Small arms developed over 100 years ago, but capable of being used effectively in combat today
Small weapon is one of the most conservative types of weapons. In fact, since the development of the unitary cartridge, there have been no revolutionary breakthroughs in this area. Moreover, some models of small arms, developed and put into production more than a hundred years ago, can still be effectively used (and are being used) in modern combined arms combat and special operations.
In this material, we will consider some samples of such small arms, but with one prerequisite - ammunition for it must be mass-produced to this day and used in the armed forces or other law enforcement agencies (sporting and hunting ammunition are not considered).
Pistol
Of course, pistols are used very limitedly in combat, although some countries spend a lot of money on re-equipping the army with modern pistols, for example, the US armed forces have already done this twice, as we previously talked about in the “Army Pistol in the USA” materials: Part 1 и Part 2.
And they initially changed, without exaggeration, the legendary semi-automatic pistol - the Colt M1911 chambered for .45 ACP (11,43x23 mm), developed by John Moses Browning in 1911, as can be easily understood from the name. This pistol was and is still being produced by many gun companies and is a desirable item for collectors and gun enthusiasts.
Colt M1911
The .45 ACP cartridge is mass-produced, used by the police and special units in many countries, it is especially effective when using weapons with a silencer. Yes, and the Colt M1911 itself is also still used by some law enforcement agencies, however, this is more of a tribute to fashion or funding restrictions.
The Glock-21 pistol has almost twice as much ammunition of the same .45 ACP caliber (13 rounds versus 7 for the M1911), but many will still prefer the Colt. Incidentally, both sold in Russia as a sporting weapon
Of course, modern pistols are more convenient, more reliable, and multiply charged, but this superiority is not critical. In the confrontation between two fighters, one of which will be armed with a Colt M1911 pistol, and the second with some modern pistol, the advantage will be in the first place for the one who is better prepared. As an officer's pistol or as a backup weapon, the Colt M1911 is still relevant, and as a weapon of special units, it may well be used, especially in the version with a silencer and cartridges with a heavy subsonic bullet.
Shotgun (Shotgun)
This type of small arms in law enforcement agencies is most often used for special tasks, such as knocking out door locks, although in the United States the pump-action shotgun is still an essential attribute of police cars in some states. If we talk about the wars of the past, then shotguns were quite actively used both in the First and Second World Wars, and during the US invasion of Korea and Vietnam.
From smoothbore guns, I would like to single out two models at once. The first is the 12-gauge Winchester Model 1912 five-shot pump-action shotgun, which is reloaded by a movable forearm. This gun was designed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company engineer Thomas Crosley Johnson in 1912 based on the earlier Winchester Model 1897 (M1897) designed by D. M. Browning.
The second model is the Browning Auto-5 semi-automatic shotgun - a classic “semi-automatic” that uses the recoil energy of the barrel during its long stroke to reload.
Winchester Model 1912 and Browning Auto-5
According to their characteristics, both of these guns are practically not inferior to modern models - an excellent, almost ageless weapon.
The modern Fabarm SDASS pump-action shotgun and the Fabarm SAT 8 Pro Forces semi-automatic shotgun
In our time, a new threat is rapidly gaining momentum - kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which can already be used even to attack individual fighters. In this connection the shotgun can again be in demand on the battlefield, but not for clearing trenches, but for self-defense of ground units from micro-UAV-kamikaze.
Submachine guns
More than 100 years ago, this weapon was just beginning its development, however, one quite relevant example can be distinguished - this is the American Thompson submachine gun chambered for the aforementioned .45 ACP cartridge, invented in 1918 by John Tagliaferro Thompson, which became in the 20s - 30- XNUMXs, the favorite weapon of both police and gangsters. As soon as he was not called - "Thompson", "Tommy", "Tommy Gun", "Destroyer", "Trench Broom", "Chicago Piano" and many other nicknames.
Difficult to manufacture, expensive, but accurate and fast-firing.
Thompson submachine gun
Nowadays, submachine guns are used much less frequently - they have been replaced by machine guns and assault rifles everywhere, however, a number of modern models for the police and special forces are still being produced. When using heavy subsonic bullets, these "machines" work well with a silencer and retain a high stopping power.
Heckler & Koch UMP-45 - chambered in the same .45 ACP cartridge
Machine guns and assault rifles
But this type of weapon did not yet exist in the given criteria, more precisely, they had not yet been produced in large-scale production, although development was carried out actively, it is enough to recall the Russian Fedorov assault rifle.
Automatic Fedorov
It makes no sense to consider magazine rifles with a longitudinally sliding rotary bolt, since in our time they are used as ...
Sniper rifles
And one of the most popular sniper rifles of the Second World War was the Mosin rifle chambered for 7,62x54R. Of course, in the bulk this rifle was produced as an infantry weapon, and the production of the sniper version began only in 1932, however, the sniper modification did not undergo any serious design changes - samples with the best accuracy were selected from the batch, after which an optical sight and changed the bolt handle.
Mosin rifle
Mosin Sniper Rifle
This rifle is still used by some armies of the world in a slightly modified form.
Finnish sniper rifle 7.62 TKIV 85, created by altering the Mosin rifle, is in service with the Finnish Defense Forces
And it is quite consistent with the performance of modern small arms for comparable ammunition.
The M40 US Marines sniper rifle, based on the Remington-700 rifle, chambered for 7,62x51 mm, is still in service with the US Marine Corps in the M40A1 modification
Of course, in our time, sniper rifles have appeared that allow targeted shooting at a range several times greater than the firing range of the Mosin rifle and its modern counterparts, but such firing ranges also require special skills from the shooter - not all of them have them, so sniper rifles chambered for 7,62x54R and 7,51x51 mm cartridges still quite confidently occupy their niche.
Machine guns
You can consider the Lewis machine gun, the design of which was developed by the British Samuel McLean and embodied in metal by the American Colonel of the US Army Isaac Lewis. This machine gun was also produced under the 7,62x54R cartridge and was supplied to the Russian army.
Don't be confused by the huge barrel - this is a casing that provides ejection cooling of the barrel located inside - the same principle is used in the newest Russian machine gun "Pecheneg"
An interesting feature of the Lewis machine gun is the detachable disc magazines for 47 and 97 rounds, which do not contain a supply spring - the process of supplying cartridges is carried out by a lever-type automatic machine gun mechanism.
Lewis machine gun disc magazine
Machine gun "Pecheneg" chambered for 7,62x54R
You can also mention easel machine guns, which now have no direct analogues, but are quite comparable in purpose to light machine guns mounted on the machine.
Of course, we are talking about the legendary Maxim machine gun chambered for 7,62x54R, developed by the British gunsmith of American origin Hiram Stevens Maxim in 1883. This machine gun is still used by the armed forces of different countries in many parts of the world, including Maxim machine guns used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) during the Russian special military operation (SVO).
Machine gun Maxim
And with the help of a small upgrade, this machine gun can get even closer in terms of performance to its modern counterparts.
Upgraded APU machine gun Maxim - water cooling was replaced with air, added stock, optical sight, bipod and box magazine for cartridges, changed muzzle brake
Heavy machine guns
With heavy machine guns it's even easier. Why? Yes, because the Browning M1921 heavy machine gun developed in 1921 chambered for 12,7x99 mm is still in service with the US Army, albeit in a deeply modernized form. However, the main modernization of the Browning M1921 heavy machine gun was made back in 1932, after which the machine gun received the designation M2.
Large-caliber machine guns Browning M1921, Browning M2 during WWII and it is in our time
Conclusions
For the article, a rather rigid framework was initially set - the age of the weapon is more than 100 years old and the ammunition used to this day, moreover, used precisely by law enforcement agencies. If we move away from these restrictions a little to the side, then the number of small arms that can be considered effective to this day increases significantly.
After reading, one might get the impression that the "classic" small arms, developed over a century ago, which have retained their effectiveness to this day, were mostly developed and produced in Western countries, mainly in the United States. What to do, unfortunately, in many ways it is true - Tsarist Russia did not indulge domestic developers and manufacturers, preferring to buy weapons abroad, and then a revolution and civil war followed ...
However, later the Soviet Union quickly made up for lost time, in many ways surpassing its competitors from the United States and European countries, but this is already a completely different story.
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