Last month, Gear Scout reported on a new pistol in development by Rostec, a Russian conglomerate responsible for designing and producing a number of the country's small arms in use with its various military and police forces today.
Rostec's subsidiary, TSNIITOCHMASH, was tasked with creating and testing a gun that could eventually serve as a full-on replacement for the old and downright geriatric Makarov PM which, despite having first been fielded in the early 1950s, is still in use with a number of Russian military units.
We now know more about the new pistol, dubbed the "Udav" (Russian for "boa").
Chambered to fire the 9x21mm Gyurza (Russian for "blunt nosed viper") round, the Udav looks nothing like the gun it's meant to replace, and everything like the gun Russia wants as part of a massive multi-billion dollar modernization program it has undertaken with its military to bring it out of the Cold War era and into the 21st century.
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Though it was first conjectured that Rostec’s new sidearm would be a further improvement of an older design -- the SR-1, also built to fire the Gyurza round — the Udav only has its caliber in common.
While the Makarov could at most be fitted with a suppressor, the Udav aims to be far more customizable. Removable sights and an optional threaded barrel, to add a suppressor, are reportedly among the features of the new gun.
The gun appears to be built around a polymer frame with a standard grip, which also seems to lack the ability to clip on different backstraps as per the preference of the user. It also comes with a reshaped and larger trigger guard, as well as a safety lever on the rear left side of the steel slide.
Among the most interesting features of the Udav is a rail forward of the trigger guard, allowing the user to clip on a flashlight an aiming laser with ease, as needed.
The Firearm Blog reported last year that the Udav is a DAO (Double Action Only).
In the past, the Russian military has considered and implemented other alternatives to the Makarov, each with limited success and a number of failings. Currently, the MP-443 Grach, or PYa, serves as the Russian military’s standard sidearm, though it hasn’t gained a ton of traction thanks to quality control and reliability issues.
Ian D’Costa is a correspondent with Gear Scout whose work has been featured with We Are The Mighty, The Aviationist, and Business Insider. An avid outdoorsman, Ian is also a guns and gear enthusiast.
