Hu of, Herr Schmeisser? (ending)
Part nine. The fun begins
The theater starts with a hanger, weapon starts with a cartridge. This simple truth is forgotten or not known by most “historians” such as A. Ruchko.
History German sturmgever began in 1923 year with the release of a memorandum of the German weapons inspection, which formulated the requirements for a new cartridge and weapons under it. The idea of an intermediate cartridge was discussed long before the appearance of the cartridge for the sturmgever. Perhaps, for the first time, it was publicly voiced by Colonel V. G. Fedorov and even partially implemented. But the real work began in Germany in the 30s.
After carrying out the research work, it was decided to focus on the 7,75x39,5 cartridge, which was developed by Gustav Genshov from GECO, and Heinrich Folmer produced an automatic carbine for him. The GECO cartridge is very similar to the future Soviet 7,62x39, which makes evil visionaries believe that the Soviet cartridge was “lapped” from German. This, of course, fiction. In the Soviet Union, independent work was carried out, including with other calibers, and the fact that this particular cartridge was adopted only says that the Germans were right in the calculations for the GECO cartridge. And dreamers need only wipe that the work on the intermediate cartridge in the USSR began with the fact that these works began in Germany. At the same time, it is often forgotten that Germany had a head start in working out the cartridge in peacetime. And the USSR was forced to do it in wartime, and there was no hope that the new patron would have to fight with Germany!
Let's go back to Volmer and his M35 carbine.
It must be said that no matter how perspicacious the German customer turned out to be in determining the requirements for a new weapon, there were also enough idiots in the armaments department. There was a ban on weapons with automatic gas through the side opening in the barrel. What served as the reason, we can only guess. It seems to me that the problem was in the increased risk of contamination of the gas outlet by the combustion of gunpowder and the weakening of the gas pressure in the barrel. Vollmer applied the solution found by J. Browning. The automation worked as follows: after the bullet had flown out of the barrel, gases were pressed on the muzzle, which was moving forward and, through thrust along the barrel, transmitted a translational pulse to the bolt group. What happened next, has two versions. One by one, the translational impulse was inverted in the reverse and opened the butterfly valve. On the other hand, this impulse only released the adhesion between the barrel and the bolt and then the bolt was already flying away under the influence of the recoil force.
In the 1939 year, after successful tests, the army refuses both the GECO cartridge and the Volmer machine gun. But a year before (!), The weapons management signs an agreement with POLTE for a new cartridge, and a weapon for Herr Hänel’s firm. The guys from the company POLTE did not bother with calculations and trials. They took the usual Mauzer cartridge, shortened the sleeve, poured pistol powder and eased the bullet. It turned out the same Kurtz, which some visionaries now call the “progenitor” of all intermediate cartridges. In fact, it turned out what was expected when the work was done by amateurs. The bullet got bad ballistics. The requirements of the customer about the installation of the aiming bar on the sturmgever with 50 markings meters speak only about its low flatness, and at the most combat distances - to 350 meters.
The European civilized society is at a loss: why did the choice fall on this cartridge and on the company of Hänel? Why did Walter get a contract for developing weapons for Kurtz only two years after Schmeisser had already worked on this topic? Why, finally, the arms control has ceased to be afraid of the side openings for the gas outlet? Let it be lost! They are still confident that important decisions are made in the offices. But we know that if we have a cozy hunting lodge, then it can be used to influence the course of history much more efficiently than from the offices of the Arms Administration.
Part ten. What happened at Schmeisser?
Schmeisser turned out to be a heavy submachine gun, albeit called Mkb-42 (H) machine-gun. The shooting was still with an open shutter. Even the setting on the fuse was carried out by the old "bolt" method, known since the time of MP-18. Udarnikovy mechanism of descent, as well as the return spring used the invention of Herr Volmer - his "telescope". Otherwise, it was simply impossible to meet the pace of shooting required by the customer - 350-400 shots per minute. On the other hand, progress has appeared in automation: instead of giving back the free shutter, gas exhaust automatic equipment and locking the shutter with a bias has finally been used.
The first samples of stormtroopers were made with a file. Then all stamped nodes were designed and produced by Merz-Werke.
According to the results of tests in conjunction with samples of Walter Sturmgever was reworked dramatically.
First of all, they demanded to replace the shock USM with the trigger one. This led to the refusal of firing from the open bolt. And this is not even a revision of the sample, it is the introduction of a completely different mechanism, which by direct decree of the customer was “elegantly” “interconnected” from Walter. The safety catch was replaced, finally, by a safety lever. Thus, in the revised version of the Sturmgever, only the gas outlet and the principle of locking remained of the original intention. In this form, the device became known as the MP-43.
In April, the 1943 of the year, when the first batch of stormtroopers went to the troops for tests, they were all the same Mkb-42 (H). Perhaps they just did not have time to make an experimental batch. True, instead of Volmer's telescopes, ordinary springs from MP-43 were already there. The customer decided to raise the pace to 600 shots per minute, and the long stroke of the slide frame helped to reduce the rate of shooting to an acceptable one. Much to Schmeisser’s relief.
Remark 5. In the "studies" of the history of the Sturmgever, it is often stated that Hitler was against adopting it. Most likely, this is one of the dogs that his surviving accomplices hung on the Fuhrer and are still being hanged by modern historians, trying to whitewash the obvious failures in making military and technical decisions.
The issue of adopting a new model of personal small arms with a new cartridge requires a solution that is much more complex than even with a new model tank. Such events are possible only in peacetime or, as a last resort, not when your army is retreating and the chaos factor begins to dominate the military logistics business.
Before Stalingrad, there was no need to re-equip the German army with a new patron with Stormgeveres! In fact, almost four years have passed since HAENEL and POLTE were given a contract to develop new weapons. Most likely, this contract was of a research and developmental character. But 1942 the year when the mass delivery of PCA began to the Soviet troops, and later, the PPS, and the myth of the invincibility of the German troops dispelled, the Wehrmacht’s analytical minds moved in search of “Wunderwaffe”.
In the meantime, the German military industry reaches its peak. By the end of the war, more than a thousand foreign “specialists” were mercilessly exploited at Hanel’s enterprise, including more than 400 citizens of the Soviet Union. I wonder how many of them were designers and technologists?
Milk Hanelya is going at a fast pace. The share of brothers in profits is several times higher than the share of the current owner. In August 1943, Herr Hänel falls ill, and it is so hard that he completely retires from the company’s affairs. Whether the disease was not serious, or the simulation is excellent, but Herr Handel survived them all, having died only in the 1983 year. The position of technical director is occupied by the engineer Stümpel. And Schmeisser? According to the source of information (A. Kulinsky), Schmeiser worked like Caesar in two things at once, was engaged in the design and management of HAENEL at the same time. Notice that at this time the transformation of Mkb42 to MP-43 is underway. That is, the design and production equipment are changing drastically. Something I hardly believe that the richest man Zulya (by that time richer than Henell) is engaged in the introduction of Walter's trigger in the stormgiver.
Next - a small chronicle
In November, the 1943 Commissariat of Defense of the USSR announces a competition for a new weapon for an intermediate cartridge for given ballistic characteristics, without directly specifying the caliber. 7.62, 6.5 and 5.6 calibers were examined and tested. After working out more three hundred options stopped on the version of 7.62, which is now known. Moreover, the rejection of other calibers was caused by the fact that with smaller calibers it was not possible to satisfy customer requirements.
April 25 1944 years Sturmgever, finally, officially entered service in the German army. And in May, the Soviet designers Soudaev, Degtyarev, Simonov, Tokarev, Korovin and Kuzmischev present their first samples of automata under the Soviet intermediate cartridge.
July-August 1944. The second round, joined by Shpagin and Bulkin.
December 1944. Soviet Army Sergeant Mikhail Kalashnikov starts work on a carbine under the same cartridge. The design decision in the locking unit of this carbine formed the basis for the future glory of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. It was then - at the end of 1944 of the year!
January 1945. Automatic Sudaeva arrives at the ground test in the army.
May 1945 year. Victory! Suhl is temporarily in the zone of American occupation. American security officers are processing all bright German heads that can work for the benefit of the American Reich. And there were such heads. For example, Werner von Braun, who literally saved America from cosmic shame. If it were not for him, Nikita Khrushchev’s prophecy that the first man on the moon would undoubtedly be a Soviet man would have been fulfilled. Having repressed Schmeisser in full, the American security officers came to the same conclusion as the Izhevsk security officers much later - “Herr Schmeisser is of no value”. Sturmgever Americans also not impressed. Resource - 5000 shots, heavy weight, large size, USM is nonseparable, you can not shoot long lines, stamped iron looks unreliable. The general verdict is “weapons before the first breakdown”. Here is an excerpt from the conclusion of the US 1945 Armament Department:
“However, when they tried to create with mass methods a light and precise weapon that possesses substantial firepower, the Germans faced problems that seriously limited the effectiveness of the Sturmgewehr assault rifle. Cheap stamped parts, of which it is largely composed, are easily subjected to deformation and chipping, which leads to frequent seizures. Despite the stated ability to fire in automatic and semi-automatic modes, the rifle does not withstand continuous fire in automatic mode, which forced the leadership of the German army to issue official directives, ordering the troops to use it only in semi-automatic mode. In exceptional cases, soldiers are allowed to fire in fully automatic mode in short bursts of 2-3 shots. The possibility of re-using parts from serviceable rifles was neglected (interchangeability was not provided. - Author's note), and the general design hinted that in case of impossibility to use a weapon as intended, the soldier should have just thrown it away. The ability to fire in automatic mode is responsible for a substantial part of the weight of the weapon, which reaches 12 pounds with a full magazine. Since this opportunity cannot be fully exploited, this extra weight puts Sturmgewehr at a disadvantage compared to the US Army carbine, which is almost 50% lighter. The receiver, frame, gas chamber, housing and target frame are made of extruded steel. Since the trigger is fully assembled on the rivets, it is not dismountable; if repair is required, it is replaced entirely. Only the piston rod, bolt, hammer, barrel, gas cylinder, nut on the barrel and the magazine are machined. The stock is made of cheap, roughly treated wood and in the process of repair creates difficulties compared to machines with a folding stock. "
Americans can not be blamed for the fact that they overlooked something progressive in the sturmgevere. For a nation, the history of the formation of which is associated with the development of small arms, and the culture of weapons is its essential feature, it would be at least disrespectful. For the Soviet designers and military men, the position formulated by the “godfather” of M. T. Kalashnikov - Academician A. Blagonravov: "A weapon that does not have complete reliability in combat does not enjoy recognition in the army for any positive qualities it should and should not be allowed to be used."
Remark 6. A little bit about the resource. Rejected by the Wehrmacht, the Folmer M35 had a nastrel on the tests of 18 000 shots. Some samples of the Soviet DP-27 brought up the 100 000 shots. The claimed resource of the machine gun and machine guns Kalashnikov - 25 000 shots.
October 45. The People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, not satisfied with the tests of the Sudayev automatic rifle, announces the second contest, to which Mikhail Kalashnikov joins. And the Schmeissers who have lost their capital of the bourgeoisie are beginning to adapt to the harsh realities of socialism. Strange, but after the nationalization of the company Hänel, the post of commercial director was left to Hans Schmeisser. Why did Hugo not return to the post of technical director or, at worst, a simple designer, but he turned up on the commission for the selection of German technologies for use in the USSR? The answer is obvious to me, but I will write about it in the epilogue. For a whole year, the commission represented by Karl Barnitzke and Hugo Schmeisser selected candidates for the stage to Russia.
Finally, the in October 1946 years several families of German specialists settled in Izhevsk. Schmeisser was still unpacking the suitcases in Izhevsk and getting a pass to Izhmash, and in Kovrov, where Kalashnikov was sent, they had already made the first batch of the first AK-46. AK-46 tests were carried out in the summer of 1947. After these tests, the famous “repacking” of the machine gun in AK-47 took place, which allowed to win the competition. If you have a good smoke, if you wish, you can somehow draw Shmeisser into this re-arrangement with “some of his advice.” However, for this version, Schmeisser would have to be transported to Kovrov or AK-46 should be transported to Izhevsk, and Dr. Ryosch should deal with Dmitry Shiryayev. Both stand together, well, God bless them. The history of this reconfiguration is described in sufficient detail in the memoirs of the direct participants in those events. Schmeisser is not there.
March 1948 of the year. Kalashnikov in Izhevsk. At the former arms factory Berezina, and at the time of the Izhevsk Motor Works, an experimental batch of AKs is being made to participate in military trials. In a short time, while the pilot batch of machine guns is being manufactured, Mikhail Timofeevich manages to create another carbine and pistol in the gland.
February 1949 years. Kalashnikov assault rifle is adopted by the Soviet Army. And his designer finally settled in Izhevsk and began work on Izhmash on the preparation of mass production. Finally, the moment came when Schmeisser was to run for a beer for Kalashnikov. But that did not happen.
Finale
What are you doing in Izhevsk, old and sick Hugo Schmeisser? How did you even get here? Indeed, most recently in your hunting grounds you took high-ranking Nazi and military cones in order to get lucrative contracts. It is not known what you were doing more, designing or weaving intrigues against your competitors from Walter and Mauser.
What the hell jerked you to contact the Soviet technical commission? After all, you could work as a simple constructor. Your brother Hans remained in his place, despite the nationalization of the company Hänel. You could do your favorite thing - the construction of sports and hunting weapons, and no Bergman would you still not decree. But once you did a calculating step, relying on your intuition, you joined the ranks of the Nazis - and you didn’t lose it. Most likely, you were hoping for cooperation with the “Soviet occupiers”, which will pay dividends in the future. Or maybe he was afraid that they would charge you for your Nazi past and the exploitation of those unfortunate slaves from Europe and Russia who created your financial well-being? But this time, the intuition has failed, and now you have to live far from your homeland and look into the eyes of those people - your compatriots, who came here not without your help. By the way, why is not your eternal rival Heinrich Volmer among them? He now spins like a top, raises his company from his knees. It is calculated with employees of bicycle tires and develops complex barter schemes for supplying its enterprise with raw materials. Just like in the Soviet Union many years later ...
In Germany, the son died. Sick wife suffers. From melancholy and the uncertainty of what awaits in the future, they roll a bad wash. Reading technical journals and walks with the daughter of one of the colleagues in misfortune in the vicinity of Izhevsk helps to escape from them. All your life you have designed only what you wanted. It was beyond the power of others to construct on the instructions of others. The Russians did not get what they expected from you. As it turned out, MP-40 is completely mistakenly called “Schmeisser”, and you have nothing to do with this weapon. "Sturmgever" they studied, and he does not interest them at all. They say that the plant is preparing for the production of a new Russian "Sturmgever" under the intermediate cartridge, which was invented by a tank sergeant. It would be curious to see.
Hugo Schmeisser died without seeing this Soviet "sturmgever". The Kalashnikov assault rifle was widely presented to the world community in Hungary only three years after his death. Therefore, he could not answer the question: “Do you, Herr Schmeisser, have any relation to the Kalashnikov machine gun?” It is unlikely that the Americans also knew something about the AK-47 before the Hungarian events. Even if they knew, their interest was only theoretical. Truly, he only manifested himself in Vietnam, but after he fell into their hands, they had only one question left: “Hu from, Mr. Kalashnikov?” So the phrase about “some tips” is entirely on the conscience of those who composed it , as well as the bike about the English helicopter, which allegedly had to kidnap Schmeisser from the GDR. All that needed to be learned from Schmeisser could have been obtained in the GDR without any abduction. There was really nothing to tell him. How did he regularly report to the Soviet special on moods and conversations between German specialists? This is not interesting to anyone. The personal files of secret KGB officers will never be declassified, so no one will ever see any documentary evidence of this. But the assumption of cooperation Schmeisser with the KGB is not groundless. Among the German colonists was supposed to be the informant, on whom the case was initiated and on which references and reports were regularly written. It was so supposed, and to deny it senselessly. Schmeisser, who personally helped select the "seconded" to Izhevsk, in whose character in the first place is not openness and friendliness, was suitable for this role more than others.
And yet: what did the German designers gunsmiths on Izhmash? We are terribly interested. Developed weapons and, possibly, equipment and equipment for production. Somewhere in the archives there are drawings of dust on which are signed by Hugo Schmeisser and Werner Grüner. I have not seen it, but I can believe that it is. Here are just some questions.
First: Schmeisser, who did not have technical education, could not draw and do calculations, but worked, like most designers, from sketches, leaving this work to professional draftsmen.
Second, the system of German design documentation does not match the Soviet. Tables of tolerances and landings, too. Standards for steel, surface finish, coating technology, processing modes differ.
Third: in order for the work of the designer to have at least some sense, according to the drawings or sketches, they had to make parts, assemble some of these parts, test them, and make changes to the documentation. Design drawings are not enough for this, and technologists and mechanics who need to cut, grind or cut something according to documentation other than the usual Soviet one are needed here. Even the culture of production can be a serious obstacle to work. Therefore, most likely, they did something, plotted something. But most of all I like the quote of the “historian” I. Kobzev: “German gunsmiths brought from Germany to the Kalashnikov design bureau great paper and other supplies for work. But their drawings, similar to a work of art, covered the machines. Schmeisser could not stand such a spectacle and fell ill. " That's such a sadness. I'm crying.
The generation of Schmeisser is over, there are no direct relatives left. The patent "legacy" of Louis, Hans and Hugo Schmeisser is left to gather dust in the archives.
Conclusion
After the war, the remnants of the stormtroopers spread across countries and continents, they could be seen from the German police and the Yugoslav paratroopers. Do not disappear the same good.
The Kalashnikov machine gun did not interest the West even after the Hungarian events. In fact, the ballistic characteristics of the weapon could be recovered from the spent cartridges, or it was even possible to steal the machine gun. The main advantage of the AK - its amazing reliability - became known only after its real combat use in the jungles of Vietnam.
Time went by. AK began to spread throughout the world. But this Forces of Evil could not be forgiven, because such distribution infringed upon the mythical basis of this evil that "all the best is with them." Billions of dollars floated away from the arms business.
New times have come. Together with the freedom of information came the freedom of the five "C": sensations, sex, scandals, fear and verbiage.
On the wave of world fame Kalashnikov assault rifle, the mummy of Hugo Schmeisser surfaced. His arrogant physiognomy began to emerge at any mention of AK on the Internet.
The appearance of the publications of “historians” such as A. Ruchko, A. Korobeinikov, I. Kobzev, the “expert” A. Kolmykov and others can be explained by the psychiatric term “Nosov and Fomenko syndrome”. But there are individuals who benefit from it financially.
German "historian of the creative heritage of the great designer Hugo Schmeisser" Dr. Werner Resch. The commercial success of the “historian” apparently did not surpass the abilities of the Schmeisser brothers. So, his firm Schmeisser Suhl GmbH does not even have its own website, and only an attempt to create a joint production of gas pistols in Ukraine was discovered on the Internet. But the founders of the company "Schmeisser GmbH" Thomas Hoff and Andreas Schumacher are working seriously. On the "creative heritage" they do not care. Of course, they do not release sturgegeveers, but, according to screwdriver technology, various variations of the American AR-15. But to make a prank in the spirit of the “great” Schmeisser himself is easy. Concern "Kalashnikov" has as a business partner (dealer) company "Waffen Schumacher GmbH". The founder of this company is the same Andreas Schumacher, the founder of Schmeisser GmbH. So, until recently, a link to “Waffen Schumacher GmbH” from the “Kalashnikov” website led directly to “Schmeisser GmbH”, which is essentially a direct competitor of the concern! To write off this disgrace on someone's mistake is the pinnacle of infantilism.
Lying under your feet brand, a smile of fate created by the labor of another person. It remains to compose the myth of alleged involvement in the most famous machine in the world and give it a look of scientific research.
It is such a direct benefit to Ryosham and Schumacher to support the simulacrum of the “great” gunsmith Hugo Schmeisser, a member of Al-Es-de-A-Peh since one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three.
References:
1. Alexander Kulinsky. Schmeisser, fate and weapons. Kalashnikov. No.7-8 / 2003.
2. Ilya Shaidurov. Swabian Character. Masterwork No.9 / 2012 (186).
3. Ilya Shaidurov. Theodore Bergman and his weapon. Masterwork No.8-9 / 2009 (150-151).
4. Ilya Shaidurov. Hugo Schmeisser in Izhevsk, or the End of a Myth. Masterwork No.11-12 / 2009 (152-153).
5. Ilya Shaidurov. Unknown and famous Louis Stange. Masterwork No.12 / 2010 (165).
6. Sergey Monetchikov. "Miracle weapon" of the Third Reich. Little brother No.1-2 / 2008.
7. A series of soldiers on the front №49. Sturmgewer 44 - the weapon of the German infantry.
8. Mike Ingram. Submachine gun MP-40.
9. A. A. Malimon. Domestic machines (notes of the gunsmith tester).
10. Kalashnikov M.T. Notes designer gunsmith.
11. Bolotin D.N. The history of Soviet small arms and ammunition.
12. Chris McNab, German automatic rifles 1941-1945, 2005.
Hugo Schmeisser: from Bergman to Kalashnikov
- (c) Andrey Kulikov, Izhevsk, 2014
- Hu of, Herr Schmeisser?
Hu of, Herr Schmeisser? (continued)
Hu of, Herr Schmeisser? (ending)
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