KBP PP-90

The KBP design bureau in Tula, Russia manufactures the PP-90, it is said to be a Soviet copy of the ARES FMG. The Ares FMG is an American made gun; it is a foldable submachine gun and a highly successful weapon in covert action. It is designed to be folded into a box shape, but if needed it can be ready to fire in a matter of seconds. The gun can actually be folded into a cigarette carton, and it looks like an old-fashioned metal commercial radio, and sometimes fitted with a small fake antenna.

However the PP-90 Submachine Gun does not quite match up to this excellence, though the KBP Design Bureau is known for some excellent weaponry right from submachine guns and up to tank and naval guns. At the end of the World War II, the Soviet Union had the largest number of submachine guns. In fact it was in the hands of almost all conscripted soldiers, even those just out of basic training. It led the production of submachine guns around the world

The PP-90, unlike the American version, was dismissed because of its poor ergonomics and unreliability. There are counterarguments about that, and many feel that the PP-90 functions better than many other guns in extreme cold conditions. It is also said to be a reliable automatic weapon, as the rate of fire is moderate and because of the alignment of the barrel with stock.

The gun is made of stamped sheet metal, with a large ejection port on the right side, just above the grip. After this there is a pivot allowing the stock to fold downward onto the frame, just behind the barrel breech face.In Russia it is essential that guns must be usable with gloves, thus the PP-90 has a larger tirggerguard. The PP-90 can be folded up into 270 x 90 x 32 mm in size box. It can be prepared as soon as it is unfolded, all one has to do is insert the magazine, cock the weapon, and make ready to fire. To prepare the weapon for fire the box latch has to be pressed to set up two hinged units.It has a blow back mechanism, and has both semi-automatic and automatic fire. The gun is normally issued with a cloth carrying case. This holds both the gun in its folded form with two magazines.

The PP-90 is a 9x18 Parabellum Caliber gun and weighs about 1.83 kilograms without magazine. It is about 485 mm in ready to fire position, but it folds down to really small 270 X 90 X 32 mm. The rate of fire is about 600 to 800 rounds per minute, and the magazine capacity is about 30 rounds. The effective range is 50 to 80 meters. In 1993 an improved version was made, which was called the PP 93 submachine gun. It had better ergonomics and reliability and is used by many Russian law enforcement and security agencies. It is far more accurate in both the semi-automatic and fully automatic mode, and it is also very compact, so it can be concealed easily. In fact the gun is said to be a remarkable improvement on the PP-90.