Small arms ammunition on the battlefield of WWII. An overview of small arms ammunition encountered at the sites of former battles of the European part of the USSR. Germany, imperialist war

Any beginner, or already an experienced search engine, knows how often cartridges or cartridges come across from the time of the Second World War. But in addition to casings, or cartridges, there are even more dangerous finds. This is what we will talk about and about safety in the hunt.

During my 3 years of search activity, I dug out more than a hundred shells of various calibers. Starting from conventional cartridges, ending with 250 mm aerial bombs. In my hands have been visited, F1 grenades with pulled out rings, mortar mines that did not explode, etc. My limbs are still intact due to the fact that I know how to behave correctly with them.

Let's talk about the cartridge right away. Patron is the most frequent and widespread find, found absolutely everywhere, in any field, farm, forest, etc. A mutilated or not fired cartridge is safe as long as you do not throw it into the fire. Then it will work anyway. Therefore, this is not worth doing.

Further more dangerous finds, which are also very often found and raised by our fellow search engines. These are RGD-33, F1, M-39, M-24 grenades and more rare varieties. Of course, with such things, you need to be more careful. If the check or fuse of the grenade is intact, then you can easily pick it up and drown it in the nearest lake. If, however, a check was pulled out of the grenade and it did not work, which happens very often. And you accidentally stumbled upon such a find with a shovel, it is better to bypass it and call the Ministry of Emergencies. But, as a rule, they will ignore your challenge and say you shouldn't go to such places.

Very often you come across mortar mines on the battlefield. They are less dangerous than grenades, but you also need to be more careful with such a find, especially if the mine did not work.

Above the mine, this is her dangerous place. There is a fuse, when a mine was fired from a mortar, flying out of the barrel, it flew down with a fuse, and hitting the ground the same fuse was triggered. But, if the mine hit a swamp or very soft ground, it might not work. Therefore, if you find something similar to this projectile in the ground, be careful with the top of the mine.

Of course, you can transport it and carry it to the nearest body of water to drown it. But you need to be careful. And do not drop or hit it with a shovel.

And of course the larger shells are high-explosive fragmentation shells, which it is better not to touch because of their size and volume of the affected area. If you can tell by the copper strap whether it's fired or not. If he is not fired, then he can be carried into the river and drowned, and if he is fired and for some reason did not work. It is better not to touch or move it.

The photo shows a 125 mm caliber shell:

In general, the shells are not as dangerous as everyone talks about them. Observing basic safety techniques, and those short rules that you met in this article, you will protect yourself from dangerous finds, and you can safely engage in excavations without fear of explosions.

And by the way, do not forget about the law of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code "illegal storage of ammunition and weapons", this can include even a small cartridge.

There are three modifications of grenade launcher shots. The original and already obsolete type VOG-17 with an instant fuse. The subsequent modification, VOG-17M, differs from the previous one in that the fuse is equipped with a self-destruct device. The self-liquidator mechanism is driven from overloads when fired.

For firing from automatic grenade launchers, 40x53-mm shots are used with an initial speed of grenades of more than 240 m / s. The effective range of these grenades is 2000-2200 m. An important feature of foreign ammunition for anti-personnel grenade launchers is their variety.

Experience of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. showed the need for mass production of cartridges. In one of his speeches, J.V. Stalin said that only in 1944. Soviet Union produced 7 billion 400 million cartridges.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of gas cartridges is carried out experimentally in order to determine the concentration of tear substance at various distances. To do this, use sampling tubes of a special design, in which a packet of filtering and sorbing material is placed.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of traumatic cartridges is carried out according to the following methods:
- by specific kinetic energy, which should not exceed 0.5 J / mm2;
- by imprint in ballistic plasticine;
- by hydrostatic pressure, which should not exceed 50 MPa.

The enemy can use various means of protection against damage: building structures, car bodies, personal body armor (NIB). When hitting an obstacle, the bullets are deformed.
Armor-piercing bullets provide the greatest penetration depth.

The tasks of experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of the lethal (damaging) action of cartridges are to evaluate the behavior of the bullet regardless of the place of hit and the trajectory of the bullet in the body, correlating with the real results of the use of cartridges.

In the 80s. XX century, the National Law Institute of the United States developed a mathematical model that allows using a computer to obtain the relative stopping action coefficient RII (Relative Incapacitation Index) for various ammunition.

The effectiveness of a cartridge is determined by the probability of incapacitation of manpower or other targets when fired from a weapon and depends on the probability of hitting the target, lethal, stopping and penetrating action of the bullet. Determination of the probability of hitting a target is described in sufficient detail in the special literature.

It is common knowledge that a shot from firearms accompanied by a loud sound, which, along with the muzzle flame, is the main unmasking factor for the sniper, indicating the direction of the shot and warning the enemy about the threat.

The system of small arms, inherited by Russia from the USSR, was focused on the concept of a global conflict with the use of large human and material resources. However, experience local wars the second half of the 20th century showed the need to increase the range of fire sniper weapon with the probability of hitting the target "running figure" at a distance of 1500 m. In this regard, sniper rifles were developed for cartridges .50 Browning and the domestic cartridge 12.7 × 108 mm.

The main domestic rifle cartridge is the 7.62 × 54 mm cartridge of the 1908/30 model, which was the basis for the creation of a family of SVD sniper rifles and other weapon designs (Fig. 1). Specially for sniper rifles were developed 2 types of cartridges: "sniper" 7N1 and the so-called "with bullets with a silver nose" 57-N-323C.

The main cartridges used for sniper firing of foreign armies and special services are: 5.56 × 45 mm NATO cartridge (.223 Remington),. 243 Winchester, 7 mm Remington Magnum, 7.5 × 54 mm, .300 Winchester Magnum, 7.62x51mm NATO, .338 Lapua Magnum, .50 Browning.
Cartridge. 243 Winchester (Fig. 1, a) is a typical hunting ammunition that has a low recoil compared to larger caliber ammunition and, accordingly, provides better accuracy.

Shooting farther and more accurately is one of the priorities in the development of small arms and ammunition. As soon as one of the belligerents achieved an increase in the capabilities of one or another type of small arms, the other side immediately suffered additional losses and was forced to change the tactics of its troops.

Gas cartridges are mainly used in civilian weapons due to their sufficient effectiveness in riot control. They are equipped with irritants - substances that cause a temporary loss of a person's ability to conduct active actions due to irritation of the mucous surfaces of the eyes, upper respiratory tract, as well as moist skin.

Small caliber pistol cartridges developed for use in PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) weapons can be distinguished into a separate group. They are characterized by a caliber of 4.4 ... 5.8 mm, a small bullet mass, an initial bullet velocity of more than 700 m / s, a bottle sleeve, and a relatively high penetration effect for pistol cartridges.

In the early 1980s. relatively light body armor of varying degrees of protection appeared. So, for example, the 1st class body armor provides protection against bullets of cartridges 57-Н-181 С (for the PM pistol) and 57-Н-111 (for the revolver "Nagan"), and the 2nd class of protection against bullets of the cartridge 7Н7 (for the PSM pistol) and 57-11-134 C (for the TT pistol). And although the body armor covers 25-30% of the human body, it has significantly increased the survival rate in combat conditions.

The 9-mm "Parabellum" cartridge, adopted by Germany on August 22, 1908, is still in service with the armies of most countries of the world. To a large extent, such a long life of the patron is due to the fact that he was constantly improving.

In 1936, the German firm Gustav Genschow & Co created the 9mm Ultra cartridge for the Walther PP pistol. The 9-mm "Kurz" cartridge was adopted as a basis with an extension of the sleeve from 17 to 18.5 mm. The cartridge was produced until the end of World War II.

The "father" of modern pistol cartridges is considered to be Hugo Borchardt, chief engineer of the German arms company Ludwig Leve & Co., who in 1893 developed a cartridge 7.65 × 25 (caliber × length of the sleeve) with a bottle sleeve for his self-loading pistol , a groove instead of a rim and a shell bullet.
The pistol was not accepted for service, and Borchard did not continue to refine his pistol and cartridge.

Bullets of pistol cartridges are subdivided into shellless (solid), shell, semi-shell (with an open nose), expansive (with a cavity in the head), and armor-piercing. In the United States and Western countries, abbreviations are used to denote design features. The most common abbreviations are shown in the table

According to the forensic requirements of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the minimum energy criterion for human susceptibility is the specific kinetic energy of 0.5 J / mm².

Bullet mass is of great importance. The lighter the bullet, the faster it loses its kinetic energy, the more difficult it is to keep it within the limits of the permissible traumatic effect at an acceptable firing range. As a result, it is necessary to significantly overestimate the initial energy, introducing restrictions on the minimum allowable distance for the use of weapons, which is not always possible to withstand.

The predecessor of these ammunition is the 7.62 mm Reduced Velocity (US) cartridge, created in the early 60s. for use in an AKM assault rifle equipped with a silent and flameless firing device (PBS).

The SP-5 and SP-6 cartridges of 9 mm caliber were created on the same principle in the mid-80s. N. Zabelin, L. Dvoryaninova and Yu.Z. Frolov at TsNIITOCHMASH on the basis of a 7.62 mm cartridge case mod. 1943 Leaving its shape, length and capsule unchanged, the designers changed the muzzle of the case - for attaching a 9-mm bullet, and a powder charge - for communicating a bullet weighing about 16 g with an initial velocity of 280-295 m / s. They are used for shooting from the 9-mm VSK-94 sniper rifle, AK-9 Kalashnikov assault rifle, and special "Val" assault rifle.

The first thing to understand for yourself is that traumatic weapon this is far from combat and not even service, although it can be performed on its basis. In other words, one should not expect miracles from a traumatic pistol, since when it was created, I am more than sure that the main requirement for any model was to make the probability of causing severe injuries that can lead to death to a minimum. Nevertheless, do not underestimate the trauma, considering it a child's toy, with which a share of self-indulgence is acceptable. This is the same weapon, it can also kill under certain conditions, not guaranteed, of course, but it can.

Often, in modern conditions, the outcome of fire contact will depend not only on the skill of the shooter, his weapon, but also on the ammunition that is used.
The purpose of the cartridge depends on the type of bullet it is loaded with. Today there are many bullets of different types with a wide variety of degrees of damaging effect - from non-lethal to armor-piercing. The main meaning of these differences is beyond the barrier (defeat of manpower protected by armor) or stopping action (deceleration of the bullet at the target and full impulse transfer). The stopping effect suggests an increased traumatic effect.

It was developed by B.V. Semin. When designing the cartridge, the case was taken from the TT cartridge 7.62x25 mm, "cut" at the level of 18 mm from the bottom. This solution made it possible, on the one hand, to use machine and measuring equipment for TT cartridges, and on the other hand, excluded the possibility of using new cartridges for soviet weaponsleft after the war in the hands of the population.

We often find shell casings from the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War in the ground. Almost all of them have their own distinction. Today we will consider the marking of the cases, which is located on the cartridge capsule, regardless of the brand and caliber of the weapon.

Consider some types and markings of the Austro-Hungarian types of cartridges of 1905-1916. In this type of sleeve, the capsule is divided into four parts with dashes, the inscriptions are extruded. The left, respectively, the right cell is the year of production, the top is the month, and the lower part is the designation of the plant.

• Figure 1. - G. Roth, Vienna.
• Fig 2. - Bello and Selye, Prague.
• Fig 3. - Wöllersdorf plant.
• Fig 4. - Hartenberg factory.
• Figure 5. - The same Hartenberg, but the Kellery Co. plant.

The later Hungarian 1930s and 40s have some differences. Figure 6. - Chapelsky arsenal, year of issue below. Figure 7. - Budapest. Fig. 8. - military plant Veszprem.

Germany, imperialist war.

The German marking of imperialist war shells has two types with a clear division (Fig. 9) using dashes into four equal parts of the capsule and with a conditional one (Fig. 10). The inscription is embossed, in the second version the letters and numbers of the designation are directed towards the capsule.

In the upper part there is the S 67 mark, in different versions: together, separately, through a dot, without numbers. The lower part is the month of production, on the left is the year, and on the right is the plant. In some cases, the year and the plant are changed in places, or the location of all divisions is reversed.

Fascist Germany.

Sleeves and their marking in Fascist Germany (Mauser type) have many options, because the cartridges were produced in almost all factories of the occupied countries Western Europe: Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Italy.

Consider Figure 11-14, this case is made in Denmark. The capsule is divided into four parts: above - the letter P with numbers, below - the week, on the left side - the year, on the right - the letter S and a star (five-pointed or six-pointed). In Figures 15-17, we see some more types of cartridges produced in Denmark.

In Fig. 18 we see capsules of presumably Czechoslovak and Polish production. The capsule is divided into four parts: at the top - Z, at the bottom - the month of manufacture, on the left and right - the year. There is an option when it says "SMS" at the top, the caliber is 7.92 below.

• Fig. 19-23 Germanic casings G. Genshov and Co. in Durlya;
• Fig 24. - RVS, Browning, caliber 7.65, Nuremberg;
• Figs 25 and 26 - DVM, Karlsruhe.

More options for cartridges made in Poland.

• Fig. 27 - Skarzysko-Kamienna;
• Figures 28 and 29 - Pochinsk, Warsaw.

The marks on the Mosin rifle cartridges are not depressed, but convex. Above is usually the letter of the manufacturer's plant, below - the numbers of the year of manufacture.

• Figure 30 - Lugansk plant;
• Figure 31 - a plant from Russia;
• Figure 32 - Tula plant.

Some more capsule options:

• Figure 33 - Tula plant;
• Figure 34 - Russian plant;
• Figure 35 - Moscow;
• Figure 36 - Russian-Belgian;
• Figure 37 - Riga;
• Figure 38 - Leningrad;
• Rice 39, 40, 41, 42 - different factories in Russia.

Everyone is familiar with the popular print image of the Soviet "soldier-liberator". In the minds of Soviet people, the Red Army men of the Great Patriotic War are emaciated people in dirty greatcoats who run in a crowd to attack after tanks, or tired elderly men smoking on the breastwork of a hand-rolled trench. After all, it was precisely such shots that were mainly captured by military newsreels. In the late 1980s, filmmakers and post-Soviet historians put the "victim of repression" on a cart, handed the "three-line" without cartridges, sending them to meet the armored hordes of fascists under the supervision of barrage detachments.

Now I propose to see what happened in reality. We can responsibly declare that our weapons were in no way inferior to foreign ones, while more suited to local conditions of use. For example, a three-line rifle had larger clearances and tolerances than foreign ones, but this "drawback" was a forced feature - gun grease, thickening in the cold, did not take the weapon out of combat.

So, an overview.

N agan - a revolver developed by the Belgian gunsmiths brothers Emil (1830-1902) and Leon (1833-1900) Nagan, which was in service and produced in a number of countries in late XIX - the middle of the XX century.


TC (Tulsky, Korovina) - the first Soviet serial self-loading pistol... In 1925, the Dynamo sports society ordered the Tula Arms Plant to develop a compact pistol chambered for 6.35 × 15 mm Browning for sports and civil needs.

Work on the creation of the pistol took place in the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant. In the fall of 1926, the gunsmith designer S.A. Korovin completed the development of a pistol, which was named the TK pistol (Tula Korovin).

At the end of 1926, TOZ began producing a pistol, the next year the pistol was approved for use, receiving the official name "Pistol Tulsky, Korovin, model 1926".

TK pistols entered service with employees of the NKVD of the USSR, middle and senior command personnel of the Red Army, civil servants and party workers.

Also, the TC was used as a gift or award weapon (for example, there are cases of awarding them to the Stakhanovites). In the period from autumn 1926 to 1935, several tens of thousands of "Korovins" were produced. In the period after the Great Patriotic War, TK pistols were kept for some time in savings banks as a backup weapon for employees and collectors.


Pistol mod. 1933 TT (Tulsky, Tokareva) - the first army self-loading pistol of the USSR, developed in 1930 by the Soviet designer Fyodor Vasilyevich Tokarev. The TT pistol was developed for the 1929 competition for a new army pistol, announced to replace the revolver revolver and several models of foreign-made revolvers and pistols that were in service with the Red Army by the mid-1920s. The German cartridge 7.63 × 25 mm Mauser was adopted as a regular cartridge, which was purchased in significant quantities for the Mauser S-96 pistols in service.

Mosin rifle. The 7.62-mm (3-line) rifle of the 1891 model (Mosin rifle, three-line) is a magazine rifle adopted by the Russian Imperial Army in 1891.

It was actively used in the period from 1891 to the end of the Great Patriotic War, during this period it was modernized many times.

The name of the three-line comes from the caliber of the rifle barrel, which is equal to three Russian lines (the old measure of length equal to one tenth of an inch, or 2.54 mm - respectively, three lines are equal to 7.62 mm).

On the basis of the 1891 model rifle and its modifications, a number of sports and hunting weapons, both rifled and smooth-bore, were created.

Simonov automatic rifle. 7.62-mm automatic rifle of the Simonov system, model 1936, ABC-36 is a Soviet automatic rifle developed by gunsmith Sergei Simonov.

Originally developed as a self-loading rifle, improvements have added an automatic fire mode for use in an emergency. The first automatic rifle developed in the USSR and put into service.

Tokarev's self-loading rifle. 7.62-mm self-loading rifles of the Tokarev system of 1938 and 1940 models (SVT-38, SVT-40), as well as the Tokarev automatic rifle of 1940 model - a modification of the Soviet self-loading rifle developed by F.V. Tokarev.

SVT-38 was developed as a replacement for the Simonov automatic rifle and was adopted by the Red Army on February 26, 1939. The first SVT arr. 1938 was released on July 16, 1939. From October 1, 1939, gross production began at Tula, and from 1940 at the Izhevsk arms factory.

Self-loading carbine Simonov. The 7.62 mm Simonov self-loading carbine (also known abroad as the SKS-45) is a Soviet self-loading carbine designed by Sergei Simonov, entered service in 1949.

The first copies began to arrive in active units at the beginning of 1945 - this was the only case of the 7.62 × 39 mm cartridge used in World War II

Tokarev's machine gun, or the original name is Tokarev's light carbine - an experimental model of automatic weapons created in 1927 for the modified revolver cartridge of the Nagant, the first of the submachine guns developed in the USSR. It was not adopted for service, produced by a small experimental batch, and was used in limited quantities in the Great Patriotic War.

Degtyarev's machine gun. 7.62 mm submachine guns of the 1934, 1934/38 and 1940 Degtyarev systems are various modifications of the submachine gun developed by the Soviet gunsmith Vasily Degtyarev in the early 1930s. The first submachine gun adopted by the Red Army.

The Degtyarev submachine gun was a fairly typical representative of the first generation of this type of weapon. It was used in the Finnish campaign of 1939-40, as well as at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War.

Shpagin's machine gun. The 7.62-mm submachine gun of the 1941 Shpagin system (PPSh) is a Soviet submachine gun developed in 1940 by designer G.S. Shpagin and adopted by the Red Army on December 21, 1940. PPSh was the main submachine gun of the Soviet armed forces in the Great Patriotic War.

After the end of the war, in the early 1950s, the PPSh was withdrawn from service by the Soviet Army and was gradually replaced with a Kalashnikov assault rifle; for a little longer it remained in service with rear and auxiliary units, units of internal troops and railway troops. It was in service with the units of the paramilitary guard at least until the mid-1980s.

Also, in the post-war period, PPSh was supplied in significant quantities to countries friendly to the USSR, for a long time it was in service with the armies of various states, was used by irregular formations and throughout the twentieth century was used in armed conflicts around the world.

P gun-machine gun Sudaev. 7.62 mm submachine guns of the 1942 and 1943 Sudaev system (PPS) systems are variants of a submachine gun developed by the Soviet designer Alexei Sudaev in 1942. They were used by the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War.

PPS is often regarded as the best submachine gun of the Second World War.

Ulemet "Maxim" model 1910. The Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model is a heavy machine gun, a variant of the British Maxim machine gun, widely used by the Russian and Soviet armies during the First World War and the Second World War. The "Maxim" machine gun was used to engage open group targets and enemy fire weapons at a distance of up to 1000 m.

Anti-aircraft variant
- 7.62 mm quad machine gun "Maxim" on anti-aircraft installation U-431
- 7.62-mm coaxial machine gun "Maxim" on the anti-aircraft mount U-432

Ulemet Maxim-Tokarev - Soviet light machine gun designed by F. V. Tokarev, created in 1924 on the basis of the Maxim machine gun.

DP (Degtyareva Infantry) - a light machine gun developed by V. A. Degtyarev. The first ten serial DP machine guns were manufactured at the Kovrov plant on November 12, 1927, then a batch of 100 machine guns was transferred to military trials, according to the results of which the machine gun was adopted by the Red Army on December 21, 1927. DP became one of the first models of small arms created in the USSR. The machine gun was massively used as the main weapon of fire support for the infantry of the platoon-company link until the end of World War II.

DT (Degtyarev tank) - a tank machine gun developed by V.A.Degtyarev in 1929. It entered service with the Red Army in 1929 under the designation “7.62-mm tank machine gun of the Degtyarev system mod. 1929 " (DT-29)

DS-39 (7.62-mm heavy machine gun Degtyarev model 1939).

SG-43. 7.62 mm Goryunov machine gun (SG-43) - Soviet easel machine gun. It was developed by the gunsmith P. M. Goryunov with the participation of M. M. Goryunov and V. E. Voronkov at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant. Introduced into service on May 15, 1943. The SG-43 began to enter the troops in the second half of 1943.

DShK and DShKM - large-caliber heavy machine guns chambered for 12.7 × 108 mm as a result of modernization of the large-caliber heavy machine gun DK (Degtyarev Large-caliber). DShK was adopted by the Red Army in 1938 under the designation "12.7 mm heavy machine gun Degtyarev - Shpagin model 1938"

In 1946, under the designation DShKM (Degtyarev, Shpagin, modernized large-caliber,) machine gun was adopted by the Soviet Army.

PTRD. Anti-tank single-shot rifle mod. 1941 Degtyarev system, put into service on August 29, 1941. It was intended to fight medium and light tanks and armored vehicles at distances of up to 500 m.Also, the gun could fire at bunkers / bunkers and firing points covered with armor at distances of up to 800 m and at aircraft at distances of up to 500 m.

PTRS. Anti-tank self-loading rifle mod. 1941 of the Simonov system) is a Soviet self-loading anti-tank rifle, put into service on August 29, 1941. It was intended to combat medium and light tanks and armored vehicles at distances of up to 500 m.Also, the gun could fire at bunkers / bunkers and firing points, covered with armor, at distances of up to 800 m and at aircraft at distances of up to 500 m. During the war some of the guns were captured and used by the Germans. The guns were named Panzerbüchse 784 (R) or PzB 784 (R).

Dyakonov's grenade launcher. The rifle grenade launcher of the Dyakonov system is designed to hit live, mostly closed, targets with fragmentation grenades that are inaccessible to weapons of flat fire.

It was widely used in pre-war conflicts, during the Soviet-Finnish war and at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War. According to the staff of the rifle regiment in 1939, each rifle squad was armed with a rifle grenade launcher of the Dyakonov system. In the documents of that time, it was called a hand mortar for throwing rifle grenades.

125-mm ampoule gun sample 1941 - the only serially produced ampoule-thrower model in the USSR. It was widely used with varying success by the Red Army at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War; it was often made in semi-handicraft conditions.

A glass or tin ball filled with a flammable liquid "KS" was most often used as a projectile, but the range of ammunition included mines, a smoke bomb and even artisanal "propaganda shells". With the help of a 12-gauge blank rifle cartridge, the projectile was fired at 250-500 meters, thereby being an effective means against some fortifications and many types of armored vehicles, including tanks. However, difficulties in use and maintenance led to the fact that in 1942 the ampoule gun was removed from service.

ROX-3 (Knapsack Flamethrower Klyuev - Sergeev) - Soviet infantry knapsack flamethrower during the Great Patriotic War. The first model of the ROKS-1 backpack flamethrower was developed in the USSR in the early 1930s. At the beginning of World War II, the rifle regiments of the Red Army had flamethrower teams in two squads, armed with 20 ROKS-2 knapsack flamethrowers. Based on the experience of using these flamethrowers at the beginning of 1942, the designer of the Scientific Research Institute of Chemical Engineering M.P. Sergeev and the designer of the military plant No. 846 V.N. Klyuev developed an improved ROKS-3 knapsack flamethrower, which was in service with individual companies and battalions of the Red Army knapsack flamethrowers throughout the war.

Bottles with a combustible mixture ("Molotov cocktail").

At the start of the war State Committee The defense decided to use bottles with a combustible mixture in the fight against tanks. Already on July 7, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted a special decree "On anti-tank incendiary grenades (bottles)", which ordered the People's Commissariat of the Food Industry to organize, from July 10, 1941, the equipment of liter glass bottles with fire-mixture according to the recipe of the Scientific Research Institute 6 of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition. And the head of the Red Army's Military Chemical Protection Directorate (later the Main Military Chemical Directorate) was ordered to begin "supplying military units with hand-held incendiary grenades" from July 14.

Dozens of distilleries and breweries throughout the USSR turned into military enterprises on the fly. Moreover, "Molotov Cocktail" (named after the then deputy IV Stalin in the State Committee for Defense) was prepared directly on the old factory lines, where just yesterday they poured citro, port wines and sparkling Abrau-Durso. From the first batches of such bottles, they often did not even have time to tear off the "peaceful" alcohol labels. In addition to the liter bottles indicated in the legendary "Molotov" decree, the "cocktail" was also made in beer and wine-cognac containers with a volume of 0.5 and 0.7 liters.

The Red Army adopted two types of incendiary bottles: with a self-igniting liquid KS (a mixture of phosphorus and sulfur) and with combustible mixtures No. 1 and No. 3, which is a mixture of aviation gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, thickened with oils or a special hardening powder OP- 2, developed in 1939 under the leadership of A.P. Ionov - in fact, it was the prototype of modern napalm. The abbreviation "KS" is deciphered in different ways: and "Koshkin mixture" - by the name of the inventor N. V. Koshkin, and "Old cognac", and "Kachugin-Solodovnik" - by the names of other inventors of liquid grenades.

A bottle with a self-igniting COP liquid falling on solid, broke, the liquid spilled and burned with a bright flame for up to 3 minutes, developing a temperature up to 1000 ° C. At the same time, being sticky, it adhered to the armor or covered up viewing slots, glasses, observation devices, blinded the crew with smoke, smoking it out of the tank and burning everything inside the tank. Falling on the body, a drop of burning liquid caused severe, difficult to heal burns.

Combustible mixtures No. 1 and No. 3 burned for up to 60 seconds at temperatures up to 800 ° C and emitting a lot of black smoke. Bottles with gasoline were used as a cheaper option, and thin glass tube ampoules with KS liquid, which were attached to the bottle with the help of pharmaceutical rubber bands, served as an incendiary. Sometimes the ampoules were put inside the bottles before being thrown.

B rone vest PZ-ZIF-20 (protective shell, Frunze Plant). He is also CH-38 Breastplate type (CH-1, steel breastplate). It can be called the first mass Soviet body armor, although it was called a steel bib, which does not change its purpose.

The bulletproof vest provided protection against the German submachine gun, pistols. Also, the body armor provided protection against shrapnel from grenades and mines. The bulletproof vest was recommended to be worn by assault groups, signalmen (during the laying and repair of cables) and when performing other operations at the discretion of the commander.

Information often comes across that the PZ-ZIF-20 is not the SP-38 (CH-1) body armor, which is incorrect, since the PZ-ZIF-20 was created according to the documentation of 1938, and the industrial production was established in 1943. The second point is that by appearance have 100% similarity. Among the military search units it has the name "Volkhovsky", "Leningrad", "Five-section".
Reconstruction photo:

Steel bibs CH-42

Soviet assault engineer-sapper guards brigade in steel bibs CH-42 and with DP-27 machine guns. 1st ShISBr. 1st Belorussian Front, summer 1944

Hand grenade ROG-43

Hand-held fragmentation grenade ROG-43 (index 57-G-722) of remote action, designed to defeat enemy manpower in offensive and defensive combat. The new grenade was developed in the first half of the Great Patriotic War at the plant. Kalinin and had the factory designation RGK-42. After being put into service in 1943, the grenade was designated ROG-43.

Manual smoke grenade RDG.

RDG device

Smoke grenades were used to provide curtains with a size of 8-10 m and were mainly used to "blind" the enemy in cover, to create local curtains in order to mask crews leaving armored vehicles, as well as to simulate the burning of armored vehicles. Under favorable conditions, one RDG grenade created an invisible cloud 25 - 30 m long.

Burning grenades did not sink in water, so they could be used when crossing water obstacles. The grenade could smoke from 1 to 1.5 minutes, forming, depending on the composition of the smoke mixture, thick gray-black or white smoke.

RPG-6 grenade.


RPG-6 exploded instantly at the moment of impact on a rigid barrier, destroyed armor, hit the crew of an armored target, its weapons and equipment, could also ignite fuel and detonate ammunition. Military tests of the RPG-6 grenade took place in September 1943. A captured assault gun "Ferdinand" was used as a target, which had frontal armor up to 200 mm and side armor up to 85 mm. The tests carried out showed that the RPG-6 grenade, when struck by the head on the target, could penetrate armor up to 120 mm.

Anti-tank hand grenade mod. 1943 RPG-43

Hand anti-tank grenade model 1941 RPG-41 shock action

RPG-41 was intended to combat armored vehicles and light tanks with armor up to 20-25 mm thick, and could also be used to combat pillboxes and field-type shelters. RPG-41 could also be used to defeat medium and heavy tanks when hitting vulnerable places of the machine (roof, tracks, chassis, etc.)

Chemical grenade sample 1917


According to the "Provisional RKKA rifle regulations. Part 1. Small arms. Rifle and hand grenades ", published by the head of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs and the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR in 1927, at the disposal of the Red Army to arm troops in positional combat remained a chemical hand grenade mod. 1917 from the stock prepared during the First World War.

VKG-40 grenade

In service with the Red Army in the 1920s-1930s, there was a muzzle-loading "Dyakonov grenade launcher", created at the end of the First World War and subsequently modernized.

The grenade launcher consisted of a mortar, a bipod and a quadrant sight and was used to defeat manpower with a fragmentation grenade. The barrel of the mortar had a caliber of 41 mm, three screw grooves, it was rigidly fixed in a cup screwed onto the neck, which was put on the rifle barrel, fixing on the front sight with a cutout.

Hand grenade RG-42

RG-42 model 1942 with the fuse of the UZRG. After the grenade was adopted, the index RG-42 (hand grenade of 1942) was assigned. The new fuse of the UZRG used in the grenade became the same for both the RG-42 and the F-1.

The RG-42 grenade was used both in the offensive and in the defense. In appearance, it resembled an RGD-33 grenade, only without a handle. The RG-42 with the UZRG fuse belonged to the type of remote-action fragmentation grenades. It was intended to defeat the enemy's manpower.

Anti-tank rifle grenade VPGS-41



VPGS-41 when using

Characteristic hallmark ramrod grenades had a "tail" (ramrod) inserted into the rifle bore and served as a stabilizer. The grenade was fired with a blank cartridge.

Soviet hand grenade mod. 1914/30 g. with defensive cover

Soviet hand grenade mod. 1914/30 belongs to the double-type anti-personnel fragmentation hand grenades. This means that it is designed to destroy enemy personnel with shell fragments during its explosion. Remote action - means that the grenade will explode after a certain period, regardless of other conditions, after the soldier releases it from his hands.

Double type - means that the grenade can be used as an offensive, i.e. grenade fragments have a small mass and fly at a distance less than the possible throwing range; or as defensive, i.e. fragments fly at a distance exceeding the throw range.

The double action of the grenade is achieved by putting on the so-called "shirt" - a cover made of thick metal, which, in the event of an explosion, provides fragments of a larger mass flying over a greater distance.

Hand grenade RGD-33

An explosive charge is placed inside the case - up to 140 g of TNT. Between the explosive charge and the body, a steel tape with a square notch is placed to obtain fragments during an explosion, rolled into three to four layers.


The grenade was equipped with a defensive cover that was only used when throwing a grenade from a trench or cover. In other cases, the protective cover was removed.

And of course, F-1 grenade

Initially, the F-1 grenade used a fuse designed by F.V. Koveshnikov, who was much more reliable and more convenient in using the French fuse. The deceleration time of the Koveshnikov fuse was 3.5-4.5 sec.

In 1941, the designers E.M. Viceni and A.A. Poor people developed and put into service instead of Koveshnikov's fuse, a new, safer and simpler fuse for the F-1 hand grenade.

In 1942, the new fuse became the same for the F-1 and RG-42 hand grenades, it was named UZRG - "unified fuse for hand grenades."

* * *
After the above, it cannot be argued that only rusty three-rulers without cartridges were in service.
About chemical weapons during the Second World War, the conversation is separate and special ...

By the end of the 30s, almost all participants in the coming world war had formed common directions in the development of small arms. The range and accuracy of destruction was reduced, which was compensated for by a higher density of fire. As a consequence, the beginning of the massive rearmament of units with automatic small arms - submachine guns, machine guns, assault rifles.

Accuracy of shooting began to fade into the background, while the soldiers who were advancing in a chain were taught to shoot on the move. With the advent of the airborne troops, it became necessary to create special lightweight weapons.

Maneuver warfare also affected machine guns: they became much lighter and more mobile. New types of small arms appeared (which was dictated primarily by the need to fight tanks) - rifle grenades, anti-tank guns and RPGs with cumulative grenades.

Small arms of the USSR of World War II

The rifle division of the Red Army on the eve of the Great Patriotic War was a very formidable force - about 14.5 thousand people. The main type of small arms were rifles and carbines - 10,420 pieces. The share of submachine guns was insignificant - 1204. There were 166, 392 and 33 units of easel, light and anti-aircraft machine guns, respectively.

The division had its own artillery of 144 guns and 66 mortars. Firepower was supplemented by 16 tanks, 13 armored vehicles and a solid fleet of auxiliary automotive vehicles.

Rifles and carbines

The main small arms of the infantry units of the USSR in the first period of the war were undoubtedly the famous three-line - 7.62 mm rifle S. I. Mosin, model 1891, modernized in 1930. Its advantages are well known - strength, reliability, unpretentiousness in service in combination with good ballistic qualities, in particular, with an aiming range of 2 km.

The three-ruler is the ideal weapon for newly recruited soldiers, and the simplicity of the design created tremendous opportunities for mass production. But like any weapon, the three-line had flaws. A permanently attached bayonet in combination with a long barrel (1670 mm) created inconvenience when moving, especially in wooded areas. Serious criticism was caused by the shutter handle during reloading.

On its basis was created sniper rifle and a series of carbines of the 1938 and 1944 model. Fate measured the three-line for a long century (the last three-line was released in 1965), participation in many wars and an astronomical "circulation" of 37 million copies.

Sniper with Mosin rifle (c optical sight PE sample 1931)

At the end of the 30s, the outstanding Soviet weapons designer F.V. Tokarev developed a 10-round self-loading rifle cal. 7.62 mm SVT-38, which received the name SVT-40 after modernization. It "lost weight" by 600 g and became shorter due to the introduction of thinner wood parts, additional holes in the casing and reducing the length of the bayonet. A little later, a sniper rifle appeared at its base. Automatic firing was provided by the removal of powder gases. Ammunition was placed in a box, detachable store.

Sighting range SVT-40 - up to 1 km. SVT-40 fought with honor on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Our opponents also appreciated it. Historical fact: Capturing rich trophies at the beginning of the war, among which there were many SVT-40s, the German army ... adopted it, and the Finns created their own rifle - TaRaKo on the basis of SVT-40.

The AVT-40 automatic rifle became the creative development of the ideas implemented in the SVT-40. It differed from its predecessor in its ability to conduct automatic fire at a rate of up to 25 rounds per minute. The disadvantage of AVT-40 is low accuracy of fire, strong unmasking flame and loud sound at the moment of firing. Subsequently, as the troops received massive amounts of automatic weapons, they were removed from service.

Submachine guns

Great Patriotic War was the time of the final transition from rifles to automatic weapons... The Red Army began to fight, armed with a small number of PPD-40 - a submachine gun designed by the outstanding Soviet designer Vasily Alekseevich Degtyarev. At that time, the PPD-40 was in no way inferior to its domestic and foreign counterparts.

Designed for a pistol cartridge cal. 7.62 x 25 mm, PPD-40 had an impressive 71 rounds of ammunition, placed in a drum-type magazine. Weighing about 4 kg, it could fire at a speed of 800 rounds per minute with an effective range of up to 200 meters. However, a few months after the start of the war, it was replaced by the legendary PPSh-40 cal. 7.62 x 25 mm.

The creator of the PPSh-40 - designer Georgy Semenovich Shpagin was faced with the task of developing an extremely easy-to-use, reliable, technologically advanced, cheap-to-manufacture mass weapon.

From its predecessor, the PPD-40, the PPSh inherited a drum magazine for 71 rounds. A little later, a simpler and more reliable sector horn magazine for 35 rounds was developed for it. The mass of the equipped assault rifles (both variants) was, respectively, 5.3 and 4.15 kg. The rate of fire of the PPSh-40 reached 900 rounds per minute with an aiming range of up to 300 meters and with the ability to conduct single fire.

To master the PPSh-40, several classes were enough. It was easily disassembled into 5 parts made by stamping-welded technology, due to which during the war years the Soviet defense industry produced about 5.5 million automatic machines.

In the summer of 1942, the young designer Alexei Sudaev presented his brainchild - a 7.62 mm submachine gun. It was strikingly different from its "older brothers" PPD and PPSh-40 in rational layout, higher manufacturability and ease of manufacture of parts by arc welding.

PPS-42 was 3.5 kg lighter and required three times less time to manufacture. However, despite the quite obvious advantages, it never became a mass weapon, leaving the PPSh-40 to be the leader.

By the beginning of the war, the DP-27 light machine gun (Degtyarev infantry, cal 7.62mm) had been in service with the Red Army for almost 15 years, having the status of the main light machine gun of infantry units. Its automation was powered by the energy of powder gases. The gas regulator reliably protected the mechanism from dirt and high temperatures.

DP-27 could only conduct automatic fire, but even a beginner needed a few days to master shooting in short bursts of 3-5 rounds. Ammunition of 47 rounds was placed in a disk magazine with a bullet to the center in one row. The store itself was mounted on top of the receiver. The mass of the unloaded machine gun was 8.5 kg. The equipped magazine increased it by almost 3 kg more.

It was powerful weapon with an aiming range of 1.5 km and a combat rate of fire up to 150 rounds per minute. In the combat position, the machine gun rested on the bipod. At the end of the barrel, a flame arrester was screwed on, significantly reducing its unmasking effect. DP-27 was served by the shooter and his assistant. In total, about 800 thousand machine guns were fired.

Small arms of the Wehrmacht of World War II

The main strategy of the German army is offensive or blitzkrieg (blitzkrieg - lightning war). The decisive role in it was assigned to large tank formations, carrying out deep breakthroughs in the enemy's defenses in cooperation with artillery and aviation.

Tank units bypassed powerful fortified areas, destroying command centers and rear communications, without which the enemy would quickly lose combat effectiveness. The defeat was completed by the motorized units of the ground forces.

Small arms of the Wehrmacht infantry division

The staff of the German infantry division of the 1940 model assumed the presence of 12609 rifles and carbines, 312 submachine guns (automatic machines), light and heavy machine guns - respectively 425 and 110 pieces, 90 anti-tank rifles and 3600 pistols.

Small arms of the Wehrmacht as a whole met the high requirements of wartime. It was reliable, trouble-free, simple, easy to manufacture and maintain, which contributed to its serial production.

Rifles, carbines, machine guns

Mauser 98K

The Mauser 98K is an improved version of the Mauser 98 rifle, developed at the end of the 19th century by the brothers Paul and Wilhelm Mauser, founders of the world famous arms company. Equipping the German army with it began in 1935.

Mauser 98K

The weapon was equipped with a clip with five 7.92 mm cartridges. A trained soldier could aim 15 shots within a minute at a distance of up to 1.5 km. The Mauser 98K was very compact. Its main characteristics: weight, length, barrel length - 4.1 kg x 1250 x 740 mm. Numerous conflicts with its participation, longevity and truly transcendental "circulation" - more than 15 million units testify to the indisputable advantages of the rifle.

The G-41 self-loading ten-shot rifle was the German response to the massive equipping of the Red Army with rifles - SVT-38, 40 and AVS-36. Its sighting range reached 1200 meters. Only single shooting was allowed. Its significant disadvantages - significant weight, low reliability and increased vulnerability to pollution - were subsequently eliminated. The combat "circulation" was several hundred thousand rifle samples.

Automatic MP-40 "Schmeisser"

Perhaps the most famous small arms of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War was the famous MP-40 submachine gun, a modification of its predecessor, the MP-36, created by Heinrich Vollmer. However, by the will of fate, he is better known under the name "Schmeisser", obtained thanks to the stamp on the store - "PATENT SCHMEISSER". The stigma simply meant that in addition to G. Volmer, Hugo Schmeisser also participated in the creation of the MP-40, but only as the creator of the store.

Automatic MP-40 "Schmeisser"

Initially, the MP-40 was intended to arm the command staff of infantry units, but later it was transferred to the disposal of tankers, drivers of armored vehicles, paratroopers and special forces.

However, the MR-40 was absolutely unsuitable for infantry units, since it was an exclusively close-range weapon. In a fierce battle in open terrain, having weapons with a firing range of 70 to 150 meters meant for a German soldier to be practically unarmed in front of his enemy, armed with Mosin and Tokarev rifles with a firing range of 400 to 800 meters.

Assault rifle StG-44

Assault rifle StG-44 (sturmgewehr) cal. 7.92mm is another legend of the Third Reich. It is undoubtedly an outstanding creation by Hugo Schmeisser and the prototype of many post-war assault rifles and machine guns, including the famous AK-47.

StG-44 could conduct single and automatic fire. Its weight with a full magazine was 5.22 kg. In the aiming range of 800 meters, the Sturmgever was in no way inferior to its main competitors. There were three versions of the store - for 15, 20 and 30 rounds with a rate of up to 500 rounds per minute. The option of using a rifle with an under-barrel grenade launcher and an infrared sight was considered.

Not without flaws. The assault rifle was a whole kilogram heavier than the Mauser-98K. Its wooden butt could sometimes not withstand hand-to-hand combat and simply broke. The flame escaping from the barrel betrayed the shooter's location, and the long magazine and sighting devices made him raise his head high when lying down.

MG-42 7.92 mm is quite rightly called one of the best machine guns of the Second World War. It was developed at Grossfus by engineers Werner Gruner and Kurt Horn. Those who have experienced it firepowerwere very frank. Our soldiers called it "the lawn mower" and our allies called it "Hitler's circular saw."

Depending on the type of shutter, the machine gun fired aimed at a speed of up to 1500 rpm at a distance of up to 1 km. The ammunition was supplied using a machine-gun belt for 50 - 250 rounds. The uniqueness of the MG-42 was complemented by a relatively small number of parts - 200 and high manufacturability of their production by stamping and spot welding.

The barrel, red-hot from firing, was replaced with a spare one in a few seconds using a special clamp. In total, about 450 thousand machine guns were fired. The unique technical know-how embodied in the MG-42 was borrowed by gunsmiths around the world when creating their machine guns.