The mechanical properties of binary chalcogenide compounds (pure and doped) and their solid solutions with a narrow band gap PbTe, Pb0.8Sn0.2Te, Pb0.8Cd0.2Te, Pb0.8Mn0.2Te, Pb0.8Ge0.2Te and PbSe were investigated. Using the method of indentation, the hardness and plasticity of the studied crystals was assessed as a function of the applied load in the range (P = 50 – 500) mN. The influence of Ga, Cd, In and B dopants on the deformation and nanomicrohardness of pure PbTe and PbSe crystals was investigated. It has been shown that all lead chalcogenides, both alloyed and ternary compounds, are highly plastic. It has been established that doped lead compounds and ternary semiconductors have higher hardness than the original binary compounds. In general, the microhardness of lead chalcogenides decreases monotonically with load increasing, but this change is no more than 10%. In some crystals, the transition from microindentation to nanoindentation is accompanied by the manifestation of the Indentation Size Effect (ISE). A “direct” ISE was observed on PbSe, PbTe:B and PbTe:Ga crystals, and a “reverse” ISE was observed on PbSe:In and PbSe:Ga crystals.