The P9RC is a semi-automatic pistol designed by József Kameniczky and manufactured by the FÉGARMY Arms Factory of Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

. It was selected as the new service pistol of the Hungarian military and police, replacing the PA-63 after the fall of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

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History

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, the Hungarian military sought to replace its FÉG PA-63 sidearms in the Soviet 9x18mm Makarov cartridge with a handgun in the more powerful 9x19mm Parabellum. Originally the Israeli Baby Eagle/Jericho 941 was used until a domestically produced weapon could be chosen. In 1996 the P9RC was selected as the new standard issue sidearm for both the Hungarian military and police forces, and saw service until 2000 when the H&K USP began replacing it. As of 2010 many P9RCs are still in service, for military and police fundings did not allow complete replacement.

Design and features

The P9RC's roots come from FÉG's early copies of the Browning Hi-Power

Browning Hi-Power

The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. It is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale of Herstal, Belgium. Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized...

like the FP9, but it has a number of safety improvements. Additions included double action lock work, a drop-hammer safety, and interruption of the firing pin while the safety is engaged.