Submachine gun: yesterday, today, tomorrow.
New ideas in the field of creating submachine guns were the result of those challenges of the time that once again stood on the agenda of the military. It only remained to translate the answer to them into metal. And it was done! New types of ammunition have appeared, and for them, new models of modern and more effective submachine guns.
What cartridges are needed for modern submachine guns?
Today, according to the experience of application and according to science, we have the following: heavy and more aerodynamically perfect bullets, which accelerate more in the barrel, fly farther and more accurately and, accordingly, are less susceptible to wind drift. But the recoil of the weapon itself also affects the accuracy of the shot: the lower it is, the more accurately the bullet flies. Therefore, the choice of the caliber of small arms and a submachine gun in particular is always a compromise. Now bullets are becoming more elongated and streamlined, their caliber also decreases, so they accelerate in the barrel to higher muzzle velocities than before. Well, and they try to reduce the return in various clever ways. And today, bullets of submachine guns, under all other circumstances, fly farther and more accurately than those of the same military models, and at the same time have better armor penetration.
As for our country, in the USSR, back in the early 70s, a small-caliber cartridge 5, 45 × 18 mm with a bottle-shaped sleeve, a sharp-nosed bullet and increased penetration was created in the USSR, and a PSM self-loading pistol (1972) for it. Then an automatic pistol OTs-23 "Dart" appeared for the same ammunition. In the 1980s, they began to design submachine guns for it, but they all remained prototypes. It is believed that since its muzzle energy is only about 130 J, it is too weak for a weapon of the PDW concept. Although his bullet with a solid core at a short distance can penetrate class 1-2 body armor, which is an excellent result for "pocket" pistols.
It was also decided to create an ammunition with increased penetrating power, namely the 9 × 21 mm cartridge, which has a heavy pointed bullet (used in the SP-10, SP-11, SP-12, SP-13 and SR-2 "Veresk "). "Heather" allows you to achieve 100% penetration of 4-mm steel sheet at a distance of 70 m. Although in itself, its firing range is relatively small, since it has a low flatness of the bullet flight. That is, it is also not a "wagon", but a very specific PP for the needs of special forces and shooting at an enemy wearing bulletproof vests in close combat. The small-sized 9-mm 9A-91 (see VO December 24, 2010) chambered for 9x39 mm has become a kind of hybrid between a submachine gun, traditional in our understanding, and a submachine gun. It is flat, comfortable, with a high (for submachine guns) muzzle energy of about 700 J, which is nevertheless lower than that of traditional automatic ammunition. At a distance of 100 m, a 9A-91 bullet pierces an 8-mm steel sheet or body armor up to the 3rd protection class. That is, it is more profitable than the 9-mm PP for "Parabellum" cartridges and can confidently hit targets at a distance of 200 m. However, in the Russian army, despite all its high characteristics, it did not take root. Apparently, ammunition for it is quite expensive, and the niche it occupies is narrow.
In the new conditions, by the way, old Soviet cartridges for PPSh and PPS of 7, 62 × 25 mm caliber can also be used as "armor-piercing ammunition", since there are a lot of them in warehouses. So, in the USA, on the basis of this cartridge, they have already created a civilian ammunition equipped with a sub-caliber (!) Lead bullet with a plastic pallet, similar in design to the Swedish cartridge for the CBJ-MS PP, and it is believed that it is very effective.
Today, the Russian army adopted the Parabellum cartridge 9 × 19 + P + - i.e. the most powerful among its "brothers", not counting the export version 9 × 21. And many are surprised by this decision. First of all, its sleeve is only a millimeter longer than the cartridge case of the 9 × 18 mm cartridge for the Makarov pistol. But the main problem of the latter is not associated with the sleeve, but with the deep landing of the bullet in it, which makes it impossible to increase the powder charge in it. And the bullet has a short length, which impairs ballistics and its damaging effect. Meanwhile, in the same Belgium, on the basis of the "Makarov" cartridge, they have already made an armor-piercing cartridge VBR-B 9 × 18 KATE - longer (29.6 mm) than the "Makarov" cartridge and in almost all its characteristics is quite comparable to the same 9 × 19 mm. However, work is underway to improve this cartridge as well (See, for example, VO "Pistol cartridges" January 10, 2012). Well, 9 × 19 + P + could quite possibly be adopted in order to develop new types of PP for it and it is easier to sell them to the West.
Opinion of some versus opinion of others
Nevertheless, many experts, as before, believe that it is pointless to try to create a new PP for all occasions for mass armies. That the supply of ammunition of two types in the event of a real military conflict will complicate the logistics, and in the event of a clash of soldiers with rifles, it will not leave the “pistols” a chance. Therefore, as an alternative, they offer shortened versions of the assault rifle (or "assault rifle"), for standard cartridges for this army. Again, our Russian AKS74U and M4 from the Americans fit this concept (or trend). However, this is in theory, but in practice, PDW submachine guns are still ubiquitous, and more and more new models of them appear.
Moreover, the United States proposes a "step back", that is, an increase in the caliber of submachine guns and pistols from 9 mm to a larger one. In 2007, for example, the US Air Force decided that a.40 Smith and Wesson pistol (10mm), or even the good old.45 ACP (11.43mm), would suit them. They explain it this way: even though the heavy bullets in these cartridges do not give a high penetrating effect, if they hit the body armor, they can cause serious shock injuries to its owner. On the other hand, they have a high dispersion and it will be quite difficult to hit a target with them at a distance of more than 50-60 meters.
For the police, and these calibers are good
But in police weapons, cartridges of calibers 9 × 19 mm or.45 ACP are quite sufficient. It is noted that they are not prone to ricocheting, which is very important if the fire is being conducted in an urban environment. So it is unlikely that they will be abandoned in the near future. Moreover, samples of large-caliber PPs of the HK UMP45 type, chambered for.45ACP (11, 43x23 mm) cartridges, began to appear abroad as well. for your own needs. Compared to the same MP5, this is a largely simplified weapon with an automatic mechanism based on a free shutter, which is why the UMP on the international arms market is cheaper than the same MP5.
The trend is the head of everything
Well, now let's sum up some results and see what the development of submachine guns resulted in at the turn of the XX and XXI centuries. Let's start with cartridges, since without them this class of weapons would not exist.
So, there are fundamentally new types of small-caliber cartridges with high-speed bullets that have increased armor-piercing, but low stopping effect. These are, first of all, cartridges with bullets of caliber 4, 38-mm, 4, 6-mm, 5, 6-mm, 5, 7-mm, 5, 8-mm, 6, 5-mm. As you can see - calibers for every taste - take and create your own ultra-modern PP for them. Accordingly, ammunition 7, 62-mm "went into the shadows" and do not enjoy the same popularity, but the traditional "Luger" caliber 9-mm lives and thrives, although it is subject to constant improvements. A new caliber appeared - 10-mm and for it there is already a submachine gun "Heckler and Koch" MP5 / 10. Ammunition of large calibers - 11, 43 and even 12, 7-mm - is experiencing a kind of renaissance. And again, because of the proliferation of bulletproof vests. Only small-caliber bullets pierce them, and these … break through or inflict defeat at the expense of their mass through the obstacle.
Design: free and semi-free breeches are still used, to which an "automatic" breechblock based on a gas vent mechanism has been added, in which locking is carried out by turning them and even recoil of the barrel with its cranking at a short stroke. Samples with a bolt running on the barrel and a magazine in a pistol grip have become widespread.
Plastics are now playing a huge role in materials of construction. Only the barrel, the bolt, the bolt spring (and various small springs) and individual parts of the trigger remained metal on many samples. Everything else is now made of plastic.
There is a trend towards using larger stores. If earlier magazines with 30 rounds were standard, and 40-round magazines were a rarity, today 50-round magazines with a four-row arrangement of cartridges and their rebuilding into one cartridge before feeding are widespread. Screw magazines for 60 or more cartridges began to be used. In the Russian Federation, they are located under the barrel, in the USA and in China - above the barrel. Plastic transparent magazines became customary, making it easy to control the consumption of cartridges.
The Picatinny rail has become a fashionable trend. On the PP of recent years, they are attached without fail, and not even one, but 2, 3 and even 4! Now you can attach a powerful sight to a weapon, and a tactical flashlight, and a laser sight at the same time. Collimator sights are widely used. Thus, electronics are slowly but surely moving to where, it seems, until recently, there was no place for it!
Modern (2001 development) submachine gun of the Swiss company "Brugger and Tohme" MP9. It has a very high rate of fire up to 1100 rds / min (see VO "MP9. Super rapid-fire submachine gun for special forces" 2019-01-05). The weapon is equipped with a collimator sight, as well as a unit with a tactical flashlight and a laser designator.
A modular scheme is increasingly being used. Thanks to this, the weapon can be customized for each fighter individually, and adapted for use by both right-handed and left-handed shooters.
Well, what will lead (or can lead) the implementation of all these "achievements" in practice, we will tell you in the next issues of this series.
