Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
That would be the one. Mechanically, it's a very interesting gun. It's also fun to play around with. It was not a very good military sidearm in my opinion though. The TT-33 was a vast improvement over it, and the S&W Model 3 that preceded it was a higher quality, more useful gun due to it's faster speed in reloading, and it's more potent clambering of the 44 Russian. I believe those were in use until the 20s.
The main issues with them is that they are kind of finicky, they are not as reliable as you'd expect a revolver to be (mine has jammed on me multiple times), they are slow to reload due to loading not unlike a Colt SAA, and the double action trigger pull is so atrociously heavy due to it's need to operate the gas sealing function of the cylinder, that you are going to have a very hard time hitting anything beyond very close ranges with it. The single action trigger is much better, but still not great. I believe that these were mostly issued to officers, so these short comings were not that big of a deal. Though if I was a Russian soldier during WWII and I was issued one of these, I'd pick up the first German pistol I found.
This is why I like C&R guns. They give you a glimpse into things that history books cannot adequately show you. They give you perspective on what it was actually like to use one of these old guns.
I totally agree. Shooting and handling old guns, shows where the technology was, and where it has taken us.