[5][6] The Type 77 utilizes a striker-fired single action firing mechanism and is carried with a loaded magazine and empty chamber.
The Type 77 has both a forward blade front sight with a slight taper and a rear, fixed notch.
[7] The frame is covered by a one-piece plastic wrap-around grip retained by a single screw.
[5] The most unusual feature of the Type 77 is the use of an obscure system of operation, developed in the early 20th century by firearms designer, Witold Chylewski, and first manufactured under Louis Schmeisser and later Hugo Schmeisser's Theodor Bergmann Waffenfabrik, a German arms manufacturing company.
[8] This German "Einhand" system allows the user to single-handedly chamber a cartridge by pulling the trigger guard back, which is connected to the slide.
If one prefers to carry with a loaded chamber, a traditional, manual safety exists above the left grip panel on the frame.
In addition the entire barrel of the Type 79 can also turn left or right, with the user able to see around corners thanks to a small camera attached to a side-mounted LCD screen.
The M-77B is a single-action pistol and weighs twice as much as the original Type 77 and is over forty millimeters longer.
As the Parabellum round is much more powerful than the 7.62×17mm Type 64, the M-77B uses a gas-delayed blowback action to reduce recoil and has a fixed barrel.
There is a thumb and a magazine safety and a fixed, forward, and adjustable three-dot rear sights.