The experimental Gepard submachine gun was developed in 1995 by G.Sitnikov and A.Shevchenko, and first introduced in 1997. Development was carried out at the private arms-making company “Rex” in St.Petersburg, which went out of business in early 2000s.
Gepard submachine gun
This submachine gun featured an easily recognizable profile and an unusual modular multi-caliber design, and ultimately failed to gain any traction among Russian law enforcement or other para-military organizations. A semi-automatic only variant for civilian sales was rumored, but also never went past a prototype stage.
The core idea of the Gepard submachine gun was to provide end users with a compact, close-combat firearm that could use various 9mm cartridges with little to no alterations, and could be easily configured between different types of ammunition by an end user and in a matter of minutes. To achieve this goal, it had a specially designed barrel with a screw-in chamber block and tapered bore, that could fire both “western-style” cartridges with 9mm bullets, such as 9×17 Browning Short, 9×19 Luger and 9x21mm SP-10/11/12, and “Soviet-style” 9mm rounds like 9×18 PM that feature larger bullets with an actual diameter of 9.2mm. An additional enlarged chamber was designed to handle a proprietary 9x30mm “Grom” round of a straight-walled design, produced from unfinished 5.45x39mm steel cases and loaded with FMJ or AP handgun bullets.
Gepard submachine gun
To accommodate and reliably fire cartridges of a widely varying characteristics, Gepard submachine gun featured several bolt groups that could operate as a simple blowback, delayed blowback, or gas operated rotary locking systems. Each bolt group was tailored to a specific sub-set of cartridges, usable in this weapon.
The receiver and trigger system were modified from existing Kalashnikov AKS74U compact assault rifles, shortened and fitted with a pistol grip which also served as a magazine housing. Standard magazine capacities were listed as 20 and 40 rounds.
Gepard submachine gun with a full set of replacement bolt groups, return springs and other components
When this gun was first introduced, its manufacturer made some bold claims about the accuracy, controlability and reliability of this gun, but no one seemed to be interested in this overly complicated design, so it gradually faded out of existence.
However, its peculiar looks sparked some interest in USA, possibly thanks to certain FPS computer games, and in 2020s several smaller companies made semi-automatic “pistols”, based on various 9mm AK derivatives, that look somewhat like an original Gepard submachine gun.
9mm Gepard-style handgun, made in USA by a company called Stuff and Things. It is based on a 9mm Draco NAK9 Kalashnikov-based semi-automatic pistol, produced in Romania for American civilian market.
Gepard submachine gun specifications
Encyclopedia of firearms and ammunition of the XX and XXI centuries
All texts are written by Maxim Popenker © 1999-2025
