Interesting 9mm Handgun

Ah, those Russians, they’re always looking to make a handgun that can function in an assault rifle role. They have the Stechkin, a select-fire handgun that they issued to their pilots during their problems in Afghanistan. They were hoping that any downed airman would be able to defend themselves from AK-47 armed Mujahadin by spraying bullets from their sidearms. I heard that those Stechkins were highly prized as trophies by the Afghanis because it proved that the owner had taken part in downing a helicopter.

I came across this web page, which discusses a Russian autoloading pistol that was designed to defeat body armor up to a range of 100 meters. Below is a pic of the handgun.

That looks all nice and slick, doesn’t it? Below is a more realistic pic from this website.

Now THAT looks like a Russian handgun! Functional, sure, but it sure could use some prettying up.

Notice the safety devices on that thing. Looks like it’s got a trigger safety, like a Glock, but it also has some sort of bizarre grip safety. Really looks like it would catch the hand if you need to make an emergency draw.

The websites that talk about the handgun say that some security forces are glad to have them, since Russian organized crime gangs have armored up. I’m sure that there are some limited situations where a gun like this would be useful, but I think I’ll stick to one of my rifles or my shotgun if I have to go up against some organized crime types.

Posted by James Rummel at May 25, 2005 02:58 PM