The initial period of the formation of the national school of automatic weapons design on the example of the development of automatic rifles (1904–1926).

Timofeeva Rimma Aleksandrovna ORCID: 0000-0002-9051-0391 PhD in Art History Associate Professor; Department of History and Theory of Art; St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design 194064, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Politechnicheskaya str., 29, building 2, sq. 32 rimma.a.timofeeva@gmail.com

Chumak Ruslan Nikolaevich PhD in Technical Science Head of the Funds Department; Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Communications Troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation 197046, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Alexandrovsky Park str., 7 rimma.a.timofeeva@gmail.com

Introduction

The creation of domestic automatic rifles is one of their significant topics in weapons science, which ensured the professional interest of both contemporaries and researchers of a later period in this issue. The variety of objects preserved in various collections and the disparity of archival documentation on this topic necessitates a more detailed study of the issue in terms of the history of the activities of individual engineers to create prototypes of auto screws and their design specifics.

A brief history of the issue

There are four periods in the historiography of this issue ^{[1, pp. 46-47]}, the scientific study of the automation stage of domestic handguns traditionally begins with the research of V. G. Fedorov ^{[2; 3; 4; 5]}. Being a contemporary of this transition, he left invaluable evidence of the early stage of this phenomenon, summarizing and systematizing a significant layer of material. However, a detailed study of early experiments naturally turned out to be outside the scope of his attention, some designers are only mentioned among others ^{[5, p. 130]}.

In the publications of the Soviet period, the issues of industrial production in connection with the process of development of the labor movement in Russia were more discussed ^[6]. This story was also touched upon in the framework of the general historiography of the rearmament of the Russian army ^[7].

The so-called period of the "emergence of new names" of the creators of Russian weapons in historiography is usually defined by the late 1940s – 1950s. Nevertheless, the mention of a number of designers, in particular V. P. Konovalov, is quite rare among the studies of this stage. For example, E. V. Myshkovsky ^[8] and M. N. Yakovlev, considering the contribution of Russian gunsmiths to the creation of automatic rifles ^{[9, pp. 110-114]}, confines himself to listing them without detailed analysis.

Source database

The brief history of the issue outlined above has led to the need to refer to the funds of state and departmental archives, the documentation of which makes it possible to clarify a number of important aspects. First of all, this is the activity of the Military Department related to the management of the process of developing an automatic rifle sample. These materials contain information on the consideration of proposals from various inventors of the pre-revolutionary period and the development of the issue after 1917 (the Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic (TSGAUR), the Russian State Military Archive (RGVA), the Scientific Archive of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Communications Troops (VIMAIVS)). Secondly, these are some features of the production of automatic weapons of the specified period, cost calculations and accounting documentation (Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg (TsGIA SPb.), Central State Archive of St. Petersburg (TSGA SPb.). And, thirdly, this is some biographical information about the inventors (TSGIA SPb.). The identified preserved samples of small arms, which make it possible to characterize various areas of the designers' activities, are stored in the collection of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Moscow), the VIMAIViVS of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (St. Petersburg), the Museum of the Political History of Russia (St. Petersburg) and Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, Victory Museum (Moscow).

An overview of the activities for the development of an automatic rifle model carried out in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century

The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of fundamental changes in the Russian government system, rapid industrial development, and at the same time the initial stage of automation of small arms, which took place in all industrialized countries of the world. This period of history is one of the most important in the Russian arms industry. At that time, Russia began to form its own, original and independent school of automatic weapons design, which flourished during the Soviet period of our country's history and is developing to the present day.

However, due to a number of objective and subjective reasons, the coverage of the initial period of the development of the school of design of automatic weapons has not received any significant coverage in domestic weapons science. The reason for this state of affairs is the significant fragmentation of archival documentation on this topic and samples of early Russian automatic rifles preserved in various collections, combined with their very approximate, often incorrect attribution. At the same time, the importance of this topic, due to the need for the correct formation of the history of the initial period of the national school of automatic weapons design and its positioning in the global system of weapons engineering, requires a detailed study of the activities of individual gunsmiths to create prototypes of automatic rifles and their design features.

The initial period of creation of automatic rifles in Russia can be divided into three stages. The first stage dates back to the end of the 19th – the very beginning of the 20th century. Most sources mention the designs of automatic rifles developed in Russia at that time by inventors D. A. Rudnitsky (1886-1887), K. Glinsky (1888), Glubovsky and Privalov (1890s), and the Valitsky brothers ^{[8, pp. 185-187]}. They built their experimental work on the constructive basis of the serial 4.2-line rifle model 1870 (Berdan No. 2), but for a number of reasons their projects of automatic rifles were not developed.

The second stage of the creation of automatic rifles dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century (1904-1911). The activities of the Military Department, aimed at organizing and supporting the development of automatic rifles at this stage, generally repeated the traditional scheme of previous similar work on improving small arms, implemented earlier in Russia and other countries of the world: from the desire to create a conversion system to based on the main parts and mechanisms of the Mosin 3-line rifle, model 1891, to the original design solution of the main mechanisms, in which the capabilities of the weapon were most fully realized. At first, fairly general requirements were imposed on the rifles being developed: a high rate of fire, better accuracy, and preservation of the shooter's strength, including by reducing recoil ^{[10, l. 67 vol.-68]}. Subsequently, these requirements were constantly supplemented and improved in accordance with the level of development of weapons technology and military affairs (Order of the Chairman of the Artillery Committee, communicated by Order No. 37071 dated August 11, 1908).

At the second stage of work, the designs of automatic rifles were developed by the inventors: Shubin (1904), V. Tatsik (1904), Poznitsky (1905) ^{[8, pp. 198-199]}. Until 1907, various proposals for new automatic weapons were considered in the Weapons Department of the Artillery Committee of the State Agrarian University. For example, in 1905, the project of the "automatic rifle – hand machine gun" by A. V. Poznitsky (Alexander Vasilyevich Poznitsky, in 1906 – second lieutenant, head of weapons of the 129th Infantry Regiment of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich of Bessarabia, the project was reviewed by the Armory Department of the Art Committee in 1905, the magazine on the armory dated November 1, 1905 No. 243) ^{[11, l. 52]}, in 1906 by B. E. Sosinsky. Bronislav Eduardovich Sosinsky, a civil engineer, proposed projects for converting a rifle into an automatic (gas–discharge automation), his own rifle (three variants - with a fixed barrel, with a movable back and with a barrel rotation) and a machine gun, which were reviewed by the Armory Department of the Art Committee in 1906, magazines on the armory: July 18, 1906 year No. 129, dated July 25, 1906, No. 134, dated October 24, 1906, No. 193 ^{[11, l. 129, 151, 218]}.

Due to the lack of specialized design bureaus in Russia at that time engaged in the design of weapons, the centers for the creation of a new type of weapon became weapons-technical organizations located in the capital of the Russian Empire and its surroundings.: The Sestroretsk Arms Factory, which became a kind of experimental laboratory where such weapons were manufactured according to the approved proposals of the inventors, and military institutions that organize and control this process. The latter included the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU) in St. Petersburg and the test base located at the training ground of the Officer Rifle School (Oranienbaum). Contrary to the accepted opinion that the official work on the design of automatic weapons was carried out on the basis of the Decree of the State Agrarian University No. 11 of January 17, 1906 ^{[9, p. 111]}, we note that this Decree concerned a special case – the conversion of a 3-line rifle model 1891 into an automatic rifle, carried out by V. G. Fedorov together with I. N.. Kolesnikov. The inventors' proposals were submitted to the "Commission formed to review samples of automatic weapons." The consideration in this commission of the first samples of military automatic weapons made in Russia dates back to 1907 – these were Ya. U. rifles. Roshchepeya ^{[12; 11, l. 338-339]} and I. N. Kolesnikova ^{[13, l. 201]}. However, these projects were mostly haphazard in nature, while the success of the activities in this direction required, first of all, financing and streamlining.

In order to create the Russian automatic rifle as soon as possible, a specialized commission was formed in 1908, created following the appeal of Anatoly Nikolaevich Rosenshild von Paulin, head of the Officer Rifle School, to the Inspector General of Infantry - Report No. 597 dated August 11, 1908 ^{[13, l. 381]}. For the productive work of the commission, the initiator of the appeal proposed to release inventors and the best specialists of that time in the field of weapons, cartridge and powder making from other official duties and assemble at the Rifle Range: V. G. Fedorov, S. P. Khatuntsev, F. V. Tokarev, I. N. Kolesnikov, S. A. Zybin, A. P. Zalyubovsky, N. I. Zhukovsky. The proposal was considered (Magazine of the Department of the Armory of the Artillery Committee dated October 25, 1908, No. 170), according to its results, it was proposed to create a commission consisting of Major General V. P. Shepelev, Major General N. G. Baitsurov, Major General A. E. Kern, Major General A. N. Rosenshild von Paulin, Colonel M. P. Dymshi, Colonel N. M. Filatov, Captain V. G. Fedorov of the Guard, with the possibility of inviting other specialists ^{[13, l. 389 vol.-390]}.

It is important to note that the creation of such a commission at the State Agrarian University (not at the Rifle Range, as originally proposed by Rosenshild von Paulin) ^{[14, l. 15]} from among those participating in meetings of the Weapons Department allowed, on the one hand, to continue a comprehensive study of the issue in the relevant organization. On the other hand, the capabilities of the State Agrarian University as a central institution made it easier to manage all work at weapons, cartridge and powder factories, that is, to carry out the interaction of design activities and industrial production.

The implementation of this proposal would allow the creation of Russia's first permanent scientific center for the development of automatic weapons and significantly accelerate the process of its creation. However, the proposal was not developed, and in the pre-revolutionary period, development work with weapons in Russia was carried out by individual specialists and enthusiasts of the arms industry, combining it with permanent work and service in other organizations. This path, outlined before the revolution, will be comprehensively developed already in the Soviet period of Russia's history as part of the process of forming a system of design bureaus for the development of weapons of various types.

The leading center of automatic weapons manufacturing in Russia was the Sestroretsk Arms Factory, where gunsmiths worked, whose proposals the State Agrarian University recognized as worthy of implementation: V. G. Fedorov (5 samples 1905-1907), Ya. U. Roshchepey (3 samples 1907, 1909 and 1910), S. P. Khatuntsev (1907) ^{[11, L. 512]}, N. G. Dmitriev-Baytsurov (1 sample 1908, Nikolai Grigorievich Dmitriev-Baytsurov, b. On December 9, 1848, from the nobility of the Vladimir province, from 1891 – an advisory member of the Artillery Committee of the State Agrarian University, from February 16 to May 26, 1894 – head of the Sestroretsk Arms Factory, from May 25 – chairman of the admissions committee of the Imperial Tula Arms Factory) ^{[15, l. 1-3 vol.]}, F. V. Tokarev (4 1908 No. 1, 1908 No. 2, 1909 and 1910), I. K. Antsus (1907 No. 1, Johan Karlovich Antsus (1859-1930), worked at the Sestroretsk Arms Factory from 1884, in 1910 he was a master of a Mechanical workshop, as of 1923 he was acting head of a Mechanical workshop, lived 31 Officer Street) ^{[16; 17, l. 12-13 vol.]}, I. N. Kolesnikov (1 sample 1907), V. P. Konovalov (1 sample 1907), N. Shchukin (1 sample 1908). Designs of automatic rifles were submitted by other inventors: Sudakov (1910), I. Ya. Staganovich (1911), but they were not developed ^{[8, pp. 206-207]}.

Certain results of these works are recorded in the magazine of the Department of the Armory of the Artillery Committee dated October 25, 1908, No. 170 and are summarized as follows. The way to create a redesigned rifle was considered unsatisfactory due to the inability to achieve ballistic properties comparable to foreign models with the existing safety margin of the Mosin rifle barrel - 2750 atm. versus 3000 – 3200 atm. foreign rifles. Secondly, the insufficient accuracy of the tolerances accepted for individual elements of a magazine rifle, if it were a question of mass production of automatic weapons ^{[14, L. 14 vol.]}.

Indeed, state-owned arms factories of the pre-revolutionary period needed additional measures to switch to the manufacture of automatic weapons, which was repeatedly noted in the reports of the head of technical artillery establishments. First of all, it was about the overhaul and/or replacement of machines that had worn out due to prolonged use ^{[18, pp. 36-36 vol.]}. Also, in order to comprehensively ensure experimental work with automatic weapons, it was necessary to improve the equipment of the Rifle range (Journal of the commission for the development of an automatic rifle sample dated May 30, 1909, No. 15) ^{[14, l. 55]}. However, from the modern point of view of the arms industry, the reasons listed above are a rather superficial justification for rejecting the redesigned designs of automatic rifles. Their real reason was that the redesigned designs severely limited the inventors in implementing the necessary set and configuration of weapon mechanisms, preventing them from creating models that worked satisfactorily and met the requirements of the army without significantly redesigning them, which completely destroyed the main idea of the redesigned rifle – to obtain a sample with new properties at minimal cost for its development and production.

Since 1912, the third and final stage of the initial period of work on the creation of automatic rifles began, during which inventors developed weapons based on original automation solutions with minimal use of parts from serial Mosin rifles mod. 1891 or without them at all. For the successful implementation of the projects, the State Agrarian University assumed the active involvement of employees of all three weapons factories – Izhevsk Armory and Steelmaking, Sestroretsk and Imperial Tula. But until 1918, the Sestroretsk Arms Factory remained the leading center of automatic weapons manufacturing in Russia, where the authors of GAU-approved projects of automatic rifles were seconded and where their prototypes were manufactured. Such gunsmiths include: V. G. Fedorov (2 samples of 1912), F. V. Tokarev (1 sample of 1912), Ya. U. Roshchepey (1 sample of 1912), N. Shchukin (1 sample of 1912), I. Ya. Staganovich (1 sample of 1913), V. P. Konovalov (2 samples of 1914 and 1917). At the Tula Arms Factory, experimental work with automatic rifles was also carried out at the time under study, but significantly less actively than in Sestroretsk. The authors revealed a mention of the development in Tula of only three models of automatic rifles designed by one inventor, ITOZ employee P. N. Frolov in 1912. Peter Nikolaevich Frolov, a fitter at the Tula Arms Factory, proposed three versions of the rifle, which were considered in early 1912 (journal of the commission for the development of an automatic rifle sample dated February 9, 1912, No. 18) and were recognized as original in some of their elements. P. N. Frolov used in his rifle an automatic version with delayed self-locking and a trigger firing mechanism. The design of the main automation mechanisms of the Frolov rifle lacked parts borrowed from the 1891 model rifle, which allows it to be attributed to the original designs ^{[19, l. 54]}. During the same period, other inventors submitted designs for automatic rifles of their design, for example, Shubin (1911-1912) ^{[19, l. 7-7 vol.]}, but they were not developed.

Summing up the pre-revolutionary period of the creation of automatic rifles in Russia, it should be noted the attentive attitude of the Russian Military Department to the activities of gunsmiths developing automatic rifles. It was the result of the active work of individual representatives of the army and the State Agrarian University, both from the tsarist and Soviet periods of Russian history, who possessed strategic thinking, a high level of general technical training and developed analytical abilities. But since the evolution of weapons as a part of material culture reflects not only the development of science and technology in general, but also is related to the peculiarities of the organization of creative activity in this field of technical knowledge in the state, work in the direction outlined in Russia before the October Revolution yielded vivid results only during the Soviet period – when invention in the field of weapons creation received intensive development in specialized design organizations.

But first, the Soviet arms industry and the newly emerging national school of automatic weapons design had to overcome a difficult period of formation, which took place during the ongoing Russian Civil War (1918-1921).

Since 1918, due to the evacuation, the Sestroretsk Arms Factory ceased operations as a small arms manufacturing company. Experimental work with weapons at the plant was transferred to the Tula Arms Factory and a new machine-gun factory under construction in Kovrov, Vladimir province ^{[20, l. 76]}.

Since 1921, F. V. Tokarev worked at the Tula Arms Factory, creating automatic rifles with an original and quite advanced automation solution. In the same year, V. G. Fedorov, who had been working at a machine-gun factory in Kovrov since 1918, returned to active inventive work with automatic weapons.

Also in the archive of the VIMAIVS there was a project of an automatic rifle developed by Ya. U. Roshchepey in Kiev and dated August 1919, but there is no information about its implementation ^[21].

Interestingly, even in the conditions of the Civil War, the leadership of the Soviet military industry found an opportunity to finance the design activities of the most experienced gunsmiths – V. G. Fedorov, F. V. Tokarev and V. P. Konovalov ^{[22, L. 2-3]}, supporting the development of their developments.

The nature and methods of conducting development work by Russian gunsmiths at the beginning of the Soviet period of Russia's history did not fundamentally differ from the specifics of their activities in the pre-revolutionary period. These include their almost complete creative independence in choosing the main design solutions for weapons, which is most often poorly related to the global experience in weapons technology in terms of finding reliable principles of automation, industrial capabilities, and compliance of designed weapons with the requirements of large-scale warfare.

After the end of the Civil War, due to changes in the approach of the Red Army leadership to conducting development work with weapons, new detailed tactical and technical requirements for its samples began to be developed by the Central Commission for the Military Industry Program, in which infantry weapons were considered by the 2nd section of the Artillery Subcommittee. It should be noted that its members included prominent military theorists of the previous period: E. K. Smyslovsky, V. G. Fedorov, N. M. Filatov and others. The activities of this structure also involved the development of measures for the best use of the country's technical forces, taking into account the capabilities of industry ^{[23, l. 2-3]}. Such an integrated approach to the development of new weapons was completely new and subsequently proved highly effective.

The general requirements for the new automatic rifle were discussed at a meeting on December 2, 1921, and their initial draft was drawn up by V. P. Boino-Rodzevich ^{[22, pp. 25-33]}. On October 1, 1923, the first competitive rifle test was supposed to be conducted ^{[22, l. 17 vol.]}. However, the rifle test did not take place within the specified period.

The third stage of the initial period of creation of automatic rifles came to an end in 1924, when the activities of the disparate inventors of automatic weapons were taken under the centralized control of the military-technical bodies of the Red Army and the military industry and aimed at developing a sample automatic rifle with certain design properties specified by the army. The third stage was completed in 1926, when the first comparative field test of automatic rifles developed according to new requirements took place in the USSR, in which samples of V. G. Fedorov, V. A. Degtyarev, F. V. Tokarev and V. P. Konovalov took part. After these tests, it became clear to all its participants and managers that success in developing such a rather complex type of weapon as an automatic rifle requires great attention and active leadership from the leadership of the Red Army and the State Agrarian University, and from the designers a much more thorough study of all elements of automation of the developed weapon in the direction, first of all, of improving the reliability of its operation in all possible conditions. Subsequently, much was done for the success of these works in the USSR, but it does not relate to the subject of this article.

Conclusion

Concluding the review of the work on the creation of an automatic rifle sample carried out in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, it can be stated that thanks to the vigorous measures taken by the Soviet military-technical management bodies in a relatively short period of time, starting in 1921, it was possible to develop several promising models of automatic rifles, the best of which were put into mass production in 1930-1933 (automatic Degtyarev rifles mod. 1930 and Simonov 1931). These works were completed in 1936 with the adoption of the Simonov ABC-36 automatic rifle, which was very advanced for its time, and created a reserve of knowledge and experience for the development of the Russian arms industry for several decades to come.