In the 90s of the last century, a new pistol was developed in the Tula KPB, designed to replace the obsolete Makarov pistol.
The new weapon was named GSh-18. The abbreviation GSH is formed by shortening the names of the creators of the pistol - V. Gryazev and A. Shipunov, and the index 18 means the number of cartridges in the magazine.
Based on the results of the tests, the GSh-18 was put into service in 2000, and a year later its mass production began at the Tula Arms Plant.
Together with the Gryazev-Shipunov weapon, a new ammunition was also developed with increased penetrating ability. Created on the basis of the 9x19 Parabellum cartridge, this cartridge was adopted for service under the designation 7N31.
Pistol GSh-18 cartridge caliber 9 mm. Device
GSh-18 (GRAU index - 6P54) is a Russian pistol developed in the late 1990s at the Tula Instrument Design Bureau. It received its name from the first letters of the last names of the designers under whose leadership it was designed (Gryazev Vasily Petrovich and Shipunov Arkady Georgievich) and the number “18”, indicating the magazine capacity. Serially produced since 2001, offered for export.
Pistol GSh-18 - video
In 2000, the GSh-18 was adopted by special forces of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, in 2001 - by special forces and certain categories of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. In 2003, according to the results of a competition for a new army pistol, capable of replacing the Makarov pistol in service, it was adopted by the Russian army. Since December 2005, it has been included in the list of award weapons. In September 2006, it was adopted by the Russian Prosecutor's Office as a weapon for the personal protection of prosecutors and investigators. Adopted by the Federal Bailiff Service.
In 2000, the GSh-18 was adopted by special forces of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, in 2001 - by special forces and certain categories of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. In 2003, according to the results of a competition for a new army pistol, capable of replacing the Makarov pistol in service, it was adopted by the Russian army. Since December 2005, it has been included in the list of award weapons. In September 2006, it was adopted by the Russian Prosecutor's Office as a weapon for the personal protection of prosecutors and investigators. Adopted by the Federal Bailiff Service.
Although the decision on the possibility of using a “cartridge of standard size 9x19 mm” in the new army pistol was made in November 1993, KBP joined the competition for R&D “Rook” only in the fall of 1998 (after finishing work on the P-96 pistol). Throughout 1999, the entire range of work to create a new pistol was completed: from the development of technical documentation to factory testing. State tests of GSh-18 prototypes began in January 2000 and were completed in the summer of 2000. During the tests, certain changes were made to the design, as a result of which the GSh-18 acquired a finished form. In the process of work, it was possible to significantly increase the service life of parts and the reliability of the weapon in difficult conditions, and the emphasis was on working with the high-impulse cartridge 9x19 PBP (armor-piercing pistol cartridge) of our own design (GRAU index 7N31).
The first experimental GSh pistols differed from the P-96 in the locking principle. Locking by turning the barrel and hooking it behind the window for ejecting cartridges was not suitable for 9x19 mm cartridges, so two schemes were tested: locking with a swinging wedge (type R-38) and an earring (type TT). A pistol with locking by turning the barrel reached the test site, but the locking mechanism was completely redesigned. The rotation was carried out due to the interaction of the protrusion on the breech of the barrel with the tracing groove of the pistol frame liner. In the front part of the bolt, an insert coupling with 10 paired lugs is fixedly fixed to engage the bolt with the barrel. The number of lugs on the barrel was also increased to ten (the P-96 has one lug). The angle of rotation of the barrel when locking decreased from 30° to 18°.
Design
The design of the gun is extremely technologically advanced in production (injection molding, stamping and welding are widely used, which reduces the labor intensity of manufacturing), however, the cost of production tooling and equipment for production is effectively recouped only when producing large batches. As a result, due to the small production volume, the cost of the GSh-18 is higher than that of the Yarygin pistol.
The automatic system of the pistol is based on the recoil of the barrel during its short stroke, and the locking of the barrel bore by its rotation. This scheme allows you to dramatically reduce the size of the weapon, but is used very rarely.
The pistol frame is made of glass-filled polyamide with steel inserts, which reduced the weight of the weapon and also somewhat reduced the recoil impulse due to the damping properties of the plastic. The barrel with six polygonal rifling is made by cold forging. The shutter is stamped and welded, made of 3 mm steel sheet.
The trigger mechanism is striker-fired, double-action, with preliminary partial cocking of the firing pin when the bolt moves and additional cocking when the trigger is pressed. The mainspring is cocked during rollback, then, during rollback, it partially releases energy, working together with the return spring before placing the firing pin on the sear. This scheme ensures complete locking of the barrel.
The design of the pistol allows for complete assembly/disassembly of the pistol in the field without the use of any additional tools, using only the slide stop.
The pistol has four levels of safety: two automatic trigger safety devices and two safety devices that are triggered when the barrel is not fully locked. One trigger safety locks the trigger and turns off when the button is pressed on it, and the other locks the sear in the upper position with a disconnector and turns off when the trigger is fully pressed. When the barrel is not fully locked, one fuse, consisting of a release mechanism, prevents the sear from lowering, and the other prevents the firing pin from breaking the primer. The GSh-18 multi-stage safety system completely ensures safe handling of the pistol in any operating conditions, which was confirmed during field testing. Among other tests, the pistol withstood repeated drops from a height of 1.5 m onto a concrete slab with the firing pin cocked. It is distinguished by increased combat readiness, as it has a self-cocking trigger mechanism and an automatic safety lock.
Sights consist of a non-adjustable rear sight located on the bolt block (which critics of the pistol consider a disadvantage, since over time the bolt block can become loose in the bolt and the accuracy of aiming and shooting will decrease) and a horizontally adjustable front sight. For shooting in low light conditions, it is possible to install luminous capsules on the front and rear sights.
The magazine is double-row, box-shaped, with a staggered arrangement of cartridges and a double-row exit. The side and rear surfaces of the magazine have large cutouts that allow you to determine the number of cartridges by touch and inspection.
Ammunition used
A special 9×19 mm 7N31 armor-piercing cartridge has been developed for the GSh-18. The bullet has a core made of heat-strengthened steel. Bullet weight 4.1 grams, muzzle velocity 600 m/s, muzzle energy 600 J. It is also possible to use commercial 9x19 mm Parabellum cartridges, 9x19 NATO cartridge, as well as the Russian 9x19 mm 7N21 cartridge, whose energy (550 J) exceeds the energy of the 9x19 NATO cartridge, and the special 9x19 PBP cartridge of increased armor penetration with a muzzle energy of about 800 J. [source not specified 1028 days] The semi-jacketed bullet of the 9x19 PBP cartridge has a heat-strengthened steel core exposed in the head part. The shirt is made of aluminum alloy. The high speed and design features of the bullet ensure penetration of all types of body armor up to class 3 inclusive, impenetrable even by bullets of the 7.62x25 TT cartridge when fired from submachine guns.
Reviews of the pistol from the military
1 review
In general, reviews about the GSh-18 pistol are very different - from enthusiastic advertising to skepticism. In any case, the advantages of the GSh-18 include its very light weight for its class, large magazine capacity, and low barrel position relative to the shooter’s hand.
The GSh-18 provides very comfortable conditions for the shooter. This is explained, first of all, by the convenient shape of the handle, the excellent balance of the pistol and some recoil damping in the process of unlocking the barrel bore and cocking the mainspring. In addition, the ergonomic shape of the handle and the close location of the pistol’s center of gravity to the axis of the barrel bore contribute to the rapid return of the pistol to the aiming line, which has a positive effect on accuracy when conducting high-speed shooting. The ejection of cartridges in a vertical plane creates a small compensating moment that prevents the barrel from being thrown up and does not move the barrel to the side from the aiming line.
2 reviews
Everyone has heard about him. We heard that it is a miracle pistol. And they heard that he is a turd. I shot a hundred rounds of ammunition from it, disassembled it, assembled it, cleaned it, and formed a preliminary opinion about it. - easy. Especially without ammo. - a kind of descent - tight and unpredictable. It is impossible to handle the trigger like on a trigger pistol. - strong bounce when fired. — the sharpened edges of the magazine jaws plus the impossibility of manually loading more than ten rounds of ammunition turn loading the magazine into an unpleasant task. The charging device itself does not have any swivels to tie a cord to it or fasten a carabiner. Otherwise, it’s not at all difficult to lose it... All these difficulties with loading the magazine suggest such a scenario for using a pistol - two magazines are fired and you can forget about the pistol. Because - even if you have spare cartridges, you won’t be able to load magazines in a combat situation, due to the fact that - no one will carry a charging device with them - even if it is available, it can easily be lost - due to the large effort applied to equip the magazine with the help of a charging device, this same magazine must be rested against a solid support, that is, equipping it while holding it in weight will be very difficult. Of course, the situation with equipping pistol magazines in battle is unlikely, but sometimes the life of a military man presents such unpleasant surprises.
3 reviews
GSh-18 provides uncomfortable conditions for the shooter. This is explained, first of all, by the design of the safety and protection mechanism. Instead of the usual trigger, the main gun has a sliding trigger. The shooter, pressing the trigger, cocks the mainspring immediately before firing. Therefore, the descent of the GSh18 is long and difficult. The comfortable shape of the handle and the excellent balance of the pistol only partially compensate for this shortcoming.
A serious drawback of the pistol is the ejection of the cartridge case straight and upward (which is unusual for most shooters). Given the low weight of the pistol and the use of a light and high-velocity bullet, the recoil is quite significant and no amount of ergonomics can compensate for it. The second significant drawback is the practical impossibility of manually loading a magazine with more than 12-15 rounds, without the use of special devices. The pistol was originally designed for mass production and production in small batches does not justify the deterioration in production quality in small batches.
Modifications
Tactical modification of the GSh-18 - in the fall of 2012, production of a new version of the GSh-18 pistol began. Changes: new polymer frame material, the shape of the trigger guard has been changed, a Picatinny rail element has been added, the length of the frame has been slightly increased to allow for mounting a PBS.
GSh-18 “Sport” - was presented in October 2010 at an arms exhibition, is distinguished by a modified design of the safety on the trigger (the safety is deactivated by turning the entire trigger around the axis, and not part of it), additional corrugation on the front of the bolt casing and a modified magazine 10-round design.
GSh-18 “Sport 2” - serial production began at the beginning of 2012. It features a modified handle shape and a magazine capacity of 18 rounds.
The standard delivery package includes a pistol, two magazines, a loading device, a spare firing pin spring and a cleaning rod.
Traumatic pistol - In October 2010, an experimental demonstration sample of the GSh-18T traumatic pistol chambered for .45 Rubber was presented at an arms exhibition. It differs from the combat prototype in its simplified design (there is no safety lock on the trigger, the automatic operation is powered by the recoil energy of the free shutter), the presence of two dissector protrusions in the barrel bore (precluding the possibility of firing live ammunition) and a magazine capacity reduced to 7 rounds. Due to changes in legislation, the project was discontinued.
Specifications
The operation of automation in this weapon is carried out according to the principle of barrel recoil. The barrel is locked using a rotating bolt, for which 10 lugs are used.
The multi-stage safety system completely eliminates the possibility of accidental shots. The magazine, as mentioned above, has a capacity of 18 rounds.
The magazine latch, at the shooter's choice, can be installed on the left or right. The sight consists of a rear sight and a height-adjustable front sight. It is also possible to install a laser target, for which there is a special hole in the front of the trigger guard.
Click to enlarge
In combination with the 7N31 cartridge, the GSh-18 shows very high penetration ability. At a distance of 15 m, penetration of an 8 mm steel plate is ensured.
Expert's note: in addition to the 7N31, it is possible to use the domestic 7N21 cartridge, as well as a wide range of foreign-made military and commercial ammunition.
Also, one of the distinctive features of this pistol is the very light weight of the GSh-18. An unloaded GSh-18 weighs about 0.5 kg, and with a loaded magazine - 800 grams. Such a small mass is achieved through the use of plastic parts in the design. The price of GSh-18 is within 25 thousand rubles.
