Multiple machine guns system I.I. Slostina

Currently, our army has several artillery and machine-gun systems with a rotating barrel unit. Development weapons Such a scheme began in our country quite a long time ago, and the first workable model appeared in 1939 year. The machine gun of the system of Ivan Ilyich Slostin passed tests and went for revision. Subsequently, the designer introduced two new versions of such weapons.

Squall machine gun arr. 1939

Designer from the Bureau of Tool Plant №2 (now Kovrovsky Plant named after Degtyarev) I.I. In the 1935 year, Slostin took up the theme of high-tempo or “squall” machine guns. The study of existing schemes showed that the best results of the rate of fire should be shown by a scheme with a rotating block of barrels, which has so far been ignored by Soviet gunsmiths. In 1936, the designer prepared a draft version of the draft of a similar machine gun. Then same I.I. Slostin discussed the project with the head of the Leningrad Artillery Academy A.A. Blagonravov.

Machine gun 1946 g. On the machine Sokolov. Photo Oruzhie.info

Further development of the project took several years, and a prototype was made only in 1939 year. The main element of the squall machine gun was a block of eight barrels, rotating around a longitudinal axis. The rotation and operation of automation was provided by a single gas engine. Powder gases flowed into it from a muzzle interacting with an “active” barrel. The machine gun had tape power and used a standard cartridge 7,62x54 mm R.

In theory, the new design was supposed to show the rate of fire to 5 thousand shots per minute. On tests, the maximum value of this parameter reached 3300 rds / min, and the average was even lower. But even at this rate of fire, the standard 250 tape for cartridges was consumed in a matter of seconds.

The test results were mixed. The machine gun showed the highest rate of fire, but accuracy left much to be desired. In addition, high firepower was achieved only on the first tape. After 250 shots, the barrels overheated, and the mechanics refused to work before cooling.

Left and right view. Photo of Wikimedia Commons

It is obvious that such a machine gun was not of interest to the Red Army. He was not recommended for adoption. However, I.I. Slostin did not abandon the promising concept and continued its development.

Machine gun arr. 1946

The development of an improved version of squally machine gun took several years. In the prewar period and during the Great Patriotic War, the Kovrov plant was loaded with work, and I.I. Slostin could not quickly complete the design. Also on the development time affected a radical restructuring of automation. The finished, improved sample was brought to tests only in the 1946 year.

Details of weapons. Photo Oruzhie.info

The new machine gun was noticeably different from the previous one. The designer retained a block of eight trunks of the 7,62 mm caliber, but changed its architecture. Now there was a gas block in the central part of each barrel: on one side there was an L-shaped piston with an internal gas exhaust channel, on the other - a cylindrical gas chamber. With their help, the trunks had to be connected to each other. The piston of one barrel entered the chamber of the next. Near the breech of each trunk there was a thorn with a roller. The trunks were fixed in a pair of couplings, which allowed them to rotate around the longitudinal axis, as well as move along it.

The barrel assembly was mounted on a machine gun with the help of an axis with bearings and female clips. The rear cage had a complex shape and an internal groove for the barrel rollers. It was she who was responsible for the longitudinal movement of the barrels during the shooting. Under the block of trunks, there was a manual reloading mechanism with a cocking handle.

Product Scheme arr. 1946 d. Figure Otvaga2004.ru

The rear gun unit contained a tape ammunition system and firing mechanism. Inside the unit there was a fixed part with shutter functions. The machine gun was supposed to take the metal band on the right; sleeves and links were thrown through the pipe on the left. Pulling the ribbon carried gears associated with the block trunks. The cartridges moved in a circle from right to left and from top to bottom, reaching the disilanement line with a wedge-shaped pusher. The same axis-based system was responsible for cocking the spring-loaded drummer, which was locked in the cocked position with a trigger.

To execute the first shot, it was necessary to place the tape in the receiver and turn the cocking handle. At the same time, the block of trunks was turned, and the power supply system pushed the cartridge to the dismounting line. Then the lower barrel moved back, putting on the cartridge, and carried out the platoon trigger. When you press the trigger, the firing pin was released and fired.

Powder gases from the channel of the “active” barrel through the channel in the piston fell into the chamber of the neighboring barrel. Gases forced the camera along with the barrel to move forward. The roller of this barrel was moved along the copy groove, the shape of which made the whole block of barrels turn. When the block was shifted to 1 / 8 a full turn, the next barrel could fire a shot. At the same time, the liner was extracted from the shot person. The rotation of the barrel block made the ammunition system work and cocked the trigger.

Mechanisms machine gun 1946 g. In the "expanded" form. Figure Otvaga2004.ru

Machine gun Slostin arr. 1946 g. Had a length of 775 mm with a barrel length of 605 mm (stroke length - 50 mm). Own weight of the machine gun - 28 kg (of which 17,2 kg - a rotating unit). When using the Sokolov machine, the weight of the gun reached 67 kg. Calculated rate of fire - 3000-3100 rds / min. Effective range of fire - 2 km.

Tests and recommendations

In the summer of 1946, the improved squall machine gun was sent for testing. The results of the checks were again mixed. The military highly appreciated the original design and made some suggestions. At the same time, the machine gun showed insufficient tactical and technical characteristics, which is why it could hardly be expected to be adopted.

The actual rate of fire was one-third lower than the stated one - no more than 2100 rds / min. This gave a high firepower, but led to an increased consumption of ammunition. The accuracy was 6-7 times lower than that of the SG-43 serial single-barreled machine gun. However, the achieved accuracy in combination with the rate of fire gave the machine gun advantages over all existing samples.

The machine gun Slostina on the cabinet for anti-aircraft shooting. Photo Oruzhie.info

The new machine gun Slostina had no tendency to overheat. Without additional cooling it was possible to do up to 1500 shots. An important feature of the machine gun was ease of operation and the absence of small parts. A distinctive noise was a useful feature of the machine gun. It was stated that it "depressing effect on the nervous system."

Machine gun I.I. Slostina arr. 1946 was considered a good model, able to find its place in the army. It was too heavy for infantry, but it could be used on vehicles. With a suitable carrier, the presence of ribbons on 500 cartridges or more and proper use of such a machine gun could significantly increase the combat capability of the troops.

14.5-mm version of the machine gun, left view. Photos Otvaga2004.ru

However, despite positive test results and high marks, the Slostin machine gun was not recommended for immediate use. At that time, the army already had machine guns with the desired characteristics, and no one began to promote a fundamentally new model.

Heavy squall

During the tests, 1946, a proposal to create a new version of the machine gun I.I. Slostina under another cartridge. It was proposed to develop a product for ammunition 14,5x114 mm. Such a machine gun could strengthen armored vehicles, as well as find use in air defense. The development of such a project again took several years. His trials began in May 1949.

I.I. Slostina had to rework the automation. This time he abandoned the system with cameras and pistons on moving shafts. Now the trunks remained motionless, gas chambers were located on them. Next to the trunks appeared pistons, sliders with rollers to interact with a copy groove. The general principles of rotation of the block of trunks remained the same, but instead of moving trunks, sliders were now used.

View from the other side. Photos Otvaga2004.ru

An enlarged and heavier machine gun for a more powerful cartridge was tested at the test site, during which it demonstrated a number of flaws. It turned out that the block of trunks has too much mass and inertia. As a result, at the time of triggering the USM, the “active” trunk could be in a non-optimal position, and this led to an off-center pinning of the capsule. The absence of a fully-fledged shutter with locking did not ensure the sealing of the chamber. As a result, transverse liner cliffs occurred.

Direct borrowing of developments from the previous project with a change in some nodes led to undesirable results. The main problems squall machine gun arr. 1949 g. Caused by a combination of design and excessive power of the cartridge. To get rid of the identified problems, cardinal processing of the structure was required. She was considered inappropriate, and all work was stopped.

Ahead of time

In 1949, all the work on the Slostin machine guns was stopped. The designer returned to other projects, and the prototypes went to storage, including museums. The promising concept of a multi-frame system has faded into the background. Gunsmiths and gunners continued to develop well-developed architecture.

Later, engineers again faced the issue of increasing the rate of fire, and a new stage of development of multi-barreled systems began in the sixties, including with a rotating block of barrels. A number of similar models were adopted, such systems have found application in various fields. Was the experience taken into account by I.I. Slostina when creating a new weapon is not known for certain. However, it was this gunsmith from Kovrov who was the first in our country to take up a promising direction.

Comments

[Mister X]

Thank! A curious machine gun, never heard of it.
About the designer I.I. Slostina from Kovrov also did not hear.

[Ross xnumx]

Thank you for the article.
I was again surprised by the persistence of Soviet designers and engineers and their ability to foresee the future direction in design. From my personal experience and from the stories of my comrades, I can say that, unfortunately, in Soviet times, not only experts, but also party functionaries were involved in evaluating developments. Often it was their opinion that opened or closed the door to a new one. How many projects were sent to the basket (junk) only because of the inertia of production managers who did not want to change anything. So it was, they gave a plan for products that did not meet the requirements for a long time and had bonuses and awards for this.
Nevertheless, the fate of people like I.I. Slostin is worthy of coverage on this site.

[Horse, people and soul]

I was again surprised by the persistence of Soviet designers and engineers and their ability to foresee the future direction in design

Are you talking about a Gatling grape-shot from the late 19th century with a rotating barrel block?

[Sonmaster]

An interesting article about an interesting sample.
For the first time I saw such a domestic design before the war period.

[Undecim]

A useful feature of the machine gun was the characteristic noise. It was indicated that it "depresses the nervous system."
Noise cannot be useful for combat. During World War II, the Allies encountered the German MG-42. The "experience" of this acquaintance was depressing for an ally, and for some soldiers the characteristic sound of "Hitler's circular" caused real panic. The problem was so serious that a special propaganda film was shot for the US Army, in which the soldiers were convinced that the MG-42 was not so scary and no better than American machine guns. All this was accompanied by a demonstration of the successful suppression of German machine-gun points by American machine guns.
It was the characteristic sound, determined by the high rate of fire during the tests in 1946, indicated by engineer-captain Slutsky, obviously familiar with the issue of American problems.

[iConst]

Quote: Undecim

During World War II, the Allies encountered the German MG-42. The "experience" of this acquaintance was depressing for an ally, and for some soldiers the characteristic sound of "Hitler's circular" caused real panic.

Not only allies. The soldiers of the Red Army, too, were familiar with him by hearsay. Two or three machine guns could block the advance of the infantry in the area of ​​half a kilometer.

As a result of the "acquaintance" with the MG-34/42, the position on the rate of fire and accuracy of machine guns was revised. The high rate of fire for infantry troops seemed excessive. But the "Hitler machine" changed consciousness.
The fact is that some dispersion during firing at a high rate gave a higher percentage of target destruction. Those. even with inaccurate aiming or moving target, the probability of its defeat was significantly higher. A short rrrr-roar (5-7 rounds) tightly covered the area, including around the target, and from the slow ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, when the bullets started to click next, it was possible to have time to hide ... .

[bubalik]

It is obvious that such a machine gun was not of interest to the Red Army. He was not recommended for adoption.

On tests, the maximum value of this parameter reached 3300 rds / min, and the average was even lower. But even at this rate of fire, the standard 250 tape on ammunition was spent in seconds.

,,In 1939, the "super-high-speed" Ultra-SHKASS was adopted and produced - the cycle time of the automation in it was reduced, giving the barrel a forward movement after unlocking. with a rate of fire up to 6000-6400 rds / min. (In some sources - (50 shots per second, that is, 3000 shots per minute). ,,

,, in 1937, the Kovrov Arms Plant launched mass production of Savin-Norov 7,62 single-barrel machine guns, which fired 5000 rounds per minute.
In addition, the double-barreled 7,62-mm machine gun, developed by designer V.I. Silin and launched at the same factory in a small series, had a rate of shooting 8600 shots per minute.

,, having more simple, sufficiently developed and mastered in the industry systems of automatic fire under the unitary of the SPINNER CALIBER, there was no sense to develop a close in TTX, but a much more complicated and expensive system. In aviation and air defense, the rifle caliber has exhausted itself, while in other branches of the military in systems with a similarly phenomenally high rate of fire, there was no need for ,,,

[nathanael]

Interesting informative article. Respect for the author. There would be more ....

[Undecim]

A number of such samples were adopted, such systems have found application in various fields. Did the experience of I.I. Slostina when creating a new weapon is not known for certain.
Of course it was taken into account. A negative experience is just as important as a positive one. The experience of Slostin showed that the use of automation in rotary systems using shot energy is futile and the designers took the path of weapons with an external automation drive.
One of the first examples of a rotary multi-barrel system is the Fokker-Leimberger aviation machine gun. The Fokker-Leimberger system is a German 12-barrel aviation machine gun chambered for 7,92x57 mm, created according to the Gatling scheme. It had a rate of 7200 rounds per minute (as described). Created in 1916. Automation drive - from an airplane engine.
There is an article about him at the HE August 16, 2012 (https://topwar.ru/17796-m61-vulcan-germanskiy-aviacionnyy-pulemet-fokker-leimberger.html)

[beeper]

Did I.I.Slostin defended his thesis on the "intricate" design of a "supermachine gun" created by him (over many years of hard work), as, for example, "defended" in his "science-intensive" development by a designer, also "intricate", "super-automatic" of the Academy of Sciences -94, created for about the same period, about 15 years ?!
By the way, the assignment (with and without defense of a dissertation) of scientific ranks to domestic (pre-war and post-war) gunsmiths for their development could be an interesting topic. I give an idea!

[SASHA OLD]

Yes, I really got ahead of time, I had never heard about a machine gun or its constructor before.
(Live and learn)
thanks to the author for the article

[Horse, people and soul]

All machine guns Slostin did not get in the rate of fire to the estimated.

The Yankees took, and did not begin to invent complex mechanics with pistons for rotation, but simply screwed the electric motor to rotate the barrel block.

[beeper]

Under a frivolous mood, I tried to mentally "develop the theme of a" machine-tool "gatling machine gun with an electric motor" - "visualized" to myself, taxi, an "oil painting" - riddled with funnels and trenches, a battlefield, in smoke and gaps, and on it, falling and bending down, "runs (as our perky lieutenant colonel-fireman liked to say)" a whole herd of "machine gunners Slostin" - two of them with all their might drag the machine gun on the machine gun of Sokolov, four "numbers", straining themselves, drag the drag with the "portable power plant" , a driving gasoline engine, cans with "consumables" - gasoline and oil, and batteries, two more pairs move after the "caravan" with their heavily loaded "cartridge" drags (... or did not count it a lot, given that the "repair kits" to machine guns and engines are attached to the corresponding "drag", and are not transported separately ?!), and enemy mortarmen cheerfully plant mines on them and wrap them up with green "tracers" from their MG-42 enemy machine gunners ?!
Even if a two-stroke gasoline starter engine is used as a drive for rotating the barrels, it also turns out interestingly - it may well serve as a source of the tragicomic plot of an "alternative" film "about war and the fallout" - I already imagined it in the "storyboard".

[Horse, people and soul]

So the Americans were smart (forgive me, Zadornov) to put a multi-barrel machine gun with an electric drive on helicopters and landing boats, rather than equipping them with infantry.

[beeper]

He loved (in childhood, adolescence and youth) to delve inside all sorts of "military hardware", delving into their device and trying to understand how they work, and how they were made (as they would say now, carried out "reengineering", speculative ).
Well and, of course, he loved, at the same time, to watch "war films", fictional and, especially (no, well, "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" is beyond competition, this is a masterpiece, the scene in the women's bath is the most memorable, as well as, in fact , the final-foreman Vaskov with a grenade: "Alles in the corner!", is simply incomparable, in Soviet times! ) -documentary.
I was especially amazed by our mortars and heavy machine gunners on foot, when a heavy base plate of an 82-mm mortar was transported on the back of a puny soldier, and a "pipe" of the barrel on the shoulder of another, equally thin and sinewy, crew numbers, or Sokolov's machine, put on on the shoulders of one, and the heavy (especially - "on the road", many kilometers!) angular body of the "Maxim" machine gun on the shoulder of his comrade - a mortar biped and a sight, mines and cartridges in boxes with handles, then already such, as it were, "a lesser evil "...
I was always amazed, in the pre-war and post-war designs of small arms, there is simply an abundance of carefully processed massive solid-milled parts with various internal "cunning" samples (remembering the censorship policy of the site and my hanging "warning", I do not use our popular production "words similar to mate "and I express myself in purely technical terms!) and grooves that are difficult to make, since it is difficult to" crawl "to them with a processing and" measuring "tool, but it is just as difficult and" obscene "to clean them from dirt, rust and soot in finished, and obviously overweight with these details, "product"!
So with the machine gun I.I. Slostina, according to my life observations, is such a "breed" of inventors and designers (often from self-taught and "educated") who "spend their whole life" with their only "beautiful idea", by all means and ways trying to "attach it" ", even despite the obvious" far-fetched "! So it is with this (obviously not "infantry", even by weight !!!) unit according to the "Gatling scheme" and "on bearings" ?!
How did this designer imagine the battlefield and his "perpetuum mobile" on it, its maintenance in the field, why did he declare his "supermachine gun" as an infantry machine tool, and not a turret gun somewhere in the technique (although the same serially produced ShKAS was smaller in size, lighter in total weight, less inertial in the operation of parts and aiming at the target, and, in my opinion, simpler than Slostinsky's creation and more suitable for a turret installation, and on the ShKAS machine it would also be much easier than Slostinsky, although, it is clear that this capricious aircraft gun was not suitable "in field conditions"!), about what (about the Stalin Prize, probably ??!) and about whom (but, of course, not about warriors - machine gunners !!!) he was thinking - " original "this ???
This also happens in civil industrial design when a designer, carried away by the PROCESS of "bringing (ANY COST!) To life" his "congenial idea", completely forgets about the end user, who, although working in dangerous conditions with the risk of life, but bullets and splinters do not fly into him and his life depends, nevertheless, not 100%, as the life of a warrior on the battlefield, because of the heavy weight and low reliability of the "product"!
Petr Maksimovich Goryunov associates, at the same time, not "original" in vain, clearly imagining the battlefield and the desired realistic result, on the basis of an optimal for that level of production, a simple "Browning scheme" created a remarkable, for its time, machine gun SG -43, in terms of total weight, it is much lighter than the "Maxim" (and not fixated on the "process of creating" some unrealistic "super machine gun", without spending on it, so necessary for the front, public state funds!)!
The real Designer is to unconditionally achieve the set goal in the most optimal ways, but here the goal has not been achieved - a capable, serviceable in the army, a reliable weapon has not been created and the ways to solve it have not been chosen optimally, really, as much as a dozen and a half years of "work", the designer himself (and the "assistants" and "handlers" grazing around him!) did not understand the dead-end path of his "intricate" development, did not he have the courage to admit "wasted work" and refuse such a useless "embodiment of the idea (erroneous) "??!
PS If you really wanted to make a "multi-barreled supermachine gun", then it was necessary to start with TWO barrels and it was possible, without overcomplicating initially, to solve the same technical problem much better and more rationally, in all respects, including forcibly, alternately , barrel cooling, and regulated "tracing" at the optimal distance, and only in terms of weight, reliability, high-temperature and simplicity of the device, including manufacturability and production costs, do not go to the grandmother!
But then the designer would not have been able to stretch the "process of creation and refinement" for "years and decades", and in a simple device, many people would be able to figure it out at once - you don't hang a lot of "intricate" noodles "for the curators of the project, you could even lose your head for this (there were precedents and there were enough informers - "well-wishers" then!) "spending state funds" ?!
And like my friend: "Oh, everything is so complicated, so complicated ...!" and there is no demand ... and then "either the donkey dies, or the padishah dies ?!"

[Horse, people and soul]

Beautifully told. Colorfully. Well done!

From me a big plus. Sorry, you can’t put more than one.

[beeper]

Quote: Horse, people and soul

Beautifully told. Colorfully. Well done!

From me a big plus. Sorry, you can’t put more than one.

Thank you for the High Appreciation, but there is also your share, Dear aka Horse, Cannibalism and Soul-lover, this is me over your commentary, and in general, over the Article, thinking, "I was dispersed and hesitated"!
I don’t know when my remission will end, but this can happen at any time and I will not be able to write anymore, therefore, thus, I leave on the Web something of my own, suffered, to contemporaries and future "archaeologists of the Internet", to tax, "the testament of the old master ".

[cat Rusich]

I don’t understand what, so explain - in the pre-war performance, the 82-mm mortar has 2 wheels, the Maxim machine gun machine is made with 2 wheels. Why along the road and 82-mm mortar and Maxim carry ,, on the hump ,,. I myself understand from the dirt that knee-deep into the mountains, through the forest and gullies - the calculation will have to “evolve” in pack animals (donkey or mule), and on the road in the summer, why don't you use wheels? Maybe veterans know a secret? Just explain ... Sostin's 8-barrel machine gun needed to be developed only with the beginning of the construction of 1-2 rounds of ammunition, which would work only on his machine guns.

[beeper]

Dear Kotik-Rusich, in documentary films I saw shots (but I met and remembered very few of them), in which the Maxim machine guns are rolled, on foot on the march, entirely on wheels, although this is what I saw without armored shields ...
But, in most cases, Sokolov’s machine tool and machine gun body are shown in the doc films as I wrote above and I can only make assumptions from my own experience.
As well as about carrying 82-mm mortars, it’s not about staged feature films, but about documentaries of the war period he wrote.

[Kenxnumx]

A simple and understandable Gatling scheme does not roll. Do you need it to spin?

[beeper]

Quote: Horse, people and soul

So the Americans were smart (forgive me, Zadornov) to put a multi-barrel machine gun with an electric drive on helicopters and landing boats, rather than equipping them with infantry.

Duc and I are talking about the same thing about a gatling machine gun that is completely unsuitable for walking!
Zadorny had the task of making people laugh with all sorts of stupid things; they still know that we humans laugh most willingly when we think that we are transcending someone with our mind over the stupid actions of others, but not over ourselves!