Lebedev pistol

The Lebedev pistol (Russian: Пистолет Лебедева) is a Russian semi-automatic pistol, which produced under Kalashnikov Concern and designed by Dmitry Lebedev. It was introduced in 2015 as PL-14 and later changed it designation as PL-15 in the year 2016.[2] [3]

PL-14/PL-15/PL-15K
Lebedev pistol
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	Russia
Production history
Designer	Dmitry Lebedev
Designed	2014
Manufacturer	Kalashnikov Concern
Specifications
Mass	0.80 kg (PL-15, without magazine) 0.72 kg (PL-15K)
Length	205 mm (PL-15) 180 mm (PL-15K)
Barrel length	112 mm (PL-15) 92 mm (PL-15K)
Width	28 mm [1]
Height	136 mm (PL-15) 130mm (PL-15K)
Cartridge	9×19 mm Parabellum
Action	Recoil-operated
Feed system	PL-14: 15-rounds box magazine PL-15: 16-rounds box magazine PL-15K: 14 rounds box magazine

The compact version of the pistol designated as PL-15K was introduced in the year 2017.

History

The PL-14 was first presented at the Army-2015 International Military-Technical Forum near Moscow,[4] and its modernized version received the PL-15 index and was demonstrated a year later at the Army-2016 forum. The modified PL-15 and its shortened version with the PL-15K index were demonstrated at the similar Army-2017 forum. The PL-15 is intended for use in the armed forces and law enforcement agencies as a replacement for the Makarov pistol, as well as a sporting pistol for competitions of various classes.[1] In 2018, reliable information on the conduct of state tests was not made public, but the managing director of the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, Alexander Gvozdik, said that the plant had prepared production facilities to start mass production of the PL-15 and PL-15K from 2019.[5]

Features

The PL-15 is a 9mm short recoil-operated, locked-breech handgun that uses a modified Browning cam-lock system adapted from the Hi-Power pistol. The firearm's locking mechanism uses a linkless, vertically tilting barrel with a rectangular breech that locks into the ejection port cut-out in the slide.

It features a double-action only (DAO) trigger, requiring a long and heavy trigger pull that puts the hammer into a cocked state and then releases it with every shot. The trigger pull weight is 4 kg, and the full length of the trigger pull is 7 mm. It has a manual safety that, when engaged, disconnects the trigger from the hammer. All controls (manual safeties, slide release levers and magazine release buttons) are fully ambidextrous. A loaded chamber indicator is provided in the form of a pin that protrudes from the back of the slide when a round is present in the chamber. The PL-15-01 and PL-15K-01 variants of the pistol are striker-fired and have a single-action trigger with a significantly reduced trigger pull weight and length.[6]

Cartridges are fed from proprietary detachable double-stack single-feed magazines. It features removable front and rear dovetail sight posts, completely interchangeable with sights designed for Glock pistols. The frame features a picatinny rail underneath the barrel for the attachment of accessories. The PL-15 pistol can be equipped with an extended, threaded barrel for installing a silencer.[6]

In popular culture

The pistol appears as a sidearm in first-person shooters Payday 2[7] and World War 3.[8]

References

1. Пистолет Лебедева ПЛ-14
2. "PL-14 Lebedev - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games".
3. "Lebedev PL-15 - Modern Firearms".
4. Оружейники показали пистолет Калашникова
5. "Серийное производство пистолета Лебедева начнётся в 2019 году". Российская газета. 2018-09-14. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
6. "Пистолет Лебедева ПЛ-15: компактное оружие в новом исполнении от концерна Калашникова, характеристики (ТТХ)". Книга войны (in Russian). 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
7. "Payday 2 - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games".
8. "World War 3 - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games".