Meet the Russian Army's New PL-15 Pistol: Better Than a Glock or Sig Sauer?

Charlie Gao

Security,

Is this better than what the U.S. Army has?

The PL-15 is hyped up by Kalashnikov Concern to be one of the best pistols in the world. Said to be light, accurate, and soft-shooting, Kalashnikov Concern plans to start producing the gun in 2019. However, the Russian military has not yet expressed official interest in procuring the gun. But should they? Does the PL-15 represent a large step up from existing sidearms?

The short answer is, yes. The Russian military still predominantly uses the 9x18mm Makarov pistol, a single stack design from the 1950s. The PL-15 represents a quantum leap ahead of this ancient design, being a modern, striker-fired pistol. However, the Makarov is likely to soldier on for much longer in wide service.

The story of the PL-15 begins in 2014, when Dmitri Lebedev, the pistol’s namesake and primary designer, was recruited by Kalashnikov Concern to work on a new pistol. Lebedev had worked in small arms for many years prior, being an armorer and competitor for various Russian competition shooting teams.

He began work in a new pistol, called the PL-14 that would amalgamate the features of most successful foreign pistols into a domestic design. The pistol featured a low bore axis and long beavertail similar to Glock, Steyr M, and Caracal pistols, an internal double-action trigger similar to the original FN Five-seven, and low profile recessed controls suitable for duty use.

It was tested and evaluated, but many (including firearms expert Vladimir Onokoy) found the double-action trigger to have too long of a reset for proper rapid fire. Otherwise, the ergonomics and handling of the pistol were found to be excellent.

Lebedev took the pistol back to the drawing board and redesigned it as the PL-15, a revised version that incorporates a striker trigger for a fast, short reset. Interestingly, unlike the Glock and most of its imitators, the PL-15’s trigger does not feature a trigger safety, instead opting for a manual safety on the side of the gun. This is a rather uncommon configuration, although the US military’s M17 uses it as well. The PL-15 also uses an aluminum alloy frame in contrast to the Glock and most other modern service polymer pistols.