 |
A personal defense weapon (often abbreviated PDW) is a compact semi-automatic or fully-automatic firearm similar in most respects to a submachine gun, but firing an (often proprietary) armor-piercing round, giving a PDW better range, accuracy and armor-penetrating capability than submachine guns, which fire pistol-caliber cartridges. The class of weapon as it exists today evolved as a hybrid between a submachine gun and a carbine, retaining the compact size and ammunition capacity of the former while adding the ammunition power, accuracy and penetration of the latter. |
|
|
|
| Additionally, PDWs usually require a special cartridge, such as the 5.7 x 28 mm Cartridge for the FN P90 or 4.6 x 30 mm for the H&K MP7, which are not compatible with existing pistol or rifle rounds. A different take on this however is the Russian made PP-2000 which can fire the common and well tested 9x19mm Parabellum round and a special armour piercing version to give it the same capabilities as other PDWs. |  |
|
|
|
|
|
