Kalashnikov Gun Magazine has published images of the new Russian Udav pistol chambered in 9x21mm Russian. The pistol is designed by the TsNII TochMash. Various media sources have been speculating with the possible adoption of this pistol but up until now, there were no images of the pistol. Thanks to the KGM, today we have images of both the prototype of the Udav pistol and its latest iteration which is said to be close to the final production version.

The prototype of Udav pistol

Another speculation was that this pistol is possibly the evolution of the SR-1 Gyurza pistol because both handguns are developed by the same company and chambered in the same caliber. However, it turns out these are completely different projects.

The final version of Udav pistol

As you can see, the final version has some external design changes compared to the prototype. Particularly, the slide serrations are vertical compared to the angled checkmark shaped ones of the prototype. Apparently, they have also slightly changed the trigger guard, slide and frame geometry. I suspect the prototype had a backstrap size and grip length changing system which they got rid of later.

The Udav pistol is a hammer fired DAO semi-auto pistol. It is designed to safely shoot not only the existing loads of 9x21mm Russian ammunition but also hotter loads that are currently in development. The pistol has an internal slide stop mechanism with no slide release/lock lever. I assume the release of the slide is supposed to be done by racking the slide. The safety selector lever is mounted on the slide. The pistol also has an optional threaded barrel and set of suppressor sights.

Despite the released images, the information concerning most of the features of this pistol is not disclosed by the manufacturer. We’ll keep our readers informed whenever new information is available.