American Luger émigré anarchist
Emigrants from Europe are sailing to the USA
"... Leave, ancient lands, the praise of the ages",
Calls out in silence. Give me your tired people,
All thirsty to breathe freely, abandoned in need,
From the narrow shores of the persecuted poor and orphans,
So send them homeless and exhausted to me
I raise my torch at the golden gate! ”
"New Colossus" E. Lazarus.
Calls out in silence. Give me your tired people,
All thirsty to breathe freely, abandoned in need,
From the narrow shores of the persecuted poor and orphans,
So send them homeless and exhausted to me
I raise my torch at the golden gate! ”
"New Colossus" E. Lazarus.
History firearms weapons. Who in the century before last and in the last century was engaged in the creation of new types of weapons?
O! They were people of various professions, not only engineers. Among them there were dentists, and far from one, an important role in the arms business was played by the seller of removable men's collars, and then his widow, among the armourers there were a photographer and a glassmaker - all professions cannot be enumerated.
And there were those who did not have a diploma of technical education at all, but ... they were still engaged in the design of weapons, and sometimes they even got something very original. Which, of course, should be told.
Joseph Reifgraber
Therefore, today our story will be about a pistol (and also its creator), which was designed by Joseph Joachim Reifgraber, who was born on August 16, 1856 in Austria, then emigrated to the United States in the 80s, where he died on October 15, 1938 at the age of 82. , which, given the hardships of life at that time and the quality of medicine, should be recognized as an achievement. He was married, left two children - a daughter and a son.
A very important touch in his biography.
A man he was a machinist by profession and a convinced anarchist in his views, however, he did not throw bombs and did not shoot at presidents, like other anarchists. But in the USA he published the anarchist newspaper in German Die Parole and acted as a trade union activist.
He did not have an engineering education, however, in those years, the lack of a diploma did not bother anyone. A person knows how to do something with his head and hands - already an engineer. If only with hands - then a master mechanic. But he was an extraordinary person, this is certainly, but what can I say - just talented, albeit a little ... strange.
He began to engage in the design of weapons rather late. At the very beginning of the nineteenth century, when he was already under fifty. And ... he received patents for his developments. Moreover, his developments, although they were not embodied in metal, were very interesting.
Well, for example, US patent No. 729,413 dated May 26, 1903 for "Automatic firearms."
He offered nothing less than an original type of gas-assisted automatic rifle.
Diagram of an automatic rifle with an original gas engine from patent No. 729,413. The barrel had two gas outlet channels through which the powder gases entered the pipe surrounding the barrel and affected the cylindrical breech, which moved inside the cylindrical receiver and compressed the return spring, which pushed the breech back. At the same time, the striker caught on the toothed lever of the trigger, pressing on which released it, and through the hole in the bolt he hit the cartridge primer in the chamber.
As you can see, a free bolt scheme was used, that is, the barrel and the bolt were not fastened at the time of the shot, which required, firstly, a heavy bolt, and secondly, a powerful spring. That is, his gun, if it were made, could not shoot powerful rifle cartridges, but it would be quite suitable for firing pistol and revolver ammunition.
On the same principle, they were offered an original automatic cannon with store food and also with the removal of powder gases from the bore.
Reifgraber pistol
And now this is a pistol. Moreover, the pistol is very unusual in its design. Diagram from US patent No. 929,491 dated July 27, 1909.
Here, as you can see, is a self-loading pistol that looks very similar to a Luger. But in a constructive sense, this is not a Luger at all in all respects, but a very original pistol. First of all, pay attention to the barrel, which was encased on this pistol. On it, near the front sight itself, there were two gas vents. Through them, the powder gases entered the chamber formed by the space between the front part of the barrel casing and the guide belt on the barrel itself, which was an obturator, and ... gave a certain impulse to the bolt, or rather, strengthened (according to the author's intention) the barrel recoil momentum when fired.
The barrel itself, which was placed inside the frame of the pistol, was connected to the massive barrel frame, and it was along this very frame that the bolt slid. But back after the shot, both the barrel and the bolt rolled back together at first 10 mm and only after that they were disengaged.
Locking the barrel with the bolt was carried out using a swinging lever located on top of the bolt, all installed on the same frame, made in one piece with the barrel.
Diagram of the automatic pistol from US patent No. 929,491 dated July 27, 1909
When the barrel and bolt were in the forward position, the front lever arm lowered and, resting against the bolt, jammed it, making it impossible to move relative to the barrel. When the barrel was rolled back together with the bolt, the rear lever arm lowered, hitting the rounding of the rear frame plug, and the front one rose and no longer prevented the bolt from moving back.
As you can see, the design was very ingenious and at the same time simple, and the locking was very reliable, no worse than that of a parabellum.
And this did not exhaust the advantages of this pistol, but ... there were also serious "buts" in it.
First of all, it is completely incomprehensible why for his army pistol, and this pistol was developed precisely as an army pistol, Reifgraber used a relatively low-power revolving cartridge .38 S&W (modern name .38 S&W Short), which appeared on the market back in 1877 and was equipped with ... black smoky gunpowder! It is possible that he was seduced by the popularity of this cartridge, as well as the fact that at that time they had already begun to equip him with not only smoky, but also smokeless gunpowder.
Actually, it is difficult to imagine how the gas mechanism of this pistol would function, if it had fired cartridges with black powder - the space between the barrel and its casing would have to be constantly cleaned! And after all this despite the fact that there already existed Luger 9x19, and Mauser 7,63x25, and cartridges developed by John Browning ...
Here it is - this cartridge, the sixth from the left. Caliber in millimeters 9,04 ...
Reifgraber pistols of this type in the interval 1906-1912. designed two .38 and .32 calibers. The "thirty-eighth" has a slightly longer handle, as well as the receiver.
Pistol .32 caliber (7,9 mm) 1906. Photo by Rock Island Auction Company
By the way, this cartridge also had a rim and a light lead shellless bullet weighing from 4,6 to 6,0 grams, with a muzzle energy of up to 156 J and an initial velocity of 215 m / s. Moreover, this cartridge was filled with black powder until 1940, and only later they began to fill it with smokelessness.
And again, it is not clear why this cartridge and this caliber, and again with black powder ...
Can we assume a certain blinkeredness of the designer, that he, perhaps, did not know the American realities of that time very well?
But no: he made his pistol together with Charles F. Lefever, who developed the Union automatic revolver, produced by the Union Farms company, which, by the way, took over the production of the Reifgraber pistol and produced it in quantities from about 1910 to 1912 ... about 100 pieces!
It is interesting that the designer offered his pistol to the American army, but was somewhat late, since she had already decided on the choice in favor of the M1911 Colt.
Meanwhile, it would probably be worth remaking this pistol for cartridges of 9 mm and 11,43 mm and shooting from it. It is very possible that in this case he would have shown, well, let's say, far from the worst result.
And this pistol was distinguished by the fact that it was very convenient to disassemble it for cleaning, which, too, not every sample can boast.
The pistol and its barrel together with the frame. The protrusion of the extractor on the frame is clearly visible. Photo Rock Island Auction Company
Disassembly was carried out very simply: the magazine is removed, then the disassembly lever on the pistol frame on the right should be turned down 90 degrees, after which the entire trigger unit can be removed from the handle, and it also plays the role of a handle fuse!
At the same time, this mechanism serves as a shutter delay: if the hand does not tightly grip the handle, when the shutter is pulled back, it is locked in the rear position until the handle safety is pressed. Having removed the trigger unit, the trigger can be removed through the back of the handle, the frame of which is similar to a tuning fork, since the magazine passes through it.
This is how they were advertised together ... two losers!
The plug in the rear part of the gun frame must be turned 45 degrees for the semicircular protrusion and removed together with the guide rod of the return spring and the spring itself. Now, through the opened hole, a barrel with a frame and a bolt is removed.
Moreover, the barrel is an assembly of three parts: the barrel itself, fastened to the frame, a bolt sliding along this frame, and a locking lever attached to the bolt. The extractor is a simple rectangular protrusion on the barrel frame. When the bolt moves back along it, it goes through the cut inside the bolt and pushes the sleeve out. Also in the bolt there is a hole for the return spring, which is put on the guide spoke.
Reifgraber pistol. Right view. Clearly visible: the handle fuse protruding from the handle, the disassembly lever above it and the ribbed bolt protrusions. The pistol mechanism is perfectly protected from any contamination! Photo Rock Island Auction Company
As already noted here, about a hundred of these pistols were produced.
An attempt was made to make a pistol chambered for .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning), which fired smokeless powder, by replacing the barrel and magazine, but nothing good came of it.
Moreover, pistols chambered for .32 no longer had gas vents: the pistol worked as it should even without a gas actuator ... But in the end, the design of this pistol did not work.
Reifgraber pistol. Left view. The massive fluted safety button is clearly visible. Photo Rock Island Auction Company
Well, its author himself, having lived to his advanced (even more than advanced by the standards of that time) years, died quietly and was buried in the New Cemetery of Belehem Memorial Park in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The new homeland honored him ... with a very memorable burial.
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