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Chapter 12
Chapter 12. Design
Chapter 12. History of the pistol

PM

Makarov pistol

The most mass-produced pistol of the second half of the 20th century.
Upgraded Makarov pistol
Floral ornament is encrusted with gold and silver wires on the frame and the slide
Slide — serves to chamber the cartridge, lock the barrel on firing, eject the cartridge case, and cock the trigger.
Silver oval plates with engraved floral ornaments are inlaid in the upper part of the cheeks.
The pistol came complete with a spare magazine, a cleaning kit and a holster. The gun is stored in a case with the donative inscription : “A donation to Tula Museum of Arms by the author, N.F. Makarov”.
A gift version of the standard Makarov pistol.
Caliber
9.0 mm
Length
16.0 cm
Barrel length
9.3 cm
Weight (with loaded magazine)
810 g
Muzzle velocity
315 m/s
Several types of 9x18 PM cartridges are used for shooting from the pistol. The most common among them is a cartridge consisting of a bimetallic rimless case and a steel-cored lead-jacket bullet.
Steel core
Propellant powder
Slide stop — serves to hold the slide in its extreme rearward position when the magazine is empty.
Recoil spring — serves to return the slide to its extreme forward position.
Trigger bar with a cocking lever — serves to release the hammer from the cocked position when the trigger is pulled.
Hammer spring — serves to actuate the hammer, the cocking lever and trigger bar.
Magazine — serves to store and feed cartridges
Some parts of the PM perform several functions. For example, the upper part of the slide stop is used to eject spent cartridge cases, while the lower end of the hammer spring is a magazine release. Learn More
Firing pin — serves to strike the cap.
Hammer — serves to strike the firing pin.
Magazine capacity — 8 cartridges.
Screw
Extractor — serves to hold the cartridge case or cartridge in the slide until engagement with the ejector.
Trigger guard — serves to prevent the shooter from accidentally pulling the trigger.
Foresight
When firing at 50 meters, the shot dispersion does not exceed 320 mm from the aiming point.
Makarov pistol case
The insert on the case bears the inscription in green paint: “A donation to Tula Museum of Arms by the author, N.F. Makarov”
Rear sight
The pistol is completely disassembled into 32 parts.
Assemble-disassemble
Slide stop lever
A simple safety provides a safeguard against accidental shots. It has a lever to place the pistol in the "fire" and "safe" positions.
View 3D model
The examination of the experience with individual weapons during the Great Patriotic War led to a tender announced in 1945 for developing a new pistol to replace the 7.62 mm Tokarev TT pistol.
Tokarev TT M1933 pistol
The tender saw participation of many famous gunsmiths. A pistol by Tula designer N.F. Makarov won the tender and entered service in 1951.
Biography N.F. Makarov’s
The Makarov pistol possessed advantages largely due to the use of a new cartridge developed by B.V. Semin and N.M. Elizarov at TsNIITOCHMASH (Klimovsk, Moscow region). It is inferior to the TT cartridge in power, but its larger caliber increases the stopping power of the bullet.
7.62 x 25 TT pistol cartridge
Caliber
7.62 mm
9 x 18 PM pistol cartridge
Caliber
9.0 mm
The PM gun is highly survivable. For example, in 2004, the Tula-based KBP Instrument Design Bureau had an operating PM pistol at its disposal, from which more than 50,000 shots were fired.
For half a century, the pistol had been the single individual handgun of Soviet Army and law enforcement officers.
In the early 1990's the Makarov pistol was modernized, and in 1994 it was adopted as the PMM. It has a magazine for 12 high-velocity cartridges.
Numerous versions of civilian and service weapons were developed around the PM pistol and are produced in Izhevsk.
IZH-79-9 Makarych
5 000 000
Production of the PM pistols was established at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, where more than 5 million pistols were produced.
Izhevsk Mechanical Plant
30 countries
The gun was used in more than 30 countries, including China, Indonesia, Iraq, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Cuba.
Makarov was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor in 1974 for his contribution to strengthening the country's defense capability and great achievements in developing new military equipment.

He became the winner of the Stalin and State Prizes, was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
Nikolai F. Makarov attributed his success to the colossal work invested in the creation of the pistol.
“Suffice it to say that I worked every day at that time, almost seven days a week, from eight in the morning until two or three in the next morning. As a result, I modified and shot two to three times as many pistol versions as my rivals, which, of course, made it possible for me to achieve high reliability and survivability.”
Makarov’s pistol was the first weapon to travel into space. It was included in Yuri Gagarin’s personal survival kit in the event of emergency during landing.
In 1965, astronauts A.A. Leonov and P.I. Belyaev used Makarov’s pistol, when they landed away from the planned touchdown point. However, they could use it only to scare away animals.

After this incident A.A. Leonov turned to the Tula Arms Plant with a request to develop a special weapon for use in such situations.
A three-barreled pistol, the TP-82, was developed in Tula, which became part of a personal survival kit for astronauts.
Despite the emergence of new pistols models in Russia, the PM still remains in service
Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
N.F. Makarov was a great friend of the Tula Museum of weapons.
Meeting at the Museum of Arms dedicated to N.F. Makarov’s 70th birthday
Creation period: 1984
Place of creation: USSR. The city of Tula
From left to right: Samokhvalova T.A. , Orlova V.V., Katyukov (?); Savenko O.N., Budaeva L.P., Makarov N.F., Chudnov G.M., Kondrashova I.A., Treschev A.K., Ogurtsov M.V.
In 1981, N.F. Makarov donated a pistol of his design with a dedicatory inscription to the Museum. Currently, this rare specimen is part of a permanent exhibit at the museum.