Destructive range of the three-line. "Three-Line"

Looked at: 3 068, photo: 13

The three-line rifle of the Mosin system, model 1891, is rightfully considered one of the most famous images of the Russian small arms... Having taken part in the Russian-Japanese and the First World Wars, she subsequently faithfully served the Red Army during the difficult times of the Great Patriotic War.

Created even before the beginning of the twentieth century, the Russian "three-line", for many decades remained a reliable and modern weapon worthy of our wonderful soldier, was the first domestic model of all rifle systems that ever entered service with the army ...

"All the improvements in firearms only lead to the fact that the bullet becomes a little less stupid, but it never was and never will be a good fellow." This is how the military theorist General Dragomirov expressed his attitude to rapid-fire weapons in 1888. Strange, isn't it? It would seem, who, if not the military, would be the first to appreciate the advantages of a magazine-fed, multiple-shot rifle over the grandfather's single-shot one? Moreover, the armies of most European powers were hastily equipped with the latest "shops".

Cartridge 7.62 × 54 mm, sample 1891:
Powder charge weight - 2.35 g. Bullet weight - 13.73 g. starting speed from an 800 mm barrel - 685 m / s, from a 731 mm - 660 m / s, from a 508 mm - 620 m / s.

Let's face it: the Russian general had some grounds for pessimism. And all because in technology, new ideas are often tested on old systems that have worked out their age. At first, when the advantages of magazine rifles became clear, gunsmiths of all countries tried to remake single-shot ones. Indeed, it is impossible to re-equip a multi-million dollar army in one day. No matter how simple a combat rifle is, setting up mass production of a new model will take a fair amount of time.

Some inventors placed ammunition in the butt, others chose the scheme with an under-barrel magazine - a long tube that stretched from the bolt almost to the very muzzle of the gun.

Mosin three-line rifle, 1891. Caliber - 7.62 mm. The length of an infantry rifle without a bayonet is 1306 mm, a Dragoon and Cossack rifle - 1238 mm, a carbine - 1016 mm. Barrel length: 800 mm for the infantry, 731 mm for the Dragoon and Cossack, 508 mm for the carbine.

However, these and many other systems of the same type were not destined to combat service. And the applied and under-barrel magazines, giving the rifle an enviable rate of fire, did not at all make the bullet "somewhat less stupid." Rather, the opposite is true. It turned out to be more difficult to hit the target with the new rifles than with the "single charges": the rebalancing of the gun, the change in its center of gravity with the emptying of the magazine, affected. Further - it gets worse! It is not easy to fill a long tube in the stock or under the barrel with a dozen rounds. At the most intense moment of the battle, the soldier had to either hastily fill the magazine, or shoot from his weapon, as from an ordinary single-shot rifle. On top of all the fast and well-aimed fire, the thick powder smoke, which did not have time to disperse, was very disturbing. In those days, cartridges were still equipped with an ancient mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and coal. It turned out to be some kind of vicious circle - the faster it was possible to shoot, the more senseless this seemingly invaluable quality of new rifles became.

It was by this time in 1885 that the French engineer Viel had invented smokeless gunpowder. The novelty forced all military powers to hastily develop cartridges of a different type and, as a result, new rifles. France was the first to rearm, equipping its army in 1886 with Lebel's magazine shotgun. The French took the under-barrel magazine as a basis, but the new cartridge gave the weapon excellent fighting qualities. Now the infantryman could carry 120 rounds instead of the previous 80. Powerful gunpowder made it possible to significantly reduce the caliber of the rifle and increase the muzzle velocity from 430 to 615 m / s. "Of course, a new rearmament of all nations followed," the German encyclopedia "Industry and Technology" stated a decade later, "which is a sad, expensive, but inevitable phenomenon in the current political relations."

It was in this situation that Russia found itself then. Back in 1888, a “Special Commission for Testing Store Guns” was formed, one of whose members was the head of the workshop of the Tula Arms Factory, Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, the author of the future three-line. The commission accelerated research after a Russian military agent announced the rearmament of the French army.

Almost simultaneously with the Mosin model, the rifle of the Belgian Leon Nagant entered the court of high courts. The eminent manufacturer had every reason to hope for success.

Five years later, the Russian army adopted a revolver of his system - the famous Nagant. Nevertheless, a Russian designer took over in this competition. An exhaustive idea of the advantages of its "three-line" is given by the opinion of the professor of the Artillery Academy, General V. L. Chebyshev: “If we calculate the number of all the delays in the actions of the stores, it turns out that there were three times less of them when firing from the system of Captain Mosin (217) than from the system of Nagan (557). Taking into account that this advantage turned out to be, despite the fact that the guns and clips presented by Captain Mosin for the experiment were made under extremely unfavorable conditions and, as a result, very inaccurate, the guns and packs of the Nagant, on the contrary, turned out to be made amazingly accurately, I did not I can agree with the conclusion that both tested systems are equally good ...

Cartridge 7.62 × 54 mm model 1908 with a pointed bullet:
The mass of the powder charge is 3.1 g. The mass of the bullet is 9.6 g. The initial velocity from an 800 mm barrel is 880 m / s, from a 731 mm barrel - 865 m / s, from a 508 mm barrel - 816 m / s.

In my opinion, in view of the above circumstances, the system of Captain Mosin has a huge advantage over the system of Nagant. "

Time has shown how right the visionary general was. Not inferior in its ballistic data to the best foreign models, the three-line was distinguished by its reliability and simplicity. Mosin managed to find a successful design of the store, which, like many other systems, was located in the middle of the rifle, under the bolt. The Russian inventor proposed a completely original way to prevent the simultaneous supply of two cartridges and, as a result, the shutter spell. The cutoff-reflector created by him anticipated similar or other mechanisms that appeared abroad several years later.

On the other hand, the limited time did not make it possible to carry out new original developments in full. I had to use already existing parts and well-known solutions. In particular, this applies to the liner. It was the sleeve that caused a lot of trouble for Mosin and subsequently all the designers of automatic weapons designed for a rifle cartridge. The fact is that a rifle sleeve has a cap called a rim to remove it from the chamber. The rim leads to an increase in the size of the weapon, zinc with cartridges, and a decrease in the charge of gunpowder. In addition, the muzzle of the case has very thin walls, so high-quality metal was used for its manufacture, which is always in short supply in wartime. If cracks appeared on the muzzle when firing, then the sleeve was difficult to remove from the chamber, and this is completely unacceptable for automatic weapons. In addition to the cartridge case, Mosin was forced to take parts from rifles of other designs. This was dictated, in particular, by the need to use the existing equipment of weapons factories.

The three-line Mosin system refers to magazine rifles with a sliding bolt with a turn when locking. The barrel bore is locked by symmetrically located lugs of the combat bolt larva.

Three-line shutter

The three-line shutter is a type of sliding shut-off shutter. With the mechanisms assembled on it, it sends the cartridge into the chamber, locks the barrel bore, fires, removes the spent cartridge case and interacts with the cut-off reflector. A combat larva with two symmetrical protrusions serves to lock the barrel bore.

Three-line shutter and its details:
1 - bolt stem, 2 - combat larva, 3 - ejector, 4 - trigger, 5 - striker, 6 - 28-coil combat spring, 7 - connecting bar.

Inside the combat larva, a channel of variable cross-section is formed with a hole in the front part for the striker to exit the striker, and on the outer surface there is a longitudinal groove for the passage of the reflective projection of the cutoff of the reflector and a groove for the ejector. A small protrusion and a transverse groove in the rear part serve to connect the combat cylinder with the bolt stem and the connecting strip. The connecting strip serves to connect the combat larva with the bolt stem, in addition, it determines the position of the trigger and prevents the hammer from screwing in and out of the trigger. It consists of a strip itself, a stand and a tube pressed into the stand with an oval hole. A combat larva is put on the front end of the tube, into the transverse groove of which a protrusion located in the front of the bar enters, and the rear is placed in the channel of the bolt stem; in this case, the comb of the rack is placed in the transverse groove, and the protrusion of the combat larva in the longitudinal groove of the latter.

Three-line striking mechanism

Impact mechanism of striker type. The firing pin has a firing pin, a whisk for supporting the mainspring and a thread at the rear end for connecting to the trigger. The hammer is screwed onto the drummer and has a protrusion at the bottom, which is a combat platoon; the back of the trigger forms a button; to guide the trigger in the groove of the receiver is a comb with a safety protrusion and a screw protrusion interacting with a screw cutout on the bolt stem.

The safety mechanism against premature shots and against the possibility of a shot when sending the next cartridge is carried out in the bolt.

Trigger mechanism from the trigger, the trigger spring, the trigger spring screw and the trigger axis. The trigger is mounted on the axis between the ears of the receiver and consists of a head with a slide stop and a tail. A rectangular hole is formed in the trigger head with chamfers superimposed on the upper edges, into which the trigger spring enters, attached with a heel to the receiver wall with a screw. At the rear end of the trigger spring there is a sear and a stop that limits the sear upward.

The cartridges are fed from a vertical-type magazine box with a single-row arrangement of cartridges. The magazine box is filled by pushing the cartridges out of the magazine.

Three-line sight

The three-line has a sector-type sight. The aiming block is fixedly mounted on the barrel with the help of a trapezoidal protrusion on the barrel and the same groove on the lower plane of the aiming block, fastened with a screw and soldered with tin. To set the required height of the sight, the aiming block has two ribs.

Three-line sight:
1 - aiming block, 2 - aiming bar, 3 - aiming bar clamp, 4 - clamp latches, 5 - latch springs, 6 - aiming bar axis, 7 - aiming bar spring.

The aiming bar can rotate on its axis, passing into the eyes of the aiming block, constantly pressing against the aiming block with a leaf spring, which with its front end abuts against the aiming bar, and with the rear end it enters the groove between the sector ribs of the aiming block.

A mane with a semi-oval slot for aiming is formed at the rear end of the bar. On the outer side of the plank, there are divisions from 1 to 20 (in hundreds of meters): right side even, and odd on the left; between the divisions of the dash for installing the sight with an accuracy of 50 m. On the sides of the strip there are cutouts for the teeth of the clips of the clamp.

The rectangular front sight is attached together with the front sight to the base of the front sight using a trapezoidal protrusion and the same groove on the base.

For bayonet fighting, a needle bayonet is attached to the rifle barrel, consisting of a blade, a latch, a neck and a tube, which is put on the muzzle of the barrel. There were options with an integral needle bayonet, as well as a bayonet knife

Together with the main model, which armed the infantry, two more modifications of the rifle were introduced. For the cavalry, the dragoon version was intended, which was distinguished by a somewhat shortened barrel. The gunners were armed with a carbine, an even shorter and lighter version.

The Russian three-line rifle of the 1891 model turned out to be so perfect that Russia did not have to re-arm itself when almost all states did it. France changed the rifle in 1907, Germany - in 1898, England - in 1914 ... Only in 1930, 40 years later, they carried out modernization.

The 1930 sample was distinguished by a different bayonet mount, a new aiming bar, front sight safety, lower trigger pull, and a number of other design changes.

And at this time, in France, Italy and Japan, rifles were changed again - in Japan and Italy they increased the 6.5 mm caliber, and in France, on the contrary, decreased from 8 to 7.5 mm.

In 1931, the best riflemen of the Red Army received sniper option rifle, characterized in that the barrel of the weapon was manufactured using a special technology: for better accuracy and accuracy of fire. The main feature of the sniper rifle was an optical sight, mounted on it using a special bracket.

The handle of the bolt stem was bent down for ease of loading with a sniper rifle. The sniper rifle did not have a bayonet, and the front sight was one millimeter higher, which was precisely due to the removal of the bayonet and zeroing the rifle in the factory with an open sight. Finally, the thickness of the trigger spring was reduced in the middle by 0.2 mm, so that the force on the trigger when releasing the firing pin from the cocked was from 2 to 2.4 kg.

Sniper rifle Mosin made it possible to fire with an optical sight from 100 to 1400 meters and with an open sight from 100 to 600 m.

The Mosin rifle, created in Russia, aka "three-line" and "mosinka", was used from 1891 until the end of World War II and was Russia, and then the USSR, the main small arms. What is the secret of the rifle, created back in the 19th century, and which has become a famous example of Russian weapons all over the world?

The beginning of smokeless powder production made the transition to smaller calibers possible, and the evolution of weapon technology led to the creation of magazine-fed rifles. In 1882, the Main Artillery Directorate announced the task of creating a Russian multi-charge rifle, and a year later, Major General Chagin headed the "Commission for testing magazine rifles."

History of creation

In 1989, Sergei Ivanovich Mosin proposed a store system with a 7.62 mm caliber, created on the basis of his single-shot rifle. From the latter, the bolt group and receiver were taken without any special changes, while a magazine was added, in design resembling the magazine of a Mannlicher rifle.

The Belgian system of Leon Nagant competed with the domestic development on tests, which turned out to be better, but more expensive and labor-intensive in production, as well as giving 2 times more misfires.

At the end of the tests, the commission decided to begin deliveries to the Russian army of the Mosin rifle, equipped with a 5-round Nagant magazine.

Three-line chucks

Simultaneously with the rifle, a 7.62 mm cartridge, called a three-line cartridge, was adopted. That is why it has become customary among the soldiers to call the new rifle a three-line.

The cartridge was made in the image of the French cartridge by the designer Veltischev. Its features were bullets with a blunt end, the use of smokeless powder and a sleeve with a protruding bottle-shaped rim.

This liner was outdated, but the poor state of the Russian industry prompted this step due to the less stringent manufacturing tolerances.

Adoption, production

The Mosin rifle of the 1891 model was adopted in 3 versions. It went into mass production in 1893 at the Sestroretsk Arms Plant. Despite the fact that later production began at several more factories, their capacity was not enough to meet the needs of the Russian army, which is why production was ordered in the United States.

The first option is an infantry rifle with a long bayonet and barrel.

The second option is a cavalry or dragoon rifle with a shorter barrel and a new way of attaching the belt.

The third option is a Cossack rifle without a bayonet and with the shortest barrel.

The first two variants used a non-modern tetrahedral needle bayonet. Its section made it possible to use the bayonet as a screwdriver, facilitating the disassembly of the rifle.

The inability to detach the bayonet from the rifle forced it to always be worn in a firing position, in addition, zeroing was done with a bayonet attached, since its removal led to a change in the balance of the weapon. During operation, the bayonet connection weakened, which led to loosening and deterioration of firing accuracy.

The deficiency was corrected in 1930, and in 1938 they got rid of the bayonet, which is always in a combat position. At the same time, other features of the system were improved, for example, in 1894, wooden barrels appeared on the barrel, protecting the hands of soldiers from burns on the red-hot barrel.

Device and technical characteristics

The Mosin rifle of the 1891/1930 model is a magazine rifle, a sliding bolt is used. Due to the technological design, disassembly and assembly did not take much work and did not require soldiers highly qualified... Assembled from the following parts.

7.62 mm rifled barrel

The early images had a trapezoidal groove, later it was simplified to a rectangular one.

At the rear of the barrel there is a smooth-walled chamber into which a projectile is fed before firing, above it there is a factory mark, by which it is possible to find out the manufacturer and the year of manufacture. There is a thread on the hemp of the barrel, with the help of which the receiver with the shutter inside is attached. A magazine box is attached to it, inside which is a feed mechanism, a cut-off reflector and a trigger.

Magazine and cut-off reflector

The magazine holds 4 cartridges, located in 1 row, and the feed mechanism for them.

The cut-off reflector is actuated by the shutter and separates the cartridges as they are fed. Also serves as a reflector for fired cartridges. In 1930, it was modernized, replacing a simple part with a blade with a reflective projection and a spring part.

It is the cut-off reflector that is one of the most important parts of the Mosin rifle, since it ensures the unpretentiousness of the system and its uninterrupted operation in any conditions. It's funny, but the creator used it only for the sake of outdated cartridges with a sleeve with a protruding rim.

Shutter and trigger

A feature of the Mosin rifle is considered to be a long and tight descent, which does not have a warning - its course is uniform and the descent stage is not highlighted with great effort.

The bolt is designed to send the cartridge into the chamber, then the barrel is locked. After firing, they remove the sleeve or cartridge that misfired.

The sniper modification has an extended shutter grip, which makes it easy to install the optical sight and increases the convenience of reloading.

Stock and receiver plate

The stock connecting parts of the rifle includes the forend, neck and butt, made of birch or walnut.

The neck is straight, designed for bayonet fighting, the convenience of shooting is sacrificed.

In 1984, a pad appeared to protect the soldier's hands from burns on the barrel when firing, and the barrel itself from accidental damage.

Sight and front sight

The 1891 model rifle has a graduated sight, graduated in hundreds of steps, and has two rear sights. The first of them is designed for shooting at 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 meters, the second is designed for shooting at a distance of 1300 to 3200 meters. To use the second, you need to put the aiming bar vertically.

The rifle of the 1891/30 model was equipped with one whole, providing for firing from 50 to 2000 meters.

The front sight is located near the muzzle, on the 1891/30 rifle it has a ring front sight.

The Mosin sniper rifle received an optical sight.

Mosin sniper rifle

In addition to infantry, cavalry and Cossack rifles, a sniper rifle was developed and put into service in 1931.

A distinctive feature is the ability to charge only 1 cartridge, which is due to the presence of an optical sight.

The latter had an increase of 3.5 and provided aimed shooting at a distance of up to 1300 meters.

The Mosin sniper rifle became widespread during the Second World War, when with its help the soldiers of the Red Army restrained the open movement of the Germans.

Specifications

Barrel caliber 7.62 mm, length 1230 mm, weight 4.27 kg, muzzle velocity 865 m / sec, magazine for 5 rounds, rate of fire up to 10 rounds per minute, manual loading. The aimed firing range was 2000 meters for conventional modifications and 1300 for sniper.

Advantages and disadvantages

The Mosin rifle had pronounced advantages in the form of cheapness and ease of production, strength, unpretentiousness in maintenance and undemanding training for soldiers.

At the same time, there were also disadvantages, mainly due to an outdated design, developed back in the 19th century. For example, an inconvenient shutter made reloading difficult and inconvenient to carry.

For many years from the USSR, the Mosin rifle was promoted as the best in its class, superior to foreign counterparts. In some ways, the history of creation is similar to the Soviet T-34 tank, in which ergonomics and convenience yielded first place to manufacturability and mass production, and its cheapness.

Nevertheless, it is foolish to deny its value for the Red Army, because the weapon should really be as simple, unpretentious, but as effective as possible.

View of the receiver and the bolt of a rifle of the 1891-30 model (pre-war release - the receiver in the front has an octagonal cross-section; rifles of the war years of release had round-shaped receivers).

Cartridges for the Mosin rifle caliber 7.62 × 54mm R.
left - equipped clip
right, top to bottom: a cartridge of the 1891 model with a blunt bullet and two cartridges of the 1908 model with a pointed bullet and steel lacquered and brass casings, respectively.

	infantry rifle arr 1891 and 1891/10	Dragoon rifle arr 1891 and 1891/10	rifle arr 1891/30	carbine mod 1938	carbine arr 1944
Caliber	7.62 × 54mm R
Type of	manual reloading, longitudinally sliding butterfly valve
Length	1306 mm 1738 mm with bayonet	1234 mm 1666 mm with bayonet	1234 mm 1666 mm with bayonet	1,020 mm	1,020 mm
Barrel length	800 mm	730 mm	730 mm	510 mm	510 mm
The weight	4.22 kg 4.6 kg with bayonet	3.9 kg 4.28 kg with bayonet	3.8 kg 4.18 kg with bayonet	3.45 kg	~ 3.9 kg with integral folding bayonet
Shop	5 rounds in an integral box magazine, equipment from clips

With the development of weapons and general technologies at the end of the 19th century, a new, qualitative leap was outlined in the development of long-barreled individual weapons in small arms - the appearance of smokeless propellants ensured the transition to reduced calibers, and in combination with the development of technology - also the creation of acceptable systems with store-bought food to replace single-charge systems. In the Russian Empire, the corresponding research was begun back in 1883, for which a special commission was created under the Main Artillery Directorate. General Staff... As a result of lengthy trials, by 1890, two magazine rifle systems reached the finals - domestic, developed by Captain S.I. Mosin, and Belgian, development of Leon Nagant. According to the test results in 1891, a rifle was adopted, which was a more or less basic Mosin design with some (not too significant, but nevertheless available) borrowings from the Nagant system. In particular, according to some reports, the design of the magazine feed and the plate holder was borrowed from Nagan. The rifle was put into service under the designation "Model 1891 3-Line Rifle". 3 lines in the old Russian system of measures are equal to 0.3 inches, or 7.62 mm. Together with the rifle, a new three-line (7.62mm) cartridge was adopted, now known as 7.62x54mm R. The cartridge was developed by the Russian designer Veltischev based on the French 8x56mm R cartridge from the Lebel rifle and had a bottle-shaped case with a protruding rim, a smokeless powder charge and a blunt shell bullet. The design of the liner with a flange, which had already begun to become obsolete, was adopted for reasons of the low level of development of the Russian arms industry - the manufacture of chambers for such a liner, and the liners themselves, can be made according to less strict tolerances than are required when using liners without a protruding flange. This decision, at that time, had a certain economic and military base - the creation and introduction of a cartridge without a flange, like the German cartridge model 1888, would have cost more and would have required more time. However, due to various historical circumstances, the subsequent change in the design of the cartridge to a more progressive one (which occurred in other developed countries at the latest by the end of the 1920s) did not happen, and until today domestic designers are forced to rack their brains when creating automatic systems for the hopelessly outdated cartridge.

Initially rifle arr. 1891 of the year was put into service in three basic versions, which differed little from each other. the infantry rifle had a long barrel and bayonet. The dragoon (cavalry) rifle had a slightly shorter barrel and was also supplied with a bayonet, in addition, the method of attaching the rifle belt was changed for the dragoon rifle (instead of swivels, through holes were made in the stock). The Cossack rifle differed from the Dragoon rifle only in the absence of a bayonet. The bayonet for a rifle arr. 1891 was also adopted a somewhat outdated model - a needle, with fastening using a tubular coupling, worn on the barrel. The bayonet had a square section with small valleys on the sides, the tip was sharpened to a plane, and could be used as a screwdriver when disassembling a weapon. The main drawback of the system, corrected only in 1938, was that the bayonet always had to be worn adjacent to the rifle, in a combat position. This made the already rather long rifle even more inconvenient to carry and maneuver, especially in cramped circumstances (in trenches, in a dense forest, etc.). All rifles (except the Cossack rifle) were fired with an attached bayonet, and the removal of the bayonet led to a significant change in the battle of the rifle. In addition, the bayonet mountings tended to loosen over time, impairing the accuracy of shooting (the defect was eliminated only in the 1930 modification). Early examples of rifles were distinguished by the absence of barrel linings and had an open top along the entire length of the barrel. Since 1894, wooden upper plates were introduced to protect the shooter's hands from burns on the hot barrel. Since at the time of adoption, domestic production was not yet ready to start producing new rifles, the initial order was placed in France, at the arsenal in the city of Chatellerault. Serial production of rifles at the Sestroretsk Arms Plant near St. Petersburg under the leadership of Mosin himself began in 1893-94, in Tula and Izhevsk a little later. During the First World War, due to the inability of the Russian industry to make up for losses at the front, rifles had to be ordered from the United States. Orders were placed at the Remington and Westinghouse factories in 1916. After the October Revolution of 1917, a significant portion of the rifles remained in the United States and were sold on the civilian arms market or were used for the initial training of soldiers in the army. Externally, the rifles of the American order, in addition to the marking, differed from the domestic ones in the material of the lodge - they had walnut lodges instead of birch ones.

The first modernization of the 1891 model rifle was postponed in 1908 - 1910, when, in connection with the adoption of a new version of the cartridge with a pointed bullet and improved ballistics, the rifles received new sights. In addition, other minor changes were made, such as the new design of the false rings. The new rifles received the designation model 1891-10 of the year and served in all three versions until 1923, when the command of the Red Army, in order to unify, decided to leave in service only the dragoon rifle, which remained the main individual infantry weapon until 1930. In 1930, another modernization took place, and again - only partial. The method of mounting the ramrod and bayonet is changing, but the latter must always be attached to the rifle. The rifle (by this time already officially known not as an unnamed "sample", but a rifle of the Mosin system) receives new sighting devices, graduated in meters, and not outdated arshins. The design of the false rings is changed again. Under the designation "Mosin rifle arr 1891-30", this weapon becomes the main weapon for the Red Army in the pre-war period and for most of the Great Patriotic War. In addition to the rifle arr 1891-30, in 1938, a shortened carbine of the 1938 model was adopted, which differed (except for the shorter stock and barrel length) by the absence of a bayonet. In 1944, the last modernization of an already fairly outdated system takes place - a carbine arr of 1944 was adopted, which differed from the carbine of 1938 by the presence of a sideways folding integral bayonet, which was still a progress in comparison with the previous versions. The 1944 carbine replaces in production both the arr 1891-30 rifle and the 1938 carbine, as a weapon more suitable for modern mobile warfare. At the end of the Second World War, the production of Mosin rifles continued until the end of the 1940s, after which part of the machinery and equipment was transferred to Poland. In addition to Russia / USSR, the Mosin system rifle was in service in a number of countries, including Poland, Yugoslavia, Hungary, China, North Korea and Finland. Moreover, the latter not only received a certain supply of 1891-10 model rifles during the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, but also captured a fairly large number of 1891-30 model rifles during the "northern" war between the USSR and Finland in 1940. In addition, Finland itself produced Mosin rifles. Until now, Mosin rifles have enjoyed a certain popularity among the civilian population of the ex-USSR (and other countries) for their low cost, good ballistic data and the availability of cartridges.

From a technical point of view, the Mosin system rifle is a manual reloading magazine weapon. The barrel is locked longitudinally sliding. rotary shutter on two lugs for the receiver. The lugs are located in the front of the bolt and, when locked, are located in the horizontal plane. The drummer is cocked and put into a combat platoon when the jam is opened. The bolt is simple in design, the straight reloading handle is located in the middle of the bolt. There is no fuse as a separate part; instead, the hammer head (striker) located openly behind the bolt is used for setting the fuse. The bolt can be easily removed from the receiver without the aid of a tool (it is enough to pull the bolt all the way back and then press the trigger to pull it back). box magazine, integral, single-row arrangement of cartridges. The lower cover of the magazine is hinged down and forward for quick unloading and cleaning of the magazine. The magazine's equipment is made of plate clips for 5 rounds or one cartridge each, through the upper window of the receiver with the bolt open. Due to the design features of the store (single-row arrangement of cartridges when loading from above), a special part had to be introduced into the design - a cut-off that blocked the second and lower cartridges in the store when the upper cartridge was fed into the barrel. With the bolt fully closed, the cutoff was turned off, allowing the next cartridge to rise to the feed line into the barrel. on early samples, the cutoff also served as a reflector for the spent cartridge case, later (from 1930) a separate reflector was introduced. The rifle stock is made of wood, usually made of birch, with a straight neck and a steel back of the buttstock. The sights are open, since 1930, a front sight ring safety has been introduced on a number of rifles.

In addition to those described above, there were also less common modifications, the most famous of which was the 1891-30 model sniper rifle. The rifle outwardly differed from the basic design by the bent downward shutter handle and mounted on the left side of the receiver for the telescopic sight of the PE or PU brands. Rifles for modernization into a sniper version were selected at factories for combat accuracy from serial ones. Another interesting modification is a rifle with a silencer of the Mitin brothers' system ("BRAMIT device"), which was used by intelligence units during the Great Patriotic War.

In general, the Mosin rifle, praised by Soviet propaganda as an excellent weapon, was by no means the worst, but not at all an ideal example. The rifle undoubtedly met the requirements set for it - it was simple, cheap to manufacture and maintain, accessible even to poorly trained soldiers, generally strong and reliable, and had good ballistic qualities for its time. On the other hand, the requirements themselves were largely based on outdated ideas about the tactics and role of small arms. Due to this, as well as a number of other reasons, the Mosin rifle also had a number of significant shortcomings, such as: an outdated bayonet, constantly worn adjacent to the rifle, which made it less maneuverable and heavier; a horizontal bolt handle, less convenient for carrying weapons and reloading than bent downward, and located too far in front of the butt neck (which slowed down reloading and contributed to knocking down the sight when firing). In addition, the horizontal handle, if necessary, had a short length, which required significant efforts to remove the cases stuck in the chamber (this is not uncommon in trench life). The fuse required to turn it on and off to remove the rifle from the shoulder (whereas on foreign models, Mauser, Lee-Enfield, Springfield M1903, it could be controlled thumb right hand without changing the grip and position of the weapon). In general, the Mosin rifle was, in my opinion, a fairly typical example of the Russian and Soviet weaponry idea, when ease of handling weapons and ergonomics were sacrificed for reliability, ease of production and development, and cheapness. Therefore, the glory of Russian weapons, obtained in two world wars, and often attributed to the Mosin rifle itself, nevertheless, to a greater extent belongs not to weapons, but to people, despite all the shortcomings of weapons who knew how to use their advantages, who fought and defeated the enemy, who often had the best from a technical point of view, a weapon.

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How the Mosin rifle was created - the most famous Russian weapon of the First World War

S. I. Mosin's rifle - the Russian "three-line" - has become one of the most recognizable and well-known 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 XX century, from the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 ... and ending with the bloody epic of the Great Patriotic War.

According to its characteristics, even at the time of adoption, it was by no means particularly outstanding in comparison with analogues. Glory and long destiny - modifications of the "three-line" are in service in different countries and are still in demand among gun lovers - they have provided it with amazing simplicity and reliability.

"Shop" versus "single charge"

Vigorous research into the creation of a multi-charge rifle operating on the "magazine principle" of feeding a cartridge was launched in the second half of the nineteenth century in all the leading countries of Europe. Civil War 1861-1865 in the United States, in the battles of which Spencer and Henry's magazine rifles were widely used, convincingly proved that the future lies not with single-shot, but with magazine 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 magazine guns" was created. The Commission was headed by a prominent Russian gunsmith, Major General N.I. Chagin, and it consisted of professional gunsmiths such as Alexander von der Hoven, a prominent specialist in the field of small arms and the author of many scientific works. Since July 1883, an artillery officer Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, who then held the post of head of the tool workshop of the Tula arms factory, also began to participate in the work of the 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-grade rifles. Among them were the rifle systems of famous foreign designers - Hotchkiss, Remington, Winchester, Fruvirt, 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 stores proposed by them.

It is important to note that, although the Russian weapons school was far from being the leading one in Europe, nevertheless, there were many bright nugget inventors among its representatives. All of them were either professional gunsmiths (Kvashnevsky, Malkov, Varaksin, Ignatovich, Sergeev), or officers (Veltischev, Tenner, Witz, Lutkovsky, Tsymbalyuk, Mosin and others). Within the framework of the Commission N.I. Chagin, they all had the opportunity to offer, test, discuss their products in the course of open discussions. The commission worked openly, seriously and very conscientiously.

Sergey Mosin. Photo from the ITAR-TASS dossier

Despite the fact that in the entire arms world they relied on magazine rifles, there were many traditionalists in Russian army circles who seriously believed that even by the end of the 19th century, a bullet was “still the same fool”, and a bayonet, as before, “well done ". Among them there were, at times, very authoritative figures.

The well-known military theorist and teacher, General M.I. Dragomirov was not only a convinced skeptic about store guns, but also firearms in general. "All the improvements in firearms," wrote General Dragomirov, "only lead to the fact that the bullet becomes a little less stupid, but it has never been a good fellow and never will be." In his article "Army Notes" M.I. Dragomirov called shooting from magazine rifles "stupid rattle", in principle he defended the thesis that single-shot rifles are better for a Russian soldier, since they are lighter than "magazines" and much simpler arranged. General Dragomirov was, alas, not alone in his negative perception of store-bought weapons.

Practical work on re-equipping the Russian army with a multi-charge magazine 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 shell bullet for the army. Following France, a wave of rearmament for 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 dramatically intensify research and design work to create a domestic magazine rifle.

Gunsmith Mendeleev

The invention of smokeless powder by the Frenchman Paul Viel in 1884 opened a new era in the development of weapons, and not only hand firearms. The smokeless powder increased the energy of the shot more than three times in comparison with the traditional black powder. Accordingly, the cartridges with it became lighter, the shot was more flat, the position of the shooter was not indicated by a huge puff of rifle smoke, smokeless powder was less afraid of moisture and was more durable during storage.

At the end of the 1980s, smokeless powder was already produced in Russia on an industrial scale. Important role in the creation of an industrial cycle for the manufacture of smokeless powder, the works of the great Russian scientist D.I. Mendeleev. It was he who came up with the idea to replace the 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 magazine rifle chambered for smokeless powder was probably very accelerated, if not for the rash decision of the Russian Minister of War P.S. Vannovsky on the preliminary (before the release of a magazine 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 postponed the adoption of the Mosin rifle for at least two years, was undoubtedly the result of the powerful influence of "single-shot" in Russian military science. Their undisputed intellectual leader, General Dragomirov, never tired of saying and writing that his ideal small arms was a small-caliber rifle - "about eight millimeters, chambered for pressed powder and a bullet in a steel shell, but always single-shot."

Archaic reliability

The popular name of the Mosin rifle - "three-line" - comes from the old system of measuring the caliber of the 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 understandable to a modern person - 7.62 mm.

The "three-line" cartridge was created on the basis of the 7.62-mm cartridge of Colonel N.F. Rogovtsev on the model of the new for that period 8-mm Austrian cartridge M1888, but equipped, unlike the latter, with smokeless powder and having a lead bullet in a cupronickel shell. The innovative cupronickel cap of the cartridge was more durable than the old copper cap, did not rust and did not wear out the barrel as much as the steel one.

The Russian cartridge 7.62R turned out to be very technologically advanced in production, resistant to ballistic characteristics. In terms of energy, it was slightly inferior to the recognized Western cartridge "giants": the English 7.71 mm cartridge Lee-Enfield, the American 30-06 Springfield or the German 7.92 Mauser cartridge. At the same time, already at the time of adoption, the Russian cartridge 7.62R had an irreparable feature, which gradually made this ammunition more and more archaic - a protruding edge, roughly speaking, a protruding edge on the bottom of the sleeve.

In cartridges that have a sleeve with a rim, the emphasis of the ammunition in the chamber is carried out 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 of it, a groove is made at the bottom of the sleeve), for example, in 7.92 mm Mauser cartridges, this stop is carried out by the slope of the sleeve into the slope of the chamber (conditionally - the sleeve is held guides that abut against the recess on the sleeve).

Cartridge for a three-line rifle model 1891 (Mosin rifle) with a rim (welt) - Russian 7.62 mm R. Photo: Vladimir Pesnya / RIA Novosti

The latter design in terms of production - both in the manufacture of a cartridge and in the manufacture of a rifle - is significantly more complicated, since requires increased precision in the manufacture of the slope of the case and the corresponding section of the chamber. When in-line manufacture of weapons and ammunition in the conditions of the Russian industrial culture, it turned out to be impossible, in the opinion of the then military experts, to achieve an acceptable coincidence of the corresponding parameters of the cartridge case and the rifle chamber.

Only because of the technological backwardness of Russian arms factories, the archaic, albeit very reliable, cartridge with a rim (welt) received, now forever, its characteristic name - the Russian 7.62 mm R.

The decision to adopt the welted cartridge, of course, could not pass in vain. The main part of all the difficulties overcome by S.I. Mosin when creating the "three-line", had to eliminate the problem of "biting" the welt of the cartridge of other cartridges in the store and parts of the bolt group of the rifle. Achieving trouble-free loading, Mosin developed a special mechanism for the rifle's feeder - "cut-off reflector" - a simple, but very important element of the rifle's design. The “cut-off-reflector” function is that the upper cartridge of the filled magazine remains separated (cut off) from other cartridges in the magazine when the shutter moves, and therefore is fed into the rifle chamber without interference. In this case, all other cartridges are under the ridge of the "cut-off-reflector", which is released only with the corresponding, strictly fixed positions of the bolt.

Competition with Leon Nagant

In 1889 S.I. Mosin put up his three-line (7.62 mm) infantry rifle, created on the basis of his previous single-shot model, for the War Ministry competition. Some constructive ideas of this rifle were borrowed, apparently, from the Austrian Mannlicher rifle, which was tested in the same year, with a batch loading of an in-line (one above the other) mid-storey magazine.

A little later, Mosin's products for the same competition were presented with a Nagant rifle, which was actively lobbied in the Russian military department with its characteristic enchanting energy by the Belgian entrepreneur Leon Nagant. In October 1889, he personally brought a rifle with an 8 mm caliber (3.15 lines) and 500 cartridges to it to the newly established "Commission for the Development of a Small-Bore Rifle". This is how a rather sharp competition between the Russian and Belgian designers began.

The Belgian Leon had very good connections on all floors of the Russian military department. Subsequently, he was able to successfully "break through" into the armament of the Russian army a very controversial, in terms of ensuring the rate of fire, the model of his revolver - the famous "Nagant".

In competition with the Mosin rifle, Leon Nagant's initial lobbying positions were somewhat weaker: just on the eve, Belgium refused to produce the Nagant rifle, which lost in all respects to the German Mauser rifle in the competition. Both rifles underwent shooting and operational tests in the Izmailovsky, Pavlovsky, 147th Samara regiments and in the first guards battalion.

It is curious that the soldiers and officers of the military units who conducted the tests unanimously spoke in favor of the Nagant rifle. Later, in the Russian military department, their clearly unpatriotic decision was explained by the fact that Mosin's competitive rifles were manufactured at the Tula arms factory, supposedly in a hurry, which could not, they say, but affect the overall quality.

During the voting in the "Commission for the Development of a Small-Caliber Rifle" for the adoption of the Belgian Nagant rifle into service with the Russian army, the majority also voted. 14 people voted for the Nagant rifle, including the most authoritative experts Chagin, Rediger and von der Hoven. Only 10 experts spoke for the Mosin rifle.

The future of the Mosinskaya "three-line" was decided thanks to the tough position of the inspector of arms and cartridge factories V.N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Professor of the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy V.L. Chebyshev. Their decisive argument, which was also supported by Chagin and Rediger, was the indication that the Mosin rifle was much simpler and cheaper to manufacture.

General-inspector of arms and cartridge factories Vasily Nikolayevich 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 in service with Russia, which made it possible to set up the production of the Russian rifle much faster than the Nagant rifle. V.L. Chebyshev, whose authority among the rifle specialists of that time was indisputable, specially emphasized in his report that operational checks showed the absolute advantage of the Mosin rifle. There were 217 firing delays during the entire test period of the Mosin rifle, while the Nagant rifle gave 557 failures for the same number of firing.

"I cannot agree with the conclusion of the majority of experts," Professor Chebyshev emphasized at the end of his report, "that both tested systems are equally good, this is obvious if only because the Mosin system has tremendous advantages over the Nagan system."

As a result of several stages of discussion, the Commission adopted the rifle of S.I. Mosin. However, given that members of the Commission Kabakov and Rogovtsev 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 of the year."

Tsar Alexander III, who for some reason is called the tsar-nationalist, having familiarized himself with the final report of the Commission, deleted the word "Russian" from the name of the rifle. So wonderful product of S.I. Mosin, in contradiction to all international weapons traditions, received a completely faceless - without national and design indications - the serial name: "three-line rifle of the 1891 model of the year."

No modernization required

The famous book by Vladimir and Valentin Mavrodin "Russian rifle" states that the Mosin rifle of the 1891 model was "the best of all foreign similar models of small arms." It is unlikely that such a categorical assessment is objective - the British rifle Lee-Metford or the famous German Mauser model of 1888 were in no way inferior to the Russian "three-line", and in a number of important positions they surpassed it. However, what the Russian rifle was indisputably good at was its unique simplicity and reliability, maintainability and undemanding manufacturing technology.

The simplicity of the "mosinka" design is probably a kind of weapon absolute. Suffice it to say that the bolt of the rifle - hardest part any gun - it consists of only seven parts, and the shutter can be disassembled and assembled without any tools. This incredible simplicity ensured a very long production of the rifle without any significant modernization - there is simply nothing to modernize in the Mosinka. A very important advantage of the rifle is the presence of a detachable combat mask of the bolt, which could be replaced with any other in the event of a breakdown - all parts of the "mosinka", regardless of the manufacturer, are interchangeable.

In 1891, simultaneously with the infantry modification of the rifle, the Dragoon and Cossack three-line rifles were adopted.

An infantry rifle weighed 3.99 kg without a bayonet with an empty magazine, and after the adoption of the barrel lining, which protects the shooter's fingers from burns, and a long ramrod, its weight increased to 4.2 kg without a bayonet. Of the infantry rifles of European powers, the Mosin rifle was the longest - 1306 mm.

The dragoon type rifle was seven centimeters shorter (the barrel instead of 80 cm became 73 cm). This almost did not affect the weight of the rifle - it decreased by only 300 g. The Cossack rifle differed from the Dragoon rifle only by the absence of a bayonet, and for a horseman it was uncomfortable - heavy and poorly balanced.

Model 1891 three-line rifle. Photo: Imperial War Museums

With the outbreak of the First World War, the Cossacks began to re-equip themselves with the captured cavalry "Mauser", which, although it was also quite heavy, was at least significantly better balanced.

The Mosinka store housed five rounds. The muzzle velocity of the standard factory cartridge was 620 m / s. In the special literature, there is an indication that a Mosin rifle bullet from 50 steps pierced 16-35 one-inch boards. If you can somehow believe in the first number (16 boards), then the second is clearly inspired by "hurray-patriotic" inspiration. To the same "inspiration" belongs such a frequent indicator of a rifle's combat in the literature as the maximum sighting range, which is determined at 1900 meters.

The problem is that the "sighting range" of 1900 meters can only be aimed at a railway carriage, and then, probably, if it stands with its side to the shooter. The human figure is completely covered by the front sight of the rifle when aiming at 300 meters. At 600 meters, aiming at a person using an open sight is the same as aiming at him without a sight at all - at random, along the barrel. Even when using a fourfold optical sight, the practical firing range of the "mosinka" (ie 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 with 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 in the design of the Russian "three-line". The Artillery Committee of Russia, by a decree of November 25, 1891, awarded Colonel S. I. Mosin the prestigious Great Mikhailovsky 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 weapon components. The War Ministry demanded 156.5 million rubles for this purpose. 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 do, you need to start." The Russian army never later regretted this decision of the Tsar-Peacemaker.

Since ancient times, man and weapons have been inseparable, and this is not strange, because wars always go on - both thousands of years ago and today. With the growth of progress and technology, people invented more and more weapons of defense and attack. Analyzing history, we understand that there were not so many talented inventors of firearms, but they were. One of these legendary designers is Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, the inventor of the legendary three-line.

The history of the creation of the Mosin rifle

At the end of the 19th century, many European countries were armed with multiple-charge rifles, which allowed their soldiers to fight much more efficiently. At that time, the Russian army was still using single-shot weapons using a large-caliber cartridge and black powder. Based on the experience of the Russian-Turkish war, during which soldiers used a single-shot Berdan rifle, the Russian authorities announced a competition to create the latest weapon. The event was held in 1890, and about 20 samples of magazine weapons were displayed. After testing, two finalists were selected: the rifle of Captain Mosin and the rifle of the Belgian Leon Nagant. After all the necessary tests, already in 1891, a vote was held, as a result of which the Belgian development won (14 votes against 10), but influential Russian officers insisted on the approval of the domestic model. As a result, the Mosin rifle was taken into service, but slightly improved by the ideas of Nagant, namely the cartridge feed mechanism. This weapon was in service with Russia for many years, the army went through many wars with it: two world wars, the Russian-Japanese and the Finnish. The caliber of the Mosin rifle is 7.62 mm (three lines of 2.54 mm each).

Rifle production

At the end of the 19th century, most of the armies of the world had already been rearmed and had store-bought weapons in their arsenal. The Russian army needed to carry out a large-scale renovation of the firearms arsenal in the shortest possible time. That is why, after all the tests and approval of the sample for mass production, in 1892, the Mosin rifles began to be mass produced. This was done simultaneously by three arms factories: Sestroretsk, Izhevsk and Tula. But they did not have enough power to quickly provide a huge army, so it was decided to place an order in the amount of 500 thousand rifles from France. The weapon was manufactured by the military factories Manufacture Nationale d'Armes. Before the start of the Russo-Japanese War, the army received more than 3,800,000 barrels into service. After the start of mass production - according to some sources - already in 1893 the rifle was tested in a battle against the Afghans in the Pamirs, according to others - in China only in 1900-1901. One thing is certain: already in the early years, designers began to make small changes to the design of the Mosin rifle. A wooden barrel pad was added to the basic configuration, which protected the soldier's hand from burns; in 1896, the design of the ramrod was changed for more convenient cleaning of weapons, and in 1910, after switching to pointed cartridges, the sight was changed.

At the time of Russia's entry into the war, the army had more than 4,500,000 rifles in its armament. They were produced in four types: carbine, Cossack, dragoon and infantry. During the war, more than 3,000,000 barrels were fired in the country and more than 200,000 were repaired. During these difficult times, there was a huge shortage of weapons, and industrial capabilities did not allow the production of the required amount, so the government was forced to buy weapons from foreign companies. In the United States, they ordered the release of 1.5 million Mosin rifles of the 1891-1910 model, but not all of them ended up in Russia, since the US government confiscated some of the weapons after the revolution.

Mosin rifle device

The Mosin system rifle is a weapon that has a manual reloader and a clip. The barrel in the rifle locks a sliding rotary and a bolt having stops. Mosin rifles are equipped with a bolt with two stops, which are located in different places, the first in the front of the bolt, the second in the horizontal plane. The rifle bolt contains a combat cylindrical spring and a striker, which has a very simple design. As for the recharger handle, it is located in the middle of the bolt. The fuse was not provided, its role is played by the drummer. The Mosin rifle has a box magazine, the cartridges in which are located in one row. It holds a maximum of five cartridges - they can be inserted either with a clip from the bottom, or one at a time through the hole with the shutter open. It is worth noting that the magazine has in its design such a detail as a cut-off, which is designed to block the lower cartridges while the upper cartridge is fed into the barrel. The bed is made of wood, usually birch. In 1891, three variants of the Mosin rifle were adopted by the army: infantry, dragoon and Cossack.

Rifle specifications

Mosin rifles, which entered service with the Russian army, had a huge advantage over their predecessors. The new weapon had a three-line cartridge (7.62 mm), which used smokeless powder. The old single-shot rifles had a caliber of 10.67 mm, and they used black powder. Over the years, the three-line (as the people called the Mosin rifle) has been modernized several times to improve its use and production. Consider the two main options for this weapon.

The sample of 1891 is the Mosin rifle, the characteristics of which are as follows:

caliber - 7.62 mm (3 lines);
cartridge - 7.62x54 R;
rifle length with and without bayonet, respectively, mm - 1734/1306;
barrel length, mm - 800;
rifle weight with / without bayonet, g - 4300/3990;
sighting range, in steps - 2700 (about 1900 m);
muzzle velocity, m / s - 620;
magazine, cartridges - 5.

2. Sample 1944 - Mosin carbine, its characteristics are as follows:

caliber, mm - 7.62;
cartridge - 7.62x54 R;
weapon length, mm - 1020;
rifle barrel length, mm - 510;
rifle weight, g - 3900 (with a fixed bayonet);
sighting range, m - 2000;
muzzle velocity, m / s - 810;
rate of fire, in / m - 20-35;
magazine, cartridges - 5.

Rifle upgrade options

As mentioned earlier, the Mosin rifle (photo of it can be seen below) was put into service in 1891. Its main feature was simplicity and ease of use; it was easy to disassemble and without any tools. The bayonet of the Mosin rifle served as a good and reliable weapon in close combat. In 1910, it had a new aiming frame (proposed by V.P. Konovalov). This change was caused by the earlier transition to pointed bullets, the trajectory of which was slightly different from the trajectory of blunt bullets.

The Red Army used only one type of rifle - the dragoon. After several changes, already in 1930, they began to call it the model of 1891-1930. The rifle has become more convenient, and its production has become much easier. Firstly, a front sight appeared, and secondly, the shape of the front sight itself has changed, which facilitated the process of aimed shooting. Due to the fact that the receiver began to be made round (previously it was faceted), and the cut-off reflector was assembled from two parts, the production technology was simplified.

In 1931, Soviet snipers also received the Mosin rifle. It differed, of course, by the presence of an optical sight, a bent bolt handle, and improved processing of the barrel bore. The last modification of this weapon is the 1944 carbine. But even today, the Mosin design rifle has not left the scene: many designers both in Russia and abroad continue to modify this weapon. For example, the Finns in the 90s of the twentieth century released the SSG-96 sniper rifle, which was based on the three-line. By the way, some variants of this weapon are considered to be among the best in the world today.

Mosin rifle cut-off

During excavations in the places of the battles of the Red Army, weapons are quite often encountered, but one of the unusual, at first glance, finds is the sawn-off shotgun of a Mosin rifle. A similar weapon is found in our time, because it was one of the most common in the first half of the twentieth century, many kept a rifle at home. As for the sawn-off shotgun, we can say that it was done by many - both soldiers and ordinary people. Unlike a long and not very comfortable rifle, it had many advantages, as it was simple and convenient to use. These weapons were most popular among peasants, bandits and even partisans. The people called the sawn-off shotgun "kulak". At that time almost every man knew how to make a Mosin rifle, or rather a sawn-off shotgun, especially since it was not difficult - you just need to cut off a part of the barrel and butt. The shortened Mosin rifle also possessed disadvantages - the characteristics of the aiming and firing range were much reduced.

Mosin carbine: sample 1944

In 1944, the last modernization of the invention of the designer Mosin was made: the carbine was equipped with a bayonet, which was not removable, but was folding. During the Great Patriotic War, the new improved rifle got its name - "Carbine model 1944". The weapon was a shortened version of Mosin's dragoon version. This carbine was released based on many years of experience in warfare. After the start of production of the 1944 model carbine, the previous version of the rifle was discontinued.

Thanks to its design, the new weapon allowed the infantry to conduct a battle with better quality, because in the trenches and thickets with a shortened carbine, the soldier was much more convenient. Despite some changes, the rifle's firepower has remained practically unchanged.

1944 was last year in the history of the improvement of the famous rifle that went through many wars and conflicts. At the end of World War II, Mosin's inventions were no longer in service with the Soviet Army. They were replaced by SKS carbines and AK-47 assault rifles - more advanced weapons, you must admit. The Mosin rifle, however, continued to be in service with several countries of the PRC and the DPRK, Montenegro and Finland.

Pneumatic version of the Mosin rifle

With the development of technology, on the basis of the Mosin rifle, its pneumatic model was also created. It is quite popular these days, as the Mosin rifle was popular in its time. The pneumatic copy is mainly produced as a sawn-off shotgun of the Mosin rifle, it is also called a pneumatic pistol. According to the manufacturers, it is enough just to take this barrel in your hand, and you will not want to part with it, because this is a legend - the Mosin rifle. You can see the photo of the crop just below. Such weapons are much easier to acquire than firearms, they are easy to handle and easy to store. There are various modifications of the rifle. Some are capable of shooting only small balls, others are intended for a more serious cartridge, for example, with a shot that is used when hunting. There are also pneumatic rifle options for shooting sport... Each type of weapon is interesting in its own way, but we can say with confidence that all of them are often used today, since they have a simple and very convenient design.

Mass and size model of the Mosin rifle

A dummy rifle is a product that is made for collectible souvenirs, museum pieces and props for theater and cinema. It is produced without a bayonet, but outwardly identical to the original. The layout provides for the ability to cock and lower the trigger, but the properties of a military weapon are absent. MMG Mosin rifles are often used in theatrical productions and historical cinema, because it was in service with the army for almost half of the twentieth century. It is also worth remembering that changing the design of a model or converting it into a military weapon is punishable by law! MMG is not a weapon-like souvenir, it is a weapon converted into a souvenir. MMG is practically irreplaceable in modern cinema - films about the war and the first part of the 19th century have always been popular and are often filmed by directors. The Mosin rifle was the most common and affordable weapon for ordinary citizens at that time. The large-sized model of the rifle can be a wonderful gift for people who are fond of history. It must be monitored and kept in the same way as the present. firearms... The rifle is subject to constant inspection, cleaning and lubrication with special oil, and although it is a little troublesome, a true connoisseur should always take care of his exhibits. It is not very difficult to get MMG Mosin rifles - they are sold without special permission. In addition, compared to a real weapon, the model is inexpensive.

Interesting facts about the designer Mosin and his rifle

The rifle of Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, despite some of its shortcomings, went down in history as a reliable and inexpensive weapon. But few people know about many interesting cases associated with its creation. For example, foreigners, when they learned about the invention, or rather about the rack-applied shop, really wanted to buy this new product. Employees of the company "Richter", which was located in France, offered Mosin to sell the invention for 600,000 francs, and after refusal they gave already 1,000,000. But Sergei Ivanovich was a true patriot and refused a huge amount of money. As for Mosin himself, from childhood he was fond of weapons, and in 1875 he headed the tool workshop at the Tula Arms Factory. The designer often participated in all kinds of competitions and came up with more and more new inventions. Unfortunately, not all weapons samples of that time have survived, so much is simply unknown to us. Few people know that the main competition in 1891 for a prototype magazine rifle in Russia was between Mosin and Nagan, two ingenious designers. There are many stories about the victory of our designer, but one thing is for sure - the Mosin rifle was improved by some of the Nagant's developments. The designer wrote to Minister Alexei Kuropatkin that his rifle was adopted, and his competitor received a large sum of money for the design of the clip - as much as 200,000 rubles, while Mosin was given only 30,000 rubles for all the work. But, despite all the rumors and stories that go around the creation of the legendary three-line, it was she who was made by the Russian designer Mosin, adopted by the government and was on it for a very long time. Only new samples of store-bought weapons were able to replace it, which were invented by no less famous designers, for example, Mikhail Kalashnikov.

The world continues to evolve, technology is becoming more accurate. Today there are a large number of automatic weapons, but many believe that it was the Mosin rifle that laid the foundation for many modern inventions. One thing is for sure, Sergei Ivanovich himself and his famous three-line have taken an honorable place in history. And this is not surprising, because the designer's rifle went through several wars and a revolution with our army. Today it is used mainly by hunters, because it is inexpensive and easy to use.