Country of origin |
Russia |
Entered service |
1994 |
Caliber |
9x18 mm Makarov |
Weight (empty) |
760 g |
Length |
169 mm |
Barrel length |
93
mm |
Muzzle velocity |
315 (430)
m/s |
Magazine capacity |
12 rounds |
Sighting range |
25 m |
Range of effective fire |
up to 50 m |
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The PMM is
an improved version of the venerable
Makarov.
In Russian its designation stands for Pistol, Makarov, Improved. It
was developed in the 1980s. Production of this pistol
commenced in 1994. By that time it was already out-dated. However
Russians had enormous stockpiles of its ammunition and considered
that it was more reasonable to produce an improved PM pistol, rather
than develop a new one. The PMM was adopted by the Russian law
enforcement forces. It was also proposed for civilian customers.
The PMM has
a magazine for 12 rounds instead of 8. A small magazine capacity of
the original Makarov was obviously not enough for a standard issue
military sidearm. However 12 rounds were still not that much,
comparing with 15- or even 20 round magazines of the Western
pistols.
Also a
special 9x18 mm round with a higher muzzle energy was developed for the PMM. The
main goal was to approach performance of the Western 9x19 mm round.
The new round has a muzzle velocity of 430 m/s, as opposed to 315
m/s of the original round. It was a huge improvement. However it was not backward compatible with original PM
pistols. So eventually it was not accepted to service and the PMM
uses the standard 9x18 mm ammunition. Also the newly-developed round
was still inferior to the Western 9x19 mm
ammunition.
Even though
the PM and PMM are similar, only few of the parts are
interchangeable. This pistol has an all-steel construction. The
frame was redesigned to accept a thicker magazine. The pistol can be
fully disassembled without any special tools, just using a simple
screwdriver. The PMM proved to be reliable. It fires after immersing
in mud or even under water.
The PMM is a
blowback operated weapon. It has a single-action trigger. There is a
manual safety, located on the left side of the slide.
The PMM has
a double stack magazine. Magazine release button is located at the
bottom of the grip. So two hands are needed in order to release the
empty magazine.
The PMM is
not too accurate. In terms of accuracy it looses to Western pistols.
As mentioned
before the PMM was already out-dated by the time it was introduced.
It looses badly to most modern semi-automatic pistols. It has
similar dimensions to the
Glock
17, however the PMM weights more, looses in terms of power and
penetration, is less accurate and has only 12 rounds opposed to 17.
The PMM was not accepted by the Russian Army. Instead in the mid
1990s the army issued a requirement for a new pistol to replace the
PM. Eventually the new Grach pistol was selected.
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