Varan PMX90
- Category
- Pistol
- Barrel
- Not recorded
- Weight, empty
- Not recorded
- Introduced
- 1990
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Varan PMX90 is a South African single-action semi-automatic pistol chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum. Mechanically a copy of the Browning Hi-Power, it was designed by Rhodesian engineers Tony Blackshaw and Stewart Beecham (originally as the PMX-80) and built on a hybrid milled-and-stamped steel frame. Its defining feature was extensive ambidexterity: removable and swappable safety levers, slide releases, and magazine catches, with early models even using a top-facing ejection port. Only around 2,000 were produced before the design was discontinued.
The Varan was engineered around total ambidexterity years before it became a mainstream feature, yet it is remembered as much for its transparent plastic magazines, which turned a cloudy yellow and cracked once they met gun oil.
Early production pistols used transparent plastic magazines that discoloured to opaque yellow and cracked with exposure to gun oil; later black plastic magazines partly addressed the problem. Built in South Africa during the international arms embargo against the apartheid government.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Clarbex (Pty) Ltd
- Category
- Pistol
- Country
- South Africa
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1990 to 1993
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Short recoil
- Firing mechanism
- Single action only
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Slide
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Effective range
- 50 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Ambidextrous safety
Ambidextrous slide release
Ambidextrous magazine release
Hybrid milled and stamped frame
Standing
How it compares
This record has too few measurements to compare with others yet.
Answers
Questions about the Varan PMX90
What caliber is the Varan PMX90?
The Varan PMX90 is chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.
Who makes the Varan PMX90?
The Varan PMX90 is made by Clarbex (Pty) Ltd (South Africa). It was designed by Tony Blackshaw and Stewart Beecham.
When was the Varan PMX90 introduced?
The Varan PMX90 was introduced in 1990 and discontinued in 1993.
How does the Varan PMX90 operate?
The Varan PMX90 uses a short recoil action, and its firing mechanism is single action only.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
Provenance
Confidence in this record
60%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/varan-pmx90' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "varan-pmx90", "name": "Varan PMX90", "manufacturer": { "id": "clarbex", "name": "Clarbex (Pty) Ltd", "countryCode": "ZA", "foundedYear": null, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-07-19 22:59:14", "updatedAt": "2026-07-19 22:59:14", "version": "4f7222b6f289da0c8d50cac44fe955c2af5c24125dfa8d4e02b8c0ca701e51ea" }, "category": { "id": "pistol", "name": "Pistol", "description": "Handguns designed to be fired with one or two hands" }, "country_of_origin": "ZA", "year_introduced": 1990, "barrel_length_mm": null, "weight_empty_g": null, "action_type": "short_recoil"}