 It was produced since 1948 and made its international debut at the 36th World Shooting Championships held in 1954 at Caracas, Venezuela.A very accurate, reliable and economically priced pistol of functional and simple design.The designer himself was blind - he was fighting in the Red Army against the "bandits" (anti-communist rebels) in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War and in 1924 (at the age of 18) had head injury resulting in total loss of vision.