As gunsmiths say, the laws of physics are not written to the military, that's why you can often find requirements for weapons that are contrary to common sense. Our designers, almost always managed to do the almost impossible and if not completely satisfy all the requirements in their samples, then at least come close to them. A striking example is the PP-90 submachine gun, which usually has negative reviews. Nevertheless, this weapon is very interesting, and most importantly, it fully meets the requirements that were imposed on it.
This submachine gun was developed in the early 90s of the last century, it was then that a compact PP was required, which would not burden the shooter when worn with its weight or dimensions and would be ideal for hidden carrying. It was decided to make the weapon foldable, although many arms companies have already been pierced by this, without having achieved the distribution of such samples. The Tula gunsmiths decided to try to make a folding submachine gun, and they achieved that when folded, the weapon did not even look like a weapon, although the unfolded sample only slightly resembled a PP. The appearance of the submachine gun is quite interesting. When folded, it is a block 270 millimeters long, 90 millimeters wide and 32 millimeters thick. From this block, literally in 3-4 seconds, you can unfold a submachine gun with a length of 485 millimeters, weighing 1.8 kilograms.
The automation of the sample is built according to the scheme with a free shutter, the fire is fired from a closed shutter, only automatic, the weapon does not have a single fire. The rate of fire is 600-800 rounds per minute, so, in principle, it is quite easy for the shooter to keep track of the ammunition consumed. The PP-90 submachine gun is fed from detachable box magazines with a capacity of 30 rounds 9x18PM, the PMM cartridges cannot be used. The effective range of the weapon does not exceed 50 meters, which is facilitated by not the best sighting devices and the ergonomics of the submachine gun, however, a large effective firing range is not required from such a sample.
The design of the weapon is very much like a butterfly folding knife. When bringing the submachine gun into a combat state, the block is decomposed into two parts: the receiver and the butt, the handle remains in the center, it is the magazine receiver. Unfortunately, the design of the weapon is such that it is impossible to store a submachine gun in a folded state with a magazine. Therefore, in order to start shooting from a weapon, you first need to unfold it, insert a magazine, cock the bolt, while, if you wish, you also need to raise the sights, which do not have the most rigid fixation, which affects the effectiveness of fire from the weapon. It is on the sights that they swear most often. The butt of the weapon, due to the preservation of the compact size of the submachine gun, as a whole, also turned out to be very short and it will be inconvenient for a physically well-developed person. The reliability of the PP automation also raises a lot of complaints, after all, whatever one may say, but when the weapon is folded and unfolded in different directions, the backlash of the parts is inevitable, which means there will be problems with the operation of the sample.
In general, the weapon turned out to be quite simple, and although you cannot put it in your pocket, it cannot be denied that the designers managed to create a rather compact sample when folded. Naturally, this PP is not suitable for widespread distribution, the reason for this is the small effective range of the PP-90 and the long preparation time of the weapon for firing, and complaints about the operation of the weapon are also clearly not in favor of this submachine gun. Despite this, it is impossible to assess this weapon strictly negatively, do not forget that we are talking about a folding PP of compact dimensions, and this weapon is quite specific. But it is often easier for our compatriot to swear at a weapon, without taking into account the fact that this submachine gun is not a full-fledged model, although they ask him like a regular PP.
