Pistol GSH-18. Impressions from the first meeting
I had a chance to hold the GSh-18 pistol in my hands fifteen years ago, and it was not a serial model. Just hold on for a couple of minutes. No shooting, no disassembly-assembly. It is clear that, in fact, there was nothing to say about him, except for the performance characteristics, which are publicly available:
Constructor: Vasily Gryazev
Manufacturer: TOZ
Adoption: 2000
Weight:
0,47 kg (without magazine)
0,59 kg (with empty magazine)
0,8 kg (with a full magazine)
Dimensions: (LxWxH, barrel length, mm) 183x34x136, 103
Shop: box-shaped double row for 18 rounds
Cartridge: 9x19 mm 7H31 (armor-piercing), Parabellum (Luger), etc.
Muzzle velocity: 350–600 m/s (depending on cartridge type)
Muzzle Energy: 450 J
Target range: 50 meters
Principles of operation: recoil of the barrel with its short stroke.
An essential design feature is the mechanism for locking the bolt by turning the barrel. This is very rare, something similar is done (if sclerosis does not change me) Austrians and Slovenes.
Tactile sensations
I will compare with PM and PMM. The first is the most common and well known to most Soviet and Russian officers and ensigns, the second is closer to the GSh-18 in terms of parameters.
Firstly, the “empty” GSh is perceived as lighter than the PM, although it looks larger. With a magazine loaded with a dozen rounds, it feels like a fully “filled” PM.
Second, grip. The angle of inclination of the handle for all these models is the same, therefore, in the hand stuffed with Makarov, the GSh lies as usual. Until I wrapped my fingers around the handle. In PM, the width of the handle is much greater than the thickness, in PMM, the handle is thicker, but still the difference between width and thickness is noticeable. In the GSh, the handle is perceived as some kind of rounded, and even slippery, which raises the fear that control weapons in the horizontal plane is not very reliable.
However, the standard test for the correct stance and grip (this is when you took a stance, closed your eyes, pointed the weapon at the target, opened your eyes and assessed where you actually aimed the fly) the General Staff passed without problems. The main thing is not to swing it from side to side.
Third, the descent. Here unpleasant surprises awaited me. The fact is that the trigger of the GSh is not at all a hook rotating on an axis, but a trigger key moving horizontally. It also has a safety button on it. And when you start to pull it smoothly with the usual movement, the upper edge of the index finger for some reason is pressed against the lower edge of the pistol body. And there is just a slot in which the trigger goes. And the edges of this slot are sharp. The finger is very uncomfortable.
It does not add comfort that the trigger, even before choosing a free stroke, is a little closer to the handle than that of the Makarov. The finger involuntarily slips further than necessary, and lies on the descent not in the middle of the first phalanx, but in the joint between the first and second. You have to move your finger. Although my hand seems to be average, and my fingers have not grown very much.
Further - worse. The trigger moves in jerks, as if with a rattle (perhaps due to the fact that an additional cocking is being carried out). The moment of descent differs from shot to shot. This is likely an instance specific issue. After all, weapons must be cherished and cherished, periodically arrange thorough maintenance for them. Maybe you can go around with jewelry polishing paste in some places (just not with the green GOI grinding paste, or even spontaneous shots can be polished). But not everyone takes care of personal weapons diligently, which can be demanded from a public shooting gallery.
For a snack - shop equipment. A dozen rounds are driven into the store by hand without problems. A dozen and a half - "not only everyone can do it, few people can." A full magazine (18) is unrealistic to equip with hands. True, there is a device in the kit: a guide that looks like a straightened rifle clip, and a plastic “snap”, through which the cartridges typed into the “clip” (five pieces at a time) are pressed into the magazine with a fair sharp effort, more than a dozen - already whole body weight.
Yes, and loading the gun by simply inserting the magazine into the handle and pressing until it clicks will not work. The store should not be weakly “knocked out” with the base of the palm (although for those who are familiar, for example, with AR, this is not a wonder).
And the store is removed without problems, and the eject button is groped intuitively, pressed with moderate effort, but the probability of pressing it by accident is very small.
The shutter release lever is just as intuitive and convenient.
Well, for dessert - incomplete disassembly. I have never met such a kunshtuk. First of all, you need to pick up the shutter delay lever with the rim of the magazine and pull out this design!
Then everything is simple and without tricks.
By the way, the mass of the casing-bolt, barrel and return spring with a pin is a significant (if not larger) part of the total mass of the gun. The frame itself is light, that is, the center of mass is as close as possible to the axis of the barrel, which theoretically should have a positive effect on the accuracy of fire, including by reducing the toss of the barrel when fired.
Let's get down to business
A decent range. Several galleries for different weapons - from slingshots, throwing knives and crossbows to rifle-caliber machine guns. The weapon is only civilian and "civilized", that is, the mode of firing bursts from automatic weapons is technically excluded. Photo and video filming is prohibited.
I happened to shoot in a non-native 100-meter gallery for a pistol. We measured 25 meters, set up a table, next to it was a 40-fold tube on a tripod to control the results.
The target is unusual, it seems, for crossbow archers. The outer diameter (“1”) is 50 cm, the black circle (“7”) is 20 cm. Of course, I would prefer the usual green “Chest Figure” (Target No. 4), but what is, is.
The front sight of the pistol is thick, at this distance it almost covers the "bullseye" in diameter. More precisely, it overlaps "8" and half of "7". But even on a black background it is quite distinguishable.
Ammunition - 30 rounds (sports and hunting, steel sleeve, produced either by Tula or Barnaul). Just in time to equip the store three times with 10 rounds without "snapping".
First approach. Shooting while standing, grip with one hand. The rate of fire is 1-1,5 seconds per shot. The uncomfortable descent is noticeably annoying. After the fifth shot, I took a break for 15 seconds, rested, adjusted my grip, and continued at the same pace.
Sleeves fly almost vertically upwards, deviating slightly back. Several times he received shell casings on his hands and kumpol.
On the photo of the target, this series is marked with red crosses. Four out of ten shots frankly "broke".
The second approach is shooting while standing with a “two-handed” grip, the pace is the same. Already better (orange circles in the photo). I stopped being distracted by the discomfort of the descent and the incoming shells. I shot the magazine without pauses, but the right hand, especially the muscles of the index finger, were somewhat tired.
I appreciated the more comfortable return than that of Makarov. Despite the XNUMX-fold superiority of the GSh in muzzle energy, the recoil is perceived to be quite strong, but some kind of “softer”. Apparently, the rollback and rotation of the barrel, which “stretch” the recoil momentum, affects. And yes, the barrel returns to the line of sight much faster than the PM / PMM.
Green rhombuses with lines in the photograph of the target mark the results of the third, “abnormal” approach.
In the era of the VCR craze, I stumbled upon some foreign action movie, where there was an episode of police training. The technique is unpretentious: a target jumps out from behind an obstacle, the policeman abruptly drops to one knee, one of his hands takes out a weapon, and the other at that time is sent to the target, a hand with a weapon is immediately put into it, two shots are fired with a minimum interval. Change of position, assessment of the situation, if necessary - a couple more shots, and so on. A small nuance: their shooting distance is about half that of mine.
Why not try? I tried, only the target did not move, but motionlessly and meekly waited for its fate.
After each pair of shots, I reduced the distance of a meter by one and a half to two. Photo result. The missing two bullets (the first and third shots) went to the right.
“Drift to the right” is most likely caused by the fact that in a hurry I reflexively pushed my index finger too far into the bracket and thereby slightly pulled the gun to the right when I quickly pressed the trigger.
Vertical spread is inevitable with such shooting, because aiming is carried out “along the barrel”. But the fact that the second shot in a pair is always lower than the first is the result of a more energetic return of the barrel to the aiming line than required. This, apparently, is also a reflex from the PM.
Although, probably, for a distance of 25–15 meters this is still not a fiasco and, undoubtedly, it can be treated with training.
What's the bottom line?
One must have extraordinary self-confidence in order to draw some conclusions and generalizations after three dozen shots from a single weapon. I will share some considerations based on subjective feelings.
In my opinion, for its niche, the GSh-18 pistol is very good. What is the niche? And ask on the Internet who adopted it. Couriers, prosecutors, others like them. That is, those for whom the likely scenario is a short-range battle at close range, repelling a surprise attack with the ability to hold out until help arrives. Two magazines of 18 rounds each (and the main standard cartridge is armor-piercing) for these purposes is the very thing. Bulk cartridges for reloading prosecutors do not carry in their pockets.
That would be worth fixing, so it's a clumsy descent and slippery to the touch handle.
In addition, the pistol clearly requires good systematic care and maintenance, and most importantly, the development of sustainable skills and reflexes.
But in general, despite my grumblings, the first impressions of the GSh-18 are positive.
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