Berdan rifle (9 photos). The Berdan rifle is an example of the introduction of Western technologies in pre-revolutionary Russia

And black powder, which was in service in Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century. Used to a limited extent during World War II.

TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS BERDAN RIFLES No. 2
Manufacturer:	Tula Arms Factory Sestroretsk arms factory Izhevsk arms factory
Cartridge:	10.75×58 mm R
Caliber:	10.75 mm
Weight without cartridges:	4.2 kg
Weight with cartridges:	4.24 kg
Length:	1300 mm
Barrel length:	830 mm
Number of grooves in the barrel:	6 right-hand
Trigger mechanism (trigger):	Kurkovy
Operating principle:	Single shot, bolt action
Fuse:	n/a
Aim:	Front sight and rear sight adjustable in range
Effective range:	284 m
Sighting range:	852 m
Initial bullet speed:	n/a
Type of ammunition:	Single shot
Number of cartridges:	1
Years of production:	1870–1891

History of creation and production

Design and principle of operation

The 4.2-line Berdan rifle fires a metal unitary cartridge (10.75x58 mm R) and is equipped with a sliding bolt, which moves in a special box along its axis to open and lock the barrel; the shutter is moved by means of a special handle attached to it, and to finally lock the channel, the shutter is turned from left to right until the bolt ridge stops against the right wall (shoulder) of the box. When the bolt is opened, a special device (extractor) placed in its ridge removes the spent cartridge case from the chamber; when the bolt is locked, it inserts a cartridge into the chamber and at the same time the firing pin is cocked, which serves to ignite the cartridge primer when fired.

In general, the Berdan rifle No. 2 was a very advanced weapon in design at the time of its adoption into service (one of the first rifles chambered for metal cartridges with a longitudinally sliding bolt adopted for mass service in the European army) and subsequently looked quite good against the background of foreign systems up to the very transition to repeating rifles chambered for reduced-caliber cartridges with smokeless powder. Compared to the Springfield Arsenal rifle of the Allen system with a folding bolt, adopted in 1873 in the USA, Berdan’s homeland, the Berdan generally looked like the last word in weapons technology of its time.

The design defects of the Berdan No. 2 system included, first of all, the locking of the bolt, which was carried out on a single lug by turning only 45 degrees. This, in principle, under a certain set of circumstances could lead to the bolt opening itself, after which it would fly back and cause serious injury to the shooter. In practice, however, this only happened with very worn weapons, usually after they had been written off and converted into hunting rifles, when obviously faulty weapons were sold to hunters by unscrupulous manufacturers and caused accidents.

Berdan rifle bolt No. 2

Secondly, a rather serious drawback of the Berdanka was that the hammer was not cocked when the bolt was initially turned by hitting the handle, as in later systems, but directly by the shooter’s hand when it was pulled back and then moved forward, as a result of which it was necessary to use a weak mainspring and , accordingly, more sensitive primers in cartridges. In severe frost, when the lubricant thickened, the force of the mainspring might not be enough to break the primer if the rifle was too generously lubricated. In the Gra and Mauser rifles, which appeared later, the hammer was cocked by turning the bolt, which, if necessary, could be carried out by a sharp blow with the edge of the palm on the handle, and the mainspring was made almost twice as powerful as that of the Berdanka. In addition, the Berdan bolt fuse was also considered relatively unsuccessful. However, for a military rifle with manual reloading, the carrying of which with a cartridge in the barrel outside combat conditions is a rare exception, the safety can hardly be considered any significant mechanism: for example, French rifles managed without it, and this even applies to magazine systems, up to adopted shortly before World War II MAS-36. Also, the bolt sometimes fell out on cavalry carbines due to strong shaking due to the weakness of the latch holding it in the receiver, the ejector tooth was prone to breakage, and some parts of the bolt were considered at one time not technologically advanced enough for mass production. The modernized bolt designed in 1876 was supposed to correct these shortcomings, but its implementation was prevented by the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–78, after which the military department focused its attention on the development of a repeating rifle.

Operation and combat use

The troops began to receive rifles in 1871, and as their production expanded at domestic factories, rifles of older systems were gradually replaced.

In 1882, the Main Artillery Directorate set the task of developing a multi-shot repeating rifle, which was developed by the end of the decade and put into service in 1891. Nevertheless, the Berdanka was in service until the complete rearmament of the Russian army with the Mosin repeating rifle at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1898-1899, Berdan No. 2 rifles and carbines that were withdrawn from service were sold as hunting weapons for 18 rubles.

In 1910 at the Main Directorate General Staff a special commission “on the distribution of artillery reserves”, having discussed the issue of the available 810,000 serviceable berdanks with 275 million completely reliable cartridges, came to the conclusion that if the designated militia units were supplied with berdanks, the remainder would be about 400,000 berdanks, which would uselessly clutter already overburdened warehouses. Therefore, the commission proposed: Berdankas that were in excess against the norms should be removed from warehouses, using them by turning them into hunting rifles, for arming the Russian population on the outskirts and Russian rifle societies, and, finally, turning them into scrap metal.

By the beginning of the First World War, for 4,900,000 army soldiers, there were 4,652,419 rifles and carbines in troops and reserves, including reserves for replenishing losses and 363,019 old Berdankas. A significant shortage of weapons discovered during the First World War forced a return to armament with Berdan rifles.

During the Civil War, a number of rifles were used in individual units of the Red Army and detachments of the Red Guard; due to the shortage of three-line rifles, a number of Berdan rifles remained in service with individual police units in rural areas at least until the beginning of 1920. In the 1930s, Berdankas remained in service with foresters.

By the beginning of the 60s. XIX century The army of the Russian Empire had quite a variety of weapons - both the latest muzzle-loading 6-line rifles and outdated 7-line rifles, as well as a large variety of smooth-bore capsule and even flintlock rifles. These years marked the beginning of the rapid development of small arms, the emergence of breech-loading systems, and new types of ammunition. The need for a radical reform of the armament of the Russian army was ripe, but there was neither experience in operating various new systems, nor any clear vision of what a new breech-loading weapon should be. Reform began in the mid-1860s through trial and error. Later, Minister D.A. Milyutin will very accurately call this period an “unhappy gun drama.” Over four years, the Terry-Norman, Karle, Berdan No. 1, Krnka, Albini-Baranova, Berdan No. 2 systems were introduced one after another. The latter is based on the previous Berdan No. 1 model, and served our army faithfully for many years. Russian-Turkish War 1877-1878, Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, World War I, Civil War, militia weapons during the Great Patriotic War - all this is only an incomplete combat path of these weapons. Berdans also purchased the armies of countries allied with Russia - Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro.

The beginning of serious research, which resulted in the adoption of the Berdan No. 1 model 1868 rifle, can be considered a business trip to test small arms in Bern in February 1866 of officers of the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU) Captain N.I. Chagin and staff captain V.N. Bestuzhev-Ryumina. Based on the results of their report, members of the Weapons Commission of the Artillery Committee of the GAU decided to use the Henry-Peabody system as the base for determining the parameters of the future rifle of the Russian army for a unitary cartridge.

In accordance with this decision, the GAU instructed Colonel Alexander Pavlovich Gorlov and Lieutenant Karl Ivanovich Gunius to collect all information about metal cartridges in the North American United States (USA) and study all changes in the Peabody gun and its cartridge. And if a more advanced system was discovered, they were given the right to change the rifle design at their own discretion. These officers were not chosen by chance. A.P. Gorlov came from the nobility of the Kazan province, a graduate of the officer courses of the Mikhailovsky Artillery School, for a long time worked as an assistant to the scientific secretary, and then as a scientific secretary of the Artillery Committee. His research until 1866 was mainly related to artillery, and his foreign trips were aimed at collecting advanced information about artillery systems. A.P. Gorlov showed himself not only as a brilliant analyst, but also as a talented designer; in particular, he developed cannon carriages in the casemates of Kronstadt.

In 1865 A.P. Gorlov was sent to the USA in order to obtain information on the artillery unit, but, in addition to performing the main task, he provided a report on the results of tests in America of various rapid-fire rifles and published a report on the breech-loading guns and metal cartridges used in the USA army. him. From various systems rapid-fire weapons, Gorlov examined in detail the samples of Spencer, Remington, Ledley, Peabody and Morgenstern, all of which were sent to him with a supply of cartridges for testing at the State Autonomous Agrarian University. Regarding calibers, he pointed out that smaller ones are considered the best - about 5 or 4.5 lines - and justified the need to adopt metal cartridges. K.I. Gunius, the son of a pastor from the Livonia province, also a graduate of the Mikhailovsky Artillery School, a combat officer who received the Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd degree with swords and bow, and a silver medal “For the conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan” for distinguished service in operations against the highlanders in the Caucasus, In 1861, he was seconded to the Weapons Commission of the Artillery Committee, and from that time on, rifle systems became his main specialization. Many contemporaries noted his extraordinary talent in this matter.

Upon arrival in America, Gorlov and Gunius studied and tested in detail several dozen different samples of rapid-fire rifles and various types cartridges. At the beginning of 1867, they turned their attention to the cartridges of Hiram Berdan, a hero of the American Civil War and a famous weapons designer.

Berdan cartridges were center-fire with yellow copper cases with a convex bottom, which helped prevent misfires. The report of Gorlov and Gunius reflects that such cartridges have enormous advantages over other types of cartridges they see. The rifles were tested both personally and through their participation in official experiments conducted for the same purpose in the state of New York, where our officers were invited.

It is noted that the best rifles can be considered the Berdan, Peabody, and Remington-Ryder systems. Studying them showed that in America there is not a single system that could be adopted without any changes into service with the troops; The Berdan system with a tilt-up bolt deserved the most attention. Repeating rifles were also studied, but with the caveat that these weapons require delicate handling and have the possibility of too frequent aimless shooting. It was also stated that repeating rifles are not needed for the main forces of infantry and cavalry, but for special units they are of interest subject to the emergence of a reliable system that satisfies the conditions of military service.

Let us dwell separately on the clearly extraordinary personality of H. Berdan (1824-1893). He comes from a family of descendants of Dutch Huguenots who fled to America in the early 1600s. due to religious persecution. Hiram's father was a fairly wealthy man, a large landowner. Hiram himself, the third child in the family, was born in the town of Phelps, Ontario. Berdan's favorite pastime in his childhood was rifle shooting; he was considered the best shooter in the area.

In the 19th century America was gripped by a fever of invention, ideas were immediately patented, and the inventor was considered their full owner. This fever did not bypass Hiram; he invents and patents an agricultural machine for separating grain from straw and a crushing machine for gold mining.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Kh. Berdan joined the army of the North, where, on his initiative, in 1861, detachments of excellent shooters were formed. In 1862, he received the rank of colonel and became the commander of the 1st regiment of excellent shooters, armed with Colt model 1859 revolver rifles and Spencer model 1860 repeating rifles. After being wounded in 1863, H. Berdan left command of the regiment and devoted himself to design weapons and ammunition - for him this is not only interesting activity, but also a very profitable business, since the US government decided to convert approximately 1 million guns.

At the beginning of the tests initiated by Gorlov and Gunius, there were two types of rifles of the H. Berdan system with an external trigger: 1st type 1866 with a bolt unlocked by rotating on the rear axis (“improved” rolling-block system) and 2nd type 1867 with a folding-up shutter (trap-door system), which in some ways is further development E. Allin's system. In this form, Berdan systems were used by Great Britain and Spain.

Seeing the interest in his systems, H. Berdan promised Russian officers to improve the 2nd type by installing a special bolt that would protect against accidental opening of the shutter. This type 3 rifle is recognized as the best example of all the systems reviewed in the USA and was chosen as the base for the proposed Russian rifle.

Russian changes

A.P. Gorlov and K.I. Gunius determined the “rifling cross-section figure” of the barrel, made 35 changes to the production-ready version of the rifle - in fact, they developed their own rifle based on the Berdan system. The shortcomings that emerged during the experiments (weakness of the shutter, insufficient accuracy) were eliminated. Experimental work was carried out throughout 1867 and the first half of 1868, during which time the system proposed for arming the Russian army was developed. By right it should have been called the Gunius–Gorlov–Berdan system.

It was decided to place the order for the production of rifles at the Colt plant, known for the excellence of its work and the honesty of the director. An order for the production of an initial batch of 6.5 million units. cartridges were placed at the cartridge factory in Bridgeport. H. Berdan was paid 50 thousand gold rubles ($38 thousand) as a reward for ceding the rights to the rifle; the rights to the rifle, cartridge and machines for their production were transferred to the Russian government. The cost of the rifle, produced at the Koltovsky plant, was determined to be $22.85 (subject to an order of a batch of 25,000-30,000 pieces), this price also included a brass oil can, a screwdriver with tweezers and a wiper.

The start of production was hampered by claims from other inventors on some of the rifle's parts. The vice-president of the Colt plant, General Franklin, proposed a somewhat unexpected scheme to the Russian government - the Colt plant itself, as it were, produces rifles for sale to anyone and solves all problems with patent holders independently, and then offers the Russian government to buy its products.

On February 27, 1868, a contract was signed with the Colt company, quality inspection was entrusted to the Russian side. On May 29, 1868, a memorandum was signed to manufacture cartridges in Bridgeport at a price of $42 per 1,000 pieces. It should be noted that all initial tests were carried out in America on a rifle with a caliber of 4.5 line, and only at the end it was found necessary to reduce the caliber to 4.2 line in order to further reduce the weight of the cartridge. The final cartridge developed by Russian officers was completely different from the previous one, with straight walls tapering slightly towards the muzzle. The new cartridge had a shoulder, above which the muzzle of the cartridge case was compressed into the neck. Tests have shown that the bullet's flight path has become more flat.

At the end of the summer of 1868, rifles of reduced caliber were manufactured at the Colt plant. On September 17, 1868, a new agreement was signed with the Bridgeport company for a modified cartridge. By the beginning of October, samples were ready and the manufacture of rifles began. Tests carried out on the 4.2-line rifle of the Berdan system in America gave highly favorable results, both in terms of accuracy and shooting accuracy.

The changes mentioned above were also made directly during the production process of the rifle. Finally, all 35 changes were taken into account only after half of the order was completed. From the 15th thousand, a used rifle was produced, to which no changes were made. Not everything was smooth at the beginning of the production of the rifle; complaints came from Russia about breaking overheated springs, the fragility of the arrow lugs, the lack of divisions on the sighting frame, there were dissatisfaction with the diopter (it was then called “dirochka”) on the slider (slider) of the sighting bar. Our representatives were forced to correct these and other shortcomings upon their discovery. At the same time, they tried to achieve aggregate interchangeability in rifles with and without modifications. After the implementation of these 35 changes, work on modernizing the rifle was stopped, although complaints from Russia continued to arrive. This was due to the fact that the Koltovsky plant was flooded with foreign military agents from Romania, Turkey, Spain, Egypt and there was a firm belief that the Koltovsky plant would enter into a contract for the production of rifles of the “Russian system” for other states. In this regard, GAU representatives decided not to improve the already very good system at the expense of Russia. The fact that Colt did not have any orders for this “Russian system” turned out to be a huge surprise for the company’s management.

It is important to note that the steel used for the production of rifle barrels was imported from England (Firth and Brother plant in Sheffield) and Germany (Berger plant in Westphalia). The metallurgy of the United States could not produce such high-quality metal. Moreover, the forged blanks from the Berger plant were superior in quality to English products.

Strength and accuracy tests

Under the leadership of Gorlov and Gunius, the following experiments were carried out with the Berdan rifle:

1. The effect of enhanced charges has been studied. It turned out that both the barrels and the mechanisms could withstand shots from a bullet several times its normal weight, but with an ordinary charge.

2. Shooting was carried out with specially damaged cartridges. The caps and body of the cartridge case were sawed through, down to the gunpowder, and these cartridges were fired. Powder gases passed back in large quantities, but no damage was noticed in the mechanism. Finally, the head of the cartridge case was sawed off all around, almost completely; when firing such cartridges, gases rushed back in such quantities that they could disturb the shooter; the mechanism withstood the first shot without damage, and with the second the trigger was easily destroyed.

3. They artificially tried to jam the firing pin in its socket in the combat cylinder, for which purpose wooden wedges were driven into it and acid was poured in to form rust. Then with quick blows breech, as when closing the mechanism, they tried to ignite the cartridge primer, but, despite all efforts, it turned out to be impossible to ignite. On the contrary, when the trigger was pulled, even with a rusty firing pin, it fired every time.

4. By introducing foreign bodies (bullets, sand, stones, rags) into the bore and placing them at some distance from the cartridge, the barrels were swollen, and in some cases even ruptured in the very place where the foreign body was located, the mechanism remained undamaged.

Regarding the accuracy of the Berdan system rifle No. 1, Gorlov wrote in one of his reports: “No army in Europe or America has yet had such high accuracy. At our factory there is a society of target shooting enthusiasts, mainly composed of best shooters Koltovsky factory. Master Paulson, invited to take part in competitive shooting, went out with our standard machine gun No. 1 and our military cartridge, also of high quality. And this is the second time he has taken the first prize, far leaving behind all the hitherto famous fine hand-made fittings, aimed with the help of spotting scopes, aimed at only one distance, operating with a cartridge, where gunpowder and bullet are brought to the greatest uniformity by precise weighing.. ."

Captain Gunius went to Russia with a sample of the developed rifle and cartridge, and Gorlov remained in America to organize the acceptance of the ordered products. This work was extremely important, since until that time small-caliber rifles had not yet been manufactured in American factories under such strict conditions. All American systems had a smaller charge and, moreover, were manufactured in wartime without proper supervision; it was necessary to reintroduce a number of changes to the rifle and cartridge to make them convenient for mass production.

In Western sources, there are persistent versions about the organization of production of Berdan rifles No. 1 in Russia, in particular, the production of from 8803 to 20,000 rifles at the Tula Arms Plant and from 7,772 to 10,000 at the Sestroretsk Arms Plant is mentioned. Moreover, as indicated, their markings correspond to the markings of standard rifles manufactured at the Koltovsky plant.

Varieties of rifles and carbines of the Berdan system No. 1

In total, 30,000 rifles were produced for the Russian government in the USA. They contained on the upper part of the barrel the inscription at the breech “Koltovsky Arms Plant. city of Hartford. America. No. ", serial number and Russian acceptance stamps. Today, these specimens are very rare. More often you can find rifles with only Russian inscription on the barrel, but without a number and Russian acceptance marks. Western sources inform that a certain number of such weapons were manufactured for representational purposes. There is another explanation that these are rifles with deviations that did not pass Russian acceptance. These two versions do not explain the fact that rifles without serial numbers are much more common than numbered ones. Moreover, in lately There are known facts of obtaining a serial number and acceptance mark on them in order to bring them into line with the Russian order and thereby increase the cost of the rifle. With a high degree of probability, rifles without serial numbers can be considered produced at the Koltovsky plant for free sale, bypassing the Russian contract.

In addition to rifles, carbines with a Russian inscription on top of the barrel were produced in a small series of 25 pieces. Also, about 100 rifles and about 25 carbines were manufactured without indicating serial numbers with branded Koltov inscriptions on top of the barrel on English and a number of Berdan No. 1s were produced in 45-70 caliber with American markings. At the Colt factory, target rifles with a diopter, a complex trigger guard, and a Swiss-type stock were individually manufactured in the image and likeness of the Russians.

There are known images of the rifle in the dragoon version, but it is difficult to say anything about the number of their production.

There are known modifications of the standard Russian rifle with 4.2 line caliber, which differ slightly in sights. For pre-production rifles and small amount released into series, there was a diopter on the sighting bar slider. And on rifles released in the main series, it has already been removed. At the stage of preparing the 4.2-line rifle for general release, some changes to other components were also considered, which for a number of reasons were not included in those 35 modifications taken into account in the final version. In particular, the unique experimental rifle described in this article has a modified trigger mechanism.

Description of the 4.2-line Berdan rifle No. 1

Berdan rifle No. 1. Weight with bayonet 11 1/4 lbs. (4.6 kg), weight without bayonet 10 1/4 lbs. (4.2 kg), length with bayonet 6 ft. (180 cm), cartridge weight 9 1/4 gold. (39.24 g), charge weight 1 3/16 gold. (5.07 g), bullet weight 5.63 ash (24.0 g).

The rifle consists of the following parts:

a) a barrel with a bayonet rear sight soldered to it on the muzzle and a front sight driven into a special groove cut on the barrel;

b) receiver abvg (Fig. 1), screwed onto the breech of the barrel and representing a cylindrical tube in which the bolt is placed; on the top of the box there is a longitudinal groove in the shape dovetail, to insert the arrow kl into it (Fig. 1 and 2), a reflector w is screwed into the lower part of the receiver (Fig. 1);

c) the lock box, in which the trigger зз with the mainspring is located; the lock box is screwed into the receiver;

d) arrow kl (Fig. 2) with a bolt km (Fig. 3) with a sight and ejector; in the back of the arrow there are ears through which a hinge axis passes, connecting the arrow to the corresponding eye of the flap (Fig. 4 and 3). At the front end of the arrow there is another pair of eyelets for the sight pin; The sight consists of a folding sighting frame with a clamp moving along it. There is a special aiming spring to hold the frame in the raised and lowered positions. The shutter along the axis (Fig. 1 and 4) has cylindrical channels of various diameters, into which the cylinder NN, on which the bottom of the cartridge rests when fired, enters from the front, and a separate firing pin oo, and from the rear - the front part of the trigger зз.

To open the shutter, you must first pull the trigger back (Fig. 1, dotted line); at the moment of firing, the trigger gives a firm position to the bolt in its folded down position. The ejector (Fig. 4), consisting of a tongue a, a half-rim b, and a wheel d, is mounted on a hinged axis k (Fig. 1), passing through the bolt ears and arrows; it is placed in a special annular cutout of the bolt eye; this eye In addition, it is drilled to accommodate a special pin from the ejector, which is parallel to the hinge axis (Fig. 4). When the bolt is tilted up, this pin presses on a special cut of the ejector, causing the ejector to rotate in the same direction as the bolt, with the tongue touching the bolt. the edge of the cartridge case, ejects the latter from the chamber. In order for the ejector tongue to more energetically push the cartridge case, its rotation speed is increased by means of a specially adapted marking spring in the bolt arrow (Fig. 6), pressing with one of its feathers on the protrusion e" of the ejector (Fig. 5);

e) locking mechanism, consists of a trigger zz with two cocks (Fig. 1) - combat and safety - and a mainspring, wrapped around the trigger and resting with the front end against pin g; to pull back the trigger has a spoke;

f) trigger mechanism - from a trigger spring pp with a sear, attached with a screw to the lock box (Fig. 1), and a trigger pp, sitting on a pin passing through the rear end of the spring;

g) American walnut stock;

h) a device consisting of two sliding rings, an upper and lower swivel and a trigger cylinder with two screws for fastening the cylinder and the lock box to the stock;

i) triangular bayonet.

Interaction of rifle parts

When assembled, with the bolt lowered into place and the trigger pulled, the rifle has the relative positions of the parts shown in FIG. 1. To load, pre-cock the trigger, pulling the hammer back by pressing the finger on the spoke, and the sear jumps behind the cocking, as shown by the dotted line. The bolt is lifted up by the handle (Fig. 3); the upward movement of the shutter is limited by the contact of the flat cut of its cover with the corresponding cut of the arrow. A cartridge is inserted into the open window and advanced with a finger. Having inserted the cartridge, the bolt is lowered again. To fire a shot, all you have to do is press the trigger with the shutter down; the lowering sear of the trigger spring will release the trigger, which, under the action of a compressed mainspring pressing on peg g, will strike the firing pin oo, the firing pin of which will ignite the cartridge primer. After the shot, the hammer is cocked and the bolt is folded back (Fig. 3), and the pin inserted into the annular cutout of the bolt lug will touch the upper cut of the half-rim b" of the ejector and, with further rotation of the bolt, will begin to rotate it towards the side of the muzzle, while the tongue will rotate towards treasury and, pressing on the head of the cartridge case, will push it out of the chamber. When the bolt rotates, the marking spring will be compressed. At the end of the rotation, the spring will be released and impart a rapid rotational movement to the tongue, and the cartridge case, constantly pressed by it, will be thrown out of the chamber with force and, hitting. on the reflector, it will lean away from the shooter.

Reception of rifles for the Russian army

Russian receivers arrived in the USA to receive rifles at the Koltovsky plant: in October 1868, Lieutenant V.V. Bunyakovsky and in 1870 - staff captain P.A. Bilderling (future major general and head of the Izhevsk arms factory). The assistant to the head of the St. Petersburg metal cartridge workshop, Captain F.O., was sent to Bridgeport to receive cartridges. Kalinsky.

The rifle was officially adopted by the Russian army by Order of the Military Department No. 362 of January 4, 1869 under the name “4.2-line rifle rifle model 1868.” (sample 1868). The rifle was intended to arm rifle battalions.

Berdan No. 2

On this rising star The Russian rifle of the 1868 model, created with such difficulty and expense, fell into disrepair. H. Berdan, even before the start of mass production of the rifle, went to the UK to the famous Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). There he continues the work he began in America to create a bolt-action rifle. In his work, he uses the same Russian rifle as a basis, and both the caliber of the rifle is 4.2 line, and the same barrel, developed by Russian officers. Experiments to create a new bolt-action rifle were carried out at the Koltovsky plant. Basically, they were aimed at modernizing outdated rifles, their result was monstrous hybrids of a longitudinally sliding bolt and a capsule lock with a modified trigger. Such systems were proposed to modernize English and French systems.

As a result of work on the sliding bolt and its adaptation to the Berdan No. 1 base, a new, very successful rifle appeared, which later became the prototype of the Berdan No. 2 system. Not at all embarrassed by the sensitivity of the situation, BSA representatives offered this rifle to many European countries, including Russia, where Kh. Berdan himself came. In Russia, the new rifle was tested together with the 1868 model and the Werder rifle. During these test tests, the rifle showed very good results, and a decision was made to replace the type of weapon being adopted by the army from the 1868 model with a new rifle.

Let's look at the most significant results of this comparative testing of rifles (see table).

BSA ordered two types of new rifles, from which the best was selected. According to the chosen option, the British pledged to produce 30 thousand rifles. This order was subsequently completed in 1873.

A.P. Gorlov was outraged by this decision and entered into correspondence with Minister of War Milyutin on this issue.

On December 26, 1869, Gorlov sent him a report in which he expressed his fears for the success of the introduction of rapid-fire weapons and noted that his appeal was not biased due to his direct participation in the development of the 1868 model system. Gorlov noted that the 1868 model rapid-fire weapon g. represents the result of extensive work by a team of designers, that a large number of various tests have been carried out, and the impossibility of comprehensively studying a new weapon and bringing it to the required perfection in a short time is justified.

He confirmed his conclusions about the superiority of the 1868 model with extensive experiments conducted in America and Russia, the experience of manufacturing 30 thousand rifles and 8 million cartridges in America. Referring to the experience of active service with the 1868 model rifle in the army, Gorlov mentioned some shortcomings that arose, which were explained only by the inability of the troops to handle the new weapon. He also noted that all the shortcomings in this weapon, both those noticed by the troops and those that were discovered during constant shooting in Hartford and Bridgeport during 1869, were immediately eliminated by him and Bunyakovsky personally. And also the fact that in the new model of the rifle, sent to the State Agrarian University, all the shortcomings have been corrected.

Gorlov expressed his regret that technical part the introduction of new weapons into the troops was not entrusted to the most competent officer in this matter, Chagin, who was supposed to use Berdan as an assistant. As a result, Berdan was left without the control of a knowledgeable and cautious officer and, instead of working to introduce the 1868 model into the troops, he used every effort to undermine confidence in this weapon among the troops, who still knew very little about this gun, and to carry out your new gun. The purpose of such actions on Berdan’s part is only to obtain a new cash payment by the Russian government. Gorlov mentioned that he was familiar with the Berdan gun “with a sliding breech” and never approved of it, since it was imperfect, and he considered its adoption impossible.

In a report to the head of the Main Artillery Directorate, Gorlov pointed out the shortcomings of the new Berdan system:

1. Closing the treasury is unreliable; Most breech-loading weapon systems chambered for both metal and paper cartridges are based on the principle that, at the moment of firing, the bolt is held in a stable position by some aid, mostly trigger; The Berdan sliding bolt is not equipped with such a device.

2. The shutter and box are not strong enough; The trigger mechanism, while withstanding shocks during loading, should prove unstable with prolonged use and rough handling. The connection between the tail rotor and the trigger cylinder is not strong. The descent is too short.

When testing the sliding mechanism for strength, in the event of a cartridge rupture, experiments were carried out by firing cartridges sawn through on two opposite sides to the gunpowder directly in front of the head. During the first shot, there was a slight death of the bolt up and the right wall of the box to the side. To unlock the mechanism, I had to resort to a mallet. The first shot from the other rifle lifted the bolt upward more than an inch, bending it with all its internal parts and jamming it into the slot of the box, which was turned so far that the stock split along its entire length. In addition, the gases that passed through the hole for the cartridge reflector under the box formed a split in the stock from the trigger slot to the lower ring and damaged the trigger mechanism. When firing sawed cartridges from a Model 1868 rifle with the latest modifications, there was no damage, no matter which way the sawed holes were turned.

Realizing that his arguments did not have any decisive role, in a report dated March 30, 1870, Gorlov proposed to replace the new Berdan system with a Henry-Martini gun, saying that this system, although inferior to the 1868 model in many respects, was better than a rifle Berdan with a longitudinally sliding bolt.

It is difficult to say what lay at the basis of Gorlov’s fierce attack on new system. The validity of his conclusions was one-sided and did not contribute to the success of supplying troops with modern small-caliber weapons.

On September 21, 1870, War Minister Milyutin imposed the following resolution on all Gorlov’s reports: “If G. Gorlov had in mind the convenience of ordering Henry-Martini guns in England, then this reason alone can hardly justify a new change in model - Russia is not Egypt, not papal possessions to limit the purchase of guns abroad for the entire army. We must set up our own factories to manufacture our guns in the future. And here is an essential question: won’t our factories encounter great, insurmountable difficulties in producing guns of the 1868 model, even if we admit, together with Gorlov, that these guns are the best of all those still known. The sample, the so-called Berdan No. 2, seduces both with its simplicity in fabrication and the ease of manipulation with its shutter.

But, of course, if a more thorough test of this gun convinced us of such fundamental shortcomings as Gorlov attributes to it, then we would have to abandon it and remain with the guns of 1868, although difficult to manufacture. In such a case, it will not be a big problem that we will have 30 thousand extra Birmingham Berdan No. 2 guns, but the rest of the army will be armed with one gun, model 1868, which has become very well known among the troops. With this assumption, it may be necessary to continue the order to the Koltovsky plant, as was previously planned...”

At this point, the issue of the Model 1868 rifle was finally closed. The Russian order for the 1868 model system was completed and finally shipped to Russia in early March 1870. Literally a few of the 30 thousand rifles that disappeared into the vast Russian Empire and neighboring countries have survived to our time.

The fates of Gorlov and Gunius turned out differently. K.I. Gunius, having returned to Russia, began to develop drawings for the production of Berdan No. 1 in Russian conditions, then, as the best specialist, he was appointed head of cartridge production. In March 1869, Karl Ivanovich died suddenly. His death significantly slowed down the production of high-quality metal cartridges in Russia.

A.P. Gorlov received the status of military attache of the Russian Empire in the USA, began work on grapeshots, the prototype of machine guns. It was at his instigation that the Smith-Wesson revolver became known in Russia and was adopted for service. In 1870 he received the rank of major general, and from 1873 he was appointed as a military agent in England, where he dealt with issues bladed weapons, the result of his work was the adoption of new checkers of the 1881 model. In 1882, Gorlov was appointed inspector of local arsenals, and in 1886, Lieutenant General Gorlov retired.

Articles » Rifles / Carbines
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The Berdan rifle is known to most people as the "Berdanka". This is an ancient weapon from the 19th century, which was born during the American Civil War between the states of the North and South.

Russian officers who visited America modified the rifle, after which it received a new name in the West - Russian musket. Subsequently, “Berdanka” will become a household name for most types of rifles and various carbines. The article will focus on a unique weapon created closer to the second half of the 19th century.

History of creation

The hero of the Civil War, inventor of small arms accessories, Hiram Berdan (1824-1893) invented and created a new rifle in 1868. Single shot rifled rifle Its design had a hinged bolt and a direct action cocked hammer. This weapon was named Berdan rifle No. 1.

During operation, some shortcomings of the new mechanism were revealed: humidity had a bad effect on the performance of the shutter, the impact mechanism misfired, the wear of the shutter had to be monitored, since after intense shooting and the production of metal it gave backlash and could open when fired.

Two Russian officers showed particular interest in the rifle: Karl Ivanovich Gunius and his colleague Alexander Pavlovich Gorlov. They had been in America on official business since 1860. It occurred to them to modify the original design of the Berdan rifle.

The design has undergone 25 new improvements. The caliber was also changed, now it was 4.2 lines (10.75 mm), using a new cartridge with a solid metal sleeve, it was loaded and had a center firing capsule.

The modernized Berdan rifle acquired a new name in the United States of America - Russian musket.

IN Russian army the rifle received the official name rifle mod. 1868. Since, due to the presence of so many changes, the military department did not consider it necessary to indicate the author of the rifle. In the history of the people, this model of weapon remained Berdan No. 1.

Excellent ballistic qualities brought the new gun to the first position in the list of weapons of military units, especially mobile ones. In total, at least 37 thousand units of such weapons were produced.

Already in 1870, Hiram Berdan proposed improving the rifle bolt group. Instead of a hinged bolt, a longitudinally sliding gate was introduced into the design, also known as a bolt gate.

Currently considered the most optimal solution for manual reloading. The rifle with this bolt was called Berdan No. 2. This weapon was gradually introduced into army units, but still the first sign was the Guards Corps, together with the Life Guards, the Berdan rifle No. 2 and received a baptism of fire in Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878.

In nine years, it was possible to produce 384,682 units of a new type of weapon and by the Russian-Turkish War (1877-1878), Russian soldiers were considered well armed.

But it is worth noting that at that time Berdan rifles were in service only with part of the rifle and guards units, so infantry regiments were armed with Krnka rifles, the naval crews were armed with Albini-Baranova, which in turn extremely complicated the logistics and repair of weapons.

Berdan rifles were produced in several versions:

Infantry rifle, barrel length 830 mm, bayonet mount, for the guard the bayonet is replaced with a cleaver;
Dragoon rifle - a shortened barrel up to 70 cm, a safety lock against an accidental shot when falling, installation of a bayonet or cleaver;
Cossack rifle - shortened barrel, lack of bayonet mount, slightly modified trigger mechanism;
Cavalry carbine, adopted for arming the gendarmerie, barrel length 475 mm, bayonet mount is not provided.

Modified Berdan No. 2 guns entered military service since 1871, gradually replacing the main model of early development.

Berdan rifle No. 1 (dragoon, infantry) - 27,914 pieces

Berdan rifle No. 2 (dragoon, infantry, Cossack, carbine) - 356,768 pieces.

The headquarters command did not dare to completely rearm the Russian army. Large quantity manufactured weapons were kept in warehouses, forming a strategic reserve. The first half of the war with Turkey, soldiers used to a greater extent old weapons, since the new ones did not instill confidence in the command staff.

In addition, the war in the Caucasus proved the reliability of the Krnka rifle system, the Czech inventor. His rifle with a caliber of six lines (15.24mm) seemed to be a more reliable military weapon.

By 1878, 21 divisions of the Russian Empire were armed with Berdan No. 2 rifles.

However, it was decided to send only part of the units with new weapons to participate in hostilities. In the future, the Berdanka will replace the Albini-Baranov rifle, which was in service with naval units.

The constant modernization of the enemy's small arms forced the Main Artillery Command in 1882 to set a task for gunsmiths to create a new rifle with a multi-charge magazine. However, this did not prevent the Berdanka from remaining in service with the Russian army until the beginning of the twentieth century, losing in unconditional victory to the Mosin rifle.

Berdankas that were withdrawn from service were sold to the population for subsequent use as hunting weapons. A commission of the Main Directorate of the General Staff came to this decision in 1910. There were more than 800,000 units of rifles suitable for shooting and more than 270 million cartridges for them in warehouses.

Such a quantity significantly cluttered the already crowded warehouses. According to the commission’s calculations, arming militia units with rifles and supplying the population with stocks of hunting rifles will significantly replenish the treasury. And it was decided to turn the remaining guns into scrap for recycling the metal.

By 1914, on the eve of the First World War, for 5 million soldiers of the Russian army there were more than 4.65 million rifles of various production, of which more than 360 thousand were modified Berdan No. 2 models.

The mounted regiments had standard cavalry carbines, but the resulting shortage of weapons during military clashes forced them to resort to stocks of Berdan No. 2 rifles. Gradually, by 1915, “Berdanks” were partially armed with militia units and soldiers of the active army.

design

Appearance The Berdanki was no different from the rifles of that time. It had a wooden bed with a long trunk attached to it. Shooting was carried out with 10.75x58 mm cartridges, which were alternately inserted into the chamber on the right side of the open bolt. The barrel was locked by turning the bolt.

After the shot, the bolt mechanism opened in the reverse order and the spent cartridge case jumped out of the chamber using an extractor, which cocks the striking mechanism when the cartridge is fed into the chamber.

When you press the trigger, the firing pin hits the primer, after which the gunpowder ignites and the bullet fires. In addition to shooting, soldiers often resorted to hand-to-hand combat. The bayonet for the Berdan rifle was mandatory equipment during the clash.

The improved shutter, along with its positive qualities, had a number of disadvantages. The most significant was the bolt locking mechanism, the firing position, which was at an angle of 45 degrees, which is very unreliable.

This position often contributed to the arbitrary opening of the shutter when firing. The bolt flew into the shooter's face, causing significant injury. Although these cases were associated with worn-out mechanisms and converted rifles, the fact of injury to many citizens was still recorded.

The second drawback was considered to be the cocking of the hammer, produced by the shooter's finger, used in early versions of the design. Subsequently, the mainspring was replaced with a weaker one. The overly lubricated trigger mechanism froze in the cold, which prevented the weak spring from breaking the primer with sufficient force. On the Mauser and Gra models that appeared, the hammer was cocked during reloading.

Cavalrymen sometimes lost the bolt, which could fall out during strong shaking.

The retaining mechanism was too weak and the ejector tooth was prone to breakage. These shortcomings of the bolt mechanism were going to be corrected, but the war with Turkey prevented this. The command's priority fell on the production of repeating rifles.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the Berdana 2 rifle

Plant manufacturer	Sestroretsky, Tula, Izhevsky
Weight, kg	4,2
Caliber, mm	10.75 (4.2 lines)
Cartridge	10.75 x 58 R
Length, mm	1300
Barrel length, mm	830
Rifling in the barrel, pcs.	6
Trigger mechanism	trigger
Practical shot range, m	852
Effective damage, m	254
Chuck feed type	Single shot
Years of manufacture	1870-1891

Conclusion

Berdan rifles, despite their short military service left their mark on weapons history. Although she did not gain fame as marksman rifle, but rather as a “berdanska” - a weapon of a commercial hunter or forester.

These weapons have been supplied to forest defenders, rangers and military personnel of various ministries since the beginning of the 20th century.

It is also necessary to remember the “frolovki”, drilled for smoothbore calibers were widely used for commercial hunting from the beginning to the middle of the twentieth century.

Today, “Berdanka” cannot be found in a hunter’s arsenal. This type of rifle is kept in museums as an exhibition item, recalling the progress of engineering in military affairs.

Video

When most people hear the words “Berdank rifle,” they imagine the Russian winter and a hunter slowly wandering through winter forest with an old rifle over his shoulders. Not everyone knows that this weapon It was powerful enough that you could hunt a bear with it without fear. Since old hunters can find the old Mosin three-line rifle, it is also mistakenly called a Berdanka, but this is a converted hunting rifle of a completely different system, which has a magazine.

For most people, the Berdanka is an original Russian hunting rifle, which traces its ancestry almost from Kutuzov himself. In fact, it is an American development that came to Russia only in the second half of the 19th century.

How an American Berdan woman ended up in Russia

The high command of the Tsarist Army of Russia in the second half of the 19th century decided to carry out a large-scale rearmament of the army. The whole point was that the KRNKA rifles that were in service with the Tsarist Russian Army were already outdated by that time. Although they were distinguished by excellent fighting qualities, the power and, most importantly, the weight of the six-line rifle was excessive. Most armies in Europe have long switched to a smaller caliber, which significantly lightened the weight of soldiers' ammunition. In addition, the economic benefits of using a smaller caliber were obvious.

Since the Russian military command wanted to rearm the army with the best models of small arms available at that time, it was decided to send a delegation to America to select the best model of rifle and make a personal agreement on supplies. The delegation included Colonel Gorlov and Staff Captain Gunius, who knew very well what kind of weapons the Russian army needed.

Immediately upon arrival in America, the Russian military drew attention to the Berdan system rifle, which was distinguished by its reliability and excellent performance for its time. technical characteristics. Having met with the author and developer of the rifle, the Russians noticed that Britain and Spain had already acquired patents for the production of this weapon. In general, Russian officers liked the Berdan system rifle, as it was the best option of that time.

A few words about the author of the famous rifle

The inventor of the rifle, Hiram Berdan, was a professional military man. He participated in the American Civil War, although he showed himself only on the bad side.

Hiram was not distinguished by courage, but was an excellent shooter and inventor. One day he came up with a special press designed for gold miners, for which he received a patent. Subsequently, he sold this patent for $200,000, which at that time was simply an astronomical sum.

Having money and position in society, Colonel Berdan created one of the first sniper regiments, consisting of professional hunters. Although they were called cowards in the army, snipers showed how effective their units were during full-scale combat.

Trying to equip his snipers with the most modern rifles, Hiram Berdan more than once encountered a number of shortcomings inherent in the guns of those years. The main problems with the Sharpe rifles used by Colonel Berdan's snipers were due to the use of paper cartridges.

Soon, Colonel Berdaa developed not only a rifle of his own design, but also a cartridge that received a bottle-shaped metal sleeve. This rifle turned out to be so successful that the patent for its production was soon purchased by several European countries, including Russia.

Berdanka for the Russian Tsarist Army

Having carefully familiarized themselves with the design and features of the Berdan system rifle, Russian officers agreed to purchase a patent for the tsarist army, but put forward a number of mandatory conditions for the modification of the rifle and its ammunition. All comments were taken into account, especially since the American designers were joined by a whole team of Russian weapons specialists who adjusted the improvements taking into account the characteristics of the Russian weapons industry.

After carrying out the necessary modifications, the drawings of the rifle, called the “1868 model rifle rifle”, or as it was called in the USA “Russian”, were sent to the Colt plant for serial production of the first batch of weapons.

The new army rifle had the following features:

The main difference from the old Russian rifles was a completely new ammunition, four-line caliber. If we translate this into a measurement system that is more understandable to us, then this caliber will be equal to 10.7 mm;
The cartridges for the new rifle became seamless. The first cartridges had brown smoky powder, later it was replaced with smokeless powder, since the use of smoky powder unmasked the shooter;
The bullets were first traditionally cast, then switched to stamping technology, which significantly speeded up the production process;
The bullets for the Berdan rifle were unsheathed, which gave rise to the Germans accusing Russia of using inhumane weapons that inflict fatal wounds;
Another feature of the Russian Berdanka was its tetrahedral bayonet, which, although seemingly quite thin and harmless, inflicted more terrible wounds than the wide knife-type bayonets used by the armies of other European states.

New Berdanka shutter and model No. 2

Colonel H. Berdan was very interested in the fate of his rifle, so in 1869 he came to Russia with new ideas to improve his creation. The most important improvement was the proposal to replace the rifle's folding bolt with a bolt-action type. It is unknown why Berdan did not use this type of bolt when developing the first version of the rifle of his design, because this system was used back in 1841 on the Dreyse rifle.

Having realized what advantages the new type of bolt provides in reloading speed, the Russian military command hastened to begin production of a modernized rifle, called the “Berdan rifle No. 2.” The advantage of the new bolt became especially noticeable after the complete transition from paper cartridges to solid metal ones, for the use of which the Berdan system rifle was originally designed.

Although the bolt-action system had been used many times before, it was the Berdan system bolt that showed the world what a rifle bolt should be like. Even most modern precision rifles have this type of design.

The fleeting military career of the Russian Berdan woman

The Berdan system rifle served as the main rifle of the Russian army for quite some time. short term, already in 1885, its mass replacement began with rifles of the Mosin system, which were multi-charged. Despite this, the military industry of Tsarist Russia managed to produce several modifications of the Berdan system rifle:

The most numerous and widespread was the infantry version of the rifle;
The Dragoon version had a shorter barrel;
The Cossack version was distinguished by the absence of a trigger guard;
The rarest was the carbine version. It was a special shortened and lightweight gun. The bayonet was not installed on it. The carbine cartridges had a lighter weight of gunpowder. After some time, the production of this carbine was considered inappropriate, so it was quickly discontinued.

Various modifications of the Berdan system rifle differed in both barrel length and different types of wood used to make stocks and butts.

After all the rifles of the Berdan system were replaced in the army with Mosin rifles, the question arose about the use of a huge number of Berdans that remained on army warehouses. Since it was economically unprofitable to send such a quantity of excellent weapons for melting down, it was decided to proceed as follows:

A small percentage of Berdankas should be left for military educational institutions;
Some of the rifles will be transferred to the arsenal of security guard services and auxiliary units;
It was decided to preserve the bulk of the rifles as a mobilization reserve.

After some time, rifles of the Berdan system were allowed to be sold as a set of parts for conversion into hunting weapons to the population and in batches to factories for factory conversion into weapons for hunting.

Handicraft production of hunting Berdans

The sale of kits for self-assembly of hunting rifles based on Berdan guns continued until the outbreak of the First World War. Moreover, parts of the weapon could be sold either as a set or separately. Many Tula craftsmen were engaged in self-assembly and conversion of Berdan system rifles into hunting weapons. The entire kit for assembling weapons cost 2 rubles 81 kopecks. A finished hunting rifle was sold at prices ranging from 6 to 14 rubles. Basically, the barrels were re-drilled for sixteenth and twentieth calibers, although guns of 12, 28 and 32 calibers were often found.

The most popular 20- and 16-gauge shotguns were often decorated with engraving, nickel-plating, or blue-plating of the metal. There was even a children's modification of a hunting rifle based on the Berdan system rifle. It came in 12, 16 or 20 gauge.

Since caliber 28 and 32 were quite rare, artisans made these guns only to order. Hunting berdanks of 32, 28 and 16 calibers, which are real works of art, have still been preserved.

Factory assembly of hunting Berdans

The main buyer of components from the Berdan rifle system was the Tula Arms Plant. At its base, a whole specialized workshop was organized, which was engaged in drilling barrels and converting Berdans into hunting rifles of various calibers. The plant produced hunting Berdans of the following calibers:

The most popular shotguns were 16 and 20 gauge (as was the case with artisanal guns). Shotguns in 28 and 32 calibers were mostly made to order, with 32 caliber shotguns being a real rarity.

Few people know that based on the Berdan rifle, hunting rifled carbines were produced chambered for Smith-Wesson and Winchester 44 caliber cartridges.

The last massive military use of Berdan guns

When the hunting market was saturated with weapons made on the basis of rifles of the Berdan system, a huge number of them continued to be stored in warehouses. As it turned out, the rifles were not stored in vain. With the outbreak of World War I, the tsarist command again had to use the old Berdan guns. At first, they were armed with rear units that guarded defense and strategic facilities, and then, when the enemy managed to capture and destroy part of the weapons depots, Berdan rifles were sent to the front line.

Soon the Russian military industry began to work in emergency mode, and the army received a huge number of Mosin rifles, which were enough not only for the First World War, but also for Civil War in Russia.

Currently, most of the surviving rifles and hunting rifles of the Berdan system are in museums and private collections. It is very rare in taiga villages to find miraculously preserved hunting rifles of the Berdan system, which were carefully passed down from generation to generation. Such guns are true hunting relics.

“The Berdana is a Russian single-shot rifle of 4.2 line caliber (10.67 mm), with a folding (Berdana No. 1) or sliding (Berdana No. 2) bolt chambered for a metal cartridge.

The inventor is the American designer Berdan. Adopted by the Russian army in 1868 (Berdan No. 1), improved by officers A.P. Gorlov and K.I. Gunnius (Berdan No. 2) so much so that in America it was called a “Russian rifle.” Belovitsky A.V. " Encyclopedic Dictionary Russian life and history."

Let's start from the beginning.

Crimean War 1853–1855 showed the ineffectiveness of the Russian infantry rifle, which was loaded from the muzzle with a very low range and rate of fire compared to the latest models of foreign small arms of that time.
To rearm the Russian army from 1859 to 1864, over 130 foreign and 20 domestic models were tested. Some of these samples even entered the active army, however, did not completely satisfy the military and the search was continued.

At that time, the war between the North and South in America had just ended. And, as you know, any large-scale war leads to the improvement of weapons. And so it was. Just at that time in North America Several successful samples of small arms appeared. Seconded officers, representatives of the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU), Colonel A. Gorlov and Captain K. Gunius, focused on one of the interesting developments of Hiram Berdan.

It’s not a sin to talk about this person separately.

A gold miner and inventor, the creator of America’s first “sniper corps” and at the same time a desperate coward... Hiram was even convicted by a military tribunal for “leaving the battlefield as soon as the first shots were fired.” Colonel Hiram Berdan, after retirement, focused his efforts only on weapons design. In 1964, he presented the original 45-caliber rifle to the “public court.” And yet, despite the obvious design advantages, in American army Berdan's brainchild did not go well. Design feature The rifles had a bottle-shaped chamber, a conical narrowing of the barrel for more accurate shooting and an original cartridge design. And it was here that fate brought him together with two Russian military experts.

To participate in the qualifying competition, Berdan and Russian experts developed a new modification of the rifle. The main difference of this modification is that for better “flatness” of the bullet’s flight, the caliber has been reduced from 45 to 42 (4.2 Russian lines).
Gorlov and Gunius sent a memorandum to the military department, especially emphasizing the huge target range for those times - 2250 steps (Russian length measure is approximately 0.7 m) and the maximum - 4000 steps, as well as the high rate of fire - 10-15 rounds per minute. Confidence in the experts sent overseas was so high that in Russia the Berdan rifle with a tilting bolt was adopted for service without much testing. They called it the “Berdan rapid-fire small-caliber rifle.” After a more “advanced” design appeared, the bolt action rifle was called “Number 1”.

The Berdan rifle was adopted by the Russian army in 1868. The first order for 30,000 rifles was placed at Colt factories. In the meantime, Hiram Berdan improved his invention, equipping the rifle with a more convenient sliding bolt, and he himself came to Russia to demonstrate his next “brainchild.” The military department liked the successful design so much that it was decided not to buy back some of the “number one” Berdan guns in America, but to immediately switch to the production of “number two.” And the “Berdan guns” that were not purchased by Russia were sold in America, where they were called “Russian rifles.”

Based on the “number 2” rifle (with a sliding bolt), a whole series of small arms was developed. For infantry, an infantry rifle with a bayonet, for cavalry a lightweight “dragoon version” with a slightly modified bolt design, for Cossack units there is their own “Cossack” version. Since in those days the Cossacks were armed with pikes, there was no possibility of attaching a bayonet to a “Cossack” rifle. The same tradition was preserved in the three-line rifle of the Mosin-Nagant system, which replaced the Berdanka. For support personnel and artillery who did not require long-range shooting, a short and convenient carbine was made. The rifle was even equipped with a safety cock and a special safety device against firing in the unlocked position of the bolt.

For its time, the Berdan rifle was one of the best examples of army weapons.

The rifle cartridge was also unlike other ammunition of the time.

The main feature of the cartridge was a long lead bullet wrapped in greasy paper. The bullet was wrapped so that the rifling in the tapering bore of the barrel, which twists the bullet when fired, would not become clogged with soft lead. Subsequently, the role of this paper wrapper was taken over by a dense coating of a copper alloy bullet, but for now...

Historical fact. It was this property of a wrapped bullet to “fly straight as far as you like” that made the “Russian rifle” stand out at all sorts of shooting competitions in America throughout the last quarter of the 19th century. Many winners of shooting accuracy competitions have won this title using the Berdan gun.

Moreover, the cartridge for cavalry rifles was made with a smaller charge of gunpowder than for an infantry rifle. For two reasons: the main one - mounted warriors shot at a much shorter distance than infantrymen, and to reduce recoil, since the horseman often shot with one hand. In order to distinguish these ammunition, which differ in their characteristics, the bullet for an infantry rifle was wrapped in white paper, and for dragoon and Cossack rifles - pink. The bullet weight for an infantry rifle was slightly higher than for the “mounted” modifications of the Berdans.

The single-shot rifle of the Berdan system served in the Russian army until 1891, until it was replaced by the multi-shot three-line Mosin-Nagant rifle, the legendary “Mosinka”.

To ensure that the huge stocks of Berdan rifles in military warehouses did not lie as “dead weight”, it was decided to sell outdated rifles to the public. At the same time, the main condition was the impossibility of using such a “civilian modification” with a live cartridge. The barrels were either re-sharpened to fit a different caliber, or completely new ones were installed, preserving the wooden stock and bolt group. There were both rifled and smooth-bore examples of this peculiar weapon. Subsequently, any hunting rifle converted from rifles of the Berdan, Mosin or Mauser systems was most often called “Berdana” by hunters.

After the outbreak of the First World War, experiencing a severe shortage of three-line rifles and ammunition, the Russian military department allowed the use of Berdankas for rear units and the protection of fortresses. There are also known facts of the use of these rifles on the front line in 1915-16. There is an interesting connection with this historical fact: « It is curious that Russia's apparently forced use of Berdan rifles, which fired non-jacketed bullets, led to accusations from Germany of violating the Hague Conventions, which prohibited easily deformed bullets; at the same time, the Germans themselves at the same time used hollow-point bullets prohibited by the same convention.»