Mannlicher rifle with a “gravity magazine” and a rifle with burst loading
While Grishchenko was scratching behind his ear,
his Mannlicher's front sight stopped just
at Volodya's chest level. Human,
aiming at Volodya from a Mannlicher,
lay beyond the threshold of the room.
Having woken up from the concussion, he rummaged around himself.
His hand first felt someone's cold face,
then the butt. He pulled him towards him
and stuck his finger into the hole at the bottom of the magazine.
The finger entered the hole to the depth of one cartridge case.
“Four cartridges in the magazine,” the man thought.
Is there a cartridge in the barrel? It was impossible to click the shutter -
the one standing at the entrance could hear and jump to the side.
But the rifle is on safety;
therefore, there is a cartridge in the barrel.
The man in the room quietly pulled the fuse
and pressed his cheek to the butt. A. V. Kozachinsky “Green Van”
his Mannlicher's front sight stopped just
at Volodya's chest level. Human,
aiming at Volodya from a Mannlicher,
lay beyond the threshold of the room.
Having woken up from the concussion, he rummaged around himself.
His hand first felt someone's cold face,
then the butt. He pulled him towards him
and stuck his finger into the hole at the bottom of the magazine.
The finger entered the hole to the depth of one cartridge case.
“Four cartridges in the magazine,” the man thought.
Is there a cartridge in the barrel? It was impossible to click the shutter -
the one standing at the entrance could hear and jump to the side.
But the rifle is on safety;
therefore, there is a cartridge in the barrel.
The man in the room quietly pulled the fuse
and pressed his cheek to the butt. A. V. Kozachinsky “Green Van”
People and weapon. Today we continue our story about rifles designed by Mannlicher, which is based on the English-language edition of 1946 and is accompanied by color images by A. Sheps, made on the basis of drawings and diagrams from this book.
In general, in an effort to further simplify the design of the cartridge feeding mechanism, Mannlicher decided to use gravity to feed cartridges and designed a magazine located above the bolt, which did not require a spring.
This model, called the "Model 1882", was designed to use standard Army Wern Model 77 rifle cartridges. The bolt locking mechanism was also very similar to that of the tube magazine rifle we have already described; but the design of the extractor and feeder was changed, as required by the different location and design of the magazine.
The store itself was a box-shaped clip open on the sides, the front and rear walls of which were inclined forward. Inside, the magazine was profiled so that the cartridges, while in it, would not touch each other with their edges and would easily slide down to the bolt.
This unusual magazine held 7 rounds. An empty magazine could be easily recharged by inserting cartridges into it from above. Moreover, the cartridges fed so well that no spring was required to push them. Their own weight was quite enough.
Model 1882 rifle with a top-mounted magazine and a straight bolt: side and top view. Drawing by A. Sheps
When the bolt moved back to its limit, with its protrusion it pressed on the spring-loaded L-shaped lever, and it was pressed against the wall of the receiver. At this point, the cartridge fell out of the magazine into the receiver and was ready to move laterally to be loaded into the chamber when the bolt subsequently moved forward.
When the bolt moved forward, the L-shaped lever pushed the cartridge into the feed channel, and turning the bolt handle down blocked the bolt and completed its cocking. The magazine was attached to the rifle with a pin and was shifted to the right (as viewed from the butt) so as not to block the aiming line.
It should be noted that this type of gravity store has never had much success with the military, but was tested in several countries at once. However, the top-mounted magazine found its way into such outstanding European light machine gun designs as the Czech ZB, British Bren, Danish Madsen and Spanish Mendoza, used in both World War I and World War II, and even for a significant period of time after the end of the last one.
The device of the bolt and magazine of a rifle 1882. Drawing by A. Sheps
Meanwhile, Germany quietly rearmed its troops with Mauser rifles of the 1871–1884 model. It was a weapon with a tube magazine, and it gave the German army such firepower that it required the complete rearmament of all European armies, despite the enormous financial cost.
Therefore, in the same 1884, the Mannlicher company introduced another rifle, again designed for the 11-mm M77 cartridge. This weapon, although never produced in large numbers, was extremely important because it pioneered the principle of direct breech action. This design, with some improvements, was later used in the famous Austrian M 95 rifle, a weapon that was in use even during World War II.
A secondary feature of this rifle was the improved gravity-fed magazine design introduced in the earlier model. In essence, it was a five-round cartridge clip that was inserted into the receiver on the left so as not to interfere with aiming when firing. The clip held 5 rounds.
Diagram of the M1884 rifle: right side sectional view (1), top view of the cartridge in the receiver during reverse movement of the bolt (2), operation of the L-shaped feed lever at the initial moment of forward movement of the bolt (3) and arrangement of the cartridge pack ( 4)
It was designed in such a way that the edge of the lowest cartridge protruded from the “pack”. Moving back, the bolt pulled it out by the edge, and it fell inside the receiver, and another cartridge took its place. Continuing to move backward, the bolt pressed on the protrusion of the L-shaped lever, and it pushed the cartridge onto the feed line into the chamber. Then the bolt moved forward, fed the cartridge into the chamber, and the L-shaped lever was pressed against the wall of the receiver and did not prevent the new cartridge from falling into place of the previous one when the bolt moved back.
Since gravity-fed magazines have not been proven effective, this rifle represents only historical interest. However, the principle used in it of locking the shutter during its forward stroke is important. This original version, the Model 84, had the bolt ride on guides in the receiver.
When the bolt handle was pulled back, he pulled the firing pin behind him, which was finally captured and held by the sear. A manual safety was built into the rear of the cylinder bolt to ensure effective locking of the bolt mechanism. The combat protrusions, again, were located at its rear. The rotational movement of the rear part of the bolt, which had spiral grooves, rotated it 90 degrees, and released the locking lugs from their seats in the receiver.
The front part of the bolt with the extractor looked like a rectangular block and moved strictly in a straight line. The shutter handle also only moved straight. Its rear part rotated, locking the front part of the bolt in the receiver with its protrusions at the rear. An extractor at the front of the bolt pulled the empty case out of the chamber until it struck the ejector, at which point it was ejected from the rifle.
In 1885, the designer introduced a "straight-action" rifle, the action of which was almost identical to that of the Model 84. This rifle marks the official introduction of the famous Mannlicher clip, which fell out of the bottom of the magazine when the cartridges were used up. Although the cartridge was the same, it was slightly modified compared to the original Werdl cartridge. The charge of black smoky powder was increased, and the lead bullet itself was wrapped in paper, which significantly increased the speed of the bullet.
The magazine has an opening at the bottom large enough to allow the clip to fall out when empty. The loaded clip is inserted through the open bolt and enters the magazine itself. The clip is stamped from sheet steel and has a diamond shape, allowing it to be inserted in only one direction. The ribs are pressed into the surface of the sheet metal to give the cage rigidity.
Cartridge "pack" for the Mannlicher rifle 1886. Swedish Army Museum
And this is a cartridge for it...
When a loaded clip is inserted into the magazine, the lower cartridge rests against the upper of two arms, hinged together by a flat spring. The lower lever at the front of the magazine is actuated by a flat spring and can be freely raised between the side walls of the clip. A loaded clip loaded into the magazine cannot fall out of it, as it is held in place by the locking latch.
When the clip is empty, the magazine pusher rises freely into the space between the side walls, after which it can fall out through a narrow hole cut for this purpose in the lower part of the magazine. Such a weapon is convenient because it can be used as a single-shot rifle, inserting single cartridges directly into the chamber.
However, if a loaded clip is inserted into the magazine, then with each opening and closing movement of the bolt, the chamber will be ejected and subsequently reloaded from the clip without the ability to keep the clip in reserve. It was the first straight action service rifle in the world.
This rifle became standard issue in the Austrian Army and was used for many years by both the Austrians and Italians during World Wars I and II. Large numbers of these rifles were given to the Italians in 1917–1918 and were later used by Italian forces in World War II. Officially, this rifle is known as the "Model 1886 Mannlicher System with Fixed Vertical 5-Round Box Magazine."
Rifle 1886. Performance characteristics of the 1886 model rifle: weight – 4,52 g, length – 132,6 mm, barrel length – 80,6 cm. Caliber – 11 mm or .433. The barrel is rifled with 6 grooves to the right. The scope is graduated from 200 steps (164 yards) to 2 steps (300 yards or 1 m). In 886, the rifle was modernized for a new cartridge with smokeless powder - 1,725x1888 mm. Swedish Army Museum
The 1888 rifle is already chambered for the 8 mm cartridge. Swedish Army Museum
To be continued ...
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