At the end of the 60s, the special services expressed a desire to get a small-sized pistol that would allow the operative to carry it secretly and not be unmasked. Initially, however, this pistol was conceived as a personal weapon of the command staff of "organs", but then its characteristic features attracted the attention of operational workers. Therefore, it was decided to expand the scope of the use of future weapons. As for the dimensions, some sources say: in the terms of reference for the pistol, the thickness of the future weapon was required no more than that of a matchbox: 17-18 mm. Very attractive, although later the small size of the pistol will cause controversy.
Only two pistols were presented for the competition: BV-025 designed by V. Babkin with TsNIITochmash and PSM by Tula TsKIBSOO designers T. Lashnev, A. Simarin and L. Kulikov. Both pistols were made under the MPTs cartridge, created at TsNIITochmash.
It is worth dwelling on the cartridge separately. The fact is that the ammunition 5, 45x18 mm MPTs, aka 7N7, in the end turned out to be the most controversial and most fateful moment in the biographies of all pistols that were developed for its use. The choice of such a small caliber was dictated by the requirements of the terms of reference: it is at least very difficult to fit a mechanism for a larger caliber of 17-18 millimeters.
The MPC was created by Klimovsk engineers under the leadership of A. Denisova. In fact, it was made from a new 5, 45 mm bullet and a case from the PM cartridge. Since the cartridge was made for "police" weapons, it was decided not to "inflate" the characteristics. A 2.5-gram bullet charge of 0.15 grams accelerates to only 310-320 meters per second. Let's face it, a little. But for shooting at targets at a distance of 20-30 meters, it was considered sufficient. In addition, due to a special bullet with a pointed "nose" (on it, it should be noted, there is a small flat area to reduce the likelihood of ricochet) at the indicated distances, the cartridge is able to penetrate soft Kevlar bulletproof vests of 1-2 protection class. Interestingly, the bullet has a composite core (the nose is steel, the back is lead) and does not pierce the fabric, but pushes its fibers. However, the MPC also has a drawback - due to the light and slow bullet, its stopping effect is less than that of other pistol cartridges, for example, the PM. But more on that later.
The Tula PSM won the competition for a small-sized pistol, and in 1972 it went into series. The pistol immediately fell in love with users in terms of ease of wear. But there were some problems with the application. As mentioned above, the stopping effect of the bullet is lower than the penetrating one. There is information that because of this there were typical cases: an employee of the authorities used PSM against the offender, he “caught” a bullet, but continued to resist and try to escape. And only in the course of the chase did the villain suddenly stop resistance due to blood loss. It is not known whether the ambulance managed to get to the place of detention and ensure the presence of the offender at the investigation and trial. The good old Makarov pistol in this regard was much more convenient, although it had large dimensions. Therefore, by the end of the 80s, PSM began to be used only as a personal weapon of comrades with big stars, and then as a bonus. Operatives, in turn, by that time had abandoned the PSM.
At the beginning of the last decade of the last century, the Ministry of Internal Affairs again thought about a new pistol. Only this time it was supposed to be a replacement for Kalashnikov assault rifles, reliable and convenient, but dangerous for civilians in urban settings. The order for the new pistol was received by the Tula TsKIBSOO, and the group of designers was headed by I. Stechkin, the creator of the famous APS. The theme was named OTs-23 or SBZ (Stechkin, Baltser, Zinchenko), and later the name "Dart". A small-caliber MPTs cartridge was chosen as ammunition for the Dart. OTs-23 was made as a "pocket submachine gun" for law enforcement agencies, so it was decided to use a cartridge optimized for urban conditions and distances. Perhaps someone will ask, if the MPC has already tried to apply in practice and are disappointed, why make another pistol for it? Stechkin, Baltser and Zinchenko decided to compensate for the stopping quality with a rapid-fire quantity: if the pistol is automatic, then let it fire three shots with a cut-off. And there are as many as eight such bursts without reloading - a standard Dart magazine holds 24 rounds. The rate of fire within the queue is about 1800 rounds. Since such a pace cannot but affect the accuracy and accuracy, which is important specifically for this pistol, a muzzle brake-compensator was added. It looks like holes on the top of the barrel and on the casing. Due to this, part of the powder gases thrown upward reduces the bounce of the pistol.
The second innovation to improve the accuracy and "stacking" of all three bullets side by side is the original barrel mount. After the shot, the bolt under the action of recoil goes back, throws out the sleeve and catches the barrel. Already together, the barrel and bolt move a few more millimeters. To return to its original position, the bolt and barrel have their own springs. Due to the rearward displacement of a larger mass than in the case without a moving barrel, the toss of the pistol is further reduced. Together with a muzzle brake-compensator, this helped to significantly improve the accuracy of the battle. Such a system was used for the first time in domestic weapons.
The OTs-23 double-action firing mechanism has an open hammer and allows you to shoot from both self-cocking and pre-cocking. The safety of handling the gun is ensured by a non-automatic safety device. It is located on the back of the bolt casing and at the same time serves as a fire translator. The fuse-translator has three positions: blocking, single fire and bursts of three. Taking care of the left-handed shooters, the designers brought the safety flags on both sides of the pistol.
The "Dart" sight is open, and there are grooves on the frame under the barrel for installing various "body kits". The butt of the pistol is not supposed to be - this was stipulated in the terms of reference.
The characteristics of the OTs-23 are not inferior, and sometimes even surpass the PSM, but the "curse" of the MPTs patron also hung over it. The slightly longer barrel of the "Dart" and automatic fire at a high rate could not compensate for the small stopping effect, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs needs a "stopping" pistol. So "Dart" could not go to the big series.
In the mid-90s, the Ministry of Internal Affairs again turned to TsKIBSOO for a pistol. This time they wanted to get a pistol similar to the OTs-23, but designed for a different cartridge - PM or PMM. The OTs-33, or Pernach, was indeed developed on the basis of the Dart, although some changes were made. So, for example, they removed the cutoff for three shots, reduced the rate of fire to 850 rounds per minute, added a detachable metal butt, etc. "Pernach", possessing a more powerful and effective cartridge, was not much more successful than its predecessor. OTs-33 is also produced in small batches, but at the same time, reviews about it are much better than about "Dart". However, this is a different story and a different pistol.
