How the Mosin rifle works. Mosin sniper rifle

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

The rifle of S.I. Mosin - the Russian "three-ruler" - 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.

According to its characteristics, even at the time of its adoption, it was by no means particularly outstanding in comparison with its counterparts. Glory and a long fate - modifications of the "three-ruler" are in service in different countries and are still in demand among weapon lovers - they provided her with amazing simplicity and reliability.

"Shop" against "single-shot"

Vigorous research on the creation of a repeating rifle, functioning on the "magazine principle" of feeding a cartridge, was launched in the second half of the 19th century in all the leading countries of Europe. Civil War 1861-1865 in the United States, in whose battles Spencer and Henry repeating rifles were widely used, convincingly proved that the future is not with single-shot, but with 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 magazine guns" 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 prominent specialist in the field of small arms and the author of many scientific papers. Since July 1883, the artillery officer Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, who then held the post of head of the instrumental workshop of the Tula Arms Plant, began to participate in the work of the commission.

Commission N.I. Chagina did not become, fortunately, 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 rifles. Among them were gun systems of well-known 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 internal and side magazines proposed by them.

It is important to note that, although the Russian weapons school was far from being the leading one in Europe, nevertheless, among its representatives there were many bright nuggets-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, discuss their products in the course of open discussions. The commission worked openly, seriously and very conscientiously.

Sergei Mosin. Photo from the ITAR-TASS dossier

Despite the fact that throughout the 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, the bullet was “still the same fool”, and the bayonet, as before, “well done ". Among them there were, at times, very authoritative figures.

A well-known military theorist and teacher, General M.I. Dragomirov was not only a staunch skeptic regarding magazine 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 never was and never will be a good fellow.” 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 a Russian soldier, since they are lighter than "magazines" and much simpler. General Dragomirov was, alas, not alone in his negative perception of magazine weapons.

The practical work of re-equipping the Russian army with a multi-shot repeating rifle became a reality only after the French “weapons revolution”. In 1886, France was the first in Europe to adopt the 8-mm Lebel rifle with an underbarrel magazine and a new cartridge with smokeless powder and a jacketed bullet into service with the army. Following France, a wave of rearmament swept through Europe with rifles of the same type. 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 magazine rifle.

Gunsmith Mendeleev

The invention in 1884 by the Frenchman Paul Viel of smokeless powder 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 smoky (black) powder. Accordingly, the cartridges with it became lighter, the shot became more flat, the position of the shooter was not indicated by a huge puff of smoke from the rifle, smokeless powder was less afraid of moisture and was more durable during storage.

In the late 1980s, smokeless powder was already being produced in Russia on an industrial scale. An important role in the creation of the industrial cycle for the manufacture of smokeless powder was played by the work 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 would probably have been very accelerated if it were not for the reckless 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 delayed the adoption of the Mosin rifle for at least two years, was, no doubt, the result of the powerful influence of "single-shot" in Russian military science. Their undisputed intellectual leader, General Dragomirov, did not get tired of saying and writing that his ideal small arms weapon is a small-caliber rifle - “about eight millimeters, chambered for compressed powder and a steel-jacketed bullet, but always single-shot.”

Archaic reliability

The popular name of the Mosin rifle - "three-ruler" - comes from the old system for 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 understandable to modern man - 7.62 mm.

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

The Russian cartridge 7.62R turned out to be very technologically advanced in manufacture, 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 unremovable feature that gradually made this ammunition more and more archaic - a protruding rim, roughly speaking, a protruding edge on the bottom of the sleeve.

In cartridges having 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 (that is, 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 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 in terms of production - both in the manufacture of a cartridge and in the manufacture of a rifle - is much more complicated, because. requires increased precision in the manufacture of the sleeve slope and the corresponding section of the chamber. With the in-line production of weapons and ammunition in the conditions of the Russian industrial culture, it turned out to be impossible, according to the then military experts, to achieve an acceptable match between 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 a welt cartridge, of course, could not be in vain. The main part of all the difficulties overcome by S.I. Mosin, when creating the “three-ruler”, fell on the elimination of the problem of “biting” the cartridge with the welt of other cartridges in the store and parts of the rifle bolt group. Achieving trouble-free loading, Mosin developed a special rifle feeder mechanism - a “cut-off reflector” - a simple but very important element of the rifle design. The function of the “cut-off reflector” is that the top cartridge of a filled magazine remains separated (cut off) from other cartridges in the magazine during the movement of the shutter, and therefore is fed into the rifle chamber without interference. All other cartridges in this case are under the "cutoff-reflector" crest, which is released only with the corresponding, strictly fixed shutter positions.

Competition with Leon Nagant

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

A little later, Mosin's products for the same competition were presented with a rifle of the Nagant system, which was actively lobbied in the Russian military department with its inherent enchanting energy by the Belgian entrepreneur Leon Nagant. In October 1889, he personally brought to the newly established "Commission for the development of small-caliber guns" a rifle with a caliber of 8 mm (3.15 lines) and 500 cartridges for it. Thus began a rather sharp competitive struggle between Russian and Belgian designers.

The Belgian Leon had very good connections at all levels of the Russian military department. Subsequently, he managed to successfully “break through” 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, the initial lobbying positions of Leon Nagant were somewhat weaker: just the day before, Belgium abandoned the production of 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 guards first 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 military department of Russia, their clearly unpatriotic decision was explained by the fact that the competition Mosin 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" for the adoption of the Belgian Nagant rifle by the Russian army, the majority also spoke out. 14 people voted for the Nagant rifle, including the most authoritative experts Chagin, Rediger and von der Hoven. Only 10 experts voted for the Mosin rifle.

The future of the Mosin "three-ruler" 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. Chebyshev. Their decisive argument, which was also supported by Chagin and Rediger, was an indication that the Mosin rifle is much simpler and cheaper to manufacture.

Vasily Nikolaevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Inspector General of Arms and Cartridge Plants. Photo: US 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 already in service with Russia, which made it possible to establish the production of a Russian gun much faster than Nagant guns. V.L. Chebyshev, whose authority among the rifle specialists of that time was indisputable, specifically emphasized in his report that operational tests showed the absolute superiority of the Mosin rifle. Delays in firing for the entire time of testing the Mosin rifle were registered 217, while the rifle of the Nagant system gave 557 failures for 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 Nagant system.”

As a result of several stages of discussion, the Commission adopted the rifle 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."

Tsar Alexander III, who for some reason is called a nationalist tsar, having read the final report of the Commission, crossed out the word “Russian” from the name of the rifle. So wonderful product S.I. Mosin, contrary to all international weapons traditions, received a completely faceless - without national and design indicators - a serial name: "three-line rifle of the 1891 model."

No upgrade required

The well-known 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 English Lee-Metford rifle or the famous German Mauser of the 1888 model were in no way inferior to the Russian "three-ruler", and surpassed it in a number of important positions. However, what the Russian rifle was undoubtedly good for was its unique simplicity and reliability, maintainability and undemanding manufacturing technology.

The simplicity of the mosquito design is probably a kind of weapon absolute. Suffice it to say that the bolt of a rifle - the most complex part of any gun - consists of only seven parts, and the bolt can be disassembled and assembled without any tools. This incredible simplicity ensured a very long release 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 “mosquito”, regardless of the manufacturer, are interchangeable.

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

The infantry rifle weighed 3.99 kg without a bayonet with an empty magazine, and after adopting a barrel lining that 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 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 mounted rider it was uncomfortable - heavy and poorly balanced.

Three-line rifle model 1891. Photo: Imperial War Museums

With the outbreak of the First World War, the Cossacks began to rearm without permission on the captured cavalry Mauser, which, although it was also quite heavy, was at least much better balanced.

The Mosinka store held five rounds. The muzzle velocity of a standard factory cartridge was 620 m/s. In the specialized literature, there is an indication that a Mosin rifle bullet from 50 steps pierced 16-35 one-inch boards. If the first figure (16 boards) can still be somehow believed, then the second one is clearly inspired by "cheers-patriotic" inspiration. This “inspiration” also includes such a rifle combat indicator, often found in the literature, as the maximum aiming range, which is determined at 1900 meters.

The problem is that at the “sighting range” of 1900 meters you can only aim at a railway car, and then, probably, if it stands sideways to the shooter. The full-length figure of a man is completely covered by the front sight of a rifle when aiming already 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 - “maybe”, along the barrel. Even when using a four-fold optical sight, the practical firing range of the mosquito (ie, the distance at which you can really aim and really hit) is unlikely to exceed 800, maximum 900 meters. However, all infantry rifles in Europe, produced in the same generation with the "mosquito", give approximately the same practical result.

Abroad, the rifle of S.I. Mosin 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-ruler". The Artillery Committee of Russia, by a decree of November 25, 1891, awarded Colonel S.I. Mosin the prestigious Big Mikhailovsky Prize, awarded once every five years.

The adoption of the Mosin infantry rifle required significant costs for organizing 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 a resolution uncharacteristic for him: "The amount is horrendous, but there is nothing to do, you need to start." The Russian army never later regretted this decision of the Tsar-Peacemaker.

Even those who are far from the world of weapons know about this legendary rifle. Mosinka has a rich history. It appeared back in 1891 and was used by the army, first of the Russian Empire, and then of the Soviet Union for more than 50 years. This weapon remains relevant today. For military purposes, sniper rifles based on the Mosin trilinear are used. Also "Mosinka" can be used for hunting. This is a very reliable inexpensive rifle that is suitable for fishing medium and large animals.

History of the Mosin rifle

The three-line rifle of the 1891 model, which is often referred to simply as the Mosin rifle, "Mosinka" or three-line rifle, was adopted in 1891. Massively it was used from 1892 until the end of the 50s of the XX century. During this time, the rifle was repeatedly upgraded. It is called trilinear because of the caliber, which is equal to three lines. This is a traditional measure of length, equal to 2.54 mm.

• Russian designer Sergei Ivanovich Mosin presented the first version of his famous three-ruler in 1889. It was developed on the basis of his earlier single-shot rifle, from which it borrowed the receiver and bolt group unchanged. But in order to adopt it into service with the Russian army, it was necessary to change the design of the bolt group and store, which was done. In 1892, the production of this version of the rifle began at the Izhevsk, Tula and Sestroretsk arms factories. Since their capacities were not enough, "Mosinki" at that time were also produced at a factory in the French city of Chatellerault;
• in combat conditions, the three-ruler was first used in 1893 during the battle with the Afghans in the Pamirs. The first stage of the rearmament of the Russian army with the Mosinka was completed in 1897. Subsequently, the rifles adopted by the armies of other countries were quickly modernized, while the three-ruler lagged behind them in this regard. As a result, by the First World War, the Mosinka was noticeably inferior to them in terms of performance;
• in the early years of Soviet power, there was a question of replacing the Mosin rifle with a more advanced one or its modernization. The second option was chosen, because after making changes to the design, the Mosinka would be able to meet the requirements for this class of weapon. At the same time, the development of a new repeating rifle was pointless, since repeating rifles were an obsolete type of weapon. As a result of the modernization of 1924, the Mosin rifle of the 1891/30 model appeared. In 1928, the production of optical sights for it began in the USSR.
• in 1938, another modification of the Mosinka was developed - a carbine of the 1938 model. It was designed for aimed shooting at a distance of up to 1000 m;
• The next modification adopted by the Red Army was the 1944 carbine. It was distinguished by a simplified manufacturing technology and the presence of a fixed bayonet. After its adoption, the releases of the Mosin rifle of the 1891/30 model of the year were discontinued.

Design

The Mosin rifle has a barrel with 4 grooves. In its rear part there is a chamber with smooth walls. Also at this end of the barrel there is a threaded stump, the receiver is tightly screwed onto it, in which the shutter is placed. A magazine box with a feeder, a cut-off reflector and a trigger are attached to the shutter.

The cartridges inside the store are arranged in one row. The cut-off reflector separates the cartridges that are in the magazine box and the cartridge in the bore. Due to this, there are no delays in the supply, which could be caused by the engagement of the rims of the ammunition with each other. This detail also reflects spent cartridges. The cut-off reflector is one of the key elements of the rifle, which was introduced into the design by Mosin. Thanks to her, the rifle works flawlessly in any conditions.

Trigger components:

• hook;
• trigger spring, which also acts as a sear;
• screw;
• hairpin.

The descent of the Mosin rifle is tight and long, without warning - the trigger stroke is not divided into two stages with different effort.

Components of a three-line shutter:

• stem with comb and handle;
• larva;
• ejector;
• trigger;
• drummer;
• action spring;
• connecting strip.

The mainspring is compressed when the bolt is unlocked by turning the handle. During locking, the combat drummer rests against the sear. The drummer can also be cocked manually with the shutter closed, for this you need to pull the trigger back. To put the rifle on the safety, you need to pull the trigger back and turn it counterclockwise.

Sights

The Mosin rifle of the 1891 model was equipped with a stepped sight. On the modification of 1891/30, a sector sight was installed. It consists of an aiming bar with a collar, an aiming block and a spring, and is marked at a distance of up to 2000 m. The rear sight can be set to any position from 50 to 2000 m, the step is 50 m.

To fully unlock the potential of the Mosin rifle, it is necessary to install an optical sight on it. The owners of this weapon put on it like anything, but the situation is complicated by the fact that it was not originally intended for use with optical sights. It is important to choose an optic that will not interfere with the use of an open sight.

A good solution may be to install a "native" PU optical sight using the Kochetov vertical base bracket. Thus, you can get the most authentic and harmonious outwardly weapons.

Another option is to use modern brackets and modern optical sights.

The principle of operation of the Mosin rifle

To charge the three-line, you must:

1. turn the shutter handle to the left;
2. pull the shutter all the way back;
3. insert the clip into the receiver;
4. drown the cartridges, discard the clip;
5. take the shutter forward;
6. turn the bolt handle to the right.

Then it remains only to pull the trigger to shoot. To make the next shot, it is enough to repeat steps 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. From the clip, four rounds are fed into the magazine, the fifth - in the receiver. After closing the shutter, he finds himself in the chamber.

Versions and modifications

The Mosin rifle is a weapon designed for military purposes. Some use such army three-rulers for hunting. Especially for hunting purposes, various modifications of the Mosin rifle and carbines based on it were developed - primarily KO-91/30, OTs-48 and Los carbines.

A rifle designed for hunting medium to large game. Main characteristics of KO-91/30:

• length - 1232 mm;
• barrel length - 745 mm;
• weight - 4.0 kg;
• caliber - 7.62 mm;
• cartridge used - 7.62x54R;
• magazine capacity - 5 rounds.

The rifle is designed for shooting at a distance of up to 300 m. You can also put an optical sight on it, which, after installation, does not interfere with using the open one. Reloading is done manually. The design feature of this rifle is a safety mechanism that protects against premature firing.

Carbine OTs-48

The OTs-48K sniper rifle was developed by the Tula TsKIB of sports and hunting weapons in 2000. It was created for the needs of the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and special forces. The rifle showed excellent results in tests both in terms of firing range and accuracy of fire. From it you can hit accurately at 1300 m, while at a distance of 100 m the spread of bullets does not exceed 3.5 m. For the Dragunov sniper rifle, these figures are 1000 m and 8 cm, respectively.

OTs-48, in turn, is a hunting carbine based on the Mosin rifle, which is intended for hunting large game. It is designed to use 7.62x54R cartridges. The barrel and locking unit were left from the Mosin rifle, and the stock and butt were replaced with modern ones. Unlike the OTs-48K, which is produced only in small quantities on special orders, the OTs-48 has gone into mass production and has become a fairly recognizable brand.

Rifle caliber 8.2 mm, which was designed for cartridges with semi-shell bullets and was produced in the USSR. Its other characteristics:

• rifle length - 1010 mm;
• barrel length - 520 mm;
• weight - 3-3.6 kg;
• magazine capacity - 5 rounds;
• starting bullet speed - 440 m / s.

Designed for hunting medium and large game. Reloaded manually, trigger without warning. There is also a modification of the KO-8.2M, which is distinguished by a different rifling pitch, has an active sector sight and a different stock shape.

Carbine KO-38

A hunting rifle that was created on the basis of a carbine of the 1938 model and was produced in the USSR.

Carbine KO-44

A hunting carbine developed on the basis of a military carbine of the 1944 model, which was produced in the USSR.

Carbine "Los-7-1"

The Los hunting weapon family was developed in the USSR largely on the basis of the Mosin three-line rifle. The main characteristics of the carbine "Los-7-1":

• barrel length - 550 mm;
• weight - 3.5 kg;
• caliber - 7.62 mm;
• cartridge used - 7.62 × 51 mm;
• magazine capacity - 5 rounds.

On sale you can find modifications of the Los-7-1 carbine for different versions of imported cartridges.

Among connoisseurs, opinions about the Mosinka and the carbines created on the basis of it differ. But they are quite popular and are suitable for fishing for medium and large game. The main advantages that distinguish the Mosin hunting carbine are the highest reliability and affordable price. This weapon is used by many professional hunters. Thanks to the release of updated versions, such as the OTs-48, this combat system is still relevant.

Three-line rifle model 1891 in the "infantry rifle" version, the rifle in the photo was made in 1892

Three-line rifle of the 1891 model in the "infantry rifle" version of the 1910 modification with an aiming bar designed by V.P. Konovalov, the introduction of which was necessary due to the transition in 1908 to pointed bullets, which differ from the old blunt ones in their flight path.

A three-line rifle of the 1891 model in the "Dragoon rifle" and "Cossack rifle" version of the 1908 edition. The Cossack rifle differs from the dragoon rifle in the absence of a bayonet.

Three-line rifle of the 1891 model in the version of the "dragoon rifle" and the "Cossack rifle" of the 1910 modification, with V.P. Konovalova

7.62-mm (3-line) rifle of the 1891 model (Mosin rifle, three-line) is a repeating rifle adopted by the Russian Imperial Army in 1891. It was actively used from 1891 until the end of the Second World War, during this period it was repeatedly modernized. The name of the three-line comes from the caliber of the rifle barrel, which is equal to three Russian lines (an old measure of length equal to one tenth of an inch, or 2.54 mm - respectively, three lines are equal to 7.62 mm). In the west, it is known almost exclusively as the Mosin-Nagant rifle. Based on the rifle mod. 1891 and its modifications, a number of samples of sports and hunting weapons, both rifled and smoothbore, were created.

In 1889, Sergei Ivanovich Mosin proposed a three-line (7.62 mm) rifle for the competition, developed on the basis of his earlier single-shot rifle, from which the bolt group and receiver were borrowed almost unchanged; At the same time, some ideas regarding the design of the store were borrowed from the latest Austro-Hungarian rifle of the Mannlicher system tested in the same year with batch loading of an in-line middle store, which was found to be fully compliant with all the requirements.

Later, at the very end of the same year, the Belgian Leon Nagant also offered his system for the competition (in the same 1889, he had already lost the Mauser rifle in the competition for arming the Belgian army). There were three Nagan rifles, all store-bought, with a caliber of about 8 mm, although Nagan undertook to make a rifle with a caliber of 7.62 mm. The Nagant system was generally recognized as benign, but in need of improvement. Of particular interest to the Commission was a well-designed clip-loading magazine, reminiscent of the magazine of the newly adopted Mauser rifle in Belgium.

As a result of their testing, as well as comparative tests with the Austrian Mannlicher rifle, it became possible to finally determine the requirements for a new rifle, in modern terms - to draw up a technical task for it. It was decided to adopt a caliber of 7.62 mm (three Russian lines), a Lebel-style barrel and sight (but with a change in the direction of the rifling from the left to the right adopted in France), a longitudinally sliding rotary bolt, lockable with a separate combat mask (since replacement larvae in the event of a breakdown is cheaper than replacing the entire shutter), the store is middle, permanent, with loading from a frame holder with five rounds. The commission was consequently renamed in 1889 into the Commission for the development of a sample of a small-caliber gun.

Since neither the Mosin rifle nor the Nagant rifle fully met these requirements, the designers were asked to develop new systems based on them, which, therefore, were initially doomed to be largely structurally similar, being created on the basis of the same developed by the Commission of the barrel and cartridge, which in a complex determine all the ballistic properties of the weapon, and due to the requirements set by it, using the same type of shutter and magazine, and having differences only in the specific design of these elements. In fact, Mosin and Nagant were given the task of creating their own options for bolt groups and magazines for the existing barrel.

At the same time, in 1890, 23 more systems were considered, which, however, did not show any advantages over those already selected for further comparison of Nagant and Mosin.

After the delivery of an experimental batch of modified 3-line Nagant rifles from Belgium in the fall of 1890, large-scale comparative tests of both systems began.

According to the results of the initial tests, the Nagant rifle showed some advantage, and at the first stage of the competition, the Commission voted for it with 14 votes against 10. However, this vote was not decisive, since the first stage of the competition was essentially an exploratory character. In addition, many members of the commission considered that the tests showed the equivalence of the samples presented - this Mosin design, a preliminary assessment, in their opinion, was mainly due to the lower quality of the finish compared to the Nagant demonstration samples, while the Mosin rifle as a whole was simpler and more structurally more reliable. The difference in the quality of the finish was quite natural, given the fact that the Mosin rifles at that time were ordinary prototypes of weapons made in semi-handicraft conditions, which were at the very early stage of fine-tuning - while the Nagant rifles presented for comparison with them, executed "with amazing precision" and very well finished, they were a further development of a design that had already been submitted to a competition in Belgium and ready for mass production as early as 1889.

Moreover, it was written that: “Taking into account ... that the guns and clips presented by Captain Mosin for experiments were made under extremely unfavorable conditions and, as a result, very inaccurate, the guns and clips of Nagant, on the contrary, turned out to be made amazingly accurately, General Lieutenant Chebyshev did not find it possible to agree with the conclusion that both tested systems are equally good. In his opinion, in view of the circumstances outlined, Captain Mosin's system had a huge advantage. "

Having become more familiar with both systems and the results of military tests (300 Mosin rifles and 300 Nagant rifles were tested), the members of the Commission revised their opinion. On test firing, the Mosin rifles gave 217 delays when feeding cartridges from the magazine, and the Nagant - 557, almost three times more. Considering the fact that the competition essentially came down to finding the optimal design of the store, this alone spoke quite clearly about the advantage of the Mosin system in terms of reliability, despite any "unfavorable conditions". In addition, the Commission concluded that: "... the pack guns of the foreigner Nagant, compared with the same cap. Mosin, are a mechanism more difficult to manufacture ... and the cost of each copy of the gun will undoubtedly increase."

Moreover, it was about more than significant costs: even according to the most conservative estimates, the production of the Nagant system would give additional costs in the amount of 2 to 4 million gold rubles for the first million issued rifles, that is, 2-4 rubles for each, moreover, that the total amount required for the rearmament of one Russian soldier averaged about 12 rubles. In addition, it took an additional 3-4 months to master the design by industry, in the face of Russia's already emerging lag behind developed European countries in re-equipping with new small arms, despite the fact that the Mosin rifle was already being prepared for production and was specially designed for a high degree of technological continuity with the already produced Berdan rifle.

So in 1891, upon completion of military trials, the Commission worked out a compromise solution: a rifle was adopted, developed on the basis of the Mosin design, but with significant changes and additions, both borrowed from the Nagan design, and made taking into account the proposals of the Commission members themselves.

From the experimental Mosin rifle, a locking mechanism bar, a safety cocking device, a bolt, a cut-off reflector, a magazine cover latch, a method for connecting the feeder to the cover, making it possible to detach the cover from the feeder from the magazine, a swivel swivel; from the Nagant system - the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bplacing a feeder on the magazine door and opening it down, a way to fill the magazine by lowering cartridges from the clip with a finger - therefore, the grooves for the clip in the receiver and, in fact, the cartridge clip itself. The remaining parts were worked out by members of the Commission, with the participation of Mosin.

The changes borrowed from the Nagant rifle (the shape of the clip for loading, the attachment of the feed spring to the magazine cover, the shape of the cut-off reflector) somewhat increased the convenience of handling the rifle, but even if they were removed, they did not deprive it of its functionality. For example, if you completely abandon clip-on loading, the magazine can be equipped with one cartridge at a time. If the feed spring is removed from the magazine cover, cartridges will still be fed, although there is an increased risk of losing the spring when cleaning.

Probably the most fully reflecting the authorship of the design of this rifle would be the name "Commission rifle of the 1891 model of the year", by analogy with the German "Commission rifle" (Kommissionsgewehr) of the 1888 model, also developed at the time by the commission based on the Mannlicher and Mauser systems.

The authorship of the new rifle was absolutely clearly formulated by the then Minister of War P.S. Vannovsky in his resolution on the adoption of the model for service: "The new model being manufactured contains parts proposed by Colonel Rogovtsev, the commission of Lieutenant General Chagin, Captain Mosin and the gunsmith Nagan, so it is advisable to give the developed model a name: Russian 3-line. Rifle sample 1891".

On April 16, 1891, Emperor Alexander III approved the sample, deleting the word "Russian", so the rifle was adopted under the name "three-line rifle of the 1891 model".

Mosin left the rights to the individual parts of the rifle developed by him and awarded him the Big Mikhailovsky Prize (for outstanding developments in the artillery and infantry unit).

This was not the first time that a model based on a certain system with extensive additions was adopted by the Russian army under an impersonal index, without mentioning the name of the author of the original system; for example, a rifle developed on the basis of the Carle system (in the original Russian documentation - Carl) was adopted in 1867 as a "rapid-firing needle rifle of the 1867 model."

Subsequently, however, voices began to be heard that such a name violated the established tradition of naming samples of small arms of the Russian army, since the name of the designer was deleted from the name of the adopted sample. As a result, in 1924, the surname Mosin appeared in the name of the rifle.

At the same time, both in the Manual of 1938 and its reprint of 1941, in the brochure for the OSOAVIAKhIM of 1941 “The Rifle and Its Use”, and in the Manual of 1954, the rifle (in the version after the modernization of 1930) is simply called - “arr. 1891/30, without mentioning any names, despite the fact that the designations of other samples (self-loading rifle and carbine by F.V. Tokarev, submachine guns by G.S. Shpagin and A.I. Sudayev, etc. ) in similar literature were almost always supplied with notes of the form “constructions of such and such” or “systems of such and such”. Thus, it is likely that during this period, officially, in relation to the rifle, they continued to use the “impersonal” name according to the years of its adoption into service. In the instruction from 1938, the authorship of the rifle is also directly indicated: "The 7.62-mm rifle model 1891, adopted by the Russian army in 1891, was designed by Captain Mosin together with other members of the commission formed for this."

That is, it also indicates the “commission” origin of the rifle design, although without directly mentioning individual borrowings from the Nagant system. Abroad, next to the name of Mosin, the name of Nagant is often put, as well as in the names of the Tokarev-Colt and Makarov-Walter pistols.

Production and operation of the three-ruler

The production of the rifle began in 1892 at the Tula, Izhevsk and Sestroretsk arms factories. Due to the limited production capacity of these factories, an order for 500 thousand rifles was placed at the French arms factory in the city of Châtelleraut (Manufacture Nationale d "Armes de Châtelleraut).

The first combat test of the Mosin rifle took place in 1893 in a clash between the Russian detachment in the Pamirs and the Afghans, according to other information, during the suppression of the uprising of the Yihetuan (“boxers”) in China in 1900-1901.

Already in the first years after the adoption of the rifle into service, during the production and operation of the weapon, changes began to be made to the original design. So, in 1893, a wooden handguard was introduced to protect the shooter's hands from burns, in 1896 - a new ramrod, longer and with a larger diameter head that did not pass through the barrel, which simplified cleaning of the weapon. Eliminated the notch on the sides of the lid of the magazine box, which, when carrying weapons, wiped uniforms. These improvements were also made to the design of previously released rifles.

On March 21, 1897, the 500,000th rifle was produced. At the end of 1897, the first stage of rearmament of the Russian army with a rifle mod. 1891 was completed and in 1898 the second stage of rearmament began.

By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, approximately 3,800,000 rifles had been supplied to the army.

After the adoption in 1908 of a cartridge with a pointed ("offensive") bullet in 1910, a new version of the rifle was adopted with a sight of the Konovalov system, corresponding to the ballistics of the new cartridge.

By the time Russia entered the First World War, the Russian army had 4,519,700 rifles in service, four versions of the rifle were in production - dragoon, infantry, Cossack and carbine. During the war, the Russian military industry produced 3,286,232 three-line rifles, repaired and fixed 289,431.

Due to the catastrophic lack of weapons and the problems of the domestic industry, the Russian government began to purchase rifles from several foreign systems abroad, and also ordered 1.5 million rifles mod. 1891/10 Some of them were never delivered to Russia - after the Revolution they were confiscated by the US government. Today, American-made Mosin rifles are among the rarest and most collectible, along with rifles made in France in the city of Châtellerault. Due to the same shortage of weapons, it was even necessary to equip shooters with imported weapons chambered for a non-standard cartridge - so, according to the memoirs of the gunsmith Fedorov, the entire Russian Northern Front since 1916 was armed with 6.5-mm Arisak rifles, supplemented by a small number using the same cartridge "automatic rifles" (automatic rifles) of the system of Fedorov himself, which were available to selected shooters in the company.

A large number of rifles were captured by German and Austro-Hungarian troops.

During the hostilities, significant shortcomings of the rifle in its then form were identified, primarily related to the unsuccessful design of the clip, which reduced the rate of fire in combat conditions, and the design of individual elements of the fittings, such as attaching a bayonet with a collar, a ramrod stop device or the design of stock rings, which in direct comparison with German and Austrian models, they left a very unfavorable impression.

Most of the problems, however, were caused by the backwardness of the domestic industry and the extreme rush to manufacture rifles in the pre-war period, due to which each of them required careful fitting of parts and debugging to ensure reliable operation, which was exacerbated by the recent transition to pointed cartridges, more demanding to work with. feed mechanism, as well as the inevitable heavy contamination of both rifles and cartridges in trench warfare.

Rifles taken from the reserve and transferred to the front without modification gave many delays in reloading, some of them could not shoot even one full magazine without breaking the feed. Numerous organizational shortcomings were also revealed, first of all, the disgusting training of ordinary shooters and poor supply, in particular, the lack of high-quality packaging of cartridges sent to the front.

During the Civil War, two types of rifles were produced in Russia - dragoon and, in much smaller quantities, infantry. After the end of the war, since 1922, only the dragoon rifle and carbine mod. 1907.

In the early years of Soviet power, a wide discussion unfolded about the advisability of upgrading or replacing an existing rifle with a more advanced one. In its course, it was concluded that the rifle mod. 1891, although inferior to new foreign counterparts, subject to a number of improvements, it still fully satisfies the existing requirements for this type of weapon. It was also noted that the introduction of a new type of magazine rifle would be essentially meaningless, since the magazine rifle itself is a rapidly obsolete type of weapon, and the cost of developing its fundamentally new model would be a waste of money.

In addition, it was noted that a change in a rifle sample must be accompanied by a change in a regular rifle cartridge to a new one, devoid of the shortcomings of the existing three-line cartridge, in particular, having a smaller caliber with a higher lateral load of the bullet and a sleeve without a rim - the development of a completely new model of a rifle for an outdated cartridge also regarded as meaningless. At the same time, the state of the economy, which was still emerging from the post-revolutionary devastation, by no means gave reason for optimism regarding the possibility of such a large-scale rearmament - as well as the complete rearmament of the Red Army proposed by Fedorov with an automatic (self-loading) rifle.

Fedorov himself considered the introduction of a self-loading rifle in addition to the existing magazine rifle to be useless, since the resulting gain in the firepower of the infantry squad was negligible - instead, he recommended, while maintaining the magazine rifle of the current model, supplement it with a large number of light manual rifles (in his terminology - " maneuverable") machine guns of a newly developed successful model.

As a result of the discussion in 1924, a committee was formed to modernize the rifle mod. 1891.

As a result of the modification of the dragoon version of the rifle, as shorter and more convenient, a single model appeared - the rifle of the 1891/1930 model. (Index GAU - 56-B-222). Although it contained a number of improvements relative to the original model, in comparison with the analogues that were in service with the armies of the states-probable enemies of the USSR, it still did not look the best. However, the magazine rifle by that time was no longer the only type of infantry small arms, therefore, in those years, the emphasis was placed primarily on the creation of more modern and advanced types of it - submachine guns, machine guns, self-loading and automatic rifles.

In the 1920s - 1930s in the USSR, Mosin rifles were used in the system of universal training and OSOAVIAKHIM for training in shooting, the movement of "Voroshilov shooters" became widespread.

In 1928, the USSR began serial production of the first samples of optical sights, specially designed for installation on a rifle mod. 1891.

In 1932, mass production of the sniper rifle mod. 1891/30 (Index GAU - 56-B-222A), which was distinguished by improved quality of bore processing, the presence of a PE, PB or (subsequently) PU optical sight and a bolt handle bent down. A total of 108,345 units were produced. sniper rifles. Currently, Mosin sniper rifles are of collectible value (especially the "nominal" rifles that were awarded to the best Soviet snipers).

In 1938, a modernized similar to the main model carbine mod. 1938, which was a modification of the 1907 model carbine. It became longer than its predecessor by 5 mm and was designed for aimed fire at a distance of up to 1000 m. The carbine was intended for various branches of the armed forces, in particular artillery, sapper troops, cavalry, communications units and logistics personnel, such as transport drivers, who needed a light and easy-to-handle weapon, mostly for self-defense.

The latest version of the rifle was the carbine arr. 1944, distinguished by the presence of a non-removable needle bayonet and simplified manufacturing technology. Simultaneously with its introduction, the 1891/1930 model rifle itself. has been taken out of production. The shortening of infantry weapons was an urgent requirement put forward by the experience of the Great Patriotic War. The carbine made it possible to increase the maneuverability of the infantry and other branches of the armed forces, since it became more convenient to fight with it in various earthen fortifications, buildings, dense thickets, etc., and its fighting qualities both in fire and in bayonet combat compared to a rifle practically did not decrease.

After the fairly successful Tokarev self-loading rifle (SVT) was adopted in 1938, it was assumed that in the early 1940s it would almost completely replace the Mosin rifle in the Red Army and become the main weapon of the Soviet infantry, following the US Army, which adopted in 1936 on armament self-loading rifle Garanda. According to pre-war plans, in 1941 it was supposed to produce 1.8 million SVT, in 1942 - 2 million. In fact, by the beginning of the war, more than 1 million SVT were manufactured, and many units and formations of the first line, mainly in the western military districts, received full-time number of self-loading rifles.

However, the plans for the complete re-equipment of the Red Army with automatic weapons were not fulfilled due to the start of the Soviet-German war - since 1941, the production of SVT, as more complex in comparison with a magazine rifle and a submachine gun, was reduced significantly, and one of the main types of weapons of the Soviet army remained a modernized rifle arr. 1891 of the year, although supplemented by very significant quantities (more than half of the total number of small arms at the end of the war) of self-loading rifles and submachine guns.

In 1931, 154,000 were produced, in 1938 - 1,124,664, in 1940 - 1,375,822.

In 1943, in the occupied territory of Belarus, railway engineer T.E. Shavgulidze developed the design of a 45-mm rifle grenade launcher, in total, in 1943-1944, in the workshops of the Minsk partisan formation, Soviet partisans manufactured 120 rifle grenade launchers of the Shavgulidze system, which were mounted on rifles of the Mosin system.

Production of the main rifle mod. 1891/30 was terminated at the beginning of 1945. Carbine arr. 1944 was produced until the start of production of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Rifles and carbines were gradually removed from the armament of the army, replacing the SKS carbine and the Kalashnikov assault rifle (although a certain number of carbines of the 1944 model continued to be used in the paramilitary security system).

In 1959, the Izhevsk plant shortened the barrels and stocks of the surviving rifles mod. 1891/30 up to the size of a carbine arr. 1938. The "new" carbines were produced in large numbers and entered service with private security and other civilian organizations. In the West, they received the designation 1891/59.

Mosin rifles and carbines continued to be used in the armies of Eastern Europe and around the world for several more decades. As a weapon of infantry and fighters of irregular armed groups, Mosin rifles were used in many wars - from Korea and Vietnam to Afghanistan and conflicts in the post-Soviet space.

Design

Barrel and receiver

Rifle barrel - rifled (4 grooves, winding from left to top to right). In early samples, the shape of the rifling is trapezoidal. Later, when they made sure that the metal of the bullet did not wrap around the barrel, it was the simplest rectangular one. The caliber of the barrel, measured as the distance between opposite fields of rifling, is nominally 7.62 mm, or 3 Russian lines (actually, as measurements taken on a large number of rifles of various years of manufacture and various degrees of preservation show, - 7.62 ... 7.66 mm). The grooved caliber is 7.94 ... 7.96 mm.

At the rear of the barrel is a smooth-walled chamber designed to accommodate the cartridge when fired. It is connected to the rifled part of the barrel by means of a bullet entry. Above the chamber there is a factory stamp that allows you to identify the manufacturer and year of manufacture of the rifle.

Behind the stump of the barrel, which has a thread, the receiver is tightly screwed, which serves to accommodate the shutter. Attached to it, in turn, is a magazine box with a feed mechanism, a cut-off reflector and a trigger mechanism.

Magazine box and cut-off reflector

The magazine box (magazine) is used to place 4 cartridges and a feeder. It has cheeks, a square, a trigger guard and a cover on which the feed mechanism is mounted.

The cartridges in the store are arranged in one row, in such a position that their rims do not interfere with the feed, which is the reason for the unusual shape of the store by modern standards.

The cut-off reflector is controlled by the movement of the bolt and serves to separate the cartridges fed from the magazine box to the receiver, preventing possible delays in feeding caused by the engagement of the edges of the cartridges with each other, and also plays the role of a reflector of spent cartridges. Before the modernization of 1930, it was a single piece, after that it consisted of a blade with a reflective protrusion and a spring part.

The cut-off reflector is considered one of the key design details of the rifle introduced by Mosin, which ensures the reliability and non-failure operation of the weapon in any conditions. At the same time, its very presence was caused by the use of obsolete cartridges with a rim, which are not very convenient for feeding from a magazine.

However, even the magazines of the Lee system, adopted for the English Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles, which also used a rimmed cartridge, did not have a reflector cut-off, instead of which the magazine had spring jaws on top and a diamond-shaped profile, thanks to which the cartridges were located in it so that the rim of the upper cartridge stood in front of the rim of the one following it, and their engagement was excluded (herringbone). It was this scheme that later became generally accepted for stores for welted (having a rim) cartridges.

Trigger mechanism

The trigger mechanism consists of a trigger, a trigger spring, which also serves as a sear, a screw and a pin. The trigger of the rifle is long, rather tight and without "warning" - that is, the trigger stroke is not divided into two stages with different effort.

Gate

The bolt of a rifle serves to send a cartridge into the chamber, lock the bore at the moment of firing, fire a shot, remove a spent cartridge case or misfire cartridge from the chamber.

It consists of a stem with a comb and a handle, a combat larva, an ejector, a trigger, a drummer, a mainspring and a connecting bar. On a sniper rifle, the bolt handle is elongated and bent down to increase the convenience of reloading weapons and the possibility of installing an optical sight.

The bolt contains a drummer and a twisted cylindrical mainspring. Compression of the mainspring occurs when the bolt is unlocked by turning the handle; when locking - the combat platoon of the firing pin rests on the sear. It is possible to cock the drummer manually with the shutter closed, for this it is necessary to pull the trigger back (in this case, the trigger is the tip screwed onto the drummer shank). To engage the safety, the trigger must be pulled back to failure and turned counterclockwise.

Stock and handguard

The stock connects the parts of the weapon, it consists of the forearm, neck and butt. The stock of the Mosin rifle is one-piece, made of birch or walnut wood. The neck of the stock is straight, more durable and suitable for bayonet fighting, although less convenient for shooting than the semi-pistol necks of the stocks of many later models. Since 1894, a separate detail has been introduced - a handguard that covers the barrel from above, protecting it from damage, and the shooter's hands from being burned. The butt of the dragoon modification is somewhat narrower, and the forearm is thinner than the infantry. The stock and handguard are attached to the mechanisms of the weapon with two screws and two stock rings with ring springs. The stock rings are split on the bulk of the rifles and deaf on the Dragoon mod. 1891.

Sights

Sight - stepped on a rifle arr. 1891, sector on a rifle mod. 1891/30. It consists of an aiming bar with a clamp, an aiming block and a spring.

On a rifle mod. 1891 sight was graduated in hundreds of steps. There were two rear sights on the aiming bar: one was used when shooting at 400, 600, 800, 1,000 and 1,200 steps, and the second, for which it was necessary to raise the aiming bar to a vertical position, at a distance from 1,300 to 3,200 steps . There were also two versions of the frame sight: the original version, used until 1910 and designed for a heavy bullet, and modernized, with a bar of the Konovalov system, designed for a light pointed "offensive" bullet of the cartridge mod. 1908. On a rifle mod. 1891/30, the sight is marked up to a distance of 2,000 meters; a single rear sight can be set to any position from 50 to 2,000 m in 50 m increments.

The front sight is located on the trunk near the muzzle. At arr. 1891/30 received a ring namushnik.

In 1932, mass production of a sniper rifle mod. 1891/31 (GAU index - 56-B-222A), which was distinguished by improved quality of bore processing, the presence of a PE, PB or PU optical sight and a bolt handle bent down.

Bayonet

Serves to defeat the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. It has a four-sided blade with fullers, a tube with a stepped slot and a spring latch that secures the bayonet to the barrel, and a neck connecting them.

The rifle was brought to a normal battle with a bayonet, that is, when firing, it had to be attached, otherwise the point of impact would shift significantly and it would become almost impossible to hit something from a weapon at a relatively long distance without a new reduction to normal combat. When firing with a bayonet at a distance of 100 m, the average point of impact (STP) deviates on a rifle brought to normal combat without it to the left by 6-8 cm and down by 8-10 cm, which is compensated by a new reduction to normal combat.

In general, the bayonet had to be on the rifle essentially constantly, including during storage and on the march, with the exception of movement by rail or road, in the light of which it was very practical that its edges were not sharply honed, like those of knife-shaped bayonets, since, with the established method of wearing, this could create significant inconvenience when using weapons and cause injuries when handling them.

The instruction ordered to remove the bayonet, in addition to the cases noted above, only when disassembling the rifle for cleaning, and it was assumed that it could be difficult to remove from being constantly on the weapon.

The sharpened tip of the bayonet was used as a screwdriver during complete disassembly.

Until 1930, there was no spring latch, instead, the bayonet was attached to the barrel with a bayonet collar, the shape of the blade was also somewhat different. Practice has shown that over time, such a connection is prone to loosening. In 1930, the mounting method was changed, but rifles were still shot with bayonets. Some of the upgraded rifles also had a bayonet with a gunner (an early version), later the gunner was made on the rifle itself.

Carbine arr. 1944 had an integral flip bayonet of Semin's own design. The shooting of carbines is carried out with a bayonet in a combat position.

An interesting fact is that the sniper version of the Mosin rifle also had a bayonet, and it was planted exceptionally tight. In this case, it served as a muzzle weighting agent, which significantly reduced the vibration of the barrel when fired, which had a positive effect on the accuracy of the battle. The slightest loosening of the mount, which was not uncommon on ordinary rifles in the infantry, on the contrary, had a negative effect on the rifle's combat.

Rifle affiliation

Each rifle relied on an accessory consisting of a wipe, a screwdriver, a muzzle pad for cleaning the barrel, a ramrod clutch, a hairpin, a bristle brush, an oiler with two compartments - for cleaning the barrels and oil, as well as a gun belt.

The accuracy of the battle and the effectiveness of fire

Rifles arr. 1891 and 1891/30 were high-precision weapons, allowing you to confidently hit a single target at a distance of up to 400 m, a sniper using optics - up to 800 m; group - at a distance of up to 800 m.

In 1946, senior sergeant Nemtsev developed a method of high-speed rifle shooting. At the training ground of the Ryazan Infantry School, he managed to fire 53 aimed shots per minute from a rifle from a distance of 100 meters at a chest target, hitting it with 52 bullets. Later, Nemtsev's method of high-speed shooting became widespread among the troops.

Mosin sniper rifles of pre-war production were distinguished by their amazing, by the standards of their time, quality of combat, largely due to the barrel with a choke (narrowing of the channel from the treasury to the muzzle), with a difference in diameters at the breech and muzzle of 2-3%. When fired from such a barrel, the bullet is additionally compressed, which does not allow it to "walk" along the bore.

Advantages of the three-ruler

• Good ballistics and high cartridge power (at the level of .30-06), despite the fact that many analogues at that time still used black powder;
• Great survivability of the barrel and bolt;
• Undemanding to manufacturing technology and large tolerances;
• Reliability, non-failure operation of the rifle mechanisms in any conditions;
• Simple and reliable design of the shutter, consisting of only 7 parts; it disassembles and assembles quickly and without any tools;
• Cheap frame clip;
• Easy-to-remove shutter for cleaning;
• A separate combat larva of the shutter, the replacement of which in the event of a breakdown is much cheaper than replacing the entire shutter;
• Cheap replacement of wooden parts.

Flaws

• An obsolete cartridge with a rim that makes it difficult to feed from the magazine and required the introduction of an otherwise superfluous, otherwise quite difficult to manufacture and vulnerable to damage part - a cut-off reflector (later, during the modernization, it was replaced by two parts that were easier to manufacture; nevertheless, the most advanced magazine systems ensured reliable supply of cartridges with a rim and without cut-off as a separate part, for example, the Lee system magazine for Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles with a two-row arrangement of cartridges, which made it possible to increase the capacity of the rifle magazine from 5 to 8-10 rounds);
• The horizontal arrangement of the lugs of the larvae of the shutter when locking, increasing dispersion; rifles with the best fight already at that time had a vertical arrangement of lugs with a locked bolt;
• Long and heavy descent without "warning", interfering with marksmanship;
• Frame non-spring clip, making it difficult to load; the spring plate clips that already existed at that time, including the Mosin clip, were more perfect, although more expensive than the accepted Nagant clip;
• A long and extremely obsolete needle bayonet with a crank neck, mounted on the barrel, and not on the stock;
• Infantry and dragoon rifles were shot with a bayonet, that is, when firing, it had to be on the rifle, otherwise the point of impact would shift significantly, which made the weapon ready for battle cumbersome; the bayonet loosened over time, as a result of which the accuracy of shooting from a rifle fell; the Cossack rifle was shot without a bayonet, but it was still unnecessarily heavy and generally inconvenient for firing from a horse and carrying by a horseman; bayonet loosening has been eliminated on arr. 1891/30, but the bayonet still had to be on the weapon when firing; this problem was completely solved only on the carbine arr. 1944 with the introduction of an integral flip bayonet, which also remained on the weapon during firing, but could be folded, increasing the ease of handling it;
• A short bolt handle not bent to the bottom, which makes it difficult to open it, especially when the cartridge case is tightly “settled” in the chamber; strong extension of the handle forward due to the design of the bolt and its horizontal location without bending down, which forced the shooter to take the butt away from the shoulder when reloading, thereby reducing the rate of fire; (with the exception of sniper modifications that had a longer handle bent down); the advanced models of those years already had a handle that was strongly extended back, bent down, which made it possible to reload the weapon without taking the butt off the shoulder, thereby increasing the rate of fire - the Lee-Metford rifle handle can be considered a reference in this regard;
• It is worth noting that both the experimental Mosin rifle of 1885 and the Nagant rifle had a bolt handle moved back, located in a special cutout, separated from the window for ejection of spent cartridges by a jumper, which also strengthened the receiver; however, when testing the 1885 rifle of the year, it turned out that with this arrangement of the handle, delays often occur when reloading, caused by the fact that the long sleeves of a soldier's overcoat fell between the bolt stem and the receiver, and it was considered necessary to abandon a separate cutout for the handle, returning to the same configuration receiver, as on a Berdan rifle;
• A straight butt neck, less comfortable when shooting than a semi-pistol neck on the latest rifles at that time, although more durable and comfortable in a bayonet fight;
• The Mosin fuse is very simple, but inconvenient to use and short-lived due to the brightening of the safety protrusion with frequent use (how much a fuse is needed on a magazine rifle at all is a moot point);
• Some lag behind advanced foreign analogues in the design of small parts and accessories, for example, outdated and quickly loosened stock rings, a sight vulnerable to impacts, less comfortable than side, lower "infantry" swivels (since 1910 replaced by also not the most convenient slots for belt passage, originally available on a dragoon rifle), uncomfortable ramrod stop, etc .;
• Low quality wooden parts due to the use of cheap wood, especially on later releases.

Technical characteristics of the Mosin 1891 trilinear (infantry rifle)

• Caliber: 7.62×54R
• Weapon length: 1306 mm
• Barrel length: 800 mm
• Weight without cartridges: 4 kg.
• Magazine capacity: 5 rounds

TTX rifle Mosin 1891 (Dragoon and Cossack rifles)

• Caliber: 7.62×54R
• Weapon length: 1238 mm
• Barrel length: 731 mm
• Weight without cartridges: 4 kg.
• Magazine capacity: 5 rounds

The Mosin rifle, also popular as the eminent "three-ruler", was the main weapon of the 1917 revolution, as well as the Great Russian War. Specifically, the Mosin rifle of the standard of 1891 is rightfully considered one of the most famous examples of Russian guns. The royal three-line took a role in the Russo-Japanese, and later in the First World War.

The Russian "three-ruler", made before the twentieth century, for decades remained a modern and reliable weapon for a fighter, was one of the first Russian models adopted by the army. Now mmg Mosin rifles can be seen in museums. There are also existing modifications of the rifle, and not only in Russia, but also abroad. The design has changed, the drawings have been finalized, the technical properties have been changed, but the principle of the gun has remained the same. What is the history of the creation of the Mosin rifle? We offer an overview of the famous guns.

Creation story

The Mosin rifle was developed during the period of a sharp rise in technology and science, when the emergence of smokeless powder made it possible to switch to reduced calibers. And thanks to the development of weapons technology, it became possible to make a replacement for single-shot systems - store-fed systems. Naturally, our homeland was also in the process of developing weapons. Drawings and standards of small arms were created.

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As a result, the Russian army was presented with a choice of two magazine-type rifle systems - Belgian, Leon Nagant, also Russian, captain S.I. Mosin. Tests showed that the Belgian rifle was better than the Russian one. But top management took into account that:

• the Belgian rifle had twice as many misfires;
• the Russian rifle was cheaper and easier to manufacture.

The generals eventually made a compromise: in 1891, the Mosin rifle was adopted by the Russian army, but the design of the 5-round Nagant magazine was installed on it. Together with the rifle, a new three-line cartridge (7.62 mm) was also adopted. The rifle of the ball was adopted as a three-line, and the fighters dubbed the gun as a "three-line". This gun received the name Mosin only in Russian times, when it was modernized in 1930. The Russian three-line rifle has always been called "Mosin-Nagant" abroad.

Inventor of the "three-ruler"

The history of the creation of the "three-ruler" was complex. Several designers took part in the development of the best repeating rifle in the world, but Sergey Ivanovich Mosin made the most significant contribution. History was not fair to him in almost everything, because his rifle during his lifetime did not bear the name of Mosin, this was very disappointing for the designer.

Inventor Mosin was born in the Voronezh region in the village of Ramon. He graduated from the military and artillery school, the artillery academy. In 1875 he became the head of the tool workshop of the arms factory in Tula. By 1880, he was already developing single-shot rifles and was an expert in gunsmithing. In 1894 he became the head of the Sestroretsk arms factory.

Cartridges for the "three-ruler"

The cartridge was created by the Russian designer Veltishchev by analogy with the French cartridge from the Lebel rifle, caliber 8x56 mm R. It used:

1. blunt shell bullets;
2. charge of smokeless powder;
3. sleeve with a protruding bottle-shaped rim.

The mechanism of the sleeve with a rim, which was already outdated, was adopted due to the low level of development of the Russian industry - the tolerances used are the least strict. This determined the economic and military base.

Adoption

The standard gun of 1891 (caliber 7.62) was put into service in 3 versions (in practice, they were distinguished only by the length of the barrel):

1. Infantry rifle - longer bayonet and barrel.

2. Dragoon (cavalry) rifle - the barrel length is shorter, well, the method of fastening the belt has been changed.

3. Cossack rifle - there was no bayonet and there was a smaller barrel.

The bayonet for the rifle was adopted by a slightly outdated standard - a tetrahedral needle-like one, with a tubular sleeve fastened, which was worn on the barrel. The bayonet had a square section with small valleys along the edges; when disassembling the gun, a point sharpened to a plane could be used as a screwdriver.

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The main drawback of the system, which was corrected only in 1938, was that the bayonet had to always be carried in a combat position, attached to the rifle, disassembly was not supposed. "Three-rulers" were shot (not counting the Cossack) with an attached bayonet. If disassembly and removal of the bayonet was carried out, then the balance of the gun was disturbed - the bullets flew past the target. In addition, over time, the attachment of bayonets led to loosening, and the accuracy of shooting deteriorated. The defect was eliminated only in the modification of 1930.

The gun of early samples was distinguished by the absence of barrel linings, and also by the barrel, which was open at the top along the entire length. Since 1894, wooden top plates have been used to protect the shooter's hands from burns. At the time the gun was put into service, Russian enterprises could not yet start producing new rifles, so the initial order was placed in France, in the town of Chatellerault.

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Exclusively in 1893-94, the rifle device went into serial production, it was established near St. Petersburg at the Sestroretsk Arms Plant under the direction of Mosin, in Izhevsk and Tula a little later. During the First World War, rifles had to be ordered from the United States to make up for front-line losses. Orders in 1916 are located at the factories of the Westinghouse and Remington companies. After 1917, most of the rifles remained in the United States, where they were sold or used for initial soldier training in the army.

Technical properties

Standard rifle 1891/1930 is a bolt-action repeating rifle with twist locking.

Technical properties:

• Caliber - 7.62 mm.
• The total weight without cartridges with a bayonet is 4.5 kg.
• The total length without bayonet is 114 cm.
• The total length with bayonet is 166 cm.
• The shape of the paresis is rectangular.
• The number of grooves - 4.
• Magazine capacity - 5 rounds.
• The weight of the clip, together with cartridges - 122-132 g.

Shooting can be carried out with regular cartridges with heavy and light bullets, with incendiary, tracer and armor-piercing bullets.

Device

The scheme of operation of the Mosin rifle is based on the following principle:

1. The barrel is locked on two lugs with a longitudinally sliding rotary bolt behind the receiver. The stops are located in the front part of the shutter, they are placed in the locked state in a horizontal plane.
2. The cocking of the drummer, as well as putting it on a combat platoon, is carried out when the shutter is opened.
3. The shutter mechanism is conventional in design. The reload handle is located in the middle of the shutter.
4. Instead of a fuse, a trigger head (drummer) is used, located behind the bolt.
5. The shutter from the receiver is simply removed without the help of a tool.
6. Shop box-shaped, with a single-row arrangement of cartridges, integral. Due to the fact that the lower cover of the magazine is hinged, the magazine is cleaned and quickly unloaded. Store equipment - one cartridge with the shutter open through the upper window of the receiver or from lamellar clips for 5 rounds.
7. Due to the peculiarities of the store, the design has a special detail - a cut-off that overlaps the 2nd and lower cartridges in the store when the top one is fed into the barrel.
8. The mechanism involves turning off the cutoff, if the shutter is one hundred percent closed, this makes it possible for the next cartridge to rise to the supply line.

Dismantling the rifle due to its manufacturability was not a problem.

Modifications of rifles were not limited only to the types of troops, the Mosin sniper rifle was also created. The sniper rifle was also created on the basis of the 7.62 mm Mosin system. The sniper rifle was adopted by the Red Army in 1931. Only the best fighters who had received special training were allowed to shoot from a similar sniper rifle.

The Mosin sniper rifle is great for point shots at distant single targets. The accuracy of shooting with an optical sight was ensured at a distance of 100-1300 meters. But because of the optical sight, it was unrealistic to make a rifle design for a magazine - it was necessary to load only the cartridge.

The review was applicable, the scope had 3.5x magnification. Accuracy was provided with the help of an aiming stump, also an aiming thread perpendicular to it.

Trunk modifications were not actually provided, they were taken from ordinary rifles or were manufactured using special technologies. The latter - led to an improvement in the accuracy and properties of shots. The Mosin sniper rifle was extremely popular during the 2nd World War, in which the soldiers of the Red Army destroyed enemies with it. The gun made it possible to drastically limit the mobile capabilities of opponents, because they knew that maneuvering routes were under the gun of similar sniper units.

Technical properties of the rifle:

• caliber: 7.62 mm;
• weight: 4.27 kg;
• initial bullet speed: 865 m/s;
• length: 1230 mm;
• magazine capacity: 5 rounds;
• effective range: 1300-2000 m;
• rate of fire: 10 shots per minute;
• loading type: manual.

Sight properties:

• increase: 3.5-fold;
• exit pupil diameter: 6 mm;
• field of view: 4° 30';
• the removal of the exit pupil from the surface of the eyepiece lens is 72 mm;
• resolving power: 17″;
• sight length: 169 mm;
• sight weight: 0.270 kg.

Rifle pros and cons

For decades, the Mosin rifle was praised by Russian propaganda as the best weapon that surpassed other standards of its class. But, it must be admitted that she was not a flawless prototype.

Rifle pros:

1. cheap and ordinary in manufacturing, maintenance;
2. available to poorly trained and illiterate fighters;
3. high strength and reliable;
4. for its own time, the rifle had excellent ballistic properties.

Rifle flaws:

1. a bayonet of an outdated design, permanently attached to the rifle;
2. the horizontal bolt handle was not very comfortable when reloading and carrying the gun;
3. the bolt handle is located far from the neck of the butt - it contributed to knocking down the sight and slowed down reloading.

In general, the Mosin rifle is the usual standard of the Russian weapons idea, when ergonomics and convenience in appeal were sacrificed for ease of development and production, reliability and low cost.

Video about the Mosin rifle

Shooting from a Mosin sniper rifle

People who are interested in military culture or weapons are probably aware of the existence of such a rifle as a three-ruler. However, if in the case of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, everyone has long known why and in honor of whom the truly classic and legendary weapon got its name, then not everyone knows why the three-ruler is called that. But today we will look into this issue.

The original name and development history of the "Mosin Rifles"

It is important to understand that the name "Three-ruler" is common, and this rifle has an original, official name. It sounds like "Mosin Rifle".

This weapon was developed over 100 years ago, and the beginning of its production dates back to 1892. Despite the belonging of this weapon to the Russian side, factories in France were also engaged in the production of rifles, since the lack of production capacity of domestic factories affected the impossibility of fulfilling the minimum order.

After their creation, rifles were quickly adopted by the Russian army, and were widely used for more than half a century, starting in 1881 and ending in the late 1950s.

On the question of why the Mosin rifle is called a three-ruler, we will understand a little lower, but now it is necessary to pay attention to the origin of the original name.

The fact is that Mosin S.I. was a designer and organizer of the production of weapons, in addition, he also bore the rank of major general of the Russian army. During his life, Mosin was engaged in the development of magazine rifles, the improvement of other weapons used by the Russian army. It was such merits that led to the fact that as a result the rifle was named after him.

Why is the rifle called "Three-ruler"

As for the common name, which was very quickly assigned to the Mosin rifle, it sounds like "Three-ruler". And this name has a completely rational explanation, because it comes directly from the caliber that was assigned to the Mosin rifle. During the years of use of this weapon, the weapon caliber was measured by an outdated measure of length, using the "Lines". Then the lines were equal to 2.54 mm. (1/10 inch).

Based on the information above, it is easy to draw a parallel, and understand that the caliber of the Mosin rifle had three lines, that is, 3/10 inch or 7.62 mm. That is why the Mosin rifle is called the "Three-ruler" to this day, and its second name has become almost more popular than the original, received in honor of Mosin himself.