Kalashnikov Concern has introduced a new pistol for the Russian Army, called the PL-14 “Lebedev” at the recent Army-2015 Expo. Guns.com has more on the new handgun:

Russian firearms colossus the Kalashnikov Concern has unveiled a prototype pistol that they hope will be adopted by the Russian military, reports the Russian News Agency, TASS. The new sidearm is called the PL-14 or just the Lebedev Pistol.

The design appears to tick off all the boxes that have set the standard for most service andduty pistols. It’s a polymer-framed double-stack pistol that’s either striker-fired or contains a concealed hammer chambered for 9mm Luger with a modular grip frame with interchangeable — wood backstraps?

As far as prototypes are concerned what we’re looking at may not be the final production design, after all the slide machining and finish is a little rough and the wood panels could be a placeholder for rubber or polymer grips. It’s also possible that it saves weight as some composites can be denser than many hardwoods.

Whatever the case is, whether it was a handy material for the prototype or it serves a functional or aesthetic purpose, the gun shows all the hallmarks of modern handgun design down to the loaded chamber indicator, accessory rail and fully-ambidextrous controls. The ambidextrous mag releases are recessed to prevent accidental mag drops.

The PL-14 also has forward slide serrations for press checks and a large trigger guard for gloved hands that’s squared for use as a barrier support. The press release adds that thetrigger pull is variable for special forces units as well as competitive shooters.

And the pistol has a very low bore axis for a high grip that should make recoil a non-issue for fast, level shooting, something that will make it appealing to military and private users alike.

Other specs of the PL-14 include an especially thin 1.1-inch grip and even thinner frame and slide measuring in 0.8 inches in front of the rails. It has an unconventional rail system that looks like the frame runs on rails on the slide rather than having the slide ride in rails in the frame. Everything else is pretty standard. The PL-14 has a standard capacity of 15+1, a full-length 5-inch barrel and weighs 28 ounce unloaded.

Outdoor Hub has additional specifications for the new Lebedev pistol:

The pistol will come with a loaded chamber indicator, a frame-mounted Picatinny rail, and internal safety mechanisms to prevent the gun from firing when dropped. Below are the basic specifications for the PL-14 from Kalashnikov:

Caliber, mm 9×19

Length mm 220

Height mm 136

Thickness mm 28

Barrel length 127 mm

Magazine capacity, rounds 15

Weight without ammunition, 0.8 kg

Weight with ammunition 0.99 kg

RuptlyTV uploaded a video on the new handgun, embedded below:

Below are additional pictures of the new handgun and its spec sheet (in Russian):