Stechkin
Stechkin grips
Stechkin refers to the legacy of Soviet firearms designer Igor Yakovlevich Stechkin (1922–2001), not a standalone company. The iconic Stechkin automatic pistol (APS, Avtomaticheskiy Pistolet Stechkina) bears his name
Born in Aleksin, Tula region, Stechkin graduated from the Tula Mechanical Institute in 1948. As a young engineer at the Central Design Bureau (KBP Instrument Design Bureau) in Tula, he developed the APS starting in 1948 to meet Soviet Army needs for a selective-fire personal defense weapon (PDW) for vehicle crews, artillery, tank, and aircraft personnel—where full assault rifles were impractical
Prototypes emerged by 1949; after trials (including a 20,000-round endurance test) and redesigns incorporating Makarov PM features (silhouette, slide rails, extractor), the APS was adopted on December 3, 1951, alongside the Makarov PM in 9×18mm Makarov. It featured blowback operation, 20-round magazine, DA/SA trigger, detachable wooden holster-stock, and full-auto at ~600 rpm
Produced at Vytatsky Polyany Machine-Building Plant from 1951–1958 (some sources to 1975), the APS earned the Stalin Prize (1952) for Stechkin. Later, the suppressed APB variant (1972–1973) served Spetsnaz and special units
Though largely replaced by AKS-74U in the 1980s, the APS/APB remains in limited use (e.g., Syria, Spetsnaz) for its reliability, capacity, and controllability—cementing Stechkin's place among Soviet legends like Kalashnikov and Makarov
