Review of ammunition for small arms found on the sites of former battles in the European part of the USSR. Small arms of the Wehrmacht. Small arms of the Wehrmacht in WWII. German small arms

Here is a small illustration:

Suppose I read in a 12-volume book (which usually exaggerates the strength of the Germans and satellites opposing us) that by the beginning of 1944 on the Soviet-German front, the ratio of forces in artillery pieces and mortars was 1.7: 1 (95,604 Soviet against 54,570 enemy). More than one and a half overall superiority. That is, in active sectors it could be brought up to three times (for example, in the Belarusian operation, 29,000 Soviet against 10,000 enemy) Does this mean that the enemy could not raise his head under the hurricane fire of Soviet artillery? No, an artillery piece is just a tool for firing shells. There are no shells - and the gun is a useless toy. And providing shells is just the task of logistics.

In 2009, at VIF, Isaev posted a comparison of the ammunition consumption of Soviet and German artillery (1942: http://vif2ne.ru/nvk/forum/0/archive/1718/1718985.htm, 1943: http://vif2ne.ru/nvk/ forum/0/archive/1706/1706490.htm , 1944: http://vif2ne.ru/nvk/forum/0/archive/1733/1733134.htm , 1945: http://vif2ne.ru/nvk/forum/ 0/archive/1733/1733171.htm). I collected everything in a table, supplemented it with rocket artillery, for the Germans I added from Hann the consumption of captured calibers (often it gives a negligible addition) and the consumption of tank calibers for comparability - in Soviet figures, tank calibers (20-mm ShVAK and 85-mm non-anti-aircraft) are present. Posted. Well, grouped a little differently. It turns out to be pretty interesting. Despite the superiority of Soviet artillery in the number of barrels, the Germans shot more shells in pieces, if we take artillery calibers (i.e. guns 75 mm and above, without anti-aircraft guns) the Germans have more:
USSR Germany 1942 37,983,800 45,261,822 1943 82,125,480 69,928,496 1944 98,564,568 113,663,900
If translated into tons, then the superiority is even more noticeable:
USSR Germany 1942 446.113 709.957 1943 828.193 1.121.545 1944 1.000.962 1.540.933
Tons here are taken by the weight of the projectile, not the shot. That is, the weight of metal and explosives falling directly on the head of the opposing side. I note that I did not count the armor-piercing shells of tank and anti-tank guns for the Germans (I hope you understand why). It is not possible to exclude them for the Soviet side, but, judging by the Germans, the amendment will come out insignificant. In Germany, consumption is given on all fronts, which begins to play a role in 1944.

In the Soviet army, on average, 3.6-3.8 shells were fired per day on the barrel of a gun from 76.2 mm and above in the active army (without RGK). The figure is quite stable both in years and in calibers: in 1944, the average daily shot for all calibers was 3.6 per barrel, for a 122-mm howitzer - 3.0, for 76.2 mm barrels (regimental, divisional, tank) - 3.7. The average daily shot per mortar barrel, on the contrary, is growing year by year: from 2.0 in 1942 to 4.1 in 1944.

As for the Germans, I do not have the presence of guns in the army. But if we take the total availability of guns, then the average daily shot per barrel of 75-mm and higher caliber in 1944 will be about 8.5. At the same time, the main workhorse of divisional artillery (105-mm howitzers - almost a third of the total tonnage of shells) shot an average of 14.5 shells per barrel per day, and the second main caliber (150-mm divisional howitzers - 20% of the total tonnage) about 10, 7. Mortars were used much less intensively - 81-mm mortars fired 4.4 rounds per barrel per day, and 120-mm only 2.3. Regimental artillery guns gave a consumption closer to the average (75-mm infantry gun 7 rounds per barrel, 150-mm infantry gun - 8.3).

Another instructive metric is the expenditure of shells per division.

The division was the main organizational building block, but typically the divisions were reinforced by units. It is interesting to see what supported the middle division in terms of firepower. In 1942-44, the USSR had in the active army (without the RGC) about 500 calculated divisions (weighted average: 1942 - 425 divisions, 1943 - 494 divisions, 1944 - 510 divisions). There were approximately 5.5 million in the ground forces of the active army, that is, there were approximately 11 thousand people per division. This "had to" naturally, taking into account both the actual composition of the division, and all the reinforcement and support units that worked for it both directly and in the rear.

Among the Germans, the average number of troops per division of the Eastern Front, calculated in the same way, decreased from 16,000 in 1943 to 13,800 in 1944, approximately 1.45-1.25 times "thicker" than the Soviet one. At the same time, the average daily shot on the Soviet division in 1944 was about 5.4 tons (1942 - 2.9; 1943 - 4.6), and on the German - three times more (16.2 tons). If we calculate for 10,000 people of the active army, then from the Soviet side to support their actions in 1944 5 tons of ammunition were spent per day, and from the German 13.8 tons.

The American division in the European theater in this sense stands out even more. It had three times as many people as the Soviet one: 34,000 (this is without Supply Command troops), and the daily ammunition consumption was almost ten times more (52.3 tons). Or 15.4 tons per day per 10,000 people, that is, more than three times more than in the Red Army.

In this sense, it was the Americans who implemented the recommendation of Joseph Vissarionovich "to fight with little blood but with a lot of shells." It can be compared - in June 1944 the distance to the Elbe was approximately the same from Omaha Beach and from Vitebsk. The Russians and the Americans also reached the Elbe at about the same time. That is, they ensured the same speed of advancement for themselves. However, the Americans on this route used up 15 tons per day per 10,000 personnel and lost an average of 3.8% of troops per month in killed, wounded, captured and missing. Soviet troops advancing at the same speed spent (specifically) three times less shells, but they also lost 8.5% per month. Those. speed was provided by the expenditure of manpower.

It is also interesting to see the distribution of the weight consumption of ammunition by types of guns:

I remind you that all the numbers here are for artillery of 75 mm and above, that is, without anti-aircraft guns, without 50 mm mortars, without battalion / anti-tank guns with a caliber of 28 to 57 mm. Infantry guns include German guns with this name, Soviet 76-mm regiments and American 75-mm howitzer. The remaining guns weighing less than 8 tons in combat position are counted as field guns. Systems such as the Soviet 152 mm ML-20 howitzer gun and the German s.FH 18 fall here at the upper limit. Heavier guns such as the Soviet 203 mm B-4 howitzer, the American 203 mm M1 howitzer or the German 210 mm mortar, as well as 152-155-170-mm long-range guns on their carriages fall into the next class - heavy and long-range artillery.

It can be seen that in the Red Army the lion's share of fire falls on mortars and regimental guns, i.e. to fire on the near tactical zone. Heavy artillery plays a very insignificant role (in 1945 more, but not by much). In field artillery, forces (by weight of projectiles fired) are roughly evenly distributed between the 76mm cannon, 122mm howitzer, and 152mm howitzer/howitzer cannon. Which leads to the fact that the average weight of the Soviet projectile is one and a half times less than the German one.

In addition, it should be noted that the farther the target, the (on average) it is less covered. In the near tactical zone, most of the targets are somehow dug / covered, while in the depths there are such uncovered targets as advancing reserves, enemy troops in clusters, headquarters locations, etc. In other words, a projectile that hits the target in depth on average does more damage than a projectile fired at the leading edge (on the other hand, the dispersion of projectiles at long distances is higher).

Then, if the enemy has parity in the weight of fired shells of shells, but at the same time keeps half as many people at the front, thereby he gives half as many targets to our artillery.

All this works for the observed loss ratio.

(As an extended commentary on

Thanks to Soviet films about the war, most people have a strong opinion that the mass small arms (photo below) of the German infantry during the Second World War is an automatic machine (submachine gun) of the Schmeisser system, which is named after its designer. This myth is still actively supported by domestic cinema. However, in fact, this popular machine gun was never a mass weapon of the Wehrmacht, and Hugo Schmeisser did not create it at all. However, first things first.

How myths are created

Everyone should remember the shots from domestic films dedicated to the attacks of the German infantry on our positions. Brave blond guys walk without bending down, while firing from machine guns “from the hip”. And the most interesting thing is that this fact does not surprise anyone, except for those who were in the war. According to the movies, the "Schmeissers" could conduct aimed fire at the same distance as the rifles of our fighters. In addition, the viewer, when watching these films, had the impression that the entire personnel of the German infantry during the Second World War was armed with machine guns. In fact, everything was different, and the submachine gun is not a mass small arms weapon of the Wehrmacht, and it is impossible to shoot from it “from the hip”, and it is not called “Schmeisser” at all. In addition, to carry out an attack on a trench by a submachine gunners unit, in which there are fighters armed with magazine rifles, is an obvious suicide, since simply no one would have reached the trenches.

Debunking the Myth: The MP-40 Automatic Pistol

This Wehrmacht small arms in WWII is officially called the MP-40 submachine gun (Maschinenpistole). In fact, this is a modification of the MP-36 assault rifle. The designer of this model, contrary to popular belief, was not the gunsmith H. Schmeisser, but the no less famous and talented craftsman Heinrich Vollmer. And why is the nickname “Schmeisser” so firmly entrenched behind him? The thing is that Schmeisser owned a patent for the store that is used in this submachine gun. And in order not to violate his copyright, in the first batches of MP-40, the inscription PATENT SCHMEISSER was stamped on the store receiver. When these machine guns came as trophies to the soldiers of the allied armies, they mistakenly thought that the author of this model of small arms, of course, was Schmeisser. This is how the given nickname was fixed for the MP-40.

Initially, the German command armed only command staff with machine guns. So, in the infantry units, only the commanders of battalions, companies and squads should have MP-40s. Later, drivers of armored vehicles, tankers and paratroopers were supplied with automatic pistols. Massively, no one armed the infantry with them either in 1941 or after. According to the archives in 1941, the troops had only 250 thousand MP-40 assault rifles, and this is for 7,234,000 people. As you can see, a submachine gun is not at all a mass weapon of the Second World War. In general, for the entire period - from 1939 to 1945 - only 1.2 million of these machine guns were produced, while over 21 million people were called up in the Wehrmacht.

Why were the infantry not armed with the MP-40?

Despite the fact that experts later recognized that the MP-40 is the best small arms of the Second World War, only a few of them had it in the infantry units of the Wehrmacht. This is explained simply: the aiming range of this machine gun for group targets is only 150 m, and for single targets - 70 m. This despite the fact that Soviet soldiers were armed with Mosin and Tokarev (SVT) rifles, the aiming range of which was 800 m for group targets and 400 m for single targets. If the Germans had fought with such weapons, as shown in domestic films, then they would never have been able to reach the enemy trenches, they would simply have been shot, as in a shooting gallery.

Shooting on the move "from the hip"

The MP-40 submachine gun vibrates a lot when firing, and if you use it, as shown in the films, the bullets will always miss the target. Therefore, for effective shooting, it must be pressed tightly against the shoulder, after unfolding the butt. In addition, this machine gun was never fired in long bursts, as it quickly heated up. Most often they were beaten in a short burst of 3-4 rounds or fired single shots. Despite the fact that the performance characteristics indicate that the rate of fire is 450-500 rounds per minute, in practice this result has never been achieved.

Advantages of the MP-40

It cannot be said that this rifle was bad, on the contrary, it is very, very dangerous, but it must be used in close combat. That is why sabotage units were armed with it in the first place. They were also often used by scouts of our army, and the partisans respected this machine gun. The use of light, rapid-fire small arms in close combat provided tangible advantages. Even now, the MP-40 is very popular with criminals, and the price of such a machine is very high. And they are delivered there by “black archaeologists”, who excavate in places of military glory and very often find and restore weapons from the Second World War.

Mauser 98k

What can you say about this rifle? The most common small arms in Germany are the Mauser rifle. Its aiming range is up to 2000 m when firing. As you can see, this parameter is very close to the Mosin and SVT rifles. This carbine was developed back in 1888. During the war, this design was significantly upgraded, mainly to reduce costs, as well as to rationalize production. In addition, this Wehrmacht small arms were equipped with optical sights, and sniper units were equipped with it. The Mauser rifle at that time was in service with many armies, for example, Belgium, Spain, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia and Sweden.

Self-loading rifles

At the end of 1941, the first automatic self-loading rifles of the Walther G-41 and Mauser G-41 systems entered the infantry units of the Wehrmacht for military trials. Their appearance was due to the fact that the Red Army was armed with more than one and a half million such systems: SVT-38, SVT-40 and ABC-36. In order not to be inferior to the Soviet fighters, the German gunsmiths urgently had to develop their own versions of such rifles. As a result of the tests, the G-41 system (Walter system) was recognized and adopted as the best. The rifle is equipped with a trigger-type percussion mechanism. Designed for firing only single shots. Equipped with a magazine with a capacity of ten rounds. This automatic self-loading rifle is designed for aimed fire at a distance of up to 1200 m. However, due to the large weight of this weapon, as well as low reliability and sensitivity to pollution, it was released in a small series. In 1943, the designers, having eliminated these shortcomings, proposed an upgraded version of the G-43 (Walter system), which was produced in the amount of several hundred thousand units. Before its appearance, Wehrmacht soldiers preferred to use captured Soviet (!) SVT-40 rifles.

And now back to the German gunsmith Hugo Schmeisser. He developed two systems, without which the Second World War could not have done.

Small arms - MP-41

This model was developed simultaneously with the MP-40. This machine gun was significantly different from the “Schmeisser” familiar to everyone from the movies: it had a handguard trimmed with wood, which protected the fighter from burns, was heavier and longer. However, this Wehrmacht small arms were not widely used and were not produced for long. In total, about 26 thousand units were produced. It is believed that the German army abandoned this machine in connection with the lawsuit of ERMA, which claimed that its patented design was illegally copied. Small arms MP-41 was used by parts of the Waffen SS. It was also successfully used by Gestapo units and mountain rangers.

MP-43, or StG-44

The next weapon of the Wehrmacht (photo below) was developed by Schmeisser in 1943. At first it was called MP-43, and later - StG-44, which means "assault rifle" (sturmgewehr). This automatic rifle in appearance, and in some technical characteristics, resembles (which appeared later), and differs significantly from the MP-40. Its range of aimed fire was up to 800 m. The StG-44 even provided for the possibility of mounting a 30 mm grenade launcher. For firing from cover, the designer developed a special nozzle, which was worn on the muzzle and changed the trajectory of the bullet by 32 degrees. This weapon entered mass production only in the fall of 1944. During the war years, about 450 thousand of these rifles were produced. So few of the German soldiers managed to use such a machine gun. StG-44s were supplied to the elite units of the Wehrmacht and to Waffen SS units. Subsequently, this weapon of the Wehrmacht was used in

FG-42 automatic rifles

These copies were intended for parachute troops. They combined the fighting qualities of a light machine gun and an automatic rifle. The Rheinmetall company took up the development of weapons already during the war, when, after evaluating the results of airborne operations carried out by the Wehrmacht, it turned out that the MP-38 submachine guns did not fully meet the combat requirements of this type of troops. The first tests of this rifle were carried out in 1942, and at the same time it was put into service. In the process of using the mentioned weapon, shortcomings were also revealed, associated with low strength and stability during automatic firing. In 1944, the upgraded FG-42 rifle (Model 2) was released, and Model 1 was discontinued. The trigger mechanism of this weapon allows automatic or single fire. The rifle is designed for the standard 7.92 mm Mauser cartridge. Magazine capacity is 10 or 20 rounds. In addition, the rifle can be used to fire special rifle grenades. In order to increase stability when firing, a bipod is fixed under the barrel. The FG-42 rifle is designed for firing at a range of 1200 m. Due to the high cost, it was produced in limited quantities: only 12 thousand units of both models.

Luger P08 and Walter P38

Now consider what types of pistols were in service with the German army. "Luger", its second name "Parabellum", had a caliber of 7.65 mm. By the beginning of the war, the units of the German army had more than half a million of these pistols. This small arms of the Wehrmacht was produced until 1942, and then it was replaced by a more reliable "Walter".

This pistol was put into service in 1940. It was intended for firing 9 mm rounds, the magazine capacity is 8 rounds. Sighting range at "Walter" - 50 meters. It was produced until 1945. The total number of P38 pistols produced was approximately 1 million units.

Weapons of World War II: MG-34, MG-42 and MG-45

In the early 30s, the German military decided to create a machine gun that could be used both as an easel and as a manual one. They were supposed to fire at enemy aircraft and arm tanks. The MG-34, designed by Rheinmetall and put into service in 1934, became such a machine gun. By the beginning of hostilities, the Wehrmacht had about 80 thousand units of this weapon. The machine gun allows you to fire both single shots and continuous. To do this, he had a trigger with two notches. When you click on the top, shooting was carried out with single shots, and when you click on the bottom - in bursts. It was intended for Mauser rifle cartridges 7.92x57 mm, with light or heavy bullets. And in the 40s, armor-piercing, armor-piercing tracer, armor-piercing incendiary and other types of cartridges were developed and used. This suggests the conclusion that the impetus for changes in weapons systems and tactics for their use was the Second World War.

The small arms that were used in this company were replenished with a new type of machine gun - MG-42. It was developed and put into service in 1942. The designers have greatly simplified and reduced the cost of the production of these weapons. So, in its production, spot welding and stamping were widely used, and the number of parts was reduced to 200. The trigger mechanism of the machine gun in question allowed only automatic firing - 1200-1300 rounds per minute. Such significant changes adversely affected the stability of the unit during firing. Therefore, to ensure accuracy, it was recommended to fire in short bursts. Ammunition for the new machine gun remained the same as for the MG-34. The range of aimed fire was two kilometers. Work on improving this design continued until the end of 1943, which led to the creation of a new modification, known as the MG-45.

This machine gun weighed only 6.5 kg, and the rate of fire was 2400 rounds per minute. By the way, not a single infantry machine gun of that time could boast of such a rate of fire. However, this modification appeared too late and was not in service with the Wehrmacht.

PzB-39 and Panzerschrek

PzB-39 was developed in 1938. This weapon of the Second World War was used with relative success at the initial stage to combat tankettes, tanks and armored vehicles with bulletproof armor. Against heavily armored B-1s, British Matildas and Churchills, Soviet T-34s and KVs), this gun was either ineffective or completely useless. As a result, it was soon replaced by anti-tank grenade launchers and reactive anti-tank rifles "Pantsershrek", "Ofenror", as well as the famous "Faustpatrons". The PzB-39 used a 7.92 mm cartridge. The firing range was 100 meters, the penetration ability made it possible to "flash" 35-mm armor.

"Panzerschreck". This German light anti-tank weapon is a modified copy of the American Bazooka rocket-propelled gun. German designers provided him with a shield that protected the shooter from hot gases escaping from the grenade nozzle. Anti-tank companies of motorized rifle regiments of tank divisions were supplied as a matter of priority with these weapons. Rocket guns were exceptionally powerful weapons. "Panzershreki" were weapons for group use and had a service crew consisting of three people. Since they were very complex, their use required special training in calculations. In total, in 1943-1944, 314 thousand units of such guns and more than two million rocket-propelled grenades were produced for them.

Grenade launchers: "Faustpatron" and "Panzerfaust"

The early years of the Second World War showed that anti-tank guns could not cope with the tasks set, so the German military demanded anti-tank weapons with which to equip an infantryman, acting on the principle of "shot and thrown." The development of a disposable hand grenade launcher was started by HASAG in 1942 (chief designer Langweiler). And in 1943 mass production was launched. The first 500 Faustpatrons entered the troops in August of the same year. All models of this anti-tank grenade launcher had a similar design: they consisted of a barrel (smooth-bore seamless pipe) and an over-caliber grenade. An impact mechanism and an aiming device were welded to the outer surface of the barrel.

"Panzerfaust" is one of the most powerful modifications of the "Faustpatron", which was developed at the end of the war. Its firing range was 150 m, and its armor penetration was 280-320 mm. The Panzerfaust was a reusable weapon. The barrel of the grenade launcher is equipped with a pistol grip, in which there is a firing mechanism, the propellant charge was placed in the barrel. In addition, the designers were able to increase the speed of the grenade. In total, over eight million grenade launchers of all modifications were manufactured during the war years. This type of weapon inflicted significant losses on Soviet tanks. So, in the battles on the outskirts of Berlin, they knocked out about 30 percent of armored vehicles, and during street fighting in the capital of Germany - 70%.

Conclusion

The Second World War had a significant impact on small arms, including the world, its development and tactics of use. Based on its results, we can conclude that, despite the creation of the most modern weapons, the role of rifle units is not decreasing. The accumulated experience of using weapons in those years is still relevant today. In fact, it became the basis for the development and improvement of small arms.

I I - period up to 1941

In December 1917, the Council of People's Commissars announced the demobilization of military factories, but by this time the production of ammunition in the country had practically ceased. By 1918, all the main stocks of weapons and ammunition left over from the world war were already exhausted. However, by the beginning of 1919, only the Tula Cartridge Plant remained operational. Lugansk patron in 1918 was initially captured by the Germans, then was occupied by the White Guard army of Krasnov.

For the newly created plant in Taganrog, the White Guards took from the Lugansk plant 4 machine tools from each development, 500 pounds of gunpowder, non-ferrous metals, and also part of the finished cartridges.
So Ataman Krasnov resumed production on RUSSIAN - BALTIC plant Rus.-Balt. share about-va shipbuilding and mechanical plants. (Founded in 1913 in Revel, in 1915 evacuated to Taganrog, in Soviet times the Taganrog Combine Plant.) and by November 1918, the productivity of this plant had increased to 300,000 rifle cartridges per day (Kakurin N E. "How the revolution fought")

“On January 3 (1919), the allies saw the Russian-Baltic plant in Taganrog already revived and put into operation, where they made shells, cast bullets, inserted them into cupronickel shells, poured cartridges with gunpowder - in a word, the plant was already in full swing. (Peter Nikolaevich Krasnov "The Great Don Army") In the Krasnodar Territory and in the Urals, cartridge cases are found marked D.Z.
Most likely, this marking denotes the "Don Plant" of Taganrog

Simbirsk, which was under construction, was under threat of capture. In the spring of 1918 The evacuation of the Petersburg Cartridge Plant to Simbirsk began. About 1,500 workers from Petrograd arrived in Simbirsk in July 1919 to set up the production of cartridges.
In 1919, the plant begins to produce products, and since 1922 the Ulyanovsk plant has been renamed the Volodarsky Plant.

In addition, the Soviet government is building a new cartridge factory in Podolsk. A part of the shell factory, located in the premises of the former Singer factory, was taken under it. The remnants of equipment from Petrograd were sent there. Since the autumn of 1919, the Podolsk plant began to remake foreign cartridges, and in November 1920 the first batch of rifle cartridges was produced.

From 1924 the production of cartridges is carried out by the State Association "Main Directorate of the Military Industry of the USSR", which includes Tula, Lugansk, Podolsk, Ulyanovsk factories.

Since 1928, cartridge factories, in addition to Tula, received numbers: Ulyanovsk - 3, Podolsk - 17, Lugansk - 60. (But Ulyanovsk retained its ZV marking until 1941)
Since 1934, new workshops have been built south of Podolsk. Soon they began to be called the Novopodolsky plant, and since 1940 the Klimovsky plant No. 188.
In 1939 cartridge factories were reassigned to the 3rd Main Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Armaments. It included the following plants: Ulyanovsk No. 3, Podolsky No. 17, Tula No. 38, Experienced Patr. plant (Maryina. Grove, Moscow) No. 44, Kuntsevsky (Red Equipment) No. 46, Lugansky No. 60 and Klimovsky No. 188.

The markings of Soviet-made cartridges remain mostly with a protruding imprint.

At the top - the number or name of the plant, at the bottom - the year of manufacture.

At the cartridges of the Tula plant in 1919-20. a quarter is indicated, possibly in 1923-24. only the last digit of the year of issue is indicated, and the Lugansk plant in 1920-1927. indicates the period (1,2,3) in which they were produced. The Ulyanovsk plant in 1919-30 puts the name of the plant (C, U, ZV) at the bottom.

In 1930, the spherical bottom part of the sleeve was replaced by a flat one with a chamfer. The replacement was caused by problems that arose when firing from the Maxim machine gun. The protruding marking is located along the edge of the bottom of the sleeve. And only in the 1970s, the sleeves began to be marked with an extruded impression on a flat surface closer to the center.

	Marking		Start marking	End of marking
Klimovsky plant
Kuntsevsky plant "Red Gear" Moscow		Produced cartridges for ShKAS and with special bullets T-46, ZB-46 Apparently experienced parties

*Note. The table is not complete, there may be other options

Cases of the Lugansk factory with additional designations + are very rare. Most likely, these are technological designations and the cartridges were intended only for test firing.

There is an opinion that in 1928-1936 the Penza plant produced cartridges marked No. 50, but it is more likely that this is an indistinct mark No. 60

Perhaps, at the end of the thirties, cartridges or shells were produced at the Moscow “Shot-Foundry Plant” No. 58, which then produced tail cartridges for mortar mines.

In 1940-41 in Novosibirsk, plant No. 179 NKB (People's Commissariat of Ammunition) produced rifle cartridges.

The cartridge case for the ShKAS machine gun, unlike an ordinary rifle cartridge case, has, in addition to the factory number and year of manufacture, an additional stamp - the letter "Sh".
Cartridges with a ShKAS sleeve, having a red primer, were used for firing only from synchronous air machine guns.

R. Chumak K. Solovyov Cartridges for a super-machine gun Magazine "Kalashnikov" No. 1 2001

Notes:
Finland, which used the Mosin rifle, produced, and also purchased in the USA and other countries, 7.62x54 cartridges, which are found on the battlefields of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939 and the Second World War. Probably, cartridges of pre-revolutionary Russian production were also used.

	Suomen Ampuma Tarvetehdas OY (SAT) , Riihimaki, Finland(1922-26)

In the 1920s and 30s, the United States used Mosin rifles left over from the Russian order for training purposes and sold them for private use, releasing cartridges for this. Deliveries were made to Finland in 1940

	(UMC- Union Metallic Cartridge Co. affiliatedtoRemington Co.)
	WinchesterRepeating Arms Co., Bridgeport, CT Middle drawing - factoryEastAlton Right picture - plantNewHaven

During World War I, Germany used the captured Mosin rifle to arm auxiliary and rear units.

	It is possible that, initially, German cartridges were produced without marking, but there will probably be no reliable information about this
	Deutsche Waffen-u. Munitionsfabriken A.-G., Fruher Lorenz , Karlsruhe, Germany

Spain during the civil war received a large number of various, mostly obsolete, weapons from the USSR. Including the Mosin rifle. The production of cartridges was established. It is possible that at first Soviet-made cartridge cases were used, which were reloaded and new markings were applied to them.

Fabrica Nacional de Toledo. Spain

The English company Kynoch supplied cartridges to Finland and Estonia. According to the data providedGOST of "P.labbett &F.A.brown.foreignrifle-caliberammunition manufactured in Britain. London, 1994., "Kynoch signed contracts for the supply of 7.62x54 cartridges:

1929 Estonia (with tracer)
1932 Estonia (with a heavy bullet weighing 12.12 gr.)
1938 Estonia (with tracer)
1929 Finland (with tracer, armor-piercing bullet)
1939 Finland (with tracer)

The 7.62x54 cartridge was produced in the 20-40s and in other countries for commercial purposes:

	ARS-it is unlikely that thisA. RSAtelierdeConstuctiondeRennes, Rennes, France, since the cartridges of this company areRS, most likely equipped in Estonia with the participation of Finland
	FNC- (Fabrica Nacional de Cartuchos, Santa Fe), Mexico
	FN-(Fabrique Nationale d "Armes de Guerre, Herstal) Belgium,
	Pumitra Voina Anonima, Romania Probably for the remaining captured rifles after World War 1, but there is no exact data on the manufacturer

It is possible that some of the foreign ammunition listed above could have ended up in Soviet warehouses in small quantities as a result of the annexation of the western territories and the Finnish War, and were most likely used by units of the "people's militia" in the initial period of the Second World War. Also, now often found in archaeological studies of the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War in Soviet positions, shells and cartridges made in the USA and England commissioned by Russia for World War 1. The order was not completed in full on time, and already during the years of the civil war it was supplied to the White Army. After the end of the civil war, the remnants of these ammunition settled in warehouses, they were probably used by security units and OSOAVIAKHIM, but they turned out to be in demand with the beginning of the Second World War.
Sometimes there are cases of 7.7mm English rifle cartridges (.303 British) on the battlefields, which are mistaken for 7.62x54R ammunition. These cartridges were used, in particular, by the armies of the Baltic states and in 1940 were used for the Red Army. Near Leningrad, such cartridges are found with the marking of the V-Riga plant "Vairogs" (VAIROGS, formerly Sellier & Bellot)
.
Later, such cartridges of English and Canadian production came under Lend-Lease.

I I I - period 1942-1945

In 1941, all factories, except for Ulyanovsk, were partially or completely evacuated, and the old factory numbers were kept in the new location. For example, the Barnaul plant, transported from Podolsk, produced its first products on November 24, 1941. Some plants were re-created. The numbering of all cartridge productions is given, since there is no exact data on the range of their products.

Marking with 1941-42	Factory location	Marking with 1941-42	Factory location
			New Lyalya
	Sverdlovsk		Chelyabinsk
	Novosibirsk

According to B. Davydov, during the war years, rifle cartridges were produced at factories 17 ,38 (1943), 44 (1941-42),46 ,60 ,179 (1940-41),188 ,304 (1942),529 ,539 (1942-43),540 ,541 (1942-43), 543 ,544 ,545 ,710 (1942-43),711 (1942).

During the restoration in 1942-1944, the plants received new designations.

This brand is probably the products manufactured by the Podolsk plant during the period of its resumption of work.
There may be other designations. For example, No. 10 in 1944 (found on TT cartridges), but the location of production is unknown, perhaps it is the Perm plant or the poorly readable stamp of the Podolsky plant.

Since 1944, the designation of the month of issue of the cartridge is possible.
For example, the training cartridge of 1946 has such a marking.

IV - Post-war period

In the postwar years in the USSR, factories in Klimovsk-No. 711, Tula-No. 539, Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk)-No. 270, Ulyanovsk-No. 3, Yuryuzan-No. 38, Novosibirsk-No. 188, Barnaul-No. 17 and Frunze remained in cartridge production -#60.

The markings on rifle cartridges from this production period remain mostly with a raised impression. At the top - the plant number, at the bottom - the year of manufacture.

In 1952-1956, the following designations are used to designate the year of issue:

D = 1952, D = 1953, E = 1954, I = 1955, K = 1956.

After the Second World War, the 7.62 caliber cartridge was also produced in the Warsaw Pact countries, China, Iraq and Egypt, and other countries .. Designation options are possible

Czechoslovakia	aimbxnzv
Bulgaria
Hungary
Poland
Yugoslavia	P P U
	31 51 61 71 321 671

This cartridge is still being produced at Russian factories in combat and hunting performance.

Modern names and some of the variants of commercial markings on Russian cartridges since 1990

The designs, characteristics of various bullets for cartridges of 7.62 caliber are quite well represented in modern weapons literature and therefore only the color designations of bullets are given according to the “Handbook of Cartridges ...” 1946.

	Light bullet L arr. 1908
	Heavy bullet D arr. 1930, the tip is painted yellow for a length of 5 mm Since 1953 it has been replaced by an LPS bullet painted on the tip until 1978 in silver color
	Armor-piercing bullet B-30 arr. 1930 tip painted 5 mm black
	Armor-piercing incendiary bullet B-32 arr. 1932 tip painted 5 mm long black with a red border stripe Bullet BS-40 arr. 1940 it was painted black for a length of 5 mm, and the rest of the protruding part of the bullet from the sleeve was red.
	Sighting and incendiary bullet PZ model 1935 the tip is painted red for a length of 5 mm
	Tracer bullet T-30 arr. 1930 and T-46 mod. 1938 the tip is painted 5 mm green. The T-46 bullet was developed at the Kuntsevsky Plant (Red Equipment) No. 46 and from here got its number in the title.

Most of the above information was provided by the director of the local history museum of the Lomonosovsky district of the Leningrad region
Vladimir Andreevich Golovatyuk , who has been dealing with the history of small arms and ammunition for many years.
The museum has collected a lot of materials and exhibits on the history of the region, military operations on the territory of the region during the Second World War. Excursions are regularly held for schoolchildren and all comers. T museum telephone 8 812 423 05 66

In addition, I give the information I have on rifle cartridges from an earlier period:
Cartridge for rifle Krnka, Baranova
Produced at the St. Petersburg plant (and some workshops without designations)

Probably L is the name of the St. Petersburg Foundry Workshop.

Probably VGO - Vasileostrovsky cartridge case department of the St. Petersburg cartridge factory.

The designation of the third of the year of manufacture appears

Petersburg plant

Unfortunately, I do not have information on designations before 1880, most likely the letter B denotes the Vasileostrovsky cartridge case department of the St. Petersburg cartridge factory, and the upper mark is the name of the brass manufacturer.

Manufactured by Keller & Co., Hirtenberg Austria, probably commissioned by Bulgaria for the Serbian-Bulgarian war.

The further back in time the years of fighting with the Nazi invaders go, the more myths, idle speculations, often unintentional, sometimes malicious, those events grow. One of them is that the German troops were completely armed with the notorious Schmeisser, which is an unsurpassed example of an automatic machine of all times and peoples before the advent of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. What really was the small arms of the Wehrmacht of the Second World War, was it as great as it is “painted”, it is worth looking into it in more detail to understand the real situation.

The blitzkrieg strategy, which consisted in the lightning-fast defeat of the enemy troops with the overwhelming advantage of the tank formations covered, assigned the ground motorized troops almost an auxiliary role - to complete the final defeat of the demoralized enemy, and not to conduct bloody battles with the massive use of rapid-fire small arms.

Perhaps that is why the overwhelming majority of German soldiers at the beginning of the war with the USSR were armed with rifles, and not machine guns, which is confirmed by archival documents. So, the infantry division of the Wehrmacht in 1940 according to the state should have available:

• Rifles and carbines - 12,609 pcs.
• Submachine guns, which will later be called submachine guns - 312 pcs.
• Light machine guns - 425 pieces, easel - 110 pieces.
• Pistols - 3,600 pcs.
• Anti-tank rifles - 90 pcs.

As can be seen from the above document, small arms, their ratio in terms of the number of types, had a significant preponderance towards the traditional weapons of the ground forces - rifles. Therefore, by the beginning of the war, the infantry formations of the Red Army, mainly armed with excellent Mosin rifles, were in no way inferior to the enemy in this matter, and the regular number of submachine guns of the Red Army rifle division was even much larger - 1,024 units.

Later, in connection with the experience of battles, when the presence of rapid-fire, quickly reloaded small arms made it possible to gain an advantage due to the density of fire, the Soviet and German high commands decided to massively equip the troops with automatic hand weapons, but this did not happen immediately.

The most massive small arms of the German army by 1939 was the Mauser rifle - Mauser 98K. It was a modernized version of the weapon developed by German designers at the end of the previous century, repeating the fate of the famous “mosinka” of the 1891 model, after which it underwent numerous “upgrades”, being in service with the Red Army, and then the Soviet Army until the end of the 50s. The technical characteristics of the Mauser 98K rifle are also very similar:

An experienced soldier was able to aim and fire 15 shots from it in one minute. The equipment of the German army with this simple, unpretentious weapon began in 1935. In total, more than 15 million units were manufactured, which undoubtedly speaks of its reliability and demand among the troops.

The G41 self-loading rifle, on the instructions of the Wehrmacht, was developed by the German designers of the arms concerns Mauser and Walther. After the state tests, the Walther system was recognized as the most successful.

The rifle had a number of serious flaws that emerged during operation, which dispels another myth about the superiority of German weapons. As a result, the G41 underwent significant modernization in 1943, primarily related to the replacement of the gas exhaust system borrowed from the Soviet SVT-40 rifle, and became known as the G43. In 1944, it was renamed the K43 carbine, without making any structural changes. This rifle, according to technical data, reliability, was significantly inferior to self-loading rifles produced in the Soviet Union, which is recognized by gunsmiths.

Submachine guns (PP) - submachine guns

By the beginning of the war, the Wehrmacht was armed with several types of automatic weapons, many of which were developed back in the 20s, often produced in limited series for the needs of the police, as well as for export:

The main technical data of the MP 38, produced in 1941:

• Caliber - 9 mm.
• Cartridge - 9 x 19 mm.
• Length with folded butt - 630 mm.
• Magazine with a capacity of 32 rounds.
• Sighting range - 200 m.
• Weight with equipped magazine - 4.85 kg.
• The rate of fire is 400 rounds / min.

By the way, by September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht had only 8.7 thousand units of MP 38 in service. However, after taking into account and eliminating the shortcomings of the new weapon identified in the battles during the occupation of Poland, the designers made changes that concerned mainly reliability, and the weapon became mass produced. In total, during the war years, the German army received more than 1.2 million units of MP 38 and its subsequent modifications - MP 38/40, MP 40.

It was the MP 38 fighters of the Red Army who were called Schmeisser. The most likely reason for this was the stigma on the magazines for their cartridges with the name of the German designer, co-owner of the weapons manufacturer Hugo Schmeisser. His surname is also associated with a very common myth that the Stg-44 assault rifle or Schmeisser assault rifle, which he developed in 1944, which looks similar to the famous Kalashnikov invention, is his prototype.

Pistols and machine guns

Rifles and machine guns were the main weapons of the Wehrmacht soldiers, but one should not forget about officer or additional weapons - pistols, as well as machine guns - hand, easel, which were a significant force during the fighting. They will be discussed in more detail in future articles.

Speaking about the confrontation with Nazi Germany, it should be remembered that in fact the Soviet Union fought with the entire “united” Nazis, therefore, the Romanian, Italian and other troops of many other countries had not only the small arms of the Wehrmacht of the Second World War, produced directly in Germany, Czechoslovakia, the former real forge of weapons, but also of its own production. As a rule, it was of lower quality, less reliable, even if it was produced according to the patents of German gunsmiths.

German pistol cartridge caliber 9mm for the Parabellum pistol Luger P 08.
It was used in the German army of the Second World War for firing MP-18, MP-28, MP-34, MP-35, MP-38, MP-40 submachine guns. However, this country did not have a monopoly on its use. OH is still one of the most popular cartridges in the world. In Russia, the latest pistols and the Val submachine gun have been developed for it.

German 7.92 mm intermediate cartridge.
It was used for assault rifles MP-42, MP-43, MP-44, Sturmgever-44. The average power of this cartridge (compared with rifle and pistol) made it possible to successfully combine a heavy rifle bullet and a small cartridge case, making it possible to increase ammunition and reduce the recoil of the weapon. After the defeat of Germany in 1945, they were not used. However, cartridges of this type (7.62 mm sample 1943) were developed in the USSR and used in the SKS-45 carbine and in the famous AK-47 assault rifle.

Russian rifle cartridge caliber 7.62 mm for Mosin rifle, issue 1903
A rimmed cartridge, similar to the Berdan cartridge (which made it easier to manufacture), but the caliber is slightly smaller. The bullets in cartridges of the early twentieth century were blunt and made of cupronickel. After the Russo-Japanese War, designer Mosin improved his rifle and cartridges for it, and in this form they were produced until the mid-50s. After the Great Patriotic War, such cartridges were used in Kalashnikov light machine guns and SVD-63 sniper rifles.

Finnish rifle cartridge caliber 7.62 mm.
After the revolution of 1917, the Grand Duchy of Finland separated from Russia and declared independence. At the same time, many Mosin rifles were captured, and the production of cartridges was established at the Sako Oi plant. During the years of the Soviet-Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars, trophy cartridges and weapons were widely used. This cartridge with a tracer bullet was used in Lahti-Saloranta-26 machine guns.

Soviet rifle cartridge caliber 7.62 mm.
In the 1930s and early 1940s, many machine gun systems were developed in the Soviet Union, chambered for a standard cartridge. But the invention of the ShKAS rapid-fire machine gun required an improvement in the design of the cartridge. The case and primer were reinforced, and a new armor-piercing bullet was used. The cartridge differed from the usual ones in its color - a red bullet with a black nose, and a black bottom of the cartridge case. In Germany, until the end of World War II, there were no analogues to the Soviet ShKAS.

Italian rifle cartridge caliber 10.35mm Vetterli-Vitali.
Italy entered the Second World War, using not the most modern weapons. The Italian Expeditionary Force, operating on the territory of the USSR, even used such exotic things as a rifle of the 1886 model. The cartridge used a new cartridge case, and a bullet from a revolver of the 1881 model. It is noteworthy that the Germans were in no hurry to rearm their allies.

French rifle cartridge Lebel, caliber 8 mm.
Despite the fact that by 1940 this cartridge was considered obsolete, new (and old) weapons were still created for it. Only new types of bullets were produced, and the cartridge case remained old. The cartridge was used in the Lebel rifle during the First World War, in the Shosh light machine gun and the Hotchkiss machine gun. After the capture of France in 1940, the German army actively used the French heavy machine guns Hotchkiss Mle 1914. These machine guns were old, inaccurate and very inconvenient.

Japanese rifle cartridge caliber 6.5 mm Arisaka.
Developed before the Russo-Japanese War, it remained in service with the Japanese army until 1945. The only cartridge in the world with a "half edge". A small caliber made it possible to increase the wearable ammunition of the shooter. In 1916, according to the results of tests of captured cartridges, the Russian designer Fedorov created the world's first machine gun.

German rifle cartridge caliber 6.5 mm, Mannlicher, 1913
During the First World War, many countries considered the 6.5mm caliber to be quite sufficient. In Austria-Hungary, the Mannlicher system rifle was adopted, and cartridges for it were also produced in Germany. During the Second World War, Mannlicher rifles were in service with second-class troops, legionnaires and volunteers. This cartridge was found on the battlefields of the Latvian SS division.

English rifle cartridge caliber 7.71 mm Enfield.
Developed before the First World War, it was used for Lee-Enfield rifles, Bren and Lewis machine guns. On the territory of Russia, this cartridge is rare, since weapons for it were used during the years of the civil war by the forces of the Entente, and were slightly supplied under Lend-Lease in 1942-1944 in the USSR.