It has traditionally happened that in our army little attention is paid to pistols. The command quite rightly assumes that it is not they who “make the weather” at all, but automatic weapons and sniper rifles. But in some cases, pistols are necessary, and the experience of special forces, which most often work in cities, speaks more clearly than others about this. One of the most prominent representatives of the modern weapons school is the GSh-18. This pistol combines familiar simplicity and reliability with high ergonomics and fighting qualities.
Its popularity in the army and law enforcement environment is quite high. The fact is that the GSh-18 pistol, whose resource is slightly lower than that of the legendary Makarov, has good ergonomics, comparable to those of the best foreign counterparts. It costs several times less (even without taking into account the import margin). Note that in Tulafor some time, the GSh-18 traumatic pistol chambered for.45 Rubber was produced. It differed slightly from the combat one, mainly due to the simplified design and the presence of divider protrusions in the barrel bore, which made it impossible to fire live ammunition.
The release is currently discontinued, and this is due both to certain changes in the legislation (a ban on the production of mass-sized models and traumatic weapons based on combat samples), and to the activities of craftsmen. The protrusions in the barrel are sawn off, the pistol becomes combat. True, shooting from such a “home-made” is quite dangerous, since the weapon in this case is distinguished by a free-wheeling bolt, which, in combination with a full-fledged.45 caliber, can lead to the destruction of the entire bolt group. The GSh-18 pneumatic pistol should not be confused with it, which has nothing to do with military weapons at all.
How did gunsmiths come up with the idea for this gun?
GSH-18 was created in the late 90s in Tula. The creators are gunsmiths Gryazev and Shipunov. How did they come up with the idea of creating it? The fact is that by the mid-80s, almost all the main armies of the world were widely using personal protective equipment of the second and third class (body armor). The standard PM could not cope with their penetration. The army urgently needed a new weapon, from which it would be possible to hit growth targets in body armor at a distance of up to 25 meters, and the bullet had to maintain sufficient stopping power at a distance of up to 50 meters. This is how the originalrequirements for GSh-18. The gun was required by the army, and therefore had to be also very reliable.
It was assumed that in terms of penetrating power, the bullet of the new weapon would be equal to the standard Parabellum cartridge, while its stopping power had to be left at the level of the American.45 ACP. As for the Makarov pistol, which at that time was massively used by domestic law enforcement agencies, for its time this weapon was very successful, but its weak cartridge spoiled the whole picture. Of course, by that time, gunsmiths had already managed to create improved cartridges of 9x18 mm caliber, but they also had a number of drawbacks. So, their use in old PMs was impossible.
Key milestones in the creation of the cartridge
And therefore, the Tula people on their own initiative designed their GSh-18. The pistol was offered at a state competition. But before that, they had to do a lot of work so that their weapons did not look worse than those of their main competitors.
From the very beginning, gunsmiths have come to grips with the issue of designing a PBP (armor-piercing) cartridge. The standard cartridge from Makarov was taken as the basis, but its design itself was largely taken from the unique subsonic SP-5. A bold decision was made - to increase the characteristics of the cartridge by increasing the muzzle energy and using a powerful steel core. For this, the masters suggested using a polyethylene bullet jacket. On the nose of the bullet, a bare core of thermally hardened weapon steel is noticeable. This design gavemany benefits.
It turned out that the speed of the bullet at the time of the shot immediately increased from 300 to 500 m/s. In addition, the new cartridge could be used without problems in old PMs and new PMMs. The penetrating effect of the bullet increased by an order of magnitude. So, a standard cartridge from "Makarov" at ten meters allowed more or less confidently punching only 1.5 mm of steel sheet. With the new ammunition, the PM from the same ten meters made it possible to confidently penetrate 5 mm of steel! So why did the creators still come up with the idea of using the NATO Parabellum in their GSh-18? After all, the gun was already clearly no worse than its foreign competitors!
Switching to Parabellum
The fact is that the use of the Makarov cartridge still led to a dead end, since this ammunition had almost completely exhausted the modernization reserve. The impulse of the 9x19 "Parabellum" was one and a half times higher than that of the domestic counterpart. It should be noted that by that time Rooks were already being produced in Izhevsk under this cartridge. But the quality of the ammunition of the Ulyanovsk and Tula cartridge factories categorically did not suit the designers. Also, gunsmiths didn't like their basic design.
Therefore, they make a completely logical decision. Take both options as a base: the American and domestic "Parabellum", but in relation to the design of the cartridge itself, use the developments obtained during the creation of the PBP. As in the previous case, the bullet has a bimetallic jacket and a core made of heat-hardened steel. Its mass is only 4.1 g (for foreign versions of Parabellum - up to7.5 g). Due to this, it was possible to increase the muzzle velocity to 600 m/s. The new cartridge received the GRAU 7N31 index. It provides confident penetration of steel sheet with a thickness of 15 mm from a distance of eight meters.
Primary works
Gryazev decided not to deviate from the good traditions of Soviet and Russian gunsmiths: it was supposed to create a light, reliable, multi-purpose pistol (GSh-18). Its technical characteristics were supposed to be brought to such a level that it could be used with equal success both in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in army units.
To be able to achieve this goal, the designer, before starting work, conducted a thoughtful analysis of domestic and foreign developments. His attention was immediately attracted by the Austrian Glock-17, which had a number of curious features. Firstly, the polymer frame, and secondly, the USM, which is automatically set to self-cocking before firing. Gryazev was also attracted to the idea that there were no visible fuses on the gun body itself.
When the shutter rolls, the striker is half-cocked: the striker, located on the shutter housing, is connected to the sear, after which the return spring leads the shutter to the barrel stump. Interestingly, the mainspring is constantly half compressed. The shot occurred when the trigger was pressed, when it was fully compressed, and the drummer fell off the whisper. So what ideas were decided to be transferred to the new GSh-18 pistol? Its technical characteristics resemble the Austrian "relative" in somecases.
GSH main ideas
Firstly, Gryazev decided to make the same plastic frame in the new weapon, introduce a half-cock, and also abandon the idea of external fuses that protrude above the pistol body and can prevent it from being quickly removed from the holster. Like Glock, the domestic gunsmith decided to abandon the idea of an open trigger, which made it possible to simplify the design of the weapon and make it noticeably lighter. Finally, in this case, you can press it to the hand as much as possible. The low position that the GSh-18 pistol has when firing can significantly reduce recoil, which has a very positive effect on the technique and accuracy of shooting.
Some design features
Automatic weapon uses the principle of a short stroke of the barrel, which allows you to use a shorter and lighter shutter. As for locking the barrel channel, Gryazev immediately decided not to use a separate part for this purpose. Recall that this design is typical for pistols "W alter" R.38, "Beretta" 92 and the domestic PS "Gyurza". He rightly reasoned that in the world weapons practice there are enough successful examples of how the barrel is locked by its warping (in Browning systems), or by turning it. The latter is typical for weapons that were invented by the Czech gunsmith Karel Krnka.
Immediately, it was not possible to implement the locking of the barrel with a warp, as it is implemented in the Glock. The beauty of this method lies precisely in the fact thatit does not require the use of separate parts, and also in the fact that when skewed, the breech is lowered to the magazine, which greatly simplifies the cartridge chambering mechanism. Then the designer decided to use the "earring" version, which was originally used in the TT pistol. It was characterized by high efficiency, but such a GSh-18 pistol could not withstand comparative tests in harsh conditions.
The rotation of the barrel, which is most successfully implemented in the Steyer M 1912, also failed to be repeated. It turned out that the required turning radius is more than 60 degrees, and therefore, to overcome such a distance, the mechanism expends a lot of energy, overcoming the increased friction force. I had to reduce the angle of rotation to 18 degrees, and for the reliability of locking, make ten lugs at once. This fact, combined with the polymer frame used in the design, can significantly reduce recoil when fired. The fact is that a short turn of the barrel transfers a significant part of the energy to the lugs, and the polymer case effectively dissipates the vibrations that arise in this case.
Design features of USM
The GSh-18 pistol, technical specifications (we provide a photo of the weapon in the article), received from the creator of a double-action trigger. Previously (when the shutter moves), the drummer is placed on a half-cock. Fine-tuning is carried out at the moment when the user presses the trigger, "pressing" the fuse. It should be noted that the GSH-18 sports pistol uses a slightly different principle. Sport imposes some restrictions on shooting, and therefore ita couple of details distinguish: the descent is much tighter, and the safety is thrown off by turning it completely around its axis.
By the way, the idea of using a half-cocked striker in a pistol immediately came to the mind of the designer. This method was first used by Karel Krnka on the Rota model, and only after that it was revived by Glock, taking into account modern specifics. Recall that on the Glocks, when the shutter is rolled back, the compression of the mainspring itself does not immediately occur. In the initial stage of rolling, this compression also does not occur, and only when it is fully approached to its forward position through the drummer, it is stopped by a sear. On the way back, the return spring, which is stronger than the main one, overcomes its resistance and returns the bolt to its original position, while the main spring is compressed by about half.
But it was precisely this idea that "didn't work" among the Tula people. In difficult conditions and with heavy pollution, the return spring cannot always overcome the resistance of the combat one, and this threatens the inoperability of the weapon or severe delays in firing at best. Gryazev decided to do things his own way.
So, GSh-18 is a pistol (there is a photo of it in the article), which assumes a standard scheme: when the bolt is retracted, the mainspring is fully compressed. Under the action of the return and mainsprings at the beginning of the roll-over, the cover of the casing-bolt moves forward, simultaneously pushing the cartridge out of the magazine into the chamber. In this case, the drummer is fixed on the sear, and the bolt, under the action of the return spring alone, reaches its extreme position. In general, with this scheme, the drummer also remains onhalf-cocked, but the solutions used in this look more practical and "elegant".
Store, other specifications
Used a standard double-row magazine with a staggered arrangement of cartridges, at the exit of which the cartridges line up in one row. This solution allows you to significantly simplify the layout of other elements of the weapon, especially the trigger pull. Of course, with such a scheme, sending cartridges from the magazine to the chamber is significantly improved. In addition, the Gryazev-Shipunov pistol (GSh-18) received a very powerful return spring, which guarantees the supply of cartridges and the combat capability of the weapon in any conditions. The magazine clasp is mounted behind the trigger guard, it is easy to throw it in the right direction. Just press lightly on it to drop the magazine under its own weight.
In general, it is these characteristics of the GSh-18 pistol that all owners of this weapon like. Situations of losing a magazine in battle are not ruled out, which can end rather sadly.
Problems and Solutions
At the very first tests, extremely serious problems were revealed: sometimes the casing-bolt completely lost its energy and stopped, burying the extractor's tooth in the bottom of the cartridge. The most annoying thing was that the shutter had only one and a half millimeters to go through. But at the same time, the spring no longer had enough energy. This impasse was bypassed by Gryazev simply: he came up with the idea of using an extractor without a spring. His tooth is forced into the groove of the cartridge when the barrel rotates. The drummer, passing through a special hole during the shot, engages the extractor with the sleeve and holds it until it hits the reflector.
Firing a shot, sights
When the finger presses the trigger, it first presses the small lever of the automatic safety. If the pressure is maintained and increased, a shot occurs. The protruding drummer (about 1 mm), which goes beyond the pistol only when it is half-cocked, visually and to the touch helps to determine the readiness of the weapon for combat. The trigger stroke is no more than five millimeters, which is a good indicator for a service weapon. The trigger pull is about two kilograms.
What sights did the GSh-18 gun get? The reviews speak of the following elements: a replaceable front sight and a rear sight, the latter being mounted on the shutter housing itself. Especially popular are the separately sold flies with tritium inserts (glow in the dark). In addition, the pistol has mounts for mounting a laser designator (this option is in the photo in the article).
Main characteristics of the production cycle
The labor intensity of the release of the "Russian Glock" is three times less than that of the standard police "Beretta". Of course, this has a positive effect on the cost of weapons. The main role in simplifying and reducing the cost of production is played directly by the frame, which is produced by simple casting from a durable polymer. This process takes only fiveminutes. The strength of the resulting frame is tested in rigorous tests. The use of a large number of polymers made it possible to achieve an unprecedentedly low weight of the weapon: only 0.47 kg without a magazine.
Shutter casing is the second most labor-intensive part of the pistol. To simplify production, the shroud and bolt are separate parts that can be separated for cleaning. The casing itself is made of a stamped metal sheet with its subsequent fine-tuning on metal-cutting machines. All this made it possible to significantly simplify and reduce the cost of the production process.
Advantages over foreign models
If you look at domestic samples, then, in comparison with Western weapons, it is the GSh-18 pistol that has the advantage: its shot is slightly inferior to the classic Makarov, but at the same time the model is extremely light, torquey and ergonomic. Compare for yourself: almost all NATO combat pistols with cartridges and a magazine weigh more than a kilogram, while the mass of the main gun is only 800 grams. From a distance of up to 20 meters, it allows you to confidently hit a target in a bulletproof vest of the third protection class.
At a range of up to 50 meters, the gun can penetrate up to 30 layers of Kevlar, while the bullet retains a high stopping power. The cartridge 7N31 shows the best characteristics. The GSh-18 pistol with a silencer really allows you to shoot almost silently due to the well-thought-out design of subsonic cartridges.
When shooting, it practically does not lead upwards, since energy is spent on turning the barrel. Because of this, weapons are lovedathletes, as in competitions for real rate of fire it helps to get excellent results. Another advantage is that it works great with the entire range of domestic and foreign Parabellum cartridges. The high muzzle velocity allows for less lead when shooting at moving targets.
Thanks to a thoughtful, ergonomic shape that makes the pistol stand out among domestic developments, it fits perfectly in the hand even without the use of individual cheek pads. In combination with a low weight, this allows you to shoot for a long time even in combat conditions, without fear of fatigue.
Some flaws
Is everyone good GSh-18 (pistol)? He also has shortcomings. First, the workmanship suffers. Many owners complain that brand new pistols have worn and shabby plastic. Much worse is that it is unrealistic to equip the store in combat conditions: its lips are too sharp, it is very narrow. This event requires an extractor.
So in real combat, the amount of ammunition for this weapon can be measured solely by the number of loaded magazines. Are there any other problems with the GSh-18 (pistol)? The disadvantages are also in the extremely poor-quality processing of many of the internal surfaces of the weapon. Athletes especially complain about this.
