What pistols are in service with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs?

Yarygin pistol

The Yarygin pistol or simply PYa today is not the youngest, but the best and most promising pistol for the domestic police. PYa was developed back in 1993. True, they “tried” it and adopted it into service with law enforcement agencies only in 2003. The weapon fires 9x19 mm cartridges and has from 17 to 18 rounds in the magazine, depending on the modification. The PY is positioned as the main replacement for the obsolete Soviet Makarov Pistol. “Yarygin” is used by literally all units from PPS to SOBR.

From idea to model. Submachine gun for the 21st century police

You won’t see any kind of submachine guns today!
There are also some very unusual specimens. For example, this one, which we will tell you about today, Police Weapons.
Who is doing what during self-isolation! Some people don’t leave the Internet, others finally make repairs to their wife’s delight. I also had a lot of free time. However, I would like to begin the story of what this time resulted in by referring to the material of our regular author A. Staver, “What can replace the usual Kalashnikov: on the prospects of small arms.” There was a lot of interesting stuff there about the prospects in the field of small arms for the army. But everything that was discussed there can rightfully be applied to police weapons!

What should it be like in the 21st century? Of course, effective: who needs an ineffective weapon? Sufficiently universal, as the challenges to police forces are increasing. In addition, it must be technologically advanced and fairly cheap. And this is also, of course, an important requirement. And it follows from the modern trend towards unification of production. That is, if an increasing part of it is transferred to the level of computer production, then the weapons themselves should be produced in the same factories as computers. Ideally, a shooting computer should appear in front of us. But what about the “impulse”, well, the one from a nuclear explosion, which supporters of good old iron love to talk about? Fuck him! Firstly, there is protection, and secondly, this is not relevant for the police. And thirdly, now in the army there is a mass of all kinds of electronics, which seem to be also afraid of impulse, but for some reason there is more and more of it. So let's forget about this right away.

There is one more thing. The world is changing. The cost of human life is rising. Which, by the way, is what the coronavirus epidemic has shown. This means that the day is not far when developed countries will begin a new arms race, no longer nuclear, but simple, but technologically complex. And reliable “hardware” will be declared a weapon of terrorists and their very presence in a person or country will be equated to a crime and international terrorism. That is, a drone will fly in and the owner of such a piece of hardware will be slammed without trial or investigation. Now “uncivilized” peoples have almost everything the same as civilized ones. But they are outnumbered. This means that taking away their familiar weapons is very beneficial. And everything that is profitable will be done sooner or later.

Hence the conclusion: the police of the near future need a submachine gun - this is a weapon that was well tested in the past by the police, after all, it began with it, which could simultaneously shoot plastic bullets and fire gas and thermobaric grenades (this depends on the situation !), and conduct heavy fire on the target. So that, say, the terrorists holed up outside the window couldn’t even stick their noses out while the special forces were running to that very window.

And so I thought about all this and made a mock-up, a mock-up concept, nothing more, which at least allows you to hold on to it and evaluate its ease of use. And I’ll immediately make a reservation so that people don’t write all sorts of nonsense in the comments later, that we are not talking about any cutting of budget money and that the author is not in any “hopeless situation.” It’s just that someone makes models of tanks and knight’s armor in their spare time, but I prefer models of promising riflemen. That's all.

I will say more, this is not even a weight and size model. Because in terms of dimensions, yes, it has the dimensions of a future weapon, but the weight is still less, because not all the “stuffing” is installed in it.

So, let's look at the first photo. The basis of the design is a tubular truss made of plastic. Moreover, all the handles for holding it in it are tubular, modeled on the handle of the Finnish Valmet assault rifle. There are three handles for holding: two inclined at the back and one vertical at the front. The longest lower tubular frame serves to accommodate a telescopic butt inside it, a tube for a tactical flashlight is attached to it, and under it there are two ring mounts for a cartridge with charges. A metal Picatinny plate with two folding mechanical sights is attached to the upper frame, which in front turns into an L-shaped steel plate-brass knuckles, which protects the shooter’s hand if it is on the front vertical post, and which can be used to make a window or knock down the door, or in hand-to-hand combat. On the top frame there is also an electronic control unit for the submachine gun with a display that displays all system parameters, including ammunition consumption. There are also two release keys on both handles - at the top and bottom, which is also very convenient. A microchip implanted under the thumb turns on the system, so only “our person” can shoot from such a machine gun.

Photo 1. Submachine gun “Universal police weapon” with a set of components

Accessories include four additional mounting assemblies for two additional cartridges, which easily mate with the two main mounting assemblies on the lower tubular frame. All cartridges have the same shape, so they can be inserted into any of the mounting units, but they have different contents. For example, below is shown a grenade, which can be gas, thermobaric, or fragmentation. They may differ in color. Both the grenade itself and the cartridge with it.

Photo 2. View of the submachine gun on the right. Here, on the top tubular rail there is another Picatinny rail for a laser target designator, and on the bottom there is a mount for a blade bayonet. The photo shows how deep the stock rod goes inside it when it folds. The spring is needed to make it easier to release the rod when removing it. The batteries are located one in the lower pistol grip and the other in the upper tubular guide

Photo 3. A standard dagger bayonet is attached to a cylindrical protrusion on the lower guide and on a latch, and it is located horizontally so that it fits between the ribs without any problems!

Photo 4. When assembled (basic version), together with a tactical flashlight inserted into the tube, this submachine gun looks like this.

Photo 5. Sights are very simple. The front sight and sight are folding and have ring guards. Long Picatinny rail allows you to attach any additional sighting devices

As for the design of the cartridge itself, it is based on already existing developments and does not pose any difficulties for release. This is a plastic cylinder, inside of which there is a block of eight barrels, each of which is designed to fire four shots. The barrels are rifled, but since they are essentially disposable, they use the cheapest metal. Inside each barrel there are four bullets, which differ from ordinary ones only in that steel rods pass through them, protruding from the rear by 5-6 mm. Each rod rests against the head of the bullet behind it. Everything is the same as in the well-known “Metal Storm” system of the Australian inventor O’Dwyer, but in this case there is a difference. There are no powder charges in the barrel! They are located in four cylindrical sleeves attached to the barrel and connected to it by a hole that opens into the bullet space. A similar method of placing a powder charge, by the way, has also already been tested in U-shaped ammunition studied in the USA. But there we were talking about bullet casings. In this case, we have a slightly different design, a sleeve docked to the barrel. The barrel itself is designed for four shots, and the cartridge case for one! Inside the sleeve, the space is divided in a ratio of 20 to 80. They are separated by a metal-ceramic piston, whose thickness is slightly greater than the hole for the exit of powder gases. A microchip is attached to it - a microwave radiation receiver and two igniters. There are also two powder charges: a larger one made of fast-burning powder, facing the barrel, and a smaller one, in a confined space, armored, slow-burning.

Photo 6. Submachine gun equipped with a cartridge and a tactical flashlight. The bayonet mounting rod is clearly visible

The shot is fired as follows. When you press the release button on one of the handles, the microwave generator generates a pulse that receives the microchip of one of the free bullets from one of the barrels. An electric current is generated, the igniter is triggered, but only the powder charge that has an outlet into the barrel immediately ignites. In this case, the membrane breaks through, gases fill the space behind the bullet and push the bullet out of the barrel. Here a charge of armored gunpowder begins to burn. The gases push the piston forward and close the liner bore. Thus, during subsequent shots, the powder gases enter only the barrel, and do not also fill the empty cartridges, creating high pressure in them, which makes them disposable.

Photo 7. Folded stock and handle with a screw-on battery cover

Since there are holes with a diameter of 2-3 mm along the perimeter of the cartridge, the powder gases at the muzzle at the moment of the shot create a vacuum and through them air is pumped through the cartridge. Thus, the more often this submachine gun fires, the more intensely the cartridge cools. Just like a Lewis machine gun.

Photo 8. Holding a submachine gun with an underhand grip

The design of the submachine gun was designed to be easily used by both right- and left-handed people. In the latter case, the belt fastening brackets and the control unit can be easily moved to the opposite side. That's all. This photo demonstrates holding a submachine gun by the lower handle and cylindrical cartridge body. The butt rest is turned upward for ease of use. The M-shaped butt control button is located just above its spring and allows for five positions. The sights are raised up for ease of working with weapons with different grips, but everything is calculated so that at a distance of 200 m the aiming point coincides with the axis of the cartridge itself. In addition, when firing automatically, the weapon always moves upward a little.

The rate of fire of such a cartridge can be very high, because there are no moving parts in it. The number of remaining charges is reflected on the display screen. The firing range (based on the comparative characteristics of modern submachine guns) can reach 200 m on this model. Which is quite enough to solve almost any tasks that can be assigned to modern police forces.

To be continued…

Makarov pistols

The outdated, but not yet retired, Makarov Pistol and the Modernized Makarov Pistol still occupy a huge place in police work. The PM was developed specifically for the Soviet police in 1948 by Nikolai Fedorovich Makarov. In 1951, the weapon completely replaced the TT revolvers and pistols that remained in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then the main feature of the PM was its high stopping power - the most important criterion for a weapon for the police. Due to its simplicity, reliability and efficiency, PM has been used for more than 70 years. Although in “serious” units like OMON and SOBR, Makarovs are no longer used. Most often they can be seen in the police department, with local police officers and detectives.

PMM was created in 1994. It was assumed that a slightly improved version would supplant the “grandfather”, but in the end this never happened.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation will receive a Lebedev pistol instead of the old PM

The new compact Lebedev pistol (PLC) has been adopted by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. This was reported to RIA Novosti by a source in law enforcement agencies.

The weapon should be a replacement for the “morally obsolete” Makarov pistol (PM), which was used by Soviet and Russian law enforcement agencies for more than 70 years.

The Lebedev pistol was developed by the Kalashnikov concern. The compact version differs from the basic version in reduced weight and size. It is equipped with a magazine with 14 9×19 mm ammunition. PLC is suitable for concealed carry.

In May, another version of Lebedev’s pistol, the modular MPL, was adopted by the Russian Guard. The pistol and its modification MPL-1 are distinguished by a double-sided arrangement of controls. Thanks to the low-mounted barrel, the pistol throws up less when firing and the speed of aimed fire increases.

By the end of 2022, a traumatic version of Lebedev’s pistol, the PLC-T, should also appear on the market. The pistol was presented at the international military-technical forum “Army-2021” and has already been certified.

The civilian version of the PLC is intended for self-defense, training and sports and recreational shooting. The creators of the pistol expect it to become as widespread as the Makarov traumatic pistol. The firearm PM is still in service and is as iconic a weapon in Russia as the Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Old man Makarov

The self-loading 9-mm Makarov pistol was developed by Nikolai Fedorovich Makarov back in 1948, and was adopted into service with the PM in 1951. It is this weapon that is the service weapon of the Russian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as a number of former Soviet republics. The basis for the creation of a new Soviet pistol was the German Walther PP, produced since 1929.

Makarov simplified the design of the Walther, making it less whimsical and more reliable.

The PM was originally created as a personal weapon for senior command personnel, and officers with the rank of junior lieutenant to colonel were supposed to be armed with Stechkin pistols. However, in the end, the PM became the weapon of policemen and officers of the Soviet army. The PM has good accuracy - when firing at 25 m with standard cartridges, the dispersion radius is only 75 mm, and at 50 meters - 160 mm. At a distance of 10 m, the dispersion radius is 35 mm.

A large number of combat, service and civilian modifications have been developed on the basis of the Makarov pistol: the IZH-70 sports training pistol, the Skif modification with a polymer frame, various caliber gas and signal pistols.

In addition to Russia, PM-based pistols were also produced in the GDR, then in united Germany, as well as in Bulgaria and China.

The PM pistol was included in every set of cosmonaut equipment on the Vostok spacecraft, and it was this pistol that became the first small arms to go into space.

Once, the Russian Ministry of Defense already decided to replace the Makarov pistol. The competition was announced in 1990, 10 years later the Yarygin pistol won, and in 2003 it was put into service. This pistol never became widespread among the military - it is mainly used by the Federal Bailiff Service and the Prosecutor's Office for the personal protection of judges and prosecutors.

OTs-33

The SBZ-2 “Pernach” automatic pistol, better known among people under the symbol OTs-33, was developed in 1996 as a replacement for the APS. The OC was officially adopted into service in 2000. Due to its specificity and high price, the weapon has not become widespread. It is used mainly by special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation: riot police, special forces and interdepartmental security.

Please note: Top 7 most dangerous Russian-made missiles!!!.

The pistol uses traditional 9x19 mm cartridges and is equipped with 18 or 27 round magazines. An important difference between the OTs-33 and its “ideological” predecessor, the APS, is its much simpler design.

From the history of the Russian police: on the issue of personal weapons

Russia became an empire during the time of the innovative Tsar Peter the Great. Among his most important affairs were the establishment of a regular army and a state police force. The command staff of the army and police formed the Russian officer corps. It was in those days that the word “officer” became part of Russian speech. This word itself has the same root as the word “official”, that is, state-governmental. Thus, the officer is a part of the state, its full representative within the limits of his powers. But if in Russia officers are only the command staff of combatant structures, then in countries with an Anglo-Saxon legal system, citizens use the word “officer” to any representative of such government structures, regardless of his rank and position. This is very noticeable in Western films where local police officers are shown. That is, there the concept of an officer is equivalent to the concept of a G-man, a statesman.

Throughout the existence of the Russian Empire, officers were the highest caste of its society. Insulting an officer was equivalent to an attempt on the state and was very severely punished. But the officers themselves were obliged not to lose their dignity, protecting it from any slightest humiliation, especially in the public sphere. If an officer failed to respond in a timely and dignified manner to an attempted insult, then he was simply expelled from his midst. That is why it was believed that an officer’s personal service weapon was intended primarily for self-defense, and only then for use in official interests. So it was absolutely natural and necessary to carry a personal weapon everywhere if the officer was in uniform, and it was highly advisable not to leave it behind when changing into civilian clothes. In the Russian literature of that time one can find many examples of how officers did not hesitate to use their pistols and revolvers if they saw that those who wanted to humiliate them or offend a lady in front of their eyes had an advantage in numbers or physical strength, such that without weapons it is impossible to stop. And always in such situations, the courts subsequently acquitted them.

After the October Revolution, for a very long time, the right to constantly carry personal service weapons and self-defense with its help continued to be retained by army and law enforcement officers, inheriting the tradition of the Russian Empire. Moreover, to store a service pistol at home, you did not need any safe; you could just put it under your pillow at night. People knew this and at dangerous times in dangerous places they simply huddled around army or police officers, knowing that they were armed and could protect.

But this tradition was abruptly interrupted in 1969, when a certain army lieutenant, dressed in a police uniform, made his way to Red Square and fired at the government motorcade with his service pistol. All officers were prohibited from carrying personal weapons while off duty. And off we go! Now it has become possible for any officer to be rude, beaten, maimed and killed. Moreover, if the officer was in civilian clothes, then in court this softened the fate of the gopniks, they say, in our everyday life we ​​are all equal before the law.

The All-Russian movement “Right to Arms” is an association of citizens who are not indifferent to their personal dignity and the dignity of their fellow citizens. That is why it is fighting to ensure that, as in the Russian Empire once upon a time, all normal, adult and mentally healthy people have the right to defend themselves from any criminal attacks, having equal chances with the attacker, regardless of his build, physical development and weapons. That is, for the right to carry and use a normal personal short-barreled weapon.

Any crime against a person is, first of all, an insult, humiliation of a person, the victim of such a crime. However, our opponents in the Ministry of Internal Affairs insist with polite adamance that pistols and revolvers are dangerous things and should only be in the hands of trained and professional people.

And here the question naturally arises: then why are trained and professional army and police officers prohibited from keeping personal service weapons with them at all times? Although at the same time, there are many military award pistols in the hands of completely untrained people, some with more than 10 barrels, according to the same Ministry of Internal Affairs!

True, our most rabid opponents, no longer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, regarding the authorization of personal weapons for officers, gloatingly point to the case of police major Evsyukov, while keeping silent about the fact that Evsyukov did not use his service weapon, but stole evidence pistols. Which once again shows: murderers cannot be stopped by any anti-gun bans; bans are for the law-abiding.

When at the end of 2013 - beginning of 2014. there were reports of attempts to convict police officers for using service weapons when detaining people who posed a danger to others, when an unarmed police officer stood up for a woman on the street and was killed for it, “Right to Arms” organized a series of public actions throughout Russia in defense of the right law enforcement officers to the legal and unhindered use of service weapons in necessary cases. In Moscow, a picket was held on this occasion at the State Duma, which received the approval and support of the police union.

Unfortunately, similar events in other cities did not find such support; local representatives of the police union did not contact the movement’s branches, although the police officers on duty at the events expressed their extreme approval to us.

OTs-27

The PSA “Berdysh” self-loading pistol, popularly known simply as OTs-27. This pistol was also developed back in the 1990s and was adopted for service by the Russian special police forces in 2003. The pistol uses 9x19 mm ammunition of three main types. Despite its good characteristics, the OTs-27 never became widespread, becoming mainly a pistol for SOBR and riot police. The magazine capacity is 18 rounds.

A promising pistol for the army and police

For a long time there has been talk about the need to replace the obsolete PM pistol. Back in the 80s, the development of a promising pistol based on the theme “Rook” began. Samples of weapons were created that met the requirements of the military. These were the SPS, GSh-18, PYa pistols and the modernized Makarov PMM pistol. The PMM pistol used 9x18 mm PMM cartridges with a lightweight conical bullet and an increased powder charge, the SPS pistol used powerful cartridges with a 9x21 mm armor-piercing bullet (the cartridge is made on the basis of the standard 9x18 mm cartridge case), the GSh-18 and PYA cartridges use 9x19 mm Para cartridges, more precisely, their Russian analogues 7N21 and 7N31 with increased bullet penetration. Let's delve into history to understand the tasks assigned to Russian gunsmiths. First, let's return to the post-war competition for a new pistol for the army and police of the USSR.

The Nagan revolver was adopted for service in Tsarist Russia and by the beginning of the Second World War it was considered an obsolete model. The Nagan used cartridges with a cylindrical bullet recessed into the sleeve with low penetration and stopping effect. The advantages of the revolver were the simplicity and reliability of the design, subsonic bullet speed and the ability to use a silencer, the absence of breakthrough of powder gases between the drum and the barrel due to pushing the drum onto the barrel, fairly high accuracy and accuracy of fire at a distance of up to 50 m. The disadvantages include a weak cartridge and inconvenience of reloading a 7-charge drum.

The TT pistol was created in 1930 by the famous gunsmith Fedor Tokarev and adopted for service under the name TT-33. The weapon uses an automatic recoil system with a barrel coupled to the bolt. The design is reminiscent of the Colt M1911 and Browning 1903 pistols. For firing, 7.62x25 mm cartridges are used, based on the German Mauser cartridge. A 7.62 mm caliber bullet carries an energy of about 500 J and has a high penetration effect (capable of penetrating a Kevlar body armor without rigid elements). The pistol has a single-action trigger trigger in the form of a single block; instead of a safety lock, the hammer is set to safety cock; the pistol uses a single-row magazine with 8 rounds. The advantages of the TT include high accuracy and shooting accuracy at a distance of up to 50 m, a powerful cartridge with high bullet penetration, simplicity of design and the possibility of minor repairs. The disadvantages include insufficient stopping power of the bullet, rather low survivability of the structure, danger in handling due to the lack of a full-fledged fuse, the possibility of the magazine spontaneously falling out when the latch tooth is worn, the inability to effectively use a silencer due to the supersonic speed of the bullet, and the lack of self-cocking.

The Makarov pistol was developed in accordance with the requirements of the military in the 1947-1948 competition to replace the TT pistol and Nagan revolver.

Pistol PM

The weapon was adopted as a pistol-cartridge complex. For shooting, 9x18 mm cartridges are used with a round-nosed bullet of 9.25 mm caliber, which is slightly more powerful than the foreign 9x17 K cartridge. A bullet weighing 6.1 grams leaves the PM barrel at a speed of 315 m/s and carries an energy of about 300 J. Standard army ammunition has a bullet with a mushroom-shaped steel core to increase penetration on non-solid objects. The stopping effect of a blunt-nosed bullet is quite high on an unprotected target, but its penetrating effect leaves much to be desired. In the 2000s, a 9x18 mm PBM cartridge was created with an armor-piercing bullet weighing only 3.7 g and a speed of 519 m/s. The armor penetration of the new cartridge is 5 mm at a distance of 10 m, while the recoil impulse has increased by only 4%. A slight increase in the recoil impulse allows the use of new ammunition in old PM pistols.

9x18mm PBM cartridges

The pistol looks like a Walter PP, but this is only a superficial resemblance. The internal structure is significantly different from the German one. There are 32 parts in the pistol, many of the design elements perform multiple functions. The PM has a double-action trigger trigger with a convenient and reliable safety (blocks the trigger, hammer and bolt), uses a simple automatic operation scheme with a blowback bolt, and the pistol uses a single-row magazine with 8 rounds. This is one of the most powerful pistols with a similar automatic operating principle. The accuracy of fire for a pistol of this class is quite normal and is not inferior to other compact models. On the basis of the PM, a silent pistol was created for the special forces of the PB.

The advantages of the pistol include: the highest operational reliability and long service life, simplicity of design, self-cocking, compactness and absence of sharp corners, sufficient stopping effect of a bullet on an unprotected target. The disadvantages include: low penetrating power of the bullet, inconvenient trigger (a matter of skill), inconvenient location of the magazine latch, insufficiently high accuracy of fire compared to full-size military pistols, insufficient magazine capacity by modern standards.

Despite the obsolescence of the design, the PM will be in service with many CIS countries and satellite states of the USSR for many years to come. The pistol was produced under license in the GDR, China, Bulgaria, Poland and a number of other countries.

To eliminate the shortcomings of the PM, a modernized pistol was created within the framework of the Grach program, called the PMM.

PMM pistol

In terms of design, the unification with the PM is about 70%. The pistol has modifications with a magazine for 8 or 12 rounds (double-row with rearrangement into one row). The design difference from the PM is the presence of Revelli grooves in the chamber to slow down the opening of the bolt when fired. For firing, high-impulse 9x18 mm PMM cartridges are used with an initial conical bullet speed of about 420 m/s and a recoil impulse 15% greater than the standard one. It is prohibited to use new cartridges in a conventional PM due to the risk of structural destruction during prolonged firing with more powerful ammunition.

9x18mm PMM cartridge with a conical bullet weighing 5.8 g.

Although one of the PM's shortcomings was eliminated - the insufficient penetrating effect of the bullet, the modernization was not able to correct all the shortcomings of the old design. The issue of increasing the accuracy of fire was not resolved, the magazine capacity was still inferior to foreign analogues of similar dimensions and weight, the magazine spring worked with overvoltage. In addition to all this, the quality of weapons manufacturing dropped sharply after the collapse of the USSR. Formally, the pistol was adopted by some services. The task of completely replacing PM in the army and police has not been solved.

Another pistol developed as part of the Grach program was the Yarygin PYa pistol. Adopted by the army in 2003.

Yarygin pistol

The pistol uses a widely used automatic mechanism with a locked bolt. The frame of the pistol is made of steel, although a version with a polymer frame was also created. The trigger trigger of the pistol is double action, the double-row magazine holds 18 rounds. For firing, 9x19 mm 7N21 cartridges are used with a bullet speed of 5.4 g and about 450 m/s. These cartridges are somewhat more powerful than their Western counterparts and have an increased penetrating effect of a bullet with an exposed armor-piercing core.

The advantages of the pistol include: high accuracy of fire, good stopping and penetrating effect of the bullet, good balance, large magazine capacity. The disadvantages include: poor workmanship (especially the first batches), low service life when firing 7N21 cartridges, insufficient reliability of automatic operation, angular design and the presence of sharp corners, a very tight magazine spring with sharp jaws.

Despite all its advantages, the PM turned out to be crude and could not fully replace the outdated PM. Many law enforcement officers preferred the old, reliable PM. According to some experts, the level of technology of the Yarygin pistol is in the mid-70s and at the moment the pistol is inferior in many respects to foreign analogues. Based on the PYa, a sports pistol with a polymer frame “Viking” is produced, which has a weakened design and a magazine for 10 rounds.

The next candidate for an army pistol was the Tula GSh-18. The pistol was created at KBP under the supervision of two outstanding missile and gun designers Vasily Gryazev and Arkady Shipunov. Entered service in 2003. Produced in limited quantities since 2001.

Pistol GSh-18

The pistol has an automatic mechanism based on a linked bolt with barrel rotation, a striker-type trigger with two automatic safeties, and a magazine capacity of 18 rounds. The pistol frame is made of polymer, the bolt-casing is stamped from 3-mm steel using welding, the barrel has polygonal rifling. The weapon turned out to be compact and light. For shooting, very powerful 9x19 mm PBP cartridges (index 7N31) are used with a bullet weighing 4.1 g, a speed of 600 m/s and a muzzle energy of about 800 J. The bullet is capable of penetrating a sheet of steel 8 mm thick at a distance of 15 m or a bulletproof vest 3- th protection class.

Cartridges from left to right: regular 9x19 mm, 7N21, 7N31

Advantages of the pistol: small dimensions and weight, good grip, high accuracy of fire, powerful cartridge with high penetration and stopping effect, large magazine capacity, high safety in handling. Disadvantages: strong recoil due to the powerful cartridge and the low mass of the weapon itself, the front part of the bolt casing open to dust and dirt, a tight magazine spring, low quality workmanship and finishing.

The pistol has been adopted by the prosecutor's office and is a reward weapon. Based on the GSh-18, sports pistols “Sport-1” and “Sport-2” are produced, which have minor differences from the combat model.

The SPS pistol was developed in Klimovsk by Pyotr Serdyukov in 1996. It is in service with the FSO and FSB.

Pistol SR-1MP

The weapon was created for shooting at an enemy protected by body armor or an enemy in transport. The pistol has an automatic mechanism with a locked bolt and a swinging cylinder (like the Beretta 92). Thanks to this, the barrel always moves parallel to the bolt-casing when fired, which increases the accuracy of fire. The frame is made of polymer, the trigger trigger is double-action with two automatic fuses, the magazine has a capacity of 18 rounds, sights are designed for a range of 100 m. Powerful 9x21 mm cartridges are used for shooting. Ammunition SP-10 (armor-piercing), SP-11 (low-ricochet), SP-12 (expansive) and SP-13 (armor-piercing tracer) were created. The SP-10 cartridge has a bullet weighing 6.7 g with an initial speed of 410 m/s. The bullet has an exposed armor-piercing core and is capable of penetrating 5mm steel plate at a distance of 50m or standard US police body armor.

Armor-piercing cartridges 9x21 mm SP-10

The disadvantages of the pistol include its large dimensions and weight, the use of rare ammunition, and the inconvenience of the automatic safety on the handle for people with short fingers.

Based on the SPS, the SR-1MP pistol was created with an enlarged safety button, a Picatinny rail, a mount for a silencer and an improved bolt stop. Currently, the Boa Constrictor pistol has been created and is being tested on the basis of the SPS.

There were attempts to adopt foreign-made weapons, for example, the Austrian Glock or the Russian-Italian Swift. But these pistols did not pass Russian state tests for reliability in harsh conditions. The developers of the Strizh pistol announced the possibility of using Russian armor-piercing cartridges 9x19 mm 7N21 and 7N31 in their pistol.

At the Army-2015 forum, a prototype of the Kalashnikov concern pistol designed by Lebedev PL-14 was presented. The pistol has an automatic mechanism with a locked bolt, a striker-type trigger, an aluminum frame and a 15-round magazine. The ergonomics of the pistol were created taking into account human anatomy; the pistol is very practical and easy to handle. When creating it, the developers consulted with IPSC athletes. When shooting, 9x19 mm cartridges, widely used in the world, are used. In the future, it is planned to produce a version of the PL-14 with a polymer frame and barrels of various lengths.

Prototype of the Kalashnikov concern pistol PL-14

The most promising, it seems to me, is the development from scratch of a completely new pistol-cartridge complex for a small-caliber pistol cartridge. An example of the successful introduction of pistols chambered for a powerful small-caliber cartridge into law enforcement agencies is the Belgian FN Five-Seven pistol of 5.7 mm caliber and the Chinese QSZ-92 of 5.8 mm caliber. The Belgian uses a 5.7x28 mm cartridge with an SS190 armor-piercing bullet. A powder charge accelerates a light bullet weighing 2 g to a speed of 650 m/s. The bullet is capable of penetrating a body armor with a titanium plate 1.6 mm thick and a package of 20 layers of Kevlar fabric. Cartridges with hollow-point and tracer bullets were created. The pistol's automatic system uses the semi-blowback principle, the trigger is double-action only, and the magazine capacity is 20 rounds. The pistol frame is made of polymer, and the steel casing-bolt is covered with a polymer shell.

The gun was widely used among Mexican drug cartels for its ability to penetrate standard police vests, and is also used by the US Secret Service.

FN Five-Seven pistol

Not much is known about the Chinese pistol. It uses 5.8x21 mm cartridges with a bullet weighing 3 g and an initial speed of 500 m/s. The bullet is capable of penetrating body armor that protects against standard military 9x19 mm NATO. There is a version chambered for 9x19 mm. Otherwise, the pistol is unremarkable and is inferior to its Belgian competitor in cartridge power and magazine capacity.

Chinese pistol QSZ-92

The USSR had already created a PSM pistol chambered for a small-caliber 5.45 mm cartridge. The pistol was created for concealed carry by the leadership of the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The bullet weighing 2.6 g had an energy of about 130 J, but due to its shape it pierced dozens of layers of Kevlar.

As you can see, pistols chambered for a powerful small-caliber cartridge have enormous advantages over their larger-caliber counterparts. The argument of critics of small-caliber weapons is the supposedly low stopping effect, but there are hollow-point bullets. And besides, even an ordinary high-velocity bullet creates a vast pulsating cavity around itself. The main advantages seem to be a large BC, high trajectory flatness due to the high initial velocity of the bullet, low recoil and barrel kick, good armor penetration and high lethality. So what prevents Russian gunsmiths from creating a worthy analogue, using, for example, a standard 5.45x39 mm low-impulse ammunition bullet as a basis?

Gryazev Shipunov pistol

A pistol created at the very end of the 1990s by the design team of Gryazev and Shipunov. The GSh-18 was created as a weapon for fighters of anti-terrorist units. Since 2000, it has been in service with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB of Russia. The weapon uses 9x19 mm cartridges and has a magazine for 18 rounds. Compared to most compatriot pistols, the GSh-18 is qualitatively different in terms of better accuracy of fire and greater stopping power. All this is achieved largely due to the increased muzzle velocity of the bullet, which is on average 2 times higher than that of other pistols.

Police shotgun in Russia

Experience in the combat use of Soviet 23-mm KS-23 carbines showed their excessive power when firing at short distances. The new non-lethal complex for the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has changed its caliber to a smaller one (18.5 mm), and is based on the design of a serial civilian product.

Tula combat rifle

Interest in hunting rifles as special weapons in the USSR arose back in the 70s. The Soviet police needed non-lethal firearms to influence offenders - more effective than the Cheryomukha series ammunition that was in service. Having first tried the smooth hunting caliber 4 (26 mm), the USSR decided to develop 23 mm rifled guns. The first Soviet police carbine was the KS-23.

Among police officers in Western countries, the most popular at that time was another hunting gauge—the 12th. In metric measurement, it corresponds to a barrel diameter of 18.5 mm. In the 90s, the time came to borrow Western technologies and trends in the weapons industry. Specialists from the Tula Instrument Design Bureau (KBP) were among the first to offer 12-gauge weapons to security forces.

RMB-93 shotgun with ammunition Rosoboronexport

So, in 1993, the RMB-93 combat magazine rifle appeared, which, among other things, had a reloading principle that was not quite standard for pump-action shotguns. For such manipulation, the shooter had to move the fore-end back and forth, and not vice versa. This was a consequence of the chosen design feature, when the movable barrel is put on the cartridge itself, which is lowered from the above-barrel magazine to the chambering line. This scheme will become known later thanks to the GM-94 grenade launcher, which uses the same reloading scheme. Its choice is due to the use of less powerful non-lethal ammunition.

However, the Tula RMB-93 was never destined to become a truly combat rifle. There is no data on the adoption of the RMB-93, but Tula residents still present this product at various weapons exhibitions. At the same time, the civilian versions of the Lynx RMF-93 and RM-96 were used by private security structures as service weapons. Another unusual use of a combat rifle was demonstrated in the KBP in the 90s. A shortened version of the RMB-93 with a 4-round magazine was intended for use as an under-barrel weapon for the 9A-91 assault rifle.

9A-91 assault rifle with RMB-93 under-barrel rifle Soldier of Fortune

In the absence of purely combat variants of the smoothbore, there are many 12-gauge service weapons in Russia. In this capacity, for example, models such as MP-133S, MP-153S, Saiga-12S, Saiga-12K, Saiga-410K, Izh-81 and others are used. Unlike their hunting versions, they may have such differences as a folding stock, the ability to fire with a folded stock, a pistol grip, a shortened barrel, and also compliance with special forensic requirements. As is easy to see, this row lists mainly Izhevsk guns.

Competition for Izhevsk products in the civilian market comes from shotguns of the Vepr-12 model range produced by JSC Molot (Vyatskie Polyany). Despite a certain similarity with the Saiga carbines, they are based on the design of the RPK machine gun, and not the AK assault rifle. In their homeland, Molotov weapons are rare in the hands of security forces, but in police units in Greece and France such weapons are used for their intended purpose. At the same time, we should not forget about the Tula model range of sports and hunting weapons of the MC brand. Thus, the Central Design Research Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons (TsKIB SOO) offered its police version of the MTs255-12 based on a hunting revolver rifle.

A representative of the FSVNG of the Russian Federation fires from a Saiga-12 carbine rosguard.gov.ru

Izhevsk special carbine

From 1998 to 2001, the institution “Special Equipment and Communications” (STiS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation conducted a series of research projects “Instruction”, “Support” and “Basis”, within the framework of which the experience of combat operation of 23-mm KS-23 carbines by special forces units was generalized Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The main criticism of the security forces about the standard police carbine was the excessive power of the cartridge, which did not allow the development of non-lethal cartridges with irritating and traumatic effects with a safe use distance of closer than 30-40 m. This led to the impossibility of using 23-mm carbines in the suppression of crimes and riots at short distances.

In 2003, as part of the Basis-03 research project, studies were carried out on standard smooth-bore weapons of US paramilitary units and law enforcement services of some other states. An express analysis of the results showed that about 60% of such guns have a tubular magazine with manual reloading, 30% have a self-loading automatic operating principle, and another 10% are self-loading weapons with the ability to manually reload. Having compared the advantages and disadvantages of the two most popular systems, the specialists of the STiS Ministry of Internal Affairs were unable to come to a consensus which one is more suitable for arming Russian law enforcement agencies.

Special carbines 18.5KS-K and 18.5KS-P NIIST STiS Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

As a result, the technical specifications for the experimental design work (R&D) for the “Carbine” included the development of two variants of guns. Self-loading shotguns were intended for special forces units, and classic pump-action shotguns were intended for public order units (private security, patrol and road patrol services). The main contenders for the new police carbine were identified as the Izhmash products Saiga-12C EXP-01. 030 and “Izhmekha” MR-133 or MR-154. It was on their basis that the development of 12-gauge carbines for the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs began. Tests of the Saiga-12S carbine with various types of ammunition showed:

“- high stopping effect when firing various projectiles at distances of up to 25 meters, superior to machine gun and rifle cartridges;

— high accuracy of shooting with a bullet cartridge at distances of up to 75 meters, comparable to accuracy when shooting in single mode from submachine guns;

— high destructive effect when firing various projectiles allows you to effectively hit or forcefully stop vehicles, destroy various obstacles, locking devices and door hinges in conditions where the explosion of a grenade or TNT block is dangerous or takes longer to complete;

— the absence of ricochets when shooting shotguns makes it possible to exclude accidental injuries to people when using weapons indoors at ultra-short distances;

— the ability to fire low-impulse traumatic cartridges with rubber and plastic bullets and buckshot with manual reloading

»
.

Carbine 18.5KS-K with optical sight Carden I.

Characteristics of the Saiga-12C EXP-01 carbine. 030 with a 76 mm chamber almost completely satisfied the technical requirements for a special smoothbore carbine presented in the design and development project. The only recommendation from the members of the commission was the need to refine the design of the fastening of the receiver cover in order to ensure that it is impossible to close the cover when disassembling and assembling the carbine.

The result of the “Karabine” design and development work was the adoption of two special carbines by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2006: 18.5KS-K with a box magazine and 18.5KS-P with an under-barrel tubular magazine. The production of new carbines, like their ancestors, is carried out at the Izhevsk Machine-Building and Mechanical Plants, part of the Kalashnikov concern. In 2016, at the Army exhibition, the concern presented a new KSA army carbine based on a police rifle, which differs only slightly from its predecessor.

KSA army carbine at the Army 2016 exhibition. Photo by the author

Special 12 gauge cartridges

As part of the “Carbine” R&D project, special cartridges for a police carbine were also tested. In 2003, Zelenodolsk “Plant named after” presented their developments to experts. Sergo (Spetsnaz cartridge with the Udar armor-piercing bullet) and the Krasnozavodsk Chemical Plant (cartridges with rubber bullets and buckshot, as well as the Tandem bullet). The Barnaul Cartridge Plant proposed a cartridge with a steel case, which the testing commission considered most suitable as the basis for the future range of ammunition.

Special 12-gauge cartridges NIIPH Rosoboronexport

The final composition of the complex included cartridges with bullets: lead KSP-P, armor-piercing KSP-BP and rubber KSP-RP. For shooting "Cheryomukha-6" gas grenades using a barrel attachment, a blank cartridge KSP-X is provided. However, the first deliveries of 18.5KS-K carbines to law enforcement agencies took place without the necessary ammunition. To urgently solve the forced cartridge “hunger,” the police authorities were able to find only hunting cartridges that were almost twenty years old. After almost fifteen years, special cartridges with the name KSP have not appeared. When purchasing ammunition of the standard range for a carbine, their analogues from various Russian manufacturers are supplied.

However, today the range of Russian special-purpose ammunition for 12-gauge shotguns is much wider than the choice of weapons for them. In addition to the usual traumatic and armor-piercing cartridges, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has adopted ammunition with the MP-K marking bullet, the Siren-K irritant grenade and a bullet for destroying PRP barriers. For 12-gauge shotguns, manufacturers also offer unusual cartridges for combating drones, “Antidron - Fat Goose,” the name of which makes clear their civilian origin. The KSA army carbine will have its own line of ammunition, including cartridges with an armor-piercing incendiary bullet.

Cartridges "Lilac-K" Tekhkrim

The main supplier of special cartridges for smoothbore shotguns in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs system is Izhevsk, which produces about a dozen such products. Podolskaya, operating on the territory of the Klimovsky Specialized Cartridge Plant, also introduced several special 12-gauge ammunition in 2016. Among them is a cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet capable of penetrating class 3 armor at a distance of up to 10 m. In 2022, NIIPH (Sergiev Posad) and the Krasnozavodsk Chemical Plant appeared their own line of non-lethal cartridges, which includes traumatic, lacrimal, marking and acoustic ammunition .

Cartridges with lead and armor-piercing bullets from Vetter.
Photo by the author Characteristics

Sources and literature:

1. Testing of promising weapons, State Institution "NPO "STiS" Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia", 2003
2. Bushin Yu.V., Simonenko V.Yu. Russian small arms ammunition. Volume 4. Large-caliber cartridges. — M., 2020
3. Repeating shotguns “Lynx”, “Lynx-F”, “Lynx-K”, “Lynx-U”. Passport
4. 18.5 mm special carbine with a box magazine. Operating manual 18.5KS-K.00.000 TO

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is changing the Makarov PM pistol to the Lebedev compact PLC pistol

Quote: certero

I wonder how many cases of the use of weapons by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard are recorded in Russia per year?

Less than in the US police - that's for sure.

Research was carried out. “The practice of the use and use of firearms by employees of internal affairs bodies (information and analytical review)” (Moscow, 2006), “The practice of the use and use of weapons by police officers: an information and analytical review of the MC at the State Administration and Control Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia” (Moscow, 1998) and “Fire training. Review of foreign information" (Moscow, 1998).

The study covered the period from 2014 to 2022. 155 facts of the use of firearms by police officers were studied and analyzed. The geography of the study covered 18 constituent entities of the Russian Federation – from the Kaliningrad to the Magadan regions. As a result of the analysis, it was found that most often firearms are used by employees of: the road patrol service (hereinafter - DPS) - 49% of cases of the use of firearms; patrol service (hereinafter referred to as PPS) – 15%; local police commissioners (hereinafter referred to as PCP) – 15%; Criminal Investigation Department (hereinafter referred to as UR) -14% Employees of various services and units used firearms on the following grounds (number of facts): 1. To protect another person or themselves from an attack, if this attack involves violence dangerous to life or health: 1.1.DPS – 7. 1.2.PPS – 11. 1.3.Leading staff of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia – 1. 1.4.UR – 5. 1.5.UUP – 1. 2. To suppress attempts to seize firearms, police vehicles, special and military equipment in service (support) of the police: 2.1.DPS – 3. 2.2.PPS – 1. 2.3.UR – 2. 2.4.UUP – 1. 3. To detain a person caught committing an act containing signs of a serious or a particularly serious crime against life, health or property, and trying to escape if it is not possible to detain this person by other means: 3.1.DPS - 3. 3.2.PPS - 1. 4. To stop a vehicle by damaging it, if the person driving it refuses to comply with the repeated demands of a police officer to stop and tries to escape, creating a threat to the life and health of citizens: 4.1.DPS - 53. 4.2.Cine Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia - 1. 4.3.PPS - 1. 4.4.UNK - 1. 4.5.UR - 4. 4.6.UUP – 2. 5. To neutralize an animal that threatens the life and health of citizens and (or) a police officer: 5.1.DPS – 3. 5.2.Duty unit – 1. 5.3.PPS – 9. 5.4.Leading staff of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia - 1. 5.5.Special rapid response squad of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (hereinafter referred to as SOBR) - 1. 5.6.UR - 5. 5.7.UUP - 15. 6. To fire a warning shot, sound an alarm or call for help by firing a shot up or in another safe direction: 6.1.DPS - 39. 6.2.Canine service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia - 2. 6.3.PPS - 6. 6.4.Leading staff of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia - 2. 6.5.UNK - 1. 6.6.UR - 11 6.7.UUP - 9. 7. Guarantees of personal safety of an armed police officer: 7.1.DPS - 2. 7.2.PPS - 1. In addition, four random shots were fired during the process of handing over weapons to the duty station, as well as in the office by traffic police officers , PPS, UR, special forces detachment "Grom".

If interested, in the public domain: Educational and methodological manual “PRACTICE OF USE OF FIREARMS BY EMPLOYEES OF THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS BODIES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION” Moscow, 2021

With what weapons did the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs defeat the brothers of the “dashing nineties”?

A shotgun, a submachine gun and a revolver are the assistants of the Russian opera.

The collapse of the USSR took the police by surprise. In addition to the fact that the entire familiar picture of the world was bursting at the seams, there was an unprecedented increase in crime. The newly formed mafia raised its head and declared itself.

The police were supposed to fight crime, but with what? By 1991, the police arsenal consisted of the legendary PM and various modifications of the AK. However, new times have required new solutions, including in the field of weapons technology. So with what weapon did the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs defeat the brothers of the “dashing nineties”?

The main role model was the American police. This reasoning had its own logic: after all, the US police managed, if not to defeat, then to noticeably strangle “their mafia.” So, for example, inspired by the fact that shotguns are common in the US police, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered its own shotgun and it became the RMB-93 - the Magazine Combat Shotgun of the 93rd year. The classic pump-action shotgun had several features: the magazine came out not under the barrel, but above it; movable barrel; the forend had to be moved forward, not backward.

The second new weapon for the Ministry of Internal Affairs was its own submachine gun. In principle, submachine guns were unlucky in the USSR. After the development of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the development of this small arms slowed down, since the leadership of the USSR Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not see the need for such weapons. However, in the 1990s, the police developed their own PP-90 submachine gun. Its main advantage for the police was that it could be folded compactly so that in appearance it resembled a briefcase. However, the big disadvantage of the PP-90 was that it often broke down.

Another type of weapon that was in the USA and which inspired the domestic Ministry of Internal Affairs was the revolver. And for the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, their own R-92 revolver was created. Not very similar to an ordinary American police revolver, the R-92 had one characteristic feature: in order not to bother with the development of a new revolver cartridge, gunsmiths simply adapted it to fire the classic 9x18 mm pistol cartridge from the Makarov Pistol.

It should be noted that these were not the only types of firearms developed for the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the 1990s. It is truly difficult to say how much they helped in the fight against crime. Most of these new weapons were manufactured in small quantities, in small series. Some of this ended up in the arsenals of private security forces, and some of it ended up in the arsenal of judges and prosecutors for self-defense. During the entire merciless war of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with crime, the main weapons of the police were the old classic PM and AK.

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