Forgotten Weapons-Russian MSP silent pistol

[Feuer Frei!]

I notice the article says 7.62×39, but i thought it would be a 7.62×38, because when they are made into a piston-fired round, they are slightly shorter.
Anyways, definately only good at point blank assassinations:

It sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, but the MSP really was developed for Spetznaz and KGB use in the early 1970s. In addition to being completely silent (because no pressurized gas is released from the gun at all upon firing), it has no automatic ejection to leave behind spent cases and uses standard M43 7.62×39 projectiles. A genuine assassin’s weapon.

Mechanically, the gun is pretty simple. It’s a break-open double barreled affair, with two internal hammers. The hammers are cocked by use of a lever below the trigger guard (item #4 in the diagram above). Once cocked, the single trigger will fire the barrels in succession.



Further development of this type of ammunition later led to a case using a single-stage piston that did not project beyond the case mouth, and could thus be used in repeating firearms.

From the manual:

It’s something like a 2 barreled (over and under) derringer. The advantage of this gun is it’s special ammunition. Cartridge case has a piston behind the bullet, which pushes the bullet and seals the gases inside the case! So the shot is noiseless and no flash is generated from the muzzle. It’s caliber is 7.62mm (.30cal) , muzzle velocity is 150meters per second (490 ft/s), weights about a pound.

Good bit of history, nonetheless

SOURCE