Submachine gun: yesterday, today, tomorrow. Part of 1. First-generation submachine guns
Why do the stars burn,
Why do the stars burn,
Why do the stars burn?
It is not clear.
Get me a gun
Find me a gun,
Buy me a machine.
And that's that.
Chorus:
Believe me, means known
So that finally everything at once fell into place.
No one will say anything bad, but who decides to say
Immediately and immediately fall.
(“Dear Boy”, 1974, the music by D. Tukhmanov, lyrics by L. Derbeneva)
Why do the stars burn,
Why do the stars burn?
It is not clear.
Get me a gun
Find me a gun,
Buy me a machine.
And that's that.
Chorus:
Believe me, means known
So that finally everything at once fell into place.
No one will say anything bad, but who decides to say
Immediately and immediately fall.
(“Dear Boy”, 1974, the music by D. Tukhmanov, lyrics by L. Derbeneva)
In the wonderful Soviet movie “Dear Boy”, this is certainly not about the machine gun itself, but about the submachine gun. Moreover, one of the gangsters, the kidnappers of both “dear boys,” is armed with a submachine gun - something similar to the American M3, and from time to time it shoots from it. Fortunately, not in people!
So we’ll really be talking about a submachine gun and ... about its place in the past, present and prospects for the future. And if so, then you need to start from the very beginning. But not from that double-barreled Italian freak, who for some reason is considered the father of all PPs (rather, this is not his own grandfather), but from real, “human appearance” samples with a butt and a magazine adapted for “manual use” and appearing at the very end World War I Well, such a famous author as Christopher Chant will become our “guide” in this diverse world of PP, and even if it’s an “enemy voice,” it’s believed that he is well versed in armory topic. So…
MP-18 with snail shop on the 32 cartridge from the pistol "Parabellum".
In his opinion, even today, after 100 after its birth, the first and truly successful PP is MP-18, and it could well have fought today because it is a classic! Well, the first article about this submachine gun on VO appeared on 13 of March 2013 of the year, so this is really a classic. But what is important to note, and what should be emphasized? Firstly, despite the short barrel (only 200 mm), effective fire could be fired from it at a distance of up to 150 meters, and this was quite enough then. Secondly, the rate of fire in 450 rounds per minute was also convenient for everyone. The following material on VO about MP-18 from 31 on August 2013 of the year dealt with the distrust of the top military leadership of Germany in this type of weapon, as a result of which each type of armed forces chose a submachine gun for itself, which is why he appeared in the army in several samples at once.
But, the MP-18 was not the only contender for the role of "pioneer" of all modern submachine guns. Let us recall, for example, Adolph Furrer’s M1919 submachine gun (BO 24 September 2014) with a pistol “Parabellum” mechanism, which was late for distribution, although only for a year.
Submachine gun "Standschütze Hellriegel".
Standschütze Hellriegel device.
They tried to make a submachine gun in Austria-Hungary. Moreover, even earlier than in Germany. Work on the submachine gun "Standschütze Hellriegel" began here in 1915 year. Moreover, the power was supplied by cartridges from the German drum shop “Trommel” (“Drum”) with a capacity of 160 cartridges. But the flow of ammunition from it into the chamber of the submachine gun passed ... along the flexible chute, which was connected to the receiver of the magazine on the barrel. Since the drum spring could move with difficulty (if at all), the cartridge feed mechanism is not completely clear. But on the other hand, the presence of this “sleeve” gave reason to believe that this submachine gun had band feed, although in reality it was not at all so. We can assume that it was supposed to use domestic 9 × 23 mm Steyr pistol cartridges. But it was, perhaps, his only dignity. The complex feed mechanism, and also water cooling, put a cross on this design. Although in itself it was interesting. For example, the bolt had two guides for two springs, which later, much later, was implemented in the design of many submachine guns.
By the way, in the same Germany they tried to make a submachine gun even on the basis of the same Maxim machine gun! With a handle like a meat grinder handle and with a machine-gun bolt, this ersatz weapon remained a prototype!
But then there were 20 and 30 years. Years of exploration and discoveries, years of preparation for the new war. And ... here we already know that both the German generals and the young Soviet commanders and people's commissars were equally suspicious of such weapons as a submachine gun. Both Bolotin, and Gnatovskiy and Shorin, and the same Shantin, they all say that they were considered then police weapons, but that was exactly the way it was. In Germany, they just went to the police of the Weimar Republic, because the Versailles Treaty of their use in the army was limited. Had to resort to tricks. For example, the German company “Rheinmetall” simply bought the Swiss company “Soloturn” and ... began in neighboring Switzerland to produce the German, in essence, the submachine gun “Steyer-Soloturn” S1-100 in 20-30 of the last century, which was actively supplied to the markets from around the world, including Japan, China and the South American republics. In addition to the 9-mm machine gun pistols, samples were produced for 9-mm cartridge Mauser and 9-mm Steyer. The Chinese, Japanese and South American parties of this weapon were specially ordered for 7,63-mm Mauser cartridges. The Portuguese, in contrast, needed a submachine gun chambered for “Parabellum” 7,65-mm. There were models with a mount for the bayonet, with an attached tripod (!!!) and a mass of spare parts. Moreover, the quality of the manufacture of these weapons was traditionally Swiss. And ... it was enough just to buy one such submachine gun, disassemble, measure all its details and ... make it up for its own production. That is either better (which would be very difficult!), Either at the Swiss level, or ... worse, but its own. The last path was taken, for example, by the Japanese, who released their “100 type”, and the same Englishmen who copied the German MP-28 (almost all the same MP-18, only 1928 of the model year), which had been produced before in Belgium, and in Spain, but in England turned into "Lanchester". True, the store he contained 50, not the cartridge 32, but in principle the changes in it were minimal. K. Shant notes that both the MP-28 and the Lanchester were reliable and generally not a bad weapon, only their production was quite expensive.
"Steyer-Solothurn" S1-100 with all accessories.
Interestingly, 1928 has become a significant year for submachine guns. So, it was this year that the US Navy officially adopted General John Thompson’s “gangster” submachine gun, which he “pushed” into the army from the very end of the First World War, and in the USSR it was this year that the Artillery Committee proposed to accept for pistols and 7,63 × 25 submachine guns mm Mauser cartridge, which largely determined the future of our domestic submachine guns. By the way, for some reason, in many books devoted to the weapon theme, their authors write that in the USSR, machine guns were not given due attention in the pre-war years. But how can this be, if it was in our USSR in 1932 - 1933 that the whole 14 (!) Samples of 7,62-mm submachine guns, including Tokarev, Degtyaryov submachine guns (based on his machine gun DP-27) and Korovin, as well as Prilutsky and Kolesnikov. Where more, and most importantly - which country can boast a large number of prototypes?
Incomplete disassembly of the "Steyer-Solothurn" S1-100.
So, in the 20-30s, the same Germans received submachine guns (except for MP-18) MP-28, MP-34 and MP-35, not too different from each other. The Italian Beretta entered service in the 1934. Thompson M1928, Steyer Solothurn S1-100 (1930 year) in this sense were already almost veterans, just like the Finnish Suomi m / 1931. In the same glorious cohort of the heirs of the MP-18 mid 30-x we see our PPD-34 with a box magazine on the 25 cartridge and copied from the Finnish drum on the 71 cartridge.
"Suomi" m / 1931.
Now let's see what the trend manifested in the design of PP in these years. Well, first of all, the length of the trunk began to grow. The most long-barreled in this plan (up to 1938 of the year) was “Suomi” (314 mm), which allowed him to conduct more accurate fire even at extreme distances of aimed shooting. Then the rate of fire began to grow. In MP-18, it was 350 / 450 rounds per minute, but in MP-28 it grew to 650, in Beretta and Lanchester it was already 600, 700 in Thompson, in PPD-34 and “Type 100” No - 800 and Suomi's 900 shots per minute! Shooting switches appeared, which now allowed firing both single fire and bursts, and the same “Suomi” in addition also had a box-shaped two-row magazine on 50 cartridges placed in it in two sections with alternate feed. That is, it is obvious that the density of fire at this time began to be considered more important than accuracy, since at close range it is precisely this indicator that is the most important for a submachine gun.
PPD-34 with magazine for 25 cartridges.
PPD-34 with magazine on 71 cartridge.
The last of the “veterans” of 30’s, namely 1938 of the year, which also became a landmark in stories submachine guns, became the Czechoslovak ZK383. He was distinguished from all other samples by the presence of a folding bipod that retracts folded up in the forearm, a return spring in the ... butt, and an original device that shows the “direction of flight of thought” of the designers of that time - a removable weight weight for the bolt, 170 g I put the weight on - and the submachine gun makes 500 shots per minute, removed - the shutter became lighter, and the firing rate increased to 700 shots! They even equipped it with a quick-change barrel mechanism. That is, as you wish, and use! In addition to Czechoslovakia, the ZK383 (for the needs of the police, the model “P” was released without a bipod) entered into service with the Bulgarian army, where, like the Lanchester in the British Navy, it was operated until the 60 of the last century. They also entered the service of Brazil and Venezuela, but the parties were small. But when the Second World War began, these PP under the brand name vz 9 went to the armament of the troops ... SS, who fought on the Eastern Front! The SS found him to be quite good, albeit a bit heavy. But they fought with him throughout the war. True, the concept of "heavy" is very relative, considering that the equipped PPD-34 weighed 5,69 kg, "Suomi" 7,04 kg (with a drum shop), and ZK383 - 4,83 kg.
Czechoslovak ZK383 "on legs".
But it was the last submachine gun, made in the "old tradition" and belonging to the first generation of submachine guns. In the same 1938 year, a completely new sample of a submachine gun appeared in the same Germany, and with it in the history of PP a new page was opened ...
To be continued ...
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