I think the Yarygin PYa / MP-443 “Grach” pistol, which was adopted as the Russian army and law enforcement service pistol, must be the ugliest modern pistol. What do you think?
It fires the 9×19 mm 7N21 cartridge which is just a very hot 9mm Parabellum.
Click to expand the photo.
More info about the pistol here.
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I was actually grabbing photos of the Grach on Friday for the GunPorn blog. Unfortunately, all the decent shots I’ve seen are those same ones here. The gun looks… rough. It looks almost unfinished when compared to similar firearms on the market, like it got machined but never deburred or cleaned before being assembled.
The 9×19 ammo is interesting at least. Another handgun that uses it is the GSh-18 - http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg111-e.htm (photos also by Max who took those pictures of the Grach - this time with the AP 9×19 ammo in the frame).
I think what we’re seeing here is a firearm built with two purposes - something that can hold more ammo and more potent ammo than the old Maks, and something that is still hardy enough to operate alongside the AKs and Maks in the field (and be used for hammering nails as needed).
The Russian design teams are much more about function - they don’t have the history and culture of firearms as art or accoutrement as many of us do.
thanks for that info.
“The Russian design teams are much more about function - they don’t have the history and culture of firearms as art or accoutrement as many of us do.”
Good point!
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