In 1951 the l.Ya. Stechkin 9 mm auto¬matic pistol developed at the TsKB-14 Central Design Bureau was adopted for service simultaneously with the Makarov 9 mm PM automatic pistol. The APS auto¬matic pistol was put on the production line at the Viatsko-Poliansky Machine-Building Plant «Molot» (Hammer).
The pistol is blowback operated. It fea¬tures the firing mechanism with a spiral open hammer and helical a mainspring. The hammer rests in cocked and half bent positions. The pistol grip houses a retarder of the rate of fire to stabilise the weapon during automatic fire with bursts. The thumb safety also serves as a selector of fire modes. It features three positions: safety, single and automatic fire.
The thumb safety locks a firing pin and a hammer and connects a slide with the receiver. The triggering – with warning. The self-cocking fire is possible. The 20-round magazine with a checkerboard cartridge arrangement don’t protrudes from the pis¬tol grip. The curve-slide sight is graduated for 25, 50,100 and 200 meters. The radius of dispersion at a range of 50 meters con¬stitutes 5 cm and at a range of 200 meters it constitutes 22 cm. The pistol is being carried in a wooden or plastic holster-stock, it is used as a shoulder stock in the automatic mode of fire. Early in the 1990s at TsKlB SOO (Central Bureau) the team of designers, including l.Ya. Stechkin, A.V. Baltser and A.V. Zinchenko had developed new automatic pistols such as the 5.45 mm OTs-23 <«Drotik» and the 9 mm OTs-33 «Pernach» which, among other things, remained as experimental versions.
Specifications
Camber………………………….9mm
Cartridge…………………9x18PM
Weightw/o cartridges……………….1.02 kg
Weightw/Tiofete*slock ………………1.78kg
Pistol length……………………..225 m
Length w/nobtei stock . . ……. 540 mm
Length ot bairel………………….140 mm
Bullet muzzle velocity ……………..340 m/sec
Effective rate of fire…………….40/90 rds/min
Sighting range……………………. 200 m
Magazine capacity………………….20 rds