Weapon Miracles: Cold or Gunshot?
It would seem, how to improve the knife? Its very construction does not leave much choice: the blade, the handle and the guard. What is here to improve? But no, the gunsmith designers have been working on the shape of the blades, experimenting with various steel grades and sharpening methods, and so on. Moreover, no one will be surprised with a knife, in the handle of which a special container with a “survival kit” is placed. But in appearance such a knife is almost no different from others.
I must say, the handle was and remains a rather interesting part of the knife. For example, sometimes so-called is placed on its head. shock spike, and there are a lot of options for ergonomics. One of the directions of "interest" to the knife handle for a long time remained attempts to inscribe a shooting device in it. Various designs and even prototypes appeared. But, unfortunately, their authors, all these "hybrids" of firearms and cold weapons remained only experimental. Only Soviet gunsmiths managed to bring such weapons to a more or less large series.
In the late sixties, shortly after the appearance of silent cartridges with a cut-off of powder gases, the staff of the Central Research Institute Tochmash and the Tula Arms Plant began to "cross" cold steel and firearms. The shooting device for the knife was made under the silent cartridge SP-3. This ammunition was chosen for one simple reason: the shooting knife was made as a special tool for special forces soldiers, it had to help eliminate the enemy, which is called, without noise and dust. Interestingly, the entire line of Soviet cartridges with a cut-off of powder gases was created for similar reasons. The fact is that I.Ya. Stechkin, creating in the 50-x shooting cigarette case, and could not fit into the dimensions of the compact accessory at least some decent muffler. So I had to come back to the idea from the twenties. In the cartridge SP-1, which was made specifically for the cigarette case, as in several other munitions of the “SP” family, the powder gases push the bullet not independently, but through a special wad-piston. When fired, the piston knocks a bullet out of the neck of the liner, and he gets stuck in it. Gases remain inside the sleeve because of what they can not create a so-called. muzzle sound wave. The shot is almost completely silent - only the sound of moving parts of the weapon is heard.
The cartridge SP-3 (7,62x38 mm) is equipped with a standard “three-line” bullet from the intermediate cartridge 7,62x39 mm, which made it a bit cheaper. In addition, this cartridge was originally created for special SME and СHNUMXМ pistols, which were intended for the silent liquidation of "objects" outside combat conditions. The serial bullet should have confused the people who are investigating the murder. However, when creating a shooting device for a knife, the designers hardly proceeded from these same considerations. Just at the end of the 4-x cartridge SP-60 was the most perfect design of all Soviet ammunition with a cut-off of powder gases.
The basis for the knife with a shooting device was taken knife scout HP-43 "Cherry". This also affected the name of the project - the alphanumeric index "Cherry" removed the numbers and added the letter "C", behind which the word "shooting" was covered. As a result, the new knife was called LDC. It also required to change the shape of the blade, namely the part that is inside the handle and significantly modify the shape of the blade. A shooting device is placed in the cavity inside the handle. It consists of a base-shutter, trigger mechanism and the barrel with chamber. The barrel length of 60 mm is made removable and is the only removable part when working with a firing device. However, if necessary, the entire firing device can be removed from the handle, but this is not part of the preparation for the shot. In its muzzle of the barrel is connected with the lock washer, and the breech has a chamber. Automation in the knife LDCs is not provided. Charging and recharging is done manually. To do this, with the help of a special lever, the barrel with the chamber is turned around its axis, thanks to which the bolt is unlocked, after which the barrel can be taken out by translation. A cartridge is manually inserted into the chamber and all operations are performed in the reverse order. The barrel is locked by turning it, on two lugs on the chamber and on the lip of the contactor. The trigger mechanism is located behind the breech. For its cocking, it is required to pull the lever located on the side surface of the knife handle as far as it will go. The descent is performed using the button next to the barrel of the firing device. On the other side of the head of the handle is a safety lever that blocks the shutter release button. After a shot is fired, it is required to manually remove the barrel with the chamber and remove the sleeve from it. To facilitate the extraction of hot sleeves on the upper arc of the guard there is a semicircular cutout. The specificity of the application of the LDCs provides for shooting exclusively from short distances. In such cases, it is possible to conduct free fire, but the workers of the Central Research Institute Tochmash and TOZ equipped the knife with a gun. On the lower arc of the guard there is a cut-out, and on the bottom surface of the handle there is a front sight. The LDC was equipped with the same scabbard as the Cherry.
The first version of the Knife scout shooting was released relatively small series, which allowed us to collect information on the pros and cons of the design. At the same time, at the end of 70-x, the Central Research Institute Tochmash created a new cartridge with gas cut-off. The SP-4 differed from its predecessors by the piston remaining in the liner and the piston that did not protrude from it, and the new bullet adapted for firing at short distances. Gunsmiths with TOZ responded to the new cartridge by upgrading the shooting knife. The HPC-2 was made in accordance with the characteristics of the new cartridge. The new shooting device was almost no different from the old one. But the blade has undergone major changes. The blade “pike” was replaced with a descending butt line - it turned out that this form was more effective for piercing thick clothing. The HPC-2 blade was made of steel 25X17H2BSH and covered with “black chrome”. The file on the root of the blade's butt remained unchanged.
The HPC-2 also received a new sheath. Their plastic construction combines several tools at once. On the end surface of the scabbard there are nippers. They consist of two halves, one of which is rigidly fixed on the sheath, and the second is mounted on the screw and equipped with a long lever. On the stationary part of the pliers there is a small protrusion-screwdriver. It is alleged that with the help of a scabbard you can cut a telephone cable with a thickness of up to five millimeters or a steel wire with a thickness of 2,5 mm, twisted into two wires. Plastic insulator allows cutting wires that are live up to 380 volts. The sheath is attached to the uniform of a fighter in two ways: on the waist belt with a leather suspension or on the leg with a textile-rubber one. In addition to the scabbard with a knife, a small cartridge case for cartridges and a case with accessories for cleaning the shooting device and straightening the blade are attached to the harness.
Both shooting knives were created to ensure the defeat of the enemy at once in two ways. At the same time, balancing the LDCs and LDCs-2 allows not only to beat or cut them, but also to throw. However, in the case of LDCs, frequent throws were not recommended due to the possibility of damage to the firing mechanism. For this reason, a special liner is included in the HPC-2 knife kit, the mass of which is equal to the mass of the firing device. For practicing knife throwing, a fighter can take out the firing mechanism and install an insert in its place. Thanks to this, it is possible to train the accuracy of a throw without the risk of remaining in battle without firing mechanics.
LDCs and LDCs-2 were used and are being used in special units to perform specific combat missions. On the specific cases of the combat use of these weapons, unfortunately, is unknown. At the same time, based on the combat characteristics, it is possible to make assumptions regarding the characteristics of the application with great accuracy. This is the elimination of time, damage to communications, etc. Curious about domestic shooting knives story: The LDCs were made on the basis of the existing "ordinary" combat knife. The LDC-2, namely its blade, was made to some extent from scratch. The design of the blade of the second shooting knife was so successful that the military wanted to get a similar weapon, but without a shooting device. The result was the HP-2 opener, in the handle of which a case with a “survival kit” is placed.
I must say, the handle was and remains a rather interesting part of the knife. For example, sometimes so-called is placed on its head. shock spike, and there are a lot of options for ergonomics. One of the directions of "interest" to the knife handle for a long time remained attempts to inscribe a shooting device in it. Various designs and even prototypes appeared. But, unfortunately, their authors, all these "hybrids" of firearms and cold weapons remained only experimental. Only Soviet gunsmiths managed to bring such weapons to a more or less large series.
In the late sixties, shortly after the appearance of silent cartridges with a cut-off of powder gases, the staff of the Central Research Institute Tochmash and the Tula Arms Plant began to "cross" cold steel and firearms. The shooting device for the knife was made under the silent cartridge SP-3. This ammunition was chosen for one simple reason: the shooting knife was made as a special tool for special forces soldiers, it had to help eliminate the enemy, which is called, without noise and dust. Interestingly, the entire line of Soviet cartridges with a cut-off of powder gases was created for similar reasons. The fact is that I.Ya. Stechkin, creating in the 50-x shooting cigarette case, and could not fit into the dimensions of the compact accessory at least some decent muffler. So I had to come back to the idea from the twenties. In the cartridge SP-1, which was made specifically for the cigarette case, as in several other munitions of the “SP” family, the powder gases push the bullet not independently, but through a special wad-piston. When fired, the piston knocks a bullet out of the neck of the liner, and he gets stuck in it. Gases remain inside the sleeve because of what they can not create a so-called. muzzle sound wave. The shot is almost completely silent - only the sound of moving parts of the weapon is heard.
The cartridge SP-3 (7,62x38 mm) is equipped with a standard “three-line” bullet from the intermediate cartridge 7,62x39 mm, which made it a bit cheaper. In addition, this cartridge was originally created for special SME and СHNUMXМ pistols, which were intended for the silent liquidation of "objects" outside combat conditions. The serial bullet should have confused the people who are investigating the murder. However, when creating a shooting device for a knife, the designers hardly proceeded from these same considerations. Just at the end of the 4-x cartridge SP-60 was the most perfect design of all Soviet ammunition with a cut-off of powder gases.
The basis for the knife with a shooting device was taken knife scout HP-43 "Cherry". This also affected the name of the project - the alphanumeric index "Cherry" removed the numbers and added the letter "C", behind which the word "shooting" was covered. As a result, the new knife was called LDC. It also required to change the shape of the blade, namely the part that is inside the handle and significantly modify the shape of the blade. A shooting device is placed in the cavity inside the handle. It consists of a base-shutter, trigger mechanism and the barrel with chamber. The barrel length of 60 mm is made removable and is the only removable part when working with a firing device. However, if necessary, the entire firing device can be removed from the handle, but this is not part of the preparation for the shot. In its muzzle of the barrel is connected with the lock washer, and the breech has a chamber. Automation in the knife LDCs is not provided. Charging and recharging is done manually. To do this, with the help of a special lever, the barrel with the chamber is turned around its axis, thanks to which the bolt is unlocked, after which the barrel can be taken out by translation. A cartridge is manually inserted into the chamber and all operations are performed in the reverse order. The barrel is locked by turning it, on two lugs on the chamber and on the lip of the contactor. The trigger mechanism is located behind the breech. For its cocking, it is required to pull the lever located on the side surface of the knife handle as far as it will go. The descent is performed using the button next to the barrel of the firing device. On the other side of the head of the handle is a safety lever that blocks the shutter release button. After a shot is fired, it is required to manually remove the barrel with the chamber and remove the sleeve from it. To facilitate the extraction of hot sleeves on the upper arc of the guard there is a semicircular cutout. The specificity of the application of the LDCs provides for shooting exclusively from short distances. In such cases, it is possible to conduct free fire, but the workers of the Central Research Institute Tochmash and TOZ equipped the knife with a gun. On the lower arc of the guard there is a cut-out, and on the bottom surface of the handle there is a front sight. The LDC was equipped with the same scabbard as the Cherry.
The first version of the Knife scout shooting was released relatively small series, which allowed us to collect information on the pros and cons of the design. At the same time, at the end of 70-x, the Central Research Institute Tochmash created a new cartridge with gas cut-off. The SP-4 differed from its predecessors by the piston remaining in the liner and the piston that did not protrude from it, and the new bullet adapted for firing at short distances. Gunsmiths with TOZ responded to the new cartridge by upgrading the shooting knife. The HPC-2 was made in accordance with the characteristics of the new cartridge. The new shooting device was almost no different from the old one. But the blade has undergone major changes. The blade “pike” was replaced with a descending butt line - it turned out that this form was more effective for piercing thick clothing. The HPC-2 blade was made of steel 25X17H2BSH and covered with “black chrome”. The file on the root of the blade's butt remained unchanged.
The HPC-2 also received a new sheath. Their plastic construction combines several tools at once. On the end surface of the scabbard there are nippers. They consist of two halves, one of which is rigidly fixed on the sheath, and the second is mounted on the screw and equipped with a long lever. On the stationary part of the pliers there is a small protrusion-screwdriver. It is alleged that with the help of a scabbard you can cut a telephone cable with a thickness of up to five millimeters or a steel wire with a thickness of 2,5 mm, twisted into two wires. Plastic insulator allows cutting wires that are live up to 380 volts. The sheath is attached to the uniform of a fighter in two ways: on the waist belt with a leather suspension or on the leg with a textile-rubber one. In addition to the scabbard with a knife, a small cartridge case for cartridges and a case with accessories for cleaning the shooting device and straightening the blade are attached to the harness.
Both shooting knives were created to ensure the defeat of the enemy at once in two ways. At the same time, balancing the LDCs and LDCs-2 allows not only to beat or cut them, but also to throw. However, in the case of LDCs, frequent throws were not recommended due to the possibility of damage to the firing mechanism. For this reason, a special liner is included in the HPC-2 knife kit, the mass of which is equal to the mass of the firing device. For practicing knife throwing, a fighter can take out the firing mechanism and install an insert in its place. Thanks to this, it is possible to train the accuracy of a throw without the risk of remaining in battle without firing mechanics.
LDCs and LDCs-2 were used and are being used in special units to perform specific combat missions. On the specific cases of the combat use of these weapons, unfortunately, is unknown. At the same time, based on the combat characteristics, it is possible to make assumptions regarding the characteristics of the application with great accuracy. This is the elimination of time, damage to communications, etc. Curious about domestic shooting knives story: The LDCs were made on the basis of the existing "ordinary" combat knife. The LDC-2, namely its blade, was made to some extent from scratch. The design of the blade of the second shooting knife was so successful that the military wanted to get a similar weapon, but without a shooting device. The result was the HP-2 opener, in the handle of which a case with a “survival kit” is placed.
Information