15.22
Jack The Ripper
Shevchenko PSh-4 pistol
| Type | Double Action semiautomatic |
| Caliber(s) | 9x18 Makarov |
| Weight unloaded | 900 g |
| Length | 172 mm |
| Barrel length | 142 mm |
| Magazine capacity | 15 rounds |
The most intriguing small arms “producer” in Ukraine was the KB-ST
(Design Bureau for Special Techniques). This highly controversial
organization was established in 1993 and during the late nineties
announced a series of a “revolutionary” small arms designs, such as
sub-machine guns and sniper rifles of outstanding, if not unbelievable,
characteristics. However, no foreign experts ever were able to test
these “wonder weapons”, and by now it seems that KB-ST has folded and
gone out of business. One of such wonder weapons widely advertised in
Ukrainian literature as “unique” and “superior” was the Pistolet
Shevchenko, or PSh in short. This overly complicated and strange-looking
weapon was also an amalgam of previously known ideas, some of which
were tried and rejected 50 or even 100 years ago. To start with, the PSh
used a two-stage feed system, borrowed from the 1900-period
Gabbet-Fairfax “Mars” pistol of British origin. This system, in which
the cartridge is first pulled back from the magazine and placed on a
lifter, then raised inline with the barrel and fed forward and into the
chamber, was necessary because of the elongated barrel, which protruded
back into the action. To further complicate the construction, its
designer Shevchenko used a very rare gas-operated locking system first
(and probably last) used in a WW2-era prototype Horn assault rifle from
Germany. This system employs two small gas pistons that are forced by
gas pressure sideways from the frame and into locking recesses in the
slide. Another strange feature was a hand-cocking device, probably taken
from HK P7 pistol,
but in a twist – instead of full-hand cocking lever PSh employed some
form of a second trigger, located below the “primary” trigger and used
to cock the striker when pressed by one middle finger. If you still not
have enough of this design, it also had a ribbed, aluminium jacket on
the barrel, and a very special sort of slide stop, that locked slide
open once there was ONE cartridge left in the gun. The claimed purpose
of this arrangement was to allow shooter to make its “deliberate last
shot” – in its own head, probably. Not surprisingly, this weapon,
“available” in 9x18 PM, 9x19 and .45 ACP, never went past magazine
pages, and probably, a handful of prototypes. Nevertheless, the author
decided to include it, if just for the amusement of the readers.
