Nikolay Baranov and his rifle [Oleg Shevchenko] (fb2) read online

Baranov RifleBaranov Rifle
Baranov Rifle

,
the Albini-Baranov rifle
is a breech-loading single-shot rifle of the Nikolai Mikhailovich Baranov system of the 1869 model adopted in the Russian fleet under a metal unitary cartridge.

The Krnka system rifle that appeared later was somewhat more advanced than the Baranov system, and most importantly, it turned out to be significantly cheaper to produce, so the Baranov rifle was accepted only in the navy, and the army was rearmed with the Krnka system. A total of 10 thousand Baranov rifles were produced. Formally, the Baranov system rifles were replaced in 1870 by the Berdan system rifles, but in fact they continued to be used until the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

Description

The rifle was converted from muzzle-loading infantry rifles of the 1856 model.

The barrel had four grooves.

During the conversion, a new receiver, bolt, and trigger were installed and the chamber was re-drilled. The barrel itself, the stock, as well as the device (accessories) remained the same. At the same time, the resulting savings made it possible to quickly rearm the army.

The Baranov rifle had a tilting bolt according to the system of the Italian designer Albini (itself an imitation of the earlier Austrian Wenzl system) and an external trigger, together with the lock, borrowed from the rifle mod. 1856.

When the trigger was pressed, the trigger hit the firing pin, which passed inside the bolt and hit the primer. When the bolt was opened, the cartridge case moved back a little and had to be removed manually.

the first Russian breech-loading rifle

Nikolai Mikhailovich Baranov - creator of the first Russian breech-loading rifle, future lieutenant general and St. Petersburg mayor.

As was already described in the previous RuPO material , soon after the Crimean War the Russian command hastily began equipping troops with rifled small arms . In a short time, a huge number of muzzle-loading rifles of the 1856 model were manufactured. However, the civil war that broke out in the United States revealed the need to urgently replace them with breech-loading systems. The cheapest way of such a replacement would be to convert the rifles available in warehouses from muzzle-loading to breech-loading. Both Austria ( the Wenzel rifle ) and France ( the Chaspeau rifle ) were engaged in similar modifications, and it would be a sin for us not to take advantage of this opportunity. Anticipating big profits, industrialists and inventors from all over the industrialized world rushed to Russia, and it would have been quite difficult to give priority to any of them if Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin had not been the Minister of War. He certainly knew who would pay what price (in today’s terms, a kickback) for the implementation of this or that system. Most likely, it was Sylvester Krnka who promised the largest percentage, since it was the Krnka rifle that was adopted for service. However, few people know that in parallel with this system, a domestic project was also presented to the military department of the bvl. The author of this project was the then unknown naval lieutenant Nikolai Mikhailovich Baranov .

Russian 6-line muzzle-loading rifle of the 1856 model, which served as the basis for conversion into the Baranov rifle: Caliber - 15.24 mm. Length 1340 mm. Barrel length 939 mm. Weight without bayonet 4.4 kg. Powder charge mass – 4.78 g. Bullet mass – 35.19 g. Initial bullet speed – 348.6 m/s.

In the breech of the barrel
of the Baranov rifle , the chamber was cut, the receiver was screwed on, in which the bolt was attached to a hinge, which folded up and forward. The lock had a trigger of an ordinary device. Using a hinge pin, the trigger was connected to a rod, which fit into a special channel made both in the breech and in the bolt. When the trigger was pulled, this rod came into contact with the firing pin, which at the same time moved forward, compressing the spring and breaking the cartridge primer. Thus, at the moment the trigger was pulled and the shot was fired, the bolt was securely coupled to the receiver and could not be thrown up. Two hook-shaped extractors are attached to the hinge bolt on both sides. When the bolt was tilted up, the bolt platform hit the protruding ribs of the extractors, and their curved hooks pushed the spent cartridge case out of the chamber. To load and fire a shot, the hammer had to be cocked. In this case, the rod came out of the shutter channel and the latter could be folded back; open the shutter by rotating it up by the handle and applying some force so that the latch comes out of the recess in the box. Then the cartridge had to be inserted into the chamber and the bolt closed. When the bolt was closed, the cartridge moved into the barrel and a shot could be fired.

Despite the fact that the Baranov rifle successfully passed the tests, Milutin gave preference to the Krnka . It was armed with infantry companies - four out of five that were then in the battalion. The fifth companies - rifle companies - were armed with Berdan rifles No. 1 . The reason for the non-acceptance of the rifle of the Russian inventor was officially announced that Baranov’s rifle was inconvenient to load with the barrel in a vertical position - when the bolt was open, the bolt fell back under its weight. However, what was the need for loading when the barrel was positioned vertically, the Milyutin Ministry did not explain. In addition, Berdanka No. 1’s similar bolt design did not prevent it from being put into service. However, fortunately for the inventor, the military and naval departments were led at that time by different ministers, and the Baranov rifle was adopted by the Russian Imperial Navy . The fleet command appreciated the advantage of the Baranov rifle in accuracy, range and rate of fire, and the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Karlovich Krabbe, took a personal part in the fate of the rifle, agreeing on its production at the Putilov plant. Formally, the Baranov system rifles were replaced in 1870 by the Berdan system rifles, but in fact they continued to be used until the Russian-Turkish War.

Before the Russian-Turkish War, Baranov served in a civilian shipping company and, with the outbreak of hostilities, proposed arming and using high-speed commercial ships to attack enemy sea communications. The initiative was punished by execution, and Baranov was instructed to re-equip the Vesta steamship, train its crew and take command of the newly-minted warship. On July 11, 1877, forty miles from Kyustendzhi, Vesta met with the Turkish battleship Fehti-Buland. The enemy began chasing Vesta, firing artillery all the time, but after a five-hour battle he stopped the pursuit.

Battle of the Vesta steamship with the Turkish battleship Fehti-Bulend

In December 1877, Baranov, commanding the newly accepted steamer Russia, made a successful raid to Penderaklia, where he took as a prize the Turkish steamer Mersina with a landing force of 800 Turks and delivered it to Sevastopol. For this case, Baranov was promoted to captain of the 1st rank.

However, this was followed by a scandal: Lieutenant Zinovy ​​Rozhdestvensky, the future hero of the Tsushima defeat, published an article in which he described the battle as a “shameful flight” and accused Baranov of exaggerating the merits of Vesta. Despite the fact that Rozhdestvensky’s accusations were not confirmed in court, Baranov was dismissed from the navy, but was accepted into service in the foot artillery. In 1880, at the request of Loris-Melikov, Nikolai Mikhailovich was transferred to the police with the rank of colonel and sent abroad to organize supervision of Russian revolutionaries. At the beginning of 1881, Baranov was appointed acting governor of the Kovno province. After the assassination of Emperor Alexander II, Baranov took the post of St. Petersburg mayor, and then was governor in the Arkhangelsk and Nizhny Novgorod provinces. Baranov died on July 30, 1901. In memory of him, one of the destroyers of the Imperial Black Sea Fleet bore the name “Captain-Lieutenant Baranov.”

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Literature

• Bogdanovich B., Klishin A.
  Baranov’s rifle: under the auspices of the heir to the throne (Russian) // Weapons: magazine. - 2013. - No. 02. - P. 1-3, 6-14. — ISSN [www.sigla.ru/table.jsp?f=8&t=3&v0=1728-9203&f=1003&t=1&v1=&f=4&t=2&v2=&f=21&t=3&v3=&f=1016&t=3&v4=&f=1016&t=3&v5 =&bf=4&b=&d=0&ys=&ye=&lng=&ft=&mt=&dt=&vol=&pt=&iss=&ps=&pe=&tr=&tro=&cc=UNION&i=1&v=tagged&s=0&ss=0&st=0&i18n=ru&rlf=&psz =20&bs=20&ce=hJfuypee8JzzufeGmImYYIpZKRJeeOeeWGJIZRrRRrdmtdeee88NJJJJpeeefTJ3peKJJ3UWWPtzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbzzvzzpy5zzjzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzztzzzzzzzbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyeyTjkDnyHzTuueKZePz9decyzzLzzzL*.c8.NzrGJJvufeeeeeJheeyzjeeeeJh*peeeeKJJJJJJJJJmjHvOJJJJJJJJfe eeieeeeSJJJJSJJJ3TeIJJJJ3..E.UEAcyhxD.eeeeeeuzzzLJJJJ5.e8JJJheeeeeeeeeeeeyeyeK3JJJJJJJJ*s7defeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeSJJJJJJJZIJJzzz1..6LJJJJJJtJJZ4….EK*&deb ug=false 1728-9203].

Nikolay Baranov and his rifle [Oleg Shevchenko] (fb2) read online

Oleg Shevchenko Nikolay Baranov and his rifle

Combining destructive and creative principles, weapons can rightfully be called one of the greatest inventions of mankind.
Leonardo da Vinci, Lomonosov, Nobel contributed to its creation and improvement... And what could be the best indicator of the development of scientific and technological progress if not weapons? Take the 19th century, which began with horse traction and flintlock-percussion weapon systems and ended with railways, aviation and machine guns. Metallurgy was the basis for industrial development. New grades of steel and metalworking methods were initially developed specifically for the production of weapons, and only then did they find their application in peaceful life. General view of the Baranov system rifle

Since ancient times, weapons have helped to obtain food, defend their rights, honor and freedom. The world order dictated the best weapons. The roots of rocket science are Greek fire, Chinese experiments, rocket forces of the Napoleonic wars. The first long-distance regular flights of heavy aviation - 1917, raids of the Kaiser's Gotta bombers on London...

The mid-19th century was marked by the explosive development of weapons technology. The beginning of the 20s - the massive replacement of flint systems with capsule systems, 1848 - in Germany a breech-loading system with a longitudinally sliding bolt under a paper unitary cartridge comes into service. The American Civil War marked the beginning of the era of all-metal unitary ammunition. What about in Russia? In 1856, another muzzle-loading rifle and, at the same period, a new muzzle-loading smoothbore pistol were adopted.

From the beginning of the 1860s, Russia began to realize a serious lag in the field of weapons. The hasty search and adoption of hasty decisions gave rise to what War Minister Milyutin later called the “Rifle Drama.” The first signs are the unusually complex, capricious and impractical two-bullet systems of Green and Gillet-Trumer, the Terry-Norman system. Only twenty years after the adoption of the Dreyse system in Germany we received a needle rifle of the Karle system chambered for a paper cartridge. But even then it was clear that there was no place for these systems in the modern army. The best Russian weapons officers were looking in Europe and the USA for that very system, that very engineering solution that would help lagging Russia climb out of the abyss.

In 1865, the director of the St. Petersburg Maritime Museum, Lieutenant Nikolai Baranov, first proposed his system for converting muzzle-loading rifles for a unitary metal cartridge. His system was a further development of the design of the Albini-Brandlin rifle, known in the West. 10,000 breech-loading rifles were allocated for conversion, of which 9,872 Baranov rifles were produced. After short tests in the guard, they entered service with sailors, and primarily in naval crews going on long voyages to the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

Nikolai was born in 1836 and entered naval service in 1854. In the same year, at the age of 18, he began work on the design of handguns. During the Russian-Turkish War, he received under his command the steamer Vesta, which took part in a cruising to the Turkish shores and managed to resist the modern Turkish battleship Fehti-Bulend in a five-hour battle. This battle caused mixed interpretations in naval circles. On the one hand, he was described by leading historians as an example of the heroism of Russian sailors. Aivazovsky painted the picture. On the other hand, according to the hero of the Russian-Turkish war S. O. Makarov, who later became an outstanding Russian naval commander and admiral, this battle was a lie and profanation. After the war, based on the results of the Vesta battle, a trial was held against Baranov, who acquitted him, but his career as a naval officer was over. Indeed, this whole story is ambiguous, but the fact remains that the Vesta steamer gave battle and, despite serious damage, returned to base. We must not forget about one more case of Baranov: in December 1877, Baranov, already commanding another steamship - “Russia” - captured and delivered to Sevastopol the transport “Mersin”, on board of which, in addition to the crew, there were 800 people of the Turkish landing force.

Aivazovsky I.K., “The battle of the steamship Vesta with the Turkish battleship Fekhti-Buland in the Black Sea on July 11, 1877”

Going back a little, let’s ask ourselves the question of how a lieutenant commander, head of a maritime museum, and artillery specialist ends up in the fleet and gets command of virtually the best Russian ship on the Black Sea. Undoubtedly, the patronage of his friend, the heir to the throne, later known as Emperor Alexander III, played a role here. This was necessary for a subsequent brilliant career not only in the military field, but also as a prominent statesman. Perhaps the unfortunate episode with Vesta closed his path to the post of Minister of Navy.

Mayor of St. Petersburg N. M. Baranov

And Baranov became friends with the heir thanks to his rifle. The famous industrialist Putilov, a former naval officer and friend of Baranov, as they would say now, “reached out” to his acquaintance, the heir to the throne, with the idea of ​​​​producing and arming the Russian army with a rifle of his comrade’s system. Of course, the production of rifles was supposed to take place at his factory. Soon Alexander became friends with Baranov. Lobbying the interests of his friends has gone beyond all reasonable limits. The apotheosis was the accusation by the heir of the best Minister of War in the history of Russia, Milyutin, of fraud due to the fact that Milyutin was a supporter of rearming the Russian army with a converted rifle of a different system - the Krnka rifle. The conflict was ended by the emperor himself, who forbade the heir to interfere in matters of rearmament of the army. Nevertheless, Putilov received an order to convert 10,000 rifles, and Baranov found an influential friend. This became a landmark event for the rest of his life. Even after the tragic end of his naval career, he does not go into oblivion. Baranov became a colonel of the field foot artillery, and from 1881 his career took a new turn and he became the governor of Kovno. Career growth on this path is gaining momentum, Baranov is already a general, soon receives the post of St. Petersburg mayor, then becomes the Arkhangelsk governor. His next governor-generalship, Nizhny Novgorod, was famous. It was there that Baranov’s organizational talent manifested itself in full force; he successfully dealt with both famine and the cholera epidemic in his province. He died in 1901 with the rank of lieutenant general. In memory of Baranov, one of the destroyers in the Imperial Black Sea Fleet bore the name “Captain-Lieutenant Baranov.”

Let's return to the rifle. Most of us are familiar with the Baranov six-line rifle, the rarest surviving examples of which are presented in a number of museums. But few people know that it was originally intended to remake not only 6-line rifles mod. 1856 and 1858, and also 7-line rifled guns of the 1854 model, the stock of which was in the navy.

At the very beginning of 1868, Baranov received rifled guns and rifles from the naval department for conversion. Most of them were 7-line systems. Experiments on alterations continued virtually until the very end of 1868, and in December, based on their results, an order was given to Putilov. It was assumed that the new rifles would go into service with the 1st Guards Infantry Division.

Let's say a little about what was going on in the field of small arms in the Empire at that time. In 1868, Russian officers Gorlov and Guniu developed an excellent rifle in the USA, later known as the Berdan system No. 1. It was the latest weapon with excellent characteristics, meeting all modern requirements. But the process of re-equipping this rifle and establishing its production in Russia was very slow. On the other hand, the Empire had a large supply of muzzle-loading rifles, and their conversion made it possible to quickly resolve issues with supplying the army with breech-loading weapons chambered for a metal cartridge. Of course, it was clear that in essence it was a surrogate and the main requirements for it were simplicity and low cost of design with proper combat qualities.

Putilov produces the first batch of Baranov rifles in the amount of 1696 pieces, which were transferred to the Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment. The guardsmen liked the rifle, and this was no wonder after the muzzle-loading systems and Terry-Norman and Karle systems.

View of the breech of the barrel. Shutter is open

To load the rifle, the bolt was tilted up

Among the shortcomings of Baranov's design, the following were noted. There were frequent breakdowns of the striker and striker; When the rifle was turned on its side at an angle exceeding 90°, with the hammer fully cocked, spontaneous opening of the bolt was observed. It should be noted that the first Baranov rifles had an inclined bolt handle and a lock on the stock that prevented the bolt from self-opening, but when production was established, this element was simplified to the detriment of reliability.

The rifle did not serve the Guard for long. In March 1869, comparative tests were carried out, and it could not compete with the Krnka system. With almost identical combat characteristics, the “krnka” was easier to manufacture, more reliable and, what was decisive, its redistribution cost the treasury 1 ruble. 50 kopecks cheaper than the Baranovskaya rifle. In May 1869, a decision was made to transfer Baranov rifles for the needs of the fleet. So, in fact, the first Russian rifle chambered for a metal cartridge, emerging from the bowels of the fleet, finally became naval.

As for the ammunition used, there were two types of cartridges for the rifle - with a Veltishchev bullet and a Minier bullet. Initially, components (cases and capsules) were ordered in Belgium at the Fusno factory, then the production of cartridges for the needs of the naval department was established at the Admiralty Izhora plant.

Nikolai Mikhailovich gave not only one rifle for the fleet. The Galan revolver is widely known as a Russian naval revolver. But it is completely unknown that this construction would be more correctly called the Galan-Baranov system. During visits related to the organization of purchases for the needs of the naval department, Baranov modernized the original Galan design and only after that it was put into service under the name “boarding pistol-revolver mod. 1870." The revolver was removed from naval service only in 1906.

The fate of Nikolai Baranov and his weapons is complex and contradictory. But facts are stubborn things: the Russian fleet received excellent small arms systems. A sailor and then a statesman, Baranov always served Russia honestly, and his active work was always aimed at trying to develop and improve everything that he touched, and he succeeded.

An excerpt characterizing the Baranov Rifle

“Is it soon? Soon? Oh, these unbearable streets, shops, rolls, lanterns, cab drivers!” thought Rostov, when they had already signed up for their holidays at the outpost and entered Moscow. - Denisov, we’ve arrived! Sleeping! - he said, leaning forward with his whole body, as if by this position he hoped to speed up the movement of the sleigh. Denisov did not respond. “Here is the corner of the intersection where Zakhar the cabman stands; Here he is Zakhar, and still the same horse. Here is the shop where they bought gingerbread. Soon? Well! - To which house? - asked the coachman. - Yes, over there at the end, how can you not see! This is our home,” said Rostov, “after all, this is our home!” Denisov! Denisov! We'll come now. Denisov raised his head, cleared his throat and did not answer. “Dmitry,” Rostov turned to the footman in the irradiation room. - After all, this is our fire? “That’s exactly how daddy’s office is lit up.” – Haven’t gone to bed yet? A? How do you think? “Don’t forget to get me a new Hungarian at once,” Rostov added, feeling the new mustache. “Come on, let’s go,” he shouted to the coachman. “Wake up, Vasya,” he turned to Denisov, who lowered his head again. - Come on, let's go, three rubles for vodka, let's go! - Rostov shouted when the sleigh was already three houses away from the entrance. It seemed to him that the horses were not moving. Finally the sleigh took to the right towards the entrance; Above his head, Rostov saw a familiar cornice with chipped plaster, a porch, a sidewalk pillar. He jumped out of the sleigh as he walked and ran into the hallway. The house also stood motionless, unwelcoming, as if it did not care about who came to it. There was no one in the hallway. "My God! is everything alright? thought Rostov, stopping for a minute with a sinking heart and immediately starting to run further along the entryway and familiar, crooked steps. The same door handle of the castle, for the uncleanness of which the countess was angry, also opened weakly. One tallow candle was burning in the hallway. Old man Mikhail was sleeping on the chest. Prokofy, the traveling footman, the one who was so strong that he could lift the carriage by the back, sat and knitted bast shoes from the edges. He looked at the opened door, and his indifferent, sleepy expression suddenly transformed into an enthusiastically frightened one. - Fathers, lights! Young Count! – he cried out, recognizing the young master. - What is this? My darling! - And Prokofy, shaking with excitement, rushed to the door to the living room, probably to make an announcement, but apparently changed his mind again, returned back and fell on the young master’s shoulder. -Are you healthy? - Rostov asked, pulling his hand away from him. - God bless! All glory to God! We just ate it now! Let me look at you, Your Excellency! - Is everything all right? - Thank God, thank God! Rostov, completely forgetting about Denisov, not wanting to let anyone warn him, took off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe into the dark, large hall. Everything is the same, the same card tables, the same chandelier in a case; but someone had already seen the young master, and before he had time to reach the living room, something quickly, like a storm, flew out of the side door and hugged and began to kiss him. Another, third, same creature jumped out of another, third door; more hugs, more kisses, more screams, tears of joy. He couldn’t make out where and who dad was, who was Natasha, who was Petya. Everyone was screaming, talking and kissing him at the same time. Only his mother was not among them - he remembered that.

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Baranov rifle

the first Russian breech-loading rifle

As already described in the previous material of the Russian Portal, soon after the Crimean War, the Russian command hastily began equipping troops with rifled small arms . In a short time, a huge number of muzzle-loading rifles of the 1856 model were manufactured. However, the civil war that broke out in the United States revealed the need to urgently replace them with breech-loading systems. The cheapest way of such a replacement would be to convert the rifles available in warehouses from muzzle-loading to breech-loading. Both Austria ( the Wenzel rifle ) and France ( the Chaspeau rifle ) were engaged in similar modifications, and it would be a sin for us not to take advantage of this opportunity. Anticipating big profits, industrialists and inventors from all over the industrialized world rushed to Russia, and it would have been quite difficult to give priority to any of them if Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin had not been the Minister of War. He certainly knew who would pay what price (in today’s terms, a kickback) for the implementation of this or that system. Most likely, it was Sylvester Krnka who promised the largest percentage, since it was the Krnka rifle that was adopted for service. However, few people know that in parallel with this system, a domestic project was also presented to the military department of the bvl. The author of this project was the then unknown naval lieutenant Nikolai Mikhailovich Baranov .

Russian 6-line muzzle-loading rifle of the 1856 model, which served as the basis for conversion into the Baranov rifle: Caliber - 15.24 mm. Length 1340 mm. Barrel length 939 mm. Weight without bayonet 4.4 kg. Powder charge mass – 4.78 g. Bullet mass – 35.19 g. Initial bullet speed – 348.6 m/s.

In the breech of the barrel
of the Baranov rifle , the chamber was cut, the receiver was screwed on, in which the bolt was attached to a hinge, which folded up and forward. The lock had a trigger of an ordinary device. Using a hinge pin, the trigger was connected to a rod, which fit into a special channel made both in the breech and in the bolt. When the trigger was pulled, this rod came into contact with the firing pin, which at the same time moved forward, compressing the spring and breaking the cartridge primer. Thus, at the moment the trigger was pulled and the shot was fired, the bolt was securely coupled to the receiver and could not be thrown up. Two hook-shaped extractors are attached to the hinge bolt on both sides. When the bolt was tilted up, the bolt platform hit the protruding ribs of the extractors, and their curved hooks pushed the spent cartridge case out of the chamber. To load and fire a shot, the hammer had to be cocked. In this case, the rod came out of the shutter channel and the latter could be folded back; open the shutter by rotating it up by the handle and applying some force so that the latch comes out of the recess in the box. Then the cartridge had to be inserted into the chamber and the bolt closed. When the bolt was closed, the cartridge moved into the barrel and a shot could be fired.

Despite the fact that the Baranov rifle successfully passed the tests, Milutin gave preference to the Krnka . It was armed with infantry companies - four out of five that were then in the battalion. The fifth companies - rifle companies - were armed with Berdan rifles No. 1 . The reason for the non-acceptance of the rifle of the Russian inventor was officially announced that Baranov’s rifle was inconvenient to load with the barrel in a vertical position - when the bolt was open, the bolt fell back under its weight. However, what was the need for loading when the barrel was positioned vertically, the Milyutin Ministry did not explain. In addition, Berdanka No. 1’s similar bolt design did not prevent it from being put into service. However, fortunately for the inventor, the military and naval departments were led at that time by different ministers, and the Baranov rifle was adopted by the Russian Imperial Navy . The fleet command appreciated the advantage of the Baranov rifle in accuracy, range and rate of fire, and the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Karlovich Krabbe, took a personal part in the fate of the rifle, agreeing on its production at the Putilov plant. Formally, the Baranov system rifles were replaced in 1870 by the Berdan system rifles, but in fact they continued to be used until the Russian-Turkish War.

Before the Russian-Turkish War, Baranov served in a civilian shipping company and, with the outbreak of hostilities, proposed arming and using high-speed commercial ships to attack enemy sea communications. The initiative was punished by execution, and Baranov was instructed to re-equip the Vesta steamship, train its crew and take command of the newly-minted warship. On July 11, 1877, forty miles from Kyustendzhi, Vesta met with the Turkish battleship Fehti-Buland. The enemy began chasing Vesta, firing artillery all the time, but after a five-hour battle he stopped the pursuit.

Battle of the Vesta steamship with the Turkish battleship Fehti-Bulend

In December 1877, Baranov, commanding the newly accepted steamer Russia, made a successful raid to Penderaklia, where he took as a prize the Turkish steamer Mersina with a landing force of 800 Turks and delivered it to Sevastopol. For this case, Baranov was promoted to captain of the 1st rank.

However, this was followed by a scandal: Lieutenant Zinovy ​​Rozhdestvensky, the future hero of the Tsushima defeat, published an article in which he described the battle as a “shameful flight” and accused Baranov of exaggerating the merits of Vesta. Despite the fact that Rozhdestvensky’s accusations were not confirmed in court, Baranov was dismissed from the navy, but was accepted into service in the foot artillery. In 1880, at the request of Loris-Melikov, Nikolai Mikhailovich was transferred to the police with the rank of colonel and sent abroad to organize supervision of Russian revolutionaries. At the beginning of 1881, Baranov was appointed acting governor of the Kovno province. After the assassination of Emperor Alexander II, Baranov took the post of St. Petersburg mayor, and then was governor in the Arkhangelsk and Nizhny Novgorod provinces. Baranov died on July 30, 1901. In memory of him, one of the destroyers of the Imperial Black Sea Fleet bore the name “Captain-Lieutenant Baranov.”

from here

First assault - Russian

Fedorov's assault rifle - a weapon of an unfulfilled future

This weapon opened a new era in the small arms of the Russian army during the First World War. If the February Revolution and the subsequent Bolshevik coup had not happened in Russia, V.G. Fedorov would have been received en masse by infantry strike units, aviation, navy and armored vehicle units.

Assault automatic rifle

How to correctly call the gun product of the outstanding Russian designer Vladimir Grigorievich Fedorov is still discussed in the specialized weapons literature. Fedorov himself called it “automatic”. However, experts are still arguing whether Fedorov’s product can be considered a classic assault rifle or machine gun, as they are usually designated in Russia, or whether it belongs to the class of automatic rifles. However, there is also a name that was historically common during the First World War - “Fedorov’s hand-held submachine gun”, and even “submachine gun”.

Vladimir Fedorov was not only a talented weapons designer, but also a major theorist of small arms. Tactical and technical requirements (TTT) for assault automatic weapons, that is, for the class of assault rifles, first developed by V.G. Fedorov, became classic.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, these TTTs sounded almost revolutionary in the field of military equipment. The new weapon had to have a weight and dimensions convenient for an individual fighter actively moving on the battlefield. The weapon had to be able to fire single shots and bursts, having for this purpose a replaceable high-capacity magazine. It was supposed to allow a fighter to instantly open fire on the move, but at the same time have the ability to accurately shoot from point-blank range at medium distances. In principle, Fedorov’s assault rifle meets all these requirements in the same way as the modern American M16 assault rifle or the German Heckler-Koch G36. Thus, Fedorov’s weapon became, apparently, the first specialized assault rifle in the world to be adopted for service.

The fight against Bergman and Mauser

The military thought of Imperial Russia, in terms of the development of promising small arms, as well as other areas of armament, usually reflected only on weapons already put into production in Western countries. This feature of the Russian military department could not but affect the fate of the development of automatic weapons. While in all leading European countries design work on the creation of automatic weapons was carried out on the basis of government orders and funding, in Russia the developers of automatic weapons could only count on their own pockets and the possible favorable attention of their immediate superiors.

At the turn of the twentieth century in Russia there were, to one degree or another, individually developed projects of automatic rifles designed by Glinsky, Glubovsky, Privalov, Velitsky, and Shchukin. A very promising automatic design based on a redesign of the Mosin three-line rifle was proposed by Ya.U. Copper. In 1907, a major theoretical guide appeared by V.G. Fedorov “Basis for the design of automatic weapons.” However, despite the seemingly existing practical and even theoretical basis, work on the design of automatic rifles did not arouse any interest in the Russian Ministry of War, was not supervised by anyone, and, accordingly, did not go beyond the scope of individual, semi-handicraft invention.

Vladimir Fedorov. Photo: V. Shiyanovsky / RIA Novosti

The West helped indirectly. In 1914, Italian Army Major Bethel Revelli created a coaxial submachine gun chambered for a 9-mm cartridge, which later received the name “Villar-Perosa M1915 aviation submachine gun.” Almost simultaneously, the French launched into production, although technically capricious, but a massive machine gun based on the Shosha automatic rifle (Chauchat Model 1915). The British developed the Farkowher-Hill automatic rifle with a 20-round drum magazine.

However, the main incentive for the Russian military department was, of course, German automatic weapons designs. The Germans began to use the Mauser 1910/1913 automatic rifle in aviation, equipped with a translator for automatic firing and a replaceable magazine for 25 rounds. In addition, information appeared about the promising start of an exceptionally successful design of a submachine gun by German gunsmith Hugo Schmeisser MP.18, the production of which was subsequently mastered by Theodor Bergman's company.

As a result, the Russian military department finally paid attention to the problem of producing domestic automatic weapons and remembered the long-standing rifle project - the V.G. submachine gun. Fedorov.

Gun "unfinished construction"

The long lack of interest in domestic developments of automatic weapons and government funding in this area could not be in vain. The so-called “Fedorov light submachine gun” turned out to be the only type of automatic small arms that was developed and put into service in Russia during the First World War. As noted by the famous weapons expert S.L. Fedoseev, during the First World War in France, for example, five new models of automatic small arms were created and put into production, and in Germany - eight.

The Fedorov assault rifle could have been brought into service and into mass industrial production much earlier than its appearance in the army in early 1916 - early 1917. Back in 1909-1912. it successfully passed commission, field and military tests. For its development V.G. Fedorov was even awarded the Grand Mikhailov Prize (Gold Medal), given out every five years, but the rifle only reached industrial production in mid-1914.

Today it is difficult to say exactly what this was connected with. Most likely, with the general strategic and technological inertia of the Russian state machine. Former Minister of War A.A. Polivanov, in his diary entries dated February 21, 1912, indicates, for example, that Tsar Nicholas II “was at a lecture by Colonel Fedorov, the inventor of the automatic rifle, and told him that he was against introducing it into the army, since then there would not be enough cartridges.” For the sake of objectivity, it is worth noting that the extremely low educational level of conscripts into the army of the Russian Empire caused largely justified fears of the tsar and those generals of the General Staff who seriously expected an increased, pointless consumption of ammunition by yesterday's bast peasants.

Another objective reason for such a significant delay in the introduction of V.G.’s rifle invention. Fedorov became the inescapable “Achilles heel” of all magazine weapon systems in Russia - the welted (flange) “Russian” 7.62 mm rifle cartridge. (Its feature was the presence of a welt or flange - roughly speaking, a protruding edge on the bottom of the cartridge case, which technologically made it difficult to use in other types of weapons).

Arisaka comes to the rescue

By the end of 1914, it became obvious to the Russian military command that the shortage of infantry rifles and ammunition for them was already reaching catastrophic proportions at the front. The Russian army entered the 1915 campaign with an acute shortage of all types of weapons and military equipment, but the rifle and cartridge “hunger” was especially acute. By this time, through the efforts of General Eduard Germonius, who was involved in the procurement of weapons and military equipment abroad, contract No. 3027 was signed between Russia and Japan for the purchase of 200 thousand Arisaka rifles of the 1897 model and 200 million cartridges for them. In addition, the Japanese side ceded another 5 million rifle cartridges to Russia in addition to the contract.

Minister of War Alexey Polivanov. Photo: Library of Congress

This was just the beginning - by the end of the Great War, Russia had 728 thousand Arisaka rifles; entire divisions and even corps were armed with them. Using the funds from the English loan, Russia ordered 660 million 6.5-mm cartridges from England, and Japan pledged to supply another 124 million cartridges.

The 6.5 mm Arisaka cartridge greatly contributed to the fact that Fedorov’s assault rifle finally became a reality from a “paper project”. The designer himself, long before the Arisaka rifles entered service with the troops, came to the conclusion that the power of the 7.62-mm “Russian” welt cartridge was excessive for automatic weapons, moreover, the protruding welt (flange) of this cartridge created difficult interference with the operation of the bolt group mechanisms and a store. The Russian army clearly needed a modern cartridge suitable for use in automatic weapons. V.G. Fedorov in 1912-1913 developed his own 6.5-mm cartridge with “improved ballistics,” but organizing its industrial production in Russia during the war was obviously unrealistic.

The Japanese 6.5-mm rifle cartridge, which was massively supplied to the Russian army, came in very handy, since it completely removed any danger of a “cartridge famine” for the supposed relatively small series of the Fedorov assault rifle. This cartridge had very good ballistics, ensuring flat shooting, acceptable power, and, taking into account production on modern production lines in England and Japan, high standardization of recoil energy.

The use of a 6.5 mm cartridge made it possible to literally transform V.G.’s weaponry. Fedorov. The automatic rifle received a barrel shortened from 800 to 520 mm, which immediately noticeably improved the balance of the weapon. In fact, the flangeless Arisaka cartridge (the flange protruded only 0.315 mm beyond the dimensions of the cartridge) made it possible to introduce a flag translator for the rate of fire into the system, make the bolt cover movable, and develop a series of interchangeable magazines for the weapon.

Informal military tests

Weapons expert S.L. Fedoseev, in one of his works, provides information about how an automatic rifle modified for the 6.5-mm Japanese cartridge was tested by the troops. Lengthy, repeatedly duplicating tests, traditional for the Russian defense department, were replaced in the crucible of real combat operations by quick and clear assessments of the interested army structures.

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. Photo: Library of Congress

On February 21, 1916, the Naval General Staff requested the transfer of at least 10 Fedorov assault rifles “due to the extreme need for such guns in naval aviation.” The chief of military aviation, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, highly appreciated the automatic rifle after its combat use in the 10th air division by Lieutenant Colonel Gorshkov. “General Fedorov’s submachine gun showed excellent results,” the Grand Duke addressed the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU). “I am asking for a supply of one hundred of these guns for aviation detachments.” The gun is better in every way than the Shosh gun.” The commander of another air squadron, staff captain I.N. Tunashevsky was even more categorical in his report: “Fedorov’s submachine gun is the only one suitable for a light airplane.”

Having summed up the reviews received from the fronts, the GAU, in magazine No. 381 of September 6, 1916, made a determination that “the indicated guns of General Fedorov could be usefully used, in addition to aviation, and on armored vehicles, especially cannon vehicles, where it is not possible to install a machine gun. In addition, the Fedorov automatic rifle could be used for field positional warfare as an infantry weapon.”

However, even before this determination, on August 14, 1916, the Chief of the General Staff, General P.I. Averyanov sent the following order to the Main Military-Technical Directorate: “Due to the circumstances of the present wartime, it seems necessary to form now a company armed with automatic rifles of the Major General Fedorov system according to the special staff represented here...”.

In August-October 1916, at the Officer Rifle School, a “special purpose team” was formed and trained on the basis of a company of the 189th Izmail Infantry Regiment of the 48th Infantry Division. The team was armed with Fedorov automatic rifles, and in addition, as prescribed, they were provided with “all new technical improvements”: optical sights, prismatic binoculars, portable field shooting shields of the GVTU Technical Committee system, new Adrian steel helmets. In fact, a model of the Russian army of the near future was being created.

At the beginning of 1917, a company of machine gunners of the 189th Izmail Infantry Regiment was sent to the Romanian Front. On April 30, 1917, according to the report of the chief of staff of the 48th Infantry Division, this separate company consisted of 3 officers and 138 lower ranks. Further, the reporting for the division was not preserved - the time had come for “fraternization” and the rapid collapse of the Russian army. A number of Fedorov's assault rifles were used in infantry and aviation formations on the Western Front.

Innovative technical characteristics

The Fedorov assault rifle was a high-tech product for its time: the manufacture of this gun could only be carried out using a milling machine.

The automation of the system was innovative: the action of reloading cartridges was based on the use of recoil energy with a short barrel stroke. Even today, this principle of operation of rifle automation remains in demand in military and hunting systems.

Japanese 6.5mm Arisaka wafer rifle cartridge. Photo: wikipedia.org

The barrel bore was locked using two swinging jaws located on the sides of the breech of the barrel and closing special lugs on the bolt. Under the influence of the recoil of the shot, the barrel and bolt moved back - the front protrusions of the swinging cheeks ran onto the ledge of the stationary box of the bolt group and turned, releasing the bolt. Under the influence of the compressed recoil of a powerful return spring, the barrel and bolt, having ejected the spent cartridge case and accepted the next cartridge, returned to their previous position, and the swinging cheeks, rising upward, locked the bolt.

The trigger mechanism of the Fedorov assault rifle allowed both single and automatic fire, for which the weapon was equipped with a special rate of fire translator. The attached box magazine of the machine gun was designed for 25 staggered cartridges. If quick loading was necessary, the magazine could be filled from a special clip inserted from above into the grooves of the box - the bolt was held in the rear position by a simple but reliable bolt stop.

The undisputed “highlight” of Fedorov’s assault rifle was the comfortable front holding handle - an original design detail that was clearly ahead of its time. A return to this detail on domestic weapons (for example, on modifications of the Kalashnikov assault rifle) occurred again only at the end of the twentieth century. Initially, the automatic rifle had a folding frame sight, similar to the sight on the Japanese Arisaka carbine. When choosing this particular type of sight, Fedorov apparently proceeded from the fact that the ballistics of the 6.5 mm machine gun cartridge was similar to the ballistics of the “native” 6.5 mm Arisaka cartridge. Subsequently, this sight was replaced by a more convenient sector one.

Fedorov's assault rifle has a rational and beautiful design, even from today's perspective. A metal box-shaped plate on the front part of the fore-end, a stylish holding handle, a narrow chiseled neck of the stock, an impressive magazine horn and a powerful bolt handle on top give Fedorov’s gun a unique “predatory” look, testifying in a style language understandable to a professional about the exceptional quality of the weapon. Throwing a machine gun into the shoulder removes all doubts about the amazing, even unique balance of this weapon. If there is a balance, then with a good cartridge (and there is no doubt about the merits of the 6.5-mm Arisak), a shot “from Fedorov”, even from an adapted rest, logically should have been excellent.

Ruined by the revolution

The Fedorov assault rifle shared the tragic fate of historical Russia. Based on its design, technical documentation was prepared for a whole family of small arms, including, in addition to the machine gun itself, also a 6.5 mm light machine gun, a 6.5 mm automatic rifle and a shortened (for armored vehicle units) 6.5 mm self-loading carbine.

Fedorov M1916 assault rifle. Photo: MilitaryFactory.com

However, long-term plans for the production of these weapons were not destined to come to fruition: Russia was rapidly falling into revolution, with its inevitable chaos, widespread betrayal and streams of blood.

Mass production of the machine gun was initially planned to be launched at the Sestroretsk arms factory, then the idea arose to move this production to a new machine gun factory in the city of Kovrov, Vladimir province. By order of the GAU dated January 18, 1918, V.G. himself was sent to the Kovrov plant. Fedorov, and they sent to help him the largest specialist in the arms business, the former head of the Tula arms factory P.P. Tretyakov. However, already on March 21, 1918, all work at the Kovrov plant was stopped due to insurmountable financial and organizational reasons. The plant's cash register was empty, the workers either fled or vehemently protested, and the supply of materials to production stopped completely. In addition, the continuation of any contracts with subcontractors became unrealistic for the plant management - in connection with the Bolshevik policy of “demobilization of military enterprises.”

Russian existence, even in provincial Kovrov, limply and obediently crawled under the guillotine of Bolshevik tyranny.

From the first samples to 1917

From the first samples to 1917

Automatic and self-loading rifles are individual weapons for hitting single and group targets. In a self-loading rifle, using the energy of powder gases, the spent cartridge is extracted, the next cartridge is chambered, the bolt is locked and the firing pin is cocked. To fire a shot, just pull the trigger. Unlike a self-loading rifle, an automatic rifle allows you to fire not only single, but also in bursts. The most widely used rifles are self-loading rifles, which provide a sufficient rate of fire, good accuracy and more economical consumption of ammunition. The history of the creation of individual automatic weapons dates back to 1863, even before the use of smokeless gunpowder, when the American Regulus Pilon received the first patent for an automatic rifle. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, their design was carried out in Great Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Austria-Hungary, the USA and Russia. The systems of Plessner, Winchester, Maxim, Mannlicher, Freddy, Bang and others appeared.

Hiram Maxim and Ferdinand Mannlicher were among the first to propose their designs in 1885. Maxim placed a spring lever connected to the bolt in the butt of a Winchester repeating shotgun of the 1873 model. Due to the recoil after the shot, the lever, resting against the shooter’s shoulder, was recessed into the butt and opened the bolt. Under the influence of the return spring, all moving parts returned to their original position. This automation scheme turned out to be too cumbersome and unreliable. Experienced Mannlicher rifles functioned by rolling back the barrel. For the first time in world practice, the Kler brothers used part of the powder gases discharged through a side hole in the barrel to operate automation. The device was patented in France in 1889.

The first designer of an automatic rifle in Russia was the forester of the Vladimir province D. A. Rudnitsky. He began working on it in 1883; in 1886, in a handicraft workshop in the city of Kirzhach, Vladimir Region, Rudnitsky made a model of his rifle, and in December 1887 he turned to the artillery committee with a request to consider the project of a “self-firing rifle.” The author wrote: “The power of powder recoil during rifle shooting, which has not yet found its application in military affairs, forced me to think about utilizing it and thus making it produce a certain kind of useful work. The starting point of my task was the use of the same force in the project for the manufacture of an automatic rifle...” Rudnitsky’s proposal to convert the 10-, 67-mm Berdan rifle of the 1870 model into an automatic one was considered, but not implemented. The same fate befell the projects of Glinsky, Valitsky, Glubovsky, Privalov and others.

The problem of creating automatic weapons chambered for black powder was unpromising and was not dictated by the needs of the troops at that time.

And only the experience of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, during which automatic weapons (machine guns) were used on a large scale for the first time, raised the question of creating automatic and self-loading rifles. By this time, the Russian army was armed with a well-proven, reliable 3-line (7.62 mm) S.I. repeating rifle. Mosin chambered for smokeless powder, the Main Artillery Directorate established a special commission consisting of the head of the Rifle Range of the Officer Rifle School, Colonel N.M. Filatov, captain V.G. Fedorov, Lieutenant General N.F. Rogovtsev and others, who were tasked with converting the Mosin rifle to automatic and developing a completely new model of an automatic rifle. By the beginning of the commission’s activities, projects for automatic rifles were proposed by Shubin, Tatsik, Pozdnitsky, but these systems either turned out to be complex or, as was the case with Pozdnitsky’s rifle, were not brought to the point of creating a prototype.

This period marked the beginning of the design activities of the famous Russian gunsmiths V.G. Fedorova, F.V. Tokareva, Ya.U. Roshchepeya, V.A. Degtyarev and others. Before the First World War, they created a number of automatic rifles. In 1905, a project to convert the Mosin rifle into an automatic rifle was proposed by V. G. Fedorov. Automation was built on the principle of a short reverse stroke. The rifle turned out to be unsuccessful and functioned with delays. At the same time, there were cases of insufficient recoil energy to open the shutter and compress the return spring. In the same year, Chernigov peasant, soldier-gunsmith of the fortress regiment of the Zegrezh fortress Y.U. Roshchepey made his automatic rifle based on an 1891 model rifle with a five-round magazine. It had a fixed barrel and a semi-free bolt; when fired, it was held by friction. It used conventional three-line cartridges. The weapons department of the Main Artillery Directorate stated that, despite some shortcomings, the Roshchepeya system is of undoubted interest due to its simplicity of design and compactness, although it “shows excessive sensitivity to the condition of the locking parts.”

In 1907, Ivan Antsus proposed a rifle with an under-barrel tube to vent gases that operated the bolt. In the same year, mechanic Konovalov made an automatic rifle, the mechanism of which was driven by gases vented through a small channel from the barrel.

A year later, the commission examined General Baytsurov’s automatic rifle. It was a transmission system with automation based on the recoil of a semi-free bolt connected to a slide.

The original automatic rifle with a movable barrel, a sliding bolt and a movable insert chamber was proposed in July 1907 by Staff Captain Khatuntsev. It was recognized as original, but experiments with it were not completed.

Roshchepeya rifle

Ya.U. Copper

In 1911, the supervisor of the exemplary workshop, Stroganovich, offered his rifle with a fixed barrel and a rotary action bolt. The commission considered Stroganovich's system promising and ordered the Sestroretsk plant to produce one copy, but by the beginning of the war it was not ready, and in 1919 all work on automatic rifles at the plant was stopped.

In 1914, tool workshop turner N. Shchukin offered his rifle. This was already the third model - he designed the first in 1908 at his own expense. It had a fixed trunk. Due to the rifle’s high sensitivity to dust and contamination, the commission did not consider it worthy of attention.

7.62 mm experimental automatic rifle V.G. Fedorov, 1907

He continued to work on improving his automatic rifle and Groves. In 1913, he introduced a new model, this time with a movable barrel and a straight bolt movement. The shooting at the rifle range was successful, the automatic system worked satisfactorily, but the rifle did not have a magazine and it was not possible to test it for automatic shooting. Two more copies of the modified rifle were ordered, but it was July 1914, the war began, all work on automatic systems stopped, the rifle was taken away from Roshchepey as government property and put into storage. The talented Russian gunsmith did not receive support.

Soon the circle of developers of automatic weapons narrowed, and in the end only V.G. continued to work on automatic rifles. Fedorov, F.V. Tokarev, V.A. Degtyarev. V.G. was the first to create the theoretical basis for the development of automatic weapons. Fedorov, who in 1907 published the work “Foundations for the Design of Automatic Weapons,” which became a reference book for all Russian gunsmiths.

In 1907, work on the design of an automatic rifle began with F.V., a student at the Officer Rifle School in Oranienbaum. Tokarev (1871-1968). Since 1885, he studied in a training workshop at a two-class village school, where his first teacher was the creator of the 6-line Cossack rifle, Tula gunsmith A.E. Chernolikhov. In 1891 he graduated from the weapons department of the Novocherkassk Military Craft School, in 1900 from the Military Cossack Junker School and was appointed head of weapons of the 12th Cossack Regiment.

The Tokarev rifle was a conversion of the Mosin three-line rifle to an automatic system. It had a movable barrel, the movement of which, after firing, opened the bolt. ejected the cartridge case, fed another cartridge and closed the bolt. The rifle was designed for a regular (standard) cartridge with a rim, which complicated the operation of the automation. All parts of the rifle were made by hand by the inventor himself.

In July 1908, the Tokarev rifle was tested at the Rifle Range of the Officer School in Oranienbaum. The tests were successful. The weapons department of the Main Artillery Directorate in August of the same year recognized Tokarev’s design as worthy of attention and decided to send the inventor to further improve the system at the Sestroretsk Arms Plant, where he continued to work since the fall of 1908.

In January 1910, Tokarev produced a new model, which was tested by the commission in the summer of the same year. Based on the results of 600 shots, under normal conditions there was 3.4%, under forced conditions - 6.1% delays. The rifle was considered worthy of attention and further development. The Sestroretsk plant was ordered 10 copies, but in 1912 Tokarev presented a new model. A bolt clutch was introduced into the circuit, which locks and unlocks the bolt when turning, as well as an accelerator, which throws the bolt to the rear position. The number of parts was reduced from 91 to 65. In 1913, the designer presented a rifle consisting of only 60 parts. Commission tests of the latest model of the Tokarev automatic rifle, presented in March 1914, under normal shooting conditions revealed only 0.78% delays over 3,750 rounds. The Sestroretsk plant was ordered 12 copies for field testing. The outbreak of war prevented the fulfillment of the order.

7.62 mm experimental Fedorov rifle. 1907-1913

The latest examples of Tokarev rifles belong to automatic weapon systems with a moving barrel and a locked bolt with a rotation. After the shot, the barrel with the locking frame and bolt move backward in the casing channel, compressing the return spring. Having passed about 5 mm, the barrel breech, with its screw bevels, rests against the front bevels of the bolt clutch and forces it to turn. The bolt, with its side ridges in the corresponding grooves of the bolt clutch, rotates along with the latter, its side projections extend from behind the supporting arms of the breech and stand against its longitudinal grooves. With further movement of the barrel with the frame, the bolt is pulled back using a system of levers, extracting the cartridge case and, having received an accelerated movement relative to the frame, it is thrown back at full speed, extracting the cartridge case. At this moment, the next cartridge rises from the magazine and becomes its head in front of the rim of the bolt. The latter, in its final rear position, encounters the buffer and compresses a fairly strong spring, by the action of which it is reflected forward, while the bolt pushes the cartridge into the chamber. After the bolt reaches its head to the bevels on the breech of the barrel, the frame continues to move forward, pressing its bevel on the rear screw bevel of the bolt coupling, forcing it to turn around its axis, and with it the bolt turns, and its lugs rest on the supporting shoulders breech - and the rifle is ready for the next shot.

After the failure to convert the Mosin rifle into an automatic VT in 1905. In January 1906, Fedorov began designing a new rifle of an original design. The work was first carried out in the Armory Workshop of the Rifle Range at the rifle school in Oranienbaum, and then was transferred to the Sestroretsk Arms Plant, and mechanic V.A. was involved in the development of the system. Degtyarev, who later became a famous Soviet gunsmith. Improvement of the design and creation of a prototype continued until 1911. This spring, a full commission test of the rifle took place. Due to the good results, the commission found it necessary to order 10 copies for the next field test. The execution of the order was also entrusted to the Sestroretsk plant, and the production of the rifles took about a year, and only in the summer of 1912 they were presented for testing at the weapons range. In these rifles, compared to the 1911 model, a number of changes were introduced aimed at further strengthening various parts, improving fuses, and a new sight was developed.

6.5 experimental automatic rifle V.G. Fedorova, 1912

Fedorov rifle automation system

The difference between range tests and commission tests was that all firing should be carried out by shooters, and not by the inventor himself, and the main attention was paid to firing a large number of shots. During testing, it was revealed that shooters quickly learn the rules of operating a rifle; assembly and disassembly are very simple. Tests for the reliability of the mechanisms were carried out by firing 9000 shots (in addition to the previously fired 1000) from four randomly selected rifles. In total there were 607 delays, which amounted to 1.66%. During forced testing (dusty rifles, dusty cartridges, rifles without lubrication, lubricated with thick grease and dusty), they remained combat-ready. Then the rifles and cartridges began to rust and again functioned almost flawlessly when firing. In both cases, the number of delays and failures was minimal.

F.V. Tokarev

In view of the favorable results obtained when testing the Fedorov rifle, and also taking into account that it is simple in design, it can be easily disassembled and reassembled incompletely, the handling of it is quickly learned by shooters, and thus the rifle, with further improvement, may turn out to be reliable military weapons, the Commission recognizes the tested system as worthy of the most serious attention and finds it necessary to subject it to more extensive military testing.

The rifle's automatic system is as follows. The movable barrel, which has a return spring, is connected to the bolt using two AB larvae (see diagram), symmetrically located in the vertical plane. They have round protrusions A in the front part, which fit into corresponding round recesses on the side surfaces of the trunk, due to which the larva can rotate. In the upper part of the rear end of the larvae there are protrusions B that hold the protruding trunnions of the bolt B when firing. The pressure of the powder gases on the bolt throws it back, and all the moving parts - the barrel, the larvae and the bolt - come into motion. When the protrusions of the larvae G, located on their lower planes, encounter the ledges of the stationary receiver D, the larvae rotate and the bolt disengages from the barrel, while the bolt continues to move backward, compressing the return spring. To give greater force to the thrown bolt there is an accelerator, which sits on the E-axis, passing through the lower rear end of the barrel, and is a lever; at the end of the movement of the barrel, the lower part of the lever G rests against the corresponding ledge 3 of the stationary box, which forces the accelerator horns K, located at the other end of the lever, to strike the bolt being released at this moment and give it acceleration.

Fedorov did not stop working on improving his rifle. The main drawback - the large mass of the rifle - required a reduction in caliber. In addition, a standard rifle cartridge with a rim increased the dimensions of the bolt and magazine and complicated the operation of the automation. In 1913, he developed a 6.5 mm caliber cartridge of improved high-quality bullets, which was lightweight, smaller in size and had no rim. The new sleeve made it possible to use a magazine with staggered cartridges.

The automatic rifle developed for the new cartridge did not differ in operating principle from the previous model, but a number of improvements were made to it. The magazine, which did not protrude beyond the stock, had a staggered arrangement of cartridges, the bolt was made of a whole piece of metal without soldering, and the strength of the larvae and the bolt was increased. The magazine feed mechanism had a knee-shaped wide leaf spring with a stepped feeder. Blade bayonet. The weight of the rifle has been significantly reduced.

In the fall of 1913, the new rifles successfully passed commission tests. The number of delays was 1.18% for 3200 shots. 100 shots were fired with an enhanced charge, developing a pressure of 4200 atm instead of 3500, and only on the last shot did the firing pin break. Field tests were carried out after the outbreak of the First World War. In the summer of 1915, the parts manufactured there were transferred from the Sestroretsk plant to the technical workshop at the rifle school. From these, a number of automatic rifles with a translator were assembled to enable continuous shooting.

Since it was considered inappropriate to master the production of a new type of ammunition during the war, Fedorov’s small-caliber rifles were converted to the Japanese cartridge for the Arisaka rifle of the same caliber by special insertion into the chamber. It was chosen because the Russian army had 728 thousand of these rifles in service. Japanese cartridges for Russia were manufactured in England. Fedorov rifles were issued to a special company, and they were used for a number of practical shootings during the summer of 1916. Thus, Fedorov’s system was subjected not only to commission and field testing, but also to military testing.

Continuing to work on improving his system, Fedorov in 1916 created a fundamentally new type of automatic weapon. By reducing the barrel length by 25 cm and introducing an attached magazine for 25 rounds, it was possible to obtain a light, small-sized and rapid-fire weapon for close combat. It became the world's first machine gun (this name was given to it by N.I. Filatov), ​​the ancestor of all modern submachine guns and machine guns, but this is a separate topic.

In 1915, V. A. Degarev began work on creating an automatic carbine. Actively and creatively participating in the manufacture, testing and fine-tuning of prototypes of automatic rifles, 6.5 mm cartridges and V. G. Fedorov machine guns, he accumulated the necessary experience and knowledge for independent inventive activities. Degtyarev had to work in fits and starts, in secret, since the director of the Sestroretsk plant, General Zalyubkovsky, treated inventors from the working environment with great disdain and forbade them to engage in inventive activities at the plant even after hours. Despite this, in 1916 Degtyarev completed the development of an automatic carbine chambered for the 6.5 mm Japanese cartridge. Automation is based on the principle of removing part of the powder gases when fired through a gas outlet in the barrel. The bolt was locked by moving the combat larvae to the sides. The trigger mechanism allowed for single and automatic fire. The return spring was placed on a guide rod located in the receiver cover, and its front end rested against the end of the bolt stem. Magazine capacity – 5 rounds. The Degtyarev carbine, weighing only 3.86 kg, was a light, compact and easy-to-handle weapon. But, despite letters to the Artillery Committee, the War Ministry, and the Main Artillery Directorate, Degtyarev never managed to get anyone to pay attention to his carbine.

Bolt-action rifles: by country and continent (part 2)

"Trust in God, but keep your powder dry" (Oliver Cromwell)

The second direction on the path to perfection...

So, we got acquainted with the first direction of development of the sliding bolt and it turned out that its first samples were created for capsule rifles (including conversion ones) that fired old paper cartridges with lead bullets glued into them. That is, without changing the cartridge, their authors wanted to increase the rate of fire and the convenience of loading them and nothing more. They couldn’t even think about anything else, for example, about protecting the cartridges themselves and their charges from dampness. This is the kind of terrible inertia of thinking people encounter.

Dreyse M1841 rifle from the exhibition of the Stockholm Army Museum.

That is, the first direction in the development of breech-loading weapons was based on the use of old primers and old cartridges, but on the use of new ones, including sliding bolts, that is, locking systems.

The second direction was rifles, for which fundamentally new ammunition was created, and the bolts were often adapted from old ones! Initially - a variety of systems!

The device of a double-barreled shotgun by Samuel Pauley.

Here we should start with the fact that the Swiss gunsmith Samuel Poli, who worked in Paris, followed the path of creating weapons for a new cartridge. Back in 1808, he became concerned with this problem, and then in 1812 he created and patented an original double-barreled shotgun with a bolt that was raised upward by a lever adjacent to the neck of the butt. Instead of triggers, the bolt contained two needle-shaped strikers, cocked by left and right levers on the stock.

Bolt for Dreyse rifle. Its main drawback, typical of all needle rifles, was the very long and thin needle. At that time it was not possible to make it from titanium, and all other needles, even steel ones, quite often broke at the most inopportune moment.

These weapons were loaded with all-metal cartridges turned on brass on a lathe, which guaranteed them considerable strength and the possibility of repeated use. In the bottom they had a hole for a capsule in the form of a modern children's cap made of two circles of cardboard with a composition based on fulminate of mercury between them.

Jaeger rifle model 1854 from the exhibition of the Stockholm Army Museum.

The gun turned out to be durable, reliable, and gas backflow in it was excluded by definition. The rate of fire reached 25 shots per two minutes, but... but at that time such a gun could only be made by hand. It was simply impossible to launch its mass production, as well as to establish a supply of cartridges - the level of technology development did not allow it.

It was for him, by the way, that the German Johann Dreise worked, who learned a lot from Paulie, adopted a lot, thought of something himself, and in 1827 offered the Prussian military the world's first purely “needle rifle” with a sliding bolt, adopted on weapons in 1840. Dreyse rifles have been discussed more than once, so here it is important to pay attention only to those points that authors usually do not pay attention to, although they are important. First of all, it must be emphasized that the bullet for the Dreise cartridge was not “egg-shaped”. It had the shape of a drop, that is, it was bicaliber. Further: when fired, it was fixed in the barrel not in the cartridge, but in the folder pin holding it in the cartridge - the pallet, and when moving along the barrel it did not come into contact with its rifling! Thanks to this, they were not leaded, which was good, but the bad thing was that it happened to settle unevenly in the pan and fly out of the barrel, having a violation in the alignment. That is why it had a short firing range, within 500 m, but it had a rate of fire of five rounds per minute - unattainable for capsule guns, and in principle could not explode in the hands of the shooter due to double or triple loading. The rifle did not have a shutter. But due to the conical shape of the breech of the barrel, onto which the bolt slid, and the precise processing of the mating surfaces, gas breakthrough was excluded.

About this rifle with a magazine that is also a chamber, we can also say that it has... a sliding bolt, because the magazine in it also serves as a bolt. You charge in advance. You put on the capsules. Then you insert and shoot until it falls out. It was worse with obturation and balancing. And it’s very original. More than once or twice, designers from different countries tried to create a weapon with such a transverse steel “bar”, but nothing came of it.

Another drawback was that the unburnt remains of the cartridge, being in the barrel, interfered with the advancement of the bullet, which again affected accuracy. In addition, since the primer was also in a folder tray, the needle piercing the cartridge had to be very long. Being exposed to the combustion products of gunpowder, it quickly failed and, although each soldier had a spare needle, replacing one with another in battle was both troublesome and dangerous. Nevertheless, both the infantry rifle and the Jaeger rifle (model 1854) - shorter, and the rifle rifle (M1860) - also short and more convenient than the infantry rifle, and even the heavy serf rifle with a piston, designed by him, came into service. shutter

The rifle proved itself well in the battles of the Danish-Prussian and Austro-Prussian wars. During the Franco-Prussian War, the French Chassepot needle rifle with a rubber shutter of a smaller caliber acquired the palm - 11 mm versus 15.43 mm, and with a higher bullet speed - 430 m versus 295 m. That is, it had greater flatness, rate of fire , although in terms of accuracy, as V.E. writes about this. Markevich, it was inferior to Dreyze’s rifle.

The design of the Chassepot rifle.

All of these rifles, however, became obsolete at once with the proliferation of centerfire cartridges from Potte (1855), Schneider (1861) and especially Edward Boxer (1864) with an all-metal brass case and a long lead bullet wrapped in paper to prevent lead from the rifling of the bore.

Snyder rifle with a folding magazine.

To extract the cartridge case, it was necessary to open the bolt and move it back. And the spring on its axis then returned it back.

However, the very first unitary cartridge with an external primer was created only a little later than the Dreyse cartridge, namely in 1837, and it was also made of paper! And a rifle was also designed for it, although it was not accepted for service. This is Demondion's cartridge and rifle, which had almost the same lever locking mechanism as Poli's, but a secret hammer inside the stock, cocked when the bolt lever was raised. There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual, right? However, the cartridge itself was unusual, in which the primer was a paper tube sticking out of it. That is, it was the trigger that hit it - and in fact, the reinforced protrusion of the mainspring, and the bolt itself served as the anvil. Then everything is the same as in ordinary rifles with a paper cartridge. When fired, the cartridge case burns out, and what does not burn out is thrown out of the barrel.

And this is a bolt chambered for the central firing chamber of the Albini-Brandlin rifle, model 1867. In fact, this is a chamber bolt of the Mont Storm system. Only now there is no chamber in the hinged bolt, but only a channel for the firing pin, and the trigger is connected to the firing pin pusher, which is also its closure and prevents it from opening when fired!

The Saint-Gardes rifle of 1854 with the same cartridge and a vertical bolt-door was very original. Its lower part, which had the shape of a hook, protruded from the stock and rested against the trigger guard, which was... a mainspring! To load this rifle, you had to pull this hook down all the way so that the breech opens. Then a pin cartridge with two pins was inserted into it, apparently for greater reliability, and... the trigger could be pressed! At the same time, the “door” moving vertically in the grooves first locked the breech of the barrel, and then, continuing to move, hit the pin.

Ten-shot pistol "Harmonica" of 9-mm caliber for Lefoshe hairpin cartridges.

But such cartridges, just like the Lefoshe hairpin cartridges, turned out to be unsuitable for the army. Only cartridges with metal sleeves remained in military service - first with “side” fire, that is, without a primer in the center of the bottom of the sleeve, and then with “central fire,” that is, with a primer in the capsule socket.

But... the sliding bolt still did not dominate in small arms!

Diagram of the F. Wesson rifle.

For example, in the same USA, Frank Wesson in 1862 received patent No. 36,925 “Improving bolt-action firearms” for a rifle chambered for centerfire cartridges with a folding barrel, and more than 20,000 of them were produced during the war between North and South! The price of the rifle was 25 dollars, the cost of 1000 rounds was 11! As you can see in the diagram from the patent, the barrel was tilted for loading using a lever located at the bottom of the neck of the stock. But why the second trigger? In fact, the “second trigger” (in fact, in terms of location it is the first) serves as a lock for the barrel. Only by sliding it back was it possible to operate the lever and tilt the barrel for loading. The system was considered very durable and reliable, and was readily used by Union soldiers.

W. Soper's rifle.

Several original designs were proposed by the British gunsmith William Soper. For example, a rifle with a bolt similar to Snyder's, but controlled by a lever located on the right slightly above the trigger. Moreover, the hammer was cocked automatically, so this rifle had a good rate of fire. With this model of rifle, Sergeant John Warwick of the Berkshire Volunteers regiment showed a record rate of fire of 60 rounds per minute at an exhibition in Basingstoke in 1870! But since it appeared quite late, it did not receive much distribution.

Soper's 1878 patent #207689.

Soper's 1878 patent - view of the right side of the receiver.

Photo of the Soper rifle. Right view.

Certificate confirming the bronze medal awarded to the Soper rifle at the 1876 Philadelphia International Exposition.

The device of the Soper rifle with a vertical bolt controlled by a lever. As you can see, controlling the shutter using a lever-brace captured the minds of gunsmiths not only in the USA, but also in Europe. The Soper mechanism was designed in such a way that when the bracket was pulled down, the bolt was lowered, after which a special lever hit the extractor and vigorously ejected the cartridge case. The firing pin was inside the bolt. Interestingly, the designer equipped his rifle with a hexagonal rifled barrel and a spring-locked bolt guard, which had to be released first, and only then lowered down!

To be continued…

Bow to the Mikado. How were rifles purchased for the Russian army from the Japanese during the First World War?

Arming the entire Russian army with advanced small arms was not easy. The Model 1891 rifle was quite simple and effective for its time. But the troops received it for a very long time. It was necessary to eliminate the shortage of rifles through purchases abroad, from the allies. Naturally, for gold, which both the French and Japanese demanded.

Craftsmen from all the main factories of the Russian Empire worked to fulfill a responsible military order (providing troops with small arms). Three-line rifles were produced at the Tula, Izhevsk and Sestroretsk factories. But the capacity was not enough. There was a shortage of qualified personnel and equipment.

Japanese rifles for the Russian army

In 1892, the Russian Ministry of War turned to French industrialists with a request to supply half a million three-ruler guns in a short time. But the French were also unable to quickly fulfill the gigantic order. They produced 500 thousand rifles during the five-year period. Only by 1897 did Russia receive the required number of rifles from France.

Rearmament allowed the Russian infantry to adequately repel samurai attacks in the Far East in the Russo-Japanese War. A large number of three-rulers disappeared during the war. Many weapons were taken by the Japanese along with prisoners; thousands of weapons became unusable after assaults and artillery shelling.

By the beginning of the First World War, on paper, there were approximately 4.5 million Model 1891 rifles in the army. The military department believed that such a quantity of weapons would be enough to conduct military operations. But after mobilization, almost a million more three-line units were urgently needed. There was nothing to arm the replacements from the reserves with. At the same time, the military factories of the empire were capable of supplying no more than 40 thousand small arms per year.

Russian infantry with Japanese-made rifles

The generals wondered: where to get weapons? We sent orders to arms factories in Britain, France, and the USA. For example, the Remington and Westinghouse factories in the USA were instructed to supply 3-line rifles of the Mosin system mod. 1891/1910 in the amount of three hundred units. The Americans energetically expanded production, but in 1914-15 it was necessary to fight with something and cover the loss of weapons.

Soldiers with Arisaka rifles

The Russian military turned its attention to Japan to buy back the three-line trophies. According to the Russian General Staff, up to 100 thousand rifles could be obtained from the Japanese. The samurai assured that most of the captured Russian rifles had long been scrapped. In exchange, they offered 35 thousand rifles, which the Mexicans refused. This weapon was sent in October 1914. True, there was no suitable cartridge for the Mexican-Japanese rifles.

Japanese stamps on Arisaka rifles

An order was urgently placed for the Japanese industry for the Russian army for a million small arms and a billion rounds of ammunition. But the samurai accepted this proposal with coolness, since they simply did not have real technical capabilities. They decided to sell 200 thousand of their old guns with a minimum amount of ammunition to the Russian army.

Infantrymen of the Russian army with Japanese weapons

But by December, Russian authorities requested another 150 thousand guns from the Japanese. This task was assigned to Russian diplomats. Representatives of the royal mission had to ask for a reception with the Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun and ask to authorize the supply of the necessary weapons.

Meanwhile, the Japanese were expanding their intervention in Chinese affairs; they themselves needed small arms. Russia's dependence on Japanese arms supplies reduced the possibilities of Russian diplomacy in China, where the merger of the samurai was intensifying.

Japanese rifles on the German front

With the deterioration of the situation on the Russian-German front, the troops of Tsar Nicholas II increasingly needed Japanese rifles. In 1915, Japan reluctantly promised to send 200 thousand guns, but with a delay in fulfilling the order until 1916 and even until mid-1917. For Japanese weapons in the First World War, the tsarist government paid the samurai 300 million gold rubles, receiving only 670 thousand rifles of dubious quality for the front. Mainly from the Far East, the Russian army received 7 mm Arisaka carbines mod. 1905 and Arisaka rifle mod. 1905 Most of all carbines were supplied. The Japanese did not accept anything other than gold as payment.

Japanese rifles in the arsenals of the Red Army

During the war years, Russian factories produced approximately 3 million rifles of much better quality than the Japanese. In addition to huge sums of pure gold, Russia, having agreed to purchase Japanese rifles, also suffered significant political losses, weakening its influence not only in Northern China, but throughout the entire Far East. In fact, after the First World War, realizing the backwardness of the Russian army in weapons, the Japanese began to make plans to expand their empire not only at the expense of Chinese soil, but also in the near future at the expense of Russian territories.