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

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

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

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

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

In 1889, Sergei Ivanovich Mosin offered a three-line (7.62 mm) rifle to the competition, developed on the basis of his earlier single-shot rifle, from which the bolt group and receiver were borrowed with virtually no changes; At the same time, some ideas regarding the design of the store were borrowed from the latest Austro-Hungarian rifle of the Mannlicher system tested in the same year with batch loading of an in-line middle store, which was found to be fully compliant with all the requirements.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Production and operation of the three-ruler

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

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

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

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

Back to top Russo-Japanese War approximately 3,800,000 rifles were delivered to the army.

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

By the time Russia joined the First world war the Russian army was armed with 4,519,700 rifles, four versions of the rifle were in production - dragoon, infantry, cossack and carbine. During the war, the Russian military industry produced 3,286,232 three-line rifles, repaired and fixed 289,431.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Design

Barrel and receiver

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

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

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

Magazine box and cut-off reflector

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

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

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

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

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

Trigger mechanism

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

Gate

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

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

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

Stock and handguard

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

Sights

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

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

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

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

Bayonet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rifle affiliation

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

The accuracy of the battle and the effectiveness of fire

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

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

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

Advantages of the three-ruler

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

Flaws

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

Technical characteristics of the Mosin 1891 trilinear (infantry rifle)

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

TTX rifle Mosin 1891 (Dragoon and Cossack rifles)

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

Before you is the instruction of 1938 dedicated to 7.62 mm. Mosin rifle. Although most of the document describes the 1891/1930 rifle, its final chapter cites interesting information and according to the pre-revolutionary model (sample 1891/1910). If you want to immediately move to this section, press - .

INSTRUCTION

By

SHOOTING BUSINESS

(NSD-38)

7.62 mm rifle model 1891/1930

VOYENIZDAT NPO USSR

DESIGN DESCRIPTION

RIFLE SAMPLE 1891/1930 (Fig. 97)

7.62 mm repeating rifle mod. 1891/1930 is in service with the Red Army. It was obtained by upgrading the rifle mod. 1891, produced in 1910 and 1930.

The main modernization was carried out in 1930, which is why the rifle was named arr. 1891/1930

Along with the rifle mod. 1991/30 in service with the Red Army are a sniper rifle mod. 1891/1930 and carbine arr. 1938, having a slight difference from the main sample, and in warehouses and in the rear parts you can find a rifle mod. 1891 (not modernized). In addition, the carbine mod. 1944, different from the carbine mod. 1938 bayonet attachment. In a carbine arr. 1944, as well as in a rifle mod. 1891/1930 (since 1943) the bayonet is integral. In the stowed position, the bayonet is applied to the forearm of the stock and fixed with a latch.

general characteristics

Rifle arr. 1891/1930 refers to bolt-action repeating rifles with twist when locking. The barrel bore is locked by symmetrically located lugs of the combat larva of the bolt. Percussion mechanism of percussion type. The safety mechanism against premature shots and the possibility of firing when sending the next cartridge is implemented in the bolt. Trigger without warning. Cartridges are fed from a magazine box of a vertical type with a single-row arrangement of cartridges. The magazine box is filled by pushing the cartridges out of the clip. Sector type sight.

For bayonet fighting, a needle-type bayonet adjoins the barrel of the rifle.

Main data of the rifle

Total weight with bayonet without cartridges. . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 kg.

Overall length with bayonet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 cm.

Overall length without bayonet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 cm.

Number of cuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

form of paresis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rectangle naya

Store capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 rounds

The weight of the clip with cartridges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122-132 G.

Regular cartridges with light and heavy bullets, with armor-piercing, tracer and incendiary bullets can be used for shooting.

Arrangement of mechanisms and units

Barrel with receiver (Fig. 98) The barrel and receiver are the main parts of the rifle, mounting on itself all its mechanisms and parts.

Trunk along the outer surface of a variable section, decreasing towards the muzzle, it has protrusions in the muzzle and breech, which are, respectively, the bases for the front sight with a front sight and an aiming block. On the stump, the breech of the barrel, a thread is cut, onto which the receiver is screwed with an interference fit. The rifled part of the bore has four grooves, winding from left to right.

Receiver(Fig. 99) is the most complex and time-consuming in production relation detail, since it has the largest number of elements that mate with the parts and mechanisms of the rifle. The receiver has only one front jumper; to obtain the required rigidity, it is made massive.

Inside the receiver, along its entire length, there is a channel for placing the bolt, having longitudinal grooves in the vertical plane for the combat lugs of the combat larva, and in the front part there is a thread for connecting with the barrel and an annular groove for accommodating the lugs when the barrel bore is locked.

In the middle of the receiver there are upper and lower windows. The right wall of the upper window is cut off to accommodate the bolt stem crest, and grooves are formed on the back for inserting a clip when filling a magazine box. On the left side of the receiver there is a slot with a threaded hole for a cut-off reflector. In the back of the top there is a longitudinal groove for guiding the ridges of the bolt stem and the trigger, and at the bottom there is a window for the passage of the trigger lever sear and the trigger head.

To connect the receiver with the stock, trigger mechanism and magazine box, there are threaded holes for the tail screw and stop screw, in the rear part there is a tide for fixing the trigger axis.

Rifle bolt (Fig. 100) refers to the type of sliding gates with a turn when locking.

Fig. 100. Shutter and its details.

1 – shutter stem, 2 – war larva, 3 – ejector, 4 cock , 5– drummer, 6 – mainspring, 7 – connecting strip.

The shutter with the mechanisms assembled on it performs the following functions: sending a cartridge into the chamber, locking the bore, firing a shot, extracting a spent cartridge case, interacting with a cut-off reflector.

The bolt consists of a bolt stem, a combat larva, an ejector, a trigger, a striker, a mainspring and a connecting bar.

The stem of the shutter is the main part that drives the other parts of the shutter. It consists of a cylindrical part, a comb and a handle. Inside the cylindrical part there is a channel with a ledge in the rear part, in which the striker with the mainspring is placed. On the lower plane of the front part of the ridge, two grooves are formed: a longitudinal one for the protrusion of the combat larva and a transverse one for the crest of the rack of the connecting bar

At the bottom, on the cylindrical part of the bolt stem, a beveled longitudinal groove is formed for the reflective protrusion of the cut-off reflector, and in the rear part there is a screw cutout and at the end of the socket, which serve to place the screw protrusion of the trigger when the shutter is open and the safety protrusion of the trigger when the latter is set to the safety cocking.

The combat larva directly locks the bore, having two symmetrically located lugs. Inside the combat larva, a channel of variable cross section is formed with a hole in the front part for the output of the firing pin, and on the outer surface there is a longitudinal groove for the passage of the reflecting protrusion of the reflector cut-off and a groove for the ejector. A small protrusion and a transverse groove in the rear serve to connect the combat larva to the bolt stem and connecting plate.

The connecting bar serves to connect the combat larva to the bolt stem, in addition, it determines the position of the trigger and prevents the drummer from screwing in and out of the trigger. It consists of the bar itself, the rack and a tube pressed into the rack with an oval hole. A combat larva is put on the front end of the tube, a protrusion located in the front of the bar enters into the transverse groove, and the rear one is placed in the channel of the bolt stem; in this case, the crest of the rack is placed in the transverse groove, and the protrusion of the combat larva in the longitudinal groove of the latter. Thus, the connection of the shutter stem with the combat larva is ensured, both during longitudinal movements and during turns. A blind groove is formed on the lower plane of the connecting strip, in which the trigger head passes, which is a slide delay.

The drummer has a striker, a rim for the mainspring stop and a thread on the rear end for connection with the trigger.

The trigger serves to connect the percussion mechanism in the bolt stem and to place the firing pin on the combat and safety platoons.

The trigger is screwed onto the drummer and has a protrusion from below, which is a combat platoon; the back of the trigger forms a button; to guide the trigger in the groove of the receiver, there is a comb with a safety ledge and a screw ledge that interacts with the screw cutout on the bolt stem.

Spring ejector 3 with the help of the heel, it is fixed in the groove of the combat larva. In the front part it has a hook with a bevel to facilitate the jump of the hook over the rim of the sleeve.

locking mechanism (Fig. 101). To lock the bore, move the bolt forward and turn the bolt handle to the right. When the bolt moves forward, the lugs of the combat larva are located in a vertical plane and move along the longitudinal grooves of the receiver. Not reaching the rear planes of the lugs to the annular groove in the receiver (approximately 6 mm), the shutter stops, since the front bevel of the ridge of the shutter stem rests against the front oblique cut of the upper window of the receiver. When the bolt handle is turned to the right, the rear beveled cut of the bolt stem crest will slide along the rear bevel of the receiver window, and the lugs – along the cuts at the supporting planes of the annular groove, which will cause the simultaneous advancement of the bolt stem with the combat larva forward.

When the bolt stem with the combat larva reaches the extreme forward position, they will turn until the bolt stem crest stops in the right plane of the upper receiver window; in this case, the combat lugs of the combat larva will finally go beyond the support planes, and the bore will be completely locked.

When the barrel bore is unlocked, the front cut of the ridge of the bolt stem will slide along the front oblique cut of the upper window of the receiver, which will cause, when the stem handle is turned to the left, the bolt stem with the combat larva to move back (approximately 6 mm), in this case, the lugs of the latter will come out from behind the supporting planes and become in the longitudinal grooves of the receiver.

Impact mechanism shock type (Fig. 101). The mainspring has 28 turns. The drummer device is described above.

Safety mechanism implemented in the shutter and provides protection against the possibility of a shot when sending the next cartridge and from the possibility of premature shots.

When the barrel bore is unlocked, the edge of the screw cutout of the bolt stem, acting on the surface of the screw protrusion of the trigger, takes it back, since the trigger comb, guided by the groove of the receiver, will not allow the trigger to turn along with the stem. In this case, the mainspring, resting with its front end against the striker's rim, and with its rear end against the ledge of the channel in the bolt stem, will receive a preliminary preload, and the firing pin will hide in the channel of the combat larva. The withdrawal of the trigger with the striker continues until the screw protrusion of the trigger leaves the interaction with the screw cutout of the stem, and when the barrel bore is unlocked, the end of the screw protrusion jumps into the socket on the bolt stem, which fixes the position of the trigger with the striker in relation to the bolt stem when reloading a rifle.

When the bolt moves forward during reloading, the cocking of the trigger goes behind the sear of the trigger lever. The combat cocking keeps the trigger with the drummer from moving forward, while the end of the screw protrusion of the trigger comes out of the socket on the bolt stem, and the mainspring receives the final preload. The screw protrusion of the trigger, with the barrel bore locked, is installed against the deepest part of the screw cutout on the bolt stem.

To put the trigger on the safety platoon, it is necessary to cock the drummer, putting the trigger on the combat platoon, lock the bore, and then pull the trigger back, turn to the left and release.

When the trigger is pulled back, the cocking of the latter comes out of the fork of the connecting bar, and when turning to the left, it will fit in the recess of the receiver. In this case, the safety protrusion of the trigger comb will enter the recess on the rear section of the bolt stem, and the edge of the comb will rest against the left wall of the receiver. In this position, the possibility of pulling the trigger with the drummer, as well as the possibility of opening the shutter, is completely eliminated.

Trigger mechanism without warnings (Fig. 102). It consists of a trigger, a trigger spring, a trigger spring screw and a trigger axle. The trigger is mounted on an axis between the ears of the receiver and consists of a head with a slide delay and a tail. In the head of the trigger, a rectangular hole is formed with chamfers superimposed on the upper faces, into which the trigger spring enters, attached with a heel to the wall of the receiver with a screw. At the rear end of the trigger spring there is a sear and a stop that limits the rise of the sear up.

The interaction of parts of the shock and trigger mechanisms

When the trigger is pressed, it rotates on its axis and the pressure of the angle of the upper face of its rectangular hole will press the trigger spring sear down (Fig. 103).

The trigger released from the sear with a striker rushes forward under the action of the mainspring, and with the barrel bore locked, the end of the helical protrusion of the trigger advances to the deepest part of the helical cutout of the bolt stem, so that the striker goes beyond the cut of the cup of the combat larva and breaks the primer.

After the shot, the mainspring is in the unclenched state. The released trigger under the action of the trigger spring turns tail forward, and the sear rises up to the stop in the lower plane of the cocking of the trigger, so that the thrust ledge of the trigger spring does not touch the receiver.

When the trigger is pulled back (Fig. 104), the trigger spring sear will come out from under the lower plane of the cocking and rise up until the stop ledge stops against the wall of the receiver, while the trigger will turn so that its head will enter the longitudinal blind groove of the connecting bar and will limit the rearmost position of the shutter.

Cut-off reflector (Fig. 105) serves to: 1) limit the movement of the clip inside the receiver when filling the magazine box with cartridges; 2) holding together with the protrusion on the right wall of the receiver of the cartridge in the receiver; 3) the direction of the cartridge when moving it from the receiver into the chamber; 4) cutting off the cartridges in the magazine box with the shutter open; 5) reflections of a spent cartridge case.

The cut-off reflector consists of a blade and a spring part.

The blade has a protrusion on all four sides: the front and rear limit the movement of the reflector inside the receiver, the upper one serves to reflect the spent cartridge case into the lower one for connection with the spring part.

The spring part has a heel with a screw hole that attaches the cut-off reflector to the receiver, and in front of it is a cutting ledge and a window for the corresponding blade ledge.

The extraction of the spent cartridge case is carried out by an ejector, the hook of which, when the bore is locked, jumps over the rim of the cartridge case. When the channel is unlocked, the ejector pushes the sleeve out of the chamber by the amount of withdrawal of the combat larva back (approximately 6 mm), which facilitates further extraction. When the shutter moves back, the reflecting protrusion of the cut-off-reflector blade, passing in the longitudinal groove of the combat larva, will rest against the cartridge case head, and the latter will be thrown out of the receiver to the right and somewhat upward.

Magazine case vertical type with a single-row arrangement of cartridges. The magazine box is filled with cartridges squeezed out of the clip.

The magazine box (Fig. 106) consists of a square, a trigger guard, two side walls, a lid and a lid latch with a screw. The walls, square and bracket are connected by spot welding.

The magazine box is attached to the receiver from below, covering the lower window with the latter with a stop screw passing through the hole in the square, and with a tail screw through the hole in the trigger guard. The inside of the box matches the outline of the cartridge. The side walls are stamped, have a ledge rounded at the top. From below, the magazine box is closed with a lid, which is held in the back by a latch, and the front, which has an oval cutout, is on a hinge bolt fixed in a square.

Feeder (Fig. 107) is strengthened with a pin on the cover of the magazine box. It consists of a feeder, a feeder spring, a feeder arm, a feeder arm spring, two pins and a screw.

The interaction of parts and mechanisms of a rifle when loading

To load the rifle, it is necessary to fill the magazine box with cartridges, send the cartridge into the chamber, and lock the bore.

When squeezing the cartridges out of the clip (Fig. 104), the lower cartridge presses the edge of the sleeve on the cut-off reflector blade, moving it to the left, and rests on the feeder, and the cut-off reflector blade moves to the right under the action of the spring part. When entering under the cut-off blade of the reflector of the second cartridge, the lower one retracts the cutting tooth of the spring part to the left and enters the magazine box. Heading by the rounded ledges of the side walls of the box, the cartridges move back somewhat, so that the rim of the overlying cartridge is located in front of the rim of the underlying one. The fifth cartridge remains in the receiver, held on the left side by a cut-off reflector blade, and on the right side by a protrusion on the wall of the receiver (Fig. 108).

When the bolt moves forward, the combat larva will advance the cartridge into the chamber. The front end of the cartridge, due to the sliding of the slope of the sleeve along the oval bevels of the receiver, will rise, and the bullet will go to the mouth of the chamber (Fig. 109), while the sleeve comes out from under the cut-off blade of the reflector and the protrusion of the receiver. The head of the sleeve rises and stands against the cup of the combat larva, after which the cartridge is pushed forward not by the rim of the combat larva, but by the ejector head, which, when the bore is locked, jumps with its hook over the rim of the sleeve. The cut-off protrusion of the cut-off reflector with the barrel bore locked falls into the beveled groove of the bolt stem and moves to the left, and the next cartridge is lifted by the feeder until it stops in the connecting bar (Fig. 103). In the future, when the shutter is opened and retracted, the next cartridge rises up to the stop in the cut-off-reflector blade and the ledge of the receiver and will stand in the way of the shutter, and the cut-off ledge of the cut-off-reflector will move to the right and will cut off the "next cartridge.

sighting device consists of a sight and a front sight.

Sector sight, consists of an aiming pad (Fig. 110), aiming bar, aiming bar clamp, two clamp latches, two latch springs, aiming bar axis, aiming bar spring and aiming block screw.

Fig. 110. Sight.

1 - aiming block, 2 - aiming bar, 3 - sighting strap clamp, 4 - clamp latches, 5-spring latches, 6 - aiming bar axis, 7 - aiming bar spring.

Fig. 111. Fly with a ramushnik.

7 - fly, 2 - muzzle.

The aiming block is fixedly mounted on the barrel with the help of a trapezoidal protrusion on the barrel and the same groove on the lower plane of the sighting block, fixed with a screw and soldered with tin. To set the required height of the sight, the aiming block has two ribs.

The aiming bar can rotate on its axis, passing into the eyes of the aiming block, constantly pressing against the aiming block with a leaf spring, which rests against the aiming bar with its front end, and enters the groove between the sectoral ribs of the aiming block with its rear end.

A mane with a semi-oval slot for aiming is formed at the rear end of the strap. On the outer side of the bar there are divisions from 1 to 20 (in hundreds of meters): even on the right side, and odd on the left; between divisions of the dash for setting the sight with an accuracy of 50 m. On the sides of the bar there are cutouts for the teeth of the clamp latches.

The rectangular front sight is attached together with the fly stone to the base of the front sight with the help of a trapezoidal protrusion and the same groove on the base (Fig. 111).

Stock with handguard (Fig. 112). The lodge in its structure belongs to the so-called English. The eye connects all the details and mechanisms of the rifle and serves for the convenience of action both when shooting and in bayonet fighting. The stock consists of a fore-end, a neck and a stock.

The barrel pad covers the top of the barrel. At the ends of the handguard to protect against the appearance of cracks, brass tips are worn, reinforced with two rivets.

Bayonet (Fig. 113) needle-type, tetrahedral. It consists of a blade, a latch, a neck and a tube that fits over the muzzle of the barrel.

The ramrod has a head with a notch and a hole for a pin, and in the front part there is a thread for screwing the wipe. Its length is sufficient for cleaning the bore.

device (Fig. 114) serves to connect and fasten all parts of the rifle. It consists of two false rings, a spring of false rings, false eyes, a stop screw, a tail screw, a nape with two screws, a tip with a screw, a dowel screw and a ramrod stop.

Stock rings connect the handguard to the stock. The lower part of the ring is split and the ends are connected by a lock. The rings are springy, which allows you to firmly hold the handguard at various degrees of stock moisture. When fitting the stock rings, they jump with their ribs over the protrusions of the ring springs, which keeps them from jumping off the stock.

Rifle affiliation (Fig. 115) serves for the production of disassembly, assembly, cleaning and lubrication of the rifle. The set of combined accessories consists of a muzzle pad, a ramrod clutch, a screwdriver blade, a wipe and a brush. In addition, the accessory includes a double-necked oiler and a gun sling with two trenchers.

Disassembly and assembly of the rifle

Disassembly of a rifle can be incomplete and complete.

Incomplete disassembly of the rifle is carried out in the following order:

Remove the shutter: with the index finger of the left hand, press the trigger, and with the right hand open and remove the shutter.

Remove the bayonet: put the rifle with the butt on the ground (barrel pad to the left) and, grabbing the muzzle of the barrel with your left hand, press the bayonet latch up to failure with the thumb of the same hand. Then, clasping the bayonet with your right hand and turning it to the left until the base of the front sight coincides with the cutout of the bayonet tube, remove the bayonet up. To separate the bayonet in rifles arr. 1891, holding the rifle with your left hand by the fore-end, turn the bayonet collar towards you with your right hand. Then, squeezing the bayonet tube with the thumb of the left hand, remove the bayonet with light strokes of the palm on the neck of the bayonet.

Remove the ramrod: holding the rifle in your left hand, unscrew it with your right hand and pull the ramrod up.

Remove the cover of the magazine box: press the head of the latch with your finger and open the cover. Then, while squeezing the feed mechanism, remove the cover from the hinge bolt.

Dismantle the shutter:

a) take the bolt in your left hand and, holding the combat larva with your index finger and the handle with your thumbs, pull the trigger with your right hand until the protrusion on the screw section comes out of its socket and, turning left, release it forward; at the same time, the combat platoon should not leave the plug of the connecting bar;

b) take the bolt in the right hand, with the left hand push forward the connecting bar with the combat larva and separate them from the bolt stem;

c) separate the combat larva from the connecting bar;

d) rest the striker head against a wooden lining (in a vertical position) and, pressing the stem handle with your left hand, compress the mainspring, then unscrew the trigger from the striker with your right hand and, gradually releasing the bolt stem, remove the striker with the mainspring;

e) remove the mainspring from the drummer.

Assembling the rifle after incomplete disassembly done in reverse order. To assemble the shutter you need:

a) put the mainspring on the drummer;

b) insert the drummer with the mainspring into the channel of the bolt stem;

c) rest the striker head (in a vertical position) on a wooden lining and pressing the stem handle with your left hand, compress the mainspring, then screw the trigger onto the striker and gradually, releasing the bolt stem, insert the screw cutout of the trigger into the screw cutout of the bolt stem;

d) turn the drummer with a screwdriver cutout until the slot on it aligns with the risk on the trigger button;

e) put the combat larva on the tube of the connecting bar and turn to the right until it fails;

f) insert the drummer into the tube channel of the connecting bar so that the cocking of the trigger enters its fork, and the protrusion of the combat larva into the groove of the crest;

g) check the exit of the striker head: the striker must pass into the deep middle cutout of the screwdriver (number 95) and must not pass into the small cutout (number 75). If the striker exits incorrectly, separate the combat larva and the connecting bar from the bolt stem and adjust the exit of the firing pin with a screwdriver cutout, screwing or unscrewing the latter;

h) pull the trigger and turn it to the right.

Complete disassembly is carried out as follows:

Perform partial disassembly.

Separate the handguard: remove the gun belt trencher from the upper slot; unscrew the stop and tail screws two turns and move the stock rings forward by pressing on their springs.

Separate the barrel from the stock: put the rifle vertically and, holding it with your left hand in a girth, unscrew the stop screw; then, putting the rifle down, grab the receiver and magazine boxes with your left hand and unscrew the tail rotor, then separate the magazine box and, passing the index finger into the receiver channel, separate the barrel from the stock.

Detach the magazine cover latch.

5. Separate and disassemble the trigger mechanism: turn the barrel with the sight down and, supporting the receiver at the cut-off-reflector with your left hand so that the sight does not rest against anything, unscrew the trigger spring screw, push the trigger axis and separate the trigger with the spring from the barrel . Separate the trigger spring from the hook.

6. Separate the cut-off reflector (only command personnel are allowed) - put the bolt stem into the receiver, send it forward and turn to the right, while the cut-off reflector blade comes out of the slot of the receiver, then unscrew the cut-off reflector screw and, pressing with your thumb right hand on the spring part of the cut-off reflector along its groove towards the barrel, while slightly lifting the blade by the cut-off tooth, extend the cut-off reflector. Separate the blade from the spring part and remove the bolt stem from the receiver.

Disassembly and separation of other parts of the rifle can only be done in the gun shop.

The rifle is assembled in the reverse order.

Rifle malfunctions that cause delays in firing, their identification and elimination.

During prolonged combat work, due to the inevitable wear of parts, contamination of mechanisms or inattentive maintenance, malfunctions may occur in the mechanisms of the rifle, causing delays in firing.

Any delay should be attempted to be eliminated by reloading the rifle without applying excessive force.

Typical malfunctions that cause delays are.

1. Self-opening magazine box lid when filled with cartridges.

Sign. When sending cartridges from the clip into the magazine box, its cover opens and the cartridges fall out of the box.

Causes. Magazine cover latch failure: loose screw, worn or chipped tooth.

Remedy. Load without a clip, putting cartridges into the receiver no-one: at the end of the shooting, having established the cause of the delay, eliminate it or send the rifle to the gun shop for correction.

2. Jamming of the next cartridge when sending into the chamber.

sign, The cartridge, when it is sent by the bolt, is wedged by the rim of the sleeve between the cut-off-reflector blade and the right wall of the receiver channel.

Causes. When loading, the cartridge was not brought under the cut-off reflector blade; reflector failure.

Remedy. Correct the position of the next cartridge by hand and send it to the chamber. With frequent repetition of the delay, load without a clip, putting cartridges into the receiver one at a time; at the end of the shooting, send the rifle to the armory for correction.

3. The cartridge is tightly locked in the chamber.
Sign. It takes a lot of effort to close the shutter.
Causes. Cartridge failure; the cartridge is dented or the primer protrudes; chamber contamination.

Remedy. Remove the defective cartridge; if the cartridge remains in the chamber when the bolt is opened, push it out through the muzzle with the head of the ramrod or a wiping cloth with a wound rag put on the ramrod; wipe and lubricate the chamber:

4. Mistake.

Sign. When the trigger is released, the primer does not break.

Causes. Capsule failure; insufficient output of the firing pin or its breakage; weakened, bent or broken mainspring; grease has thickened in the channel of the shutter stem.

Remedy. Reload the rifle and continue shooting; with frequent repetition of the delay, remove the shutter, check the condition and exit of the striker and, if necessary, correct its position; in case of contamination or thickening of the lubricant, disassemble the bolt, wipe dry and lightly lubricate with winter gun grease; in case of breakage and malfunction of the drummer or mainspring, send the rifle to the gun shop.

5. The cartridge case is not ejected after firing.
Sign. When opening the shutter, the ejector hook does not remove the sleeve from the chamber.

Causes. Ejector malfunction: the hook is worn out or dirt has accumulated under the ejector (soot, thickened grease, etc.).

Remedy. Remove the shutter and check the condition of the ejector; if the ejector is in good condition, try to eject the cartridge case by vigorously opening the bolt; if it is not possible, push the sleeve through the muzzle with the head of the ramrod or a wipe put on the ramrod and wrapped in a rag, freeing the chamber from the sleeve, wipe and lubricate it; if the ejector malfunctions, send the rifle to the gun shop.

6. The sleeve or cartridge is not reflected when unloaded.

Sign. When the shutter is opened, the protrusion of the cut-off reflector does not reflect the sleeve (cartridge).

Causes. Curvature of the spring part of the cut-off reflector. Contamination of the slot for the cut-off reflector.

Remedy. Throw out the sleeve by hand (remove the cartridge) and clean the slot for the cut-off reflector; in the event of a malfunction of the cut-off reflector, send the rifle to the gun shop.

7. The shutter pops out of the receiver when it is pulled back.

Sign. The shutter is not delayed by the shutter delay.

Causes. Weakening of the trigger spring screw, wear of the slide delay or the front wall of the connecting plate groove.

Remedy. After removing the shutter, check the condition of the shutter delay; if it is in good condition, disassemble the rifle and tighten the trigger spring screw to failure; in the event of a malfunction of the shutter delay, send the rifle to the gun shop.

SNIPER RIFLE ARR. 1891/1930

Sniper rifle mod. 1891/1930 (Fig. 116) is a sniper's individual firearm.

The main feature of a sniper rifle is an optical sight mounted on it using a special bracket.

The sniper rifle is different from the ordinary mod. 1891/1930 the following design features: 1) the bolt handle is bent down for ease of loading; 2) there is no bayonet; 3) front sight height by 1 mm more, which is caused by removing the bayonet and zeroing the rifle in the factory, before installing an optical sight, with open sight; 4) the trigger spring is thinned in the middle part by 0.2 mm, so that the force on the trigger when lowering the drummer from the cocking was from 2 to 2.4 kg; 5) for rifles with a faceted front part of the receiver (sample 1891), there are longitudinal cutouts on both sides in the forearm of the stock for mounting the base of the bracket.

The basic data of a sniper rifle (without a bayonet) is the same as that of a private rifle, but the accuracy of combat has been improved by selecting them from among the best privates or special production with improved straightness, barrel surface quality and reduced tolerances.

The stability of the battle of sniper rifles is higher, which is achieved by more careful fitting of the stock to the barrel with the receiver and the manufacture of the stock mainly from walnut.

It is impossible to load sniper rifles from a clip, since the optical sight is located above the slot for the clip in the receiver, and therefore loading is done at a time.

The sniper rifle allows you to shoot with a telescopic sight from 100 to 1400 m and with an open sight (without removing the optical one) from 100 to 600 m.

Bracket device

The bracket serves to mount the optical sight on the rifle and consists of the base of the bracket and the actual bracket.

The base of the bracket (Fig. 121) is attached to the front of the receiver with six screws. A bracket consisting of lower and upper parts is pushed onto the longitudinal upper ledge of the base.

The lower part of the bracket (Fig. 122) has two racks with recesses for laying an optical sight, lugs for attaching half-ring screws and a longitudinal groove for placing a wedge. The wedge serves to press, with the help of clamping screws, the inclined edge of the groove of the lower part of the bracket to the inclined edge of the protrusion of the bracket base. In the racks of the bracket there are windows for firing with an open sight.

The upper part of the bracket consists of two half-rings with lugs and holes for screws, with which the optical sight is fixed in the bracket.

Due to the fact that an optical sight with a bracket is fitted to each individual rifle, the rifle number is applied on the base of the bracket and on its lower part on the right side.

RIFLE ORR. 1891

7.62 mm. rifle arr. 1891, adopted by the Russian army in 1891, was designed by Captain Mosin together with other members of the commission formed for this.

Rifle arr. 1891 was put into service in the form of two models: infantry and dragoon.

The main data of the infantry rifle mod. 1891 the following:

• Rifle weight with empty magazine and bayonet 4.55 kg.

• Overall length with bayonet 173.42 cm.

• Length without bayonet 130.4 cm.

The rest of the data is the same with the rifle mod. 1891/1930

Dragoon rifle data mod. 1891 are not significantly different from the basic data of the modernized rifle mod. 1891/1930

In 1910 and 1930 in a rifle mod. 1891, changes were introduced to improve the combat and technical properties of the rifle, after which the modernized rifle mod. 1891/1930

The main design differences between the parts of the rifle arr. 1891 from the details of the rifle arr. 1891/1930

Trunk rifles arr. 1891 does not have a hole for the locking screw on the trapezoidal ledge for the aiming block.

Receiver in a rifle mod. 1891 in the upper part has three edges, while in the rifle arr. 1891/1930 this part is made oval for production reasons.

Aim rifles arr. 1891 frame type (Fig. 123). It consists of an aiming block /, which with its groove moves onto a trapezoidal protrusion on the barrel and is soldered with tin, an aiming frame 2, an aiming clamp 3, two latches 4, two latch caps, aiming frame axis 5, aiming frame spring 6 and its screw 7.

The aiming block has two racks with five cut out steps. On the side of the left pillar against each step there are numbers 4, 6, 8 , 10 And 12, corresponding to the divisions of the sight (in hundreds of steps).

A sighting frame spring is placed between the posts, and the aiming frame itself is fixed on the ears on axis 5.

The aiming frame has some curvature, which was done for a more uniform arrangement of the divisions of the sight due to the increase in the aiming range from 2700 to 3200 steps, introduced in 1910 along with the use of a pointed bullet instead of a blunt one. The aiming frame has two longitudinal ridges with serifs for clamp latches and a mane with a slot for aiming at the back. On the underside of the frame there are numbers from 13 to 32 (even on the left, odd on the right) with intermediate short risks for setting the sight every 50 steps.

Due to the fact that the barrel of the dragoon rifle is slightly shorter than the barrel of the infantry rifle, the scope scale of the dragoon rifles is somewhat different.

For the external difference between the sighting frames of infantry rifles from dragoon rifles, the letter TO. The aiming collar moves along the longitudinal grooves along the aiming frame and is locked in the desired position by latches. It has a window in the middle with a slot for aiming and observing the battlefield.

The collar of an infantry rifle does not have a cutout on the ledge to limit the movement of the collar downwards when the frame is set vertically, since the divisions of the sight in an infantry rifle are applied higher than in a dragoon one.

front sight triangular shape.

Cut-off reflector (Fig. 124) in a rifle arr. 1891 is a detail of a rather complex shape and difficult to manufacture.

Magazine case rifles arr. 1891 differs from the rifle box mod. 1891/1930, mainly by the method of manufacture: the square is one-piece, while the rifles mod. 1891/1930 it consists of four parts, in addition, the main parts of the magazine box were not welded, but riveted with five rivets. Feeder; two parts differ slightly - the lever and the feeder spring. To limit the lifting of the feeder up, the feeder lever of the rifle arr. 1891 has two protrusions on the sides of the head, with which it rests against the corresponding protrusions of the magazine box cover, and in rifles mod. 1891/1930 the lever on the head has a spout that rests against the lid of the magazine box.

Rifle feeder spring arr. 1891 does not have a protrusion connecting it to the lever.

Lodge infantry rifle mod. 1891 (Fig. 125) differs from the dragoon and rifle mod. 1891/1930 by the fact that it is longer and its singer is thicker. Ahead on the forearm, a ledge is formed to stop the upper stock ring.

barrel pad infantry rifle mod. 1891 has tips with protrusions included in the cutouts of the stock rings. In a dragoon rifle, a brass plate with a cutout is riveted to the back of the barrel pad, with which it wraps around the front of the aiming block.

stock rings infantry rifle mod. 1891 (Fig. 126) sliding, tightened with screws.

There are no springs on the false rings. To set the false rings, it is necessary to put on the previously divorced lower ring and then apply the handguard so that its protrusions enter the cutouts of the false rings; put on the top ring; tighten the rings with screws until they stop wobbling, while the rings should not slide over the heads of the stock studs.

The stock rings of a dragoon rifle look like deaf oval rings. Their significant disadvantage is that they cannot be bred and reduced when the stock swells or dries out and thus either will not reach the cutouts of the stock springs or will be free.

Rifle bayonet arr. 1891 differs in the way of fastening on the trunk; it is reinforced not with a latch, but with a collar (Fig. 127, a). The first samples of the modernized rifle mod. 1891/1930 had bayonets with namushniks attached to a bayonet tube (Fig. 127, b).

Shompolny emphasis in a rifle mod. 1891 does not have a guide rod.

Ramrod rifles arr. 1891 had a head that did not fit into the bore.

7.62 mm (3-line) rifle model 1891

Repeating rifle adopted by the Russian Imperial Army in 1891.

It was actively exploited from 1891 until the end of World War II, during this period it was repeatedly modernized.

The name of the three-ruler comes from the caliber of the rifle barrel, which is equal to three Russian lines (an old measure of length equal to one tenth of an inch, or 2.54 mm - respectively, three lines are equal to 7.62 mm).

Based on a rifle mod. 1891 and its modifications, a number of samples of sports and hunting weapons, both rifled and smoothbore, were created.

Creation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"... the pack guns of the foreigner Nagant, compared with the same cap. Mosin, are a mechanism more difficult to manufacture ... and the cost of each copy of the gun will undoubtedly increase."

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

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

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

The changes borrowed from the Nagant rifle (the shape of the clip for loading, the attachment of the feed spring to the magazine cover, the shape of the cut-off reflector) somewhat increased the convenience of handling the rifle, but even if they were removed, they did not deprive it of its functionality. For example, if you completely abandon clip-on loading, the magazine can be equipped with one cartridge at a time. If the feed spring is removed from the magazine cover, cartridges will still be fed, although there is an increased risk of losing the spring when cleaning. Thus, the role of these changes is secondary in relation to the purpose and functioning of the weapon and does not give grounds for refusing to recognize Mosin as the author or put the name of Nagan in the name of the sample, without mentioning the authors of other additions no less important than those borrowed from his system. .

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

"The new model being produced contains parts proposed by Colonel Rogovtsev, the commission of Lieutenant General Chagin, Captain Mosin and the gunsmith Nagan, so it is advisable to give the developed model a name: Russian 3-linear rifle of the 1891 model of the year."

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

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

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

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

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

"The 7.62-mm rifle model 1891, adopted by the Russian army in 1891, was designed by Captain Mosin together with other members of the commission formed for this."

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

Design and principle of operation

Barrel and receiver

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

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

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

Magazine box and cut-off reflector

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

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

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

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

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

Trigger mechanism

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

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

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

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

Lodge, handguard

The stock connects the parts of the weapon, it consists of the forearm, neck and butt. The stock of the Mosin rifle is one-piece, made of birch or walnut wood. The neck of the stock is straight, more durable and suitable for bayonet fighting, although less convenient for shooting than the semi-pistol necks of the stocks of many later models. Since 1894, a separate detail has been introduced - a handguard that covers the barrel from above, protecting it from damage, and the shooter's hands from being burned. The butt of the dragoon modification is somewhat narrower, and the forend is thinner than the infantry.

The stock and handguard are attached to the mechanisms of the weapon with two screws and two stock rings with ring springs. The stock rings are split on the bulk of the rifles and deaf on the Dragoon mod. 1891.

Sights

Consisted of a sight and a front sight.

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

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

The fly is placed on the trunk near the muzzle. At arr. 1891/30 received a ring namushnik.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rifle affiliation

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

Operating principle

To load a rifle you need:

1. Turn the bolt handle to the left;
2. Take the shutter back to failure;
3. Insert the clip into the grooves of the receiver; drown the cartridges and throw away the clip;
4. Send the shutter forward;
5. Turn the bolt handle to the right.
After that, the rifle is immediately ready to fire a shot, for which the shooter only needs to pull the trigger. To fire the next shot, repeat steps 1, 2, 4 and 5. Four cartridges from the clip are fed into the magazine, and the top one remains in the receiver, separated from the rest by a cut-off blade, and when the bolt is closed, it is sent to the chamber.

Incomplete disassembly of the rifle

1. Remove the shutter, for which, while holding the trigger pressed, turn the handle up to the left and pull back to the end.
2. Remove the bayonet.
3. Unscrew and remove the cleaning rod.
4. Separate the lid of the magazine box.
5. Disassemble the shutter.

Operating countries

Russian empire
-Kingdom of Montenegro - on May 24, 1898, 30 thousand rifles and 12 million cartridges were delivered to Montenegro, on July 20, 1909, another 10 thousand rifles and 17.5 million cartridges were delivered on the Petersburg ship; by the beginning of the First World War, rifles were in service with the army
-Ethiopia - in 1912, several thousand rifles were purchased for the army
-Bulgaria - after the creation of the Balkan Union in the spring of 1912, during 1912, 50,000 rifles were delivered to the Bulgarian army; as of October 14, 1915, by the time Bulgaria entered the First World War, there were 46,056 rifles in service; these and captured rifles were used during the First World War; after September 9, 1944 were supplied from the USSR
-Mongolia - 10,000 rifles delivered in 1913
-Kingdom of Serbia - in 1914 an agreement was signed on the supply of 120 thousand rifles and 120 million rounds of ammunition, the first batch of 50 thousand rifles arrived in August 1914, before the start of World War I, and in total until August 16, 1914, the Serbian army received 113 thousand rifles and 93 million cartridges

Austria-Hungary - captured rifles were used during World War I, 45,000 pcs. were converted to a regular 8-mm rifle cartridge, the rest were used in front-line units along with captured cartridges
-German Empire - captured rifles, due to the lack of domestic rifles in German army, used during the First World War, were adopted by the German Navy
-USA - rifles of the "Russian order", not delivered to Russia until the end of the civil war under the name U.S. Rifle, 7.62 mm, Model of 1916 were used as training weapons in the army, including student training centers(SATC) and officer reserve training centers (ROTC), were in service with individual units of the US National Guard.
-USSR - in service from the moment the Red Army was created until the end of the Great Patriotic War; after the war, a huge number of rifles were transferred to DOSAAF, they were used for shooting training and in basic military training.

Estonia - after the declaration of independence in 1918, the rifles of the Russian army were used to arm the Estonian army, border police and other Estonian paramilitary formations. After the end of the War of Independence, a certain amount was transferred to the Defense League. The rifles remained in service until Estonia joined the USSR in July 1940 (later, they were transferred to service with units of the 22 Corps of the Red Army).
-Poland - was in service in the 1920s, in the 1920s-1930s modifications were made wz. 91/98/23 wz. 91/98/25 and wz. 91/98/26 for 7.92x57 mm ammunition, in 1941-1942. were in service with the "Army of Anders"
-Finland - rifles were in service with the Finnish army from the beginning of its creation, in the 1920s there were deliveries from Germany; were in service at least until the end of World War II, modernized versions of the M / 24, M / 27, M / 28, M / 28-30, M / 39 were produced
-Mongolian People's Republic
-Second Spanish Republic
-China - used during the civil war in China, the carbine model 1944 was produced under the name "type 53"
-Third Reich - captured rifles entered service with auxiliary and security police units. Rifles mod. 1891 entered service under the name Gewehr 252 (r), and rifles mod. 1891/30 - under the name Gewehr 254(r); from the autumn of 1944, rifles entered service with the Volkssturm detachments

Czechoslovakia - in service with the 1st Czechoslovak army corps, and then other units of the army of Czechoslovakia
- Poland - since 1943, in service with the 1st Polish Infantry Division, and then other units of the Polish Army; in addition, after the end of the war, the carbine model 1944 was produced in small batches at an arms factory in the city of Radom under the name wz. 44
- Yugoslavia - in 1944 were supplied to NOAU
-Hungarian People's Republic - the rifle was in service under the name 48 M. puska; in addition, the carbine model 1944 was produced in small batches in 1952-1955. at the Budapest Arsenal
-GDR
-Vietnam

North Korea
-Belarus - the rifle was decommissioned in December 2005
-Kazakhstan - rifles and carbines arr. 38/44, they are in service with departmental security, as well as certain categories of workers in the system of the production association of hunting, fishing and zoological enterprises (PA "Okhotzooprom") of the state concern "Kazmestprom"
- Russia - carbines are in service with departmental security, paramilitary and guard units of private security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and Federal State Unitary Enterprise Okhrana of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation
-Ukraine - as of August 15, 2011, the Ministry of Defense had 180,000 rifles mod. 1891/30 and 2500 carbines mod. 1944; carbines are in service with the state security service

As of early 2011, a large number of rifles (mostly delivered in the period after the end of World War II) were used by armed paramilitaries in Africa.

Modifications

Civil variants

In the USSR, conversion carbines KO-8.2 (based on the Mosin rifle), KO-38 (based on the carbine model 1938) and KO-44 (based on the carbine model 1944) were produced.

In Russia, the Tula Arms Plant continued to produce conversion carbines model 1944 KO-44 and KO-44-1, and the production of conversion versions of the rifle model 1944 was also launched. 1891/30 - KO-91/30 (Vyatsko-Polyansky Machine-Building Plant "Molot") and MP-143 (Izhevsk Mechanical Plant). Conversion rifle options arr. 1891/30 practically do not differ from the original army rifle - all the differences come down to the trace-forming pin installed in the barrel to meet forensic requirements and the forensic mark in the chamber, as well as the absence of a bayonet.

In addition, in 2005, the production of the VPO-103 conversion carbine chambered for 9x53 mm R was launched.

In recent decades, Mosin rifles sold from the warehouses of the armed forces, due to the ratio of price and performance, have gained great popularity in the civilian arms market in many countries of the world, including Russia and the United States.

In 2012, the Mosin rifle ranked first in sales among all types of small arms allowed for sale to the US population, according to Bud’s Gun Shop, the largest American online weapons store. In the list of top 20 sellers, the 1891/30 rifle is the third oldest rifle in the world. Only two types of the "police" model of the Smith-Wesson revolver have a greater age of adoption (11 and 19 lines in the list of popularity). The cost of rifles and carbines of the 1891/30 model is about $100. Delivery from the former mobilization stocks of the USSR. The set includes a bayonet, belt, cartridge belt and accessories.

Sports modifications

After the war in the USSR, based on the design of the shutter and the receiver of the "three-ruler", several variants of sporting rifles for target shooting were created:

Created in 1959, designer A. S. Shesterikov.

It was mass-produced from 1961 to 1970, in total 1700 pieces were assembled. In 1963, the rifle was awarded a gold medal at the international exhibition in Leipzig.

It was produced from 1964 to 1970, created due to the fact that since 1963 biathletes switched to the use of 6.5 mm cartridges.

- AB Target Rifle (Army Rifle)

It had a weighted barrel of especially precise processing with a length of 720 mm, a more convenient bolt handle bent downwards, a diopter sight and a mount for an optical one, and a more comfortable stock. AB had an accuracy of battle of the order of 3x2 cm at a distance of 100 m with a target cartridge (according to specifications; in reality, the accuracy of the battle of many samples was much better, modern shootings show an accuracy of about 0.5 MOA with the Extra cartridge from 5 shots from bipods at 200 m), which in theory made it possible to use it as a "police" sniper rifle. After the removal of the relevant discipline from the program of the Olympic Games in the late 1970s, the few copies of the AB rifle were mostly disposed of, although at least one surviving sample is known, although it was significantly altered. In September 1999, an SBU sniper pair competed in sniper competitions with a modified AB rifle. At least one sample of the AB rifle is in the weapons store of the ROSTO SDYUSTSH, Ulyanovsk.

A sports modification of a rifle with a match barrel, created and continues to be produced since 2003 in a piece version by the Vyatka-Polyansky plant "Molot"

performance characteristics

Weight, kg: 4.5
-Length, mm: with bayonet / without bayonet: 1738 / 1306 (infantry), 1500 / 1232 (dragoon and model 1891/30), - / 1020 (carbine)
- Barrel length, mm: 800 (infantry), 729 (dragoon and model 1891/30), 510 (carbine)
- Cartridge: 7.62x54 mm R
- Caliber, mm: 7.62
- Working principles: rolling shutter
-Rate of fire, shots / min: 10
- Muzzle velocity, m/s: 865-870
-Sighting range, m: 2000 m
- Type of ammunition supply: integral magazine for five rounds, equipped with clips
-Sight: open or optical

The legendary "three-ruler", the famous "Mosinka" faithfully served the Russian soldier for over 50 years. And the Mosin carbine created on its basis served as the progenitor of hunting weapons, which are still used today! What characteristics, advantages and disadvantages does the Mosin hunting carbine have and in what modifications is it produced?

A bit of history

At the end of the 19th century, the Russian imperial army faced the problem of a serious technical lag in terms of small arms. The 7.62-mm Mosin rifle of the 1891 model of the year was called to correct the situation, which became long years the main weapon of rifle units and subunits. In 1910, the rifle underwent the first major upgrade for a new cartridge with a pointed bullet. Another major restyling was made in 1930, after which the rifle received its final name: the Mosin rifle of the 1891/1930 model.

Issued at different times various modifications. The most famous and common are the following options:

• shortened Mosin cavalry rifle;
• infantry rifle;
• Cossack carbine.

As for the carbines, the first of them saw the light in 1907. It was shorter than a rifle, but the firing range was only 1,000 meters, as opposed to 2,000 "rifle" meters. In 1938, the Mosin carbine was seriously upgraded. In essence it was new sample weapons that were equipped with artillery units, auxiliary units and military personnel who were forced to carry out operations in confined spaces.

It is curious that the Mosin carbine of the 1944 model of the year became a kind of "gravedigger" of the three-ruler. The fact is that simultaneously with the adoption of the carbine by the Soviet army, the production of the rifle was discontinued. However, it was this option that served as the prototype for the hunting version of this weapon.

Design and principle of operation

The carbine based on the Mosin rifle is a rifle caliber 7.62 mm. The magazine holds 5 cartridges, which are manually reloaded using the cut-off function of the lower cartridges. The barrel is locked and reloaded thanks to a sliding rotary bolt with two stops. The shutter is equipped with a cylindrical mainspring and a simple drummer.

The so-called Mosin cavalry carbine, like most modifications of the "three-ruler", did not have a fuse, the role of which was played by the drummer. In addition, one of the distinguishing features of the carbine model 1944 is the presence of a fixed side-folding bayonet.

Shooting and reloading take place in several cycles. The main component of both a rifle and a carbine is the action. He sends the cartridge into the chamber, locks the bore during the shot, removes the cartridge case or cartridge that misfired. In order to fire a shot, it is necessary to insert a cartridge, and by moving the bolt forward, send it. Having fired, it is necessary to turn the bolt handle up and pull it towards you to eject the cartridge case. After that, the shutter must be returned to its original position by moving forward and down. Assembly and disassembly of the Mosin rifle is not particularly difficult.

Advantages and disadvantages

Mosin carbines of various modifications are quite popular among modern hunters.

Among the advantages of this family of hunting weapons, the following should be noted:

• high accuracy;
• sufficient accuracy inherent in rifled weapons;
• unpretentiousness in operation and maintenance;
• reliability.

True, it was not without drawbacks. The main bottlenecks of Mosin hunting carbines are:

• difficulties with the selection of the sight, which will be discussed below;
• relatively low resource of a rifled barrel;
• insufficiently comfortable regular bed;
• the almost complete absence of ammunition suitable for use in hunting.

However, these problems can be solved. So, as ammunition, in addition to regular ones, you can use an army cartridge for the Mosin rifle or corrective (for caliber 7.62 mm). With a certain skill to the carbine, you can pick up and fit the appropriate optical sight.

Comparison of the characteristics of a rifle and a carbine

Carabiners and Mosin's three-ruler: the technical characteristics inherent in a rifle and a carbine can be clearly seen in the following comparison:

Mosin rifle, characteristics:

• caliber: 7.62 mm;
• weight: 4.27 kg;
• length: 1230 mm;
• muzzle velocity: 865 m/s;
• effective range: 1300-2000 m.

Mosin carbine, specifications (sample 1944):

• caliber: 7.62 mm;
• weight (with bayonet): 4.00 kg;
• length (with bayonet): 1330 mm;
• muzzle velocity: 765 m/s;
• sighting range 1000-1300 m.

As you can see, despite the fact that the carbine has become, as it were, a logical continuation of the evolutionary chain of development of the Mosin rifle, the characteristics of the two representatives of this family differ quite noticeably in some parameters.

Overview of hunting modifications of carbines

If we talk purely about civilian (hunting) modifications of the Mosin carbine, then the most notable of them are the following.

Hunting carbine "Moose" (KO-8,2)

This is also a Mosin rifle, the caliber of which, however, is not the traditional 7.62 mm, but 8.20 mm. The carbine is designed to work on large and medium-sized animals. It is characterized by a fairly high muzzle velocity and relatively low weight. It is produced in several modifications, which differ in the rifling pitch, the shape of the stock, the presence of a sector sight and some other nuances.

The most important performance characteristics of this model:

• length: 1010 mm;
• weight: 3 kg;
• initial shot speed: 440 m/s;
• magazine capacity: 5 rounds.

Hunting carbine "Moose 7-1"

Weapons of a more familiar caliber 7.62 designed for animal hunting. Designed for various brands of imported cartridges, which are placed in a removable magazine. It can work with both optical and conventional diopters.

Other performance characteristics of this model:

• weight (without optics and ammunition): 3.5 kg;
• muzzle velocity: 830 m/s;
• effective range: 100…300 m;
• magazine capacity: 5 rounds 7.62x51 mm.

Hunting rifle KO-91/30

The Mosin shotgun is a civilian (hunting) modification of the 1944 model carbine. Designed for hunting large and medium game. The main distinguishing feature is the presence of a fuse. Designed for the 7.62x54 R cartridge. It can be used with both conventional and optical sights.

It has the following main characteristics:

• length: 1232 mm;
• weight (without ammunition and sight): 4.0 kg;
• muzzle velocity: 800 m/s;
• sighting range: up to 300 meters;
• magazine capacity: 5 rounds.

There are Mosin rifles and carbines of some other modifications, today already discontinued or not fully related to hunting weapons. An example is the pneumatic version of the carbine, produced in the cutoff form factor. Such weapons are used for self-defense, sports shooting (ammunition in the form of balls), and can also be used for hunting game and small animals (shot).

sights

The Mosin rifle with a telescopic sight has become a real classic of the Great Patriotic War. Regular optical sights for the Mosin rifle were designated PU or PE. They had a 3.5-fold increase and provided fairly acceptable accuracy and accuracy of the battle. However, due to design features, the use of optical sights excluded the possibility of batch loading. In addition to the fact that there was a special sniper version, the optical sight on the Mosin rifle was often installed on conventional weapon modifications. True, this was due to tangible inconveniences associated with fitting the bracket, zeroing in a rifle or carbine, and balancing weapons.

These same problems have remained almost unchanged to this day. Although there is an option hunting rifle KO-91/30 with a regular sight of the same name. But the use of conventional military-style or imported sniper optics is associated with great difficulties, first of all, with the installation of the sight, since not every of them is purely structurally suitable for those fasteners that hunting models are equipped with.

Nevertheless, despite some shortcomings and minor disadvantages, Mosin carbines quite regularly serve as a hunting weapon. Good ballistic performance, accuracy and accuracy, the use of various types of cartridges, reliability and unpretentiousness made this gun and its various modifications a worthy choice for a serious hunter!

Video

We provide for viewing a documentary video about the legendary weapon of the Second World War - the Mosin rifle.

The Mosin rifle, also known as the famous "three-ruler", was the main weapon of the 1917 revolution, as well as the Great Patriotic War. It is the Mosin rifle of the 1891 model that is rightfully considered one of the most famous examples of Russian weapons. The royal "three-ruler" took part in the Russian-Japanese, and then in the First World War.

The Russian "three-ruler", created at the end of the 19th century, remained an effective and reliable weapon for a soldier for many decades. She became one of the first domestic designs adopted by the army. Today, Mosin rifles can often be seen in museums and private collections. There are not only Russian modifications of the rifle, but also made abroad. The design and technical characteristics have changed a little, but the principle of the weapon has remained the same.

The Mosin rifle was developed during the rise of technology and science, when the advent of smokeless powder made it possible to switch to reduced calibers. And thanks to the development of weapons technology, it became possible to create a replacement for a single-shot system - a store-fed system. Naturally, Russia also participated in the arms development process.

As a result, two systems of magazine-type rifles were presented to the choice of the Russian army - the Belgian Leon Nagant, as well as the domestic captain S.I. Mosin. Tests have shown that the Belgian rifle as a whole was better than the Russian one. But top management took into account that:

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

The generals eventually made a compromise: in 1891, the Mosin rifle was adopted by the Russian army, but a 5-round Nagant magazine was installed on it. Together with the rifle, a new three-line cartridge (7.62 mm) was also adopted. The rifle received the designation "three-line", and the soldiers nicknamed the weapon as "three-line". Name trilinear comes from the caliber of a rifle barrel, which is equal to three lines (an obsolete measure of length equal to one tenth of an inch or 2.54 mm)

This weapon received the name Mosin again only in Soviet times after the modernization of 1930. Russian three-line rifle abroad has always been called "Mosin-Nagan".

Inventor of the "three-ruler"

The history of the creation of the "three-ruler" was not easy. Several designers took part in the creation of the best repeating rifle in the world, but Sergey Ivanovich Mosin made the most significant contribution. History was unfair to him, and his rifle during his lifetime did not bear the name of the developer, which greatly upset the designer.

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

Mosin carbine cartridges

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

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

The rimmed sleeve mechanism, which was already obsolete, was adopted due to the low level of industrial development in Russia - the applied tolerances in this case are less strict.

The adoption of the Mosin rifle into service

Weapon model 1891 (caliber 7.62)wasacceptedinto service in three versions (in fact, they were distinguished only by the length of the barrel):

1. Infantry rifle - the longest bayonet and barrel.

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

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

The bayonet for the rifle was adopted by a slightly outdated sample by that time - a four-sided needle, with a tubular sleeve attached to the barrel. The bayonet had a square section with small valleys on the sides; when disassembling the weapon, the tip, sharpened to a plane, could be used as a screwdriver.

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

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

Only in 1893-94 did the rifle go into serial production at the Sestroretsk Arms Plant near St. Petersburg, and a little later in Izhevsk and Tula. During the First World War, rifles had to be ordered from the United States to make up for front-line losses.

Technical characteristics of the Mosin rifle

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

Specifications:

• Caliber - 7.62 mm
• Total weight without cartridges with a bayonet - 4.5 kg
• Total length without bayonet is 114 cm
• Total length with bayonet is 166 cm
• The shape of the rifling is rectangular
• Number of grooves - 4
• Magazine capacity - 5 rounds
• Clip weight with cartridges - 122-132 g.

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

Device

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

1. The barrel is locked on two lugs with a longitudinally sliding rotary bolt behind the receiver. The stops are located in front of the shutter, they are located in the locked state in a horizontal plane.
2. The cocking of the drummer, as well as putting it on a combat platoon, is performed when the shutter is opened.
3. The shutter mechanism is simple in design. The reload handle is located in the middle of the bolt.
4. Instead of a fuse, a trigger head (drummer) is used, located behind the bolt.
5. The bolt can be easily removed from the receiver without the aid of a tool.
6. Shop box-shaped, with a single-row arrangement of cartridges, integral. Due to the fact that the lower magazine cover is hinged, magazine cleaning and quick unloading are simplified. Store equipment - one cartridge with the shutter open through the upper window of the receiver or from lamellar clips for 5 rounds.
7. Due to the peculiarities of the store, the design has a special detail - a cut-off, which blocks the second and lower cartridges in the store when the upper one is fed into the barrel.
8. The mechanism involves turning off the cutoff, if the shutter is completely closed, this makes it possible for the next cartridge to rise to the supply line.

Dismantling the rifle due to its manufacturability was not difficult.

The sniper rifle was adopted by the Red Army in 1931. It was only allowed to shoot the best fighters who have undergone special training.

The Mosin sniper rifle is perfect for point shots at distant single targets. The accuracy of shooting with an optical sight was ensured at a distance of 100-1300 meters. However, because of the optical sight, it was impossible to make a rifle design for loading a clip - you had to insert one cartridge at a time.

The review was acceptable, the sight gave 3.5x magnification. Accuracy was provided with the help of an aiming stump, as well as an aiming thread perpendicular to it.

The shutter handle was upgraded, which was lengthened and bent down so that when reloading, the shutter handle did not rest against the sight. For this reason, the rifle was loaded only with single cartridges, since it was no longer possible to insert a clip into the grooves. Also, the rifle has mounts for optical sights. The trigger sensitivity was reduced from 2.4 to 2 kg. The sniper rifle did not provide for the use of a bayonet. Its trunk narrowed in the output cut by 2-3% (the so-called "choke"). The bullet in such a barrel was better centered and there was not a flight, but a “spitting out” of the bullet.

Technical characteristics of the rifle:

• caliber 7.62 mm;
• weight 4.27 kg;
• muzzle velocity 865 m/s;
• length 1230 mm;
• magazine capacity 5 rounds;
• sighting range 1300-2000 m;
• rate of fire 10 rounds per minute;
• manual loading type.

Sight characteristics:

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

Advantages and disadvantages of a rifle

For decades, the Mosin rifle was praised by Soviet propaganda as the best weapon, surpassing other examples of its class. But it must be admitted that she was not perfect in every way.

Advantages of the rifle:

1. cheap and easy to manufacture, maintain;
2. available to poorly trained and semi-literate soldiers;
3. strong and reliable;
4. had good ballistic qualities for its time.

Rifle cons:

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

In general, the Mosin rifle is a typical example of the Russian weapons idea, when ergonomics and ease of use were sacrificed for ease of development and production, reliability and low cost.

Video about the Mosin rifle

Shooting from a Mosin sniper rifle

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