Projects of machine pistols with a longitudinal placement of the store
It should be noted that the designers of FN were not the first to try to reduce the dimensions of the weapon and increase the capacity of the store due to the non-standard location of the cartridges and the use of the “longitudinal” magazine. However, only the Belgian P90 could become a truly mass weapon. Consider some submachine guns, the developers who tried to use the original ammunition supply system with the location of the store along the receiver.
Submachine gun J. Sosso (Italy)
One of the first proposals concerning the non-standard location of the store was the project of the Italian gunsmith Giulio Sosso, who worked for FNA (Fabrica Nationale D'Armi). In the late thirties, he developed the original submachine gun, in which the function of the store served as a special channel inside a wooden box. Cartridges were proposed to be located in this channel at a small angle to the vertical. In such a shop could be located a few dozen cartridges, without compromising the ease of use of weapons.
Unfortunately, information about the Sosso submachine gun is extremely scarce. Nevertheless, the available information and images allow us to form a general idea of the proposed weapon weapon supply system.
The two-row magazine had to be located inside the box, passing from the butt plate to the cartridge feeding mechanism into the chamber. On the side of the butt plate, the cartridges had to be pressed by a spring-loaded feeder. The figure below shows a general design of a Sosso submachine gun with a magazine with two rows of 47 pistol cartridges each. Probably, the ammunition of this weapon, depending on the size of the box and the butt, could indeed exceed the 70-80 cartridges.
The picture from the patent, illustrating the transfer of cartridges from the vertical to the horizontal state before serving
Under pressure from the supply spring, the cartridges from the store had to move towards the mechanics responsible for lifting them up to the discharging line. The lifting mechanism consisted of a tube and a pusher. The latter was mechanically connected to the shutter. Turning, the pusher had to send the cartridge into a curved tube and carry it along it. After exiting the upper section of the tube, the cartridge turned out to be in a horizontal position and could be shuttered into the chamber. After the shot, the cycle was to be repeated.
The characteristics of this system are unknown. Apparently, the project of J. Sosso remained on paper, in the form of drawings and a patent. For this reason, the rate of fire of the proposed automation, as well as the very fact of its working capacity, remain questionable.
ZB-47 (Czechoslovakia)
After the end of World War II, Czechoslovak engineers engaged in the development of new types of small arms. In 1947, Vaclav Holek presented his version of a promising submachine gun. In the framework of the ZB-47 project, the gunsmith attempted to resolve several serious issues related to upgrading the weapon’s characteristics. V. Kholek tried to simplify the design, as well as to ensure the highest possible store capacity. After working through a number of proposals, it was decided to use the original long store, located at an angle to the barrel. In this case, while maintaining the acceptable dimensions of the weapon, the magazine’s capacity reached 72 cartridges.
Submachine gun ZB-47 received receiver, consisting of two parts. The top had a tubular shape and was equipped with a trunk cover in the front. It contained a bolt and a return spring. The lower part of the receiver had a characteristic triangular shape and was connected to the top with a hinge. In the lower part were placed the components of the firing mechanism, as well as the feed mechanism of cartridges. In addition, on this site were provided fixtures for the store. The submachine gun could be equipped with a butt of one of two types: rigidly fixed wooden or folding metal. It is noteworthy that the metal butt imposed serious restrictions on the length and capacity of the store.
Shop on 72 cartridge 9х19 mm Parabellum had a sufficiently large length, because of what it had to be placed under the lower edge of the receiver. Due to this, the store was located along the main elements of the design of the submachine gun and had almost no effect on its dimensions. Such an arrangement of the store required the development of an original cartridge supply system. Under the action of the store spring, the ammunition was fed into its front part, where it was pressed against a special sprocket with teeth of complex shape. The free shutter of the weapon through a system of pulses transferred a recoil impulse to the asterisk and turned it a quarter of a turn. In this case, the asterisk hooked the cartridge from the magazine and lifted it to the dismounting line, at the same time leading to the position parallel to the barrel. Under the action of the return spring, the bolt delivered the cartridge into the chamber.
Such a system allowed to ensure the rate of fire at the level of 550 shots per minute. Even when using the bulk magazine, the ZB-47 submachine gun turned out pretty light and compact. The wooden butt version of the weapon had a total length of 740 mm and a barrel length of 265 mm. The weight of the submachine gun was 3,3 kilogram. The weight of the empty magazine was 330 g, equipped with - 1,2 kg. Thus, the submachine gun and two magazines to it (174 cartridge) weighed less than 6 kilograms, which could increase the capabilities of the fighter in battle.
The submachine gun ZB-47 was equipped with an open sight of the most simplified design, which allowed firing at distances 100 and 300 m.
When developing the ZB-47, V. Kholek took into account the need to deploy production in existing plants, which affected the complexity of the design. In the design of the submachine gun, there were only 24 parts, most of which could be made by stamping. The designer believed that such simplicity in combination with the combat characteristics would allow its development to be widely adopted.
In the middle of 1947, an experimental batch of new-model submachine guns was assembled. According to some reports, two dozen ZB-47 were presented for testing. There is no exact information on the course of testing this weapon, but it is known that it did not interest the military. For some reason - probably, the complexity of the operation of the cartridge supply mechanism into the chamber - the submachine gun ZB-47 was not adopted. Sa vz.1948 designed by J. Holecek was chosen as the main submachine gun of the Czechoslovak army in 23.
JL Hill Submachine Guns (USA)
Former fighter pilot John L. Hill in the forties worked as an engineer in an American oil company. His responsibilities included the development and commissioning of new equipment necessary for the extraction of minerals. However, Hill was not limited to official duties and therefore tried to try himself in other areas. In the late forties, he independently developed and manufactured a submachine gun of the original design. The main feature of this weapon was the new design of the store, which allowed at times to increase the ammunition without a serious change in its dimensions.
Hill used the same system as the Belgian gunsmiths a few decades later. Box store elongated shape, he placed on the upper surface of the receiver. To increase ammunition ammunition located perpendicular to the axis of the barrel, bullets to the left. Thanks to this, a two-row magazine of acceptable length could accommodate up to 50 cartridges 9x19 mm Parabellum. An increase in the capacity of the store was not ruled out, but in this case, some modifications were needed to the design of the submachine gun itself, including a change in its length.
The store proposed by Hill demanded that a new cartridge supply system be developed into the chamber. Before sending, they needed to be deployed on 90 °. To this end, a special feeder was added to the weapon design. The cartridge had to fall under its own weight in the feeder tray, mechanically connected with the shutter. The feeder had to turn the cartridge in the right direction. After that, the bolt with a special protrusion pushed the cartridge out of the tray to the dismounting line and sent it to the chamber.
The JL Hill submachine gun shop had a fairly simple design and hardly differed from the shops of the existing class of rifle systems of the same class. The only noticeable change was the knot through which the cartridges were fed into the weapon: there was a rectangular hole on the bottom surface of the case. Through it and through a round hole in the receiver, the cartridges had to get into the mechanisms of the weapon. According to some reports, Hill offered to fill the stores with ammunition at an arms factory and deliver them to the troops in the form equipped. The window of the store in this case should have been covered with foil. In addition, some sources claim that Hill’s submachine gun could use disposable stores made of cardboard or other cheap material.
Except for the original store, the Hill submachine gun of the first version was of no interest. He used automation on the basis of a free gate with a drummer rigidly mounted on the gate. The weapon received a rectangular receiver and a wooden box. In the lower surface of the box there was a hole for the ejection of shells. The cartridge cases were to be removed by the bolt and dropped out of the weapon under their own weight.
John L. Hill began developing his submachine gun as early as the late forties, but the weapon was ready for testing only in 1953. In this regard, the first Hill submachine gun is often referred to as mod.1953 (sample 1953 of the year). Despite the seeming complexity of the design, the new weapon turned out to be quite reliable and worked almost without failures. The rate of fire reached 450-500 shots per minute. After some improvements, the mod.1953 submachine gun was proposed to the US military.
The military reacted to Hill’s arms without enthusiasm. The troops had a large number of M3 submachine guns, including modifications designed to use the 9x19 mm cartridge. In addition, the army was preparing for the transition to a new small arms under the new ammunition, and Hill’s combat skills developed no longer meet the new requirements. Therefore, the mod.1953 submachine gun remained at the prototype testing stage. Only a few weapons of this type were collected. According to some reports, all prototypes were made by Hill in his own home workshop.
The engineer did not abandon his project and continued its development. By the end of the fifties, John L. Hill had developed a new submachine gun, designated H15 or mod.1960. The principles of the updated weapons remained the same, and the design of the store has not changed. Hill intended to propose a new H15 police, for which some changes were made to the design. A new submachine gun was supposed to use .38 ACP cartridges as ammunition. In a two-row shop, 35 managed to place such cartridges. H15 did not get a wooden box. Instead, a pistol grip with a trigger was placed under the middle part of the receiver. For the convenience of using weapons, spent cartridges were ejected through a hollow handle. In some images, the weapon is equipped with a butt, but on most photos this part is missing.
It was made about 100 submachine guns H15, which Hill was going to offer the police for testing. However, this time the potential customer showed no interest in the new weapon. Probably, the police leadership could not find a tactical niche for such systems. Most of the hundreds produced submachine guns were recycled. According to some information, no more than 10 units of these weapons, which were previously exhibited in one of the private museums, have survived to the present.
The design of the JL Hill system’s store is very much like the technical solutions used by FN engineers in the P90 submachine gun. The only noticeable difference between these two developments lies in the system of turning the cartridges: in Hill they were deployed with a special weapon mechanism, and on the submachine gun P90 a special part of the store is responsible for this process. However, the location of the ammunition and the way they are fed into the weapon are the same. According to some reports, in the mid-sixties, FN invited JL Hill to consult and even managed to convince him to leave the H15 submachine gun for careful examination.
On the materials of the sites:
http://mpopenker.livejournal.com/
http://palba.cz/
http://raigap.livejournal.com/
http://smallarmsoftheworld.com/
http://guns.wikia.com/
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