Whilst perusing the Makarov forums, someone happened to mention that there had been an auction for a Russian PSM on Gunbroker(http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=361213085). I don’t know how it got into the states because the PSM didn’t make enough “points” to satisfy the ATF for import. This gun was designed as a badge of rank for higher military leaders and is basically a copy of the Makarov PM, in terms of operation. It is a DA/SA with a decocking safety lever on the rear of the slide, and operates via direct blow back action. This gun is incredibly thin, but other than that it is very similar in size to the PM. It reminds me of the Walther PP and TPH relationship. It fires a very interesting 5.45x18mm round that was designed for piercing soft body armour by clandestine KGB agents as a relatively high energy/low recoil round. This gun is rather useless as a military piece, but given the country of origin, I imagine they did see some use as the “better option” than the gulag for failing to do the leader’s bidding. I have always been enamored with this svelte little commie pistol and it is on my bucket list, even though short of winning the lottery, I will most likely never own one. Very cool and rare, which explains the $3000.00 price tag. For more info on this cool piece, check out some of these sites:
This is a terrific read and really dispells a lot of myths associated with this little pocket rocket. The seller was kind enough to point it out in the ad.
Some standard specs.
These are the pictures from the auction and are not mine:
Dive! Dive!
bubbleheadgunnut 