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How the Mosin rifle was created - the most famous Russian weapon of the First World War
The S.I. Mosin rifle - the Russian “three-line” - became one of the most recognizable and famous symbols not only of the First World War, but in general of all the victories and defeats of Russian weapons in the first half of the 20th century, from the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 . and ending with the bloody epic of the Great Patriotic War.
In terms of its characteristics, even at the time of adoption, it was by no means particularly outstanding in comparison with its analogues. Glory and long destiny - modifications of the “three-line” are in service in different countries and are still in demand among weapon lovers - they have provided it with amazing simplicity and reliability.
“Magazine” versus “single-charger”
Energetic research to create a multi-shot rifle operating on the “magazine principle” of feeding a cartridge was launched in the second half of the 19th century in all leading European countries. Civil War 1861-1865 in the USA, in whose battles Spencer and Henry repeating rifles were widely used, convincingly proved that the future lies not in single-shot, but in repeating infantry weapons.
As a reaction to these events, in 1882, by decision of the Minister of War P.S. Vannovsky, a “Special Commission for testing repeating rifles” was created. The Commission was headed by a prominent domestic gunsmith, Major General N.I. Chagin, and its members included professional gunsmiths, such as Alexander von der Hoven, a major specialist in the field of small arms and the author of many scientific works. From July 1883, artillery officer Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, who then held the post of head of the tool workshop of the Tula Arms Plant, also began to participate in the work of the commission.
Commission N.I. Chagina, fortunately, did not become another “paper project”. In less than seven years of its work, specialists and designers have studied and tested over 150 magazine systems for military-style shotguns. Among them were gun systems of famous foreign designers - Hotchkiss, Remington, Winchester, Fruhwirth, Gra-Kropachek, Lee, Larsen, Mannlicher, Mauser and others. At the same time, various systems of Russian gunsmiths were studied, as well as the internal and attached magazines they proposed.
It is important to note that, although the Russian weapons school was far from leading in Europe, nevertheless, among its representatives there were many bright nuggets of inventors. All of them were either professional gunsmiths (Kvashnevsky, Malkov, Varaksin, Ignatovich, Sergeev) or officers (Veltishchev, Tenner, Witz, Lutkovsky, Tsymbalyuk, Mosin and others). Within the framework of the Commission N.I. Chagin, they all had the opportunity to offer, test, and discuss their products in open discussions. The commission worked openly, seriously and very conscientiously.
Sergey Mosin. Photo from ITAR-TASS dossier
Despite the fact that the entire arms world relied on repeating rifles, in Russian army circles there were many traditionalists who seriously believed that even by the end of the 19th century the bullet was “still the same fool”, and the bayonet was still “well done” " Among them there were sometimes very authoritative figures.
Famous military theorist and teacher General M.I. Dragomirov was not only a convinced skeptic regarding repeating rifles, but also firearms at all. “All improvements in firearms,” wrote General Dragomirov, “only lead to the fact that the bullet becomes somewhat less stupid, but it has never been and never will be a good guy.” In his article “Army Notes” M.I. Dragomirov called shooting from magazine rifles “stupid chatter” and fundamentally defended the thesis that single-shot rifles are better for the Russian soldier, since they are lighter than “magazines” and are much simpler in design. General Dragomirov was, alas, not alone in his negative perception of magazine weapons.
Practical work to re-equip the Russian army with a repeating repeating rifle became a reality only after the French “arms revolution”. In 1886, France was the first in Europe to adopt an 8-mm Lebel rifle with an under-barrel magazine and a new cartridge with smokeless powder and a jacket bullet. Following France, a wave of rearmament with rifles of the same type swept across Europe. Immediately after the French, Germany began to rearm (Mauser rifle, 1888), then Austria-Hungary (Mannlicher, 1889) and other countries: Great Britain (Lee-Metford, 1889), USA (Krag-Jurgenson, 1889). ), Switzerland (Schmidt-Rubin, 1889).
Not wanting to remain, as before the Crimean War, on the sidelines of the rearmament process, Russia was forced to sharply intensify research and design work to create a domestic repeating rifle.
Gunsmith Mendeleev
The invention of smokeless gunpowder in 1884 by the Frenchman Paul Viel opened a new era in the improvement of weapons, and not only handguns. Smokeless powder more than tripled the energy of a shot compared to traditional black powder. Accordingly, the cartridges with it became lighter, the shot became more flat, the shooter’s position was not indicated by a huge cloud of smoke from the rifle, smokeless powder was less afraid of moisture and was more durable during storage.
At the end of the 80s of the 19th century, smokeless gunpowder was already produced in Russia in industrial quantities. Important role The work of the great Russian scientist D.I. played a role in the creation of the industrial cycle for the production of smokeless gunpowder. Mendeleev. It was he who came up with the idea of replacing thermal drying of the primary mass of gunpowder with chemical drying with alcohol, which immediately made the production of smokeless gunpowder easier and safer by several orders of magnitude.
The creation of a new repeating rifle chambered for smokeless powder would probably have been greatly accelerated if not for the rash decision of the Russian Minister of War P.S. Vannovsky about the preliminary (before the release of a repeating rifle) production of a single-shot rifle of a reduced caliber.
Russian Minister of War Pyotr Vannovsky. Photo: Fine Art Images / Heritage Images / Getty Images / Fotobank.ru
This decision, which delayed the adoption of the Mosin rifle by at least two years, was, without a doubt, the result of the powerful influence of single-shot guns in Russian military science. Their undisputed intellectual leader, General Dragomirov, never tired of saying and writing that his ideal small arms is a small-caliber rifle - “about eight millimeters, chambered for a cartridge with pressed gunpowder and a bullet in a steel jacket, but always single-shot.”
Archaic reliability
The popular name for the Mosin rifle - “three-ruler” - comes from the old system of measuring the caliber of a rifle barrel in “lines”. The Russian “line” is a pre-revolutionary technical measure of length equal to one tenth of an inch, or 2.54 mm. Three “lines” gave, respectively, a rifle caliber that is understandable to modern people - 7.62 mm.
The “three-line” cartridge was created on the basis of the 7.62 mm cartridge of Colonel N.F. Rogovtsev, modeled on the then new 8-mm Austrian cartridge M1888, but unlike the latter, equipped with smokeless powder and having a lead bullet in a cupronickel silver shell. The innovative cupronickel cartridge cap was more durable than the old-style copper cap, did not rust and did not wear out the barrel as much as a steel one.
The Russian cartridge 7.62R turned out to be very technologically advanced in production and stable in terms of ballistic characteristics. In terms of energy, it was slightly inferior to the recognized Western cartridge “grands”: the English 7.71 mm Lee-Enfield cartridge, the American 30-06 Springfield or the German 7.92 Mauser cartridge. At the same time, already at the time of adoption, the Russian 7.62R cartridge had an irremovable feature that gradually made this ammunition more and more archaic - a protruding rim, roughly speaking, a protruding edge on the bottom of the cartridge case.
In cartridges that have a sleeve with a rim, the ammunition is supported in the chamber by the welt of the rim into the stump (end) of the barrel. In more technologically advanced cartridges with an annular groove (i.e. without a rim, instead there is a groove at the bottom of the cartridge case), for example, in 7.92 mm Mauser cartridges, this stop is carried out by rolling the cartridge case into the chamber slope (conventionally, the cartridge case is held guides that rest against the recess on the sleeve).
Cartridge for a three-line rifle of the 1891 model (Mosin rifle) with a rim (welt) - Russian 7.62 mm R. Photo: Vladimir Pesnya / RIA Novosti
The latter design is significantly more complicated in production terms - both in the manufacture of the cartridge and in the manufacture of the rifle, because requires increased precision in the manufacture of the sleeve slope and the corresponding section of the chamber. In the continuous production of weapons and ammunition in the conditions of the Russian production culture, it turned out to be impossible, according to the then military experts, to achieve an acceptable coincidence of the corresponding parameters of the cartridge case and the rifle chamber.
Only due to the technological backwardness of Russian arms factories did the archaic, although very reliable cartridge with a rim (welt) receive, now forever, its characteristic name - Russian 7.62 mm R.
The decision to adopt the welt cartridge into service, of course, could not be in vain. The main part of all the difficulties overcome by S.I. Mosin, when creating the “three-ruler”, had to eliminate the problem of the cartridge’s welt “biting” other cartridges in the magazine and parts of the rifle’s bolt group. Achieving trouble-free loading, Mosin developed a special mechanism for the rifle’s feeding device - a “cut-off reflector” - simple, but very important element rifle designs. The function of the “cut-off-reflector” is that the upper cartridge of a filled magazine remains separated (cut off) from other cartridges in the magazine when the bolt moves, and therefore is fed into the rifle’s chamber without interference. All other cartridges are located under the “cut-off-reflector” ridge, which is released only with appropriate, strictly fixed positions of the bolt.
Competition with Leon Nagant
In 1889 S.I. Mosin submitted his three-line (7.62 mm) infantry rifle, created on the basis of his previous, single-shot model, to the War Ministry competition. Some design ideas for this rifle were apparently borrowed from the Austrian rifle of the Mannlicher system, tested in the same year, with batch loading of an in-line (one above the other) middle-positioned magazine.
A little later, Mosin’s product was presented at the same competition with a Nagant system rifle, which was actively lobbied by the Belgian businessman Leon Nagant in the Russian military department with his characteristic enchanting energy. In October 1889, he personally brought to the newly established “Commission for the Development of Small-Caliber Guns” an 8 mm caliber rifle (3.15 lines) and 500 rounds of ammunition for it. Thus began a rather intense competition between Russian and Belgian designers.
The Belgian Leon had very good connections on all levels of the Russian military department. Subsequently, he was able to successfully introduce into service with the Russian army a very controversial model of his revolver, from the point of view of ensuring the rate of fire, the famous “Nagant”.
In competition with the Mosin rifle, Leon Nagant's initial lobbying positions were somewhat weaker: just the day before, Belgium refused to produce the Nagant system rifle, which at the competition lost in all respects to the German Mauser rifle. Both rifles underwent shooting and operational tests in the Izmailovsky, Pavlovsky, 147th Samara regiments and in the first guards battalion.
It is curious that soldiers and officers military units, who conducted the tests, unanimously spoke in favor of the Nagant rifle. Later, the Russian military department explained their clearly unpatriotic decision by the fact that the Mosin competition rifles were manufactured at the Tula Arms Plant, allegedly in a hurry, which, they say, could not but affect the overall quality.
During the voting in the “Commission for the Development of Small-Caliber Rifles,” the majority also spoke in favor of adopting the Belgian Nagant rifle for service with the Russian army. 14 people voted for the Nagant rifle, including the most authoritative experts Chagin, Roediger and von der Hoeven. Only 10 experts spoke in favor of the Mosin rifle.
The future of the Mosin “three-line” was decided thanks to the tough position of the inspector of weapons and cartridge factories V.N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and professor of the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy V.L. Chebysheva. Their decisive argument, which was also supported by Chagin and Roediger, was that the Mosin rifle was significantly simpler and cheaper to manufacture.
Inspector General of weapons and cartridge factories Vasily Nikolaevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin. Photo: Library of Congress
In addition, the production of the Mosin rifle was technologically based on machines that were already producing the Berdan rifle, which was in Russian service, which made it possible to establish the production of the Russian rifle much faster than the Nagant rifle. V.L. Chebyshev, whose authority among rifle specialists of that time was indisputable, specifically emphasized in his report that operational tests showed the absolute advantage of the Mosin rifle. During the entire testing period of the Mosin rifle, 217 delays were recorded, while the Nagan system rifle had 557 failures during the same number of firings.
“I cannot agree with the conclusion of the majority of experts,” Professor Chebyshev specially emphasized at the end of his report, “that both tested systems are equally good; this is obvious, if only because the Mosin system has enormous advantages over the Nagan system.”
As a result of several stages of discussion, the Commission adopted the S.I. rifle. Mosin. However, given that members of the Kabakov and Rogovtsev Commission also took part in its design, and some elements of the system were proposed by L. Nagan, it was decided to call the rifle “Russian three-line rifle of the 1891 model.”
Tsar Alexander III, who for some reason is called the nationalist tsar, having read the final report of the Commission, crossed out the word “Russian” from the name of the rifle. Such a wonderful product by S.I. Mosin, contrary to all international weapons traditions, received a completely faceless - without national and design indicators - serial name: “three-line rifle of the 1891 model.”
No upgrade required
The famous book by Vladimir and Valentin Mavrodin “Russian Rifle” claims that the Mosin rifle of the 1891 model was “the best of all foreign similar models of small arms.” It is unlikely that this such a categorical assessment is objective - the English Lee-Metford rifle or the famous German Mauser of the 1888 model were in no way inferior to the Russian “three-line”, and in a number of important positions they were superior to it. However, what the Russian rifle was undoubtedly good at was its unique simplicity and reliability, maintainability and undemanding manufacturing technology.
The simplicity of the “mosinki” design is probably a kind of weapon absolute. Suffice it to say that the rifle bolt - the most complex part of any gun - consists of only seven parts, and disassembly and assembly of the bolt can be done without any tools. This incredible simplicity ensured a very long production of the rifle without any significant modernization - there was simply nothing to modernize in the Mosinka. A very important advantage of the rifle is the presence of a detachable bolt action, which, if broken, could be replaced with any other - all parts of the “mosinka”, regardless of the manufacturer, are interchangeable.
In 1891, simultaneously with the infantry modification of the rifle, dragoon and Cossack three-line rifles were adopted.
The infantry rifle weighed 3.99 kg without a bayonet when the magazine was empty, and after acceptance receiver lining, protecting the shooter’s fingers from burns, and a long cleaning rod, its weight increased to 4.2 kg without a bayonet. Of the infantry rifles of the European powers, the Mosin rifle was the longest - 1306 mm.
The Dragoon type of rifle was seven centimeters shorter (the barrel became 73 cm instead of 80 cm). This had almost no effect on the weight of the rifle - it decreased by only 300 g. The Cossack rifle differed from the dragoon rifle only in the absence of a bayonet, and for a horseman it was inconvenient - heavy and poorly balanced.
Model 1891 three-line rifle. Photo: Imperial War Museums
With the beginning of the First World War, the Cossacks began to rearm on their own with the captured cavalry Mauser, which, although it was also quite heavy, was at least significantly better balanced.
The Mosinka magazine held five cartridges. The muzzle velocity of the standard factory cartridge was 620 m/s. In the specialized literature there is an indication that a Mosin rifle bullet pierced 16-35 one-inch boards from 50 steps. If the first number (16 boards) can still be somehow believed, then the second is clearly inspired by “jingoistic” inspiration. This same “inspiration” also includes the indicator of rifle combat that is often found in the literature, such as the longest sighting range, which is defined as 1900 meters.
The problem is that at the “target range” of 1900 meters you can only aim at a railway car, and then, probably, if it is facing the shooter. The full-length figure of a man is completely covered by the front sight of a rifle when aiming at 300 meters. At 600 meters, aiming at a person with an open sight is the same as aiming at him without a sight at all - at random, along the barrel. Even when using four times optical sight the practical firing range of a “mosinka” (i.e., the distance at which you can actually aim and actually hit) is unlikely to exceed 800, maximum 900 meters. However, all infantry rifles in Europe, produced in the same generation as the Mosinka, give approximately the same practical result.
Abroad, the S.I. Mosin rifle is known as the “Mosin” rifle system, or as the “Mosin-Nagant” - in memory of the borrowing of some elements of the Nagant system into the design of the Russian “three-line”. By resolution of November 25, 1891, the Artillery Committee of Russia awarded Colonel S.I. Mosin the prestigious Grand Mikhailov Prize, awarded once every five years.
The adoption of the Mosin infantry rifle required significant costs to organize a full production cycle, including powder, cartridge and weapons components. The War Ministry requested 156.5 million rubles for these purposes. At the report of the Minister of War, Tsar Alexander III imposed an uncharacteristic resolution for him: “The amount is terrifying, but there is nothing to be done, we must get started.” The Russian army never subsequently regretted this decision of the Tsar the Peacemaker.
The rifle of the Sergei Ivanovich Mosin system or “three-line”, adopted for service back in 1891, became the most popular small arms of the Great Patriotic War. In the USA, this legendary weapon is still called the “Russian rifle”.
Birth of a legend
Why “three-line”? In the Russian Imperial Army, caliber was measured not in millimeters, but in lines. A line is one tenth of an inch, and three lines is 7.62 mm. There were three types of “three-line”: infantry, dragoon and Cossack. They differed in length. In addition, the Cossack rifle did not have a bayonet.
The rifle's middle magazine holds 5 rounds. The first combat use of the “three-line” was the Battle of Andijan during the Pamir Campaigns, when Russian infantry practically mowed down the attacking enemy cavalry with repeating rifles. Then, perhaps the only complaint was noted about the thin bayonets of the rifle, which broke when trying to lift the enemy onto the bayonet in hand-to-hand combat.
In 1910, due to the transition to a pointed bullet, which had slightly different ballistic properties, the sighting device was changed and the early “three-ruler” bullets remain a rarity in museum collections.
Russian rifle
The main production in Imperial Russia was concentrated at the Tula and Izhevsk arms factories, and there are also rifles made in France by Chatellerault. The Sestroretsk arms factory also produced training rifles. With the outbreak of the First World War, mainly the dragoon version was produced. The same trend continued in the USSR, where since 1923 only dragoons were produced.
During the First World War, an order was given to the American companies Westinghouse and Remington to produce 2 million “three-line” cars.
However, in the states, citing various reasons, this order was repeatedly postponed. How many rifles were delivered to Russia during the First World War and the Civil War and to whom they went are very complex questions. The American interventionists in the North of Russia also had “three-line” units during the Civil War.
The “Russian rifle,” as it was called in the USA, produced overseas, differed from the Tula and Izhevsk rifles by having a walnut fore-end instead of a birch one and the absence of a top lining. All “three-line” models produced in the USA were infantry models.
Red Army
Only the dragoon model was left in service in the Red Army, and the rifle itself underwent minor modernization in 1930. Due to the appearance of the namushnik, the bayonet mount was changed, and the sight was changed from steps to meters. Since 1935, the receiver has acquired a rounded shape instead of a faceted one.
The weak point of the rifle is the safety, which requires a fair amount of physical strength, and setting the safety lock in frosty conditions is also problematic. In the second half of the 1930s, rifle production was concentrated in Izhevsk from 1938, as the Tula Arms Plant switched to the production of SVT.
The “Three Line” became the most popular Soviet small arms of the Great Patriotic War. In total, from May 1941 to the end of 1944, more than 11 million rifles and carbines based on the Mosin rifle were produced. Only in 1944, the “three-line” carbine of the 1944 model came to replace the “three-line” in production.
Carbines based on the “three-line”
The Model 1907 carbine was produced in small quantities and was in service with machine gun teams and artillerymen. Large distribution The Russian army did not receive this weapon. The second version of the carbine was created on the basis of the “three-ruler” already in Soviet times, in 1938. Essentially the same “three-ruler”, but 20 cm shorter.
There is an opinion that the carbine is a cavalry weapon. But in the Red Army, carbines of the 1938 model were used to arm artillerymen and sappers, and they appeared in the cavalry only during the Great Patriotic War. Until 1941, the Soviet cavalry had the same “three-line” units. During the Great Patriotic War, it turned out that there was no need for an ordinary shooter to fire at a distance of 2 kilometers - heavy machine guns performed this role. street fight and combat in trenches, the “three-line” (even in the 1891/1930 version) is very long.
It was necessary to create a more compact sample without resorting to a radical change in design. And such a model was created - it became the 1944 model carbine. The only difference was the presence of a folding needle bayonet of the Semin system. The bayonet is shorter than that of the “three-line”; bayonet combat became a relative rarity, and there was no longer any need to repel enemy cavalry attacks. The 1944 model carbine was produced until 1949 only at the Izhevsk plant, until it was replaced by the SKS-45 and AK-47.
Sniper version of the “three-line”
Since 1931, a sniper rifle based on the Mosin rifle has been in service with the Red Army. It was different from the standard one best quality barrel, curved bolt handle and the presence of an optical sight. Therefore, the rifle was loaded not with a clip, but with one cartridge at a time.
The first sights were purchased in Germany, and then the production of our own PU and PE was launched. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, when the main emphasis was on the production of SVT-40, the production of “three-line” snipers decreased significantly, and since 1942 it began to gain momentum again.
The sniper version of the “three-line” has proven itself well in battles from the Khasan events to the Great Patriotic War. Although there have been cases of combat use of the Mosin rifle in recent conflicts. The production of weapons continued until 1945. In the post-war period, due to the lack of a good sniper model (the SVT-40 was considered unsatisfactory as a sniper weapon), the “three-line” was left as a temporary measure until a new one was created sniper rifle. But the “three-line” was considered temporary for another 18 years, until the Dragunov sniper rifle was adopted for service.
This famous “three-line” became the most popular weapon at the beginning of the twentieth century. Although they call it “Mosin rifle” for short, in fact it had several creators and developers. because the caliber of its barrel was 3 lines (a line is an old Russian measure of length equal to approximately 2.54 mm, and three lines are equal to 7.62 mm). At the end of the 19th century, the tsarist army was armed with a four-line Berdan rifle, which no longer met the realities of that time and had many shortcomings. In 1882 S.I. Mosin began to improve it.
General information
Guard Captain Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, a hereditary military man originally from the Voronezh province, graduated from the artillery academy.
In 1885 they an original rack and pinion magazine was developed, which was later used in the “three-line”, which brought it great popularity.
Reliably ensured the supply of cartridges from the magazine and The cutoff-reflector prevented two cartridges from entering the chamber at once.
Watch the video:
This is not to say that there were no alternatives to this mechanism, but they were either much more difficult to implement or more expensive.
The Mosin design was a fairly successful compilation of the Bonnet bolts and the Mauser rifle of 1871/84. You can also check out. It was so convenient that the rifle could be disassembled and reassembled in any conditions, and no special tool was required for this. Read also the material about.
It should be noted that several other people besides S.I. took part in the creation of the famous “three-line”. Mosin: the barrel and cartridges were developed by Colonels Petrov, Rogovtsev and Staff Captain Savostyanov, and the loading method and cartridge clip were purchased from the Belgian Leon Nagan (the government bought all the documents from him for two hundred thousand rubles).
In this video you will learn the secrets of the Mosin rifle.
In 1891, by imperial decree, production of a new rifle began to equip the tsarist army.
For the development of the rifle, Mosin himself was awarded a cash prize, the Order of St. Anne of the Second Class and the Grand Mikhailovsky Prize (it was awarded only once every five years for special achievements in artillery).
The rifle at that time was produced in three types.
This was the most cumbersome version of the rifle, and without a bayonet it was almost ineffective. Often used over short distances.
During the Russo-Japanese War, the infantry rifle showed high lethal force and, at the same time, a number of shortcomings. The first types of weapons (before 1894) had an unprotected barrel, and when fired, it became so hot that it burned the soldiers’ hands.
Later, wooden overlays began to be used. In addition, the bayonet mount was fragile and often broke under strong blows.
Made for cavalry and Cossacks. The barrel was 7 centimeters shorter than that of the infantry; a bayonet was not required.
Although the initial speed was a little lower, overall it was a compact lethal weapon that quickly gained popularity among the soldiers of that time.
The short barrel and lighter weight made this type more convenient compared to the infantry one. The design of the belt was somewhat inconvenient (you could only carry the rifle on the left), the initial speed of the bullet was slightly lost, but in general the shooting results both with and without a bayonet were good.
In fact, these species differed only in the length of the trunk. The Mosin infantry rifle had the longest barrel and bayonet, the dragoon (or cavalry) had a smaller barrel and a slightly different version of the belt attachment, while the Cossack rifle had no bayonet at all, and the barrel was shortened.
The bayonet model was already a little outdated by that time - it was a tetrahedral bayonet that fits onto the barrel. When the weapon was dismantled, the tip of the bayonet could be used as a screwdriver. See also the material about the domestic rifle IZH 61.
Main characteristics of different types of rifles of 1891
The first half-million batch of Mosin rifles was manufactured in France (Chatellerault plant); later, in 1893-1894, domestic production was established at the factories of Sestroretsk, Tula, Izhevsk.
In the very first two wars in which the rifle was used (Russian-Japanese and World War I), all its shortcomings became apparent. Some of them were taken into account and adjusted; the dragoon version seemed optimal for use, and only this version began to be produced.
The main complaints were that without a bayonet it was impossible to shoot accurately. If it is not attached to the rifle, then the balance of the weapon is disrupted and the accuracy of the shot is lost, the shooting accuracy deteriorates significantly, and with a bayonet the rifle is very bulky and heavy. About which one is the best air rifle caliber 4.5 see.
Disassembly of the “three-line” was not intended, and certainly with fixed bayonets. Only in 1930 was it possible to eliminate this shortcoming. Then the most significant changes were made to the design of the dragoon “three-line”, and she changed the name slightly (became “model 1891/30”).
Mosin sniper rifle
The Mosin rifle is the ancestor of sniper rifles in Russia. The sniper rifle first appeared in 1931; it was designed on the basis of the 19891/30 model.
The sniper rifle had a select barrel with improved accuracy of fire, on the left side of the barrel there was a bracket, a bolt handle bent down, and a smaller and lighter sight. Watch the video:
The main difference, of course, was the presence of an optical sight, which was attached to the barrel on a special bracket. During the war, the Bramit silencer was sometimes used.
The optical sight increased by 3.5 times (the accuracy increased at a distance of up to 1300 meters), its weight was 270 g, its length was 169 millimeters, the field of view was 4° 30′. However, due to the installation of an optical sight, it was necessary to fire single shots.
Performance characteristics of the Mosin sniper rifle:
Advantages and disadvantages of the Mosin rifle:
| № | Advantages | Flaws |
| 1 | Powerful cartridge, good ballistics | Outdated cartridge |
| 2 | Long barrel and bolt life | Long descent |
| 3 | Relative simplicity of manufacturing technology, unpretentiousness | An outdated model of a needle bayonet, which was attached to the barrel rather than to the stock |
| 4 | Reliable rifle mechanism | Poor quality wooden parts |
| 5 | Simplicity and reliability of the shutter design | Non-spring frame clip (makes loading difficult) |
| 6 | Durable stock | When locking, the lugs were positioned horizontally, which is inconvenient |
| 7 | Normal rate of fire | The short bolt handle does not bend downwards (makes opening difficult) |
| 8 | Cheap frame clip, replacement of wooden parts | Infantry and dragoon rifles were sighted only with a bayonet. |
One of the historical rifles is the English Boer rifle, about it.
Conclusion
The Mosin rifle, which in 1927-1928 became the basis for the development of a version of the first sniper rifle in the Soviet state, which was subsequently actively and successfully used in various wars and even in Afghanistan (already in 1979-1989), lives to this day. It is successfully modified: the Finnish version is SSG-96, the Russian version is “OTs-48”.
In total, from 1891 to 1965 there were About 37 million copies of these rifles were produced. Fans of pneumatics will be interested in material about. Also read.
For half a century, the “three-ruler” became the main symbol of the Russian and then the Soviet soldier. It is equally associated with battles in the trenches of the First World War, with revolutionary patrols on the streets of Petrograd, with “psychic attacks” of the White Guards and with regiments leaving for the front in the terrible year of 1941.
Few people today remember why the rifle is called “three-line”. It comes from the caliber of the rifle barrel, which is equal to three lines. A line is an obsolete measure of length equal to approximately 2.54 mm. To be more precise, the name “three-line” denotes the well-known and familiar 7.62 mm caliber.
Video provided by Kalashnikov Media
Get away from the Berdanka
In the 1870-1880s, the Russian army was armed with Berdan tanks. This word meant two different systems of single-shot rifles chambered for a unitary central ignition cartridge with a metal sleeve and black powder.
Since the late 1870s, Russian military experts began talking about the need for the army to switch to repeating rifles, but the available samples did not have sufficient reliability and efficiency.
In 1889 the great chemist Dmitry Mendeleev as a result of experiments he managed to obtain smokeless gunpowder high quality. In the same year, a 7.62 mm cartridge loaded with smokeless powder was developed in Russia.
Back in 1882, the Main Artillery Directorate set the task of developing a multi-shot, “repeat” rifle, but only by 1889 did conditions arise that made it possible to create a truly modern rifle that could be produced in Russia along with weapons and ammunition.
Mosin rifle 7.62 mm model 1891-1930. Reproduction of an illustration from the book “Weapons of Victory” by the publishing house “Young Guard”, 1975. Photo: RIA Novosti / Khomenko
Mosin and Nagan: who won?
In 1889, a Belgian presented his rifle samples to a special commission. Leon Nagant And Head of the tool workshop of the Tula Arms Plant, Captain Sergei Mosin.
Both rifles had a number of interesting solutions, but did not meet all the requirements. The designers were asked to continue working. In the fall of 1890, Nagant and Mosin rifles were presented for military testing. They showed that the Russian rifle, although inferior to the Belgian in finesse and design, has the advantage of ease of manufacture and reliability. During testing, Mosin rifles gave three times less delays when feeding a cartridge than Nagant rifles.
But in the end, Mosin’s development was accepted only as a basis. Improvements were made to it, both borrowed from the Nagan design and proposed by the specialists who were part of the commission for choosing the model.
Rifle without a name
Minister of War Pyotr Vannovsky, presenting the final draft of the rifle for approval to the emperor, wrote: “The new model being manufactured contains parts proposed Colonel Rogovtsev, commission Lieutenant General Chagin, captain Mosin and gunsmith Nagan, so it is advisable to give the developed model a name: Russian 3-lin. rifle model 1891."
Emperor Alexander III simplified the name even more, ordering the rifle to be put into service under the name “ three-line rifle model 1891."
Sergei Ivanovich Mosin was not spared either ranks or awards, but his name was finally fixed in the name of the rifle only in the 1920s. The gunsmith did not live to see this: in the winter of 1902, he died of pneumonia at the age of 52.
Sergey Mosin. On the left is a captain, 1981, on the right is a major general, 1901. Source: Public Domain
"Three-line family"
Reliability and ease of production and handling made the Mosin rifle the most popular domestic weapon of the first half of the 20th century.
By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, approximately 3,800,000 rifles had been supplied to the army.
When it comes to the Mosin rifle, you need to keep in mind that a whole family of small arms was created on its basis.
Only since 1891, the rifle was produced in three modifications: “infantry”, “Cossack” and “dragoon”. In 1907, the family was replenished with a carbine, created on the basis of a rifle.
In 1930, by modernizing the “dragoon” rifle, a new type of weapon was created, known as the Mosin rifle model 1891/1930.
The start of production of optical sights in the USSR made it possible to create a sniper rifle based on the “three-line” rifle.
The Mosin sniper rifle, launched into production in 1931, was distinguished by improved barrel processing, a downward-curved bolt handle and a mount for an optical sight. In total, over 100 thousand of these rifles were produced, which became the weapons of legendary Soviet snipers, for example, Vasily Zaitsev.
Various modifications of rifles and carbines. Photo: Flickr.com / Antique Military Rifles
Only AKs were produced more
The latest modification of the Mosin rifle was the 1944 model carbine, which was distinguished by the presence of a fixed needle bayonet and simplified manufacturing technology. The experience of the Great Patriotic War required shortening infantry weapons, and the new carbine made it possible to fight in various earthen fortifications, buildings, dense thickets, and so on.
The 1944 model carbine was produced before the Kalashnikov assault rifle was adopted, after which it was gradually withdrawn from service.
To this day, numerous examples of civilian and sporting weapons are created on the basis of the Mosin rifle.
According to rough estimates, about 37,000,000 copies were produced in total. various modifications based on the “three-line”. From domestic weapons Only the Kalashnikov assault rifle turned out to be more widespread.
The Red Army during the Great Patriotic War
The most popular military profession during the Second World War remained the traditional infantry specialty of a rifleman. The Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army was no exception. A shooter with a conventional rifle bore the brunt of the battle. And therefore the fate of his weapon is especially interesting.
The pre-war small arms system of the Red Army was modern and fairly balanced in its nomenclature. But since it was formed mainly in 1939-1941, this led to the appearance of numerous samples within the same type. Thus, the magazine rifle mod. 1891/30, and a self-loading rifle mod. 1940 (SVT-40), chambered for one 7.62 mm rifle cartridge. In addition, each of them had a sniper version, and for ordinary soldiers of special forces - signalmen, sappers, etc. - a carbine mod. 1938
MILLIONS AND MILLIONS
Rifle mod. 1891/30 and carbine mod. 1938 were direct descendants of the Russian “three-line rifle” or, more precisely, the “3-line rifle mod. 1891”, created by an officer of the Tula Arms Factory S.I. Mosin (although elements developed by the Belgian gunsmith L. Nagan and members of the Commission of Major General N.I. Chagin were also used in its design). The definition of "three-line" simply meant the caliber measured in the inch system: 3 lines corresponded to 0.3 inches, that is, 7.62 mm. The Russian army then received three versions of the rifle - infantry, dragoon and Cossack. Since 1907, serial production of carbines for artillerymen and special forces began. And in 1908, a 7.62-mm rifle cartridge with a pointed bullet was adopted.
The modernization of 1930 included the installation of a new sighting device on the dragoon rifle (infantry and Cossack rifles were no longer produced by that time) and the introduction of some other changes to the design. Rifle mod. 1891/30 with a needle tetrahedral bayonet (the rifles were even brought into normal combat with the bayonet in the combat position) was considered a temporary solution - the main weapon of the Red Army was to become a self-loading rifle.
The order plan for the People's Commissariat of Armaments for 1940 provided for the production of 1,222,820 rifles mod. 1891/30, 163,000 carbines mod. 1938 and 600,000 self-loading rifles arr. 1938 (SVT-38). In 1941, due to the production of the SVT-40 modification, the order for self-loading rifles was reduced. But already at the beginning of 1941, the People's Commissariat of Defense significantly adjusted its requests, deciding to increase the number of self-loading rifles from 200,000 to a million, even with a complete refusal to supply repeating rifles.
The issue was considered by a special commission, and to understand its importance, just look at its composition: chairman - V. M. Molotov, members - G. M. Malenkov, N. A. Voznesensky, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs L. P. Beria, People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko, Chief of the General Staff G.K. Zhukov. They spoke out for an urgent increase in the production of high-tech vehicles. The then People's Commissar of Armaments B.L. Vannikov later recalled that he had to personally contact I.V. Stalin. He took into account the objections of the People's Commissariat and overturned the commission's decision. The order plan for 1941, approved on February 7, included 1,800,000 rifles: 1,100,000 self-loading and 700,000 magazine rifles. The production of “three-line guns” at the Tula Arms (No. 314) and Izhevsk (No. 74) factories has been preserved.
Repeating rifles and carbines were among the types of small arms with which the Red Army was provided, even in excess of its staff, by June 1941. But the difficult events of the initial period of the war: retreat, large combat losses, loss of weapons depots acutely raised the question of an urgent increase in the production of rifles. The good old “three-line” was 2.5 times cheaper in production than the new and still insufficiently mastered SVT, and it was also faster and easier for soldiers to understand. It is not surprising that it is the rifle mod. 1891/30 became the main weapon of the Red Army in battles with the Germans and their allies. It is worth noting that repeating rifles and carbines were the most popular weapons in other armies throughout the Second World War.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the “three-line” was modernized - primarily to simplify production. The receiver was made without top edges, the brass parts of the device were replaced with steel ones, the finishing was simplified, and the stock was not polished. Since the First World War, for simplicity, the rifle belt was attached to slots in the butt and fore-end of the rifle, which served as swivels (hence, by the way, the famous joke: “How much does a rifle swivel weigh?”). But now we had to simplify the design of these slots. The Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg, for example, houses a rifle manufactured in Izhevsk in 1942. Its metal parts are roughly processed on the outside, the birch stock is impregnated but not varnished, and the slots in the stock for the belt do not have reinforcing “eyes.”
By the way, after the evacuation of Tula Plant No. 314, the main burden of supplying the army with repeating rifles fell on Izhevsk Plant No. 74. It received the task of increasing the production of “three-line rifles” to 12 thousand units per day! The implementation of the plan was facilitated by the transition, begun on the eve of the war, to making rifling in the barrel bore by mandrel (punching) instead of cutting and the organization of production taking into account the inevitable decline in the average qualifications of workers. Thus, not only the manufacture of parts and assembly of rifles, but also acceptance was divided into separate, easier to master operations.
We had to resort to old stocks. V. N. Novikov, who was at that time Deputy People's Commissar of Armaments, said that when a critical situation with receivers arose at the Izhevsk enterprise, the head of the quality control department remembered that since pre-revolutionary times, “in the old basements of the plant there are at least sixty thousand ready-made receivers ", which were rejected at one time due to deviations in size. After testing and corrections, these boxes were used for new rifles. Unless the military acceptance office asked to polish off the mark with the royal eagle.
In total, during the years 1941-1945, the Red Army and other military formations of the USSR received 12,139,300 repeating rifles and carbines (for comparison: in Germany from 1939 to 1945, 10,327,800 were manufactured). Maximum production and supplies were reached already in 1942, and in 1943, due to the gradual saturation of troops with weapons, the supply of rifles began to decrease. But it was then that the last combat model in the “three-line” family appeared.
TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT OF COMBAT EXPERIENCE
The preference for close combat, the need to operate in dugouts, communication passages, buildings, forests, overcoming obstacles and obstacles, and the participation of riflemen in tank landings and assault groups required lighter and more compact weapons than the “three-line.” It could have been the same carbine mod. 1938, because the intermediate power cartridge was just being developed and automatic weapons for it had not yet been designed.
But the carbine did not provide for mounting a bayonet. And it gave the soldier great confidence in close combat, and they were by no means going to give it up.
In May 1943, eight bayonet designs were tested (carbines with a detachable bayonet mount were also tested). By decree of the State Defense Committee of January 17, 1944, the 7.62-mm carbine mod. 1944 with a permanently folding Semin bayonet. It became the last mass-produced military weapon in the “three-line” family. The same decree removed the rifle mod. 1891/30. In the report of the head of the Artillery Supply Department of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, Major General Rozhkov dated August 7, 1944, it is said: “The accuracy and accuracy of the battle of carbines with an integral bayonet are fully consistent with the tactical and combat requirements of modern combat... The effectiveness of firing from carbine with integral bayonet mod. 1944 at a distance of 300-400 m is the same as from a rifle mod. 1891/30." A few words about why such short distances were mentioned.
The experience of the war forced us to significantly reconsider the requirements for small arms. The trend towards precision shooting at long ranges has been replaced by the reverse installation. The infantry combat manual of 1942, which systematized the experience of the first period of the Great Patriotic War, stated: “The rifle is the shooter’s main weapon for hitting the enemy with a bullet, bayonet and butt... Concentrated aimed fire from a rifle is used to hit group targets up to 1000 m. Fire at aircraft and parachutists can navigate up to 500 m, through the viewing slots of tanks and armored vehicles - up to 200 m.”
The most advantageous opening fire distance according to the regulations was 600 m for excellent shooters, and for all others - 400 m, that is, within the range of a direct shot. The determination of these values contributed to the development of an intermediate power cartridge and weapons for it. And when formulating the requirements for the new cartridge, we used indicators of the direct shot range of the carbine mod. 1944 So the “three-line” made its contribution to the formation of a new generation of small arms.
The system of training shooters was also revised. A number of commanders noted the excessive enthusiasm of the best Red Army soldiers on the eve of the war for “well-aimed” fire at targets, which was more of a sporting interest. When training mass shooters during the war years, they began to pay attention not only to the basics of accurate shooting, but also to the skill of loading a magazine and chambering a cartridge “blindly” - without taking their eyes off the target, to the ability to recognize and eliminate (if possible) the causes delays in shooting, choose a position.
Lieutenant General N.I. Biryukov wrote in his memoirs “The Hard Science of Victory” about how already in front conditions it was necessary to train riflemen to conduct aimed fire: “Any combat commander knows how much trouble young soldiers who are afraid of the sound of a shot bring. Here is a fighter lying on the firing line. He had mastered the theory of shooting well: you need to align the sight slot and the front sight, hold your breath, and smoothly press the trigger. But just as he was getting settled, his neighbor’s rifle rattled to the right, he flinched, and the target went to the side. Now let’s imagine the same soldier when artillery shells whistle above him and explode somewhere ahead, when tanks roll over a trench and rush to attack... Nothing brings a soldier closer to a front-line situation than a tactical exercise with live fire. More than once I had the opportunity to observe people in battle who had previously been “baptized” in the rear. A huge difference compared to those who have not gone through such training."
The “Three Line” became the basis for a sniper rifle, rifle grenade launchers using muzzle mortars or ramrod grenades, as well as one of the first mass-used weapons special purpose. More precisely - “weapons of silent and flameless shooting.” For this purpose, a removable muzzle device “Bramit” (MITIN BROTHERS - named after the developers of the device) was used in combination with a special cartridge with a powder charge reduced by more than five times, which made it possible to reduce the initial speed of the bullet, which now did not exceed the speed of sound. “Bramit” was a muffler with two expansion chambers, a cut-off valve and holes for releasing gases. It was used by partisans, groups and special forces of the GRU and NKVD/NKGB. A carbine with a Bramit device, for example, was considered as an option for eliminating the Gauleiter of Belarus Wilhelm Kube in 1943, although the option with a time mine was implemented.
After the war, the longest of all from the “three-line” family was military service the sniper rifle remained - until the appearance of the Dragunov sniper rifle in the army.
NOT JUST TROPHIES...
Although the “three-line” rifle in various versions was the most popular rifle, it did not remain the only one. Summer-autumn 1941 large number rifles of various calibers and systems turned out, for example, in parts of the people's militia. Sometimes they are classified as captured, which is true if we talk about the Austrian 8-mm rifles and carbines “Mannlicher” system of 1895, which were actually captured from the enemy during the First World War, or the 7.92-mm “Mauser” wz.1929 , captured in the fall of 1939 in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.
Let me remind you that while Russia was participating in the First World War, it purchased a large number of different rifles and cartridges from its then allies. Russian troops received French rifles Lebel, Gras, Gras-Kropachek, Italian Vetterli-Vitali, Japanese Arisaka. A significant part of them were preserved in warehouses and were removed from there in the summer and autumn of 1941.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the departmental formations of the People's Commissariat of the Fuel Industry had rifles of the Lee-Enfield 1914, Arisak 1905, Lebel 1907/1915/1916, Mannlicher 1893, Vetterli-Vitali 1870/1884, Gra-Kropachek 1874/1885 rifles years and 1885, 1878/1884. Rifles of the Arisaka system mod. 1905, along with other foreign weapons, fighters of the fighter battalion of the Leningrad Baltic Plant received Lebel rifles - the militia of the Krasnogvardeisky district of Moscow.
Interesting are the memories of one of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, who began his combat career in the Moscow militia, about the issued French rifles: “We almost caught wires with them.” Indeed, French needle stiletto bayonets were very long.
Despite the saturation of the troops with weapons, they had to resort to using new trophies at the front. Mainly for arming units of engineering troops, communications troops, that is, “support units.” Thus, the documents of the 123rd separate motorized pontoon-bridge battalion indicate that when repelling an enemy raid on July 17, 1943, “1291 pieces of Italian cartridges” were used up. The use of Italian rifles (we are obviously talking about captured Mannlicher-Carcano rifles) is not surprising - back in March 1943, this battalion had about half of the 318 rifles allotted to it.
The use of captured weapons in the presence of ammunition was not uncommon. It is no coincidence that NKO Order No. 6 of January 5, 1943 indicated: “... captured weapons and property taken by troops during the battle and immediately used in battles against the enemy remain in the troops.”
HERR "MAUSER"
Here the question inevitably arises about comparing the domestic rifle with the most popular enemy weapons. These, contrary to the stereotype ingrained in the minds of the majority, were repeating rifles and carbines of the Mauser system of 1898, and not MP38 submachine guns.
Most Wehrmacht units had the Mauser K98k carbines (or shortened rifles) adopted in 1935, although old infantry rifles and Mausers of Czech, Belgian, Polish, and Austrian production were also used. According to the combat characteristics of the rifle mod. 1891/30 and K98k were equivalent. And yet each had its own characteristics.
The Russian “three-ruler” remained its remarkable ease of use and high reliability. But without in any way detracting from the merits of the domestic model, it must be admitted that it is the Mauser of 1898 that is considered a classic of military repeating rifles.
Its positive qualities include the features of the shutter device, trigger mechanism, store and lodge. A non-automatic safety lever with three positions is mounted in the rear part of the bolt: locking the hammer with the hammer and the bolt, locking the hammer with the hammer (used only when disassembling the rifle) and “fire”. The “three-line” does not have a fuse. True, pulling back the trigger screwed on back the striker, with a quarter turn, can be considered putting the weapon “on safety,” but such an operation required a lot of effort and contributed to the weakening of the mainspring.
The Mauser’s trigger mechanism provides a “warning” release, which facilitates more accurate shooting than the “three-ruler” trigger without warning, although this does not play a significant role for a mass shooter in battle. The advantages of the Mauser's two-row magazine are obvious. Its appearance was facilitated by a German cartridge without a protruding rim and with a sleeve fixed in the chamber by the front slope. The Russian three-line cartridge was fixed with a protruding rim, which determined the use of a single-row magazine and the appearance of a cut-off reflector in the “three-line” - one of the key elements of the Mosin system. The K98k stock with a semi-pistol protrusion of the butt neck provides comfortable aiming; the butt neck is somewhat stronger than that of the “three-ruler”.
The advantages of the Mauser K98k design are the result not so much of the talent of the creators as of development. The Mauser system took ten years to develop before being put into service. The “three-line” system was created earlier and in a shorter time. The end of the 19th century, when both systems appeared, was the beginning new era in the history of small arms - the era of cartridges with smokeless powder and new ballistics, increasing rate of fire. And even a seven-year difference in such turbulent periods means a lot. The “Three Line” was subsequently modified slightly, mainly due to the adoption of a new version of the cartridge or to simplify production. Moreover, on the eve of both world wars in our country they intended to soon replace it with a self-loading rifle.
During the war, German industry also faced the need to reduce the cost of weapons production. In particular, on the K98k, the walnut wood of the stock was replaced by cheaper wood or plywood board, a number of parts were made by stamping, magazine boxes were made of tin, stock rings were simplified, and “ersatz bayonets” were introduced.
