Czechoslovakia also had its own 9x18mm service pistol while that country was still in the Warsaw Pact. The Vz82 was a 9x18mm version of the CZ83 adopted for military usage. As with all CZ pistols, the Vz82 incorporated many useful features including a 12-round-capacity magazine and ambidextrous safety. The safety system is one familiar to those who use the CZ75 since the pistol may be carried cocked and locked or with the hammer down in double-action mode.

A Stechkin with loaded 20-round magazines, holster stock and spare magazine pouch.

The Vz82 pistol has been replaced as a front-line military and police pistol by the P01 9mm, and I hope that some Vz82s may be imported for U.S. sales. Recently, a limited number of CZ83 pistols in 9x18mm caliber were imported into the U.S. Though these pistols do not have the large, round triggerguard found on the Vz82, they otherwise are very similar. I acquired one of these CZ83s and have been very happy with it. As with every CZ pistol I have fired, it is reliable, accurate and ergonomic. I'll still buy a Vz82 if any are imported, but the 9mm Makarov CZ83 is a pretty good substitute.

The 9x18mm round has proven to be a relatively popular chambering for machine pistols as well. At least three select-fire pistols have been chambered for this round and saw quite a bit of use in former Warsaw Pact countries. My own favorite, and arguably one of the best machine pistols ever developed, is the Stechkin. This Soviet-era machine pistol is really only about nine inches overall without its holster stock attached. Magazine capacity is 20 rounds, yet the grip is surprisingly comfortable.

Former KGB bodyguards with whom I have discussed the Stechkin chose it for its high magazine capacity and its full-auto capability when needed to break an ambush or mass attack. At lease one former KGB agent who carried a Stechkin showed me a special shoulder holster he used to carry the pistol and two spare 20-round magazines. He did not carry the bulky holster stock.

I have fired the Stechkin with stock attached and without, in semiauto and full-auto mode. It is a very controllable pistol on full auto even though its cyclic rate is about 750 rounds per minute. With its shoulder stock attached and firing in short bursts, I can normally keep a full magazine on a silhouette target at seven yards with it.

I have also fired bursts without the stock and can keep bursts on a silhouette at seven yards if I start aiming low on the target and let the burst stitch up. I shoot the Stechkin every chance I get and would feel adequately armed if I found myself in some faraway place with a strange-sounding name and a Stechkin in my hands.

Another well-known machine pistol chambered for the 9x18mm round is the Czech Skorpion. The Skorpion is best known in .32 ACP chambering, and most I have encountered are for this round. However, it is also produced for the .380 round and the 9mm Makarov.