The MP-448 Skyph (MP-448 áúøÃÂ) is a Russian pistol.
The MP-448 was developed during the late 1990s by engineer-constructor and weapon designer Dmitry Bogdanov. It was initially offered by Izhevsk Mechanical Plant (IzhMech) for export sales and for private security companies as an enhanced version of the famous Makarov PM pistol (which is also manufactured by IzhMech).
In November 2000 one MP-448 pistol and one MP-448C pistol were presented at "INTERPOLITEX-2000" Arms exhibition in Moscow, they were offered for export.
Since 2003 Russian military and law enforcement have switched to the more powerful 9ÃÂ19mm Parabellum and as such are purchasing larger, more powerful and higher capacity pistols such as the MP-443 Grach (also manufactured by IzhMech).
The MP-448 is slightly smaller and 200 g lighter than the Makarov PM thanks to a polymer frame. Like the Makarov, it is chambered for the 9ÃÂ18mm Makarov cartridge which is similar in performance to the .380 ACP, and uses a double-stacked 12-round magazine like the PMM variant. Because of the 9ÃÂ18mm's lower pressure (20,000 psi vs the 9ÃÂ19mm Luger's 35,000 psi), the MP-448 works by blowback operation.
There are no takers for this pistol because there are only marginal improvements in ergonomics and accuracy over the Makarov PM and the Skyph also costs more.