Arsenal Strike One: Russian Police Pistol Comes to the West
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The Strike One pistol originated around 2011 as a collaboration between Nicola Bandini and Dimitry Streshinskiy as a pistol to replace the Makarov in Russian police use. By 2014 is was progressing very successfully through testing and trials, and had gained some international interest, and that’s when (allegedly) bribery negotiations went badly and the gun disappeared from Russian official consideration. The company behind it (Arsenal Firearms, out of Italy) pivoted to international commercial markets, and it was released in the US and Europe instead. It has since gone through several iterations and importers, and is currently being manufactured in parallel as the Arsenal Strike One in Italy and the Archon Type B in the Czech Republic.
Mechanically, the gun is mostly interesting for its non-Browning operation system. It is a short recoil action using a vertically traveling locking block, similar to (but developed independently of) the Bergmann 1910. This action allows it to have a very low bore axis, and the fire control parts are similarly unorthodox in pursuit of that low axis. The version in the video today is a Strike One Speed, and it is indeed a flat-shooting, very nice pistol!
Disclosure: This pistol was provided for filming by American Precision Firearms, the importer for Arsenal Italy.
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