In 1967, the Tula arsenal introduced a specialized silenced version of the Makarov for covert use. This was a very effective pistol, and its design was also very heavily changed from that of the regular pistol. With a two-part silencer surrounding the barrel, the recoil spring had to be moved to a location inside the grip panels. It was still chambered for 9x18mm Makarov though, and used standard Makarov magazines. Not much official information has been published on the PB – it may actually still be in production today – and so I don’t have any good production numbers to provide.
Many thanks to the IRCGN (Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale) for allowing me access to film this hard-to-find silenced pistol for you!
“(…)Tula arsenal introduced a specialized silenced version of the Makarov(…)”
According to https://en.topwar.ru/125410-besshumnyy-pistolet-pb-6p9-polveka-na-vooruzhenii.html
production of the model was organized in Udmurtia at Izhevsk Mechanical Plant so why do you assume Tula is responsible for that?
Perhaps Ian picked up some wrong info.
Ian mentioned in the video that the pistol was developed and initially manufactured at the Tula Arsenal in 1967 until the 1980’s, then went back into production again at Izhevsk around the year 2000. REF. 1:05-1:30 on the video.
The first “silenced pistol” used by NKVD was a Nagant 1895 revolver with a special silenced barrel.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/9DcZrER2zd5uA1O0XLs7mo4JTSSChnaYV_o2q6n7z5HjF1s7QzOeSBLuaxqciMBbL1Ki02OKqQeU5lQHeg
The “Bramit device” as it was called (Bratya Mitkin, after the brothers who designed it) suppressed the muzzle signature. Combined with the Nagant’s gas-seal design and the fact that the 7.62 x 38Rmm Nagant cartridge had an average muzzle velocity of ~1,040 F/S (317 m/s), just under the speed of sound, it was indeed a nearly silent weapon.
In the 1970s, the “Company” developed special silenced barrels for the Dan Wesson double-action revolvers in both .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. Due to their interchangeable barrel design, these revolvers could have their barrel-cylinder gaps adjusted to very tight tolerances. Combined with special subsonic loads (similar to “medium velocity” loads of the present day) these too were in fact nearly silent weapons.
clear ether
eon
“(…)You’ll see Webleys that have a little naked barrel out in the front (…) and they don’t have a recoil spring behind the bolt, they have a system like this.(…)”
Non-parallel spring axis w.r.t. barrel axis was also used in Lahti L-35. It is more similar to that used in PB in regards of spring type used – coil.
I would respectfully suggest a look at the Manufrance LeFrancais — very similar to PB here, a plate hinged under the grips leveraged onto a vertical coil spring, but in that case upward against a spring located in the front of the grip, which in turn also is multitasked to bear on the barrel latch. I find this PB adaptation very clever, minimal addition to the mechanism to change the whole recoil mechanism.