among shooters who were waiting to test the gun.
Unfortunately, the BFC Pocky .22 was a complete failure. When the gun was delivered to many of its buyers, almost all the people who had used the gun immediately faced issues with the gun upon firing their first few rounds. Immediately within a few days, Byeradzina Firearms Company received hundreds of complaints, and soon they began pouring in overnight. The gun's massive problems were noted immediately; the gun was prone to constantly jam, and the gun would often fail to chamber a bullet. Despite this, BFC still continued to widely advertise the firearm and deliver it to many of the buyers - BFC even considered trying to convince the Zedrutian National Police to make the Pocky .22 as a standard issued firearm, and even tried to persuade many of its previous customers to use the Pocky .22, but all attempts had gradually failed as soon as news of the gun's problems started spreading quickly throughout Zedrutia. By late 1985, the gun was a complete disappointment, despite BFC's attempts to convince many of Zedrutia's gun owners to purchase them, and would continue to do so, up until February 16th 1986. 
==== Oktawiusz incident ====
On the morning of February 16th 1986, 28 year old Borys Oktawiusz was at a shooting range in Czeladz, being brought to the place during a family reunion trip where Borys's father brought them over to shoot weapons. In a biography published by Borys, Borys was selecting a weapon to use when he came across a Pocky .22, in which he chose due to its appearance. The personnel at the shooting range was initially reluctant to give the pistol to Borys, after terrible experience with the pistol after it had been purchased from the manufacturer, but had decided to hand it over to Borys, believing that the pistol doesn't pose any other issues other than frequent jams. Borys went over to the firing range. When Borys aimed the pistol and pulled the trigger, the Pocky .22 all of a sudden malfunctioned, and soon exploded in his hands. In the process, the blast destroyed his right hand, blowing it into smithereens, with chunks of flesh from his hand splattered all throughout the area where he stood in. The shrapnel also did severe injuries to his maxilla. Borys was immediately knocked unconscious from the blast, with personnel rushing over towards him after they had heard an explosion in the firing range. Borys was immediately rushed to a hospital in Czeladz, where he underwent emergency surgery to have his right hand amputated, and shrapnel removed from the right side of his face. Borys was hospitalized for weeks and by the time he was in recovery, the news of the Pocky .22 exploding in his hand caused a wave of media outlets reporting on the incident, which finally led to the scandal surrounding the Byeradzina Firearms Company.
With the scandal surrounding BFC and the Pocky .22, the company immediately went into a freefall after the incident. BFC's CEO, which had permitted the gun's production and release to the public, was forced to resign due to pressure from public opinion. Soon, BFC announced that it stopped production of the Pocky .22, leading to thousands of dollars lost in the process. Mickiewicz was fired from the BFC for designing the pistol, despite him immediately showing regrets of the rushed production of the Pocky .22, despite him not being aware of the guns flaws. Mickiewicz was publicly shamed by the company, along with the company's former CEO. This did not save the face of the company, when the Oktawiusz family soon filed a lawsuit against the BFC, soon winning it and gaining millions of dollars in damages, with the BFC soon losing millions of dollars in the lawsuit case. BFC soon declared bankruptcy in 1988, a year after the lawsuit, after the company's reputation had been ruined by the incident and the lawsuit which occurred.
=== Aftermath ===
Only 10,000 units of the Pocky .22 were made. After the Oktawiusz Incident and BFC's near downfall, the Pocky .22 is a rare gun, and due to the lack of units produced, and the frequent jamming of the gun, acquiring the firearm has been a challenge for those who were willing to collect firearms. Most of the Pocky .22s went to gun collectors, or museums where they were put up for display. There were rumors that there was a stockpile of the pistols in a BFC-owned warehouse in Starobrzyn, which BFC's CEO in 2005 denied, claiming that they no longer wanted to associate with the firearm or its history. However, some Pocky .22s were still being used, although the number of users of the pistol are unknown. Some had even been in shooting ranges, up until the 1990s. One of these examples is a shooting range in Verovo, owned by Lev Marcin. Lev had ordered around 10 pistols for his shooting range. However, the Pocky .22's had been sold to a museum, after the shooting range was sold in 2001, after Lev was assassinated in a drive-by shooting in 1995.
Miłosz Mickiewicz, the designer of the pistol, still persisted on his innocence. He said that the pistol that he designed was a complete prototype, saying that the CEO of the company had ultimately led to the rushed production of the firearm and soon after led to the company's failure, blaming it partly on the CEO himself. He had also sent an apology letter to the Oktawiusz family for the incident in 1989. Miłosz also said that the pistols design could have been redrawn or improved upon by other colleagues within the company, but had refused to do so due to the company's reputation for making hunting rifles. Miłosz tried to live a secluded life trying to move on from the gun that he made but had failed as media outlets had disturbed his personal life, and was publicly humiliated by journalists which soon led to the decline of his mental health. Miłosz committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot to the head in 1991. Miłosz's family filed a lawsuit against most media outlets which soon led to them being provided compensation.
Borys Oktawiusz continued to live a normal life, despite difficulties he had to endure after losing his right hand in the accident. He was still in possession of pieces of the Pocky .22 which exploded when he used it. He was married and had two children. However, in 2013, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and within 2 years he had difficulties in movement and speech. He soon passed away in 2015 at the age of 57.
== In games ==
* The Pocky .22 appears in Marcin's Shooting Range.
== Trivia ==
* The Pocky .22 is heavily based on the American firearm, known as ZIP .22. The two guns are completely similar except for the wooden stock. The ZIP .22, just like the Pocky .22, was infamous for its constant jamming issues, and brought the company which manufactured the gun, U.S. Fire Arms Manufacturing Company (USFA) to its downfall. Another difference is the dates - the ZIP .22 was introduced in 2013, while the Pocky .22 was introduced in 1985.
* It was added as a joke weapon before because Mie was playing a video game "Cruelty Squad" by Ville Kallio, and he was obsessed with the weapon that he spent a hour trying to get it in "Casino Catastrophe" level that reboolder asked him to add that weapon.
Category:Items