We have blogged about Russian and Eastern European less lethal rubber bullet guns many times before, but I never expected to blog about a Sheriff’s Office adopting them in the USA. In addition to a handgun and a Taser, Deputy officers in Pinal County, AZ will now be carrying Russian OSA PB4-2 Traumatic Pistols. This pistol was identified by my good friend and fellow Editor Gabor Vass of the Hungarian gun magazine Kaliber. 

The OSA PB4-2 fires an interesting cartridge, The 18x45mm encases either a round plastic/rubber composite bullet, a flasbangh/stun compound, a flare or pepper spray. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office will be adopting the rubber ball version. The bullets are ignited electronically. Pulling the trigger generates an electric pulse that fires one of the four chambers. No firing pin needed, much like the famous, and long dead, Remington Model 700 EtronX rifle.

18x45mm Cartridges

The .70 caliber balls have about 66 ft/lbs of muzzle energy, about half that of a standard .22 LR cartridge. The bullets deform on impact, spreading out the energy and avoiding penetration. At reasonable distances they should not kill an adult shot in the body. At close range they can cause significant harm to the body and the brain (WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS. NSFW).

The pistols were most likely acquired from a relatively new company called Defenzia. This Brazilian company recently opened up shop in Arizona and are importing a range of less lethal pistols, ammunition and holsters. The company plans on making a smaller caliber version available to sale to civilians.