The 29-ounce 9x18mm Makarov pistol (Soviet designation Pistolet Makarova, M-442), adopted in 1951, is still in service around many former Warsaw block countries and is still found in wide military and police use in Russia. With its 8-shot magazine, stout recoil and heavy trigger pull, the ‘Soviet Walther’ is something of a last ditch weapon.
Since 2003 it had been supplemented for combat operations by the more modern MP443 Grach (Russian designation 6P35 Pistolet Yarygina PYa) double action polymer framed pistol. The 17-shot Grach shoots the Russian 9x19mm 7N21 cartridge which is the same dimensions as the standard NATO 9x19mm Parabellum but is much hotter for the purposes of armor piercing. Small numbers of the Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-18 (often called the Tula Glock) have also been acquired for use by the Russian military.
Graphic by RIA
According to a release quoted by the RIA from the Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, a new pistol will finally replace effective this year the now 70-year old Makarov design. Called the Strizh (Strike) it was designed by the Italian firm for Arsenal Firearms and will be marketed in the West as such.
Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk http://www.firearmstalk.com/entries/New-Russian-Army-Pistol.html
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About laststandonzombieisland
Let me introduce myself. I am a bit of a conflict junkie. I am fascinated by war and warfare, assassination, personal protection and weaponry ranging from spud guns and flame throwers to thermonuclear bombs and soviet-trained Ebola monkeys. In short, if it’s violent or a tool to create violence it is kind of my thing.
I have written a few hundred articles on the dry encyclopedia side for such websites as History Times, Firearms Talk.com, GUNS.com, Suite 101 (where I am the contracted Feature Writer for Military History) and Combat Forums; as well as for print publications like England Expects, and Strike First Strike Fast. Several magazines such as Sea Classics, Military Historian and Collector, Mississippi Sportsman and Warship International have carried my pieces. Additionally I am on staff as a naval consultant and writer for Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine.
Currently I am working on several book projects, including a section in the upcoming Mississippi Encyclopedia (to be published by Ole Miss this summer), an alternative history novel about the US-German War of 1916, and a biography of Bennett Doty. My first novel, about the coming zombie apocalypse was released this Spring by Necro Publications and can be found at Amazon.com.
In my day job I am a contractor for the US federal government in what could best be described as the ‘Force Protection’ field. In this I am a certified Firearms, and less-than-lethal combat instructor.
