There is no story sadder in the world than the story of a Russian pistol.
In the USSR, the pistol as a weapon was probably at the very end of the list of urgent problems of the armed forces. The role of the pistol in battle is extremely insignificant, and accordingly, minimal attention was paid to this issue.
In fact, the whole history of an army pistol in the USSR is a transition from a revolver of the Nagant system to a TT pistol (Tula Tokarev) and from a TT to a Makarov pistol. At the same time, during a certain transitional period, these types of weapons were exploited (and in some places are still being exploited) simultaneously.
In addition to the main standard weapons in service with the armed forces (AF) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), some other models have been adopted - the Stechkin automatic pistol (APS), the small-sized self-loading pistol (PSM), the special self-loading pistol (PSS) and others. … However, their use was quite limited, and they did not claim to be the main pistol.
In fact, the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the collapse of the USSR was met with a single unified pistol - a Makarov pistol chambered for 9x18 PM. The perestroika and glasnost formed after the collapse of the USSR, combined with the rapidly declining defense budgets, forced the developers and manufacturers of small arms to look for an opportunity to make money on anything. One of the areas of funding search was the topic of creating a new army pistol. By this time, it was believed that the Makarov pistol was outdated, the power of the cartridge and the number of cartridges in the store were insufficient, the ergonomics did not correspond to modern models of small arms.
The Izhevsk plant chose the easiest way, releasing in 1994 an updated version of the Makarov pistol - the modernized Makarov pistol (PMM). The design of the pistol is reinforced to ensure the possibility of firing high-impulse cartridges 9 × 18 PMM, approximately 70% of PMM parts are interchangeable with PM parts. Magazine capacity increased from 8 to 12 rounds by expanding the handle and using a double-row single-feed magazine.
The pistol is limitedly used by the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, and other power structures, but there is no need to talk about a complete rearmament. Among the shortcomings, it can be noted that the proliferation of reinforced 9x18 PMM cartridges, along with the usual ones, leads to accidental or deliberate loading of them into non-modernized PMMs, which, when attempting to shoot, leads to accelerated wear of the pistol, and sometimes to its failure, with the shooter getting various injuries …
For the civilian market on the basis of the PM, pistols "Skif" and "Skif-Mini" with a polymer frame were developed. But since in Russia there was no civilian market for rifled short-barreled weapons and there is no, and the competition abroad is too strong, these samples did not receive development.
In 1990, the USSR Ministry of Defense announced a competition for a new pistol designed to replace the Makarov pistol, which is in service, but does not meet modern requirements (R&D "Grach").
As part of this work, the Tula Central Design and Research Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons (TsKIB SOO - since 1997, a branch of the Tula State Unitary Enterprise "Instrument Design Bureau" - State Unitary Enterprise "KBP") developed the OTs-27 "Berdysh" pistol. The development was carried out by I. Ya. Stechkin (the designer of the same "Stechkin") and B. V. Avraamov, therefore the pistol is sometimes designated by the PSA index (Stechkin-Avraamov pistol).
A design feature was the ability to use various types of cartridges - 7, 62x25, 9x18 PM or 9x19, after replacing the barrel and magazine. Also, despite the possibility of using powerful cartridges 7, 62x25 and 9x19 in the Berdysh pistol, a free breech circuit is used, as in the PM, a special damper is installed in the lower part of the bolt to compensate for recoil. The bolt and frame of the pistol are made of steel; wooden or plastic pads can be installed on the handle.
The Ministry of Defense was not interested in this pistol, and in 1994 it was withdrawn from the competition for an army pistol, later it entered the Ministry of Internal Affairs in small quantities. According to the reviews of some users, it is a rather interesting pistol, it is a pity that it is absent in Russian shooting galleries, and there is no way to evaluate it personally.
In the early 90s TsKIB SOO developed several more interesting samples - pistols - OTs-21 "Malysh", OTs-23 "Dart" and OTs-33 "Pernach".
Small-sized pistol OTs-21 "Malysh" can be considered as a competitor to PSM. Unlike the latter, it uses a fairly powerful (taking into account the dimensions of the pistol) cartridge 9x18 PM (there are modifications - OTs-21S chambered for 9x17 mm and OTs-26 chambered for 5, 45x18). The pistol is completely made of steel, with a hidden trigger, there are practically no protruding parts in it, which makes it easy to carry and retrieve. Shooting is carried out only by self-cocking, there are no non-automatic fuses, the safety of wearing with a cartridge in the chamber is ensured by the high force required to pull the trigger.
The OTs-21 pistol was adopted by the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation as a self-defense weapon for prosecutors and investigators. This model could well be popular in the civilian market as a “lady's” or spare weapon, including among law enforcement officers.
The automatic pistol OTs-23 "Dart" was developed by TsKIB SOO under the leadership of I. Ya. Stechkin by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia at the end of 1993. A special feature of the pistol was the used ammunition - 5, 45x18, in combination with a magazine for 24 rounds and the ability to fire in bursts, with a cut-off of 3 shots. Due to the small stopping effect of cartridge 5, 45x18, the pistol did not interest the customer and was produced in single copies.
On the basis of the OTs-23, the OTs-33 Pernach automatic pistol was developed to replace the APS. The caliber of the OTs-33 pistol is 9x18 PM. Compared to APS, it has a simpler design. The barrel of the pistol is made movable to reduce the perceived recoil and reduce the rate of fire (a separate mechanism for forced reduction of the rate of fire is installed in the APS). The safety lever is duplicated on both sides of the gun. The capacity of standard magazines is 18 rounds, extended 27 rounds.
The pistol did not interest potential customers and only in small quantities entered the warehouses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Tula State Unitary Enterprise "KBP" began developing a promising army pistol in the mid-90s. Distinctive features of the developed pistol P-96 are a plastic frame and locking by turning the barrel by 30 degrees. The P-96 pistol at the time of manufacture was the only domestic pistol with a striker firing mechanism.
According to the test results, the P-96 pistol was recognized as unsuccessful; on its basis, the P-96M service pistol was developed for the 9 × 18 PM cartridge for government agencies and the P-96S for the 9 × 17K cartridge for private security structures. Pistols of the P-96 line are considered unreliable and caused numerous complaints from their few users.
As part of R&D "Grach" for an army pistol, the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (TsNIITOCHMASH) in the mid-90s developed the SPS pistol (Serdyukov self-loading pistol) "Gyurza" (currently produced under the CP1M index) for a reinforced cartridge 9x21 mm …In the course of development, several versions of the pistol were worked out - with a fixed barrel and with a movable barrel, locked by a swinging larva. As a result, the second option was chosen.
The SPS pistol has two automatic safety locks - one in the back of the handle (turns off when gripped) and the second on the trigger, similar to the safety used in Glock pistols. There is no non-automatic fuse. A feature of the firing mechanism is the impossibility of firing a shot when the trigger is not set to the safety platoon (to some extent, this is a non-automatic safety device, but very inconvenient).
The frame of the gun is polymer - made of glass-filled polyamide. According to personal feelings, the pistol is large, especially the handle, poorly suited for shooters with a small hand. The non-automatic safety catch in the back of the handle presses unpleasantly on the palm, all the time there is a desire to correct the grip.
The military rejected this model, but it interested special units of the FSB and FSO, they were interested in the high efficiency of the 9x21 cartridge against targets protected by body armor or obstacles like the sides of a car.
