A few months ago, TFB’s Hrachya reported on the Udav pistol as a likely contender to replace the aging Makarov pistols currently in the Russian military service. According to RG.ru and RT.com in January 2019, the military is hoping for a quick replacement of the Makarovs. Even though the Udav pistol seems to be closer to adoption, there is still no reported timeline on how quickly the transition will take place.

Outgoing Makarov pistol. Photo by Sergey Kuznetsov/RIA News.

The Udav pistol, which translates to Boa in English, was developed jointly by TsNII Tochmash and KINETICA. According to RG.ru, the pistol performed well during testing and was recommended for adoption. As Hrachya mentioned in his articles, the Udav pistol is a Double Action Only (DAO) hammer fired pistol. He also noted that the slide stop is internal, so getting the pistol back into battery requires the manipulation of the slide itself. It also offers a railed dust cover for weapon mounted lights or laser aiming devices. Comparing the final version to the prototype, it appears that the threaded barrel was abandoned as a standard feature. It also appears that the trigger guard’s size was slightly reduced, which is somewhat surprising for a northern country known for its cold weather.

The current iteration of the Udav pistol. Photo from Kalashnikov.ru

The safety is mounted on the slide, which appears to be an added feature compared to the prototype Udav pistol. There have been countless threads started on internet forums asking about how to rack the slide on Beretta 92/M9s due to the safety being located on the slide. However, it is unclear if the Udav’s “safe” position is up or down, which may encourage the use of the forward slide serrations depending on the safety’s layout.

The prototype of Udav pistol. Photo from Kalashnikov.ru

The Udav pistol is chambered for the 9x21mm Russian. The reason behind the stouter cartridge was to penetrate armor worn by individual soldiers. According to weaponsystems.net, The 7N29 (SP-10) load is capable of penetrating 30 layers of Kevlar plus two 1.6mm titanium plates at 50 meters.

We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on the transition as more information comes to light.