MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. The compact PSS-1 silent pistol can be called the most unusual domestically developed silent weapon thanks to the distinctive design of its cartridge, Vadim Malinnikov, head of the small arms department at the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (TsNIITochMash), part of the Kalashnikov Group, told TASS.

"We had developed the PSS pistol (chambered for the SP-4 cartridge - TASS). I consider this pistol based on the SP-4 silent cartridge with all propellant gases contained inside the spent cartridge case, the most original Soviet development in the field of silent firearms. "The cartridge may seem simple, but in reality it incorporated a great many different design solutions," Malinnikov said.

According to him, many people are surprised that such a compact pistol can fire silently.

The 7.62-mm Specialized Self-Loading Pistol (PSS) chambered for the SP-4 special cartridge was developed during experimental design work (codename Vul) at the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering in Klimovsk, Moscow Region, and in 1984, it was adopted by special forces units of the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Defense with an "Unclassified" designation. In 1992, the tactical and technical characteristics of the pistol and cartridge were declassified, after which they entered service with other law enforcement agencies.