In service 2000–present Designed 1998–2000 | Place of origin Russia Used by Russia | |
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Designer V.P. GryazevA.G. Shipunov | ||
The GSh-18 (Cyrillic: ГШ-18) is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol developed by the KBP Instrument Design Bureau in Tula during the 1990s. The pistol's name is derived from its designers — Gryazev and Shipunov, and the number 18 denotes the magazine capacity.
Contents
Design details
The GSh-18 is a rotating-barrel, short recoil, locked-breech pistol with 10 locking lugs spaced equally around the barrel, the large locking surface area resulting in a strong lockup, making it suitable for high-velocity ammunition loads. The GSh-18 may be employed using standard 9x19mm Parabellum rounds, but was designed for the high velocity, Russian armour-piercing 7N31 9x19mm round. The pistol incorporates a pre-set striker.. The slide and working parts are steel, and the weapon has a polymer frame. Two different designs of grip have been observed. The magazine capacity is 18 rounds, and an additional round may be carried in the chamber. The magazines are a double stack design common to many modern handguns. Disassembly is slightly more complex, with more dismountable parts, than a typical Browning derivative, such as the SIG Sauer P226, Glock 17 or CZ-75. The magazine release is reversible for left-handed shooters and the ejector doubles as a loaded chamber indicator.
Ammunition
The GSh-18 is designed to fire standard 9×19mm Parabellum as well as the Russian 9×19mm 7N21 (Cyrillic: 7Н21) and 7N31 (Cyrillic: 7Н31) +P+ armor-piercing rounds. The 7N31, has demonstrated penetration of 8 mm of steel (15–20 meters of distance).