GSh-18 - production version, left side
GSh-18, same production pistol, right side
GSh-18 with the slide locked back by slide stop; multiple locking lugs are clearly visible on the barrel.
Gsh-18 compared to the famous Makarov PM pistol
GSh-18 field-stripped
9x19mm PBP armour-piercing ammunition, developed for GSh-18
Type: Double Action Only
Chamber: 9x19mm Luger / Parabellum (also 9x19mm +P+)
Weight with empty magazine: 580 g
Length: 183 mm
Barrel length: 103 mm
Capacity: 18 rounds
The GSh-18 pistol was developed in mid-to-late 1990s in Russia, by the
KBP (Equipment manufacturing Design Bureau) in Tula. The GSh stands for
Gryazev and Shipunow - a chief designers of the pistol, who are famous
for their aircraft cannons, bearing the same name (GSh-23, GSh-301 etc).
18 stands for magazine capacity.
GSh-18 was developed as a military sidearm, capable to defeat current
body armour. To achieve good penetration, designers of KBP first
developed a special, very hot version of the 9x19mm Luger / Parabellum
round, with light and fast bullet with hardened steel core (4.2 gram @
600 meters per second, or 65 grains @ 1970 fps), called 9mm PBP. PBP
ammo can penetrate 8mm plate of mild steel at 20 meters, or any Class
III bulletproof vest at the same range. Early prototype pistols of the
KBP were known as P-96 but they were unsuccessful, so new pistol was
developed about 1998. It went to official military trials in 2000 and
passed it successfully. It probably had been purchased in small numbers
by some Russian law enforcement and Internal Affairs ministry units, and
also offered for export. The opinions on this pistol are somewhat
mixed, from very high to almost disappointing, and, due to official
adoption of the PYa as an official Russian army sidearm and availability of the more powerful 9x21mm SR-1 "Gyrza"
pistol (which is quite popular across Russian special forces), it is
doubtful that GSh-18 will ever appear in large numbers. But, anyway,
this pistol is interesting enough to be mentioned here.
GSh-18 is a recoil-operated, locked breech pistol. It uses short
recoiling barrel that rotates to lock and unlock from the slide. Unlike
the other rotating barrel pistols, barrel of the GSh-18 has multiple
(10) locking lugs, and rotation angle is as low as 18 degrees. The frame
is made from tough polymer with steel inserts and slide rails. Slide is
stamped from the steel, with pinned locking insert and detachable
breech block. The trigger is Glock-alike - striker-fired, with
pre-cocking during the recoil cycle and manual full cocking by the pull
of the trigger. When striker is half-cocked, its rear portion [protrudes
from the back of the slide for about 1 mm, giving an visual and tactile
indication that gun is ready to fire. GSh-18 is equipped with
automated, Glock-like trigger safety and additional firing pin safety.
Ejection port is located at the top of the slide with ejection straight
up and to the back. Magazine is a two-column type without transformation
to the single column at the magazine exit for increased feed
reliability. The latest variants featured removable front sight and rear
sights mounted on the breech block (not on the slide, which is a bad
idea by many opinions). Sights feature white-dot inserts for faster
aiming. One of the most discussed features of the GSh-18 is a slide that
is open at the front. Critics said that the dirt will easily go into
the slide interior via this opening and pistol reliability will be
decreased at least. Designers said that it is OK and dirt will not pass
deep into the gun interior. Probably designers has all the reasons to
say so, because GSh-18 successfully passed rigorous military trials, but
only the future and actual field reports will tell us the full story.
GSh-18 can fire any commercial or military 9mm Luger/Parabellum and 9mm
NATO ammunition, plus Russian armour-piercing, high-power (roughly
equivalent to 9mm +P+ or even hotter) ammunition, 9mm 7N21 and 9mm PBP.
GSh-18 is reported as accurate and comfortable to fire, and very light
for its class, but it is still to be seen if it has any significant
future.
I had the chance to hold this pistol (pictured above) in September,
2003, at some local Russian Law Enforcement competition event, but did
not fired it, pitifully. Out of the three latest Russian military / LE
pistols (GS-18 itself, Yarygin PYa and Serdjukov SPS / SR-1)
the GSh-18, in my opinion. has the best and most comfortable grip
shape. It also fits perfectly into the open-top police-type Makarov
holster. Sights are not the best, but acceptable, and the trigger pull
is relatively heavy, but short and consistent.
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