It is quite funny to watch, when watching not the most low-budget films, how the main character under cover of night in complete silence exterminates his enemies one by one with the help of a revolver with a silent firing device attached to it. Of course, the revolver is not at all the one that the Nagan brothers developed in 1895, usually it is something massive and, most importantly, larger in order to be more impressive. It is strange that with all the bloated budgets of films, there is no money for an adequate consultant, and among all the staff there is not a single person who would be even a little familiar with firearms and the principles of its operation.
But this is just an interesting observation, the topic of this article will be a really silent revolver with a built-in silent firing device - PSDR 3.
A Little Bit of Historical Justice
Most of the Russian-language articles about this weapon begin with the fact that the authors are indignant, citing the words of the designer of this revolver that he allegedly invented the world's first silent revolver. Immediately remember the domestic "Bramit" for Nagant and OTs-38. And it seems that the anger is directed in the right direction, only the designer did not talk about the first silent revolver, but about the first revolver with an integrated PBS, yes, there was a case, he did. Apparently, either a translation error crept in, or the desire to get to the bottom of an already not very successful weapon turned out to be very strong, many love to kick a lying person.
But let's not be like the majority and try to look at this revolver from a different angle, less categorical.
For whom and why was the PSDR 3 silent revolver created?
To be completely honest, at the first glance at this weapon it was difficult to remove a smile from the face - too primitive solutions in it were used by the standards of 1993. But any weapon is not created just like that, the designer always has an idea by whom and for what the result of his work will be used.
The PSDR 3 revolver is no exception. Designer Joe Peters developed his weapon for the German special police units Spezialeinsatzkommando. Weapons were required cheap, effective, and most importantly in a short time and in small quantities, hence those simple solutions in weapons that, despite all the injections of skeptics, cope with the tasks assigned to them.
In other words, the designer was faced with the task of making a silent revolver based on existing weapons, so that it would be cheap, reliable and unpretentious in maintenance. It was possible, of course, to connect a dozen third-party designers from other arms companies, design for half a year, try to implement it in metal for a couple of years, change designs, ammunition, and so on. And you could make a primitive addition to the Smith & Wesson 625 revolver on your own in a couple of weeks, produce several dozen required weapons and return to other projects.
So if you look at the silent PSDR 3 revolver exactly as a small-scale, cheap and highly specialized weapon, then everything becomes not so primitive, but simply justified, which says as much about the designer as the most complex systems developed by him, and sometimes and more.
Appearance of the silent revolver PSDR 3
The appearance of the weapon is really remarkable. With the attached folding shoulder rest, the PSDR 3 revolver looks more like a single-shot hand grenade launcher than a revolver, but the characteristic handle, trigger with safety guard, trigger and part of the frame betray the weapon.
Almost completely hidden by the silent firing device, the revolver does not have its own open sights, instead of them there is a mounting bar on top, on which a collimator sight can be installed. Under the non-removable silent firing device itself, there is another short bar for installing a laser targeting device or a flashlight.
The folding shoulder rest (the tongue does not turn to call this element a butt) is a curved tube attached to the handle of the revolver. In theory, using a stop, and the body of the silent firing device as a fore-end, you can shoot quite accurately and comfortably, clearly more accurately than without a shoulder rest, even when using both hands. So the part is necessary, especially in the folded position it does not make the weapon less convenient.
The design of the silent revolver PSDR 3
As mentioned above, the basis for the silent revolver PSDR 3 was the revolver of Smith & Wesson, namely model 625. In the process of working on the weapon, the American revolver was slightly modified, reducing the gap between the barrel and the drum chambers, as well as changing the frame to securely fix the device on it silent shooting.
The trigger mechanism of the weapon remained unchanged, it is a double action trigger with an open trigger. The ammunition remains the same, common and perfect for weapons with.45ACP silent firing devices. Since the cartridges do not have a welt, plate clips, otherwise called moon clips, are used to fix them in the drum chambers. With their help, the process of reloading weapons is also accelerated, since the spent cartridges are removed all together, as well as new cartridges are inserted immediately in a "pack" of 6 pieces.
It is no secret that the main reason why silent firing devices cannot be used in revolvers is the gap between the barrel of the drum and the barrel of the weapon. It is through this gap that part of the powder gases breaks through, making the PBS on the muzzle of the barrel an absolutely useless part. The exceptions are those models of weapons in which the drum "rolls" onto the barrel before firing, thereby minimizing the amount of powder gases escaping between the barrel and the barrel. So, in the M1895 pistol of the Nagan brothers, just such a method was used, in addition, the sleeve itself additionally closes the joint between the drum chamber and the weapon barrel, this solution allows the use of various designs in the BPS revolver.
It goes without saying that in the Smith & Wesson revolver, the drum moves only around its axis, and does not make any other movements, which means that there is a gap between the barrel of the weapon and the chamber of the drum. This gap can be reduced, but it is impossible to get rid of it without changing the design of the revolver itself. The only reasonable and cheapest option for solving this problem is to separate the locking of the powder gases that break through between the chamber of the drum and the barrel. This is precisely the solution used in the silent revolver PSDR 3.
On the back side of the body of the revolver silent firing device, two folding parts are fixed, which, tightly fitting to the frame of the weapon, form a casing that locks those powder gases that have managed to pass through the gap between the barrel and the chamber of the drum. An interesting detail in the design of this revolver can be noted that the drum has been redesigned in order to minimize the amount of powder gases that do not perform useful work. This was done not in order to achieve greater bullet energy when fired, but so that the powder gases that got into the locking casing did not in any way affect the cartridges that are located in other chambers of the drum, since the drum itself was located completely in the same a casing that closes the powder gases. When fired, the excess pressure in the locking casing could displace the bullet in the still unused cartridges, since the pressure inside the cartridge case was clearly lower than the pressure inside the casing.
It is also noteworthy that with the open halves of the casing locking the powder gases, the revolver drum opens to the left, like that of the American progenitor.
A lot of criticism was also said about the design of the silent firing device. It represents a large chamber in which the barrel of the weapon is placed. No division of powder gases, and even more so redirection of their flows for their braking is not implemented. The bullet, leaving the barrel, first appears in the silent firing device itself, and then passes through a soft insert with slots. The tab first opens along the slots with a bullet, and after the bullet is completely out of it, it collapses, locking the powder gases inside the silent firing device.
The design is really primitive, similar to the first PBS, which were at the beginning of the twentieth century, nevertheless, it performs its function and quite successfully copes with cutting off the powder gases when fired and then bleeding them off. The main disadvantage of this design of the silent firing device is the fragility of the soft insert, which, with prolonged use, loses its elasticity and is banally erased by a bullet, which makes each shot louder.
How acceptable is this design of the PBS in weapons, from which they shoot very rarely and not in bursts, everyone can decide for himself. But replacing the tab that closes the powder gases clearly looks more attractive than cleaning the multi-chamber silent firing device, which, by the way, are also short-lived.
Features of the silent revolver PSDR 3
What you can really find fault with this weapon is its size. The thickest part of the weapon is the silent firing device, that is, it is possible to measure the maximum thickness of the revolver on it, and this is as much as 68 millimeters, which stretch almost along the entire length and end only at the pistol grip. The length of the silent firing device itself is 240 millimeters, plus the length of the locking casing is added to them. The total length of the weapon from the handle to the front of the PBS is 440 millimeters. But it should be noted that with such a length of the weapon itself, the barrel length is corresponding - 200 millimeters. By the way, the barrel has a polygonal groove.
There is no data on the weight of the weapon, but if we take into account that the weight of the American progenitor is more than one kilogram, then with a full set in the form of a PBS, a folding shoulder rest and sights, we can talk about a mass approaching close to two kilograms, which is a lot.
Pros and cons of the silent PSDR 3 revolver
The main advantage of this revolver, in my opinion, is that the weapon was made in a short time using the simplest, albeit not the most modern, solutions, which in turn had a positive effect not only on the timing of the development of the weapon, but also on its final cost, which especially important for small-scale production. The use of a suitable cartridge, which has been proving its effectiveness for more than a hundred years, is also clearly not a minus, especially since this ammunition is massively distributed and low cost. The overall reliability of the design based on the revolver and at the same time the complete sealing of almost all movable units makes the weapon suitable for use in the most adverse conditions, although this point should be considered simply as a "bonus", since this revolver is actually used in the sterile conditions of the city.
There are also disadvantages to the weapon. First of all, these are dimensions and weight. On the other hand, if we consider this weapon not in the short-barreled class, but, say, as a silent carbine for a pistol cartridge, then these claims can be removed. What really cannot be justified is the lack of open sights. Two small metal parts, even without the possibility of adjustment, are not so expensive, but they can significantly help in case of failure of the same red dot sight, especially since there is a place and an opportunity for their installation. Often a long reload time is noted as a separate disadvantage of this weapon. In practice, the reloading of the silent PSDR 3 revolver is no different from the reloading of any other revolver with a similar design of the weapon drum locking unit. The only difference is that before pressing the slider on the locking drum, you need to open the halves of the casing locking the propellant gases, using a large enough pressing lever under the mounting bar for sighting devices.
Conclusion
The silent revolver PSDR 3 is a prime example of how not to judge a book by its cover. Even more - sometimes it is not worth judging by the content, since it is foolish to look for an exciting detective story in a technical reference book. Silent revolver PSDR 3 is a highly specialized weapon, small-scale, with very specific requirements. The fact that the designer did not invent yet another "Space Marine cannon", but implemented everything with the simplest, albeit primitive, solutions, speaks only of the designer's experience and common sense. Absolutely any person can make it difficult with sufficient motivation, but to do everything quickly and simply, this already requires talent.
