The PP-19 Bizon (Cyrillic: Пистолет Пулемет Бизон, ''Pistolet Pulemyet Bizon'', meaning
bison) is a
9×18mm Makarov
The 9×18mm Makarov (designated 9mm Makarov by the C.I.P. and often called 9×18mm PM) is a Soviet pistol and submachine gun cartridge. During the latter half of the 20th century it was a standard military pistol cartridge of the Soviet Union an ...
submachine gun developed in 1993 by the Russian company
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 ...
, designed by a team of engineers headed by
Victor Kalashnikov (son of engineer
Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov ( rus, Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников, p=kɐˈlaʂnʲɪkəf; 10 November 1919 – 23 December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, military engineer, writer, a ...
, creator of the
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...
).
[Miller, David: ''Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns'', page 336. Zenith Imprint, 2003.][Kokalis, Peter: ''Weapons Tests And Evaluations: The Best Of Soldier Of Fortune'', page 173. Paladin Press, 2001.] Alexei Dragunov, youngest son of
Yevgeny Dragunov
Yevgeny Fyodorovich Dragunov (russian: Евге́ний Фёдорович Драгуно́в; February 20, 1920August 4, 1991) was a Soviet weapons designer, best known for his role in helping invent the semi-automatic rifle bearing his name, the ...
(the creator of the
SVD
''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden.
History and profile
The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...
sniper rifle), was also a member of the design team.
[Cutshaw, Charlie: ''The New World of Russian Small Arms & Ammo'', page 92. Paladin Press, 1998.]
The Bizon was developed at the request of the Russian
Ministry of Internal Affairs
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
(MVD)
and is primarily intended for
counter-terrorist
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...
and law enforcement units that need fast and accurate fire at
close ranges. Prototypes were trialed by the Special Equipment Research Institute in 1995 where they outperformed several competitors, and the weapon was accepted into service on 28 December 1996.
The Bizon is issued to armed response units of the
Federal Security Service (FSB) and
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
in Russia. It was used in combat operations against separatists in the
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
region, namely
Chechnya and
Dagestan. The Bizon has been largely replaced by the
PP-19-01 Vityaz in Russian service, which was developed directly from the design of the Bizon, due to reliability issues with the
helical magazine.
Design details
The Bizon is a lightweight
selective fire weapon that fires from a
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 th ...
, a feature that enhances the gun's practical accuracy.
The weapon has a notably large magazine capacity.
It is based on the
AKS-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 features a 60% parts commonality with 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 ...
assault rifle.
Chambered for the standard Russian 9×18mm Makarov
pistol cartridge, the gun will also fire a new high-impulse armor-piercing 57-N-181SM round.
Operating mechanism
The Bizon uses a simple
straight blowback method of operation; an unlocked breech system reduces cost and build complexity.
The Bizon's operating cycle is characterized by a very short recoil stroke; standard
9×18mm ammunition will only drive the
bolt partially to the rear of the
receiver and results in a cyclic rate of 700 rounds per minute.
[Kokalis, 176] High-impulse ammunition drives the bolt all the way to the end of the receiver, lightly striking the receiver wall. A rate of fire of 650–680 rounds per minute is the result. This has the effect of reducing perceived recoil and increasing firing stability and hit probability.
Features
The Bizon has no gas system and the internal components have been modified accordingly. The bolt carrier with fixed charging handle was recycled from the AK, but the piston rod and
rotary bolt were removed and the piston extension was plugged with a
steel insert.
The return spring and guide rod are identical to those of the AK.
The Bizon has a four-groove barrel with a 240 mm (1:9 in) right-hand
rifling pitch.
The gun's
muzzle device has a large rectangular port on each side of dead center that serves to reduce muzzle jump, although the main purpose of this device is to protect the muzzle and magazine from impact damage.
The pinned and riveted
sheet metal
Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes.
Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...
receiver of the Bizon is derived from the AKS-74 and has been modified at the front end, since the gas system was omitted.
[Kokalis, 175] The handguard is a sheet metal stamping with three rounded rectangular ventilation slots on each side. The magazine serves as the lower handguard and the current models of the magazine are ribbed to enhance grip. The Bizon also shares the same
trigger
Trigger may refer to:
Notable animals and people
;Mononym
* Trigger (horse), owned by cowboy star Roy Rogers
;Nickname
* Trigger Alpert (1916–2013), American jazz bassist
* "Trigger Mike" Coppola (1900–1966), American gangster
;Surname
* Bru ...
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 dif ...
mechanisms of 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 in this position the lever physically blocks the bolt's integral retracting handle; the middle position (marked "АВ") enables fully automatic fire and the lowest position ("ОД") will activate the semi-automatic function of the trigger.
An original five-piece anti-bounce device is built into the trigger unit and this functions as a
rate reducer
Rate or rates may refer to:
Finance
* Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government
* Exchange rate, rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another
Mathematics and science
* Rate (math ...
, delaying firing until the bolt has settled entirely into battery.
The Bizon also utilizes the AKS-74
side folding stock.
It folds to the left side of the receiver but unlike the AKS-74 and AKS-74U, it is not held closed by a spring-loaded capture in the forward end of the receiver. Instead, it is held closed by the forward trunnion pin which is longer on the Bizon than on its AKS-74 predecessors. The extended length of the pin allows it to catch the folding skeleton stock. 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 on 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 clo ...
-reinforced
polyamide
A polyamide is a polymer with repeating units linked by amide bonds.
Polyamides occur both naturally and artificially. Examples of naturally occurring polyamides are proteins, such as wool and silk. Artificially made polyamides can be made through ...
.
Feeding
![PP-19_Bizon_with_detached_magazine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/PP-19_Bizon_with_detached_magazine.jpg)
One of the Bizon's more unusual features is the
magazine, which is often mistaken for a
grenade launcher.
The cylinder below the barrel is in fact a 64-round
helical-feed magazine, similar to the type used in the American
Calico M960 submachine gun.
The magazine is made from a durable glass-reinforced
polyamide
A polyamide is a polymer with repeating units linked by amide bonds.
Polyamides occur both naturally and artificially. Examples of naturally occurring polyamides are proteins, such as wool and silk. Artificially made polyamides can be made through ...
and mounts under the
handguard
A barrel shroud is an external covering that envelops (either partially or full-length) the barrel of a firearm, to prevent unwanted direct contact with the barrel (e.g. accidental collision with surrounding objects, or the user accidentally tou ...
in line with the barrel. This layout makes the weapon more compact and concealable compared to a standard
drum or stick magazine. All cartridges are aligned nose forward in the Bizon magazine and cannot be loaded incorrectly.
Early magazines were fabricated from
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
tubing and had a capacity of 67 rounds.
The production magazine capacity of 64 rounds was selected as 64 is a multiple of 16, and 9×18mm Makarov rounds are packaged in boxes of 16.
The magazine has hooks on top of the front end that engage a pair of pins under the front sight, and the rear end of the magazine interfaces with a Kalashnikov pattern spring-loaded paddle type magazine catch/release located in front of the
trigger guard
A trigger guard is a protective loop surrounding the trigger of a firearm designed to prevent unwanted contact with the trigger, which may cause an accidental discharge. Other devices that use a trigger-like actuator mechanism, such as inhaler ...
.
[Kokalis, 174] Some magazines were produced with indicator holes allowing the user to verify the amount of ammunition loaded; these are spaced at 4, 24, 44 and 64-round increments.
Sights
![PP-19 Bizon front view of the magazine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/PP-19_Bizon_front_view_of_the_magazine.jpg)
The sighting arrangement resembles that used on the
AKS-74U
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 consists of a rear flip-up sight permanently attached to the receiver top cover with two open square notches with 50 m and 100 m elevation settings and a round post front sight taken from the AK series of rifles, common to many Russian small arms. The front sight is contained in a protective cage with a hole in the top to insert an elevation adjustment tool, while the rear sight is shielded by two metal ears.
Accessories
The gun is issued with one magazine, a sling, cleaning kit, oil can and magazine pouch.
Other accessories such as
scope mounts, Kobra optics and PBS1 sound suppressors were available due to it being largely derived from the AK-74/47 family, thus having the correct thread and AK optics side mount.
Variants
The original Bizon was retroactively designated Bizon-1 after the design was improved with the introduction of the Bizon-2.
Bizon-2
![PP-19 Bizon left view](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/PP-19_Bizon_left_view.jpg)
The Bizon has been continuously modified over its production life and the current model is the ''Bizon-2'', which has AK-style
iron sights (an open U-notch rear sight on a tangent with three settings: 50, 100 and 150 m and a semi-shrouded front post), a receiver-mounted side rail adapter for optics and a new slotted
flash hider
A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a muzzle device attached to the muzzle of a rifle that reduces its visible signature while firing by cooling or dispersing the burning gases that ...
designed to accept a quick-detachable
sound suppressor
A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that reduces the acoustic intensity of the muzzle report (sound of a gunshot) and muzzle rise when a gun (firearm or air gun) is discharged, b ...
. The Bizon-2 is made in several variants to increase the product's commercial appeal and demonstrate its versatility; it is offered in 8 different configurations:
*Bizon-2-01: Chambered for the
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
-standard
9×19mm Parabellum cartridge using a modified helical magazine with a 53-round capacity.
*Bizon-2-02: Chambered in the
.380 ACP (9×17mm Short) pistol round (64-round helical magazine capacity).
*Bizon-2-03: 9×18mm Makarov variant with an integral sound suppressor.
*Bizon-2-04: 9×18mm Makarov
semi-automatic 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 lighte ...
model.
*Bizon-2-05: 9×19mm Parabellum semi-automatic only model.
*Bizon-2-06: Semi-automatic only carbine version in .380 ACP (9×17mm Short).
*Bizon-2-07: Select-fire model chambered in
7.62×25mm Tokarev. This model uses a conventional staggered-column 35-round steel box magazine.
Bizon-3
A variant known as the Bizon-3 was also developed and features a flip-up rear peep sight moved further to the rear on the receiver cover and a stock that folds up and over the receiver to lock into a spring-loaded latch on the receiver top cover. The weapon's barrel has an adapter for several types of muzzle devices. These are selected by the operator depending on the weapon's tactical employment and include sound suppressors,
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 ...
s, compensators, and flash hiders.
[Cutshaw, 93]
Vityaz-SN
The Vityaz-SN is a
9×19mm submachine gun, engineered directly from the Bizon. The Vityaz entered Russian service in 2005, and continues to be the country's standard issue submachine gun for all military and police forces.
SN9P
The SN9P is a Vietnamese variant of PP–19 Bizon featuring modifications such as a Galil-style stock to suit local conditions, with limited use by Special Forces units.
Users
*
*: Uses a domestically produced version known by the industrial name SN9P, featuring modifications such as a
Galil
The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...
-style stock to suit local conditions, with limited use by Special Forces units.
Chambered in 9×19mm.
See also
*
Vityaz-SN
*
PP-90
The PP-90 is a Russian 9 mm folding submachine gun, developed by the KBP Instrument Design Bureau in Tula for use with special units of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). It is designed for close quarters combat, particularly engage ...
*
PP-90M1
The PP-90M1 (Cyrillic: ПП-90М1) is a 9×19mm Parabellum Russian submachine gun developed by KBP Instrument Design Bureau in the 1990s. It features a 64-round helical magazine, and other than sharing a manufacturer is unrelated to the similar ...
References
Izhmash—official siteThe Bizon Kalashnikov Concern's Submachine Gun – Small Arms Defense JournalNazarian's Gun's Recognition Guide
{{AK47 derivatives
9×18mm Makarov submachine guns
9mm Parabellum submachine guns
7.62×25mm Tokarev submachine guns
.380 ACP submachine guns
Izhevsk machine-building plant products
Kalashnikov derivatives
Simple blowback firearms
Submachine guns of Russia
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1996