There are a huge number of fairly specific weapons. Pistols are by no means an exception in this respect. The clearest example of this is the Italian Beretta 21A with a loading mechanism that quite strongly resembles a smoothbore hunting rifle. So who, and why, in principle, needed such a gun?
The Italian Beretta 21A pistol is a rather curious weapon designed for concealed carry. In other words, this is a self-defense pistol. Accordingly, the main task of the designers was to minimize the weight and size parameters of the weapon while maintaining a fairly high rate of firepower. And for this, several curious technical solutions were used in the pistol at once.
The first is the caliber used. The pistol is small and fires 5.6x16mm rounds. At the same time, the design of the weapon allows the use of a fairly wide range of these ammunition. It is important to note that 5.6 mm is one of the oldest calibers of modern rifled weapons. The second big decision is the huge brace around the trigger. This shape and dimensions were chosen so that the gun could be used with gloves and at the same time it did not cling to the elements of clothing with protruding parts.
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Finally, the third important design decision in the Beretta 21A is the "falling" barrel like a shotgun. Why is such a solution needed? The fact is that the 21A is a self-loading pistol without an extractor. The Beretta 21A is loaded using conventional pistol magazines: after shot, the shutter moves, like a conventional pistol, as a result of which the next cartridge. However, due to the lack of an extractor, the pistol cannot be discharged manually in the usual way.
You can remove the magazine from the Beretta 21A, but then there will still be one cartridge in the barrel. In "normal" pistols, it is removed by the movement of the bolt. All the work in this case is done by the same extractor. And since it is not in Beretta, you have to manually “drop” the barrel and pull out the ammunition with your fingers to remove the last cartridge. Removed the extractor from the 21A in order to reduce the size and weight of the weapon.
In continuation of the topic, read about OTs-27 "Berdysh": is such a gun really as good as they say about it.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/011221/61439/