A rotary impact breaker has a housing and a rotor rotatable in the housing about an axis in a predetermined direction and formed with a radially outwardly open pocket having a generally radially extending front and back faces. An impact element has a foot part seated in the pocket and having a front face bearing against the front pocket face and a back face confronting and diverging from the back pocket face and a head part projecting radially from the pocket. A retaining wedge in the pocket has a front face bearing forwardly against the back element face and a back face backwardly against the back pocket face. A bolt engages radially from the wedge into the rotor and presses the wedge radially inwardly and thereby tightly lodges the wedge between the back element face and back pocket face.
