PMM

   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.