It so happened traditionally that in our army little attention is paid to pistols. The command fairly fairly assumes that they do not “do the weather” at all, but automatic weapons and sniper rifles. But in some cases, pistols are needed, and more clearly than others the experience of special forces, which most often work in cities, speaks about this. One of the most prominent representatives of the modern weapons school is GS-18. This pistol combines the usual simplicity and reliability with high ergonomics and combat 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 the best foreign analogues. It costs several times less (even without taking into account the import margin). Note that in Tula for some time a GSh-18 traumatic pistol was produced under the .45 Rubber cartridge. It differed slightly from the combat one, mainly due to the simplified design and the presence of protrusions-dividers in the barrel channel, which made it impossible to fire live ammunition.
The release has now been discontinued, and this is due both to certain changes in the legislation (a ban on the production of mass-size models and traumatic weapons based on combat samples), and to the activities of craftsmen. The protrusions in the barrel are cut away, the gun becomes combat. True, shooting from such a "homemade" is quite dangerous, since the weapon in this case has a free shutter, which, combined with a full .45 caliber, can lead to the destruction of the entire bolt group. The GSh-18 air pistol , which has nothing to do with military weapons at all, should not be confused with it.
How did gunsmiths come up with the idea of creating this pistol?
The GS-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 its creation? The fact is that by the mid-80s, almost all the main armies of the world widely used personal protective equipment of the second and third class (body armor). Standard PM with their penetration could not cope. 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 should have kept a sufficient stopping effect at a distance of up to 50 meters. So the initial requirements for GS-18 were formed. The gun was required by the army, and therefore had to be also very reliable.
It was assumed that the penetration ability of a bullet of a new weapon would be equal to the standard Parabellum cartridge, while its stopping ability 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 power structures, then for its time this weapon was very successful, but its weak cartridge spoiled the whole picture. Of course, by that time the 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 PM was impossible.
Key Milestones
Therefore, the Tula people proactively constructed their GSh-18. The gun 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 the products of their main competitors.
From the very beginning, gunsmiths were closely engaged in the issue of designing a cartridge for PBP (armor-piercing). 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 the use of a powerful steel core. For this, the masters suggested using a polyethylene bullet shirt. A bare core of hardened thermally weapon steel is visible on the nose of the bullet. This design gave many advantages.
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 PM and new PMM. The penetrative effect of the bullet increased by an order of magnitude. So, the standard cartridge from Makarov at ten meters allowed more or less confidently piercing only 1.5 mm of steel sheet. With the new ammunition PM from the same ten meters allowed confidently piercing already 5 mm steel! So why did the creators anyway come up with the idea of using the NATO "Parabellum" in their GS-18? The gun was clearly no worse than its foreign competitors!
Transition to Parabellum
The fact is that the use of a cartridge from Makarov still led to a dead end, since the reserve of modernization was almost completely exhausted for this munition. Impulse 9x19 "Parabellum" was one and a half times higher than that of the domestic counterpart. It should be noted that by that time “Rooks” under this cartridge were already being produced in Izhevsk. But the quality of the ammunition of the Ulyanovsk and Tula ammunition factories categorically did not suit the designers. In addition, the gunsmiths did not like their basic design.
Therefore, they make a completely logical decision. Take both options as a base: the American and domestic Parabellum, but with regard to the design of the cartridge use the experience gained during the creation of the FSN. As in the previous case, the bullet has a bimetallic shell and a core of thermally hardened steel. Its mass is only 4.1 g (for foreign versions of "Parabellum" - up to 7.5 g). Due to this, it was possible to increase the muzzle velocity to 600 m / s. The new cartridge received the index GRAU 7N31. It provides confident penetration of a steel sheet with a thickness of 15 mm from a distance of eight meters.
Primary work
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 (GS-18). It was supposed to bring its technical characteristics 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, carried out a thoughtful analysis of domestic and foreign developments. His attention immediately attracted the Austrian "Glock-17", which had a number of interesting features. Firstly, the polymer frame, and secondly, the trigger, which is automatically set to self-cocking before firing. Gryazev was also attracted by the idea that there were no visible fuses on the gun body itself.
When the shutter moves forward, 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 hemp of the barrel. Interestingly, the mainspring is constantly half compressed. The shot occurred when the trigger was pulled, when it was fully compressed, and the drummer was torn off from a whisper. So what ideas was it decided to transfer to the new GS-18 pistol? Its technical characteristics resemble the Austrian "relative" in some cases.
General ideas of GS
Firstly, Gryazev decided to make the same plastic frame in the new weapon, introduce a half-platoon, 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 easier. Finally, in this case, you can press it to the hand as much as possible. The low position, which the GSh-18 pistol has when shooting, can significantly reduce recoil, which has a very positive effect on the technique and accuracy of shooting.
Some design features
Automatic weapons 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 "Walter" R.38, "Beretta" 92 and the domestic PS "Gyurza". He rightly reasoned that in world arms practice there are enough successful examples of how the barrel is locked by its skew (in Browning systems), or by turning it. The latter is characteristic of weapons that were invented by the Czech gunsmith Karel Krnka.
Immediately it was not possible to realize the locking of the barrel by skew, as it was implemented in Glock. The attractiveness of this method lies precisely in the fact that it does not require the use of individual parts, and also in that when the skew is bent, the breech goes down to the store, which greatly simplifies the mechanism for sending the cartridge. Then the designer decided to use the “earring” option, which was originally used in
the TT pistol. It was characterized by high efficiency, but such a GSh-18 pistol could not stand up to comparative tests in harsh conditions.
The rotation of the barrel, which is most successfully implemented in the "Steier" M 1912, also failed to repeat. It turned out that the required turning radius is more than 60 degrees, and therefore, to overcome this distance, the mechanism spends 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 to do immediately ten fighting stops. This fact, in combination 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 combat stops, and the polymer case effectively disperses the vibrations that occur during this.
USM design features
GSh-18 pistol, technical specifications (we present the photo of the weapon in the article), received from the creator of the dual-action trigger. Previously (with the movement of the shutter), the drummer is put in half-platoon. The debugging is carried out at the moment when the user pulls 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 it is distinguished by a couple of details: the descent is much tighter, and the fuse is thrown off by its complete rotation around its axis.
By the way, the idea of using a half-platoon of a striker in a pistol immediately came to mind to the designer. This method was first used by Karel Krnka on the "Rota" model, and 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 the roll-over, this compression also does not occur, and only when it is fully close to its forward position through the hammer, it is stopped by a sear. On the way back, the return spring, which is stronger than the fighting spring, overcomes its resistance and returns the bolt to its original position, with the fighting spring being compressed by about half.
But it was precisely this idea that the Tula “did not give a ride” to. In severe conditions and with severe pollution, the return spring can not always overcome the fighting resistance, and this threatens the inoperability of the weapon or severe delays when shooting at best. Gryazev decided to do everything his own way.
So, GSH-18 is a gun (there is a photo of it in the article), which suggests a standard scheme: when the bolt is retracted, the mainspring is fully compressed. Under the action of the return and mainspring at the beginning of the run, the cover of the shutter-casing goes forward, simultaneously pushing the cartridge out of the magazine into the chamber. The drummer is then fixed on the sear, and the bolt, under the action of only one return spring, reaches its extreme position. In general, with this scheme, the drummer also remains half-plod, but the solutions used in this case look more practical and “elegant”.
Shop, other specifications
A standard double-row magazine with a staggered arrangement of cartridges was used, at the exit of which cartridges are arranged in a single row. This solution allows you to significantly simplify the layout of other elements of the weapon, especially the trigger pull. Of course, with this scheme, the delivery of cartridges from the magazine to the chamber is significantly improved. In addition, the Gryazev-Shipunov pistol (GS-18) received a very powerful return spring, which guarantees the supply of cartridges and the combat effectiveness 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. It is enough to press lightly on it so that the store falls out under its own weight.
In general, it is these characteristics of the GSh-18 pistol that all owners of this weapon like. The situations of loss of the store in battle are not excluded, which can end rather sadly.
Problems and solutions
The very first tests revealed extremely serious problems: sometimes the casing-shutter completely lost its energy and stopped, having buried its teeth in the bottom of the cartridge with the extractor tooth. The most annoying thing was that only a half millimeter remained to go through the shutter. But with this spring, there was no longer enough energy. Gryazev got around this deadlock simply: he came up with the use of a springless extractor. His tooth is forced into the groove of the cartridge when the barrel rotates. The drummer, passing a shot through a special hole, couples the extractor to the sleeve and holds it until it hits the reflector.
Firing, sights
When the finger presses the trigger, he first presses the small lever of the automatic fuse. If the pressure persists and increases, a shot occurs. The protruding projectile (about 1 mm), which extends beyond the pistol only when half-plowed, visually and by touch helps determine the readiness of the weapon for battle. The trigger course is not more than five millimeters, which is a good indicator for service weapons. The trigger pull is about two kilograms.
What sights did the GSh-18 pistol get? Reviews speak of the following elements: a removable front sight and a rear sight, the latter being mounted on the shutter housing itself. Particularly popular are separately sold flies with tritium inserts (glowing in the dark). In addition, the gun has mounts for mounting a laser designator (this option is shown in the photo in the article).
The main characteristics of the production cycle
The complexity of releasing the “Russian Glock” is three times less than that of the standard police “Beretta”. Of course, this positively affects 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. The duration of this process takes only five minutes. The strength of the framework resulting from such casting is checked during rigorous tests. The use of a large number of polymers made it possible to achieve an unprecedentedly small weight of the weapon: only 0.47 kg without a magazine.
The shutter cover is the second most laborious part of the gun. To simplify production, the casing and the shutter are separate parts that can be disconnected during cleaning. The casing itself is made of 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, the GSh-18 pistol has advantages: its shot is slightly inferior to the classic Makarov, but the model is extremely lightweight, torquey and ergonomic. Compare for yourself: almost all NATO combat pistols with cartridges and a magazine weigh more than a kilogram, while the weight of a general gun is only 800 grams. From a distance of up to 20 meters, it allows you to confidently hit the target in body armor of the third class of protection.
At a range of up to 50 meters, the gun allows you to punch up to 30 layers of Kevlar, while the bullet maintains a high stopping effect. The best characteristics are shown by the cartridge 7H31. GSh-18 pistol with a silencer really allows you to shoot almost silently due to the well-thought-out design of the subsonic type cartridges.
When shooting, it practically does not lead upwards, since energy is spent on turning the barrel. Because of this, athletes like weapons, because in competitions for real rate of fire it helps to get excellent results. The advantage is that it works perfectly with the entire range of domestic and foreign Parabellum cartridges. The high initial velocity of the bullet allows you to make less lead when shooting at moving targets.
Thanks to the thoughtful, ergonomic shape that makes the gun stand out among domestic developments, it fits perfectly in the hand even without the use of individual cheek pads. In combination with a small mass, this allows for a long time to fire even in combat conditions, without fear of fatigue.
Some disadvantages
Is GSH-18 (pistol) good for everyone? He also has disadvantages. First, workmanship suffers. Many owners complain that the brand-new pistols wiped and scraped the plastic. What is worse is that it is unrealistic to equip a store in combat conditions: his lips are too sharp, he is very narrow. For this event, you need 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 (gun)? The disadvantages are also in the extremely poor-quality processing of many internal surfaces of the weapon. Athletes especially complain about this.