SPP-1 Underwater Pistol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| SPP-1 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Underwater Pistol |
| Place of origin |  Soviet Union |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | TSNIITOCHMASH |
| Produced | 1971 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 950 g empty |
| Length | 244 mm (9.606 inches) |
| Width | 37 mm |
| Height | 136 mm |
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| Caliber | 4.5x40R |
| Muzzle velocity | 240-250 m/s in air |
| Effective range | in air, 20 m; in water, 17 m at depth of 5 m; 11 m at depth of 20 m; 6 m at depth of 40 m |
| Feed system | 4 barrels with a cartridge in each |
The 4.5 mm SPP-1 Underwater Pistol was made in the USSR for use underwater by Soviet frogmen as an underwater firearm. It was developed in the late 1960s and accepted for use in 1971. Underwater, ordinary-shaped bullets are inaccurate and very short-range. As a result, this pistol fires a round-based 4.5mm caliber steel dart about 4.53 inches (115 mm) long, weighing 12.8 g, which has longer range and more penetrating power than speargun spears. The complete cartridge is 145 mm = 5.71 inches long and weighs 17.5 g.
It has four barrels, each containing one cartridge. Its ammunition comes as a clip of four cartridges which is inserted into the pistol's breech.
Its barrel is not rifled; the fired projectile is kept in line by hydrodynamic effects. As a result, it is somewhat inaccurate when fired out of water.
Depth reduces range because the higher pressure closes the cavity sooner. Once the projectile is no longer supercavitating, hydrodynamic drag increases greatly, and the projectile becomes unstable.
Its stated lethal range is the range from which it can easily penetrate a padded underwater suit or a 5 mm thick glass facepiece.
A double-action firing mechanism fires one cartridge sequentially for each pull of the trigger. When all four cartridges are spent, the gun can be reloaded above or below water.
A complete set of SPP-1 equipment includes the pistol, 10 cartridge clips, holster, device for loading SPS cartridges into the clips and a special sling to carry the pistol and three containers with loaded clips.
The SPP-1M pistol is essentially the same as the SPP-1 but:-
- It has an extra spring above the sear to improve the trigger pull.
- Its trigger guard is larger to accommodate diving gloves.
