Traumatic weapon is a collective name for various types of weapons permitted for acquisition, carrying and use by citizens of Russia. This rather specific branch of firearms has become widespread in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Let's try to figure out how this direction developed, and what impact it had on the arms industry, the arms market and the culture of weapon ownership by citizens.
To simplify the text, the concepts of "firearm-free", "gas with the possibility of firing a rubber bullet", "firearms of limited destruction" are used only when the context requires it, in other cases the term "traumatic weapon" is used.
Background
After the collapse of the USSR, the so-called "Gas" pistols began to be sold in large quantities on the Russian arms market. Outwardly, these products were copies of military weapons made of light alloys, which made it as difficult as possible to convert them into combat samples and at the same time led to accelerated wear. The number of cartridges in this weapon was not limited. From the point of view of self-defense, there was no benefit from gas pistols. The amount of gas contained in the cartridge is insignificant and is subject to drift into the shooter's face by gusts of wind. Much cheaper and more effective are tear gas cans or aerosols such as "UDAR".
It should be noted that some of the gas pistols were made by alteration from military weapons, for example, gas pistols of the Makarov Pistol 6P42 type, and were of high quality.
These samples have minimal differences from military weapons, which makes them attractive to collectors. (almost real, authentic PM), and for alteration for firing live cartridges or traumatic cartridges, converted for firing metal bullets. According to data from open forums, at the end of the 90s, an information letter from the Ministry of Internal Affairs on pistols of this type came to the LRR and OUR, in order to pay special attention to the owners of this weapon.
Separately, we can mention the attempt to use shotgun cartridges from gas weapons. These cartridges are designed to protect against snakes and are equipped with the smallest shot, which already from one meter will practically not harm a person, but is capable of piercing the thin skin of a snake. In Russia, several accidents were associated with these cartridges, which entailed serious consequences due to careless handling of weapons.
In general, the appearance of gas pistols can be assessed rather as negative. The confusion with criminal requirements at the beginning of the formation of the market led to the emergence of models that could be easily converted for a live cartridge. And their low efficiency and conditional safety for the "target" laid the foundation for both the habit of unreasonable demonstration of weapons by the owners, and the habit of Russians "going to the barrel" without understanding gas or combat.
In fairness, it must be said that the author had a positive example of using a gas pistol - two shots into the air with blank cartridges helped to avoid the persistent attention of an aggressive drunken company. However, such cases are more likely an exception than a rule, if the psychological factor did not work, there would be no sense from the remaining gas cartridges.
Traumatic weapon
The first sample of traumatic weapons PB-4 "Wasp" of 18x45t caliber was presented at the international arms exhibition in Moscow in 1996 and certified by the Research Institute of Applied Chemistry in 1999 (in the future, pistols of the "Wasp" family will be produced by the "New Weapon Technologies" company). This weapon was certified as "barrelless firearms".
Wasp is implemented as a Derringer pistol with a folding block of barrels for four rounds. The body is made of plastic and light alloys. The sleeve essentially functions as a barrel. To exclude the possibility of reloading cartridges with steel or lead bullets, the initiation of the powder composition is implemented by electric ignition. It was assumed that the absence of electric ignition caps on the free market would make it possible to exclude independent alterations of cartridges; when the rubber bullet was independently removed, the caps were destroyed. We can say that the idea paid off, since there is no information about any known or massive cases of reloading of 18x45 cartridges.
The power of the 18x45t cartridges at the initial stage was 120 Joules, which made it possible to carry out fairly effective self-defense. At the same time, a shot in the head of the enemy with a high probability could lead to death. Switching between barrels was carried out mechanically by pressing the trigger.
In addition to traumatic, light and sound, signal and gas cartridges could be used. However, in my opinion, there is little sense from them, and charging together with traumatic ones is generally extremely dangerous.
In principle, the history of traumatic weapons could have ended on this, tk. if we talk about the maximum possible effective implementation of traumatic weapons, then this is it. But the market is the market, the people wanted "almost a war barrel" (many contemptuously called Osu "Dumplings"), and the producers wanted to earn some money.
The result of this symbiosis was the so-called small-caliber trauma.
The first samples of small-caliber traumatic weapons were implemented on the basis of gas weapons and were certified accordingly - "gas weapons with the ability to fire a rubber bullet." This is how various "Makarychi", "PSMychi" and also silumin handicrafts of foreign manufacturers appeared. The first IZH-79-9T "Makarych" was certified in 2004.
In the initial period, the maximum shot energy permissible from a traumatic weapon was calculated based on the ratio of kinetic energy per bullet area and at the first stage was 20-30 Joules.
The requirements for this weapon also contained the need for a mandatory obstacle in the barrel bore, to exclude the possibility of firing solid objects, and weakened zones of the structure, to ensure the impossibility of alteration for firing live ammunition.
Self-defense with such a weapon is impossible, in principle, even with summer clothes on the enemy, the maximum - a rubber ball will go under the skin and only anger the attacker. Shooting through a winter jacket will likely not even leave bruises.
The combination of the low power of the weapon, obstructions in the barrel and a weakened structure, often multiplied by terrible workmanship, made the operation of such a weapon a torture for the owner. It is normal for the rubber ball to get stuck in the barrel and rupture on the next shot. Well, there is no need to talk about inverted or cracked teeth in the barrel, burst hulls, non-reloading weapons, etc.
Of the advantages, one can only note the rapid development of design skills among a part of the population, expressed in the "finishing" of all this junk by hand.
In general, the influence on the weapon culture of such under-weapons can be compared with the influence of gas pistols, only with a bias in an even more negative direction. In other words - some are still just a little, immediately grab the "trunk", others are not afraid of him and immediately get on the rampage.
Unlike firearms without a barrel, for which a limit of ten rounds and a ban on carrying a cartridge in the chamber were prescribed, such restrictions did not apply to "gas with the possibility". There was no particular sense in these differences. Pistols of the OCA family are already limited to four cartridges, and the cartridges are “in the barrels” by default. The traumatic pistol "Leader" that appeared later, based on the authentic old "TT", and certified as a "barrelless firearm" also could not hold more than seven cartridges, and it legally did not have a chamber. in fact, according to the documents, he did not even have a barrel.
All other manufacturers did not bother, and certified the traumatic as "gas with the possibility".
Since the market tends to saturate, and you want money, legislative changes were adopted.
The power of small-caliber traumatics gradually increased. First up to 50 Joules, then up to 70, and then up to 90 Joules. On the other hand, the power of the wasp-type firearms was reduced from 120 to 85 joules, under the pretext of excessive lethality. Proponents of conspiracy theories reasonably suspect that this was done in order to reduce the competitive advantages of pistols of the "Wasp" type in comparison with low-power small-bore traumatics.
The subsequent years can be described as the "Golden Age" of small-caliber traumatic weapons. Private companies appeared that offered weapons of fairly good quality. The combination of a relatively high permissible muzzle energy and the ingenuity of manufacturers led to the appearance on the market of traumatic weapons and cartridges with a shot energy that, when used together, up to 150 Joules. And taking into account the improvements of the users, in the form of polishing the barrels and protrusions, replacing the springs, "controlling" the load of cartridges and other tricks, the muzzle energy of the traumatic could exceed 200 Joules, which is already comparable to a service weapon of 9x17k caliber.
The best examples of traumatic weapons of the 2007-2011 period can be considered a number of models listed below.
Slovak Grand Power T10, developed by the Slovak company of the same name with the assistance of the forum participants guns.ru. Reliable and high-quality weapon (albeit not without flaws) with a responsive manufacturer.
A compact traumatic pistol WASP R based on the design of the 9 × 17 Kevin combat pistol.
Even such exotic models for Russia as the Steyr M-A1 pistol appeared.
In general, the market grew like an avalanche. The domestic manufacturer pleased with the alterations to the traumatics of military weapons from the warehouses - PM, TT, APS. They differed from modern handicrafts of the domestic industry in significantly better workmanship. At the same time, a number of gun lovers resented the barbaric, in their opinion, desecration of historical models.
Distinctive features of traumatic weapons of this period are increased structural strength, a significant reduction in the size of obstacles in the barrel and a fairly high muzzle energy (for a traumatic weapon, of course).
In general, in terms of characteristics, the best examples of traumatic weapons of 2010 approached entry-level military weapons. However, to one degree or another, all of the above problems of small-caliber traumatic weapons remained. There were still such phenomena as barrel rupture, non-recharge and the like. Added to this was the confusion with cartridges - powerful cartridges tore apart weapons that were not intended for them, the weak ones got stuck in weapons designed for more powerful cartridges.
In relation to barrelless firearms, small-bore traumatics have captured a large part of the market. On the side of the "Wasp" type pistols, there remained a lower cost and minimal requirements for knowledge of "materiel", with a higher cost of cartridges (three to four times compared to small-caliber cartridges). Also in the pistols of the Wasp family there was a steel core in the rubber bullet, which increased the lethal effect of the bullet.
On the side of small-caliber traumatic weapons - an authentic appearance, more ammunition and lower cost of ammunition. For a number of models, there is also a significantly higher muzzle energy (which, however, if used, could entail unpleasant legal consequences).
Despite this, the Osa-type pistols were also gradually modernized, they received built-in laser designators (LTSU), an electronic circuit for switching the barrel bore, and later on, oversized cartridges of 18, 5x55 caliber.
Also, quite interesting models "Cordon" of the Tula company A + A appeared. With a powerful cartridge, they differed in their minimum dimensions (especially in thickness), minimum weight, and a simple and reliable design. For these pistols, the A + A company released its own version of the 18x45 cartridge, since the HEOT cartridges differ in the tolerance standards. Of the shortcomings, a certain specificity of handling weapons during operation can be noted.
At the moment, the line of pistols "Cordon" and cartridges for them are discontinued.
We will talk about the reasons for this, the latest changes in the traumatic weapons market and the prospects in the next article.
