Russia's first self-loading pistol
For many years, it was believed that the first domestic autoloading pistol was the TK pistol (Tula Korovin). The pistol created by Soviet designer Sergey Alexandrovich Korovin was ready for the fall of 1926. TK chambered for 6,35x15 mm Browning became the first in the USSR serial self-loading pistol, the production of the new model began in Tula at the end of 1926 of the year. At the same time, Prilutsky turned to the idea of creating a similar pistol at the beginning of the century.
The history of the gun Prilutsky
The emergence of self-loading or, as they often say in the West, semi-automatic pistols, was at the end of the XIX century. This period stories firearms marked the arrival of machine guns and magazine rifles of various systems. Designers of all countries of the world paid attention to such an important technical parameter as the rate of fire of small arms. As a result, the first models of store-powered self-loading pistols began to appear. At the same time, experts note that the proliferation of self-loading pistols was not as active as the opinion of such short-barreled weapons as a means of active defense in melee, was ambiguous. Many soldiers believed that there was simply no need to replace revolvers with self-loading pistols.
In self-loading pistols, the energy of powder gases was used to feed the cartridge from the magazine to the chamber. The energy arising in the barrel when burning powder charge, gave the impetus that set in motion the mechanism of automatic pistol. To shoot a weapon, the shooter must pull the trigger each time. In the creation of such short-barreled small arms at the beginning of the 20th century, the famous American gunsmith John Moses Browning seriously advanced, the result of the designer’s work was the legendary self-loading pistol M1911, which is widely used in the world today. However, many followers used the ideas of an American to design their own self-loading pistols.
It should be noted here that in those years, in those years, they used only the services of foreign designers, their own development and research work on creating mass-produced models of short-barreled weapons. For example, the same revolver of the Nagant system was designed specifically for the Russian army by the Belgian designers Emil and Leon Nagan. At the same time, Minister of War Alexei Nikolaevich Kuropatkin raised the issue of starting work on his own pistol many times. Even before the Russian-Japanese war in 1903, at the next meeting of the GAU Commission, Kuropatkin ordered the creation of a new short-barreled pistol, appointing an award for the invention in the amount of 5 thousand rubles. Most likely, Kuropatkin’s decision was the impetus that caused Russian gunsmiths to pay attention to short-barreled weapons and new research in this area.
Not only gunsmiths responded to new requests from the military. It is believed that in 1905, the first draft of a self-loading pistol was presented in Russia. Speech on the sketch work, made so far only a student of a real school, Sergei Prilutsky. It is believed that in the draft design of the new pistol, Prilutsky used Browning developments on self-loading pistols, choosing 7,65 mm Browning (7,65х17 mm), popular in the early XX century, as the cartridge. The future designer sent his own project in a letter to the State Agrarian University, where the well-known designer Vladimir G. Fedorov, the creator of the first domestic machine, met him. After reviewing the project, Fedorov sent Prilutsky a list of wishes for such weapons. According to the authoritative gunsmith, the weight of the new self-loading pistol should not exceed 900 grams, the caliber of cartridges used - 9 mm, the capacity of the box magazine - no less than 8 cartridges.
Semi-automatic pistol of the Prilutsky model 1914 of the year
Having received the necessary recommendations, Sergey Prilutsky continued to work on the gun, while continuing to learn. After completing his studies in a real school, the designer graduated from the Higher Imperial Technical School. The modified self-loading pistol was presented by Prilutsky in 1911 year. Weapons under 9-mm cartridge "Browning long" was sent to the GAU. Experts acquainted with the pistol recommended to modify the product a little, considering that the presented pistol deserves attention and can be manufactured at the Tula Arms Plant. The main artillery control issued 200 rubles to Prilutsky for the release of a pistol.
When designing the pistol, Prilutsky relied on the scheme of the automatic operation of the Browning pistol of the 1903 sample of the year and the sketch created earlier. In this case, the designer on the recommendations of the military increased the caliber of the pistol to 9 mm, based on the cartridge Browning Long 9x20 mm. For his gun, the gunsmith created an individual design for the magazine latch, placing this part on the side surface of the box magazine case with a single-row arrangement of cartridges, and also removed the front upper part of the pistol casing. The subsequent reduction in the mass of the housing-bolt did not lead to a change in the automatic weapon system, but it did affect the reduction in the mass of the pistol, allowing it to meet the requirements. The length of this model of a Prolutsky self-loading pistol was 189 mm, the barrel length was 123 mm, there were 4 slices in the barrel of the pistol, the direction of the rifling holes was right. Magazine capacity - 8 cartridges. Today, this sample is stored in the collection of the Tula Museum of Weapons, some researchers believe that Sergey Prilutsky personally produced a pistol stored in Tula at one time.
After reviewing the new model of a self-loading pistol, the GAU Commission recognized the project to be quite bold and interesting, assessing the viability of the model and design of the pistol. At the same time, the staff of the Main Artillery Directorate identified the store's latch, which the designer placed on the store itself, as well as the rear sight and the extractor, which were combined and were one piece. The commission attributed the disadvantages of the Prilutsky pistol to the difficulty of incomplete disassembly of the weapon and the model’s tendency to throw the spent cartridges in the direction of the shooter. The project was proposed to be finalized, but the First World War, which began in 1914, prevented these plans. The war ended for Russia with a revolution that grew into a full-scale civil war, which for years had delayed the meeting of the GAU commission with the redesigned self-loading pistol model.
Self-loading pistols Prilutsky sample 1927 and 1930
Again, Prilutsky recalled his own development in the USSR, where in 1924 he filed the necessary documents for obtaining a patent for a pistol. From 1924 to 1927, when the patent was granted, the designer worked on revising the pistol, introducing a number of changes in its design that differed from the scheme indicated in the patent. The new model of the modified gun was originally created under the chambered Browning caliber 7,65 mm. Compared to the pre-revolutionary model, the new pistol lay better in the hands of the shooter and became more compact. The length of the weapon has decreased to 175 mm, the length of the barrel - to 113 mm. A box magazine with a single-row arrangement of cartridges contained 9 cartridges of the caliber 7,65x17 mm.
Korovin's pistol became the main rival of the Prilutsky pistol. In the course of comparative tests, a task was issued for the production of 10 self-loading Prilutsky pistols, which in April 1928 of the year went to the part of the Red Army for field tests. The operation showed that the self-loading pistol presented by Prilutsky differs for the better from Korovin and Walter pistols in its simplicity of construction and disassembly. The Prilutsky self-loading pistol consisted of 31 parts, and the Korovin and Walter models of 56 and 51 respectively. Tests also showed the reliability of the model. On 270 shots, 8 delays were recorded, while Walter had 17 delays, and the Korovin pistol had 9 delays on 110 shots. As members of the commission noted, Korovina and Prilutsky pistols were equal to each other in terms of accuracy, while both models were superior to Walter's pistol.
The Main Artillery Directorate recognized the Prilutsky pistol as the winner of the tests, but did not recommend it for launching into mass production and adoption by the Red Army because of the shortcomings. The following comments were attributed to the findings of the commission: during the extraction of the liner, the shooter often flew in the face, there were difficulties with removing the magazine, and when disassembling the arms, there were cuts. According to the results of the competition, an assignment was issued for the production of approximately 500 self-loading Prilutsky pistols, which most likely went to the field army, and the designer himself was recommended to eliminate the revealed remarks.
In 1929, the military put forward new requirements for the pistols, and Prilutsky and Korovin were instructed to remake their samples for the Mauser 7,63х25 cartridge. This time Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev joined the race of designers. The tests revealed new flaws in the design of the Prilutsky pistol, which was heavier than 1300 grams and was characterized by a strong recoil impulse, which was considered unacceptable for such weapons. It should be noted that the remaining samples also showed approximately similar problems. All the pistols were once again sent for revision, but already under the new regular ammunition - the adapted Mauser cartridge, which was later designated the 7,62x25 TT. This ammunition for many years will become a regular Soviet cartridge for all pistols and submachine guns created in the country.
The next tests of pistols took place in the summer of 1930. Even more models took part in them; the traditional participants (Prilutsky, Korovin and Tokarev) were added by the self-loading pistols Walter, Parabellum and Browning. This time, the commission recognized the Tokarev pistol as the best model, which later became famous TT. Tokarev's pistol was officially adopted at the end of August 1930.
The gun of the Prilutsky system was inferior to the competitor in ergonomics, mass and trouble-free operation. After 1930, Sergei Alexandrovich Prilutsky did not return to his pistol and the creation of short-barreled weapons, concentrating on other developments. As an employee of the KB Tula Arms Plant, the designer participated in the creation of twin and quad Maxim machine-gun systems, designed for firing at air targets, worked on the machine gun for large-caliber machine-gun systems and the creation of submachine guns.
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