OC-23 Drotik

The OTs-23 Drotik was developed at TsKIB SOO in Tula with involvement from Igor Stechkin, the designer associated with the APS automatic pistol. It appeared during the early post-Soviet period when Russian police and internal-security forces were evaluating compact weapons for close-range roles. The concept was unusual: use the small, fast 5.45x18 mm cartridge and compensate for limited stopping effect with controlled burst fire. It remained a niche design rather than a mainstream service pistol, but it is historically interesting as a Russian attempt to solve the personal-defense weapon problem in pistol form.

The OTs-23 is chambered for the small 5.45x18 mm cartridge used in the PSM pistol. It has a double-action trigger mechanism and a selector that allows semiautomatic fire or short bursts. The 24-round magazine supports its burst-fire concept, while the cartridge offers low recoil and better penetration than many small-caliber pistol rounds. The drawback is terminal effect: the cartridge is not a powerful man-stopper, so the design relies on multiple hits and close-range control. This makes the Drotik technically clever but limited by the ammunition choice.

In operational terms, the Drotik never became a common Russian sidearm. Its likely niche was close protection, police special use or internal-security roles where compactness and controllable burst fire looked attractive. Wider adoption was constrained by the weak cartridge, unusual logistics and competition from more conventional pistols and compact submachine guns. For HiWars, it should be framed as a specialist weapon and design curiosity: real enough to document, but not a system that transformed Russian small-arms practice.