Tskib sporting and hunting weapons branch of JSC KBP. History of tskib soo: from simple weapons to highly sophisticated weapons
On the initiative of the People's Commissar of Armaments D.F. Ustinov, from February 18 to 19, 1946, a representative meeting was held in Moscow, at the People's Commissariat of Armaments, which for many years determined the main directions in the design and production of hunting and sporting weapons in the USSR. One of the results was a list of weapons recommended for mass production, including some foreign models that were proposed to be copied at first.
In addition to the decisions of the meeting, on March 4, 1946, order No. 96 was issued, according to which it was ordered to create a Central Design and Research Bureau with a testing station (TsKIB) at the Tula Arms Plant with the goal of: “...strengthening work on the design of new models of hunting and sports weapons, consolidation of design work carried out at factories, and systematization of research work in this area." Pyotr Arkadyevich Bogoslovsky (1905-1995) was appointed acting head of the TsKIB.
In 1946, the People's Commissariat of Armaments was transformed into the Ministry of Armaments. By order of the Minister of Armaments D.F. Ustinov dated August 8, 1946 No. 186, the regulations on the TsKIB were approved. In accordance with this provision, TsKIB becomes the leading design and research bureau for all factories of the Ministry of Armament producing hunting and sporting weapons, “the custodian of approved samples, drawings and technical specifications.” 32 specialists were sent to TsKIB from TOZ. On May 23, 1947, Ivan Mikhailovich Mikhalev (1909-1988) was appointed head of TsKIB, who led the enterprise until December 1978.
In 1948, the “MC” brand of sporting and hunting weapons appeared (“MC” stands for “Model TsKIB”). For the manufacture of receivers, TsKIB used different types of steel: from 20 to 50A. The higher the grade of steel, the stronger it is, but the less beautiful the color range is obtained in the process of color hardening.
In the first half of 1950, the merger of SHOM and TsKIB took place. As a result, the TsKIB training and production workshop appeared. Nikolai Mikhailovich Panteleev became his boss. The head of the educational department is Boris Ivanovich Boldenkov. In 1951, Ivan Mikhailovich Mikhalev and Mikhail Ivanovich Skvortsov, with the participation of Vladimir Alekseevich Pogozhev, developed the MTs-11 shotgun, presented in 1952 at the 20th Moscow exhibition of hunting and hunting dog breeding. It differed from the TS-2 by a longer “cushion”. Assistant to US President J. Kennedy Roger Barlo wrote: “Skilled Tula craftsmen have been making the richest weapons for luxury-loving Russian tsars for hundreds of years. However, it was surprising to me to learn that the tradition of amazing craftsmanship survived the socialist period. I consider the acquisition of this gun (MTs11-02), prestigious for any aristocrat, a very good purchase, and the gun itself is a magnificent example of traditional gunsmithing, made by some of the best gunsmiths left in the world today.” The MTs-11 shotgun was at the level of the world's best examples of weapons art.
Until 1958, TsKIB and TOZ were one. The production tasks of TsKIB were solved by workshop No. 22, an experimental TOZ workshop, which in the early 50s was transferred to TsKIB. Barrel blanks were made by workshop No. 14. The assembly of barrel blocks was carried out by workshop No. 18. TsKIB acquired its own barrel section in the late 50s. This is probably why the TOZ mark is found on the upper part of the barrels of the TS-2 and MTs-11 shotguns.
In 1958, the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, by Resolution No. 1403 of December 23, separated TsKIB from the Tula Arms Plant into an independent enterprise and subordinated it to the Tula Economic Council.
In 1959, by Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 1423 of December 31, TsKIB was reassigned to the State Committee for Defense Equipment. On April 28, 1960, by Order No. 171 of the State Committee for Defense Equipment, TsKIB SOO was entrusted with the development of military small arms. This topic was transferred from TsKB-14 (since 1962 - Instrument Design Bureau, KBP) along with personnel and equipment.
From December 1978 to September 1997, Vasily Ivanovich Bakalov headed and was the chief designer of TsKIB. The 1990s were the hardest years for the company. The only way to save TsKIB was its merger with KBP. In May 1997, by decision of the Russian Government, TsKIB SOO was merged as a branch of KBP with the formation of the state unitary enterprise Instrument Design Bureau. Viktor Kirillovich Zelenko was appointed director of the TsKIB SOO branch in September 1997.
Sources:
MasterGun No. 6 (159) June 2010
MasterGun (160) July 2010
Hunting - one of the most ancient male occupations - has long ago turned from a means of obtaining food into... Yes, into a little bit of everything: into a means of self-knowledge, into entertainment, recreation, sport... And of course, to be honest, into a means of satisfying male vanity .
Apparently, exactly at the moment when this component made itself felt, gunsmiths began to think that their products could have not only purely utilitarian qualities. Weapons began to acquire an aura of prestige and luxury, and the concept of “elite weapons” appeared.
As a rule, elite weapons are decorated with highly artistic engraving; the highest grades of wood, precious metals, and sometimes precious stones are used in their decoration.
And yet, let’s make a reservation right away: not all richly decorated weapons are elite. In Russia and throughout the world, serial weapons on a stock are quite widespread, for which expensive wood is used, and the weapon itself can be luxuriously finished, but it would be more correct to call it a souvenir.
It becomes elite only when highly artistic finishing adorns a product made by hand, with the highest quality of processing of all details.
There are few companies in the world that make truly elite hunting weapons (today we are talking exclusively about firearms), and they can literally be counted on one hand: Holland & Holland, Westley Richards & Co., James Purdey & Sons Ltd., Boss & Co.
In the opinion of both our domestic and foreign experts, guns produced at TsKIB fall into this honorable row. Shotguns with horizontally and vertically positioned barrels, as well as rifled carbines of the original design, have long and rightfully taken their rightful place among the world's famous brands.
The history of TsKIB began on March 4, 1946, when the People's Commissariat of Armaments of the USSR issued an order to open the Central Design and Research Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons - TsKIB SOO - at the Tula Arms Plant. It was headed by D.V. Romanov. It is interesting that the first “Tskibov” guns had a mark in the form of monograms - crossed hammers - the initials “D” and “R”.
Over the entire existence of the enterprise, which is just over 60 years, about 20,000 copies of smooth-bore and rifled weapons were produced. Not all of them belong to the elite class: there were quite a few so-called experimental weapons, sometimes of a very original design, but these weapons can most likely be classified as collectible.
The glorious series of TsKIB models began with two guns with horizontally located barrels TS-1 and TS-2 (“Tula cage”, models 1 and 2, respectively). These were real elite guns both in design and finishing - with padlocks on the side boards, with V-shaped mainsprings located in front of the trigger, with a front trigger on a hinge. The barrel chambers were made for a paper sleeve 70 mm long.
They differed in the locking design: on the TS-1 the gun was locked with a Griner bolt, on the TS-2 - with the upper Perde frame. Both guns appeared in 1950 and were produced in very small series: TS-1 about 100 units, TS-2 - 125 units.
In 1950, at the Moscow exhibition “Hunting and Game Management,” the TS-2 shotgun received a gold medal and a first-degree diploma.
Production of TS-1 was discontinued in 1952, TS-2 was produced until 1962, when it was replaced by MTs-11.
Over the 60 years of TsKIB’s existence, designers and craftsmen have produced several dozen models of smooth-bore, combined and rifled weapons. Today, the company annually produces several hundred shotguns and carbines. Shotguns with horizontal barrels MTs-10, MTs-110, MTs-11 and MTs-111, guns with vertical barrels MTs-9, MTs-109 and MTs-7 can rightfully claim the title of elite weapon.
You can easily estimate how much effort and time it takes to make a truly high-quality gun by looking at the statistics. Thus, only 613 copies of the MTs-11 shotguns were produced since 1951, about 1000 copies of the MTs-106, only 300 copies of the MTs-111 in all modifications since 1971, and 287 copies of the MTs-10 since 1960. and MC-110 since 1973, less than 300 copies.
More popular and affordable, although also high-quality, guns were produced in slightly larger volumes: MTs-6 since 1948, more than 3,000 units were manufactured, MTs-108 since 1955, more than 4,000 units.
How does the manufacturing process of guns of different categories differ? First of all, the assembly of an elite gun is entrusted to one craftsman and engraver; all parts of the gun are adjusted by hand by the master using the old and most reliable method - “by soot”.
All mating surfaces are adjusted manually, without the use of machines; the result of such adjustment is a 90% fit of all contacting surfaces. This gives the gun extraordinary survivability: such guns can withstand up to half a million shots without any repairs or the appearance of shatter.
Guns of the second group, such as MTs-105, MTs-106 and MTs-108, are manufactured with the participation of several craftsmen and assemblers. The weapon fit requirement is slightly lower, up to 75% fit. The relative reduction in requirements is due to the fact that these weapons are intended mainly for sport shooting, and the market demanded their production in fairly large quantities.
Nevertheless, sporting shotguns are also very durable and, when used correctly, can withstand up to 250-300 thousand rounds. Moreover, the given figure does not mean at all that after such a shooting they are unsuitable for use. A little maintenance is necessary, and the gun is again ready to serve its owner for many years.
Since its appearance, weapons with the TsKIB brand have become a popular expensive gift, given to many famous people. One of the first developments, a double-barreled shotgun “model “A”, was donated to I.V. Stalin.
Passionate hunter N.S. Khrushchev owned an MTs-111 rifle. Self-loading carbines MTs-125 and shotguns MTs-109 were “in service” with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A.N. Kosygin, USSR Minister of Defense D.F. Ustinova.
During state visits and on the occasion of various anniversaries, they were given to the King of Spain Juan Carlos II, the Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the Yugoslav Joseph Broz Tito, the leader of the GDR Erich Honecker, the Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, the Egyptian Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Turkmenbashi S .M. Niyazov and Belarusian leader A.G. Lukashenko.
L.I. was an avid hunter and a great lover of weapons. Brezhnev, who had in his arsenal, in addition to the MTs-125 carbine, four more MTs brand shotguns, presented to him at different times (self-loading carbine MTs-127 and shotguns MTs 10-09, MTs 109-09 and MTs-11-12). TsKIB still stores the MTs 10-09 “tee” with excellent finishing and an excellent combination of two smooth 12-gauge barrels and a lower rifled barrel of 9x54 caliber, made to order by L.I. Brezhnev.
Self-loading carbines MTs-19-09 were presented to the first President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin and Prime Minister of the Russian Federation V.S. Chernomyrdin. In addition, over the years, Gamal Abdel (President of Egypt) and the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlivi, became owners of TsKIB weapons.
As can be seen from the above, weapons with the TsKIB brand have always been considered a truly royal gift, and almost all leaders of the states of the socialist camp and friendly countries possessed them. Of course, this is a very high assessment of the work of the designers and craftsmen of TsKIB.
For the first time, an image of the new TsKIB SOO pistol under the designation OTs-122 appeared in early March of this year in the article “Let’s make a rifle, the best in its class,” where the new and energetic head of the design bureau, Alexey Sorokin, introduced the latest developments of the enterprise to readers of the Independent Military Review. Note that a drawing was published, and a photograph of the weapon was published, which indicates that at the moment the sample was not yet fully embodied in metal. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that parts for the prototype pistol are still being manufactured on a 3D printer, in order to give an initial assessment of the performance of the mechanisms and ergonomic properties of the pistol and promptly make changes.
A prototype of the OTs-122, also with parts made by 3D printing, was shown on May 25 at a closed display of the Scientific and Technical Forum “Day of Advanced Technologies for Law Enforcement Agencies of the Russian Federation,” intended for specialists and managers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard. Of the technical details of the weapon, only the caliber of the pistol is reported - .45 ACP (11.43x23 mm). This is a very interesting choice, probably due to the desire to have a Russian analogue of the HK-SOCOM Mk pistols. 23 and HK P12 for ammunition of the same caliber, which are in service with the US Special Operations Command and the Bundeswehr Special Operations Division, respectively.
The .45 ACP cartridge has a bullet with a subsonic muzzle velocity, ideal for use in devices for silent and flameless shooting and at the same time having a high stopping effect, which is especially important when using weapons against attackers under the influence of drugs. In the Russian Federation, .45 ACP caliber ammunition is produced by the Tula Cartridge Plant.
Sniper weapon
The appearance of the OTs-03M was due to the desire of law enforcement agencies to have an ultra-compact sniper rifle.
The OTs-03M is a modernized version of the OTs-03 (SVU) rifle, which in turn is a conversion of the Dragunov sniper rifle into a bullpup weapon. “There is an interesting technical solution here related to the aluminum chassis and a modified barrel design. This allows the weapon to be compact and accurate,” says Alexey Sorokin, director of TsKIB SOO. According to him, thanks to the modernization, the OTs-03M sniper rifle “gets a modern appearance and additional capabilities, such as installing a bipod along the muzzle.” The OTs-03M also has a greatly shortened barrel with an integrated muzzle device for silent and flameless shooting.
Photo: forum of the site “Courage” (www.otvaga2004.ru)
The OTs-129 sniper rifle is memorable for its “lean” silhouette and extensive use of light alloys.
Another model of the sniper rifle, OTs-129, is also equipped with an integrated silencer and is self-loading, however, apparently, it is already an independent development.
It is characterized by the presence of a large number of Picatinny rails, a right-folding buttstock made of light alloy, as well as a light alloy chassis.
Photo: forum of the site “Courage” (www.otvaga2004.ru)
Another sniper compact based on the MTs-116, the MTs-116RB rifle with a very interesting reloading mechanism.
TsKIB designers reworked their basic model of the high-precision rifle MTs-116M into compact version MTs-116RB again with an integrated silencer, complemented by a telescopic shoulder rest, an anatomical pistol grip and the original placement of the bolt reloading handle, located below the pistol grip. According to shooters, this arrangement, although unusual, turns out to be very convenient.
Sporting rifle
Sports rifle for the open F-Class (F-Class Open) model MTs-343.
MTs-343 is a sports rifle for the open F-Class (F-Class Open), created with the direct participation of A.M. Sorokin himself (barrel manufacturing technology, bolt design, method of barrel attachment, general assembly principle). Caliber 7.62x70 (STs-154, Russian analogue 300LM), barrel with six rifling with a pitch of 240 or 254 mm. Currently, MTs343 is in experimental production, tests are scheduled for early next year. TsKIB SOO has high hopes for it, hoping to create the best rifle in the world in this class.
Hunting rifles
Director of TsKIB SOO Alexey Mikhailovich Sorokin is a master of sports in bullet shooting, the first president of the National Federation of High-Precision Shooting, who previously headed Promtekhnologii LLC and is one of the authors of the famous ORSIS T-5000 rifle. It seems that the latest positive changes in TsKIB are largely related to its new leader.
The design bureau is developing hunting carbine OTs-126 based on the PP-2000 submachine gun, developed by the KBP and in service with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian National Guard. The civilian version of the submachine gun is distinguished by the absence of an automatic fire mode, a magazine capacity reduced to 10 rounds and the inability to fire, and a length increased to 800 mm. According to Alexey Sorokin, having a civilian version of the PP-2000 is very reasonable, since it will bring additional money from the market.
If not, I’ll introduce: Alexey Mikhailovich Sorokin, one of Russia’s leading experts in the field of shooting sports and firearms, Master of Sports of the USSR in bullet shooting, the first president of the National Federation of Precision Shooting, the man who made the famous ORSIS T-5000 sniper rifle, and now - Director of the legendary Tula weapons design bureau "TsKIB SOO", where many types of unique Russian weapons were invented and manufactured. And in order to talk with him about the future of Russian small arms, it was worth coming to Tula.
The completely different TsKIB rifles bear the same name - MTs-116. This hand-loading rifle has won my heart. Very convenient ergonomics, large caliber, compact dimensions and sub-minute accuracy.
For a long time, the development of small arms in our country was an extremely conservative process. For a mass war with millions of armies, first of all, unification and unpretentiousness were needed. For the appearance of a new weapon, and especially a cartridge, very strong arguments were needed. Therefore, until the 1970s, the Soviet army used only two cartridges: 7.62x54R, developed back in 1890 for the three-line Mosin rifle with a protruding rim (it was used, for example, in the SVD sniper rifle, Maxim machine gun, Kalashnikov PKM machine gun) and 7. 62x39 mm, 7.62 mm cartridge of the 1943 model, used in the legendary Kalashnikov assault rifle and SKS carbine. In the 1970s they were joined by the low-pulse Soviet intermediate cartridge 5.45x39 mm, created under the influence of the American 5.56x45 cartridge and used primarily in the AK-74 assault rifle. It was with this arsenal that we intended to fight in a future war, accumulating it in warehouses on a cosmic scale. But recently everything has changed. Now it is impossible to even imagine large-scale clashes of large masses. Existing means of destruction simply will not allow such masses to exist for any longer period of time. The requirements for small arms are also changing. On the one hand, the reluctance of security forces to expand their range is understandable; on the other hand, the gigantic variety of tasks that they are beginning to solve, on the contrary, pushes them towards this. Today it is impossible to effectively solve all problems in a universal way. And if the enemy is technically better prepared, we begin to lose. We have increased the range and accuracy of fire, significantly progressed personal armor protection - helmets and body armor, new detection and surveillance equipment has appeared, including thermal imaging, from which it is now extremely difficult to camouflage. The size of the target suitable for shooting is continuously decreasing - the enemy is effectively hiding. All this requires changes in the development of weapons and the tactics of their use.
Behind Alexei Sorokin hangs a tablet with unusual cartridges. Looking at them, I wonder if we need new ammunition or if we can use those already common in the world, as other developers do. “And so and so,” Sorokin answers. — There are well-proven ammunition, which is also produced in our country, for example, .308, .300 LM, .338 LM cartridges. Most of this ammunition covers almost all the tasks that need to be solved. But not all".
Who said bullpup is dead? The large-caliber MTs-116RK is an example of functional minimalist design. The unusually located reloading handle actually turns out to be very convenient. The rotary magazine installed in front of it (another feature of TsKIB) with its compact size can accommodate five rather large cartridges.
TsKIB has an advantage - it is a developer of both weapons and ammunition, that is, it can produce the entire weapon-ammunition complex. “We recently gained access to a unique resource,” Sorokin’s eyes begin to sparkle, “a computer program that allows us to design bullets for the required characteristics, ballistic coefficients, range calculations, energy. A completely Russian product, I don’t know any analogues. The technology for producing ammunition is changing: cutting operations are mainly used, without pressure operations. The assembly operations involved are quite complex, but the end result is ammunition whose accuracy characteristics are approximately an order of magnitude superior to the most accurate ones existing today in the West.”
Sorokin’s pride is the modernized ADS, a double-medium special assault rifle. Aleksey jokingly calls it the “Crimean” version; with the return of Crimea, the military specialty “combat swimmer” became relevant again. The complex, which has no analogues in the world, is capable of hitting the enemy both on land with standard 5.45x39 mm cartridges and 40 mm grenades, and under water with special underwater shots.
The pride of Sorokin, a recognized master of high-precision shooting, is the 11.7x88 mm cartridge developed at TsKIB. It is designed to fire a heavy, 32-gram bullet. At the same time, the cartridge is smaller, lighter and shorter than the 12.7 mm (both ours and the American one), and all movements during reloading are short, and the mechanics during reloading are not as excessively long as, for example, the .50 caliber In principle, TsKIB created a competitor to the American “king” of ultra-long-range shooting - the .408 CheyTac cartridge. Sorokin can talk about small arms for hours: “We have a larger combustion chamber capacity, we have a more uniform burning of the powder column. There are certain points that will allow us to avoid excess pressure at the start, in the initial stage of the shot, and at the same time maintain a large volume of gas formation and backpressure of the bullet throughout its movement in the barrel. We are going to create a fairly uniform plateau at approximately 60-70% of the barrel length, when the pressure will smoothly accelerate the bullet. It is due to the modified sleeve design. At the same time, we achieve good speeds and ballistics when switching to subsonic sound far beyond 2.5 km.” Sorokin has now developed a promising 14.5x132 mm ammunition in his prototype - as he calls it, “anti-material ammunition.” According to calculations, this cartridge will allow shooting at a distance of 4 km. And at 1.5 km the shot will literally tear apart lightly armored vehicles, especially Western ones with aluminum armor. “This is already a serious, bottle-sized shot. It’s like in boxing—the big ones beat the little ones,” Sorokin rattles off numbers and indices without looking at the papers. By inertia, he is going to talk about a rifle chambered for this super-cartridge, built on new principles, but he abruptly falls silent - a closed topic.
Central Design Research Bureau for Sporting and Hunting Weapons, Branch of JSC Instrument Design Bureau named after. Academician A.G. Shipunova."
The company is Russia's leading developer of small arms and grenade launchers for the army, police, and anti-terrorist units.
The company's products include: 1. Revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, combat rifles; 2. Sniper systems; 3. Grenade launchers; 4. Ammunition for small arms and anti-personnel grenade launchers; 5. Hunting and sporting weapons of the MC brand.