Soviet cumulative anti-tank ammunition during the war. Supply of weapons and ammunition during the Great Patriotic War Germany, imperialist war
The cumulative effect of a directed explosion became known in the 19th century, shortly after the start of mass production of high explosives. The first scientific work devoted to this issue was published in 1915 in Great Britain.
This effect is achieved by giving explosive charges a special shape. Typically, for this purpose, charges are made with a recess in the part opposite to its detonator. When an explosion is initiated, a converging stream of detonation products is formed into a high-speed cumulative jet, and the cumulative effect increases when the recess is lined with a layer of metal (1-2 mm thick). The speed of the metal jet reaches 10 km/s. Compared to the expanding detonation products of conventional charges, in the converging flow of shaped charge products, the pressure and density of matter and energy are much higher, which ensures the directional effect of the explosion and the high penetrating force of the shaped charge jet.
When the conical shell collapses, the velocities of individual parts of the jet turn out to be somewhat different, as a result of which the jet stretches in flight. Therefore, a slight increase in the gap between the charge and the target increases the penetration depth due to the elongation of the jet. The thickness of the armor penetrated by cumulative projectiles does not depend on the firing range and is approximately equal to their caliber. At significant distances between the charge and the target, the jet breaks into pieces, and the penetration effect is reduced.
In the 30s of the 20th century, there was a massive saturation of troops with armored vehicles. In addition to traditional means of combating them, in the pre-war period, the development of cumulative projectiles was carried out in some countries.
What was especially tempting was that the armor penetration of such ammunition did not depend on the speed of contact with the armor. This made it possible to successfully use them to destroy tanks in artillery systems that were not originally intended for this purpose, as well as to create highly effective anti-tank mines and grenades. Germany had advanced the most in the creation of cumulative anti-tank ammunition; by the time of the attack on the USSR, cumulative artillery shells of 75-105 mm caliber had been created and adopted there.
Unfortunately, in the Soviet Union before the war, due attention was not paid to this area. In our country, the improvement of anti-tank weapons proceeded by increasing the caliber of anti-tank guns and increasing the initial velocities of armor-piercing shells. To be fair, it should be said that in the USSR in the late 30s, an experimental batch of 76-mm cumulative shells was fired and tested. During the tests, it turned out that cumulative shells equipped with standard fuses from fragmentation shells, as a rule, do not penetrate armor and ricochet. Obviously, the problem was in the fuses, but the military, which already did not show much interest in such shells, finally abandoned them after unsuccessful firing.
At the same time, a significant number of recoilless (dynamo-reactive) Kurchevsky guns were manufactured in the USSR.
76-mm Kurchevsky recoilless rifle on a truck chassis
The advantage of such systems is their light weight and lower cost compared to “classic” guns. Recoilless rifles in combination with cumulative projectiles could quite successfully prove themselves as an anti-tank weapon.
With the outbreak of hostilities, reports began to arrive from the fronts that German artillery was using previously unknown so-called “armor-burning” shells that effectively hit tanks. When inspecting the damaged tanks, we noticed the characteristic appearance of holes with melted edges. At first, it was suggested that the unknown shells used “fast-burning thermite,” accelerated by powder gases. However, this assumption was soon refuted experimentally. It was found that the processes of combustion of thermite incendiary compositions and the interaction of the slag jet with the metal of the tank armor proceed too slowly and cannot be realized in a very short time for the shell to penetrate the armor. At this time, samples of “armor-burning” shells captured from the Germans were delivered from the front. It turned out that their design is based on the use of the cumulative effect of an explosion.
At the beginning of 1942, designers M.Ya. Vasiliev, Z.V. Vladimirov and N.S. Zhitkikh designed a 76-mm cumulative projectile with a conical cumulative recess lined with a steel shell. An artillery shell body with bottom equipment was used, the chamber of which was additionally bored into a cone in its head part. The projectile used a powerful explosive - an alloy of TNT and hexogen. The bottom hole and plug served to install an additional detonator and a beam detonator capsule. A big problem was the lack of a suitable fuse in production. After a series of experiments, the AM-6 aviation instantaneous fuse was chosen.
HEAT shells, which had armor penetration of about 70-75 mm, appeared in the ammunition load of regimental guns in 1943, and were mass-produced throughout the war.
Regimental 76-mm gun mod. 1927
The industry supplied the front with about 1.1 million 76-mm cumulative anti-tank shells. Unfortunately, their use in tank and divisional 76-mm guns was prohibited due to the unreliable operation of the fuse and the danger of an explosion in the barrel. Fuzes for cumulative artillery shells, meeting safety requirements when firing from long-barreled guns, were created only at the end of 1944.
In 1942, a group of designers including I.P. Dzyuba, N.P. Kazeikina, I.P. Kucherenko, V.Ya. Matyushkina and A.A. Greenberg developed cumulative anti-tank shells for 122-mm howitzers.
The 122-mm cumulative projectile for the howitzer of the 1938 model had a body made of steel cast iron, was equipped with an effective explosive composition based on hexogen and a powerful PETN detonator. The 122-mm cumulative projectile was equipped with the B-229 instantaneous fuse, which was developed in a very short time at TsKB-22, headed by A.Ya. Karpov.
122-mm howitzer M-30 mod. 1938
The projectile was put into service and put into mass production at the beginning of 1943, and managed to take part in the Battle of Kursk. Until the end of the war, more than 100 thousand 122-mm cumulative shells were produced. The projectile penetrated armor up to 150 mm thick along the normal line, ensuring the defeat of heavy German Tiger and Panther tanks. However, the effective firing range of howitzers at maneuvering tanks was suicidal - 400 meters.
The creation of cumulative shells opened up great opportunities for the use of artillery guns with relatively low initial velocities - 76-mm regimental guns of the 1927 and 1943 models. and 122-mm howitzers of the 1938 model, which were available in large quantities in the army. The presence of cumulative shells in the ammunition loads of these guns significantly increased the effectiveness of their anti-tank fire. This significantly strengthened the anti-tank defense of Soviet rifle divisions.
One of the main tasks of the Il-2 armored attack aircraft, which entered service at the beginning of 1941, was to fight armored vehicles.
However, the cannon armament available to the attack aircraft could only effectively hit lightly armored vehicles.
82-132 mm rocket projectiles did not have the required firing accuracy. However, in 1942, cumulative RBSK-82 were developed to arm the Il-2.
The head of the RBSK-82 missile consisted of a steel cylinder with a wall thickness of 8 mm. A cone made of sheet iron was rolled into the front part of the cylinder, creating a recess in the explosive substance poured into the cylinder of the projectile head. A tube ran through the center of the cylinder, which served “to transmit a beam of fire from the pin cap to the TAT-1 detonator cap.” The shells were tested in two versions of explosive equipment: TNT and alloy 70/30 (TNT with hexogen). The shells with TNT had an AM-A fuse, and the shells with the 70/30 alloy had an M-50 fuse. The fuses had a pin-type capsule of the APUV type. The RBSK-82 missile unit is standard, from M-8 missile shells filled with pyroxylin gunpowder.
A total of 40 RBSK-82s were used up during the tests, 18 of them by firing in the air, the rest by firing on the ground. Captured German Pz tanks were fired upon. III, StuG III and the Czech tank Pz.38(t) with reinforced armor. Firing in the air was carried out at the StuG III tank from a dive at an angle of 30° with salvoes of 2-4 shells in one pass. The firing distance was 200 m. The shells showed good stability along the flight path, but it was not possible to get a single drop into the tank.
The RBSK-82 cumulative action armor-piercing rocket-propelled projectile, filled with 70/30 alloy, penetrated 30 mm thick armor at any impact angle, and pierced 50 mm thick armor at a right angle, but did not penetrate it at a 30° impact angle. Apparently, the low armor penetration is a consequence of the delay in the firing of the fuse “from the ricochet and the cumulative jet is formed with a deformed cone.”
RBSK-82 shells loaded with TNT penetrated 30 mm thick armor only at impact angles of at least 30°, and did not penetrate 50 mm armor under any impact conditions. The holes produced by penetrating armor had a diameter of up to 35 mm. In most cases, penetration of the armor was accompanied by spalling of the metal around the exit hole.
HEAT missiles were not accepted for service due to the lack of a clear advantage over standard rockets. A new, much more powerful weapon was already on the way - PTABs.
Priority in the development of small cumulative aviation bombs belongs to domestic scientists and designers. In mid-1942, the famous fuze developer I.A. Larionov, proposed the design of a light anti-tank bomb with cumulative action. The Air Force command showed interest in implementing the proposal. TsKB-22 quickly carried out design work and testing of the new bomb began at the end of 1942. The final version was PTAB-2.5-1.5, i.e. an anti-tank aviation bomb with a cumulative effect weighing 1.5 kg in the dimensions of a 2.5 kg aviation fragmentation bomb. The State Defense Committee urgently decided to adopt the PTAB-2.5-1.5 and organize its mass production.
The first PTAB-2.5-1.5 housings and riveted pinnate-cylindrical stabilizers were made from sheet steel 0.6 mm thick. To increase the fragmentation effect, a 1.5-mm steel jacket was additionally put on the cylindrical part of the bomb. The PTAB combat charge consisted of a mixed BB of the TGA type, equipped through the bottom point. To protect the AD-A fuse impeller from spontaneous collapse, a special fuse made of a square-shaped tin plate with a fork of two wire mustaches attached to it, passing between the blades, was put on the bomb stabilizer. After the PTAB was dropped from the aircraft, it was torn off the bomb by the oncoming air flow.
Upon impact with the tank's armor, a fuse was triggered, which, through a tetryl detonator block, caused the detonation of the explosive charge. When the charge detonated, due to the presence of a cumulative funnel and a metal cone in it, a cumulative jet was created, which, as field tests showed, pierced armor up to 60 mm thick at an impact angle of 30° with a subsequent destructive effect behind the armor: defeating the tank crew, initiating detonation of ammunition , as well as ignition of fuel or its vapors.
The bomb load of the Il-2 aircraft included up to 192 PTAB-2.5-1.5 bombs in 4 cassettes of small bombs (48 pieces each) or up to 220 pieces when they were rationally placed in bulk in 4 bomb bays.
The adoption of PTABs was kept secret for some time; their use without the permission of the high command was prohibited. This made it possible to use the effect of surprise and effectively use new weapons in the battle of Kursk.
The massive use of PTAB had a stunning effect of tactical surprise and had a strong moral impact on the enemy. German tank crews, however, like Soviet ones, by the third year of the war had already become accustomed to the relatively low effectiveness of bomb assault strikes. At the initial stage of the battle, the Germans did not use dispersed marching and pre-battle formations at all, that is, on the routes of movement in columns, in places of concentration and in initial positions, for which they were severely punished - the PTAB flight line was blocked by 2-3 tanks, one distant from the other at 60-75 m, as a result of which the latter suffered significant losses, even in the absence of massive use of IL-2. One IL-2 from a height of 75-100 meters could cover an area of 15x75 meters, destroying all enemy equipment there.
On average, during the war, irretrievable tank losses from aviation did not exceed 5%; after the use of PTAB in certain sectors of the front, this figure exceeded 20%.
Having recovered from the shock, the German tank crews soon moved exclusively to dispersed marching and pre-battle formations. Naturally, this greatly complicated the management of tank units and subunits, increased the time for their deployment, concentration and redeployment, and complicated the interaction between them. In parking lots, German tank crews began to place their vehicles under trees, light mesh canopies, and install light metal meshes over the roof of the turret and hull. The effectiveness of IL-2 strikes using PTAB decreased by approximately 4-4.5 times, remaining, however, on average 2-3 times higher than when using high-explosive and high-explosive fragmentation bombs.
In 1944, a more powerful anti-tank bomb PTAB-10-2.5, with the dimensions of a 10-kg aircraft bomb, was adopted. It provided penetration of armor up to 160 mm thick. According to the principle of operation and purpose of the main components and elements, PTAB-10-2.5 was similar to PTAB-2.5-1.5 and differed from it only in shape and dimensions.
In the 1920s-1930s, the Red Army was armed with the muzzle-loading “Dyakonov grenade launcher,” created at the end of the First World War and subsequently modernized.
It was a 41-mm caliber mortar, which was put on the barrel of a rifle, fixed on the front sight with a cutout. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, every rifle and cavalry squad had a grenade launcher. Then the question arose about giving the rifle grenade launcher “anti-tank” properties.
During the Second World War, in 1944, the VKG-40 cumulative grenade entered service with the Red Army. The grenade was fired with a special blank cartridge containing 2.75 g of VP or P-45 gunpowder. The reduced charge of the blank cartridge made it possible to fire a grenade at direct fire with the butt resting on the shoulder, at a range of up to 150 meters.
The cumulative rifle grenade is designed to combat lightly armored vehicles and enemy mobile vehicles not protected by armor, as well as firing points. The VKG-40 was used very limitedly, which is explained by the low accuracy of fire and poor armor penetration.
During the war, the USSR produced a significant number of hand-held anti-tank grenades. Initially these were high-explosive grenades; as the thickness of the armor increased, the weight of anti-tank grenades also increased. However, this still did not ensure penetration of the armor of medium tanks, so the RPG-41 grenade, with an explosive weight of 1400 g, could penetrate 25 mm armor.
Needless to say, what a danger this anti-tank weapon posed to those who used it.
In mid-1943, the Red Army adopted a fundamentally new cumulative action grenade, RPG-43, developed by N.P. Belyakov. This was the first cumulative hand grenade developed in the USSR.
Sectional view of the RPG-43 hand-held cumulative grenade
The RPG-43 had a body with a flat bottom and a conical lid, a wooden handle with a safety mechanism, a belt stabilizer and an impact-ignition mechanism with a fuse. Inside the case is placed a bursting charge with a cumulative conical recess lined with a thin layer of metal, and a cup with a safety spring and a sting fixed in its bottom.
At its front end of the handle there is a metal sleeve, inside of which there is a fuse holder and a pin holding it in the rearmost position. On the outside, a spring is put on the bushing and fabric tapes are laid, attached to the stabilizer cap. The safety mechanism consists of a folding bar and a pin. The hinged bar serves to hold the stabilizer cap on the grenade handle before it is thrown, preventing it from sliding or turning in place.
When throwing a grenade, the hinged bar separates and releases the stabilizer cap, which, under the action of a spring, slides off the handle and pulls the tapes behind it. The safety pin falls out under its own weight, releasing the fuse holder. Thanks to the presence of a stabilizer, the grenade flew head-first, which is necessary for optimal use of the energy of the grenade's cumulative charge. When a grenade hits an obstacle with the bottom of the body, the fuse, overcoming the resistance of the safety spring, is impaled on the sting by a detonator cap, which causes the explosive charge to detonate. The RPG-43's shaped charge penetrated armor up to 75 mm thick.
With the advent of German heavy tanks on the battlefield, an anti-tank hand grenade with greater armor penetration was required. A group of designers consisting of M.Z. Polevanova, L.B. Ioffe and N.S. Zhitkikh developed the RPG-6 cumulative grenade. In October 1943, the grenade was adopted by the Red Army. The RPG-6 grenade is in many ways similar to the German PWM-1.
German PWM-1 anti-tank hand grenade
The RPG-6 had a teardrop-shaped body with a charge and an additional detonator and a handle with an inertial fuse, a detonator capsule and a tape stabilizer.
The fuse firing pin was blocked by a pin. The stabilizer bands were placed in the handle and held in place by a safety bar. The safety pin was removed before throwing. After the throw, the safety bar flew off, the stabilizer was pulled out, the firing pin was pulled out - the fuse was cocked.
Thus, the RPG-6’s safety system was three-stage (the RPG-43’s was two-stage). In terms of technology, a significant feature of the RLG-6 was the absence of turned and threaded parts, the widespread use of stamping and knurling. Compared to the RPG-43, the RPG-6 was more technologically advanced in production and somewhat safer to use. RPG-43 and RPG-6 were thrown at 15-20 m, after the throw the fighter had to take cover.
During the war years, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers were never created in the USSR, although work was carried out in this direction. The main anti-tank weapons of the infantry were still anti-tank rifles and hand anti-tank grenades. This was partly offset by a significant increase in the number of anti-tank artillery in the second half of the war. But during the offensive, anti-tank guns could not always accompany the infantry, and in the event of the sudden appearance of enemy tanks, this often led to large and unjustified losses.
We often find shell casings from the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars in the ground. Almost all of them have some kind of their own difference. Today we will look at the markings of cartridges, which are located on the cartridge capsule, regardless of the brand and caliber of the weapon.
Let's look at some types and markings of Austro-Hungarian types of cartridges from 1905-1916. For this type of cartridge case, the primer is divided into four parts using dashes, the inscriptions are embossed. The left and right cells are the year of production, the top is the month, and the bottom is the plant designation.
- In Fig. 1. – G. Roth, Vienna.
- Fig. 2. – Bello and Selye, Prague.
- Figure 3. - Wöllersdorf plant.
- Figure 4. - Hartenberg factory.
- Fig. 5. - the same Hartenberg, but the Kellery Co. plant.
Later Hungarian ones from the 1930s and 40s have some differences. Figure 6. - Chapel Arsenal, year of manufacture below. Fig. 7. – Budapest. Fig. 8. – Veszprem military plant.
Germany, imperialist war.
The German marking of cartridge cases from the imperialist war has two types with a clear division (Fig. 9) using dashes into four equal parts of the primer and with a conditional one (Fig. 10). The inscription is extruded; in the second version, the letters and numbers of the designation are directed towards the capsule.
At the top there is the marking S 67, in different versions: together, separately, with a dot, without numbers. The lower part is the month of production, on the left is the year, and on the right is the plant. In some cases, the year and plant are reversed, or the arrangement of all divisions is completely reversed.
Fascist Germany.
Cases and their markings in Nazi Germany (Mauser type) have many variations, because cartridges were produced in almost all factories of the occupied countries of Western Europe: Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Italy.
Consider Fig. 11-14, this sleeve is made in Denmark. The capsule is divided into four parts: at the top is the letter P with numbers, at the bottom is the week, on the left side is the year, on the right is the letter S and a star (five-pointed or six-pointed). In Figures 15-17 we see some more types of cartridges produced in Denmark.
In Fig. 18 we see capsules presumably of Czechoslovak and Polish production. The capsule is divided into four parts: at the top - Z, at the bottom the month of manufacture, on the left and right - the year. There is an option where “SMS” is written at the top, and the caliber at the bottom is 7.92.
- In Fig. 19-23 German cartridges G. Genshov and Co. in Durlya;
- Fig. 24. - RVS, Browning, caliber 7.65, Nuremberg;
- Figure 25 and 26 - DVM, Karlsruhe.
More options for Polish-made cartridges.
- Fig. 27 - Skarzysko-Kamienna;
- Figure 28 and 29 - "Pochinsk", Warsaw.
The marks on the Mosin rifle cartridges are not depressed, but convex. At the top there is usually the letter of the manufacturer, at the bottom - the numbers of the year of manufacture.
- Figure 30 – Lugansk plant;
- Fig 31 - plant from Russia;
- Figure 32 – Tula plant.
Some more capsule options:
- Figure 33 – Tula plant;
- Figure 34 – Russian plant;
- Fig 35 – Moscow;
- Rice 36 – Russian-Belgian;
- Figure 37 – Riga;
- Figure 38 – Leningradsky;
- Figure 39, 40, 41, 42 – different factories in Russia.
I I - period before 1941
In December 1917, the Council of People's Commissars announced the demobilization of military factories, but by this time the production of ammunition in the country had practically ceased. By 1918, all the main stocks of weapons and ammunition remaining from the World War had already been exhausted. However, by the beginning of 1919, only the Tula Cartridge Plant remained operational. Lugansk cartridge in 1918 was initially captured by the Germans, then it was occupied by Krasnov’s White Guard army.
For the newly created plant in Taganrog, the White Guards took from the Lugansk plant 4 machines from each development, 500 pounds of gunpowder, non-ferrous metals, as well as some finished cartridges.
So Ataman Krasnov resumed production at RUSSIAN - BALTIC Rus.-Balt plant acc. association of shipbuilding and mechanical plants. (Founded in 1913 in Revel, in 1915 evacuated to Taganrog, in Soviet times the Taganrog Combine Plant.) and by November 1918, the productivity of this plant increased to 300,000 rifle cartridges per day (Kakurin N E. "How the Revolution Fought")
“On January 3 (1919), the allies saw the Russian-Baltic plant in Taganrog already revived and put into operation, where they made cartridges, cast bullets, inserted them into a cupronickel silver shell, filled cartridges with gunpowder - in a word, the plant was already in full operation. (Peter Nikolaevich Krasnov “The All-Great Don Army”) In the Krasnodar Territory and in the Urals, cartridges marked D.Z.
Most likely this marking means “Donskoy Plant” in Taganrog
Simbirsk, which was under construction, was under threat of capture. In the spring of 1918 The evacuation of the St. Petersburg Cartridge Plant to Simbirsk began. To establish the production of cartridges, about 1,500 workers from Petrograd arrived in Simbirsk in July 1919.
In 1919, the plant began production, and in 1922, the Ulyanovsk plant was renamed “Plant named after Volodarsky.”
In addition, the Soviet government is building a new cartridge factory in Podolsk. A part of the shell plant, located in the premises of the former Singer plant, was allocated for it. The remains of equipment from Petrograd were sent there. Since the fall of 1919, the Podolsk plant began to remake foreign cartridges, and in November 1920 the first batch of rifle cartridges was produced.
Since 1924 The production of cartridges is carried out by the State Association “Main Directorate of Military Industry of the USSR”, which includes Tula, Lugansk, Podolsk, Ulyanovsk factories.
Since 1928, cartridge factories, except Tula, received numbers: Ulyanovsk - 3, Podolsk - 17, Lugansk - 60. (But Ulyanovsk retained its ZV marking until 1941)
Since 1934, new workshops were built south of Podolsk. Soon they began to be called the Novopodolsk plant, and from 1940 the Klimovsky plant No. 188.
In 1939 cartridge factories were reassigned to the 3rd Main Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Armaments. It included the following plants: Ulyanovsk No. 3, Podolsk No. 17, Tula No. 38, Experienced Patr. plant (Maryina Roshcha, Moscow) No. 44, Kuntsevsky (Red Equipment) No. 46, Lugansky No. 60 and Klimovsky No. 188.
The markings of Soviet-made cartridges remain mainly with a protruding imprint.
At the top is the number or name of the plant, at the bottom is the year of manufacture.
Cartridges from the Tula plant in 1919-20. the quarter is indicated, possibly in 1923-24. only the last digit of the year of manufacture is indicated, and the Lugansk plant in 1920-1927. indicates the period (1,2,3) in which they were manufactured. The Ulyanovsk plant in 1919 -30 puts the name of the plant (S, U, ZV) below.
In 1930, the spherical bottom of the sleeve was replaced with a flat one with a chamfer. The replacement was caused by problems that arose when firing the Maxim machine gun. The protruding marking is located along the edge of the bottom of the cartridge case. It was only in the 1970s that cartridges began to be marked with an embossed imprint on a flat surface closer to the center.
Marking |
Start of marking |
End of marking |
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Klimovsky plant |
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Kuntsevo plant |
Produced cartridges for ShKAS and with special bullets T-46, ZB-46 |
*Note. The table is not complete, there may be other options
It is very rare to find shells from the Lugansk plant with the additional designation +. Most likely, these are technological designations and the cartridges were intended only for test firing.
There is an opinion that in 1928-1936 the Penza plant produced cartridges marked No. 50, but it is more likely that this is a vague mark No. 60
Perhaps, at the end of the thirties, cartridges or cartridges were produced at the Moscow Shot Foundry No. 58, which then produced tail cartridges for mortar mines.
In 1940-41 in Novosibirsk, plant No. 179 NKB (People's Commissariat of Ammunition) produced rifle cartridges.
The case for the ShKAS machine gun, unlike an ordinary rifle case, has, in addition to the factory number and year of manufacture, an additional stamp - the letter "Ш".
Cartridges with a ShKAS case and a red primer were used for firing only from synchronized aircraft machine guns.
R. Chumak K. Soloviev Cartridges for a supermachine gun Kalashnikov Magazine No. 1 2001
Notes:
Finland, which used the Mosin rifle, produced and also purchased from the USA and other countries 7.62x54 cartridges, which are found on the battlefields of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939 and the Second World War. It is likely that pre-revolutionary Russian-made cartridges were also used.
Suomen Ampuma Tarvetehdas OY (SAT) , Riihimaki, Finland(1922-26) |
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In the 1920-30s, the United States used Mosin rifles left over from the Russian order for training purposes and sold them for private use, producing cartridges for this. Deliveries were made to Finland in 1940
(UMC- Union Metallic Cartridge Co. affiliatedToRemington Co.) |
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WinchesterRepeating Arms Co., Bridgeport, CT |
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During World War I, Germany used a captured Mosin rifle to arm auxiliary and rear units.
It is possible that, initially, German cartridges were produced without markings, but there will probably no longer be reliable information about this. |
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Deutsche Waffen-u. Munitionsfabriken A.-G., Fruher Lorenz, Karlsruhe, Germany |
During the civil war, Spain received a large number of various, mostly outdated, weapons from the USSR. Including the Mosin rifle. The production of cartridges was established. It is possible that at first Soviet-made cartridges were used, which were reloaded and new markings were applied to them.
Fabrica Nacional de Toledo. Spain |
The English company Kynoch supplied cartridges to Finland and Estonia. According to the data providedGOST from "P.Labbett &F.A.Brown.Foreignrifle-caliberammunition manufactured in Britain.London, 1994." Kynoch signed contracts for the supply of 7.62x54 cartridges:
1929 Estonia (with tracer bullet)
1932 Estonia (with a heavy bullet weighing 12.12g.)
1938 Estonia (with tracer bullet)
1929 Finland (with tracer bullet, armor-piercing bullet)
1939 Finland (with tracer bullet)
The 7.62x54 cartridge was produced in the 20-40s in other countries for commercial purposes:
A.R.S.it's unlikely that this isA. R.S.AtelierdeConstitutiondeRennes, Rennes, France, since this company uses cartridgesRS, most likely equipped in Estonia with participation of Finland |
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FNC- (Fabrica Nacional de Cartuchos, Santa Fe), Mexico |
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FN-(Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre, Herstal) Belgium, |
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Pumitra Voina Anonima, Romania |
It is possible that some of the foreign ammunition listed above could have ended up in Soviet warehouses in small quantities as a result of the annexation of the western territories and the Finnish War, and were most likely used by parts of the “people's militia” in the initial period of the Second World War. Also now often found during archaeological research of WWII battle sites in Soviet positions are casings and cartridges produced in the USA and England, ordered by Russia for World War I. The order was not completed on time and was already supplied to the White Army during the Civil War. After the end of the civil war, the remains of this ammunition ended up in warehouses, probably used by security units and OSOAVIAKHIM, but they turned out to be in demand with the beginning of the Second World War.
Sometimes, at battlefields, cartridge cases of a 7.7mm English rifle cartridge (.303 British) are found, which are mistaken for 7.62x54R ammunition. These cartridges were used, in particular, by the armies of the Baltic states and in 1940 were used for the Red Army. Near Leningrad there are such cartridges marked V - Riga plant "Vairogs" (VAIROGS, formerly Sellier & Bellot)
.
Later, such cartridges of English and Canadian production were supplied under Lend-Lease.
I I I - period 1942-1945
In 1941, all factories, except Ulyanovsk, were partially or completely evacuated, and the old factory numbers were retained in the new location. For example, the Barnaul plant, transported from Podolsk, produced its first products on November 24, 1941. Some plants were re-established. The numbering of all cartridge production is given, since there is no accurate data on the range of products they produce.
Marking with |
Plant location |
Marking with |
Plant location |
New Lyalya |
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Sverdlovsk |
Chelyabinsk |
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Novosibirsk |
According to B. Davydov, during the war, rifle cartridges were produced in factories 17 ,38 (1943), 44 (1941-42),46 ,60 ,179 (1940-41),188 ,304 (1942),529 ,539 (1942-43),540 ,541 (1942-43), 543 ,544 ,545 ,710 (1942-43),711 (1942).
When restored in 1942-1944, the factories received new designations.
This mark is probably a product produced by the Podolsk plant during the period of its resumption of work.
There may be other designations. For example, No. 10 in 1944 (found on TT cartridges), but the location of production is unknown, perhaps it is the Perm plant or the poorly readable mark of the Podolsk plant.
Since 1944, it has been possible to designate the month of manufacture of the cartridge.
For example, a 1946 training cartridge has this marking.
IV - Post-war period
In the post-war years in the USSR, the factories in cartridge production remained in Klimovsk-No. 711, Tula-No. 539, Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk)-No. 270, Ulyanovsk-No. 3, Yuryuzan-No. 38, Novosibirsk-No. 188, Barnaul-No. 17 and Frunze -No. 60.
The markings of rifle cartridges from this period of production remain primarily with a raised imprint. At the top is the plant number, at the bottom is the year of manufacture.
In 1952-1956, the following designations are used to indicate the year of manufacture:
G = 1952, D = 1953, E = 1954, I = 1955, K = 1956.
After WWII, the 7.62 caliber cartridge was also produced in the Warsaw Pact countries, China, Iraq and Egypt, and other countries. Designation options are possible
Czechoslovakia |
aymbxnzv |
Bulgaria |
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Hungary |
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Poland |
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Yugoslavia |
P P U |
31 51 61 71 321 671 (usually the code is placed at the top, but code 31 can also be at the bottom) |
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This cartridge is still produced at Russian factories in combat and hunting versions.
Modern names and some of the commercial markings on Russian cartridges since 1990
The designs and characteristics of various bullets for 7.62 caliber cartridges are quite well presented in modern literature on weapons and therefore only the color designations of bullets are given according to the “Handbook of Cartridges...” of 1946.
Light bullet L model 1908 |
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Heavy bullet D model 1930, the tip is painted yellow for a length of 5 mm |
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Armor-piercing bullet B-30 mod. 1930 |
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Armor-piercing incendiary bullet B-32 mod. 1932, the tip is painted black for a length of 5 mm with a red border stripe |
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Sighting and incendiary bullet PZ model 1935. the tip is painted red to a length of 5 mm |
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Tracer bullet T-30 mod. 1930 and T-46 arr. 1938 the tip is painted green for a length of 5 mm. |
Most of the above information was provided by the director of the local history museum of the Lomonosov district of the Leningrad region
Vladimir Andreevich Golovatyuk
, who has been studying the history of small arms and ammunition for many years.
The museum contains a lot of materials and exhibits on the history of the area, military operations in the area during the Second World War. Excursions are regularly held for schoolchildren and anyone interested.
T
museum phone 8 812 423 05 66
In addition, I provide the information I have on rifle cartridges of an earlier period:
Cartridge for the Krnka, Baranova rifle
Produced at the St. Petersburg plant (and some workshops without designations)
Probably L is the name of the St. Petersburg Foundry.
Probably VGO - Vasileostrovsky cartridge case department of the St. Petersburg cartridge plant.
The designation of the third year of manufacture appears
Petersburg plant
Unfortunately, I have no information on the designations before 1880, most likely the letter B denotes the Vasileostrovsky cartridge case department of the St. Petersburg cartridge plant, and the upper sign is the name of the brass manufacturer.
Made by Keller & Co., Hirtenberg Austria, probably commissioned by Bulgaria for the Serbo-Bulgarian War.
Any beginner or already experienced searcher knows how often they come across cartridges or cartridges from the Second World War. But besides shell casings, or cartridges, there are even more dangerous finds. This is exactly what we will talk about and about safety on the cop.
During my 3 years of searching, I dug up more than a hundred shells of various calibers. Starting from ordinary cartridges, ending with 250 mm aerial bombs. I have been in the hands of F1 grenades with the rings pulled out, mortar shells that did not explode, etc. My limbs are still intact thanks to the fact that I know how to behave with them correctly.
Let's talk about the cartridge right away. The cartridge is the most common and widespread find, found absolutely everywhere, in any field, farm, forest, etc. A misfired or unfired cartridge is safe as long as you don't throw it into the fire. Then it will work anyway. Therefore, this should not be done.
Next are more dangerous finds, which are also very often found and raised by our fellow search engines. These are RGD-33, F1, M-39, M-24 grenades and rarer varieties. Of course, with such things, you need to be more careful. If the pin or fuse of a grenade is intact, then you can easily pick it up and drown it in the nearest lake. If, however, the pin was pulled from the grenade and it did not work, which happens very often. If you accidentally stumble upon such a find with a shovel, it is better to bypass it and call the Ministry of Emergency Situations. But, as a rule, they will ignore your call and tell you not to go to such places.
Very often you come across mortar shells in battlefields. They are less dangerous than grenades, but you also need to be careful with such a find, especially if the mine did not work.
Up the mine, this is its dangerous place. There is a fuse there, when a mine was fired from a mortar, it flew out of the barrel with the fuse down, and when it hit the ground, that same fuse was triggered. But, if the mine fell into a swamp or very soft ground, it might not work. Therefore, if you find something similar to this shell in the ground, be careful with the top of the mine.
Of course, you can transport it and bring it to the nearest body of water to drown it. But you need to be careful. And under no circumstances should you drop it or hit it with a shovel.
And of course, larger shells are high-explosive fragmentation shells, which are best left untouched due to their size and the volume of the affected area. If you can tell by the copper belt whether it was fired or not. If it is not shot, then it can be taken to the river and drowned, but if it is shot and for some reason it does not work. It’s better not to touch it or move it.
The photo shows a 125 mm caliber projectile:
In general, shells are not as dangerous as everyone says about them. By following basic safety precautions and the short rules that you came across in this article, you will protect yourself from dangerous finds, and you can safely engage in excavations without fear of explosions.
And by the way, do not forget about the law of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code “illegal storage of ammunition and weapons”, this can include even a small cartridge.
There are three modifications of grenade launcher rounds. The original and already obsolete type VOG-17 with an instantaneous fuse. The subsequent modification, VOG-17M, differs from the previous one in that the fuse is equipped with a self-destruct device. The self-destruct mechanism is activated by overloads when fired.
For firing from automatic grenade launchers, 40x53 mm shots are used with an initial grenade speed of more than 240 m/s. The effective firing range of these grenades is 2000-2200 m. An important feature of foreign ammunition for anti-personnel grenade launchers is their diversity.
Experience of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. showed the need for mass production of cartridges. In one of his speeches, J.V. Stalin said that in 1944 alone, the Soviet Union produced 7 billion 400 million rounds of ammunition.
The effectiveness of gas cartridges is assessed experimentally in order to determine the concentration of the tear substance at different distances. For this purpose, specially designed sampling tubes are used, in which a package of filtering and sorbing material is placed.
The effectiveness of traumatic cartridges is assessed using the following methods:
- by specific kinetic energy, which should not exceed 0.5 J/mm2;
- by imprint in ballistic plasticine;
- by hydrostatic pressure, which should not exceed 50 MPa.
The enemy can use various means of protection against damage: building structures, car bodies, personal armor protection (PIB). When hitting an obstacle, the bullets are deformed.
Armor-piercing bullets provide the greatest penetration depth.
The objectives of the experimental assessment of the effectiveness of the lethal (damaging) effect of cartridges are to assess the behavior of the bullet, regardless of the location of impact and the trajectory of the bullet in the body, correlated with the actual results of using cartridges.
In the 80s XX century, the US National Law Institute developed a mathematical model that allows using a computer to obtain the relative stopping effect coefficient RII (Relative Incapacitation Index) for various ammunition.
The effectiveness of a cartridge is determined by the probability of incapacitating manpower or other targets when fired from a weapon and depends on the probability of hitting the target, the lethal, stopping and penetrating effect of the bullet. The determination of the probability of hitting a target is described in sufficient detail in the specialized literature.
It is well known that a shot from a firearm is accompanied by a loud sound, which, along with the muzzle flame, is the main unmasking factor for the sniper, indicating the direction of the shot and warning the enemy of the threat.
The small arms system that Russia inherited from the USSR was focused on the concept of a global-scale conflict involving large human and material resources. However, the experience of local wars in the second half of the 20th century showed the need to increase the firing range of sniper weapons with the probability of hitting a “running figure” target at a distance of 1500 m. In this regard, sniper rifles were developed chambered for .50 Browning and the domestic 12.7x108 mm cartridge .
The main domestic rifle cartridge is the 7.62x54 mm cartridge of the 1908/30 model, which was the basis for the creation of the SVD family of sniper rifles and other weapon designs (Fig. 1). Two types of cartridges were developed specifically for sniper rifles: “sniper” 7N1 and the so-called “with silver nose bullets” 57-N-323S.
The main cartridges used for sniping by foreign armies and intelligence services are: 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge (.223 Remington), .243 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, 7.5x54mm, .300 Winchester Magnum, 7.62x51mm NATO, .338 Lapua Magnum, .50 Browning.
The .243 Winchester cartridge (Fig. 1, a) is a typical hunting ammunition that has insignificant recoil compared to larger caliber ammunition and, accordingly, provides better accuracy.
Shooting further and more accurately is one of the priorities for the development of small arms and ammunition. As soon as one of the warring sides achieved an increase in the capabilities of one or another type of small arms, the other side immediately suffered additional losses and was forced to change the tactics of its troops.
Gas cartridges are used mainly in civilian weapons due to their sufficient effectiveness in riot control. They are equipped with irritants - substances that cause a person to temporarily lose the ability to carry out active actions due to irritation of the mucous surfaces of the eyes, upper respiratory tract, and moist skin.
A separate group includes small-caliber pistol cartridges designed for use in PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) weapons. They are characterized by a caliber of 4.4...5.8 mm, a low bullet mass, an initial bullet speed of more than 700 m/s, a bottle sleeve, and a relatively high penetration effect for pistol cartridges.
In the early 1980s. Relatively lightweight body armor of varying degrees of protection appeared. So, for example, a 1st class body armor provides protection from bullets of cartridges 57-N-181 C (for the PM pistol) and 57-N-111 (for the Nagan revolver), and a 2nd class of protection provides protection from bullets of the 7N7 cartridge (for the PSM pistol) and 57-11-134 S (for the TT pistol). And although the body armor covers 25-30% of the human body, it has significantly increased survivability in combat conditions.
The 9-mm Parabellum cartridge, adopted by Germany on August 22, 1908, is still in service with the armies of most countries of the world. To a large extent, such a long life of the cartridge is due to the fact that it was constantly improved.
In 1936, the German company Gustav Genschow & Co created the 9-mm Ultra cartridge for the Walter PP pistol. The 9-mm “Kurz” cartridge was taken as the basis, with the sleeve lengthened from 17 to 18.5 mm. The cartridge was produced until the end of World War II.
The “father” of modern pistol cartridges is considered to be Hugo Borchardt, chief engineer of the German arms company Ludwig Lewe & Co., who in 1893 developed a 7.65×25 cartridge (caliber × case length) with a bottle sleeve for his self-loading pistol , a groove instead of a flange and a shell bullet.
The pistol was not accepted for service, and Borchard did not continue to refine his pistol and cartridge.
Pistol cartridge bullets are divided into shellless (solid), shelled, semi-jacketed (with an open nose), expansive (with a cavity in the head), and armor-piercing. In the United States and Western countries, abbreviations are used to indicate design features. The most common abbreviations are shown in the table
According to the forensic requirements of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the minimum energy criterion for human susceptibility is a specific kinetic energy of 0.5 J/mm².
The mass of the bullet is of great importance. The lighter the bullet, the faster it loses kinetic energy, the more difficult it is to keep it within the limits of the permissible traumatic effect at an acceptable firing range. As a result, it is necessary to significantly increase the initial energy, introducing restrictions on the minimum permissible distance for using weapons, which is not always possible to withstand.
The predecessor of this ammunition is the 7.62 mm reduced velocity (SV) cartridge, created in the early 60s. for use in an AKM assault rifle equipped with a silent and flameless firing device (SBS).
The SP-5 and SP-6 9 mm cartridges were created according to the same principle in the mid-80s. N. Zabelin, L. Dvoryaninova and Yu.Z. Frolov at TsNIITOCHMASH based on the 7.62 mm cartridge case mod. 1943. Leaving its shape, length and capsule the same, the designers changed the barrel of the cartridge case - to attach a 9-mm bullet, and the powder charge - to impart to a bullet weighing about 16 g an initial speed of 280-295 m/s. Used for shooting from the 9-mm VSK-94 sniper rifle, AK-9 Kalashnikov assault rifle, and special “Val” assault rifle.
The first thing you need to understand is that a traumatic weapon is far from being a combat weapon or even a service weapon, although it can be used on its basis. In other words, you shouldn’t expect miracles from a traumatic pistol, because when it was created, I’m more than sure, the main requirement for any model was to minimize the likelihood of causing severe injuries that could lead to death. However, one should not underestimate trauma, considering it a child’s toy with which a bit of pampering is acceptable. This is the same weapon, it can also kill under certain conditions, not guaranteed, of course, but it can.
Often, in modern conditions, the outcome of a fire contact will depend not only on the skill of the shooter, his weapon, but also on the ammunition used.
The purpose of the cartridge depends on the type of bullet with which it is equipped. Today, there are many different types of bullets with a wide variety of destructive effects - from non-lethal to armor-piercing. The main meaning of these differences is the interfering (defeat of manpower protected by armor) or stopping action (braking the bullet at the target and complete transfer of impulse). The stopping effect implies an increased traumatic effect.
It was developed by B.V. Semin. When designing the cartridge, the cartridge case from the 7.62x25 mm TT cartridge, “cut” at 18 mm from the bottom, was taken as the basis. This decision made it possible, on the one hand, to use machine tools and measuring equipment for TT cartridges, and on the other hand, it excluded the possibility of using new cartridges for Soviet weapons that remained in the hands of the population after the war.