STECHKIN APS Machine Pistol:

One of my all time favorite books says (on page 683) this:

"This is a Stechkin APS pistol" he said, taking up the weapon and removing it's magazine He checked to ensure that there was no round in the firing chamber, and handed the pistol to me. "It is Russian .... you will find plenty of ammunition for it on the dead Russians, if you have to fight them ... and the only weapon with more bullets in it where we are going is a Kalashnikov"

The book is  SHANTARAM - a very BIG book by Gregory David Roberts who tells his own story of escaping from High Security prison in Melbourne - taking refuge in New Zealand (which he barely mentions) before taking to the criminal underworld of Bombay and fighting against the Russian occupation in Afghanistan. Warning Warning .. this great read is some 933 paperback pages & my copy is very heavy, grubby and curly .. but it would still warm at least three book-burning secret policemen for around an hour long vodka-break.

Further Warning: Do not try this at home .. unless you are a "reader".

STECHKIN APS & Holster-Stock.

Designed in 1948 by Igor S this is a twenty round select fire 9mm .. 9x18mm Makarov caliber blow-back design - with it's 750 rounds per minute rate of fire controlled by a spring-loaded weight RATE-REDUCER mechanism in the grip. The slide has a very long stroke that helps absorb recoil energy.

It's a nearly 70 year old Russian design .. and a similar(ish) modern pistol might be the select-fire Glock 18.

This APS is said to be a design reworked from the smaller Makarov Service Pistol - but it became outdated by the compact variety of Kalashnikovs however then regained it's popularity after wide service issue & use in Afghanistan during the Russians Soviet-Afghan War - an often bloody time occupying that sadly war-crushed Nation.

Readers will find all the APS data they want on the Wikipedia page;

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stechkin_automatic_pistol

And there is an excellent review video from Ian at Forgotten Weapons at:

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/stechkin-aps-the-soviet-machine-pistol/

and the firing fun bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn6LyFxlogE


.. My earlier blog on the SHANTARAM book is linked here .. This book really is a good read :

https://flicense.blogspot.com/2014/02/shantaram-and-knife-fighting-and-camels.html

.. so there you go then - the dated but versatile Stechkin APS,

Marty K.