Maybe in swamp Bengal, Where everything turns to dust
Perhaps in the mountains of the Transvaal, Perhaps - in the Afghan mountains, By the black Sudanese wells
On the fast Burmese river
One day you happen to
Standing on the bloody sand.
(Gordon Lindsay)
The history of firearms. Let's think, which revolver from those adopted at different times we most often see in the movies?
Sometimes this can be followed by a lot of interesting discoveries. Well, let's say, such a revolutionary film as Lenin in 1918. What revolver is there most often flashing on the screen? Revolver? No, not a revolver, but a Browning M1900 pistol. Kaplan also shoots Lenin from it, and all the Chekists, including Vasily, run with him.
Well, what about such classics as "Wedding in Malinovka" or "White Sun of the Desert"? The latter is dominated by "revolver" and "Mauser", but there is also something unusual there. As, however, in the film epic about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, with the idiot Lestrade, who in one of the episodes shows them his "weapon" from his back pocket.
Or GDR Indian films … Are the characters armed with something other than the Winchester?
And now, if we look closely, we will see that the "American" dragoons in the Indian films of the studio "DEFA", and in the same "White Sun …" a very strange revolver. That is, in European cinema, it is not the Colt that is the most popular revolver, but there are others, for example, Vebley-Scott. And, again, even in the "movie about the Indians."
But there is another revolver, which we also often see in our Soviet and Gadeer films, although not everyone knows what it is.
Well, I, like many, first saw this revolver in the movie "Striped Flight". At first it belonged to a foreign tamer, whose white leggings were torn by our tiger. Then, as you know, the monkey became the owner of the revolver, and she brought fear to the ship's crew.
Then there were "Wedding in Malinovka" (1967) and "White Sun …" (1969), where for some reason many of Abdullah's bandits were armed with this revolver.
What attracted them to this revolver?
Most likely, it was large in size and in its appearance, since it was completely different from the well-known "revolver".
British police detective Lestrade with the Reichsrevolver M1879 is definitely something!
Well, and the fate of this revolver (only not cinematic, but real, combat) is also very interesting and quite worthy of being told about it here and now.
Reichsrevolver M1879
And it so happened that it was adopted by the German army in 1879, that is, later than the American "Smith and Wesson" in Russia. The requirements for a revolver from the German military were very similar to those of many others: "national design" and production, simplicity, both in production and in service, and, of course, "accurate and powerful combat." The very same word Reichsrevolver meant that this revolver is officially in service with the German army.
It was the main personal weapon in the German armed forces until 1908, after which it began to be replaced by the Parabellum pistol.
Moreover, its creators managed to achieve everything that the military demanded of them.
But next to many other revolvers of those years, it looked somehow surprisingly conservative, was very bulky and, to top it off, had a very uncomfortable grip. It is not clear why an annular thickening was made on the muzzle. Such barrels were known, for example, they stood on the "Queen Anne pistols" (which we have already talked about here) and called them "cannon barrels". However, there was no point in this ring. But there was a certain meaning in the ring on the handle. A strong cord was inserted into it, with which the revolver clung to the ammunition, so that in case of something it would not be lost.
The length of the Reichsrevolver of the 1879 model was 345 mm, with a barrel length of 181 mm. Despite its large size, it weighed 1.03 kg without cartridges, that is, less than one would expect.
The bore had four grooves that curled to the right. The 10.6 × 25-mm R cartridge was, however, almost an exact copy both in size and power of the.44 Russian cartridge and had the same welt on the case. By the way, surprisingly, the 10.6 mm cartridges used in this revolver not only became standard for the German army at the end of the 19th century, but were also on sale until 1939.
The frame of the revolver is one-piece, there was no extractor (the sleeves were knocked out with a special ramrod, stored separately from the revolver). But a detachable drum was provided. So, in principle, having fired off one drum and having another loaded, it was not so difficult to reload the M1879. In any case, it could have been done faster than reloading the same, and more recent, revolver.
A flag-type fuse was provided on the left of the case. The trigger mechanism was single action. That is, this revolver could not shoot self-cocking. The rate of fire was six shots in 15–20 seconds. Bullet muzzle velocity - 205 m / s. Sighting range - 50 m. Maximum range - 400 m. Drum capacity - six rounds.
All publications note the uncomfortable grip of this revolver. But … they decided to replace it only four years later.
Reichsrevolver M1883
In 1883, they decided to modernize the revolver and were adopted by the German army as the "Reichsrevolver M1883" (State revolver model 1883), also known as the "Reichs-Commissions-revolver Modell 1883". In the army, it was used as a personal weapon of German officers and also non-commissioned officers in the infantry, cavalry and field artillery. The revolver was more compact, as was the 1880 Smith and Wesson revolver adopted in Russia.
The barrel of the new revolver was made shorter and the "ringlet" was removed from it. Shorter barrel - worse accuracy of fire, but this drawback was eliminated by new rifling of the barrel. Finally, the shape of the handle was slightly changed: it became both more curved and shorter. Changed the shape of the frame and the location of the drum axis lock. The weight has become less: 920 grams.
Finally, a model with a double-action trigger mechanism appeared, but it was considered a civilian model and was not officially in service with the army, although it is clear that gentlemen officers immediately began to buy it as a personal weapon. The production of civilian models was carried out not only in Germany, but also in Belgium.
Several manufacturers were involved in the manufacture of M1879 Reichsrevolvers. So, about 70% of all revolvers released were manufactured by a group of weapons enterprises in the city of Suhl.
It was the so-called Zul consortium of arms manufacturers, consisting of companies such as Spangenberg & Sauer, V. C. Schilling & Cie and C. G. Haenel & Cie. They produced revolvers for Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony. For example, under a contract dated March 24, 1879, 41,000 revolvers were manufactured by the consortium for the cavalry, infantry and field artillery of the Prussian army. Under the 1882 contract, another 9,000 revolvers were made specifically for the Prussian cuirassiers.
On January 14, 1882, the consortium received another order from Bavaria for the production of 2,795 Reich revolvers, and then for another 428. On March 16, 1882, Saxony signed its first contract with the Zul consortium of arms manufacturers and placed an order for 2,000 revolvers. Another 2,200 revolvers were ordered by Saxony from the Suhl manufacturers on February 28, 1883.
Another manufacturer of M1879 revolvers for the German army was the oldest enterprise in Germany by Franz von Dreise.
On March 24, 1879, Prussia signed a contract with her for the manufacture of 19,000 revolvers. Bavaria on May 22, 1880 ordered 545 revolvers from Dreise.
Reich revolvers of the 1879 model, manufactured by the Dreise company, have a stamp on the surface of the frame in the form of the text: “F.v. DREYSE / SŒMMERDA , enclosed in an oval.
It is interesting that this company produced a revolver with two triggers. The first one worked as a self-cocking system. But if he was not squeezed out to the end, then the trigger was put on a half-cocked position, and then the shooter could, by pressing the second trigger, release it very smoothly, thereby increasing the accuracy of his shot. On the fencing of the trigger for better holding the revolver, as in the Russian "Smith and Wesson", a "spur" was provided.
Interestingly, the regiments of German cuirassiers used the M1879 revolver before re-equipping them with a carbine in 1888. Non-commissioned officers and trumpeters of the cavalry regiments were armed with this revolver until the appearance of the P08 Parabellum pistol. The Imperial Navy used the M1879 to arm the crews of ships, naval artillery and coastal units until 1906, when the Navy began to actively arm the Sea Luger pistol. But even after that, the M1879 continued to remain in service with various logistic units, support and service units, almost until the very end of the First World War. However, the last cases of the operation of this revolver took place back in 1945, when in Germany they were handed out to folksturmists. Well, captured as trophies, they then migrated to Mosfilm and to the storerooms of the DEFA film studio.
It is surprising that heavier than the Russian "Smith and Wesson" (1, 03 kg weight of the German against 1, 2 Russian without cartridges), the German officers and soldiers did not cause any particular complaints about the heavy weight. And even more so they had no complaints about the reloading system. What weapon they gave - with that we will fight, apparently, this is exactly what they thought, looking at this weapon.
The author and the site administration would like to express their gratitude to Alain Daubresse for the opportunity to use his photographs.
