In Russia, several generations of short-barreled weapons have changed. Their replacement was subject to the need to respond to historical challenges. The first mass-produced repeating pistol was the Smith-Wesson revolver, which was adopted simultaneously with the Berdan rifle. Its caliber was four lines, which made it possible to make revolver barrels from defective rifle barrels.
The next weapon was the Nagan revolver. It was put into service along with a three-line rifle. Similarly, the caliber was chosen to use waste from mass rifle production.
In the thirties of the twentieth century, the use of automatic pistols became relevant. The legendary TT appeared. During its operation, the circumstance became clear that, having a high firing range and penetrating ability, the pistol did not have the necessary stopping effect. Often, a mortally wounded enemy managed to reach the shooter before death and hit him with a knife, bayonet or sapper shovel.
It was the turn of the Makarov pistol. Its 9-mm bullet, when hitting a person, almost always rendered him completely incapacitated. However, since the beginning of the eighties of the twentieth century, body armor has become increasingly widespread. A Makarov pistol usually cannot penetrate body armor. A need arose for a pistol that, while maintaining the high stopping power of a 9 mm bullet, would acquire penetration power sufficient to defeat body armor of the third class of protection.
The appearance of Fort 12
Similar models of pistols appeared in a number of countries. The Fort 12 pistol was developed in Ukraine. In addition to increased muzzle energy, the pistol has a high magazine capacity, 12 rounds, a magazine release button next to the safety bracket, which allows you to reload the weapon faster.
The pistol began to be developed in 1995 together with Czech gunsmiths. The first batches of weapons were equipped with foreign-made barrels. It was possible to establish a completely in-house production by 2002.
The pistol is made entirely of weapons-grade steel, which makes it very heavy and durable. Based on the combat pistol, two traumatic versions were created. They differ from each other in their trunks. One model has a smooth barrel, while the other has serrations that prevent the inelastic bullet from being fired.
The first to be created was a smooth-bore traumatic pistol as a service weapon. He realized the idea of creating a survival pistol. The smooth barrel allows the use of high-power cartridges with over-caliber rubber bullets. You can shoot round lead bullets and shot. Trauma can be carried by the crews of ships or airplanes and helicopters. At this time, the Ukrainian military actively participated in peacekeeping operations around the world, and this was relevant.
Device Description
The design of Fort brand pistols is quite typical for low-power personal weapons. The notorious low power of the 9x18 mm caliber cartridge made it possible to use a free-bolt design in automatic operation, which locks the barrel with its own weight.
The trigger mechanism is double action. It allows you to open fire, both by pre-cocking the hammer, and without cocking, by self-cocking. There is a safety lever on the left side of the body; it blocks the bolt, trigger and trigger (even if the pistol is cocked).
The magazine is made of metal and contains 12 rounds, arranged in 2 rows. To speed up and facilitate reloading there is a slide stop, which is activated by the magazine feeder. The sight is open, consisting of a front sight and rear sight. To make aiming easier in the dark, the sight is equipped with luminous markings. Modifications intended for sport shooting were equipped with an adjustable sight. "Forts" can also be equipped with a laser target designator and a tactical flashlight.
In general, the trigger mechanism of the “Fort” is similar to the trigger mechanism of the Czech pistol CZ 82/83.
The design of the trigger guard was borrowed without changes from another model - CZ 75. It should also be noted that until 2002, when Vinnitsa had its own barrel production, this unit was supplied from the Czech Republic.
Traumatic version of the pistol
A version of the traumatic pistol with teeth in the barrel was developed for civilian use. Initially, the pistol was made as a gas pistol, and then for export to Russia it was turned into a gas pistol suitable for firing traumatic ammunition.
All parts of the Fort 12T are identical to those of the combat pistol with the exception of the barrel.
Like all traumatic pistols that were created in the early 2000s, these pistols experienced numerous firing delays. The main reason for the failure of automatic reloading until 2011 was solved by creating a powerful traumatic cartridge. Muzzle energy reached 240-250 J.
During these years there was a legal incident. Barrelless traumatic pistols: Osa, Kord, Ratnik had a limitation on the maximum shot energy, but gas traumatic pistols did not have such a limitation. This made it possible to develop ammunition for them with muzzle energy comparable to live ammunition.
Comparative tests of the old cartridge and the new cartridge with an energy of 80 J show the following results. The new cartridge penetrates one sheet of standard plywood, makes a dent in the second sheet and ricochets. When the 2011 model cartridge was fired, four standard sheets of plywood were pierced, and the bullet only ricocheted off the fifth sheet. After the introduction of restrictions on muzzle energy in 2011, the pistol began to be equipped with a second weakened spring for firing weak cartridges.
Conclusion
The Fort-12RM turned out to be a good traumatic weapon, which inherited the best properties and properties from its own combat ancestor. It can be safely used as the main weapon for reliable civilian self-defense. It has the best power, good magazine capacity and the highest reliability, which provides a large supply of working resources.
It should be noted that Fort-12 is suitable not only for good self-defense, but it can also be used for fun or sport shooting. But with all this, we must not forget that, like any other traumatic injury, this weapon requires constant cleaning of all its parts, especially those that bear a heavy load when firing.
Issue overview
Problems arise primarily due to the fact that the pistol is traumatic. All these pistols, just like the traumatic Stechkin or Makarov, were developed for a live cartridge. The traumatic cartridge differs in size.
It is known that weapons are made for ammunition, and not vice versa. If you compare traumatic and combat 9 mm cartridges, you can immediately see that they differ in size. A traumatic cartridge is half a millimeter thinner than a live cartridge.
All parts of a combat and traumatic pistol are the same with the exception of the barrel. There is an opinion that parts of traumatic pistols are not hardened, but this is not true.
The length of the traumatic cartridge is 4 mm longer than that of the live cartridge. The live cartridge has a rounded bullet that fits easily into the chamber. In a traumatic cartridge, the bullet is recessed and it enters the chamber with a blunt cut of the cartridge case. It is thrown upward and this causes sticking.
The next problem is the weak pinning of the primer, which leads to numerous misfires. This is due to the fact that the striker is not long enough. Craftsmen grind a new striker from hardened steel on milling machines.
The next problem is that the cartridge sticks into the upper part of the chamber and does not fire all the way through. To do this, you have to tighten the jaws of the magazine. Traumatic cartridges are narrower than combat cartridges, and the magazine used is standard. As a result, the cartridge does not sit tightly in the clip. The hardening of the jaws must be released and then pressed to the required size.
Due to the fact that the traumatic cartridge is longer than the combat cartridge, the cartridges often get stuck in the ejector window. It is necessary to bore the window 4 mm in length with a file.
Modifications and operation
In addition to the basic modification of the Fort-12, a large number of different options have appeared. "Fort-12B" is a silent pistol for special forces, equipped with an elongated barrel adapted for installing a silencer, and the silencer itself.
The award-winning “Fort-12N” has a body made of alloy steel, handle cheeks made of precious wood, decorated with carvings, silvering and gilding. For some time, the sports “Falcon” was produced, intended for practical shooting competitions. It was equipped with an adjustable sight and a recoil compensator.
Characteristics
The list of performance characteristics of the Fort 12T injury is as follows:
- The pistol has a length of 180 mm with a barrel length of 95 mm, a width of 95 mm and a height of 131 mm.
- The effective shot range is from 5 to 7 meters.
- Clip capacity 12 rounds.
- The speed of practical shooting reaches 40 rounds per minute, like a Kalashnikov assault rifle in single-fire mode.
- The weight of a loaded pistol is 900 grams, and the weight of an empty pistol is 830 grams.
- Caliber 9 mm R.A., muzzle velocity is 320 meters per second.
- Double action trigger.
Feedback from shooters said that the weapon was too heavy for everyday carry. A constructive solution was found. In 2007, deliveries to Russia of a plastic version of the pistol called Fort 17T began. Structurally, this version was no different from the iron version of the weapon, but had significantly less weight. The weight of the pistol without cartridges was 680 grams.
Notes
- ↑ 123456
[www.oborona.co.uk/fort.pdf Advertising brochure of NPO "Fort"] (pdf). - ↑ 123
[www.fort.vn.ua/produkciya/pistolety/pistolet-fort-14-tp.html Pistol "Fort-14 TP"]. — (description on the manufacturer’s website). Retrieved September 11, 2013. - Igor Yatsenko. A piece of iron on the belly // “Soldier of Fortune”, No. 6, 1996. pp. 40-42
- [www.armoury-online.ru/articles/pistols/ukraine/Fort-14TP Fort-14 TP]
- [www.fort.vn.ua/produkciya/pistolety/pistolet-fort14-pp.html Pistol "Fort-14 PP"]. — (description on the manufacturer’s website). Retrieved September 11, 2013.
- Vinnitsa Fort released pistols for training // RIA.UA dated September 14, 2005
- [www.fort.vn.ua/ua/produkciya/travmatichni-pistoleti/pistolet-fort-14r.html pistol “Fort-14R” (description on the manufacturer’s website)]
- Natalya Varenik. [gazeta.zn.ua/business/oruzhie-samooborony-dorogo-opasno-i-nezakonno-_.html Self-defense weapons: expensive, dangerous and illegal] // “Mirror of the Week” dated October 17, 2014
- [vn.20minut.ua/Podii/zbroyari-vinnici-vighotovili-novij-pistolet-fort-na-naboyiv-10462821.html The villagers of Vinnytsia have produced a new pistol “Fort-19” for 16 shots] // “20 Khvylin.UA” view 23rd spring 2015
- “ from January to September 2011, one of the employees of the regional department, abusing his official position, stole 22 weapons from the weapons storage room: 14 PM pistols, one AKS-74U assault rifle, one SPSh pistol, three APS pistols, two FORT-12 pistols,
one pistol FORT-14 TP » Polina Mirer. [www.mediaport.ua/news/ukraine/79741/torgovlya_orujiem_v_kominternovskom_rayotdele_delo_peredano_v_sud Arms trade in the Kominternovsky regional department. The case has been sent to court] // Mediaport.UA dated December 6, 2011 - Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine No. 1432 dated November 25, 2003 “On the organization of service activities of special units of the Titan funeral police”
- “ On June 4, 2011, the leadership of the Nikolaev regional police department invited local media journalists to a training base located in the village of Matveevka... the police special forces “Berkut” demonstrated their training to media representatives... Afterwards there was shooting... They shot from a
Fort-14 " [novosti-n .org/news/read/31199.html On the eve of Journalist Day, media representatives were introduced to the everyday life of police special forces] - “ Svityaz fighters took an active part in the anti-terrorist operation from August 24 to August 29 this year... According to an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we are talking about the loss of 22 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 18 Makarov pistols,
10 Fort-14 pistols ” [obozrevatel.com/politics /96704-bojtsov-volyinskogo-batalona-svityaz-podozrevayut-v-zagadochnoj-potere-tselogo-arsenala-oruzhiya.htm Soldiers of the Volyn battalion “Svityaz” are suspected of the mysterious loss of an arsenal of weapons] // “Observer” dated November 12, 2014 - “ In addition to weapons produced during the Soviet era, pistols are in service...
Fort-14 TP ” Vladimir Krashevsky. [www.bratishka.ru/archiv/2009/6/2009_6_7.php Professionals: Ukrainian “Alpha”: terrorism will not work] // “Brother” magazine, June 2009 - White Book 2014: The Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Ministry of Defense of Ukraine", 2022. page 77
- White Book 2022: The Armed Forces of Ukraine. Kiev, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine", 2022. page 96
- « 1.5.1.
The sign of “Flame fire” is: ...a pistol of the “Fort-14” model » Order of the Security Service of Ukraine No. 4, dated 01/09/2008 “About the required signs of the Security Service of Ukraine” - Order of the Administration of the State Service for Special Communication and Protection of Information of Ukraine No. 115 dated 9 June 2009 “About the Certificate of Honor and the necessary signs of the State Service for Special Communication and Protection information sources of Ukraine"
- « N.V. For what operation did you receive the award “For Personal Courage and Heroism”? For many special operations, the minister noted (Andrey takes out a pistol) with this APS, Stechkin submachine gun. Fort 14 as a reward .
» Victoria Gerasimchuk, Nelly Werner. [ukr.lb.ua/news/2014/12/09/288709_z_dvoma_batalyonami_b_mig.html “With two of our battalions, I could clear Donetsk”] // LB.UA dated December 9, 2014 - [izvestia.ru/news/341364 Tanks were sold at the price of limousines] // Izvestia, October 3, 2008
Current situation
Until 2011, Ukrainian trauma products were sold in Russia. After the import of imported traumatic weapons was banned, production was launched at domestic production facilities from Ukrainian components. The pistol was named Fort 12P.
In 2014, Ukraine banned the export of weapons components to Russia. Fort 12T parts were also banned. Pistol production was curtailed. Now you can only buy this pistol second hand. The price is approximately 40-50 thousand rubles.
Story
However, in order to correctly evaluate the models, it is necessary to turn to the history of the combat pistol itself. Traumatic products have adopted all the features and disadvantages of their progenitor. A Czech company actively took part in the development. The first batch was released already in 1995. Two years later, the tests were completed, and in 1998 the “Fort” (pistol) was put into mass production, which was carried out in the Czech Republic.
