Over the past few years, the market for traumatic weapons in Russia has expanded significantly due to models of domestic production. Of course, not all new Russian pistols are to the liking of rubber-defense defenders, but there are samples among them that deserve special attention. We’ll talk about one of them.
In this article, we will talk about the MP-353 - a rubber barrel made on the basis of the famous Yarygin pistol (PY).
History of creation
The history of PJ dates back to 1993, when its prototype Grach under the MP-443 index won the competition of the USSR Ministry of Defense. It was called upon to replace the Makarov pistol (PM), which was in service with all power structures at that time , which has proven itself over many years of use, but no longer meets modern requirements. But why was it necessary to change the proven PM to unknown?
The fact is that the cheap and highly reliable Makarov used a standard 9x18 mm cartridge , which did not at all correspond to the requirements for the latest weapons. Given the difficult post-Soviet period, the MP-443 Grach was adopted by the Russian army only after ten long years, and after five more it became a regular weapon and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Several commercial and sports pistols were created on the basis of the PY, including the MP-446 Viking, which became the prototype of the MP-353.
In the late 2000s, with the growing popularity of weapons of traumatic action, weapons factories massively began to produce rubber arrows, which are copies of military models or remade from them. In 2009, the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant at the exhibition "Arms and Hunting" first introduced the public to the MP-353 pistol. And a year later, its mass production began. From the first days, the civilian copy of Rook gained immense popularity among the population, having established itself primarily from the best side. Thanks to this, it is still produced by the factory today, and you can buy it at any weapons store throughout Russia.
Appointment
MP-353 - a limited-range firearm designed for active self-defense. For firing, cartridges with a rubber bullet of type 45 Rubber manufactured by PKP AKBS LLC (Nizhny Novgorod) or Tekhkrim CJSC (Izhevsk) are used. According to the passport data, the use of a gun is permissible at temperatures from -20 to +50 0 .
Design features
We begin the review of the MP-353 with its design. Outwardly, it turned out to be pretty and modern enough. But as can be seen in the photo of the gun, its design can not be called advanced. On the one hand, there seems to be nothing superfluous, on the other, there is no hint of asceticism. The size of the gun can be called average, although many would like to wear a more compact model behind the belt.
Unlike his combat “brother”, whose design is based on the short-stroke barrel movement, the MP-353 traumatic gun has a free bolt, and a return spring is located under it. The shutter-casing moves along the guides of the frame. The frame of the rubber barrel is steel, but on top is covered with plastic. All other elements are made of steel. The handle is ergonomically sporty, covered with soft plastic.
An indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber is installed on the shutter. This is a small protrusion on the ejector. After the last cartridge has been shot, the pistol shutter remains in its extreme rear position. When installing a charged magazine, it returns to the front position by pressing the shutter-release lever on the left side or by slightly pulling the shutter back.
As for accuracy, the MP-353 is balanced in such a way that when shooting the barrel practically does not throw up. This makes it more convenient than, for example, the same Makarov pistol. Civilian "Rook" allows targeted shooting at a distance of up to eight meters. Accuracy of hits is excellent with almost no scatter. The effective firing range is also limited to eight meters.
The main parts of the traumatic gun
The MP-353 pistol consists of eight main parts:
- frame with a bracket, trigger mechanism, magazine latch, fuse;
- shutter with ejector and sights;
- return spring;
- trunk;
- contactor;
- stock;
- score;
- lever.
In total, the design of the rubber barrel includes 50 elements.
The main tactical and technical characteristics of the gun
We list the main ones:
- length - 198 mm;
- height - 140 mm;
- width - 38 mm;
- barrel length - 112 m;
- weight without cartridges (with cartridges) - 830 (950) grams;
- caliber - 11.43 mm;
- cartridge type - 45 Rubber;
- cartridge weight - 7.7 grams;
- cartridge length - 23.5 mm;
- bullet material - rubber;
- bullet diameter - 13 mm;
- bullet weight - 1.5 (1.8) grams;
- magazine capacity - 7 (9) rounds;
- fire mode - single;
- fuse type - double-sided, flag type;
- Muzzle velocity - up to 450 m / s;
- aiming range - up to 8 m.
Trigger mechanism
Here he is the usual trigger type. Allows you to fire as a self-cocking, and a preliminary platoon with his hand. The trigger is open, but on both sides of its trigger are protected by specially designed protrusions on the bolt. This is done so that the trigger does not cling to the details of the clothes when removing the weapon.
Safety when handling weapons provides a double-sided safety switch that blocks both the sear and the trigger. This decision made the MP-353 more convenient to use for left-handed people. The fuse can block the trigger mechanism both in the deflated and cocked position.
What is wrong with the barrel?
For any firearm, the barrel is the element on which not only the accuracy of the shot depends, but also the speed of the bullet, and therefore its striking force. At the MP-353 it is made of high-quality stainless steel, however, looking into it, you can see that the engineers of the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant clearly overdid it with a design that should prevent the firing of live ammunition. For these purposes, on the inner surface of the barrel there are two welded protrusions of a conical shape. These "teeth" almost completely overlap each other in clearance. However, this does not affect the flight characteristics of the bullet. In order for the pistol to fully comply with the requirements of the forensic service, its barrel is welded to the bolt, so it is practically impossible to remake it into military weapons in a makeshift way.
Ammunition
Russian pistols and traumatic revolvers are designed for the usual nine-millimeter cartridges, which are produced in large quantities by various enterprises. The plant decided not to change anything in the design, leaving the gun adapted for the 45 Rubber cartridge. In general, this did not affect his popularity in any way, but not everyone liked this caliber. And that's why.
The fact is that with a standard nine-millimeter cartridge, the diameter of the bullet in the free state is 10 mm, and with 45 Rubber - 12-13 mm. This means that with the same kinetic energy, the first, hitting the target, has a smaller impact area than the second. Naturally, her piercing ability is much larger.
Score
The most ill-conceived element of the MP-353 is its store. It is not known why the engineers did this, but instead of seventeen in combat and eighteen in sports, the rubber-boom store holds only seven rounds! This has nothing to do with the volume of the handle, nor with the size of the shaft, nor with any special requirements of the law. Why the manufacturer did this is not clear. It’s good, though, that recently there have appeared on sale samples that hold nine rounds in the store.
It is noteworthy that the magazine eject button can also be moved to the other side to adapt the gun to people who prefer to fire with their left hand.
Sights
At first glance, the upper part of the pistol shutter is no different from other pistols of this class. In fact, the design of the sights is much more interesting than the usual models of traumatic weapons. In the photo of the gun you can see the basis of the sight - light dots applied to the unregulated front sight and rear sight, which also glow in the dark. Agree that it is much more convenient to aim with them in the dark, when, in fact, the majority of street crimes are committed. The design of the gun is equipped with a Picatinny rail, which makes it possible to equip it with a laser target designator or tactical flashlight.
MP-353: reviews, advantages, disadvantages
Reviews about the gun are mostly positive, although negative ones also occur. Having studied them, you can judge the main advantages and disadvantages of this rubber barrel.
Benefits:
- sports ergonomics;
- reliability;
- smooth descent;
- low probability of misfire (excluding problems associated with cartridges);
- high accuracy for traumatic weapons;
- convenience for shooting with both hands;
- relatively low price.
Disadvantages:
- low muzzle energy;
- insufficient store capacity;
- high price for cartridges;
- difficult cocking of the trigger and the impossibility of its safe descent.
In the reviews for the pistol, there are often claims regarding the large width of the shutter, which makes it difficult to conceal it. Indeed, given the dimensions of the MP-353, a holster with it, even operational, will bulge out from under the clothes. But on the other hand, for hidden carrying, you can purchase weapons with smaller dimensions.
Test results
And now, in order to compare the characteristics of the civilian Rook with other models of traumatic weapons of the same class, let us examine the results of tests on the initial speed of a bullet and accuracy, conducted by Kalashnikov magazine in 2014. For comparison, PDT-13T Esaul-3 and MP-80-13T Makarych were taken.
MP-353 began to win from the first test - measuring the initial speed of the bullet, which amounted to 316 m / s, while the maximum performance of “Esaul” and “Makarych” did not exceed 249 and 300 m / s, respectively. But the accuracy of the MP-80-13T bypassed everyone, but here the human factor could play a role.
MP-353: price
As for the cost of the gun, it cannot be said that this is a cheap weapon. Depending on the modification, the price for it in different regions can vary between 20-30 thousand rubles. But admit that security is much more expensive.
Total
Summing up, we can say that the traumatic pistol MP-353 really deserves attention as a modern and reliable weapon of self-defense. It is convenient, ergonomic, has a good sighting design, is quite effective for self-defense, and is also easily adaptable to the requirements of left-handed people. The only inconvenience of this gun is its dimensions, but this is not so critical.