As the old advertisement says, “Russia is a generous soul,” and the Soviet Union was even more generous, giving many people, in fact, a gift the opportunity to use their developments. This is most clearly seen in the example of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, but this is far from the only example. I have repeatedly met statements about the Makarov pistol that one can only shoot with this weapon, we will try to refute this statement, at the same time getting acquainted with the sample, which is made in the image and likeness of the PM, but is produced in Bulgaria. Well, the fact that the weapon is produced not only in the country where it was developed proves its relevance. Of course, the PM is not a universal pistol for absolutely all tasks, but with many it can cope with great success, as well as its rather interesting version of the Bulgarian production.
In 1990, the Arsenal arms company began to create its own Makarov pistol, which was supposed to become more ergonomic and convenient to use, in other words, it was decided to update the weapon. The very design of the pistol, of course, was not touched, but took up the appearance and ergonomics. More comfortable grip covers, a protrusion in the lower part of the store, a safety bracket and so on, but first things first, catch the eye. The weapon was primarily created as a model for the civilian market, that is, as a self-defense weapon, for recreational shooting, and so on. It was also planned to make a service model, but of course, there was no expectation that this pistol would get into the army environment.
The ammunition that the pistol uses was left the same as 9x18PM, a model for the 9x17 cartridge was developed separately. For a more comfortable holding of the weapon, the pads on the handle were replaced, which really had a positive effect on the convenience of holding and the reliability of the grip of the weapon. For more convenient two-handed firing, the shape of the safety bracket was changed, which became rectangular with a slight bend in the front. Changes have also been made to the bolt casing, which also differs from the original weapon: first of all, the rear of the bolt casing has become straight, the notch has also changed, becoming longer. The front of the breech casing has become smoother. It was decided to supplement the sights of the weapon with white dots for ease of aiming, and the paint is not light-accumulative. The magazine latch was left in its usual place - at the bottom of the pistol grip. The weapon magazine was also not changed and remained with a capacity of 8 rounds. The finish of the weapon can be very diverse from chrome plating to bluing with various shades, after all, it is an option for the civilian market in general.
The weapon's automatics are built according to the scheme with a free breechblock, that is, it is completely similar to the Makarov pistol. Double-acting trigger mechanism. The fuse blocks the drummer, removes the trigger from the combat cocking, locks the sear and the bolt of the weapon. In general, we can say that the R-M01 pistol is the same PM after a good "tuning".
Much more interesting is the variant of the weapon chambered for both 9x18PM and 9x19. Personally, I don’t know how the designers can cram something unproductive. And the point here is not only that the free-shutter automation scheme is not suitable for a relatively powerful 9x19 cartridge, but also that the real calibers of the bullets of the cartridges differ from each other by 0.24 millimeters, and the edges of the sleeve have different diameters. Here either all this disgrace dangles like a pestle in a mortar and has a very low resource and reliability, or it requires replacing the barrel of the weapon and the return spring, which has not been confirmed. Nevertheless, there is such a sample of weapons, they even say that it works, so if someone has information on such a universal, then please share.
The P-M01 pistol was in quite great demand at one time, which gradually disappeared, since other models of weapons for more powerful cartridges appeared on the market, although I personally do not understand why 9x18 with an expansive bullet does not suit the adherents of active self-defense abroad. In my opinion, such ammunition is more than enough, because the attacker rarely puts on a bulletproof vest. Nevertheless, the consumer gave preference to more complex and powerful models, "Arsenal" did not lag behind and created a weapon model already under the name R-M02 with a rather rare and interesting automation system, but about this pistol in the next article.
