Fans of small arms from Russia are quite familiar with the smooth-bore semi-automatic hunting rifles of the Turkish company Girsan, which are sold in Russia under the Yenisei brand. At the same time, Girsan also specializes in the production of short-barreled weapons. The latest development in this segment is the company's first polymer-framed self-loading pistol, the Girsan MC28 SACS.
Perhaps there is not a single manufacturer of short-barreled firearms in the world who secretly would not dream of creating their own "Glock killer" - the same accurate and reliable self-loading pistol with a plastic frame, but with an even better value for money. Over the past 10 years, along with well-known manufacturers of short-barreled weapons, which include Heckler & Koch, Carl Walther, SIG-Sauer, Beretta and CZ, representatives of the so-called "weapon periphery" from the states of Eastern Europe regularly make attempts to take away part of the market from the Austrian pistol., Southeast Asia and the Middle East. In particular, the Turks are very active in this direction, who in the last decade regularly surprise the world community with both very solid and worthy clones of well-known models of Western manufacturers, and models of weapons of their own design.
The Turkish arms company Girsan Gun Industry was founded in 1994 and began its journey with the release of clones of Beretta pistols called Yavuz 16 Compact (copy of Beretta 92F Compact) and Yavuz 16 Regard (Beretta 92G), which were introduced to the market of short-barreled firearms in 1995. Today Girsan is a fairly large manufacturer of short-barreled weapons: the company's production line includes more than 30 models of self-loading pistols and 3 models of semi-automatic rifles. The enterprise produces about 60 thousand small arms annually.
At the same time, for the Girsan company, the production of hunting rifles is, rather, a diversification of production. The main products of the company are pistols for the Turkish army and police, as well as for practical shooting. In the segment of short-barreled firearms, the company has a very high reputation in Turkey. At the same time, the distinctive features of the weapons produced by Girsan are: good workmanship, rational design, a "standard" set of versions - plastic, camouflage, walnut, sets with two barrels, as well as a carefully designed design of the manufactured samples. Today, the weapons of this company are produced using the most modern technologies and are actively used by the security forces of the Republic of Turkey.
In 2015, at the IWA Outdoor Classic arms exhibition, which takes place in Nuremberg, the Turkish company Grisan presented its new model line of pistols with a striker-type trigger mechanism. In terms of layout and design, the weapon was similar to the American Smith & Wesson M&P pistol. Two pistols were presented - MC28-SA and MC28-SAC (shortened). Distinctive features of the latter are smaller dimensions and weight. At the same time, the GIRSAN MC28 became the first pistol of a Turkish company with a frame made of polymer materials. The weapon can be considered a completely independent development of the company (the previous models of pistols were copies and interpretations of the Beretta 92, Colt 1911 and other popular models, or were seriously reworked by their compilations).
And although outwardly the Girsan MC28 quite strongly resembles the American pistol Smith & Wesson "Military & Police" (M&P), which is relatively underestimated by the gun public, this similarity is only superficial. It is limited only by the general principle of the automation and locking (modified Browning scheme) and design, but the controls and the trigger are significantly different.
The trigger mechanism (trigger) of this pistol is structurally more similar to that of the Glock pistol and differs from the trigger of the American M&P in the presence of a cocking indicator for the drummer, which is located on the back of the bolt casing with a clearly visible and bright red dot. As is done by many of the finest modern handguns, the rear of the MC28 pistol grip has been interchangeable, allowing the shooter to adjust the size for the best recoil feel and optimal grip. The consumer receives a Girsan MC28 pistol with three different grip covers: large, medium and small for maximum ease of use. Replacing them is very simple: you just need to knock out the pin using the drift supplied with the weapon.
All controls of the MC28 pistol are traditional for the vast majority of modern pistols, so the Turkish model of short-barreled weapons is familiar to many shooters and is quite easy to learn. The pistol in the standard version of the MC 28 SA does not have a manual safety catch, the role of which is played by the lever located on the trigger. There are only 2 levers on the pistol frame: a disassembly lever and a slide stop. Disassembling a Turkish pistol is quite simple, it resembles the disassembly of a Glock pistol, however, it requires caution from the shooter, so during disassembly you need to pull the trigger, which means you need to be especially careful and control whether the pistol is loaded. According to the reviews of the first buyers of the Turkish pistol, it reliably works with different types of ammunition (including semi-sheathed (expansive) bullets), and in accuracy it is not inferior to the Smith & Wesson MP9 and Glock 17 models. At the same time, the pistol has a good security system. It includes a hammer lock, a striker cocking indicator, an indicator that the cartridge is in the bore, a double trigger and an external safety catch, which is not available on all models.
The delivery set of the Turkish Girsan MC 28 pistol includes a plastic case, 3 replaceable (described above) backs of the grip, 3 spare rounds, a set for cleaning weapons, magazines and a cable lock. For a budget model of short-barreled weapons with a price of 1,400 Turkish liras (approximately 430 euros), this set of supplies can be considered quite generous. The weapon is produced in different color options (black, olive, sand, with a silver casing, yellow, pink, camouflage, cage). According to representatives of the Turkish company, different color schemes are in demand not only from representatives of law enforcement agencies who want to receive weapons in accordance with the camouflage colors of their uniforms, but also from female buyers who buy such weapons for home self-defense and concealed carrying.
In addition to the standard model, the Turkish manufacturer offers a version of the pistol with a manual safety on the frame of the Girsan MC 28 SAS, as well as a compact version called the Girsan MC 28 SAC, this pistol is approximately 10 mm shorter. A novelty can be considered the Girsan MC 28 SACS model, which not only combines the features of the SAS / SAC variants, but also has a slightly modified design. The main difference of this pistol model is the shape of the handle, which has received a noticeable depression under the shooter's thumb. This ensures a deeper fit of the weapon in the hand, which is a good solution both from the point of view of stability during fast shooting and from the point of view of ergonomics (the pistol grip subjectively becomes larger while maintaining virtually the same dimensions).
The performance characteristics of the Turkish pistol model Girsan MC 28 SAСS are as follows: ammunition caliber 9x19 mm, overall dimensions 182, 5x144, 8x30 mm, pistol weight without magazine - only 690 g, magazine capacity - 15 rounds. The cold forged barrel is 97 mm long, and the barrel is said to have 6 right-hand grooves in 250 mm increments. The muzzle velocity of the bullet is 363 m / s, and the effective range of the pistol is up to 70 m. According to the assurances of the manufacturer, the declared resource of the pistol is 50 thousand rounds.
An interesting detail is that pistols of the Girsan MC 28 family are being produced today in cooperation with one of the Italian arms companies, which was bought by a Turkish company in order to improve the quality of products, as well as to increase the competitiveness of pistols in the international market. For all Girsan MC 28 pistols, this is an obvious plus that makes them interesting for many buyers, especially if we take into account the rather democratic price of the pistol.
