[Balkan Shield 2026] AC-Unity Presents Their First Pistol - Bekto 22
Bosnian company AC-Unity became known in the United States for its AK magazines - cheap and pretty reliable; they became popular with those who wanted newer Russian AK magazines without paying collector’s prices.
First, there were copies of AK-12 magazines; later, AK-19 magazines for 5.56 ammunition. About two years ago, the company imported to the USA its version of AK-15 magazines for the a more popular 7.62x39 round.
Now, the company is also manufacturing firearms, starting with the AR-15 in 9 mm and 5.56x45Â and continuing with the new pistol that they showcased at the Balkan Shield expo, the Bekto 22.
Despite having a substantial military-industrial complex largely inherited from Yugoslavia, Bosnia never really produced small arms and handguns in particular. In 2017, TRB Bratunac, a former repair depot, started producing the 9 mm ‘Vampir’ pistol, but no one tried to manufacture a striker-fired pistol with a polymer frame.
The pistol is chambered for .22 LR; the double-column magazine has a capacity of 20 rounds. At the exhibition, I had the opportunity to talk to the designer Erwin Bekto. The pistol is named after him - the ‘Bekto 22’.
According to the designer, they picked the .22 LR for their first handgun in order to work out all potential ‘teething issues’ in a smaller caliber, and we can expect a similar handgun in other calibers. He also mentioned that for years, AC-Unity specialised in producing polymer parts, so making a pistol with a polymer frame was a natural progression.
While the pistol adheres to all the modern standards, it will have to compete with Turkish designs, which often offer a unique price point.
Bosnia has a reasonable civilian market for sporting firearms; perhaps local shooters would be motivated to support domestic manufacturing and buy ‘Bekto 22’ over imported designs.
Vladimir Onokoy is a small arms subject matter expert and author of "From Balkans to Babylon: Zastava AKs of Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Iraq", the first English-language book about the history of M70 and Tabuk AKs. Over the years he worked in over 20 different countries as a security contractor, armorer, field analyst, product manager, and consultant. His articles were published in Recoil magazine, Small Arms Review, Small Arms Defense Journal, Overt Defense and Silah Report. He also worked as the historical consultant for movies and weapon history books, namely "Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov" series, and Ian McColum's "Small Arms of WW2: Soviet Union". You can contact him here vonokoybooks@proton.me
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I hope it works out well, tho i somewhat sceptical. Gun market in the Balkans in general is "primitive" with lots of misunderstandings and fudd lore. Like how 8mm mauser is considered powerful while 308 is weak (due to amount of recoil). And 22 LR guns are pretty rare down there in my experience.