The Russian pistol Lebedev PL-15 has become a real “quantum leap”, writes The National Interest.

The publication notes that the PL-15 is significantly superior to existing analogues and combines best qualities Russian and Western pistols.

The main advantage is...

... its automation using the inertia of the recoil of the bolt linked to the barrel. Also, the experts of the magazine identified a double-action trigger mechanism.

In addition, the Lebedev pistol is lighter than many analogues, smaller in size and more durable (at least 10 thousand shots). PL-15 will be adopted by the army special forces.

Serial production of the PL-15 "Izhevsk Mechanical Plant" (part of the concern "Kalashnikov") plans to launch this year.

Break the limit of perfection

It is extremely difficult to make a new self-loading pistol with a movable barrel according to the classical scheme, which would not be inferior to the famous counterparts. It would seem that everything that could be improved has already been improved. Let's say more in recent times the best weapons designers in the USA, France, Germany, and Great Britain unsuccessfully tried to improve the design of the short barrel.

And the cart, as they say, is still there. As a result, the forty-year-old Glock is still considered the pinnacle of perfection. More precisely, it was such until the advent of the PL-15. Of course, new metals and alloys, as well as innovative machine-building equipment, expand the boundaries for the flight of engineering thought, but the imagination of developers is quickly limited by the price: the gun should not only be super, but also affordable for the consumer.

Designer Dmitry Lebedev managed to solve such difficult task. Consequently, the appearance of the Russian supergun speaks of the high competence of the specialists of the Izhevsk arms concern Kalashnikov.

For the first time, the Lebedev pistol prototype was presented to the general public as part of the Army-2015 military-technical forum. And a modified and improved version of this pistol chambered for the 9x19 mm Parabellum cartridge, which is popular all over the world, was presented a year later at the Army-2016 forum. And in 2017, at the Army-2017 forum, the PL-15K pistol was presented to the public, which is a compact version of the standard PL-15 developed in the shortest possible time. The pistol is equipped with a Picatinny rail for mounting additional tactical devices, the PL-15 magazine is designed for 14 rounds. According to the assurances of the Kalashnikov concern, the novelty has a number of advantages, which include accuracy and accuracy of fire, a small thickness of the pistol and ergonomics of the handle.

Russians surprise the world again

So, the PL-12 pistol is the brainchild of the well-known Kalashnikov concern, which explains a lot in the approach to its development. There is no doubt that reliability, convenience during shooting and technological availability were put at the forefront. After all, the weapon should replace the workhorse of the operatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and combat officers of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation - the Makarov, which is over 70 years old.
Recall that in the zero years, they already tried to change Makarov for Yarygin, when an experimental batch of pistols with this name entered the military units. However, officers complained about its heaviness, unreliability and even inconvenience. In many ways, this was due to tolerances during metal processing, while at the same time increasing the complexity of manufacturing parts. As a result, the assembly of the short barrel wished for the best, and its protruding parts literally interfered with getting it out of the holster. In short, the Yarygin was abandoned, but the idea of making a new Russian pistol received a new impetus.

In 2015, the general public first heard about the PL-14 pistol, in which the numbers indicated the year of its presentation. However, work on its fine-tuning continued. Soon the PL-15 appeared, but even after this weapon was shown at the Army-2016 exhibition, a new version, the PL-15K, was being tested and designed. However, it has already become known that Lebedev will definitely go into service.

"Lebedev" with a long and short descent

Each pistol has a safety (and sometimes several), however, they forget to install it, or the lever is triggered by inadvertent actions of the owner of the weapon. Then there are spontaneous shots with serious consequences. Shots are not uncommon and when falling to the floor. All this is called careless handling of weapons.

Pistols PL-15K and PL-15 together

Taking into account this negative experience, both a long and a short descent are implemented in the PL-15. In the first case, the probability of accidental use of a short barrel is significantly reduced, and in the second, the speed of reaction to threats from the enemy increases sharply. True, such a sensitive pistol is intended for real professionals from the special services. It is also envisaged that the "Lebedev" will enter the army and for sale, both with a standard and a long barrel - 120 mm and 207 mm, respectively, as well as with magazines for 15 and 30 rounds. And it can also be equipped with a collimator or laser sight, as well as underbarrel lamp.
Won't let you down in battle

Knowledgeable fighters say that the worst thing in a gunfight is a pistol misfire, when the matter of life and death depends on fractions of a second. Numerous tests, including under extreme conditions, have shown that the Lebedev can be trusted just like the Kalashnikov assault rifle. It was tested during dust storms, in heavy rain, in severe frost, and there was never a failure. But everyone's favorite Glock is terrified of water, even in small quantities. For example, falling under the average rain, it can give a fatal misfire.

And the Lebedev differs from the Makarov in that the PL-15 fires a 9×19 mm Parabellum cartridge, which provides the bullet with energy up to 620 J. And this is twice as powerful as the 9×18 Makarov bullet. Even with these powerful cartridges, the new pistol can withstand up to 10,000 shots.
Convenient and invisible

"Lebedev" is thinner than "Glock" by 5 mm - 28 mm versus 33 mm, which allows you to carry it discreetly. Its dimensions are adjusted so that the holster does not treacherously protrude from the jacket's floors. Yes, and it is lighter than his famous Austrian "colleague". The weight of a standard PL-15 is only 800 grams, while Klok has a mass of 900 grams, and Beretta 92 - 950 grams.

It is also important that the pistol in the Kalashnikov concern was developed taking into account the wishes and recommendations of specialists from the FSB special forces training center, as well as famous sports shooters. Designer Dmitry Lebedev adapted the weapon to the maximum for comfortable shooting in order, firstly, to reduce negative effects from recoil and, secondly, to get away from a significant uplift after the shot. As a result, the fighter, using the PL-15, easily and quickly returns the barrel to aim, thereby gaining precious time for a second shot.

Considering that successful pistols have been in demand for decades, or even more, the Lebedev will most likely become the personal weapon of several generations of Russian officers.

Lebedev pistol PL-15 with silencer and flashlight

The prototype of the Lebedev Pistol under the designation PL-14

The PL-15 pistol (Lebedev's pistol of the 2015 model) was developed by the design team of the Kalashnikov Concern under the leadership of Dmitry Lebedev, a student of sports weapons designer Efim Khaidurov. Work on the Lebedev Pistol was started in 2014 with the participation of Andrey Kirisenko, the multiple champion of Russia in practical shooting.

The main buyers of PL-15 pistols should be the divisions special purpose, army and police. In addition, it is planned to release a sports version for practical shooting. For the first time, the prototype of the Lebedev Pistol was publicly demonstrated in June 2015 under the designation PL-14. Its improved version was presented by the manufacturer in 2016 at the Army-2016 exhibition under the designation PL-15.

Overview of the PL-15 pistol

One of the most noticeable positive qualities of the PL-15 pistol is the ergonomic shape of the handle with a large angle of inclination, thanks to which the users of the pistol were able to make an accurate shot when shooting offhand. Pistols such as Parabellum P.08, Ruger 22/45 and Glock 17 have this advantage.

In order to reduce the recoil shoulder and toss when fired, the distance between the butt plate of the handle and the central axis of the bore is made as small as possible. As a result, the shooter spends less time re-aiming after each shot, which increases both accuracy and rate of fire.

Lebedev's sample has a chance to become the first Russian self-loading pistol with a truly ergonomic handle, pleasant in the "grip" and accurate in shooting, not inferior in these qualities to the best samples of the Western space.

This model could even try to compete in accuracy with the Swiss SIG P210, famous for its excellent shooting accuracy, and its modern version of the SIG Sauer P210 Legend, if not only for the self-cocking trigger (DAO) and the thick handle due to the double-row magazine, but the accuracy was not so important in the design of the PL-15, unlike the Swiss, who did not want to reduce accuracy in comparison with the Luger 1906/29 in order to improve other basic properties of the weapon and adopted the Ordonnanzpistole 49 that met their requirements.

The automation of the PL-15 pistol works according to the scheme of using recoil with a short barrel stroke. Locking is carried out with the help of a descending barrel, by coupling the upper ledge of its breech with the bolt window for ejection of spent cartridges. Decrease occurs when interacting inclined plane underbarrel tide with the axis of the barrel lock.

Due to the above short distance between the butt plate of the handle and the central axis of the barrel bore, the contact surfaces of the side faces of the bolt with a rear notch have a small contact surface, which is why the bolt of the PL-15 pistol is quickly moved to its rearmost position by gripping the rear notch in stressful conditions of self-defense or in personal combat It seems to me not the most convenient and easy thing. This is where the presence of the front notch comes to the rescue.

Safety levers and shutter lag, as well as the magazine latch button in the Lebedev Pistol are double-sided. In the form in which the prototype under the designation PL-14 was shown to the public, these levers, in order to reduce the thickness of the weapon, are made almost flat, almost not protruding beyond the side edges of the frame, and are placed in special recesses. The developers provided the PL-15, albeit not so flat, but more convenient with the mentioned weapon controls of a more traditional shape.

The small thickness of the PL-15 is one of the main features of this pistol. According to the shutter, in its front part it is only 21 mm, and the maximum thickness of the handle is 28 mm. But this advantage has its own price - with flat fuse levers and ZZ, as evidenced by practical experience, very difficult to manage, again, in stressful situation, whether it be a combat situation or sports competitions.

As mentioned above, the PL-15 trigger mechanism is only self-cocking (DAO), trigger type, with a hidden location of the trigger. The trigger pull is 4kg with a 7mm travel. The inertial drummer - when the trigger is lowered, the striker does not go beyond the surface of the shutter mirror, and the primer is broken due to the energy of the inertially moving drummer.

Pistol PL-15 at the Military Technical Forum

The choice in favor of USM DAO with not the smallest trigger force was dictated by the initial desire of the designer to make the pistol without a safety lever, but the safety was still installed at the request of the customers.

Here we recall the situation with the Polish pistol VIS 35 "Radom", which the designer Piotr Vilniewczyc did not want to supply with a manually operated fuse, considering it not only useless, but also harmful, since in critical situation the owner can simply forget to turn off this safety or forget exactly where it is located on the weapon. But in the case of the Poles and VIS 35, the customer listened to the opinion of the designer.

The double-sided safety lever, the levers of which are located on both sides of the frame, separates the trigger and the trigger when turned on. The Lebedev pistol is equipped with an indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber, made in the form of a pin protruding from the hole at the top left of the back of the bolt, which provides a quick tactile indication.

The trigger guard is made with a front protrusion under the “grip”, in which the shooter puts the index finger of the supporting hand on this protrusion, which, in my personal opinion, does not in any way affect the reduction of the pistol toss when fired. At the bottom of the front of the frame there are Picatinny grooves, with which various tactical lights or laser designators can be attached to the weapon. Sights are not adjustable. Cartridges are fed from a two-row magazine with cartridges exiting in one row.

The service life of the PL-15 pistol per shot is at least 10,000 shots with Russian reinforced 7N21 cartridges, which are superior in power to commercial ammunition 9x19 mm Parabellum and corresponding to more powerful Western 9x19 NATO or 9x19 +P. When firing sports and hunting cartridges 9mm Luger of normal power, the resource of the PL-15 should be greater.

However, it should be mentioned here that the warranty resource of Glock pistols is 40,000 shots, and the actual shots of many copies of these practical Austrian pistols, famous for their reliability, amount to several hundred thousand. The frame is made of light alloy, but in the future it is planned to be made of polymer.

Compared to the PL-14 prototype, the PL-15 pistol shown at the Army-2016 exhibition is distinguished by a slightly modified shape of the rear of the bolt, the presence of a hole at the bottom of the handle for attaching a pistol strap, a new shape of the safety levers, slide delay, barrel lock and magazine latch . In addition, a version was shown equipped with an elongated barrel with threads on its muzzle for attaching a silencer.

The Lebedev PL-15 pistol has a number of advantages, including the ergonomics of the handle, the accuracy and accuracy of offhand and high-speed shooting, the small thickness and the absence of levers that protrude strongly beyond the side edges of the weapon, and in addition, only a self-cocking trigger that allows you to safely carry a weapon with a cartridge in the chamber without the need to use a safety lever.

Of the obvious shortcomings, it should be noted that the fuse and slide stop levers do not protrude beyond the side faces of the frame, which can cause difficulties in handling them, especially with thick gloves, a small contact surface of the rear notch on the slide, an insufficiently wide trigger guard and an unnecessarily large overall length pistol. The quality of production at the Izhevsk plant of serial samples also raises doubts.

The start of production of the final version of the PL-15 pistol is expected in the current 2016.

Technical characteristics of the pistol PL-15

Caliber: 9×19mm Parabellum
Weapon length, mm: 207
Barrel length, mm: 120
Weapon height, mm: 136
Weapon thickness, mm: 28
Weight without cartridges, g: 800
Magazine capacity, rounds: 15

The best fight is the one that has not been started, but the best weapon- which did not have to be used. It was this principle that guided the team of Izhevsk gunsmiths led by Dmitry Lebedev when developing a new pistol - PL-15 with the K index. Reduced performance for the sake of wearing comfort and ergonomics - a tribute to fashion or a harsh necessity?

History of creation, purpose

The pistol was designed in an extremely short time frame based on a full-size . First shown at the international arms exhibition "Army 2017". Compared to its older brother, it has reduced dimensions and weight. The entire internal filling - the trigger device and the operation scheme for these pistols are identical.

According to the creators, the fighters of some special units wear firearms only nominally, never applying it in practice. And here the convenience of wearing, compactness and ergonomics come to the fore. This applies to armed guards, some police units and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, for whom, in the first place, a new pistol was developed.

Device and specifications

The PL-15K is based on the full size PL 15 and is a classic self-loading pistol. For reloading, the stroke of the movable barrel is used, which, under the action of recoil, moves backward along with the bolt. The stroke of the barrel when fired is short, that is, less than the stroke of the shutter. It is this scheme of automation that allows you to design a pistol with minimal dimensions.

The design of the PL-15K allows you to install a longer barrel, as well as different variants flies and rear sights. When designing Special attention focused on ergonomics and safety. The pistol fits perfectly in the hand, it is easier to return it to the trajectory of the sight after the shot.

The trigger stroke is deliberately made large, and the pressing force is 4 kilograms - more than that of analogues. A spontaneous shot is almost impossible, even if it falls on a hard surface from the level of the chest of a person of average height.

The controls are located on both sides of the pistol. The design provides for the installation of a flashlight, a target designator under the barrel and a muffler for the sound of a shot.

Specifications PL-15K

Length: 180 millimeters
Height: 130 millimeters
Caliber: 9x19 mm
Magazine capacity: 14 rounds
Weight of unloaded pistol: 720 g

Advantages and disadvantages of the model

The main advantage of the new pistol can rightfully be called its compactness. If the older PL 15 has several serious competitors in its segment, then the niche occupied by the new product is practically free. If the compact version of the Lebedev pistol (PL - Lebedev pistol) lives up to expectations, he has every chance to shake the indisputable authority of the domestic arms industry - the Makarov pistol.

Comparison of pistols PL 15k and PL 15

With all the obvious advantages, the model is devoid of serious shortcomings. Deliberately underestimated performance characteristics more than paid off by the convenience of wearing and using. And it would never occur to anyone to demand the characteristics of a high-precision weapon from a compact pistol.

"He was a good boy"

It was with these words that Dmitry Lebedev, a design engineer at the Izhevsk arms concern Kalashnikov, described the display of his creation at the Army 2017 forum. The pistol performed very well at the exhibition, hinting at its combat potential.

And if you consider that the team of engineers was engaged in a compact version on a residual basis, throwing the main forces into a full-size modification, then it turned out very well. If you still have to use the pistol in real conditions, then be sure: the PL-15K will definitely not let you down.

Pistols

Israel

Lebedev pistol PL-14: will there be a replacement for the Makarov pistol

In 2015, at the international forum "Army-2015" the new Russian PL-14 pistol was presented to the public for the first time. The development of this weapon was carried out by specialists from the Kalashnikov concern, and the project was led by Dmitry Lebedev, a student of the famous designer, shooter and trainer Efim Khaidurov. It is easy to guess that "PL" stands for "Lebedev's pistol", and the number "14" is the year the development of weapons began. The pistol uses "Parabellum" cartridges 9 × 19 mm.

The concept of the new pistol was created jointly by specialists from the Russian law enforcement agencies and leading domestic athletes, including Andrey Kirisenko - famous director and multiple national champion in practical shooting.

The Lebedev PL-14 pistol was developed for the needs of Russian law enforcement agencies: the Ministry of Defense, the police, and others. special services. Also, this gun is quite suitable for lovers of sports shooting. According to the developers, in the future the PL-14 will replace the "eternal" PM, as well as the Yarygin pistol, in which serious problems with ergonomics and resource were revealed during operation.

Currently, the Kalashnikov concern is preparing to start mass production of a new pistol, this was announced at the beginning of March 2018 by the managing director of the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. True, such information looks somewhat strange, since previously there was no data on the successful passage of state or military tests by the pistol, as well as on its acceptance into service.

Before reviewing this the latest pistol, I would like to tell a little more about the history of the creation of the PL-14, as well as about the ideas that were originally incorporated into its design.

How and why the Lebedev pistol was created

Back in 1951, the Makarov pistol was adopted, which for almost seventy years remained the main personal weapon, first of the Soviet, and then Russian officer. Despite the pretty good performance, its replacement is long overdue. In 1990, the then USSR Ministry of Defense announced a competition for the creation of a new pistol (R & D "Rook"). However, the collapse of the country seriously delayed the implementation of this project. Only in 2003 for service Russian army The development of the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant was adopted - the Yarygin pistol of 9 mm caliber. More or less massively, he began to enter the troops only at the beginning of this decade ...

However, the Yarygin pistol could not "take root" in the Russian army. Significant weight, lack of reliability and low resource - these are the main complaints about this weapon. The Russian-Italian Strizh pistol, which is often called the domestic Glock, was never adopted for service ...

The army needs a simple and reliable pistol powerful yet comfortable and versatile. Plus, you need a roomy magazine and a good rate of fire.

In 2014, at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant design bureau, a group of designers led by Dmitry Lebedev began developing a new pistol designed for the Russian law enforcement agencies.

Even before the start of work, the designers formulated several basic criteria that the new weapon must meet:

high reliability and safety in handling;
optimal level of ergonomics;
"two-sidedness";
significant resource (at least 10 thousand shots).

In 2015, the Lebedev pistol was first presented to the general public. True, at that time the PL-14 was still at the prototype stage. Those few who managed to hold a pistol in their hands spoke with one voice about the excellent ergonomics of the weapon and its very hard descent.

The pistol initially received a double-action trigger with a large trigger pull (45N) and a significant hook stroke (7 mm). These were the wishes of the military regarding the safety of the use of weapons.

At the beginning of 2016 general director Kalashnikov announced plans to start production of the Lebedev pistol in 2017. However, as they say, it was not judged.

Now the concern promises to start producing the pistol this year and are preparing a new production site for this.

The main modifications of the Lebedev pistol

After the first presentation, the PL-14 was reworked and refined for almost two years, periodically appearing in the news feed. In 2017, Lebedev introduced a new modification of his pistol - the PL-15 with a single-action trigger mechanism and a much lower trigger pull - 25N. Its course became shorter - 4 mm. The back of the pistol was slightly changed, the safety levers received new form, a hole for the strap appeared on the handle.

A compact version of the pistol was also presented - PL-15K with a length of 180 mm and a 14-round magazine. This modification will be produced with two versions of USM. There is information about the modification of a pistol with an elongated barrel with a thread to install a silencer. It is likely that some of the pistols will be produced with a plastic frame, and some with a metal one.

Earlier, Lebedev himself repeatedly stated that his pistol would become a kind of universal platform, on the basis of which it would be possible to create a whole line of short-barreled weapons. FROM different length barrel, USM design, magazine capacity - depending on the preferences and wishes of a particular customer.

And this approach seems absolutely correct and justified. Currently, typical universal pistols do not exist, because the police have one requirement for weapons, the military has others, and the employees of special services or security structures have third ones.

True, the Kalashnikov concern has not yet officially presented the model range of the future pistol, and what modifications they plan to put into production and in what version they will be made - this is a great secret.

Overview of the design of the Lebedev pistol

Automation PL-14 works due to the recoil energy with a short barrel stroke. Its locking occurs due to the adhesion of the breech to the window through which the cartridge cases are extracted. The PL-14 frame is made of aluminum, but in the future it is planned to use impact-resistant plastic for other weapon modifications for its manufacture.

The safety of the pistol separates the trigger and the trigger.

The trigger mechanism of a hammer-type pistol with an inertial drummer and a hidden trigger. It is more comfortable to wear because the number of protruding parts is reduced. The design of USM PL-14 completely eliminates the possibility of spontaneous firing. The pistol has a system for indicating the presence of a cartridge in the chamber. The slide stop lever, as well as the magazine release button and the fuse, are located on both sides of the weapon.

The pistol is fed from a detachable two-row magazine for fourteen rounds. Sights PL-14 open type. On the frame of the weapon is a Picatinny rail, on which you can install additional equipment.

The developers paid special attention to the ergonomics of the weapon. The shape of the PL-14 handle provides a natural grip of the weapon. Its thickness is only 28 mm, which makes the weapon more convenient for concealed carry. The low location of the barrel axis reduces the toss of the pistol after a shot, but the weapon does not "sink" in the hand. The double-sided arrangement of the PL-14 controls allows you to fire both from the left and from the right hand.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Lebedev pistol

PL-14 has long been the subject of active discussion in social networks and on specialized amateur forums small arms. The gun had time to literally "take apart the bones", describing in detail both its main advantages and main disadvantages. So let's start with the benefits:

Modern design and good ergonomics. Practically everyone who fired from it speaks about the convenience of the weapon;
Indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber. It can also be called a definite plus of the PL-14, especially when using weapons in the dark;
Powerful cartridge, which is especially important for army weapons;
"Bilateral" pistol.

However, serious shortcomings were noticed in the design:

Recessed and "sleek" controls, a small trigger guard and a small area for holding the shutter put a big question mark on the successful operation of the PL-14 as an army pistol;
Big sizes. The length of the PL-14 is 220 mm. This is a lot, especially for police weapons. There is a direct analogy with the Stechkin pistol, which, largely due to its size, was replaced by a less bulky and more comfortable PM to carry;
A significant amount of weapons. It reaches almost a kilogram;
Very tight descent. The design of the trigger makes the trigger extremely tight (about 4 kg). This is even more than the famous "Nagant", which is considered the "standard" of a heavy trigger. On the one hand, such a design solution increases the safety of weapons, but, on the other hand, it cannot but affect the accuracy of shooting.

The performance characteristics of the PL-14

Below are the main performance characteristics of the pistol:

Caliber, mm: 9;
Length, mm: 220;
Height, mm: 136;
Thickness, mm: 28;
Barrel length, mm: 127;
Weight with equipped magazine, kg: 0.99;
Magazine capacity - 15 rounds.

American National magazine Interest admired the new Russian pistol PL-15 and called it "quantum leap". They drew attention to the significant superiority of the PL-15 over its counterparts, in particular the Makarov pistol. According to journalists, the weapon has already become a serious step forward compared to existing counterparts.

NI emphasized that the PL-15 combines the best qualities of Russian and foreign pistols, and its main advantage lies in automation using the recoil inertia of the bolt linked to the barrel.

In addition, journalists noted the pistol's double-action trigger mechanism.

Much attention in the article was paid to the possibility of a longer use of the weapon (at least 10 thousand shots) and the lightness of the design, which is achieved due to the aluminum alloy frame.

According to the publication, the new pistols can primarily be used in army special forces. Journalists suggested that the weapon would be a worthy replacement for the Glock pistol.

The PL-15 pistol was designed for the use of 9x19 mm (Parabellum) cartridges. Its length is 220 mm (barrel length - 127 mm), width - 28 mm, and height - 136 mm. In the basic version, the pistol is equipped with a 14-round box magazine. In the front part, the thickness of the pistol is 21 mm, in the area of the handle - 28 mm. Due to these values, the gun is considered the best in terms of compactness in its class.

In September last year, the Kalashnikov Concern, which is part of the Rostec State Concern, announced that it would launch the PL-15 in mass production in 2019. The relevant information appeared on the official website of Kalashnikov Media with reference to the managing director of the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant (part of the concern) Alexander Gvozdik. He assured that these plans are absolutely accurate. According to him, the pistol will be produced in Izhevsk using new technologies.

“The product will meet the consumer properties of the main customer both in terms of military small arms and in the direction of civilian small arms,” said the managing director of IMZ.

For the first time, the Lebedev pistol prototype was publicly presented as part of the Army-2015 military-technical forum. A modified and improved version of this pistol chambered for the 9x19 mm cartridge, which is popular all over the world, was demonstrated a year later at the Army-2016 forum, and a year later the PL-15K pistol was presented to the public at Army-2017. This is a compact version of the standard PL-15, developed in an extremely short time. According to the assurances of the Kalashnikov concern, the novelty has a number of advantages, in particular, the accuracy and accuracy of fire, the small thickness of the pistol and the ergonomics of the handle.

The Lebedev pistol began to be developed in the 2010s. The designer and sports shooter Dmitry Lebedev was responsible for its creation.

When creating a new pistol, attention was paid especially to ergonomics and product balance.

This should help an experienced shooter significantly improve the accuracy of firing a pistol. The weapon was created in the interests of the Russian special services and armed forces. It is planned to supply the army and police.

PL-15K is considered as a possible replacement for the legendary PM (Makarov pistol). Despite its compactness, this version retained the 9x19 mm caliber and the 14-round magazine. The length of this modification of the gun is 180 mm, height - 130 mm. The weight of the unloaded PL-15K is 720 g.

In February of this year, it became known that they had created a sports version of the new PL-15, which received the designation SP1. This modification adopted everything from the Lebedev pistol positive traits, including ergonomics and balance, which are strong point PL-15.

According to the developers, the new weapon has a great export potential.

Automation SP1 has the same principle of operation as the PL-15. The pistol can be made of aluminum alloy or steel: in the first case, its weight without a magazine will be 0.8 kg, and in the second, 1.1 kg. In terms of dimensions, the sports modification is smaller than the PL-15 itself: the length of the SP1 is 205 mm (PL15 - 220mm), and the barrel length is 112 mm (PL-15 - 127 mm). The pistol is also chambered for 9x19mm.

SP1 is equipped with removable sights standard "Glock", and can also be equipped with a laser designator, underbarrel flashlight and red dot sight. First of all, the weapon is intended for amateur shooters and athletes.