Fantasy authors often bypass the possibilities of "smoke powder", preferring good old sword and magic to it. And this is strange, because primitive firearms are not only a natural, but also a necessary element of medieval surroundings. Warriors with "fiery shooting" did not appear by chance in the knightly armies. The spread of heavy armor naturally led to an increase in interest in weapons capable of piercing them.

Ancient "lights"

Sulfur. A common spell ingredient and an ingredient in gunpowder

The secret of gunpowder (if, of course, we can talk about a secret here) lies in the special properties of saltpeter. Namely, in the ability of this substance to release oxygen when heated. If saltpeter is mixed with any fuel and set on fire, a "chain reaction" will begin. The oxygen released by nitrate will increase the intensity of combustion, and the more the flame flares up, the more oxygen will be released.

People learned to use saltpeter to increase the effectiveness of incendiary mixtures back in the 1st millennium BC. But finding her was not easy at all. In countries with hot and very humid climates, white, snow-like crystals could sometimes be found on the site of old fireplaces. But in Europe, saltpeter was found only in stinking sewer tunnels or in caves inhabited by bats.

Before gunpowder was used for explosions and for throwing cannonballs and bullets, nitrate-based formulations were used for a long time in the manufacture of incendiary shells and flamethrowers. For example, the legendary "Greek fire" was a mixture of saltpeter with oil, sulfur and rosin. Sulfur, which ignites at low temperatures, was added to facilitate ignition of the composition. Rosin was required to thicken the "cocktail" so that the charge would not flow out of the flamethrower tube.

The "Greek fire" really could not be extinguished. After all, saltpeter dissolved in boiling oil continued to release oxygen and maintain combustion even under water.

In order for gunpowder to become an explosive, nitrate must be 60% of its mass. In the "Greek fire" it was half as much. But even this amount was enough to make the process of oil combustion unusually violent.

The Byzantines were not the inventors of "Greek fire", but borrowed it from the Arabs in the 7th century. In Asia, they also bought saltpeter and oil necessary for its production. If we take into account that the Arabs themselves called the saltpeter "Chinese salt", and the rockets - "Chinese arrows", it will not be difficult to guess where this technology came from.

Spreading gunpowder

It is very difficult to indicate the place and time of the first use of saltpeter for incendiary compositions, fireworks and rockets. But the honor of inventing guns definitely belongs to the Chinese. The ability of gunpowder to throw projectiles from metal barrels is reported in the Chinese chronicles of the 7th century. The 7th century also includes the discovery of a method of "growing" saltpeter in special pits or ramparts from earth and manure. This technology made it possible to regularly use flamethrowers and rockets, and then firearms.

The muzzle of the Dardanelles cannon - the walls of Constantinople were shot from the same Turks

At the beginning of the 13th century, after the capture of Constantinople, the recipe for "Greek fire" fell into the hands of the crusaders. The first descriptions by European scientists of "real" exploding gunpowder date back to the middle of the 13th century. To the Arabs, the use of gunpowder for throwing stones became known no later than the 11th century.

In the "classic" version, black powder included 60% nitrate and 20% sulfur and charcoal. Charcoal could be successfully replaced with ground brown coal (brown powder), cotton wool or dried sawdust (white powder). There was even "blue" gunpowder, in which coal was replaced with cornflowers.

Sulfur was also not always present in gunpowder. For guns, the charge in which was ignited not with sparks, but with a torch or a hot rod, gunpowder could be made, consisting only of saltpeter and brown coal. When firing from guns, sulfur could not be mixed into the gunpowder, but poured directly onto the shelf.

Gunpowder inventor

Invented? Well step aside, don't stand like a donkey

In 1320 the German monk Berthold Schwarz finally "invented" gunpowder. Now it is impossible to establish how many people in different countries invented gunpowder before Schwartz, but we can say with confidence that after him no one succeeded!

Berthold Schwarz (whose name, by the way, was Berthold Niger), of course, did not invent anything. The "classic" composition of gunpowder became known to Europeans even before its birth. But in his treatise On the Benefits of Gunpowder, he gave clear practical recommendations for the manufacture and use of gunpowder and cannons. Thanks to his work, during the second half of the 14th century, the art of fire shooting began to spread rapidly in Europe.

The first gunpowder factory was built in 1340 in Strasbourg. Soon after that, the production of saltpeter and gunpowder began in Russia. The exact date of this event is not known, but already in 1400 Moscow burned for the first time as a result of an explosion in a gunpowder workshop.

Fire tubes

First depiction of a European cannon, 1326

The simplest hand-held firearm, the handgun, appeared in China in the middle of the 12th century. The most ancient samopals of the Spanish Moors date back to the same period. And from the beginning of the 14th century, "fire pipes" began to shoot in Europe. In the chronicles, hand-helds appear under many names. The Chinese called such weapons pao, the Moors called modfa or carab (hence the "carbine"), and the Europeans called the hand bombard, handkanon, sclopetta, petrinal or kulevrina.

The handbrake weighed from 4 to 6 kilograms and was a blank, drilled from the inside, made of soft iron, copper or bronze. The barrel length ranged from 25 to 40 centimeters, the caliber could be 30 millimeters or more. A round lead bullet usually served as a projectile. In Europe, however, until the beginning of the 15th century, lead was rare, and samophals were often loaded with small stones.

14th century Swedish hand cannon

As a rule, the petrinal was put on a shaft, the end of which was clamped under the arm or inserted into the current of the cuirass. Less often, the butt could cover the shooter's shoulder from above. Such tricks had to go because it was impossible to rest the butt of the handbrake on the shoulder: after all, the shooter could support the weapon with only one hand, with the other he brought the fire to the fuse. The charge was set on fire with a "fire candle" - a wooden stick impregnated with saltpeter. The stick was rested against the ignition hole and turned, rolling in the fingers. Sparks and pieces of smoldering wood poured into the trunk and sooner or later set fire to the gunpowder.

Dutch manual coolers of the 15th century

The extremely low accuracy of the weapon made it possible to conduct effective firing only from a distance "point blank". And the shot itself took place with a long and unpredictable delay. Only the destructive power of this weapon evoked respect. Although a bullet made of stone or soft lead at that time was still inferior to a crossbow bolt in penetrating power, a 30-millimeter ball, fired at point-blank range, left such a hole that it was worth looking at.

A hole, a hole, but it was necessary to get in all the same. And the depressingly low accuracy of the petrinal made it impossible to count on the fact that the shot would have any consequences other than fire and noise. It may sound strange, but it was enough! Hand-held bombards were prized precisely for the roar, flash and cloud of stinking gray smoke accompanying the shot. It was far from always considered expedient to load them with a bullet. Petrinali-sclopetta was not even supplied with a stock and was intended exclusively for blank shooting.

15th century French shooter

The knight's horse was not afraid of fire. But if, instead of honestly stabbing with lances, they blinded him with a flash, deafened him with a roar, and even insulted him with the stench of burning sulfur, he still lost his courage and threw off the rider. Against horses not accustomed to gunshots and explosions, this method worked flawlessly.

And the knights were not able to acquaint their horses with gunpowder at once. In the 14th century, "smoke powder" in Europe was an expensive and rare commodity. And most importantly, at first, it aroused fear not only in horses, but also in riders. The smell of "hellish sulfur" plunged superstitious people into awe. However, in Europe they quickly got used to the smell. But the loudness of the shot was listed among the advantages of firearms until the 17th century.

Arquebus

At the beginning of the 15th century, samopals were still too primitive to compete seriously with bows and crossbows. But firearms were rapidly improving. Already in the 30s of the 15th century, the ignition hole was moved to the side, and a shelf for priming powder was welded next to it. This gunpowder, upon contact with fire, flared up instantly, and in just a split second, the hot gases ignited the charge in the barrel. The gun began to fire quickly and reliably, and most importantly, it became possible to mechanize the process of lowering the wick. In the second half of the 15th century, firearms acquired a lock and butt borrowed from a crossbow.

Japanese flint arquebus, 16th century

At the same time, metalworking technologies were also improved. The barrels were now made only of the purest and softest iron. This made it possible to minimize the likelihood of rupture when fired. On the other hand, mastering the deep hole drilling technique made it possible to make rifle barrels lighter and longer.

This is how the arquebus appeared - a weapon with a caliber of 13-18 millimeters, weighing 3-4 kilograms and a barrel length of 50-70 centimeters. A typical 16mm arquebus would fire a 20-gram bullet with an initial velocity of about 300 meters per second. Such bullets could no longer rip off people's heads, but steel armor made holes from 30 meters.

Shooting accuracy increased, but was still insufficient. The arquebusier hit a person only from 20-25 meters, and at 120 meters, shooting even at such a target as a battle of pikemen turned into a waste of ammunition. However, approximately the same characteristics were retained by light guns until the middle of the 19th century - only the castle changed. And in our time, shooting a bullet from smooth-bore guns is effective no further than 50 meters.

Even modern shotgun bullets are designed not for accuracy, but for hitting force.

Arquebusier, 1585

Loading the arquebus was a rather complicated procedure. To begin with, the shooter detached the smoldering wick and put it in a metal case attached to a belt or hat with slots for air access. Then he uncorked one of several wooden or tin casings he had - "chargers" or "gazyrs" - and poured out of it a predetermined amount of gunpowder into the barrel. Then he nailed gunpowder to the treasury with a ramrod and stuffed a felt wad into the barrel to prevent the powder from spilling out. Then - a bullet and another wad, this time to hold the bullet. Finally, from the horn or from another charge, the shooter poured some gunpowder onto the shelf, slammed the shelf lid and again fastened the wick into the trigger lips. Everything about everything for an experienced warrior took about 2 minutes.

In the second half of the 15th century, the arquebusiers took a firm place in the European armies and quickly began to crowd out competitors - archers and crossbowmen. But how could this have happened? After all, the fighting qualities of the guns still left much to be desired. Competitions between arquebusiers and crossbowmen led to a stunning result - formally, the guns turned out to be worse in all respects! The penetrating power of the bolt and the bullet was approximately equal, but the crossbowman fired 4–8 times more often and did not miss the growth target even from 150 meters!

Geneva arquebusiers, reconstruction

The problem with the crossbow was that its advantages were of no practical value. Bolts and arrows flew "fly in the eye" in competitions when the target was stationary, and the distance to it was known in advance. In a real situation, the arquebusier, which did not have to take into account the wind, the movement of the target and the distance to it, had the best chances of hitting. In addition, bullets were not in the habit of getting stuck in shields and sliding off armor, they could not be dodged. The rate of fire was not of great practical importance either: at the attacking cavalry, both the arquebusier and the crossbowman managed to fire only once.

The spread of arquebus was held back only by their high cost at that time. Even in 1537, Hetman Tarnowski complained that “there are few arquebusses in the Polish army, only vile hand-held hands”. The Cossacks used bows and samopals until the middle of the 17th century.

Pearl powder

The gazyrs worn on the chest by the warriors of the Caucasus gradually became an element of the national costume

In the Middle Ages, gunpowder was prepared in the form of powder, or "pulp". When loading the weapon, the "pulp" stuck to the inner surface of the barrel and had to be nailed to the fuse for a long time with a ramrod. In the 15th century, lumps or small "pancakes" were made from powder pulp to speed up the loading of cannons. And at the beginning of the 16th century, "pearl" gunpowder was invented, consisting of small hard grains.

The grains no longer adhered to the walls, but rolled to the breech of the trunk under their own weight. In addition, granulation made it possible to almost double the power of the powder, and the duration of storage of the gunpowder - 20 times. Powder in the form of pulp easily absorbed atmospheric moisture and spoiled irreversibly in 3 years.

Nevertheless, due to the high cost of "pearl" gunpowder, the pulp often continued to be used for loading rifles until the middle of the 17th century. Cossacks also used homemade gunpowder in the 18th century.

Musket

Contrary to popular belief, the knights did not at all consider firearms "non-knightly".

It is a common misconception that the advent of firearms put an end to the romantic "era of chivalry." In fact, the arming of 5-10% of the soldiers with arquebus did not entail a noticeable change in the tactics of the European armies. At the beginning of the 16th century, bows, crossbows, darts and slings were still widely used. Heavy knightly armor continued to improve, and the pike remained the main means of countering cavalry. The Middle Ages continued as if nothing had happened.

The romantic era of the Middle Ages ended only in 1525, when in the Battle of Pavia the Spaniards first used a new type of match-wick - muskets.

Battle of Pavia: museum panorama

How did the musket differ from the arquebus? The size! Weighing 7-9 kilograms, the musket had a caliber of 22-23 millimeters and a barrel about one and a half meters long. Only in Spain - the most technically advanced country in Europe at that time - could a durable and relatively light barrel of such a length and caliber be produced.

Naturally, from such a bulky and massive gun, it was only possible to shoot from a support, and two people had to service it. But a bullet weighing 50-60 grams flew from a musket at a speed of over 500 meters per second. She not only killed an armored horse, but also stopped. The musket beat with such force that the shooter had to wear a cuirass or a leather pillow over his shoulder so that the recoil would not split his collarbone.

Musket: Assassin of the Middle Ages. 16th century

The long barrel provided the musket with relatively good accuracy for a smooth gun. The musketeer hit a man no longer from 20-25, but from 30-35 meters. But the increase in the effective range of salvo fire to 200–240 meters was of much greater importance. At all this distance, the bullets retained the ability to strike knightly horses and pierce the iron armor of pikemen.

The musket combined the capabilities of the arquebus and the pike, and became the first weapon in history that gave the shooter the ability to repel the onslaught of cavalry in the open. Musketeers did not have to flee from cavalry for battle, therefore, unlike arquebusiers, they widely used armor.

Due to the large weight of the weapon, musketeers, like crossbowmen, preferred to move on horseback.

Throughout the 16th century, there were few musketeers in the European armies. Musketeer companies (units of 100-200 people) were considered the elite of the infantry and were formed from the nobility. This was partly due to the high cost of weapons (as a rule, a riding horse was also included in the musketeer's outfit). But even more important were the high demands on durability. When the cavalry rushed to the attack, the musketeers had to repel it or die.

Squeak

Sagittarius

According to its purpose, the squeak of the Russian archers corresponded to the Spanish musket. But the technical backwardness of Russia that was outlined in the 15th century could not but affect the combat properties of rifles. Even pure - "white" - iron for the manufacture of barrels at the beginning of the 16th century still had to be imported "from the Germans"!

As a result, with the same weight as that of a musket, the squeak was much shorter and had 2–3 times less power. Which, however, had no practical significance, given that the eastern horses were much smaller than the European ones. The accuracy of the weapon was also satisfactory: from 50 meters, the archer did not miss the two-meter height of the fence.

In addition to archery archers, in Muscovy, lightweight "curtain" (having a belt for carrying behind the back) guns were produced, which were used by horse ("stirrup") archers and Cossacks. According to their characteristics, the "curtain squeaks" corresponded to the European arquebusses.

Pistol

The smoldering wicks, of course, caused a lot of inconvenience to the shooters. Nevertheless, the simplicity and reliability of the wick lock forced the infantry to put up with its shortcomings until the end of the 17th century. Cavalry is another matter. The rider needed a weapon that was comfortable, always ready to fire and suitable for holding with one hand.

Wheel lock in Da Vinci's drawings

The first attempts to create a castle in which the fire would be extracted with the help of iron flint and "flint" (that is, a piece of pyrite or pyrite) were made in the 15th century. Since the second half of the 15th century, "grating locks" have been known, which were ordinary household flints installed above the shelf. With one hand, the shooter aimed the weapon, and with the other he hit the flint with a file. Due to the obvious impracticality of distribution, grater locks did not receive.

The wheel castle, which appeared at the turn of the 15th – 16th centuries, gained much more popularity in Europe, the scheme of which was preserved in the manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci. The ribbed flint was given the shape of a gear. The spring of the mechanism was cocked with the key attached to the lock. When the trigger was pressed, the wheel began to rotate, striking sparks from the flint.

German wheeled pistol, 16th century

The wheel lock very much resembled the structure of a clock and was not inferior to a clock in complexity. The capricious mechanism was very sensitive to clogging with powder smoke and flint fragments. After 20-30 shots, he refused. The shooter could not disassemble it and clean it on his own.

Since the advantages of the wheel castle were of the greatest value for the cavalry, the weapons equipped with them were made convenient for the rider - one-handed. Beginning in the 30s of the 16th century, knightly spears were replaced in Europe by short wheel arquebusses without a butt. Since the manufacture of such weapons began in the Italian city of Pistol, one-handed arquebus was called pistols. However, by the end of the century, pistols were also produced at the Moscow Arms Yard.

European military pistols from the 16th to 17th centuries were rather bulky designs. The barrel had a caliber of 14-16 millimeters and a length of at least 30 centimeters. The total length of the pistol exceeded half a meter, and the weight could reach 2 kilograms. Nevertheless, the pistols were beaten very imprecisely and weakly. The range of an aimed shot did not exceed several meters, and even bullets fired at point-blank bounced off cuirasses and helmets.

In the 16th century, pistols were often combined with melee weapons - the pommel of the club ("apple") or even an ax blade

In addition to their large dimensions, pistols of the early period were characterized by a richness of decoration and a whimsical design. Pistols of the 16th - early 17th centuries were often made multi-barreled. Including with a rotating, like a revolver, a block of 3-4 barrels! All this was very interesting, very progressive ... And in practice, of course, it did not work.

The wheel lock itself cost so much money that the finish of the pistol with gold and pearls did not significantly affect its price. In the 16th century, wheeled weapons were affordable only for very wealthy people and had prestigious rather than military significance.

Asian pistols were distinguished by their special grace and were highly valued in Europe.

* * *

The advent of firearms was a watershed moment in the history of the art of war. For the first time, man began to use the energy of combustion of gunpowder to inflict damage on the enemy, not muscle strength. And this energy was overwhelming by the standards of the Middle Ages. Noisy and clumsy firecrackers, which today can not cause anything but laughter, several centuries ago inspired people with great respect.

Starting in the 16th century, the development of firearms began to determine the tactics of sea and land battles. The balance between close and ranged combat began to shift in favor of the latter. The value of protective equipment began to decline, and the role of field fortifications increased. These trends continue to this day. Weapons that use chemical energy to eject a projectile continue to be improved. Most likely, it will maintain its position for a very long time.

During the XVII-XVIII centuries, flint weapons continued to be improved. The caliber of guns was gradually reduced and made mainly from 0.7 to 0.8 inches (18-20.4 mm), the strength of the barrels, the reliability of the locks were increased, they tried to reduce the total weight of the soldier's gun and tried to produce military weapons in a completely monotonous manner; this was necessary for regular armies with uniform uniforms, equipment, etc.

Ramrod

A necessary accessory for every rifle loaded from the muzzle was a wooden ramrod. Although iron ramrods have been known since the end of the 15th century, they were not used so as not to damage the barrel bore by rubbing, which deteriorated the accuracy of the battle and the accuracy of fire. But since wooden ramrods often broke when loading during a battle, they decided to sacrifice the durability of the barrels in order to make the gun more reliable in a combat situation. In 1698, iron ramrods were introduced in the Prussian infantry, and soon the same were adopted in the armies of other states. The iron ramrod made the already heavy gun heavier, so the question arose about lightening the soldier's weapon.

Swiss Musketeer (1660s)

Austrian infantry guns of the 1754 model (above) and the 1784 model

In the 18th century, steel ramrods were tested. After such experiments, in 1779 the Austrian field marshal Franz Lassi (1725-1801) offered the Austrian military authorities a bayonet ramrod, which was a thickened ramrod, one end of which was sharpened and the other had a head. When the ramrod-bayonet was put forward into the firing position, it was held by a special latch. However, this proposal was rejected. Then, in 1789, the bayonet-ramrod was tested in Denmark and was also rejected. Finally, in 1810, the American weapons designer Hall, for his treasury-loaded flintlock, arranged a similar bayonet ramrod, which was also rejected by the US military. Subsequently, other designers have repeatedly proposed a ramrod-bayonet in different states, but it was invariably rejected. Loading the gun from the muzzle, the shooter had to turn the ramrod in the fingers of his right hand twice - head down and head up. Turning the ramrod required some skill and slowed down the loading somewhat. Therefore, attempts were made to introduce double-sided ramrods: they had a head at each end, while the middle was made thin for ease. For the passage of the ramrod head into the forend in the latter, it would be necessary to significantly expand the ramrod track, and such a track weakens the forend.

PISTOL CARABINER

Among the military pistols of the late 17th century, the cavalry pistol-carbine appeared - an intermediate weapon between the pistol and the carbine. It was a soldier's pistol with a slightly elongated barrel, to the handle of which a quick-release butt was adapted. Thanks to the stock, a more accurate aiming was obtained, hence - more accurate shooting than from a pistol without a stock when shooting with one hand. Pistols-carbines have been tested in different states, but have not been approved anywhere. Firstly, because a cavalryman is not always comfortable sitting on a horse to adjoin the butt to a pistol; secondly, it was necessary to carry a pistol-carbine in the front holsters of the saddle: in one - a pistol, in the other - a butt. The soldier, on the other hand, preferred to have two ordinary pistols in holsters instead of one pistol and butt to it, as was customary in those days.

Subsequently, such butts began to be adapted to revolvers and hunting pistols, and in our time - to automatic pistols.

Russian cavalry pistol, model 1809

Pistol carbine (1800)

It would have been necessary to make the forend much thicker to strengthen it, and the false rings would have turned out to be larger. All this would have made the gun heavier. Therefore, the double-sided ramrods were rejected. In addition, a clever soldier, turning the ramrod when loading, could in those days fire up to four shots per minute. Such a high rate of fire was not required from a flintlock rifle: 1-2 shots per minute were considered sufficient.

Weapon length and weight

Thinking about reducing the weight of a soldier's gun, the main attention was paid to the length and weight of the barrel. The barrel, made of good ductile iron, even having thin walls in the middle and muzzle thirds (each barrel has three parts: breech, middle and muzzle), quite withstood firing with live ammunition, but suffered from accidental blows and bayonet fighting, receiving dents and deflections. Therefore, barrels were made with thicker walls to increase strength. Experience has shown that a well-finished short barrel gives better accuracy and accuracy than a long barrel with a poorly finished channel. However, a gun that was too short was unsuitable for firing from a two-rank formation (the rear gunner would have stunned the front gunner); in addition, the short gun is inconvenient for bayonet fighting if the enemy has a longer gun with a bayonet. Considering all this, it was necessary to shorten the barrel very carefully, while simultaneously lengthening the bayonet blade by the same amount. Yet over a century, by the end of the 18th century, the caliber of guns from 22.8 millimeters decreased to 18.5, the barrels were shortened from 118 to 82 centimeters, the weight of the guns decreased from 5.6 to 5 kilograms. Of course, there were shotguns with a caliber of less than 18 millimeters and weighing about 4.5 kilograms, but there were not so many of them, although they proved that there were still opportunities for reducing the caliber and lightening the gun.

Western European soldiers of the 17th century (above) and 18th century (below)

Rate of fire

The already low ballistic and combat capabilities of weapons with a flintlock were further reduced due to the low rate of fire. Why was it small? Everything is explained by the slow and difficult loading, which the shooter performed while standing, in several steps. First, it was necessary to take the gun to the ready and open the shelf. Get the cartridge out of the bag, bite off the end of the paper sleeve and pour some of the gunpowder from it onto the shelf. After that it was necessary

close the shelf, put the trigger on the safety cocking, and the gun - vertically

to the leg. But that is not all. The gunpowder remaining in the cartridge was poured into the barrel. Moreover, so that its grains did not remain in the sleeve, it should be carefully kneaded. The empty cartridge was put into the barrel with a bullet for gunpowder and with slight blows of the ramrod was moved into the breech to the charge. At the same time, they tried not to crush the powder grains, which, turning into pulp, would act weaker. Having done this, the soldier inserted the ramrod into the forearm and was ready to fire. The rate of fire of flintlock rifles was only one shot every one and a half minutes. Probably, with a certain training of the soldiers, it could have been greater: for example, the charter of the Prussian infantry in 1779 required up to four shots per minute from trained soldiers.

Bavarian musketeer (1701)

EXCELLENT WEAPON - THE PRIDE OF THE COSSACK

Firearms and edged weapons of the Russian troops in the 17th century were no worse, and in many cases better than similar weapons of Western European states. This was especially noticeable in the Cossack troops, as the freest military organization. Cossacks have long been equipped and armed at their own expense. The Cossack has his own horse, clothing, equipment and weapons; the Cossack treasured them, tried to have all the best, especially - weapons and a horse, which he was very proud of. The Cossacks were not constrained by the monotony of weapons, everyone could have any weapon, as long as it worked in the best possible way. Weapons were obtained by the Cossacks as a trophy of frequent wars, partly purchased from suppliers from different countries who knew that the Cossacks pay high prices for high-quality weapons.

Sights

Flintlock sights were poorly developed. To aim the weapon at the target, a brass or iron front sight was used, soldered to the muzzle of the barrel or the front stock ring. Therefore, there was no need to talk about very accurate shooting with the use of such primitive sighting devices. Firing from flintlock rifles, the soldiers actually aimed at the barrel, roughly aligning the front sight with the target. The effectiveness of such firing was low. Even in the 19th century, the Russian 1808 flint rifle hit a target at a distance of about 75 meters only 75 percent of the time, and the Prussian 1805 rifle only 46 percent. Only at the end of the 1820s were the sights of the flintlockers slightly improved: on the breech of the barrels they made a device for sighting the front sight and more accurately aligning it with the target.

Pluto shooting

They tried to compensate for the shortcomings of the flintlock - the inaccuracy of the shots and the low rate of fire - by firing in volleys. The fire was simultaneously opened at once by whole platoons, called plutongs. Sometimes a volley was fired at once by a whole battalion. When teaching and training soldiers, this type of shooting was given decisive importance, since only in it they saw the possibility of achieving a high result. Pluto firing in volleys could be fired at a high frequency. The units fired one after the other in rolls, and all 8 plutongs that were part of the battalion could discharge their weapons within one minute.

Shooting classes of Russian rangers (XVIII century)

Few remember that before the 1917 revolution, weapons were freely sold in hunting stores. Mauser, Nagan, Browning, Smith-Wesson, and here are the Parabellums. Ladies' models that fit in a woman's handbag. "Velodogi" - revolvers for cyclists, for effective protection from dogs. Even the Tula-made Maxim heavy machine gun could be bought without much hassle ...

Let's open, for example, the Easter issue of Ogonyok magazine, 1914. Peaceful pre-war spring. We read the advertisement. Along with advertisements for "cologne with a wonderful scent of Dralle", photographic cameras "Ferrotype" and the remedy for hemorrhoids "Anusol" - advertisements for revolvers, pistols, hunting rifles. And here is our old friend! The same Browning sample of 1906:

The magazine advertises EXACTLY Browning. In the classic book of A. Beetle "Small arms" the number of this model is 31-6. Production: Belgium, model 1906, caliber 6.35 mm. It weighs only 350 grams, but has 6 rounds. And what cartridges! The cartridges were created specifically for this model. Shell bullet, smokeless gunpowder (3 times more powerful than smoky powder). Such a cartridge was more powerful than a revolving cartridge of the same caliber. The 1906 Browning model was very successful. The pistol was only 11.4 x 5.3 cm and was easy to fit in the palm of your hand. What else was needed for a safe trip to the market ??? Market traders were armed before the revolution. It is not surprising that the concept of "racketeering" in those days was completely absent ...

Browning could be worn discreetly - it even fit in a waistcoat pocket and ladies' travel bag. Because of its low weight and low recoil, women willingly bought it, and the name "ladies' pistol" was firmly stuck to it. Browning was a popular model among wide layers of Russian society for many years. Students, grammar school students, female students, businessmen, diplomats, even officers - even gardeners! - they had it at hand. Due to its low price, it was available even to schoolchildren, and teachers noted the fashion among high school students and students "to shoot for unhappy love." Small-bore pistols were also called "suicide weapons". Large-caliber pistols carried the head like a pumpkin, and after a headshot from Browning, the deceased looked good in a coffin, which should have led to tears of repentance from the unfaithful traitor ... But Browning was dangerous not only for its owner.

It was an effective weapon of self-defense. A small-caliber shell bullet pierced the muscle layer and got stuck inside the body, giving it its full energy. The level of medicine at the beginning of the twentieth century often did not allow to save a person who was struck in the internal organs. Due to its compact size and its fighting qualities, the Browning model of 1906 was the most popular model. In total, more than 4 MILLION of them were made! But how did they look at “exceeding the limits of necessary defense” in tsarist times? not what we are all used to. In the 18th century, there was such a robbery in Russia - river piracy.

Was it not such a knuckle-duster in their pocket that journalists and writers were walking around the hot spots, is not this one mentioned by V. A. Gilyarovsky in his book "Moscow and Muscovites"?

Bands of vagabonds attacked and plundered river ships sailing along the main rivers. Emperor Paul I adopted a decree on the strict deprivation of the nobility of all nobles who were attacked on the rivers and did not offer armed resistance. The nobles then, naturally, were with swords, and if they did not carry out the NECESSARY DEFENSE, they were deprived of this sword, as well as their estates and titles ... Thanks to this formulation of the question, in a very short time the robbers were killed or scattered and the robbery on the rivers stopped That is, the necessary defense - it was a NECESSITY for an armed man to DEFEND.

The Velodog pistol was very popular in the 19th century. It was developed for cyclists who were often thrown by dogs.

No "limits" existed. In Soviet times, this useful concept was distorted and if it occurs, it is only in the combination "EXCEEDING THE LIMITS of necessary defense." For armed resistance to robbers, a criminal article was introduced, and the weapons themselves were taken from the population. The Bolsheviks confiscated weapons from the population. For the complete "disarmament of the bourgeoisie" detachments of the Red Guard and the Soviet militia did a lot, conducting mass searches. However, some irresponsible "kulaks", as we see, were in no hurry to part with the Browning until the mid-30s. And I understand them, a beautiful and necessary thing ...

The pistol has since turned from an everyday item into the USSR into a symbol of belonging to power structures or the highest party elite. The caliber of the pistol was inversely proportional to the position in society. (The higher the official, the smaller the caliber of his pistol.) ... This Browning model was so popular that it gradually fell out of circulation only with the creation in 1926 of the Korovin pistol. Compared to Browning, the cartridge was strengthened and the barrel slightly lengthened, and the magazine capacity increased to 8 rounds. Interestingly, despite its small caliber, it enjoyed great success among the command staff of the Red Army.

And all that is left for an ordinary Russian man in the street, exhausted from street crime, is to look longingly at the pages of pre-revolutionary magazines: ““ REVOLVER WITH 50 CARTRIDGES. ONLY 2 RUBLES. A safe and loyal weapon for self-defense, intimidation and raising the alarm. Completely replaces expensive and dangerous revolvers. Strikingly hard. It is necessary for everyone. No license is required for this revolver. 50 additional cartridges cost 75 kopecks, 100 pieces - 1 r. 40 kopecks, 35 kopecks are charged for postage by cash on delivery, and 55 kopecks to Siberia. When ordering 3 pieces, ONE REVOLVER is attached FREE OF CHARGE. Address: Lodz, Partnership "SLAVA" O. "

For the sake of fairness, it must be said that there were some restrictions on the circulation of firearms: 1) the highest approved by Nicholas II Opinion of the State Council of June 10, 1900 "On the prohibition of the manufacture and import of firearms from abroad samples used in the troops" 2) the highest the decree of the emperor "On the sale and storage of firearms, as well as explosives and on the arrangement of shooting ranges." Accordingly, customs restrictions on the import and export of military-grade firearms were tightened. There were also secret circulars of the tsarist government, ordering local authorities, at their discretion and taking into account the current situation, to seize weapons from disloyal subjects.

Here is what the professor of the Imperial Moscow University I.T. Tarasov: “Despite the undoubted danger from careless, inept and malicious use of weapons, the prohibition to have weapons in no way can be a general rule, but only an exception that occurs when:

1. unrest, indignation or uprising give a solid reason to fear that the weapon will be used for dangerous criminal purposes;
2. the special situation or condition of those persons, for example, minors and minors, crazy, hostile or warring tribes, etc., which give rise to such fear;
3. the past facts of careless or malicious use of weapons, established by the court or in any other way, indicated the advisability of taking the weapons away from these persons. "

It is safe to say that in the Russian state, then in the Russian state, the right to arms was the inalienable right of every law-abiding and mentally healthy citizen; it was naturally subject to some time and local restrictions. Over time, this right has undergone changes to meet the needs of the era. granting citizens the right to a weapon, its acquisition, storage and use can be considered as a progressive phenomenon, since at that time such a right did not exist in all countries. In the course of evolution, legislation has developed a rather strict procedure for the storage, carrying and acquisition of firearms by citizens. Since the 17th century, the right to bear arms was granted only to certain categories of persons. At the beginning of the 20th century, they were people who had weapons as part of their uniform (for example, police or gendarmes) who needed them for self-defense; for some it was obligatory to carry weapons by virtue of a custom not prohibited by law; for hunting or sports purposes.

With the development of firearms, legislation began to divide it into types: military - non-military models; rifled - smooth-bore; guns - revolvers, etc. Thus, from 1649 to 1914, a harmonious legislative system was formed in the Russian state, which avoided the extremes of permissiveness, on the one hand, and a universal ban, on the other.

A.S. Privalov, expert of the III category. Weapons legislation in Russia in the XIX

PURCHASED WEAPONS LET'S CARRY WHILE SHAPED

Since the 18th century, commemorative inscriptions were most often made on donated army weapons: “For courage,” “God is with us!”, “Army of Free Russia.” Freedom as a state of society exists as long as the possession of a weapon is recognized as a natural right in it. Society ceases to be free when the natural right to own weapons is replaced by a privilege granted by the state. Since the time of the Roman Empire, the main difference between a slave and a free citizen, along with political rights, has been the right to carry and use weapons - from a dagger under a tunic to a Berdan jacket in a barn or a pistol in a holster. polls are armed (as, indeed, the inhabitants of neighboring Europe), up to the middle of the 20th century.

"Clement" and "Bayard", comfortable for concealed carry:

People without weapons easily fell prey to robbers on the highways or nomads on the borders, as well as wild animals. Everyone had weapons - even the serfs. While the liberal journalism proceeded with bile about "wild Asiaticism" and "serf slaves", the "slaves" owned hunting rifles and edged weapons. This did not require any licenses or permits. They freely carried weapons where it was dictated by local customs not prohibited by law - for example, in the Caucasus or in places where Cossacks lived, but this mainly concerned cold bladed weapons. By the way, in the Caucasus, not only local "mountain eagles" were free to carry weapons - Russians who came to the Caucasus had weapons with them almost without fail, and not only daggers, but also pistols.

Weapon culture in Russia developed in a very peculiar way. It had very significant differences in the regions, there were also differences between the city and the countryside. In the European part of Russia, revolvers and pistols were considered "the master's weapon" and absolutely useless for the rural economy. Long-barreled rifled weapons were armed with "risky people" - hunters, Siberian explorers and Cossacks, these passionaries of that time had a rifle or a carbine in every house. Another thing is a gun - a useful thing in all respects. Coachmen, especially in the postal service, did not set out without a gun. The innkeepers kept him under the counter, with cartridges loaded with coarse salt. The watchmen, keeping the master's good, used it. The traveling doctors were armed with pistols, and the right to acquire, store and carry weapons was practically unlimited.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the first acts began to appear, establishing the categories of subjects who could wield weapons, and the further, the more of these categories became. Somewhere from the 19th century, in some regions of the Empire, the acquisition system formally became permissive - the governor-general or the mayor issued licenses to mentally healthy and law-abiding residents to acquire "non-combat" types of firearms (except for hunting, his possession was free). They, in the presence of "extraordinary circumstances" (unrest, riots, as well as specific facts of careless or malicious use of weapons), could deprive a person of weapons or introduce a special procedure for their sale, but only for the duration of these circumstances. But in practice, weapons were obtained everyone who applied, because then the state did not yet suspect in every student a Marxist and Narodnaya Volya, and in every officer a Decembrist. The code of laws of the Russian Empire established responsibility for violation of the regime of carrying weapons, but the same Code minimized cases of its use.

In addition, in the villages and rural settlements, where most of the population lived at that time, there were no gendarmes and officials at all, and each peasant considered it his duty to keep a gun behind the stove from robbers. Such liberalism, by the way, gave rise to a very controversial practice of dueling. For hot students, young poets, proud officers and other nobles, it has never been a problem to resolve a male dispute by force of arms. The government did not like this practice, which led to the prohibition of duels and severe punishment for participating in them, but never - to the restriction of the right to weapons. Well-known pre-revolutionary Russian lawyers (Koni, Andreevsky, Urusov, Plevako, Aleksandrov) drew attention to the fact that the subjects of the Russian Empire very often used handguns for self-defense, defending the right to life, health, family and property. Needless to say, most of the lawyers educated in the spirit of European freedoms directly supported the right of the Russian people to freely own weapons.

In cities until 1906 pistols "Nagant" or "Browning" could be purchased completely freely at an affordable price of 16 - 20 rubles (the minimum monthly wage). More advanced "Parabellum" and "Mauser" cost more than 40 rubles. There were cheap samples, for 2-5 rubles, however, they did not differ in special quality. After the first Russian revolution, the seizure of firearms began. Now only a person who presented a personal certificate (similar to a modern license) issued by the head of the local police had the right to buy a pistol. During 1906 alone, tens of thousands of revolvers and pistols purchased by the Russians before the adoption of the new rules were seized (in Rostov alone, 1137 "barrels" were seized). But this campaign also affected only powerful pistols (over 150 J of muzzle energy) and military models. Military-style rifles and carbines, in indigenous Russia, were also confiscated, including from the "gentlemen", except for the award and prize copies. The “civilian public”, for hunting in the European part of Russia, was considered allowed single and double-barreled rifled fittings or “tees”. Yes, and on the "outskirts of the Empire" people were still quite armed.

The exceptions were army and navy officers, police and gendarmerie officials, border guards, as well as government bodies who had the right to acquire any small arms for personal property, for official use. These "sovereign" people could and even were obliged to use weapons for personal self-defense or maintaining public order and off-duty. Upon retirement, these categories of civil servants retained the right to own weapons.

At the beginning of the century, when scientific and technological progress was gaining momentum, and residential buildings and hotels were already appearing in Russia in all respects, modern, where there was hot water, elevators, telephones and refrigeration units. Electricity illuminated not only apartments, rooms and entrances, but also the territories adjacent to new buildings, where city trams were running briskly on electric traction.

At the same time, a new word was said in the field of self-defense weapons - a hammerless semi-automatic (self-loading) pocket pistol, combined the compactness of a small-caliber revolver, or derringer, but the safety and amount of self-loading ammunition:

The hammerless pistols allowed a potential victim to use such a weapon without much preparation. A fragile, frightened and confused lady could hit an attacker without even damaging her manicure. However, there were various kinds of hybrids that were quite successful and in demand.

1. A hammerless gun of the "Liège Manufactory" according to the Anson and Delay system. Steel barrels of the "Liege Manufactory" tested with smokeless powder, left choke-boron, guillotine bar, triple breechblock with Grinder's bolt, block with cheeks protecting the barrels from loosening, safety on the neck of the stock, if desired, the drummers can be lowered smoothly without hitting the piston, Perdet forend , small English engraving, caliber 12, 16 and 20. Price 110 rubles 2. A hammerless cage gun of the "Liege Manufactory" according to the Anson and Delay system. Steel barrels of "Liege Manufactory" tested with smokeless powder, both chock-boring, guillotine bar, four-fold "Rational" breechblock with Greener bolt, block with cheeks protecting the barrels from loosening, safety on the neck of the stock, if desired, the drummers can be lowered smoothly without hitting the piston , Perde handguard, fine English engraving, 12 gauge, 17 vershoks barrels, about 8 lbs. Price 125 rubles. There were much cheaper and quite reliable single-barreled and double-barreled guns available to the poor, at a price of 7-10 rubles.

Anatoly Fedorovich Koni, Chief Prosecutor of the Criminal Cassation Department of the Governing Senate (the highest prosecutor's position), member of the State Council of the Russian Empire "On the Right of Necessary Defense": "A person has a sense of self-preservation. It is inherent in him both as a morally reasonable creature and as the highest creation of an animal. This feeling is embedded by nature in a person so deeply that it almost never leaves him; a person strives for self-preservation, on the one hand, instinctively, and on the other, realizing his right to exist. measures to disgust her; - he has a right to this and, moreover, a right that should be considered as innate. Conscious of his right to exist, a person protects this right from any other people's encroachment, from any wrong. "The most reliable pistol was nevertheless revolver, a misfire of one cartridge, did not lead to the withdrawal of the revolver from the bo state, since the next time the trigger was pulled, another cartridge was fed. And the drums of small-caliber Velodog revolvers could hold up to 20 cartridges:

Apart from hunting rifles, the purchase of which in Russia, until 1917, no one and no one was required to obtain permits. There were also pistols, which in fact were cutoffs of single and double-barreled hunting rifles, both the simplest ones and stylized as old or combat pistols. This is a very formidable weapon (some samples can completely blow the attacker's head), along with hunting rifles, was used in demand among those who did not want to burden themselves with a trip to the police station or, due to the specifics of the work, transferred it, for example, from one watchman to another or from one seller who handed over a shift to another:

Almost all coachmen and car owners had such a pistol or a cheaper, but no less effective domestic analogue under their seats, the abundance of which was provided by various artels and partnerships, which did not need advertising because of their cheapness. And the state Imperial Tula Arms Factory (ITOZ), in addition to the low price, also ensured high quality thanks to constant research and testing. ready to use. Catching the owner of such a weapon by surprise is very difficult even for an experienced robber:

The pragmatic Russian peasantry, as a rule, enjoyed the greatest demand for domestic hunting rifles, they, in addition to the always necessary practical use, were also an excellent guarantee against any encroachment from uninvited guests. The price-quality ratio was set by the famous State Imperial Tula Arms Factory out of any competition. , on the free Russian market of civilian weapons. Here are such "economy class", but excellent quality and reliability of the gun, offered even by the capital's expensive arms stores:

Naturally, with the onset of 1917, the beginning of mass desertion from the front, and the weakening of the government, control over the armament of citizens dropped significantly. In addition, soldiers leaving the hated war often returned home with rifles and pistols, or even heavier ones. Thus, the general armament of Russian during the Civil War contributed not only to bloodshed, but also to the self-defense of the inhabitants of Russia from numerous gangs, as well as, for example, the expulsion of the interventionists and a wide partisan war against Kolchak in Siberia without any Red Army. An interesting moment - after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks were able to immediately gain a foothold only in the central provinces of Russia, whose population was less armed than in the Caucasian and Cossack outskirts. The tough actions of the food detachments did not meet any resistance only in central Russia, from which people most willingly went to the Red Army - weapons returned a sense of freedom.

Having seized power, the Bolsheviks tried to restrict the right to own weapons by introducing a corresponding ban in the Criminal Code. However, the Criminal Code of the RSFSR in 1926 contained a completely ridiculous sanction at that time - six months of correctional labor or a fine of up to a thousand rubles with confiscation of weapons. In 1935, imprisonment for up to 5 years was established, when the situation in the world became complicated, and various terrorists were operating in the country, the "authorities" actually turned a blind eye to the violation of this article. Plus, this did not apply to hunting weapons. Smooth-bore rifles, berdanks, "small shots" were sold and stored completely freely, like fishing rods or garden tools. To purchase them, you had to present a hunting ticket.

Here it is important to understand that the Bolsheviks did not forbid, but simply transferred the possession of weapons to another plane. And "screwing the nuts" was offset by the free circulation of hunting weapons and the general militarization of civilian life. In addition, most of the civilian passionaries of that time - plant managers, party commissars and all politically important people up to the collective farm foremen had a pistol with them and could open fire on those who seemed to them to be a bandit or terrorist. In a period of constant tension at the borders, weapons were generally an integral attribute of tens of millions of people living in threatened territories. And, for example, "excesses on the ground" during collectivization immediately met with an adequate armed rebuff, which served as one of the reasons for adjusting the course and recognizing "dizziness. from success ”. The operational reports of the NKVD administrations of that time are full of reports of how the peasants met especially zealous "collectivizers" with merciless fire.

After 1953, there was also a legislative weakening of the procedure for the circulation of weapons among the population. Thus, citizens were given the right to freely purchase hunting smooth-bore weapons from trading organizations without "troubles" with hunting tickets. At the same time, a group of lawyers of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR prepared the first draft law on weapons. According to him, “trustworthy citizens” (as in tsarist times, loyal to the regime) were supposed to be allowed to acquire firearms, including short-barreled ones, on the basis of personal property rights. It was supposed to sell to citizens the samples of weapons (except for automatic ones), as well as trophy and lend-lease ones, removed from service (no restrictions on the power of the used ammunition were planned). The law was approved by almost all authorities, except for one, the most important - by the end of the 50s, the "nuts" came to their original position.

That all changed in the late 1960s. The free possession of even hunting weapons was prohibited and the requirements for hunting tickets were reinstated. Since then, no one, except the police and the military, has been able to freely own weapons. Weapons have become the privilege of militiamen and chekists. For an ordinary citizen, even a hunting rifle meant a humiliating "reference". A campaign to surrender the "hunting minimum" has begun, which resulted in the police permitting system. And the number of policemen has grown fivefold.

A fairly detailed analysis of the samples of muskets that existed during the early arms trade was carried out by Mayer, who collected a significant amount of parts of the 17th century weapons in one of the former Iroquois villages near modern Rochester in the state of New York. He writes: “Based on carefully scrutinized fragments of weapons found, we dare say that the most common musket used by the Redskins living in the area of ​​modern New York was a light and durable weapon that could be used in both war and hunting. You can recall how the Jesuits noted that the Indians were equipped with “good arquebusses.” They were long (about 50 inches), with a thin barrel, octagonal or round in the breech. Usually there were brass sights. The caliber of muskets was different, but how much can be judged that the most popular was 0.5 or 0.6 ". The stock was mounted on the barrel shank and attached to the latter by means of three bolts screwed through the lugs into the lower surface of the barrel ... The stocks were quite long and usually had a simple reinforcement in the front part strips of steel or copper.The stock was protected either by a small triangular insert of copper, fixed to the stock with nails, or by real metal skim butt pad. Steel or brass were used for such parts of the weapon as the trigger guard, trigger, name plate, etc. Only at the very end of the century did bolt plates appear. "

With the exception of the overall length of the weapon and the absence of a bolt-on pad, the 17th century musket described by Dr. Rifle and Mackinaw Rifle — The musket discussed in more detail in Chapter 3 (see Figure 18).

Not many pieces of 17th century weapons were inherited in working order that could now be studied in collections.

Rice. nine. The Mohican leader with a musket from the 17th century. In 1709, in England, portraits of four Mohican leaders who arrived for an audience with Queen Anne were made. The weapon depicted by J. Simon, who made the original portrait from which this drawing was reproduced, is a European or American-made musket, most likely a Dutch musket familiar to the Indians of New Holland. Comparing this Mohican musket with the 17th century flint musket shown in fig. ten, b, you can find a striking similarity

Most of these relics from America's early armament period have survived only because of their highly artistic decoration or because they were owned by families who, from generation to generation, had sentimental feelings for them and valued them as a family heirloom.

The Dutch muskets shown in Fig. ten, a and b, are examples of high craftsmanship, but do not have any particular decoration. In all likelihood, their owners were respected residents of New Holland or, perhaps, the leaders of the Indians.

Rice. ten. Long Barreled Weapons - Muskets - Traders and Trappers: a and b- weapons from the lands of the Iroquois in the state of New York, a typical example of weapons of the XVII century, used in the early stages of the Dutch trade: a depicted in the catalog of the American Ammunition Company, b- from the collection of William Young, sketched by Mayer; v and Mr. - American-made musket, made more than a hundred years after the appearance a and b in the New World, walked with the Astors' agents from St. Louis to the Columbia River in 1811; housed in the Milwaukee Public Museum (No. 21238); d- shock-flint lock v and G

They do not bear the traces of the negligence usually characteristic of resold weapons, and they are perfectly preserved for all those three hundred years spent in the house of a wealthy Dutchman who moved to America, or in a wigwam of an Indian tribe. They fully represent the type of personal weapon favored by the people of New Holland, who developed the earliest methods of the fur trade - methods that soon became traditional.

Shown in fig. ten, a and b a magnificent example of the Dutch flintlock musket has a long barrel characteristic of this weapon with a massive breech (for this sample it is round in cross section), a trigger bent slightly backward, a shortened stock and three copper bushings for attaching a wooden ramrod. Other features characteristic of muskets of that period, which are not visible in the figure, are the close-fitting bolt screwed in from the bottom, which secures the breech of the barrel to the butt, and pins screwed into the holes on the lower surface of the barrel, attaching the forend to the barrel. The caliber of this musket is 0.80 inches. The fore-end is split, and since its longitudinal parts are absent, the roundness of the massive breech of the barrel is visible. This pattern is very characteristic of the weapon, beloved by the Dutch traders who worked in the lands of the Iroquois and caused a series of bloody events that took place throughout the entire period of American colonization. The musket is depicted in the catalog of a collection formerly owned by the American Ammunition Company, but its current whereabouts are unknown.

Another 17th century musket from the Iroquois lands of New York State is shown in Fig. ten, b. Its barrel is 531/4 "long and its caliber is approximately 0.70". The breech is octahedral, except for a small hexagonal section. The bottom of the barrel bears the initials "I C." The barrel is fastened to the butt with threaded studs. There are also four tube holders for the cleaning rod. The full-size stock is made of twisted maple, the sight is probably American made. This musket, like the one shown in fig. ten, a, the butt was given a cudgel-like shape, or the shape of a ram's leg, which most butts had - this was customary in the English colonies, but it looked unusual in England itself. The lock has the initials "B. H. S." The embossing on a steel plate is typical of that time. In general, all the features of the weapon indicate that the musket was made at the end of the 17th century. In all likelihood, the butt was made in the colonies, here the musket was also assembled, while the barrel and lock were supplied from England. It is interesting to note that in many details this musket coincides with the weapon that the leader of the Mohicans from Fig. nine.

Most of the firearms that were used by the leaders of French troops in the American hinterland in the 17th century did not differ much from the Dutch muskets just described. On the other hand, some English chiefs of hunting parties who traded furs on the American Frontier even at the end of the 17th century had weapons more similar to those shown in Fig. ten, v and d. Rational form and excellent balance were the hallmarks of most of these English muskets. Towards the end of the century, English flintlock weapons for civilian use were significantly improved in terms of craftsmanship and construction, that is, characteristics that changed only slightly over the next century.

In fig. ten, c, d and d depicts weapons collected in America at the very beginning of the 19th century. Its trunk, however, was made in London; and the design features allow us to conclude that it most carefully follows the technical conditions that have long been standard in England for sporting weapons. The lock bears the manufacturer's stamp "McKim and Brother". The company operated in Baltimore, Maryland, "prior to 1825," according to Sawyer and Mitch. The caliber of this musket is 0.68 inches. The breech is hexagonal, with the word "London" engraved on it. A detailed design of the lock is shown in Fig. ten, etc. Undoubtedly, the barrel brought from England was assembled with other parts of American origin, McKim and brother - this practice of assembling weapons was common among American gunsmiths in the 18th and first half of the 19th century. The weapon depicted in the illustration is the property of the Milwaukee Public Museum, in which it is displayed as a "voyageur-a" gun. Archival records indicate that this gun traveled across the country to Oregon with Astor's agents in 1811; it is the westernmost firearm described in this work.Astor's inventory in Astoria lists seventy-two muskets, twenty-two of which were military-style models equipped with bayonets. personal weapon.

On the basis of the further development of the productive forces, the armament of the troops was also improved, primarily hand-held firearms. Hand-held edged weapons have not undergone significant changes, except that since the formation of the regiments of the new system, swords have appeared in the Russian army.

On the basis of the further development of the productive forces, the armament of the troops was also improved, primarily hand-held firearms.

The most important improvements in the manufacture of hand-held firearms related to the design of the lock. The existing shock-flint lock had a serious drawback: the flint box did not cover the shelf with gunpowder, and a movable cover was arranged over the latter, which had to be pushed aside by hand every time before firing. Now the flint was moved to the very shelf in such a way that it opened the shelf when the trigger was hit. By the end of the 17th century. The percussion-flint lock received basically a finished shape and turned out to be so practically applicable that it existed without major changes for more than two centuries, before the introduction of percussion-primer guns. A flint lock appeared in the West around 1670. 1. In the invention and use of such locks, Russia significantly outstripped Western Europe, since such locks were already known in Russia in the first half of the 17th century.

Rifled hand firearms were mentioned several times in the 17th century. Russian masters of the 17th century manufactured rifled hand weapons loading from the breech. However, this invention has not received practical implementation. The ingenuity of Russian craftsmen outstripped the technical capabilities of the country.

From hand-held firearms in the 17th century. squeaks, muskets, carbines and pistols were used. The musket was the same squeak, but had a larger size, weight and caliber. Muskets were fired from fork-shaped bipods (stands). The infantry (soldiers, archers) and part of the dragoons were armed with food and muskets.

Only smooth-bore carbines are known from surviving samples. With an average caliber, carbines had a smaller barrel, were shorter and lighter than squeakers. This was the main advantage of carbines as a cavalry weapon over squeaks and muskets. Firearms included hand grenades weighing 1-5 pounds, which have been widely used in the infantry since the mid-17th century. / 173 /

Hand edged weapons did not undergo in the 17th century. significant changes compared to the previous period, except that since the formation of the regiments of the new system, swords have appeared in the Russian army. Swords were introduced into service by foreign instructors who trained the first Russian soldiers. They did not receive combat significance in the Russian army and were used only for training soldiers, and in the second half of the 17th century they completely disappeared from the armament of the Russian army.

In the XVII century. a certain set of hand weapons began to correspond to each branch of the army.

When sending military men to the service, the government demanded that “the hussars have a hussar staff and a pair of pistols, and the spearmen have a spear and a pair of pistols, and the reitar have a carbine and a pair of pistols, everyone has their own good and reliable in battle, riflemen, soldiers and other ranks of the infantry system of people had good muskets and berdysh. ”

The introduction of uniformity of weapons in the respective branches of the army was a necessary condition for training military men in a new formation. It was impossible to teach soldiers, reitar and other military people the same techniques of the military system and handling weapons, if they did not have the same weapon. The introduction of such weapons significantly increased the combat capability of the troops, and this was the main point of this event.

The state of the Russian outfit (artillery) of the 17th century. characterized primarily by important changes in the manufacture of tools. These changes consisted in the gradual displacement of wrought iron tools with cast tools of copper and cast iron.

Forging tools from iron was an art of blacksmithing, required skilled craftsmen, a long time to make each tool, and, moreover, was expensive. Casting cannons from copper and cast iron made it possible to prepare products in a shorter time and at a lower price. Cast tools made of copper and cast iron were of higher quality. The production of iron tools was gradually reduced and replaced by their production / 174 / by casting. By the end of the 17th century. the manufacture of iron tools almost completely ceased.

Copper foundry in Russia in the 17th century. did not receive wide distribution. The main reason for this was the lack of its own raw materials; prospecting for copper ores and copper smelting in Russia did not yield significant results. In terms of their design and external decoration, copper tools were less perfect than iron tools. This circumstance should explain the fact that for more than a century the copper casting production of tools could not supplant the production of tools from iron. Both of these types of production continued to exist and develop simultaneously in the 16th - first half of the 17th century.

The most important achievement in the development of Russian artillery was the widespread use of cast iron for the production of guns.

Along with improvements in the production of tools, there have been changes in their design. Loading guns from the breech, known back in the 16th century, became widespread in the 17th century. and later. The surviving tools of this kind were of two types: in some, the breech was locked by means of a screw, in others, by means of a sliding wedge.

The second most important achievement was the introduction of rifled (screw) guns. The surviving rifled guns date back to the beginning of the 17th century, the same guns have been known in Western Europe since the end of the 17th century. 1. Consequently, in the manufacture and use of rifled guns, Russian artillery was ahead of Western Europe by almost a whole century.

In the 17th century, in Russia, rifled, breech-loading guns appeared (with piston and wedge locks), in which two important changes in the design of guns were combined: rifling of the barrel and loading from the breech. In this form, the tools of the 17th century. had all the most important elements of tools of a later time, reflecting the high level of technical thought in Russia.

Rapid-fire guns, designed for frequent volley fire, were further improved. Such tools in the 17th century. were known under the general / 175 / name of organs and organos 1. All tools had carriages.

Manufacturing and use of cannon shells of the 17th century characterized by the widespread use of explosive shells (cannon grenades), which was facilitated by the emergence of metallurgical plants and the use of cast iron in the production of nuclei. For the first time, cannon grenades were used during the war for the liberation of Ukraine. After the war, the production of grenades continued to expand. In the next five years after the war (1668-1673), the government received more than 25 thousand cannon grenades from Tula factories alone2.

Reviews of grenade firing were periodically arranged. A description of one of these reviews that took place on January 21, 1673 in Moscow on Vagankovo ​​in the presence of the Tsar and representatives of foreign states has come down to our time. The success of grenade shooting aroused admiration and envy of foreigners. Horse cannons (mortars), cast by Russian craftsmen in 1668-1669, fired grenades up to 13 pounds in weight, which was a great success for Russian artillery of the 17th century.

Artillery of the 17th century had serious shortcomings, the main of which was the multi-caliber guns.

According to their purpose (type of service), all artillery pieces were, as before, divided into serfs, siege and field (regimental) ones.

The most numerous was the serf city dress. In 1678, there were 3575 guns in 150 cities and suburbs subordinated to the Discharge Order4. The fortress attire consisted of medium-caliber and small-caliber guns and was intended for the defense of cities.

In the Russian-Polish war of 1632-1634. artillery participated in the small (field) and large (siege) "detachment". A total of 256 guns were sent to Smolensk, that is, almost twice as many as Ivan the Terrible had during the siege of Kazan. This testifies to the significant growth of the siege and regimental "detachment", despite the great damage caused to artillery by the interventionists of the early 17th century. / 176 /

Significant changes have also taken place in the composition of the "outfit". All these weapons were divided into siege (50 guns) and field (206 guns). Siege (battering) guns were very bulky and fired with heavy cannonballs (stone up to 4 pounds). Field guns were subdivided into military and regimental.

Troop guns were located with a large regiment, subordinate only to the voivode of this regiment and served the entire army. The existence of a siege and field (military) "order" is known in the 16th century.

Particularly noteworthy is the presence of regimental artillery, which arose in the Russian army in the middle of the 16th century. Each regiment of the new order had 6-12 regimental guns. The presence of its own artillery in each soldier, dragoon, and later rifle regiment increased the maneuverability of the artillery and increased the combat effectiveness of each regiment.

Equally important in the development of Russian artillery was the appearance of cavalry regimental artillery in the Russian-Polish war. The regimental horse artillery appeared together with the regiments of the new order and was located with the dragoon regiment.

Major changes in the composition and structure of the siege and regimental detachment took place during the war with Poland. As a result of the loss of the entire "outfit" that participated in the Russian-Polish war of 1632-1634, the siege "outfit" in the thirteen-year war was replenished with new mounted cannons (mortars) that fired grenades weighing from 1 to 13 pounds. Stone cannonballs began to fall out of use, the effectiveness of the siege "order" increased. The siege arms had solid cast iron cores of 15-30 pounds. As a result, the siege "outfit" lost its former cumbersomeness and became more mobile and combat-ready.

The composition and use of regimental artillery significantly expanded during the war. According to the experience of the soldiers' regiments, regimental artillery was introduced in the rifle orders. Thus, the entire infantry now had regimental artillery. By the early 1980s, the number of guns in each regiment had increased from 2-7 to 5-21, and the caliber of regimental guns had decreased; these guns had 1-3 pounds of cannonballs instead of 5-10 pounds. This means that the regimental artillery has become more mobile and efficient.

In general, the Russian army on a campaign in the second half of the 17th century. had about 350-400 guns. F. Engels pointed out that the number of guns that took part in battles in the 177/17 century was very significant and that artillery parks of 100-200 guns were a common occurrence. exceeded the artillery of any Western European army.

All the improvements in the composition and organization of the Russian artillery were the result of major advances in the production of guns. The most ancient center of cannon production was the Moscow Cannon Yard. More than a hundred foremen and workers constantly worked at Cannon Yard; in addition, Moscow artisans were involved in blacksmithing and other works. The productivity of the Cannon Yard could not satisfy the growing demand for guns, and simultaneously with the Moscow (large) yard there were "small" cannon yards in Ustyug, Vologda, Novgorod, Pskov, Tobolsk and other cities. At the end of the 17th century. a new cannon yard in Moscow is also mentioned.

Until the beginning of the 30s, in different regions there was only artisanal mining and iron smelting in hand blast furnaces. The iron obtained in this way satisfied the needs of local state and posad craftsmen, but this iron was not enough for the state production of weapons. The increased demand for metal forced the government to take measures to expand its own metallurgical base.

The search for their own ore begins. Numerous expeditions to the North, in the Urals, in the Volga region were crowned with success. In the XVII century. the first state-owned copper and ironworks (manufactories) appeared in Russia: Nitsynsky, Krasnoborsky, Pyskorsky, Kazansky, Smolensky, etc.

The short-term existence of state-owned factories is explained by several reasons. The government had no experience in organizing such factories, and there were no qualified foremen either. The remoteness of factories from metal processing centers hampered their uninterrupted supply, and a small volume of production did not meet the country's demand for metal. Under all these circumstances, state-owned factories could not compete with private ones and gradually ceased to exist.

Private ironworks (15 in total), which arose in the 30s of the 17th century, turned out to be more viable. (Tula, Kashira, Aleksin, Olonets, etc.), who worked on local ore. Their appearance was caused by the military needs of the state. Under agreements with the government, the factories were obliged to supply their products to the treasury; the first place in this production was occupied by the armament and equipment of the troops.

A particularly large role in the supply of the troops was played by the Tula and Kashira factories, which produced guns, shells, hand-held firearms, etc. So, for example, in 1668-1673. they bought into the treasury 154 169 hand grenades, 25 313 ​​cannon grenades, 42 718 kernels, about 40 thousand poods of iron and cast iron, and other products.

Private enterprise penetrated into the 17th century. and in such a branch of military production as the manufacture of gunpowder, which was supplied to the treasury mainly from private powder mills (factories).

The productivity of state and private metallurgical plants in the second half of the 17th century. was so significant that it not only satisfied the military needs of the state, but allowed Russia to export guns, cannonballs, hand weapons, etc.