The PP-19 Vityaz (also known as the PP-19-01 “Vityaz-SN”) is a

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Parabellum or 9mm Luger or simply 9mm) is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901, it is widely considered the most popular handgun ...

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

developed in 2004 by Russian small arms manufacturer

Izhmash JSC Kalashnikov Concern (), known until 2013 as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (), is a Russian defense manufacturing concern and joint-stock company headquartered in the city of Izhevsk in the Republic of Udmurtia as well as the capital ci ...

. It is based on the

AK-74 The AK-74 ( Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974) is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974. While primarily associated with the Soviet ...

and offers a high degree of parts commonality with the AK-74. The gun is directly developed from the PP-19 Bizon. "Vityaz" (витязь) is Russian for "

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

Design details

The PP-19 Vityaz is a

selective fire Selective fire is the capability of a weapon to be adjusted to fire in semi-automatic, fully automatic, and/or burst mode. The modes are chosen by means of a selector switch, which varies depending on the weapon's design. Some selective-fire w ...

submachine gun that uses a simple

closed bolt A semi or full-automatic firearm which is said to fire from a closed bolt is one where, when ready to fire, a round is in the chamber and the bolt and working parts are forward. When the trigger is pulled, the firing pin or striker fires the ...

, straight blowback method of operation. As such, it has no gas system and the internal components have been modified accordingly. The bolt carrier with integral charging handle is similar to AK-family, however the piston rod and rotary bolt were removed and a weight on the bolt extends into the previous gas tube. The return spring and guide rod are almost identical to those of the AK-family. The PP-19 Vityaz has a four-groove barrel with a 240 mm (1:9 in) right-hand

rifling In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the ...

pitch. It is chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...

cartridge and will also fire the new high-pressure armour-piercing 7N31 round that can penetrate soft body armour. The gun is fed from a 30-round box magazine and comes with a fastening device that joins two magazines together. Its

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted ...

has three small rectangular ports on each side that serve to reduce muzzle rise, however their main purpose is to protect the muzzle from damage. It can be equipped with a detachable sound suppressor. The PP-19 Vityaz shares the same trigger and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

mechanisms as the AK-74 rifle. The selector lever is placed on the right side of the receiver, above the trigger, and has three settings: the uppermost "safe" setting disables the trigger and physically blocks the charging handle; the middle position (marked "АВ") enables fully automatic fire and the lowest position ("ОД") activates the semi-automatic function of the trigger. It utilises the AKS-74

shoulder stock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attach ...

, which folds to the left side of the receiver. The

pistol grip On a firearm or other tools, a pistol grip is a distinctly protruded handle underneath the main mechanism, to be held by the user's hand at a more vertical (and thus more ergonomic) angle, similar to the how one would hold a conventional pis ...

is identical to the grip of the AK-100 series and is made of a black

fiberglass Fiberglass ( American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

-reinforced polyamide. The forearm has attachment points for laser target designator, tactical flashlight and fore grip. The PP-19 Vityaz is provided with two types of rail system for mounting various optical or collimator sights. A

Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was ...

on top of the receiver or a dove-tail side rail, and it also has the standard AK-type front and rear sights.

Variants

Vityaz

The original version of the submachine gun with a standard side rail and no railed dust cover.

Vityaz-SN

The Vityaz-SN removed the side rail and added the railed dust cover.

PPK-20

PPK-20 is a further modernisation of the PP-19 Vityaz, developed and manufactured by Kalashnikov Concern. The PPK-20 uses the AK-19 stock as well as being issued with AK-9 style handguards and a new suppressor.

Saiga-9

The Saiga-9 is a semi-automatic

pistol-caliber carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighter ...

version of the PP-19 Vityaz with 345 mm barrel sold on the Russian civilian market by Kalashnikov.

KP/KR-9

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Kalashnikov USA RWC Group LLC, doing business as Kalashnikov USA (KUSA), is a privately-owned American company that designs, manufactures and markets Kalashnikov-styled firearms for law enforcement, military and commercial markets. Russian-made Kalashnikov rifl ...

(not associated with the Kalashnikov Concern) manufactures an barrel clone called the KP-9, and a barrel clone called the KR-9.

Users

* : Used by Namibian Marines. * : In 2005, it was adopted by the Interior Ministry. Used by various Spetsnaz units of the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and the Federal Guard Service. The 9mm PPK-20 variant with improved ergonomics and ammunition, increased reliability and supplemented with a silencer completed state trials and approved for serial production in July 2020. The Russian Aerospace Forces decided to include the PPK-20 submachine gun in the survival kit for military pilots. * : Used by police forces.

Gallery

File:OSN Saturn special purpose unit (506-18).jpg, File:OSN Saturn special purpose unit (506-19).jpg, File:OSN Saturn special purpose unit (506-21).jpg, File:PP-19-01 Vityaz-SN 01.jpg, File:OSN Saturn special purpose unit (506-17).jpg, File:PP-19-01 (351-10).jpg, File:PP-19-01 (351-06).jpg,

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Submachine guns of Russia 9mm Parabellum submachine guns Kalashnikov derivatives Kalashnikov Concern products Military equipment introduced in the 2000s