Silent Killer - PSS Silent Pistol
There is a very unique silent pistol made in the former Soviet Union that does not need to be fitted with a silencer and is self-loading, it is the PSS Silent Pistol, a small and concealable silent pistol.
PS In the early 1970s, the Soviet Union developed several silent pistols to equip Soviet special forces and state security services for special missions.
PB (which means silent pistol) and APB (which means automatic silent pistol) are two of the earlier silent pistols developed in the Soviet Union, both of which were modified by adding silencers on the basis of the military PM (i.e., Makarov pistol) and APS (Stetchkin automatic pistol) pistols. Both pistols fire 9x18mm PM rounds. Since both guns required the addition of silencers, making these pistols inconvenient to conceal during special operations, easily exposed, and inconvenient to carry, the former Soviet Union later decided to develop silent pistols that did not require the attachment of silencers.
The MSP (Miniature Special Pistol) is a double-barreled up-and-down configuration Derringer pistol developed by the Central Research Center for Precision Machinery Manufacturing of the former Soviet Union. The gun fires 7.62X35mm SP-3 silent rounds, which are similar in shape to the standard 7.62X39mm rounds fired by AK47 rifles and others. It can only be loaded with two rounds at a time and is not self-loading. When firing, the piston inside the SP-3 cartridge case is driven forward by the expanding gunpowder gas, and the piston pushes the cartridge out of the muzzle.The MSP has a length of 115 millimeters, a barrel length of 66 millimeters, and a mass of 0.53 kilograms, and it does not use an external silencer, which makes this gun very compact and easy to carry. The gun has equipped Russia and several countries that split from the former Soviet Union, and has been used in Central America and Afghanistan.
The S-4 is an improved version of the MSP Silent Pistol, with essentially the same structural design as the MSP, and is also a Derringer pistol with a double-barrel up-and-down configuration. It fires the 7.62X62.8mm silent round, which is commonly referred to as the PZAM round, and the shape of the bullet and cartridge is similar to the 7.62X39mm round, except that the case thickness is increased quite a bit. To accommodate the change in ammunition, the S-4 increased the barrel length to 80mm from the MSP, which is the most significant difference from the MSP.
Overall, each of these silent pistols developed by the Soviet Union has strengths that fulfill specific needs, but inevitably, each has flaws. The PB, for example, was self-loading, but its barrel was 310 millimeters long, and the APB's was even longer. The excessively long barrels are less convenient to use in combat. Moreover, these two guns are not silenced per se and must be fitted with additional silencers, which are, of course, relatively easy to install. In addition, the designers boasted that the 9X18mm ammunition was excellent, but it was useless against targets wearing bulletproof undershirts.
Both the MSP and the S-4 Special have excellent concealed-carry capabilities, using subsonic rounds and no automatic moving parts, which makes their street shooting sound completely drowned out by the street background. However, the rounds they use would be equally useless against a target wearing body armor. To make matters worse, neither gun is self-firing; they can only fire two rounds a time before needing to be reloaded, which takes a lot of time.
SP In fact, the various silent pistols were developed to accomplish similar tasks, for example, the Soviet Union developed these weapons for use by the Special Forces, the State Security Committee, and other special services, whose personnel used these pistols to accomplish special tasks.
In order to develop more effective silent weapons, a new research mission was issued to develop a universal small silent pistol weapon system, which would be used as special equipment for the Soviet Army's special forces and the KGB. It was finally decided that this research task would be carried out by the Central Research Center for Precision Machinery Manufacturing.
At that time, the most urgent task was to design a small silent pistol capable of self-loading. In order to reduce the size of the pistol, it was decided not to use a conventional silencer and to develop a new type of projectile without indentation. Because of the length factor, the previous PZAM cartridge could not be adapted to this newly developed weapon. the SP-3 cartridge was also unsuitable for use in a self-loading pistol, and the lead rim of the head of this silent round (which is similar to that of a conventional cartridge) was to be embedded y into the mouth of the cartridge case, with the base of the head being supported by a steel cylinder resembling a piston. When fired, the firing charge pushes the piston forward, the piston pushes the cartridge forward, and finally the piston seals the gunpowder gas inside the cartridge case to muffle the sound and reduce muzzle smoke and flame. The piston of the new cartridge imparts a power that lasts for a certain period of time, rather than a sudden force. It should be noted, however, that the SP-3 ammunition is still too long, and its use in self-loading pistols leads to a substantial increase in the shock of the automatic moving parts; to avoid its side effects, the length of the barrel can only be increased appropriately.
Designers at the Central Research Center for Precision Machinery Manufacturing began to concentrate on the design of ammunition for the new silent pistol, the most fundamental work of the research program. Their first, and most important, challenge was to design a cartridge of the right length, and the new ammunition was named SP-4. This new cartridge retained the short piston head of the SP-3, but instead of being held in the case by a lead rim, the head was embedded directly into the case through the base of the cartridge, which allowed for an increase in the amount of time that the piston could drive the cartridge forward. At the time of firing, after the firing charge is ignited, the gunpowder gas drives the piston forward; the piston in turn pushes the warhead forward. After the piston moves to a certain distance, it is pressed against the sloping shoulder of the cartridge case, which serves to keep the piston stuck in the cartridge, thus sealing the gunpowder gas. Afterwards, the gunpowder gas will be slowly discharged through the gap between the piston head and the wall of the cartridge case. This unique design effectively ensures the acceleration of the warhead when it is fired.
The SP-4 cartridge is made of copper-coated steel with a conventional flangeless design and a slightly tapered case. The warhead is a flat-ended cylinder of alloy steel, the diameter of which has been reduced at the front end, and is set with a ring of die-forged brass bands on the outside, like those of a cannonball, which increases the recoil of the pistol and facilitates automatic work, while its weight still ensures its lethal performance. In the center of the end of the cartridge is a conical groove, and when fired this allows a precise fit between the base of the cartridge and the top of the piston, facilitating the correct movement of the cartridge inside the case and in the barrel when fired. The shape of the bullet does not affect the accuracy of the shot much. The round has a subsonic muzzle velocity and a maximum firing range of 50 meters, and at a range of 25 meters, this round will penetrate steel body armor or Kevlar helmets.
There are a number of noteworthy aspects of this ammunition's design. For example, the piston seals the powder gas, which puts a high pressure on the residual gas in the cartridge case. To ensure that the cartridge does not burst when the shell is thrown, both the shell and the piston are made to be very strong. Another feature of this ammunition is some extra crimp in the firecap, which prevents the expansion gas from leaking through the primer hole.
Many of the innovations and novelties of the SP-4 ammunition were so good that its designers were later awarded the "State Medal" by the Soviet Union.
SP Full length 41.9mm
Weight 23.2g
Case length 41.5mm
Warhead length 28.4mm
Warhead diameter 7.59mm
Diameter of the guided portion 7.59mm
Warhead weight 9.97g
Immediate velocity 300-310m/s
Immediate velocity 300-310m/s
The SP-4 is a very powerful and innovative round. 310 m/s
Compact PSS Automatic Silent Pistol
Another member of this weapon system is the Automatic Silent Pistol. Named Vul during its development and PSS (for self-loading special pistol) after its finalization, the pistol without the silencer is very compact and can be easily concealed on the body, ready to fire. The design of the PSS silent pistol is very simple, mainly consisting of a sleeve seat, receiver, magazine and grip, and adopts the barrel recoil automatic method. In order to ensure the reliability of the automatic operation, the barrel and the chamber are separated, with the barrel fixed and the chamber attached to the barrel. The chamber is assembled with the barrel by a special spring device, which is coupled with the gun's recoil spring to effectively minimize the gun's recoil and prevent the barrel from jumping up when firing. When firing, the receiver and the chamber with the cartridge recoil together for a certain distance and then disengage, and the chamber moves forward under the action of the spring. At this point, the receiver continues to recoil and throws the cartridge case with the assistance of the case throwing mechanism located on the sleeve. As the action returns to its forward position, another round is loaded into place.
Because of the unique PS-4 ammunition, the PSS pistol fires without any noticeable flash or smoke; the powder gas and smoke and flame are sealed inside the casing for a slow release, and there is very little sound when fired; the sound is primarily caused by the powder gas spilling out of the muzzle as the cartridge moves with the piston. The gun does not have a redesigned trigger mechanism and directly adopts the trigger mechanism of the Makarov PM pistol, which was done to standardize the weapon and reduce development costs. It has two modes of standby, automatic standby and combat standby. The slide-mounted safety catch shoot also absorbed the design of the PM pistol to avoid accidental firing of the pistol, and this safety mechanism is achieved by lowering the hammer position when the round is already loaded.
The gun is fed by a single-row six-round magazine, which is mounted in the grip. The magazine is notable for its wide-rimmed grooves, the roomy convex shoots of the feed mechanism, which make loading rounds into the magazine easier. Because the SP-4 round is 42 millimeters long, which is longer than other common pistol rounds, the pistol's grip has also been designed to be wider, although this wider grip does not cause any inconvenience in holding it.
The sighting mechanism consists of a fixed notched illuminated door and a tabbed collimator. Both the collimator and the door can be equipped with illuminated dots to ensure accuracy when aiming in dim conditions or at night. In order to avoid reflecting light from the upper plane of the sleeve, the section between the illuminated door and the collimator is decorated with a curved pattern. In 1983, the Silent Pistol System, which includes the PSS Silent Pistol and SP-4 ammunition, entered service, and the King was to equip Special Operations Forces for use as a combat and self-defense weapon. The gun fires with very little sound and has no flash around the gun after firing, making it a near-perfect silent weapon. Although 20 years have passed, the performance of this gun is still unrivaled.
PS Ammunition Used 7.62X42mm SP-4 Silent Rifle Cartridge
Automatic Type Barrel Recoil Type
Firing Type Semi-Automatic (Single/Action/Double-Action)
Feeding Type 6-Round Magazine
Weight of Full Rifle 0.7kg (Empty)0.85kg (Full)
Full Rifle Dimensions (L X W X H) 165mm X 30mm X 140mm
Cocking Speed 200m/s
Maximum Range 50m
Sighting Device Flake Collimator and Notched Shotglass