#9x21mm

One of the better pieces of news for Italian shooters last year was the release of 9mm Luger for sale to civilians. Until then, civilian gun owners had to be content with the commercial 9×21 mm caliber instead.
The changed situation naturally raised the question whether this would have a major impact on
shooters and firearms manufacturers in Italy.

Russian RIA Novosti news agency reports that Albert Bakov, the CEO of TsNII TochMash, informed them that the first batch of new Udav pistols is delivered to the Russian military for field testing. Normally, large-scale field testing is the final stage before adoption. Often times it results in slight design changes followed by the start of full-scale production and adoption of small arms and equipment. Earlier, it was reported that the pistol successfully passed endurance testing and was recommended for adoption. The RIA Novosti article also notes that the pistol received a model designation O1.

Several months ago, we reported about the new Russian pistol called UDAV. We have also discussed multiple times the Ratnik-3 future soldier concept and the mystery weapon that it was demonstrated with. Recently, there was more information released about these weapons by a Russian news website called Rossiyskaya Gazeta (RG).

Last time The Firearm Blog wrote about Heckler & Koch’s Gray Room we stated we cannot get enough.

Victor Aster is a Belarusian firearms concept designer. He shared with TFB one of his CAD designs of a personal defense weapon (PDW) called Humble-Bee. The idea is to have a compact firearm for law enforcement and military needs which would be very simple, lightweight and easy to use.

According to sources at the Eurosatory exposition in Paris, France, the Russian Army has nearly completed tests on the new pistol design likely to be adopted to replace the 9x18mm PMM Makarov and 9x19mm PYa Yargin pistols currently in service. The Udav (Russian for “Boa”) pistol is based on the previous Serdyukov SR-1 “Gyurka” (the Russian name for a kind of desert viper), and like it is chambered for the Russian 9x21mm armor-piercing caliber, what was developed for it. This means that at least for a time the Russian Army will be fielding no less than three 9mm calibers (x18, x19, and x21), until the Udav can replace the other two pistols entirely. According to IHS Jane’s:

At the Italian HIT Show 2016 Glock showed the Glock 43 in 9×21 mm. HIT Show = Hunting – Individual Protection – Target Sports. The 9×21 mm caliber also known as the 9×21 mm IMI or 9 mm IMI.

Russia’s Federal Protective Service (FSO) have announced that they will adopt the  MP-443 “Yarygin” pistol chambered in the unusual 9x21mm Gyurza cartridge. This is the first time I have heard of a MP-443 chambered in 9x21mm. The 9x21mm Gyurza (not to be confused with the IWI / IMI / Israeli 9x21mm) has previously only been used with the  Vector SR-1 pistol and  SR-2 Veresk submachine gun.