Rifle gra. Rifles and carbines of the Gras system Operation and combat use

Wandering around the “flea market” known to the people of Kiev in search of things far from a hobby, I came across ruins with an “echo of war”. There was no interesting "echo" there, and what was, was worth it, like an iron bridge (a Russian pick-hoe in WWI, for example. True, without strands and a handle).
And sorting through a lot of rootless bullets, I found THIS.

It's hard to miss such a bullet. Because healthy. Honest 44th caliber, shell, mass inspires respect.
Well, of course, Gra! There will be a keychain, however!

The history of the Gras rifle and its cartridge began shortly after the Franco-Prussian war, when the losing French, hoping for an early revenge, decided to quickly rearm the army. Seeing that immediately after the war the Germans had a Mauser rifle created for a metal cartridge, the French decided to notice the same one, but they had neither money nor time to develop a unique design.
Everything was so brutal that the French army came close to the United States during the Civil War in terms of the variety of rifles: from old muzzleloaders from the Crimean War to modern rifles. With intermediate fragments of the Snyder-Schneider type. And then Basil Gras, at that time the captain, proposed an original solution - to remake the Chaspeau rifle in service with a metal cartridge.
The caliber (with a barrel, of course) and the design of the shutter were taken from Chasspo, where the needle was “shortened” to the drummer, and the obturator was abolished as unnecessary. Naturally, the chamber was deployed under a new cartridge.

The rifle came out not bad, and only with the massive appearance of "magazines" did complaints begin to arise about its low rate of fire. Meanwhile, in Austria, Artillery Major Alfred Kropachek designed his own underbarrel magazine with a feed mechanism, which was specially adapted for a sliding type shutter. Its peculiarity was that this mechanism can be turned off by locking it with a special latch, and the rifle can be fired as a single shot.

In 1877 and 1878 in France, tests began on store designs of Kropachek, Gra-Kropachek, Krag and Hotchkiss. As a result, the Gra-Kropachek conversion magazine rifle with an underbarrel tubular magazine for 7 rounds was adopted, and a total of 9 rounds could be loaded into it (one in the feeder and one in the chamber). The magazine was loaded through a window in the receiver from above with the shutter open, but the switch, of course, should have been opened. It was filled one by one, which took about 20 seconds. All 9 rounds could be fired in 18 seconds, but without aiming. The weight of an unloaded rifle was 4,400 kg. The conversion of Gras rifles was hastily started by French arms factories, and immediately began to enter the troops.
That's only in 1884 at the arms factory in the city of Chatellerault was proposed new sample conversion magazine rifle, called Gra-Kropachek 1884. Its barrel was shortened by 75 mm, and the capacity of the underbarrel magazine was increased, so that in total it was now possible to load 10 rounds into it. Weight also decreased to 4,150 kg. It was immediately decided to urgently remake all other rifles according to the model of 1884, and the model 1874 - 1878. withdraw from production. But then their production was also stopped, since an even more perfect model of 1885 appeared - Gras-Wetterli, in which a channel for cartridges was simply made in the stock instead of a metal pipe. And finally, in 1886, into service French army the 8-mm Lebel rifle was adopted, which is a slightly modified Gras-Wetterli system, all also with an underbarrel magazine.
A kind of repetition of the “Russian gun drama” came out, but a decade later, in France. As a result, the “new” Lebel with a cartridge that was revolutionary for its age quickly became the main caliber, in the 90s Berthier carbines with an awkward 3-round magazine appeared, then they “grew up” to normal magazine rifles.
And the converted and not converted Gras of all versions went to the colonies and warehouses, while serving a lot. As a result, when the Russian army in 1915 was left with practically no rifles, 450,000 Gras were sold to Russia. True, there were not enough cartridges there ...
Cartridges ... But with cartridges interesting story. Okay, in our time, who already remembers that Mosin rifle, the cartridge of which has been serving for more than 100 years (this is if you count from 1908, but you can also from 1891!) And the change to which is not visible. Progress in the mechanics of weapons has slowed down somewhat, and modern models are decades old, or even half a century old. In the second half of the century before last, this progress was so rapid that the "ultramodern" cartridges of the 1860s and 70s by the beginning of the last century (up to 30 years old!) Became an anachronism. Lead bullets of 12-9 mm caliber were replaced by shell bullets, thrown by a charge of smokeless powder, the caliber of which did not exceed 8 mm. Here's a curiosity: "the small-caliber rapid-fire rifle of the Berdan system number two" ceased to be such after just over 20 years of service!
So the first metal-cased rifle cartridges quickly disappeared from the scene. All, but not all: there were also unique ones who survived the “second birth”. Not for nothing I spoke about Gra. During the production period, he managed not only to completely change the "stuffing", but to be noted in machine guns and shoot bullets, which in the 1870s could not even be thought of.
The ammunition for the 1874 Gras rifle, which was perfect in its time, was also quite perfect in its design. He was equipped in a seamless brass sleeve with a flange, all-lead bullet in a paper wrapper. The bullet had a cylindrical shape.
Between the gunpowder and the bullet was a trapper (consisting of wax and mutton fat in a ratio of 4/1), which performed the same functions as in the 4.2-line Russian cartridge for Berdan rifles No. 1 and No. 2. The capsule of the described ammunition was covered with a special (apparently protective) cap, which was subsequently abolished. The bullet reached an initial velocity of about 450 m / s. Such a bullet weighed 25 grams with a charge of 5.25 grams of black powder. Sleeve length 59mm, cartridge Ø 76 mm.
The abolition of the protective cap also had an explanation: the bullets that were planned to be used already in the shops were “blunted”. Such a bullet could not pierce the primer in front of the lying cartridge, and besides, the soft lead did not wrinkle so much during recoil, when inertia pressed the cartridge into the rear bullet, and then, after the recoil peak, the magazine spring “played back”, also hitting the cartridges. Such a "blunt" bullet did not lose much in ballistics, and its shape remained unchanged even after jacketed bullets were adopted.
jacket bullet new version cartridge (became designated as 1878/83) made it possible to exclude lead and, later, to use cartridges in machine guns. True, when using nitoropowders (Viel's gunpowder began to be used already three years after the appearance of a cartridge with a shell bullet), the problem of free space in the sleeve arose: the gasket that had become unnecessary freed up space, and when replacing gunpowder, it became too much: the charge of smokeless powder and its volume were practically three times less than those of smoky. The sleeve has become too “spacious” and the place of the ointment has been taken by ... a wad!

A century later, this method of reducing the volume of the cartridge case will be accepted by fans of reloading subsonic cartridges based on a conventional cartridge case under a full charge.
The rifles of the mobilization reserve lay in warehouses until the WWI, and, as already mentioned, massively "moved" to Russia, where they fired not so much on the fronts of the WWI as in the Civil War (the old rifles were used by the rear units instead of the mosquitoes withdrawn for the front) ). But cartridge production remained in France, and when the need arose to strengthen air defense, machine guns for firing at aircraft and airships were quickly designed under the Gras cartridge.
The machine guns were enlarged versions of the Maxim-Vickers and Gochikss machine guns, and were fed with cartridges from loose tape.

It would seem, what attracted the designers of the old cartridge? It's simple: caliber. It was possible to “pack” a solid charge of phosphorus into the shell of an 11-mm caliber bullet, without any problems to assemble a sighting and incendiary cartridge, which was technically an explosive projectile. Yes, and the armor-piercing bullet was not bad, because. the mass made it possible to place a solid, by the standards of new rifles, core.

The low muzzle velocity of the bullet was not too disturbing, since the speeds of aircraft and, especially, airships, were still small. Therefore, covering the target with a sheaf of bullets (some of which are tracers) was not a particular problem.
Hydrogen-filled airships had no chance: if an ordinary rifle cartridge bullet simply pierced the shell, then the “anti-balloon” cartridge bullet reliably ignited hydrogen, which led to disaster. Yes, and wood or percale also did not tolerate the rupture of a bullet of this caliber, and getting into the tanks guaranteed a fire that was fatal to a wooden aircraft.
Thus, the cartridge from the era of the formation of unitary ammunition for black powder managed to experience a rebirth already as an ammunition for machine guns intended for firing at air targets. But even recently international conventions forbade war in the air as such ...

Gras rifle model 1874(French Fusil Gras Modèle 1874 M80) - breech-loading rifle with a longitudinally sliding bolt of the Basil Gras system chambered for a metal cartridge.

History of creation and production

During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the French felt severe disadvantage in guns, because often the main weapon of the infantry regiments was an outdated rifle of the system Snyder-Schneider, as well as foreign breech-loading rifles (Remington, etc.). Yes, and the main French rifle - chassepo needle system- quickly became obsolete. Arms race in many European countries in search of the best system rifles forced France to accept their rifle under a metal unitary cartridge. It turned out to be the system of artillery captain Basil Gras, developed at an arms factory Tull and adopted by the French army in 1874. The Gra system did not require any significant restructuring of the arsenals and allowed the use of full force production capacity.

As in the case of the Chasseau rifle, the best achievements of engineering were used in its design, the only exceptions were the fuse and the magazine (probably the conservatism of the French command did not allow them to follow the example of their neighbors, the Swiss, where the Vetterli rifle was adopted).

The total production of Gra rifles amounted to about 500 thousand pieces. Production took place at the state arms factory in Saint Etienne, also under license, the rifle was produced in Austria at factories Steyr(about 60 thousand).

In service with the French army rifle gra lasted until 1886, when it was replaced by the Lebel Mle. 1886 .

Design and principle of operation

The Gra system is a single-shot bolt-action rifle. The modified Mauser system of the 1871 model was taken as the basis for the design (the extractor was strengthened, the extraction of cartridge cases was improved, etc.). The influence of the Beaumont system of the 1871 model is also noticeable. The result was a reliable, durable and cheap rifle that surpassed such well-known systems as Mauser and Berdan. One of the features of the rifle bolt was the lack of threaded connections. The bolt, consisting of only 7 parts, can be disassembled without the use of tools and in a few seconds.

The barrel bore is locked on the bolt comb, which rotates a quarter of a turn. The extractor is located in a non-rotary bolt head and has V-shape double spring. With its top pen, the extractor enters the cutout of the receiver and, thanks to the powerful force transmitted to the extractor tooth, ensures a secure grip of the sleeve welt and reliable extraction. The mirror of the larva has a pronounced cup, which contributes to a more reliable retention of the sleeve during extraction. A powerful and comfortable bolt handle greatly facilitates and speeds up reloading the rifle.

The shutter trigger has a safety and combat cocking. The trigger is attached to the drummer with a special fastener. Setting on a safety and combat platoon due to a small nipple of an uncomfortable shape requires attention and significant efforts and was dangerous when low temperatures. On the safety cocking, when the trigger was pressed, the drummer, although it hit the primer, did not cause ignition, leaving only a trace of the impact on it. The French did not consider such a safety cocking device to be a disadvantage and attached more importance to the speed of bringing the trigger from the safety to the firing position.

The trigger mechanism of the Gra rifle is very interesting in technical terms. Structurally, the Gra trigger mechanism is clearly borrowed from the system rifle Mauser Model 1871. The spring whispered at one end is attached with a screw to the bottom of the receiver and has a hook for cocking the trigger at the other end. But unlike the Mauser Gras trigger has a semicircular back hook, based on the semicircular cutout of the stop of the receiver. This results in a slightly different force application vector, which explains the unusual shape of the rifle trigger. The receiver with the barrel is fastened in the stock with a screw in the receiver shank and two powerful spring-loaded stock rings. A steel ramrod runs through the entire stock and is attached to the trigger guard stop. The walnut stock has a convenient form, maximally adapted for bayonet fighting. Butt pad (like the whole device) - iron. There is a myth that a capsule with holy water was built into the butt of the lodge on the right side. Perhaps this is an invention, but on all stocks of Gras rifles there is a chopstick glued into the wood of the buttstock with a brand on the end.

Sights represented by a complex frame sight with a double shield, with distances from 200 to 1800 m and an open front sight of a triangular section, located on a high base. The fly is shifted to the right from the center of its base.

The bayonet for the Gra rifle is bladed, trihedral, with a wooden handle. The bayonet is attached to the side of the rifle on a special ledge soldered to the barrel on the right side.

Gras rifle barrels were made of puddling steel and had four grooves. The width of the fields was equal to the width of the rifling. The depth of the grooves is 0.25 mm, the pitch of the grooves is 55 cm or 50 calibers.

In 1878, many Gras rifles converted from rifles Chaspeau, once again underwent alteration - this time they decided to attach an underbarrel magazine of the system of the Austrian major Alfred Kropachek to them. Caliber and cartridge remained the same. The tubular underbarrel magazine holds seven rounds, one more was on the feeder and one in the barrel, so that the gun can be loaded with nine rounds. Such rifles are called rifles gra-Kropachek. Rifles gra-Kropachek it was possible to load one cartridge at a time, saving the store for the critical minute of the battle.

In 1884, the rifle was improved again: the barrel was shortened by 75 millimeters. And the store, on the contrary, was lengthened in order to add one more cartridge to it. The alteration of rifles was carried out at the Chatellerault factories, but they managed to do a little - the appearance of Lebel rifles put an end to this undertaking.

Variants and modifications

The carbines had a bent bolt handle, which reduced the convenience of shooting, but gave an advantage in carrying and storing weapons.

Operation and combat use

The Gra rifle is a leap forward in relation to other systems of its era, subsequently repeatedly upgraded (Gra-Kropacek, Gra-Wetterli), it has earned high marks from the military for its good fighting qualities, simplicity and reliability.

Video

Rifle shooting, weapon handling, etc.:

Rifle Gras 1874.

Bolt of the rifle Gra.

Gras rifle, model 1874

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. the French felt a shortage of guns, so next to the main model of the Chasseau rifle in the French troops, the old Snyder-Schneider "snuff-box" systems served, Mignet's muzzle-loading guns, as well as imported Sherpa, Remington, Allen breech-loading guns; the last two systems were more perfect than the Chasspo system. Rearmament in Germany (Mauser, 71), Bavaria (Werder, 69), Austria (Werndl, 67-73), Russia (Berdan, 70), England (Martini-Henry, 71) , Italy (Wetterli, 72) and in other states forced the French to adopt a new gun of the Gra system in 1874. Gras shotgun with a sliding bolt, the same caliber as the Chasspo shotguns, 11 mm. Almost all the best achievements that were in the military guns of that time were connected in the Gra system. Cartridge Gra in a brass bottle sleeve, charge 5.25 g, bullet - pure lead and in a paper wrapper, weighs 25 g. Between the gunpowder and the bullet is a stuffing box of 4 parts of wax and one part of mutton fat. The sleeve of the central fire has the peculiarity of the device that the primer is covered from the outside with a special cap; this fixture was subsequently removed. The initial speed of the bullet is 450 m / s. Gras sliding bolt, designed on the basis of the Mauser bolt with significant improvements in terms of strengthening the extractor, improving the extraction of cartridges, stopping the bolt, ease of disassembly and assembly of it and lightening the weight of the entire gun. The barrel is round pudding steel. Rifling 4, the width of the rifling is equal to the width of the fields, the direction of the rifling is left (from right to top and to the left, when viewed from the treasury); rifling depth 0.1 lin., steepness - the pitch is 50 calibers, or 55 cm. The barrel length is 82 cm. The sight with a double shield, with divisions from 200 to 1800 m. The rate of fire is up to 30 rounds per minute, i.e. higher Mauser (meaning Mauser arr. 1871). The breech locking is as strong as the Mauser's, the hammer is cocked when the breech is opened, and the cartridge case is ejected from the receiver. The Gra fuse is simpler, cheaper, but also worse than Mauser's and even Berdan's. In the Gra gun, the trigger can be taken to the safety platoon; when the trigger is pressed, the trigger, although it hits the primer, does not ignite the primer, leaving only a trace of the impact on it. The French did not consider such a safety cocking device to be a disadvantage and paid more attention to the speed of bringing the trigger from the safety to the firing position (with the Gras fuse, this can be done faster than with Mauser). Gras rifles were of 4 samples: infantry, cavalry, gendarmerie and fitting sample.

Walnut stock. A bayonet with a blade in the form of a sword with a hilt and a handle overlaid with wood. The device of the box (rings, back of the head) is iron; rings are fixed, deaf, held in place by springs. Steel ramrod. The Gras rifle is designed more successfully and intelligently compared to the Mauser rifle.

Subsequently, Gras rifles were introduced in Greece.

Apparently, the French did not dare to introduce a repeating rifle, despite the fact that the Vetterli repeating rifle was already in service in neighboring Switzerland.

The manufacture of Gras rifles was so well established that French work surpassed not only Russian work in Berdan's guns, but also German work, and was in no way inferior to English work.

Rifle system Chasspo-Gras sample 1866-1874. (rework)

With the adoption of the Gras system, the French government in 1874, having decided to use all the stocks of suitable rifles of the Chasspo needle system, allowed the Chasspo conversion rifle firing the Gra cartridge to be used.

Since the caliber of both rifles, Chasseau and Gras, was the same (11 mm), the barrel in the conversion rifle remained the same, only a new chamber was installed. Larvae and an ejector modeled after Gras are attached to the shutter. The trigger becomes cocked when the shutter is closed; when opening, there is no need to pre-cock the trigger, as was the case with Chasspo. The drummer is arranged with a striker, like Gra. The obturators and the needle in the Chasseau shutter are, of course, abolished. The result was a rifle as fast-firing as the syst. Gra. The cartridge for both rifles is the same. The change came out very successful and practical.

The conversion sample of the Chasspo rifle was named the Chasspo shotgun of the 1866-1874 model, while the first sample needle rifle of this system was called the sample of 1866.

Repeating rifle of the Gra-Kropachek system, model 1874-1878.

In Austria, artillery major Alfred Kropachek designed an underbarrel magazine with a feed mechanism adapted for a sliding bolt. The peculiarity of the store is that the feed mechanism can be turned off, that is, the cartridges can be locked in the store, then you can use the rifle as a single-shot rifle. In military circles, they were afraid of a large consumption of cartridges, which magazine guns would cause in a war, and therefore they gave such a magazine device great importance, assuming that the shooter will fire the gun as if it were a single shot, keeping the cartridges in the magazine for the moment when the command to open the most frequent fire follows.

The French army had barely had time to re-equip with the Gras single-shot rifle of the 1874 model, when the ever-increasing distribution of magazine guns forced French weapons specialists to start looking for a gun system that would allow the conversion of a single-shot Gra gun to a magazine gun. For this purpose, the invention of Kropachek (barrel magazine) was used.

In 1877 and 1878 in France, magazine guns of the Kropachek, Gra-Kropachek, Krag, Hotchkiss systems were tested. As a result, the Gra-Kroiacek conversion magazine gun was adopted. The caliber and cartridge remained the same - Gra 11 mm. The tubular underbarrel magazine holds 7 rounds, one on the feeder and one in the barrel, so that the gun can be loaded with 9 rounds. The weight of an unloaded gun is 4,400 kg. The conversion of the Gras gun was hastily carried out by French arms factories.

Repeating rifle of the Gra-Kropachek system, model 1884

At the French arms factory in Châtellerault in 1884, a new model of a conversion shop gun, called Gra-Kropachek, 84, was completed. The gun is more perfect than the previous model. Gras rifle barrel shortened by 75 mm. The store is also tubular underbarrel, but with an increased capacity: there are 8 rounds in the store, 1 on the feeder and 1 in the barrel, a total of 10. An unloaded gun weighs 4,150 kg, therefore it is 250 g lighter than the previous sample. It was decided to remake all other Gras guns according to the model of 1884. Sample 1874-1878. was discontinued.

Repeating rifle of the Gras-Wetterli system, model 1885

The production of guns of the 1884 model was, however, stopped, because in 1885 a new, even more perfect model of the Gras-Wetterli conversion magazine gun appeared. Shotgun arr. 1885 has a large receiver that divides the stock into two separate parts: the buttstock and the forearm. The barrel and buttstock were used from a Gras single shot gun; receiver and mechanism are new. The peculiarity of the device of this system is that the feed mechanism is very easily removed from the receiver. There is no metal magazine tube in the forearm, but simply a longitudinal cylindrical channel made in wood, framed at the ends with iron couplings. In this way, a simplification and reduction in the cost of the magazine system and some lightening of the gun were achieved. In spite of this, this sample Gras-Wetterli, 85, although the most advanced, but, due to the complex new receiver, turned out to be the most expensive to manufacture.

The guns of this system were not released a large number of, because experiments began on guns of reduced calibers, and soon, in 1886, the 8-mm Lebel rifle was adopted, which is a change in the Gras-Wetterli system.

Well, I already wrote about the Lebel rifle.

Py.sy.

During the First World War, Russia purchased a large number of Gra rifles for rear units. Subsequently, many of them were used in the Great Patriotic War, where the partisans were very fond of for their efficiency and reliability in combat conditions.

I remind you the caliber-11mm !!!

The rifle of the artillery captain Basile Gras system, developed at the Tull arms factory and adopted by the French army in 1874, is the evolutionary pinnacle of French single-shot rifles chambered for a unitary cartridge.

The Russian gunsmith Fedorov called the period of constant rearmament by the Russian army in the 1860s and 70s. gun drama. However, with an objective analysis of the rearmament of European armies, it can be stated with confidence that the adoption of a new model of an army rifle every few years was a common thing not only in Russia. Simply put, everywhere there was a continuous search for the most advanced shooting system that would meet the changed battle tactics and the rapid improvement of machine production.

The beginning of a conceptually new family of French army rifles was laid by the Chasspo needle system, which appeared 30 years after being put into service. German army Dreyse needle rifle. Thanks to this, the Chasspo system has incorporated best achievements weapon mechanics of its time and in general had a very successful design and good performance when shooting.

The seventies of the 19th century were marked by a stormy race small arms. And now, after only 8 years, after Franco-Prussian War 1870-71, the Gras system, developed for a unitary cartridge with a metal sleeve, is adopted by the French army. The Gra system made it possible to use the production capacity of the arsenals without any significant restructuring, thanks to relatively minor design differences. It was this factor that allowed the designer R. Schmidt in 1869 to successfully remake Chasspo rifles chambered for Gras. Only the bolt and barrel underwent alteration, in the breech of which the chamber was deployed. Of course, the conversion of a significant number of old rifles made it possible to complete the rearmament in as soon as possible and with significant cost savings.

As in the case of the Chasseau rifle, the latest advances in weapons thought were used in the design of the Gras rifle, with the exception of store food. Despite the fact that the Vetterli repeating rifle was already in service with the Swiss army, the conservatism of the French generals left their army with a single-shot rifle.

The Gra system was adopted as the main model for the infantry. But, like many systems of that time, the rifle was also produced in a shortened and lightweight form. In addition to the standard infantry version, cavalry and gendarmerie carbines and the Gras system carbine were produced, differing in length, weight and the presence / absence of a bayonet.

Structurally, the Gra system was a single-shot bolt-action rifle. The design of the bolt group was based on a significantly improved Mauser system mod. 1871. In some structural elements of the Gras rifle, the influence of the Beaumont system arr. 1871. As a result, Captain Gras received a rifle with a stronger and more reliable bolt, superior to the Mauser rifle. One of distinctive features Shutter Gra arr. 1874 is the absence of threaded connections, in connection with which the shutter, consisting of only 7 parts, is disassembled without the use of tools and in just a few seconds. Even the bolt of the Mosin rifle, famous for its simplicity, consisting of the same 7 parts, has a more complex design, including a threaded connection of the trigger with a striker and fixed in field conditions extractor.

The barrel bore in the Gra rifle is locked on the bolt comb, which rotates a quarter of a turn. The extractor is located in the fixed larva of the shutter and has a V-shaped double-feathered spring. With its top pen, the extractor enters the cutout of the receiver and, thanks to the powerful force transmitted to the extractor tooth, ensures a secure grip of the sleeve welt and reliable extraction. The mirror of the larva has a pronounced cup, which contributes to a more reliable retention of the sleeve during extraction. A powerful and comfortable bolt handle greatly facilitates and speeds up reloading the rifle. The curved handle of carbines is less convenient when shooting, but has an advantage when carrying and storing weapons.

The shutter trigger has a safety and combat cocking. The Gra rifle does not have a special fuse, which was considered quite justified in French military circles. The trigger has an original design of fastening to the drummer - with the help of a special fastener. Unlike the Chassepo system, when opening the bolt of the Gra and Chassepo-Gra rifles, no preliminary cocking is required. Putting the trigger on the safety and combat platoons, due to the small nipple of an uncomfortable shape, requires attention, significant efforts and is dangerous at low temperatures. In this regard, the "button" of the bolt in the Russian Berdan-2 and Mosin rifles is much more convenient and safer to handle, not to mention the aesthetics. Only one thing can justify the French designers Chasseau and Gras - the climate of European France is significantly different from the harsh continental climate In Russia and the chances of getting an involuntary shot in the cold, the French soldier is much less than his Russian counterpart. But, nevertheless, sometimes you have to fight not only on your own territory ...

The shutter is disassembled as follows: turn the larva clockwise and remove it moving forward; squeeze the extractor spring with your fingers and pull it forward. Roll the trigger along the helical bevel of the bolt stem to loosen the compression of the spring. Rest the drummer against a wooden surface, press the bolt stem strongly, compressing the spring. Turn the trigger clasp so that its slot is in a vertical position. In this position, the clasp, together with the rear end of the striker, will come out of the rear rectangular hole of the trigger. Then turn the clasp 90 degrees, remove it and carefully separate the drummer with the spring. When separating the drummer, it may be necessary to knock it out with a drift. In general, the bolt group is made of very high quality, with minimal backlash and makes a very favorable impression due to its massiveness and quality factor.

Shutter lag made in the form of a screw screwed into the right wall of the receiver. The stem of the shutter and the larva have the corresponding milled grooves. To remove the shutter, it is necessary to partially unscrew the delay screw. The shutter delay of the Gra system originates from the Chassepo design and, despite its certain shortcomings, was left unchanged by Captain Gra, incl. and for technological reasons. The sleeve reflector is a screw screwed into the bottom of the receiver. A similar reflector was subsequently used in British Lee-Enfield rifles, only, due to the use of a magazine, located on the left side of the receiver.

The trigger mechanism of the Gra rifle is very interesting in technical terms. Structurally, the trigger mechanism Gra is clearly borrowed from the Mauser rifle mod. 1871. The sear spring, at one end, is fastened with a screw to the bottom of the receiver and has, at the other end, a hook for cocking the trigger. But, unlike the Mauser, the Gra trigger has a semicircular rear part of the hook, resting on the same semicircular cutout of the receiver stop. In this case, we get a slightly different force application vector, which is explained by unusual shape rifle trigger. The straight trigger shape of the Gra system is unique to military rifles, but quite ergonomic. Rate of fire rifle Gra arr. 1874 reached 30 rounds per minute and surpassed the Mauser rifle mod. 1871.

The receiver with the barrel is fastened in the stock with a screw in the receiver shank and two powerful spring-loaded stock rings. A steel ramrod runs through the entire stock and is attached to the trigger guard stop. The walnut "straight" stock has a convenient and elegant shape, typical for single-shot rifles and is most adapted for bayonet combat. The butt plate, like the whole device, is iron. In the butt of the lodge, on the right side, a capsule with holy water is mounted. Perhaps this is a distorted myth, but on all stocks of Gras rifles there is a chopstick glued into the wood of the butt with a brand on the end.

Sights are represented by a complex frame sight with a double shield, with distances from 200 to 1800 m and an open front sight of a triangular section, located on a rather high base. The fly itself is shifted to the right from the center of its base.

Shooting from a “permanent” sight up to 200 m is carried out from a small narrow rear sight located on the underside of the main bar and representing a triangular cut at the base of the sight rack. To do this, the frame of the sight must be thrown forward, so that the frame lies on the barrel as a second “permanent” one at 300 m. If it is necessary to shoot at 300 m, the frame must be folded back to the rear position. In this case, the frame rests on the block of the sight and aiming is already carried out through a larger and wider rear sight with the “300” mark in the mane. When shooting at a distance of more than 300 meters, the sight frame rises vertically. In this case, the heel of the frame is held by a leaf spring located in the block of the sight and fixed with a screw. Shooting at 350 m is carried out through the lower slot in a vertically located frame; for this, the clamp must be raised up. Shooting at long distances, from 400 to 1100 meters, is carried out through a slot on the mane of the collar, according to the scale of the frame, cut on the left side. A slot for shooting at a distance of 1200 m is located at the top of the main bar. On the Chasseau rifle, the firing range is limited to a distance of 1200 meters, which is due to the ballistic capabilities of the cartridge. Therefore, the Chasseau rifle scope has only one lifting shield.

The unitary cartridge of the new generation, developed by the time the Gras rifle appeared, had, in comparison with the cartridge for the Chasspo rifle, significantly best performance. Thanks to the new cartridge, the new rifle itself acquired undeniable ballistic advantages. Therefore, the sight of the Gra rifle received an additional shield, cut at a distance of up to 1800 meters. Shooting at maximum distances salvo fire» from 1300 to 1800 m is feasible through a triangular cut at the top of the second shield. In this case, the elevation value is set on a scale on the right side of the main shield. When firing at a distance of 1800 m, the slot of the shield is located above the slot of the sight by 200 m by more than 90 mm. It is clear that the convenience of shooting, as well as its effectiveness, in this case are reduced to a minimum value and such a fire has more theoretical prerequisites. Of course, the complexity of the design of the sight is due to the steep trajectory of a large-caliber uncoated bullet. And its design itself is inferior in terms of convenience and reliability to the sight of the Russian rifle Berdan-2. On shortened modifications of the Gra rifle, the sight has one shield and a firing distance limited to 1000 meters.

The bayonet for the Gra rifle is needle-shaped, with a blade in the form of a sword, but, unlike Russian needle bayonets, the Gra bayonet has a rather comfortable wooden handle. The bayonet is mounted on the side of the rifle, on a special ledge soldered to the barrel on the right side.

For use in the Gra rifle, a powerful 11 ​​mm rimmed cartridge was developed with a brass 59 mm case and 25 gr. uncoated bullet made of pure lead with a paper wrapper. The cartridge case contained 5.25 grams of black powder, separated from the bullet by a felt pouch. A charge of gunpowder accelerated a heavy bullet to 450 m / s, which is 20 m / s more than initial speed bullets from a Chasseau rifle cartridge.

Gras rifle barrels were made of puddling steel and had 4 grooves. The width of the margins is equal to the width of the grooves. The depth of the grooves is 0.25 mm, the pitch of the grooves is one turn per 55 cm.

The barrel length of the infantry rifle is 820 mm, the barrels of the gendarmerie and cavalry carbines are shortened to 690 mm. Barrel fitting Gra shortened to 505 mm. The total length of an infantry rifle without a bayonet is 1305 mm, with a bayonet - 1827 mm, carbines - 1175 mm and 1748 mm. The cavalry model, of course, did not have a bayonet. The weight of an infantry rifle without a bayonet is 4200 g, with a bayonet - 4760 g. The mass of a cavalry carbine is 3560 g, a gendarmerie - 3590 (without a bayonet) and, with a bayonet - 4245 g. The length of the Gra fitting is 990 mm, with a bayonet - 1563 mm. The weight of the fitting without a bayonet is 3260 g, with a bayonet - 3915 g.

The Gra rifle was adopted by the Greek army in 1877. Like the Berdan-2 rifle in Russia, the Gra rifle was used at the beginning of the 20th century in many armed conflicts in our hemisphere. The Gra rifle was especially loved by the partisans, starting from the Slavic fighters against the yoke Ottoman Empire and ending with the resistance partisans in the Second world war. The popularity of the Gra rifle was so high that in some places the name of the rifle became a household name and served as the designation for a rifle of any system. In World War I, a number of Gras rifles mod. 1874 was purchased for the rear units of the Russian army.

The Gra rifle is a very interesting "transitional" system, subsequently modernized several times (Gra-Kropachek magazine systems, etc.) and highly appreciated by the military, thanks to its good combat characteristics, thoughtfulness of the system and excellent quality manufacturing. In this regard, as well as with a small number of well-preserved examples and a rather high price in the antique market, Gras rifles and carbines are a tempting purchase for collectors and an excellent investment.


The article was published in the magazine "Master Rifle"