Smoothbore hunting weapons: tips for choosing

Classic smoothbore musket. Loading - muzzle, flintlock, sighting devices were often missing. One of the most famous statements of A.V. Suvorov, “the bullet is a fool, the bayonet is a good fellow,” looks at least strange today, however, during the life of the great commander, this phrase was just a statement of fact. Smooth-bore fuses and muskets of the 18th century fired so inaccurately that it was possible to count on a hit only with a dense mass of fire, which led to the use of the so-called linear tactics. In the next century, the situation changed dramatically - the widespread introduction of rifles produced a real revolution in military affairs. Nevertheless, smooth-bore weapons did not go out of use. Today it is widely used by hunters and law enforcement officers, and sometimes by special forces from various countries around the world. Of course, modern “smooth-bore” guns have become much more advanced and convenient than their rather primitive muzzle-loading “ancestors”.

What is a smoothbore weapon

In this picture you can see rifling - something that never happens in smooth-bore weapons.
Looking into the barrel of a Kalashnikov assault rifle or Mosin rifle, it is not difficult to notice shallow longitudinal grooves, each of which is a gentle spiral. This is what the rifling looks like, due to which the bullet “spins” like a top when fired. This rotation ensures its stability in further flight, making the firearm much more accurate and long-range. The first such barrels were allegedly made in Nuremberg, at the very beginning of the 16th century, and since then all firearms have been divided into smooth-bore and rifled.

Of course, antique muskets, arquebuses, arquebuses and fuses have long since migrated from the battlefields to private collections and museums. Modern smooth-bore weapons are mainly hunting rifles, so-called “combat shotguns,” and also, oddly enough, tank guns.

Modern hunting double-barreled shotguns are “vertical” and “horizontal”. In this position, the weapon is reloaded or cleaned.

On the advantages of smoothbore tank guns

In the early sixties, a real revolution began in the field of tank weapons. Promising smooth-bore guns were created and introduced in several countries at once. Such weapons had a number of advantages over existing rifled systems, and therefore replaced them in the shortest possible time. Now the vast majority of tanks - with very rare exceptions - are equipped with smooth-bore guns, which allow them to obtain high fire characteristics and combat qualities.

Several main factors contributed to the widespread use of smoothbore tank guns. Such products had a number of advantages over rifled guns related to manufacturing technologies, operating features and combat potential in combination with different types of projectiles. Thanks to these factors - despite the lag in some characteristics - smoothbore guns were able to almost completely displace their rifled competitors.

Technologies and materials

Manufacturing a tank gun with sufficient performance is not in itself an easy task. The main difficulties in this case are related to the production of the barrel. This unit must have high strength corresponding to the pressure of the powder gases, be rigid to obtain the required accuracy, and also not be excessively heavy, meeting the requirements of the carrier machine.

The T-10 is the last domestic heavy tank and one of the last Soviet tanks with a rifled gun. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A significant contribution to the complexity of manufacturing a gun barrel is made by the rifling process. Regardless of the specific technology, the manufacture of rifling has a significant impact on the complexity, duration and cost of barrel production. There is also a need to find the optimal combination of material and technology that can ensure the production of barrels at an acceptable cost.

In addition, the presence of rifling affects the strength characteristics of the barrel and a number of its other characteristics. In fact, such a barrel is a pipe weakened by the presence of internal rifling. Thus, the given strength must be ensured by the appropriate thickness of the barrel wall: from the rifling to the outer surface. This may lead to the need for thicker walls or composite structures.

Cutaway model of the British Royal Ordnance L7 rifled gun. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

From the point of view of barrel design, a smoothbore gun is simpler. The production task is to produce a simpler barrel that does not have an internal relief. As a result, the labor intensity and complexity of production are reduced, and it is also possible to reduce metal consumption. However, practice has long shown that the need to improve basic characteristics can lead to new complication of the design and its production.

Energy question

One of the main parameters of any barrel system, including a tank gun, is the so-called. muzzle energy - energy transferred by powder gases to a projectile. In the case of tank guns, muzzle energy is primarily responsible for the firing range and penetration of target armor. It was established quite a long time ago that a smooth barrel - both in theory and in practice - allows one to obtain higher muzzle energy values ​​in comparison with a rifled one. A direct consequence of this advantage is an increase in barrel life with similar characteristics.

The energy of the projectile and the life of the barrel are greatly influenced by the interaction of ammunition and rifling. The leading band of the projectile must be in constant contact with the rifling, their edges and the margins between them. As a result, the contact area between the projectile and the barrel increases significantly in comparison with a smoothbore gun of the same caliber. It is not at all difficult to calculate exactly how the interaction between the gun and the projectile changes in the presence or absence of rifling.

The barrel of the 2A46M-5 gun-launcher of the T-90A tank; the absence of rifling in the channel is visible. Photo by the author

For example and simplicity of calculations, let's take a hypothetical tank gun with a caliber of 100 mm, which vaguely resembles some real guns of domestic production. Let its rifled version have 30 grooves with a depth of 1.5% of the caliber and the same number of fields of equal width. A simple calculation shows that the perimeter of the cross-section of the barrel bore will reach almost 400 mm. If we “bore” a hypothetical barrel to the bottom of the rifling, then with the same caliber of 100 mm, the channel cross-section will have a perimeter of only 314.15 mm - almost a third less.

The area of ​​contact with the projectile should change in proportion to the geometric parameters of the cross-section of the barrel. The friction force directly depends on it, which also increases significantly due to the oblique course of the rifling. Friction, in turn, leads to gradual grinding of the barrel bore surface and wear of the gun. The exact friction between the rifled barrel and the projectile also depends on the materials of the barrel and collar, pressure in the bore, acceleration, etc. - for each type of tank gun they are different. On average, the friction force in a rifled barrel can be 40-50 percent. higher than in smooth.

Despite the difference in the exact parameters of different products, it is obvious that a smooth-bore gun has certain advantages over a rifled gun in terms of projectile energy. It spends less energy on friction and accelerates ammunition more efficiently. With the same characteristics of the propellant charge, a smooth barrel increases the initial velocity of the projectile, on which the firing range and armor penetration also depend.

2A46M1 gun, view of the breech. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Finally, the barrel resource consumption is reduced and the service life is not reduced so much. However, this occurs mainly in theory. Modern high-velocity armor-piercing projectiles partially offset this advantage. Customers of tank weapons prefer to sacrifice barrel survivability in favor of increasing the effectiveness of projectiles.

Projectile requirements

One of the main prerequisites for the development and implementation of smooth-bore tank and anti-tank guns was the special requirements imposed by promising armor-piercing projectiles. Some types of ammunition required abandoning the traditional method of stabilization through rifling, while others required an increase in muzzle energy beyond the capabilities of a rifled barrel.

Even during the Second World War, the prospects for cumulative armor-piercing shells became clear. The special warhead hit the target by detonating an explosive, and its effectiveness did not depend on the speed of the projectile at the moment it hit the target. In the post-war period, the development of such shells continued, but soon the designers were faced with a specific problem. Existing guns did not allow increasing the armor penetration parameters of the projectile.

Various shells for Russian 125 mm tank guns. In the foreground, stabilizers can be seen unfolding in flight. Photo by the Russian Ministry of Defense / mil.ru

When the projectile rotates, centrifugal force is inevitably generated. At the moment of detonation of a cumulative ammunition, it interferes with the correct formation of a high-speed gas jet. Accordingly, a projectile that rotates too quickly loses some of its armor penetration and cannot realize its full potential. This understandably affects the combat qualities of the tank, and in addition, worsens the economic indicators of the weapon and its use.

The first solution to the problem of centrifugal force was special aerodynamic devices designed to slow down the rotation of the projectile by the time it hits the target. Subsequently, the generally accepted solution was the use of a smoothbore gun. Such a weapon does not force the projectile to rotate, and its stabilization can be ensured solely by its own aerodynamic components.

The increase in armor thickness, and then the appearance of combined armor barriers, placed special demands on sub-caliber projectiles. Over time, it became obvious that promising ammunition of this kind would be able to show better performance when working with smooth-bore guns, while the value of rifled guns in this context had sharply decreased. All this was connected, first of all, with the requirements for increasing muzzle energy.

Model of a 125-mm cumulative projectile 3BK14M. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

To effectively hit a protected target, a sub-caliber armor-piercing projectile must have high speed. For example, the modern domestic projectile 3BM46 “Lead” with a mass of 4.85 kg is accelerated by the 2A46 gun to a speed of about 1700 m/s. Due to this, at a distance of 2 km with a direct hit on the target, an average penetration of 650 mm of homogeneous armor is ensured. It is not difficult to calculate the energy indicators of such a projectile and imagine what losses the use of a rifled barrel would lead to and how much lower its characteristics would be in this case. In addition, you can try to evaluate the effect of such ammunition on a rifled barrel, and with it the wear of the latter.

A smoothbore gun does not eliminate losses due to friction between the projectile and the bore, but reduces them to minimum values. Due to this, it becomes possible to transfer the maximum possible energies to the projectile, increasing its combat characteristics. It is thanks to this that the “Lead” receives more than 7 MJ of energy in the barrel and is capable of demonstrating the declared combat characteristics.

3BM46 “Lead” sub-caliber armor-piercing projectile with a leading device. Photo Fofanov.armor.kiev.ua

Back in the mid-seventies, the ammunition load of a number of domestic tanks included guided missiles launched through the barrel of the 2A46 main gun. The guided missile/assisted rocket came too late to influence key aspects of the development of Soviet tank guns. However, the presence of a smooth barrel to a certain extent facilitated the development of guided missile weapons for a new modification of the existing gun.

Passing through a smooth-bore gun-launcher, the guided missile maintains its original position and does not rotate along the roll at high speed. This circumstance greatly simplifies the creation of an autopilot and other control systems. In addition, the requirements for the tank’s on-board instruments responsible for the use of missile weapons are also being reduced. For the first time in domestic practice, all these capabilities were used in the creation of the 9K112 “Cobra” guided weapon system (KW) with the 9M112 missile, which was put into service in 1976. Subsequently, a number of new missiles for tanks were created.

Separately, we should recall the 9K116 “Kastet” complex, which included a unitary 3UBK10 shot of 100 mm caliber for smooth-bore towed anti-tank guns MT-12 “Rapira”. Instead of a projectile, a 9M117 guided missile was placed in the cartridge case. Later, a modification of the KUV “Kastet” was created for 115 mm smoothbore tank guns.

9M112 missile from the 9K112 Cobra KUV. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

However, it should be noted that a rifled barrel is not a fundamental obstacle to the creation of a KUV intended for a tank or other armored combat vehicle. Thus, a number of domestic armored vehicle projects use the 2A70 100 mm rifled gun-launcher. It is compatible with later modifications of the Knuckles projectiles, and can also use some other guided munitions. The presence of rifling did not prevent the creation of effective weapons with an expanded range of ammunition.

Main disadvantage

Naturally, smooth-bore guns are not without drawbacks, and in some respects they are inferior to rifled guns. In this regard, the smooth barrel has still not been able to completely displace the rifled barrel from the sphere of tank guns. However, there are methods by which such a gap is reduced, and as a result, smooth-bore guns turn out to be more effective weapons compared to rifled ones.

First of all, the disadvantage of smooth-bore systems is considered to be less high accuracy of fire. Stabilization of the projectile by rotation provided by the rifling of the barrel turns out to be more effective than rotation due to aerodynamic stabilizers. Until a certain time, this factor was of particular importance and had a serious influence on the development of armored vehicles and their weapons in different countries.

2A70 rifled gun, compatible with guided weapons. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

For example, British tank builders have used only rifled guns in recent decades. For many years, one of the most common tank guns in the world was the 105 mm L7 rifled gun. The latest British development of this kind is the 120 mm L30 gun, used on the Challenger 2 tanks. It should be noted that accuracy was not the only factor that influenced the choice of weapons for British tanks. Since the fifties, the British Army has been using armor-piercing fragmentation shells with crushable head (HESH). The effectiveness of such ammunition depends more on the accuracy of the gun than on the centrifugal force created during rotation.

By now, the problem of the accuracy of smoothbore guns has ceased to affect the combat effectiveness of tanks. Modern armored vehicles are equipped with advanced digital fire control systems capable of processing a lot of different information. They take into account target parameters, weather conditions, the condition of the projectile and even the wear of the gun, thanks to which they are able to generate data for accurate shooting. As a result, the fire accuracy parameters of modern main battle tanks no longer depend on the presence or absence of rifling in the gun barrel.

Evolution of weapons

Until the sixties of the last century, tanks were equipped exclusively with rifled guns capable of showing the required characteristics. Further development of armored vehicles and their weapons over time led to the emergence and widespread use of smooth-bore systems. In just a few decades they have become a true standard in their field and will be able to maintain this status in the future.

The main battle tank T-14 "Armata", armed with the latest 125-mm smoothbore gun-launcher 2A82. Photo by NPK Uralvagonzavod / uvz.ru

The reason for the success of smooth-bore weapons in the field of tanks was the presence of a number of characteristic features that make it possible, to a certain extent, to simplify and reduce the cost of production while simultaneously increasing all the main characteristics. A similar development of rifled systems was overly complex or completely impossible, and smooth barrels were left without a real competitor, soon taking their current place.

The development of tank weapons continues and provides various ways to improve all the main characteristics. An increase in caliber, the creation of new projectiles and advanced fire control systems are being studied. At the same time, already known ideas and concepts remain the basis of all new projects. First of all, the development of the smoothbore direction continues. Thus, there is every reason to believe that tanks of the distant future - like almost all modern armored fighting vehicles - will have smooth-bore guns with improved characteristics.

Based on materials from: https://zavod9.com/ https://otvaga2004.ru/ https://russianarms.ru/ https://armor.kiev.ua/ https://btvt.narod.ru/ https:/ /russianarmor.info/ https://waralbum.ru/ https://gurkhan.blogspot.com/ Solyankin A. G., Pavlov M. V., Pavlov I. V., Zheltov I. G. Domestic armored vehicles. XX century – M.: Tseykhgauz, 2010. – T. 3. 1946–1965. Angelsky R.D. Domestic anti-tank systems: an illustrated reference book. M.: AST, 2002.

Advantages and disadvantages of smoothbore weapons

Even in the most advanced European countries, the transition of the army from muskets to rifles dragged on for centuries - soldiers used exclusively smooth-bore firearms. This was largely due to the noticeably lower rate of fire of the first guns and rifles. Smooth-bore guns lost their advantage in ease of reloading only in the 19th century, but even today they have a number of very significant advantages:

1. Possibility of using buckshot or shot. This dramatically increases the likelihood of a hit at close ranges. Sometimes the shooter doesn’t even need to aim; it’s enough to point the weapon towards the target. It is interesting that in the 16th-17th centuries, some monarchs tried to ban the use of shot - the hunting grounds were so quickly devastated;
2. Huge stopping power with relatively low penetration ability. An extremely valuable quality for the police;
3. Possibility of using special ammunition - large-caliber rubber bullets, flares, gas and stun grenades, as well as special charges for knocking down doors;
4. Ease of manufacture and low cost. This advantage is relative: it is clear that a good hunting rifle will cost much more than a machine gun. At the same time, prices for mass-produced shotguns are really low.

KS-23, a Russian shotgun for police use. The official name is “special carbine”

Smooth-bore weapons also have plenty of disadvantages. The main one is the short sighting range.

There are other disadvantages, for example:

1. The cartridges are too large. Their large size does not allow a fighter or hunter to constantly carry any significant amount of ammunition with him;
2. A very loud shot sound combined with the absolute impossibility of installing silencers.

It is noteworthy that in the United States, special police units (SWAT) use a carbine that fires special ammunition most often as a “master key” to break down doors, and in shootouts they prefer automatic rifles and pistols.

An American soldier breaks down the door. For this, special ammunition is usually used that eliminates ricochet.

The Long Barrel of Discord: How to Travel with a Weapon and Not Lose It

photo: Russian National Guard
On long trips, he took with him a carbine - a rifled Saiga-MK with a folding butt in caliber 7.62x39 mm.

I also know tourists who go hiking in impassable wilderness or go rafting and (in their words, of course) also “just in case” they stuff a shotgun into their backpack - in case there are bears, wolves...

Even among lawyers specializing in weapons issues, there is no consensus on how legal such actions are.

It is known that the state, represented by security forces and regulatory authorities, does not favor armed citizens too much and tries to narrow their legal framework as much as possible.

Therefore, traveling with a gun or carbine may well result in the owner being accused of violating storage rules or illegally carrying, and transporting weapons through forest lands is fraught with charges of poaching.

The result is an administrative protocol, courts, possibly a fine and even confiscation of the arsenal. Not much pleasant.

So I decided, with the help of experts, to figure out what trips you can take long-barreled weapons with you on, what risks arise when transporting weapons over long distances, and what you need to know when going on a trip.

The inspector arrived and took the gun

The first advice from the ex-head of the public organization “Right to Arms” (PNO) Igor Shmelev: you need to know the legislation regulating the transportation of firearms! Because law enforcement officials often interpret it quite loosely.

However, regarding the barrel, which is taken “just in case,” let’s make a reservation right away - carrying long-barreled firearms for self-defense is clearly prohibited by law. Dot.

Another question is that if the weapon is in a case, it is unloaded and the cartridges are located separately, then this is no longer carrying, but transportation.

It is over this operation that the spears break, because, according to weapons legislation expert Vasily Mazaev, there is no legal definition of what exactly constitutes transportation in the legislation. Federal rules for regulating the circulation of weapons determine only how this transportation should be carried out.

There is an explanation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation back in 2013 that transportation is the movement of weapons using a vehicle.

Representatives of the Russian Guard, giving comments to the press, emphasize that transportation is the transportation of weapons by the owner from one point where storage, carrying or use is permitted, to another.

Let's say, from home to a hunting place, to a shooting range, or to a place of temporary stay, for example, to a dacha. But you can’t just carry a gun in a car, even if you comply with all the regulations.

Moreover, you cannot leave it in the car - such actions, taking into account judicial practice, according to Mazaev, can be regarded as illegal storage.

It is completely unacceptable to take a weapon when going on a picnic or fishing: “They confiscate it because this is no longer transportation, this is illegal possession. They will write that you keep weapons in your car. There have been many cases where a person went hunting, did not take the gun out of the car, went fishing with it... An inspector arrived, drew up a report and took the gun.”

A possible way to avoid trouble when traveling with a gun in a car is to think through your route to the smallest detail, so that each point on the route can be explained if necessary: ​​I’m going to a friend who wants to buy a gun from me, I need to show him; I’m going to the store to offer weapons for consignment; finally, I’m going to my mother-in-law or a friend’s for a week (this is a temporary place of stay), and I will have a gun.

Not all interlocutors agree with this approach.

“I traveled all over Russia with my weapons,” said Igor Shmelev. – It is my right to transport weapons on the basis of a federal permit. Neither the Weapons Law nor the government decree requires informing law enforcement and regulatory officials about where you are going!”

A lawyer dealing with civilian weapons issues, Muslim Sheikhov, holds a similar position. The purpose of traveling with a weapon, according to his version, can be anything: from “I’m going hunting” to “I’m afraid the weapon will be stolen from the apartment in my absence,” the main thing is that the transportation rules are not violated.

At the same time, we must remember that in a place of temporary stay, in the same hotel, a citizen carries out temporary storage of weapons and must, by law, ensure the safety of his arsenal.

I took a wrong turn

Troubles can happen when the owner of a weapon transports it across hunting grounds, even if he is driving on public roads. The presence and seriousness of this problem was recognized by all experts without exception.

And on thematic forums - weapons and hunting - there is often a discussion of this situation: you are following with your gun (in a case, unloaded) to a certain destination, but your path runs through land where you never thought of hunting.

Naturally, you do not have a permit, license or other documents confirming the right to hunt in this particular place.

The hunting inspector, sometimes with the police or traffic police (if the case happens on the road), checks your weapon, permits, and then issues a report of an administrative violation.

Sometimes a person with a gun is stopped for inspection near the railway platform and even on the platform itself.

“We are facing a problem,” explains Igor Shmelev. – On the one hand, the Law “On Weapons” and Government Decree No. 814 clearly prescribe the procedure for being with a weapon during a hunt: it is unsheathed, loaded, and a cartridge is sent into the chamber if necessary. If the weapon is sheathed, unloaded and the cartridges are separate, the weapon is transported. But the same law “On Hunting” equates any presence in the forest with hunting tools to hunting.”

In this case, law enforcement officers are very fond of initiating a poaching case, and the court, at least of the lower instance, most often sides with the prosecution.

According to Sheikhov, the Law “On Hunting”, in principle, gives too broad a definition of this process - as an activity related to the search, tracking, pursuit of hunting resources, etc.

Accordingly, simply following through the land can be interpreted as searching or tracking game. Unscrupulous officials take advantage of this.

Moreover, both lawyers and experienced hunters assure that it is extremely difficult to protect yourself from arbitrariness in such a situation.

“They are constantly fined, detained, even confiscated,” complained Mikhail Krechmar, editor-in-chief of the Russian Hunting Journal. – I proceed from the fact that any presence with a weapon on the territory of hunting grounds without hunting documents can, if desired, be equated to poaching. And then everything will depend on the individual judge. Because of this, I forgot how to drive with a weapon.”

Lawyers advise a citizen who has fallen into such a bind and against whom an illegal protocol is being drawn up not to refuse to sign it, but to be sure to indicate all the circumstances of the arrest - where, at what time.

Be sure to register your disagreement with the protocol, indicating the circumstances excluding the existence of an administrative offense, and demand delivery of a copy of the protocol in accordance with clause 6 of Art. 28.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences.

It would not be superfluous to photograph the inspection of the vehicle and the position of the person performing the inspection. Subsequently, all this will be useful for appealing the actions of the official.

Moreover, competent actions and legal knowledge of the “victim” can cool the ardor of the “inspectors”.

Armed tourists

A separate topic is the weapons of tourists. Just enter the phrase “gun for rafting”, “gun for hiking” or “expedition gun” into a search engine and several threads will pop up discussing which barrel is best to buy for hiking and water routes, how best to pack it and how to make sure going with a weapon did not have any unpleasant legal consequences for you.

The topic has been actively discussed for many years. On the forum, for example, a photograph of a prototype pump-action shotgun was recently presented, which participants in the discussion are positioning specifically as an expeditionary one...

In the 2000s, lovers of long-distance wanderings often preferred a family of strange and unsightly shotguns called “Lynx”.

In fact, this is a conversion version of a model called RMB-93 (a repeating combat rifle from 1993), which the Tula TsKIB SOO developed for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, the security forces did not like this strange device, and it was released onto the civilian market.

Unlike the usual “pump”, the Lynx’s tubular magazine is located above, not under the barrel, the bolt is motionless, and the barrel moves back and forth, as if stretching over the fed cartridge.

Shooting from the Lynx is inconvenient, the ergonomics are below par, but at the time of its appearance it was the most compact civilian firearm, fitting perfectly into a backpack.

Unfortunately, our legislation does not provide for ordinary citizens the right to carry weapons for protection from wild animals, no matter what taiga wilderness you may be in.

De jure, by government decree, only geologists are allowed to carry a long gun, and then not all, but only employees of the Ministry of Natural Resources. But expeditions are sent both from the Ministry of Construction and from private organizations performing contract work.

There are non-profit structures that search for people. Participants in such expeditions are sometimes forced to get out, almost breaking the law.

As Igor Shmelev said, when working in a geological party on Sakhalin or while searching for a person in North Ossetia, he had to take weapons with him, since the area is “very rich in wild aggressive animals.”

“If in the first case I could refer to the fact that I was an employee of the geological service, then in the second I carried a weapon with me, and local law enforcement officers turned a blind eye to this for the simple reason that they themselves took part in the search and knew that in those there are a lot of bears in places.”

This is the case when a gun or carbine is carried unsheathed on the shoulder. And if, as expected, you hide it and the cartridges separately... According to Vasily Mazaev, any journey on foot or rafting with a weapon is a violation, and there are such cases in judicial practice.

After all, everyone understands that in fact a person carries a gun/carbine with him precisely for the purpose of self-defense, and this, as stated above, is prohibited. Punishment up to and including confiscation is possible for illegal possession or carrying.

The citizen needs to convince law enforcement officers that this is transportation and that he is moving his gun from point A to point B. “He is traveling on a raft from the city of Biysk to the city of Barnaul and is carrying a weapon with him,” the expert sneers. “It’s in a case, unloaded, etc.”

But Muslim Sheikhov believes that this option of transporting weapons (in a tourist backpack) is completely legal, but warns that “there is a risk of encountering unscrupulous hunting inspectors.”

And, as we understand, there is a risk that it is possible to prove to law enforcement officers the legality of such transportation only with the help of a good lawyer.

Draw bars on the windows and get used to it

In general, even in the gun community, there is no consensus yet on whether travelers and tourists should be allowed to carry guns and carbines for self-defense. Many hunters view this as direct assistance to poachers - they will be the first to take advantage of this opportunity.

Igor Shmelev believes that confirmation of hunting (legal or not) is not weapons, but prey - if a person does not have prey, it means he did not hunt.

On the other hand, the problem could be solved by introducing certain categories of self-defense weapons, for example, revolvers and pistols - this is what Right to Arms advocates for.

Hunting with a short barrel is very problematic, but at the same time, according to our interlocutor, there are positive statistics on the use of such weapons “even against large bears such as grizzlies.”

“I worked in the Khabarovsk Territory in the 90s and know cases of using TT pistols and revolvers against bears with successful results,” says Shmelev. “Plus, for self-defense, a pistol is somewhat more convenient than a shotgun.”

“I'm not sure whether travelers should be allowed to carry weapons. – argues Mikhail Kretschmar. – From whom do you need weapons for self-defense? From people? Then immediately draw bars on your windows and get used to it. A weapon will not help you against a bear that attacks you in the forest. If a bear is going to eat you, he will eat you - he is smarter than you, he is on his territory, everything is fine with him.”

On the other hand, any experienced gun owner knows perfectly well that an armed person who does not have proper practice can pose a much greater danger to others and to himself than an unarmed person.

Violation log

A frequent, but absolutely illegal situation that citizens face when transporting firearms is the recording of personal data during document verification.

Enter the subway with a weapon, the metal detector rings, a police officer appears and asks you to go with him to check the number of the weapon and the ROH permit. At the same time, he carefully copies your passport data into some journal.

“The Law “On Personal Data” does not provide for the registration of personal data of weapon owners when they are in the common area of ​​transport infrastructure facilities,” Igor Shmelev is sure. – It is not known where they record it, where it will all end up and how it will be used. They don’t know it themselves and can’t explain it.”

Lawyer Muslim Sheikhov reminds that the collection and processing of data in the absence of written consent entails administrative liability under clause 2 of Art. 13.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses in accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 9 of the Law “On Personal Data”.

Vladislav Grinkevich March 30, 2022 at 1:06 pm

Types of smoothbore weapons

To classify “non-rifled” weapons, several basic characteristics are used.

By number of trunks

Quite often when hunting, situations arise when it is not possible to hit the target with the first shot, and there is no time to reload. The easiest way to solve this problem is to use multi-barreled shotguns. Their popularity has remained high for two hundred years. The most commonly used are double-barreled models - “vertical” or “horizontal”. Among them, sometimes there are so-called “buxflints” - these are guns in which one of the barrels is rifled.

TP-82 - Soviet pistol for astronauts. Two barrels of this weapon are smooth, and the third is rifled

There are also three- and even four-barrel systems. Sometimes these are special weapons, like the Soviet TP-82 pistol, and in some cases we are talking about custom-made guns. The simplest option is the classic single-barreled gun. It is cheap and reliable, and with some skill it can be reloaded very quickly.

By trunk length

On this basis, smooth-bore weapons are divided into three main types:

1. Length up to 20 centimeters - short-barreled. The brightest representative of such weapons is known under the Italian name “lupara”. The already mentioned TP-82 should also be attributed to this type;
2. Length from 20 to 40 centimeters - medium-barreled. A rather rare type of weapon, although some variants of the well-known “Saiga” can be attributed to it;
3. Length over 40 centimeters - long-barreled. Almost all pump-action shotguns and most hunting systems belong to this type.

Short “smooth bores” are often made at home. The “blank” in this case is an ordinary smoothbore hunting rifle, which is literally cut with a hacksaw.

Lupara - barbaric short-barreled weapon of the Sicilian mafia.

By charging method

Various types of smoothbore weapons can be classified according to loading:

1. Manual. Reloading can be carried out either directly, as in “turning point” double-barreled models, or by moving the forearm, as in repeating pump-action shotguns;
2. Self-loading (semi-automatic). In such systems, the recoil force is used to eject the cartridge case and chamber the next cartridge from the magazine. Shooting is carried out with single shots;
3. Automatic. Such weapons differ from the second type only in that they are capable of firing bursts.

Self-loading smoothbore shotguns have relatively low recoil, however, they are more expensive and more complex than conventional ones. There are also hybrid options, such as the Italian SPAS-12 multi-shot shotgun, which can be used in both semi-automatic and manual mode.

The Pancor JackHammer is a colorful automatic shotgun with a drum magazine. Due to its spectacular appearance, it often appears in computer games.

Civilian weapons

Civilian weapons

- weapons intended for use by citizens of the Russian Federation for self-defense, for sports and hunting, as well as for cultural and educational purposes.

Requirements for civilian weapons:

• eliminating the possibility of firing in bursts
• magazine (drum) capacity no more than 10 rounds (does not apply to sporting weapons)
• the possibility of firing cartridges from civilian firearms of limited destruction is excluded
• muzzle energy should not exceed 150 J when fired from a civil smooth-bore long-barreled weapon with traumatic cartridges
• muzzle energy should not exceed 91 J when fired from a civilian firearm of limited destruction

Civilian weapons include:

1. Self-defense weapons:

• smooth-bore long-barreled firearms with cartridges for them, including cartridges with traumatic effect
• firearms of limited destruction (pistol, revolver, barrelless firearms of domestic production) with traumatic cartridges, gas cartridges and light-sound cartridges
• gas weapons: gas pistols and revolvers (cartridges for them), mechanical sprayers, aerosol and other devices filled with permitted tear or irritant substances
• electroshock devices and spark gaps of domestic production with permitted output parameters

2. Sports weapons:

• firearm with a rifled barrel
• firearm smoothbore
• cold blade
• throwing
• pneumatic with muzzle energy over 3 J

3. Hunting weapons:

• long-barreled firearm with a rifled barrel
• long-barreled smooth-bore firearms, including those with a rifled part length not exceeding 140 mm
• combined firearms (rifled and smooth-bore) long-barreled, including with interchangeable and inserted rifled barrels
• pneumatic with muzzle energy no more than 25 J
• cold blade
• hunting small arms that do not have mechanisms for fixing elastic elements in a tense state (bow) and the arc force of which is more than 27 kgf, or which have a mechanism for fixing elastic elements in a tense state (crossbow) and the force of the arc (arcs) of which is more than 43 kgf (hereinafter - hunting throwing small arms)

4. Signal weapon

5. Cold bladed weapons,

intended for wearing with the Cossack uniform, as well as with the national costumes of the peoples of the Russian Federation, the attributes of which are determined by the Government of the Russian Federation

6. Weapons used for cultural and educational purposes:

• weapons of cultural value
• ancient (antique) weapons
• replicas of ancient (antique) weapons
• replicas of ancient (antique) weapons
• decommissioned weapons

Hunting rifle calibers

One of the main characteristics of a rifled weapon is the internal diameter of the barrel. In fact, it is called a caliber. Hunters use a fundamentally different system for their shotguns. It is based on dividing one pound of lead into equal shares. The number of such shares, from which buckshot or a bullet is then made, is the caliber of a hunting rifle.

One pound is 453.59 grams. Consequently, a 12-gauge shotgun is equipped with cartridges that contain just under 38 grams of lead—more than four times more than a rifle bullet. It must be taken into account that hunting rifles of the same caliber may have different barrel diameters - this depends on the specific manufacturer.

This photo allows you to estimate the sizes of 8- and 12-gauge cartridges. It should be noted that 4th gauge is also used

Combat hand-held small arms and edged weapons

Combat hand-held small arms and edged weapons

is a weapon designed to solve combat and operational tasks.

Samples of military hand-held small arms and ammunition for them

, the design parameters of which, relative to analogues already adopted for service, do not increase their destructive power, as well as edged weapons are adopted by the heads of state paramilitary organizations in the manner determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.

The procedure for the circulation of military hand-held small arms and other weapons, ammunition and cartridges for them, and edged weapons is determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Sighting range of smooth-bore weapons

Conventional hunting rifles are designed to shoot at a distance of 35 meters. Even when using ordinary shot, an experienced hunter can hit a bird located at a distance of 50 meters from him. By loading a smooth-bore gun with a bullet, you can increase the sighting range to 70-80 meters. Hitting an animal that is 100 meters away is more of a lucky break. At longer distances, the bullet's drop and its horizontal dispersion practically eliminate aiming.

Most “combat shotguns,” both self-loading and pump-action, have a “certified” target firing range of about 40 meters. The dependence on barrel length is weakly traced here; for example, these are the same characteristics of the very short TP-82. It is planned to significantly increase the target range in the future through the use of special bullets, such as the American FRAG ammunition. It is a miniature grenade, the flight of which is stabilized by the fins.

Sectional view of FRAG ammunition. The tail element is shown at the bottom of the drawing

Shotguns were considered obsolete for some time, but it is now clear that their use will continue for a very long time. This type of firearm is indispensable for hunting, effective as a special tool and useful for those who need to protect their home from criminal attacks.

Getting a weapon

Article 12.150-FZ “The right to purchase weapons and temporary use of weapons by legal entities with special statutory tasks”

Legal entities with special statutory tasks

have the right, in accordance with regulatory legal acts of the Government of the Russian Federation, to purchase civilian and service weapons from legal entities-suppliers after receiving the appropriate license from the federal executive body authorized in the field of arms trafficking, or its territorial body.

Private security organizations

have the right to acquire (receive for temporary use) service firearms of limited destruction, civilian self-defense weapons, with the exception of smooth-bore long-barreled firearms in the manner established by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Central Bank of the Russian Federation (including the Russian Collection Association), Savings Bank of the Russian Federation, Main Center for Special Communications

federal executive body, as well as other legal entities with special statutory tasks (with the exception of private security companies)
have the right to receive for temporary use
certain types and models of military hand-held small arms.

Types, types, models and quantities of specified weapons

are established by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Let's sum it up

Having understood the law and terms, we see that the legislator, depending on the type of purpose of the weapon, limited the places of its use, and, accordingly, the rules for carrying it.

Short-barreled firearms , in particular OOP and gas pistols, can be carried almost anywhere for self-defense purposes , with the exception of:

• places of public events;
• while intoxicated;
• on the territories of educational institutions.

In these places and situations, its transportation is not prohibited by law (Administrative Code of the Russian Federation Article 20.8, Article 20.12), but transportation rules are mandatory.

Please note that the legislator does not establish requirements for the procedure for carrying traumatic weapons, for example, the following:

• weapons must be carried only on the body;
• weapons must be carried concealed;
• it cannot be placed in the glove compartment or trunk of a car or in a bag;
• requirements for the type and type of cases, holsters and packaging;
• many other common myths.

The main and only requirement is that short-barreled weapons (SOO, gas pistols) must be in a holster with a loaded magazine and no cartridge in the chamber, if this is not necessary.

For long-barreled firearms, bladed weapons and throwing weapons, there is a ban on carrying for the purposes of self-defense , and the places for their use and carrying , these are:

• hunting places;
• venues for sporting events, training and shooting exercises;
• places of self-defense.

That is, outside these places and in order to get into them, the specified weapons are only allowed to be transported in accordance with the established rules.

The procedure for wearing and using them in such places is determined by the relevant rules, for example, hunting rules.

Procedure for transporting weapons:

Weapons are transported in cases, holsters or special cases, as well as in special packaging from the weapons manufacturer.

During transportation, weapons must be unloaded and separate from cartridges.

For clarity, let’s put everything into a single table to see the difference between wearing and transporting: