Russia's new military side arm the "Strizh" is a very impressive weapon! (New Russian pistol)

http://www.examiner.com/article/russia-s-new-military-side-arm-the-strizh-is-a-very-mpressive-weapon ^

[kronos77]

Robert Tilford Wichita Military Affairs Examiner + Subscribe

The Russian Armed Forces will take delivery of a new 9-mm handgun to replace the Makarov pistol, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said. This is part of the military’s effort to upgrade its military forces.

The Strizh handgun has said to be better performance than the Austrian-made Glock 17, a favorite of special forces worldwide, Rogozin said.

According to the article, the weapon is a 9 mm, has a slim-profile polymer frame, an easy-to-rack slide with rear and front serrations, an ambidextrous magazine release and a Picatinny rail for mounting special sights.

The pistol also features three safety mechanisms to prevent accidental firing.

The Strizh (which means “Swift”) holds 18-round or 30-round ammunition clips, and can be equipped with a flashlight and a laser sight.

[Tainan]

By the way, Thanks go to Mr. John Browning for the Tokarev design. Compare it to the 1903 and see the similarities.
He sold the rights to Russian company, Tokarev, after the US Boards passed on it.

[cunning_fish]

It has some similarities with 1911 as well.

[BigWillyG]

Good point. I’m probably a little biased in the other direction since I was taught pistol shooting by an old Marine who was a firm believer that .45 ACP was the only worthwhile round for a semi-auto.

[yarddog]

I agree with what you said with one exception. I don’t think the frames were at all susceptible to cracking or being stressed.

When I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, Astras were among the cheapest pistols available. I recall ordering a 600 with a holster and spare mag for $36. I got a 400 and box of ammo for $20. Both were in nice shape.

One 400 I had was probably the best finished handgun I have ever seen. It had a blue finish which I have hardly ever seen. It was a beautiful light blue, not black like most.

Those Astras just looked cool to me and they had a tendency to be more accurate than most. I think because of the fixed barrel.

They could be partially field stripped very rapidly by retracting the slide, turning the barrel out of it’s lugs then releasing the slide to move right off the frame. Of course separating the barrel, spring and slide from each other required pushing in on that little sleeve in the bushing with the end of the magazine. Still not really that hard to do.

[archy]

TT-33 is rumored to penetrate class IIB body armour. Is it true?

Most certainly, with the right ammo. And reloads using the 108-grain .30 M1 Carbine tracer bullet are fun too, as are loads using Hornady XTP hollowpoints. If you don't like to handload, try Wolf Gold FMJ which runs about 1,700 feet per second at the muzzle.

[archy]

When I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, Astras were among the cheapest pistols available. I recall ordering a 600 with a holster and spare mag for $36. I got a 400 and box of ammo for $20. Both were in nice shape.

One 400 I had was probably the best finished handgun I have ever seen. It had a blue finish which I have hardly ever seen. It was a beautiful light blue, not black like most.

Those Astras just looked cool to me and they had a tendency to be more accurate than most. I think because of the fixed barrel.

I started getting the things around 1960 when they were $12-$15 when ordered in quantity. FN 9mm ball ammo ["Oxyless"] ran about $40/1000, of which about 1 round in 10 to 1 in 3 would be duds, depending on the batch. I sold off the rattiest of the guns to my pals, and included *free* ammo with the warning that there were duds in it, and that I'd cheerfully replace any rounds that failed to fire on a straight exchange basis. And pretty soon, I had a couple of thousand rounds of the duds, from which I pulled the bullets and salvaged the powder and thereby got my start in handloading. For serious purposes, I used surplus German *black ball* with a compressed iron bullet [meant for the MP40 machinepistol] or Finnish Lapua ball, which was supurb.

The Astra 400/600 pistols were known as *water pistols* in our circles due to their shape, but the triggers were generally pretty good. The sights were not, but I eventually got pretty fair at hitting hand-tossed 2x2x2 pine blocks pitched in the air, one at a time at first, then a pair, then four or five. I never quite managed a full magazine's worth, as I found other toys worth experimenting with.

Finding a good holster for one was a problem, though I eventually came up with a Triple-K beltslide rig meant for a Colt Commander that worked okay. And for fun I had a really ugly quickdraw rig made out of a pieve of slotted 3/4-inch inside diameter auto radiator hose, hung from a leather belt loop. Those Astras came out of that piece of rubber hose right quick, and nice and quietly.

Last one I saw had a pricetag of over $300 on it. It brought back some swell memories, but I passed on it.

[yarddog]

There was something about the looks of those old Astras that I really loved. My best friend and I got to noticing that on the TV show “Mission Impossible” they nearly always had the bad guys using Astras. I suspect because they looked different.

Every now and then, I still see one and sure enough, it is in the hands of bad guys.

The quality was alwyas high no matter which model.

[archy]

There was something about the looks of those old Astras that I really loved. My best friend and I got to noticing that on the TV show “Mission Impossible” they nearly always had the bad guys using Astras. I suspect because they looked different.

Through the '60s and '70s I hit the gun show circuit in the Midwest on a motorbike, limited in what I could carry in two saddlebaks and a backrest pannier; I managed to haul enough handguns to fill an 8-foot table pretty well, which kept my show expenses down.

I more or less specialized in European handguns, especially .32/7,65 shooters like the Walthers, HSC, Sauer 38, Berettas and many,many others, but of course the Astras were common and showed up, as did Polish Radoms and Walther P.38s and others- even some pretty decent revolvers from time to time.

I got to try most of them along the way, and I found out what worked for me and what didn't. I came to really like the Hungarian Femaru, and more than a couple of Astra and Mauser broomhandles came my way as well, sometimes in 9mm Parabellum, sometimes in 7,63 Mauser, and once in a while in 9mm Largo. The broomie, of course, was another common movie and TV *bad guy* gun, on MishImp and elsewhere.

And now I note that Sarco has a deal running on Star B autopistols and has had a few Astra 400s listed as well. It's been a long time, and they're far more pricy now, but we shall see...

[yarddog]

I always liked those Spanish made pistols tho there was not much of a market for them back then. Also any other oddball ones.

Daddy was a good scavenger and brought back a Luger, a P-38 and what he described as an Austro-Hungarian .32 Which probably was Femaru. I was born in 1947 and the only one I ever got to see was the Luger. I can still remember Daddy using to kill an alligator in Otter Pond near Leonia, Florida. It was a pretty long shot and Daddy nailed him. He sold all of them before I was old enough to remember them. I did know he sold the Luger to Paul Stanley, who was Daddy’s Cousin and once Golden Gloves champion of Florida.

At Daddy’s funeral I asked Paul if he still had it and he had sold it many years ago. He said if he still had it he would have given it to me.

I got a really nice Radom or VIS from the same dealer I bought the Astra 600 from. I tried to order a second one along with a Chilean Mauser. The owner sent me a letter saying he was out of the Astras but would substitute a more expensive Radom if I wanted him to. I wrote back and told him OK as long as he picked out an early one.

The Radom was indeed an early one but it had Nazi markings. Unfortunately the extractor hook was nearly broken off. Just a tiny piece sometimes touched the case rim and sometimes probably did not. It would fire maybe two or three shots then leave one in the chamber.

I tried to get it repaired but none of the local gunsmiths seemed to know where to get the part. Actually it should not have been that difficult to make but I ended up selling it to my Brother. To my surprise Joe made a perfect replacement himself and heat treated it. I guess his Son who is into shooting has it now.

Joe was an excellent machinist tho that was not technically his job at a chemical plant. He was the chief engineer. One day he brought a Mosin Nagant in which he had machined a near mount which attached to the rear sight. Unlike all those which use a long eye relief scope, Joe’s mount went all the way back to over the action. It took a standard eye relief scope. It looked really nice too.

Both his Son and I tried to get him to patent it but Joe seemed to have no desire to.