08.03.2020
Soviet pistols. The five worst pistols produced in the USSR and Russia The best pistols in the USA
Soviet engineers created not only a large number of small arms, which were then successfully used by the troops and law enforcement agencies, but also a lot of original, and sometimes even fantastic products for their time. One of these samples is the VAG-73 pistol.
Self-taught innovator
What is surprising is that the product was not the development of some design bureau or research institute, but of one person - a self-taught engineer who, moreover, did not have a specialized education. The name of the pistol itself is an abbreviation of the first letters of the name, patronymic and surname of the Soviet engineer Vladimir Alekseevich Gerasimenko, and the number 73 is the year the pistol was born. However, this is the second model; in 1972, Gerasimenko invented an even earlier modification, which was distinguished by a magazine.
Ever since the Great Patriotic War, the self-taught man worked at the Arsenal plant, where space and aviation optical systems were developed. The development of small arms was a kind of hobby of Gerasimenko, which he became interested in in the 1940s.
The history of the creation of the VAG-73 is in itself indicative of the fact that in the USSR, on the own initiative of one person, the development of weapons that were innovative for those years was carried out. However, this still could not have happened without the control of state security agencies. Gerasimenko’s work was not in vain: during his life he made more than 20 products, receiving seven copyright certificates.
Most often, the name Gersimenko is remembered precisely when talking about VAG-73. The self-taught engineer was able to do something that no one had managed before in the USSR: he presented a functional automatic pistol with caseless cartridges. However, first things first.
Shooting Features
The main feature of the VAG was the cartridge used - it used the caseless principle and was absolutely new concept. It was a bullet made of steel, at the base of which there was a recess for gunpowder. This was covered with a copper cap at the bottom of the cartridge, in which there was a hole closed by a burning primer. The copper protruding side of the rear cover cut into the rifling of the barrel, similar to artillery shells.
What are the advantages of such a cartridge? First of all, the weight of the projectile is reduced by almost half. In addition, caseless ammunition increases the pistol's rate of fire due to the absence of delays associated with case deformation.
It was possible to fire from the VAG-73 either in single shots typical of pistols or in bursts. A unique feature was the presence of a pneumatic bolt retarder, which reduced recoil and increased accuracy.
It is also curious that the shooter could fire a shot from the VAG-73 with both pre-cocking and self-cocking. During self-cocking shooting, the trigger is pressed immediately, without cocking the hammer. This allows you to increase the rate of fire and frequency of fire. Nowadays, most pistols have a self-cocking function, but for the early 1970s Gerasimenko's development was innovative.
Giant store
Another feature of the fantastic pistol was a huge two-row tandem magazine with 24 rounds each. This was the main difference between VAG-72 and VAG-73. In the 73rd model. Thus, the VAG-73 magazine contained 48 rounds. When the cartridges ran out in the front magazine, ammunition from the rear began to flow into the receiver.
For comparison, one of the main and most common pistols of the Soviet era, the Makarov pistol (PM), in use since 1951, was armed with an 8-round magazine. Even after modernization in 1994, the PM could hold no more than 12 rounds.
Modern samples have not come close to the VAG-73 in terms of magazine capacity. Thus, the Yarygin pistol, adopted for service in 2003, has a magazine for 18 rounds.
Hand monster
VAG-73 had truly monstrous size and weight. 235 millimeters in length and 135 in height with a weight of 1.2 kilograms. It was longer than even the far from small Stechkin pistol. And the Makarov pistol was 161 millimeters long and 126 millimeters high, and its maximum weight (with cartridges in the magazine) was 810 grams. Thus, the PM, even with full ammunition, weighed a third less than the VAG.
Significant disadvantages of the development, in addition to the dimensions and weight (which, for example, made the hand holding a pistol get tired much faster), was the cost of caseless ammunition. It turned out that their production costs many times more than conventional cartridges, and it has not even been established yet. In addition, it turned out that due to the complexity of the design, the VAG-73 quickly becomes dirty and is not very reliable.
Self-taught inventor Vladimir Gerasimenko died in 1987. Unfortunately, the pistol he developed did not interest the military and never went into mass production either during the innovator’s lifetime or after.
At the end of the 1980s, the engineer’s developments, including the VAG-73, were transferred by the Kyiv State Security Committee to the Artillery Museum in Leningrad. None accompanying documents there were no exhibits. They are still in the collections of this museum to this day.
However, this weapon was not the only one where the concept of artillery solutions was applied in small arms. The famous AN-94 “Abakan”, although it does not use Gerasimenko’s developments, his idea also has an “artillery note”: the receiver of the machine gun acts as a carriage for the movable barrel.
I'm exploring the world. Weapons Zigunenko Stanislav Nikolaevich
Soviet pistols
In our country, self-loading pistols were first introduced after the end of the Civil War.
The first domestic self-loading pistol chambered for the 7.65 mm Browning cartridge was developed in 1920–1921 by gunsmith S. A. Korovin. A little later, F.V. Tokarev presented his sample. However, it was this TT (Tula, Tokarev) pistol of 7.62 mm caliber that was adopted by the Red Army.
True, this did not happen immediately. The pistol had to be modified several times to take into account the comments of the selection committee. However, in the end, the TT remained in service for more than two decades, although some officers complained about cases of weapon failure due to the magazine randomly popping out of the handle. But some experts believe that the TT is even better than the current Makarov when it comes to shooting accuracy. It is no coincidence that TTs are often found at the sites of contract killings.
Gun. TT
By the way, the most common in modern Russian army, internal troops and police, the Makarov pistol (PM) was created by the famous designer N. F. Makarov after the Second World War. Experts believed that increasing the caliber to 9 mm would make it possible to maintain the same destructive power as its predecessor while significantly reducing the initial bullet speed, which would reduce recoil and therefore increase fire accuracy.
Subsequently, on the basis of the PM, a small-caliber PSM (small-sized self-loading pistol) was created, which, along with its predecessor, became widespread.
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American expert Charlie Gao named the five worst pistols that were created by gunsmiths of the USSR and modern Russia. Listed as famous models weapons, as well as samples for solving special problems.
The OTs-23 “Dart” pistol, chambered for 5.45×18 mm, is quite large in size and weighs almost a kilogram. This already makes it a somewhat pointless weapon, because the cartridge used in it is quite weak. Its initial bullet energy is only 128 joules (for comparison: its muzzle energy is 481 joules, that is, three times more).
However, the 5.45x18 mm has one significant advantage: it is capable of penetrating soft body armor, which the 9x18 mm Makarov pistol cartridge cannot do.
However, in the USSR there is another cartridge - 7.62x25 mm, which is used in the Tokarev pistol and also penetrates soft body armor, but at the same time retains enough energy to cause serious damage to the target.
To compensate for the weak stopping effect of the cartridge, the designers increased the rate of fire to 1800 rounds per minute (according to other sources, 1700). During testing, the OTs-23 showed poor results, so it was not accepted for service: a small batch was produced for units of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Model 1895 Nagan system revolver
At one time - in the century before last - the Nagan system revolver was not inferior to the Austrian Rast-Gasser M1898 and other European models. Despite the archaic design, it remained the main personal weapon in Russian and Soviet army until the 1930s until the advent of the Tokarev pistol.
During this time, many revolvers and pistols appeared with more powerful cartridges and a faster loading system. For comparison, Charlie Gao cites the fact that even the French Lebel M1892 revolver, which, like the Nagan, was used during World War II, had a breaking frame and a side-folding drum.
The Nagant revolver also features an unusually tight trigger with a force of nine kilograms in the single and double action trigger mechanism. This, coupled with other shortcomings, makes the Nagan system revolver of the 1895 model the worst on the list.
Of course, the revolver also had positive sides: Robust and reliable design. In addition, this weapon was easy to repair.
Almost a Glock
P-96
The Russian P-96 pistol was one of the first attempts to make a pistol similar to the Pistols turned out to be similar, the Russian one was distinguished by the presence of an external safety. The P-96 was equipped with a polyamide frame and was designed to use 9x19 cartridges. This pistol did not pass military tests.
To get at least some benefit, the creators adapted their weapon to the 9x17 mm cartridge; the new product was called P-96S and was designed for private security companies. The P-96S did not have any particular advantage over Makarov pistols, of which many still survive from Soviet times, and therefore did not achieve commercial success. Therefore, its production was curtailed in the 90s of the last century.
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It often happens that the cartridge case is not removed, which leads to delays in shooting. The descent of the Swift is very tight and unclear. There have been rumors for some time that these are the weapons of choice for Russia's elite police forces. Now the security forces consider it as the main
The revolver was developed by the Belgian gunsmith L. Nagant and sold to Russia as a model of 1885. Initially, revolvers for the Russian army were manufactured in Belgium (20 thousand units), and in 1898 the arms factory in Tula began producing them.
The design of the Russian-made revolver underwent a slight modernization: the back of the handle was made solid (and not split, as in the Belgian version), and the shape of the front sight was simplified. Two versions were produced: soldier with firing mechanism single action and officer with double action trigger mechanism. The revolver was distinguished by its simplicity of design, manufacturability and low cost. In combat conditions, one of the main advantages was unpretentious operation and reliability: thus, a misfire did not in any way affect the possibility of firing the next shot and did not cause a delay. You can also note the high maintainability of the revolver. The revolver had a monolithic one-piece frame, a door opening the chambers of the drum by turning it to the side, the barrel was screwed into the frame on a solid landing, a ramrod, in the combat position, hidden in the axis of the drum, and after firing it played the role of an extractor spent cartridges and a mechanism located in the frame that closes with a flat lid. In total, the design of the 1895 model revolver had 39 parts. In 1912-1914, a small batch of shortened revolvers for concealed carry by police with a shortened barrel and handle was produced. For the Red Army, only the self-cocking (officer) version of the revolver was produced. In 1930, the design and production technology of the revolver underwent a slight modification: the sight slot became semicircular instead of triangular, and the front sight was changed to a semicircular truncated shape. In 1924-1930 25 thousand shortened (commander's) revolvers were produced for the "chekists". Revolvers in the army were completely replaced by self-loading automatic weapons only after the end of World War II. In 1930-1939 20 thousand revolvers were produced in Poland in two modifications: “Ng wz.30” and “Ng wz.32”. A modification of the revolver with a silencer is known. In total, about 2 million units were produced, incl. 700 thousand in the period 1932-1945. Performance characteristics of a regular/short revolver: caliber: 7.62 mm; length – 235/202 mm; barrel length – 114/85 mm; height – 132/115 mm; width – 40 mm; weight without cartridges - 795/760 g; starting speed bullets – 272-305 m/s; drum capacity - 7 rounds (7.62x38 mm); rate of fire - 21 rounds per minute; firing range – 50m.
The need for silent pistols arose almost immediately from the moment of their appearance, however, for a long time It was not possible to bring such an idea to life. The heyday of silent pistols came in the 20th century, and Soviet gunsmiths achieved particular success in developing such weapons. This post will introduce us to silent pistols of the USSR.
Silent Gurevich Revolver
As you know, one of the ways to reduce the sound of a shot is to use a bullet with subsonic speed and a muffler, in which the powder gases escaping from the barrel are extinguished. But there is another way. In the forties it was used in the Gurevich revolver.
In the picture you see how the cartridge in the Gurevich revolver is arranged. The powder charge in the cartridge case is closed with a wad. In the barrel of the cartridge case there is a sleeve into which a 6.5 mm caliber bullet is inserted; the space between the wad and the sleeve is filled with water. When fired, the capsule hits the charge and the powder gases push the wad, and the wad displaces water. Since the diameter of the barrel is smaller than the diameter of the cartridge case, the speed of the water increases. The bullet flies out of the barrel, but the wad remains inside. Powder gases are locked, there is no noise. The revolver was produced in a pilot batch and released in the second half of the forties. It did not gain popularity; the design turned out to be too complex.
Pistol PB
A new round of development of domestic silent weapons began in the sixties.
Then cold war was in full swing. The global confrontation between the USSR and NATO contributed to this more than ever before. To scenarios of war with probable enemy We prepared very seriously. A special role was assigned to reconnaissance and sabotage units. They had to operate secretly behind enemy lines. For this purpose, small-sized and silent weapons were created. One of them was a PB pistol.
There is a strong belief that this pistol was created on the basis of the Makarov pistol (PM). But this is not so, when designing the pistol, only the trigger and magazine from the PM were borrowed, and everything else is just an external resemblance. This pistol has excellent balance and ergonomics and is still used today.
APB pistol
Stechkin automatic pistol: magazine for 20 rounds, ability to fire in bursts, high accuracy of hits. This pistol became an excellent basis for the creation of a silent automatic pistol in the USSR.
Silent shooting of this weapon was ensured through the use of a muzzle silencer, an expansion chamber located under the bolt casing. The plastic stock was replaced with a metal frame one. This pistol is still very popular today. Unfortunately, the pistol was expensive to produce and, having produced the required quantity, the workshops for its production were closed. Today, APS and APB are the only mass-produced automatic pistols in Russia; no worthy competitors have been found...
Pistol S-4
The source of sound from the APB pistol was the same automatic parts hitting each other. The PB pistol had the same drawback. Therefore, the USSR began to work on silent weapons, which used a different principle of eliminating sound when fired. In the mid-sixties, the second direction of ensuring silent shooting was developed. Cut-off of powder gases in the cartridge case. The EVIL KGB special forces adopted the S-4 pistol with the 7.62x63mm “snake” cartridge.
This pistol did not give itself away with the clanging of moving parts; it simply did not have one. Above, I already told you about the principle of operation of the cartridge in Gurevich’s revolver; the “Snake” cartridge was created according to the same principle. Only instead of water, the powder charge there is separated by a piston.
Once the gunpowder is ignited, the gases act on the piston and it pushes the bullet out. As soon as the bullet leaves the barrel, the piston remains inside and hermetically seals the powder gases. This principle is called the cut-off of powder gases. The clip held 2 cartridges in 2 separate barrels. The pistol was withdrawn from service immediately after the SME pistol was adopted.
Pistol SME "Groza"
In the early 70s, based on the S-4 and S-4M, a new pistol was developed with a cutoff of powder gases in the cartridge case and a new SP-3 cartridge. This pistol became the SME. SME had: significantly smaller dimensions and weight than its predecessor and had best characteristics. It was put into service in a limited batch and did not receive any noticeable use (maybe because it is silent). It is still in service in Russia today.
PSS pistol "Vul"
The PB and APB had the disadvantage of clanging moving parts and large dimensions. Their “colleagues” S-4M and SME had a disadvantage: a small number of cartridges in the clip and the lack of automatic equipment. All the advantages of the previous four pistols had to be embodied in one. By the end of 1983, the PSS pistol (special self-loading pistol) was adopted.
The main features of this unique and unparalleled weapon in the world were:
The absence of a silencer and cut-off of powder gases ensures complete silent shooting, compactness of the pistol, reliability and accuracy. A new SP-4 cartridge of 7.62×41.5 mm caliber was developed for the PSS pistol. This cartridge is interesting in that the cartridge bullet is cylindrical in shape and has a brass belt on its front part. When fired, the belt enters the rifling of the barrel and causes the bullet to rotate. At a distance of up to 25 meters, the bullet is capable of penetrating a fragmentation vest or helmet. This is an ideal weapon for a sneak attack. There are still no analogues to this pistol. Oddly enough, after the collapse of the great USSR, production of this cartridge and pistol was not stopped in Russia and it is still being supplied to special forces units...
