Part nine. The fun begins
The theater begins with the hanger, the weapon begins with the cartridge. This simple truth is forgotten or not known by the majority of "historians" such as A. Ruchko.
The history of the German assault gun began in 1923 with the release of a memorandum of the German Arms Inspectorate, which formulated the requirements for a new cartridge and weapons for it. The idea of an intermediate cartridge was discussed long before the appearance of the cartridge for the stormgower. Perhaps for the first time it was publicly voiced by Colonel V. G. Fedorov and even partially implemented. But the real work began in Germany in the 1930s.
After carrying out research work, it was decided to stop at the 7, 75x39, 5 cartridge, which was developed by Gustav Genshov from GECO, and Heinrich Volmer made an automatic carbine for it. The GECO cartridge is very similar to the future Soviet 7, 62x39, which gives evil dreamers to believe that the Soviet cartridge was "licked" from German. This is, of course, fiction. In the Soviet Union, independent work was carried out, including with other calibers, and the fact that this particular cartridge was adopted only indicates that the Germans were right in calculating for the GECO cartridge. And the dreamers can only wipe themselves off by the fact that the work on the intermediate cartridge in the USSR began with the fact that this work began in Germany. At the same time, it is often forgotten that Germany had a head start in working out the cartridge in peacetime. And the USSR was forced to do this in wartime, and there was no hope that the new patron would have to fight with Germany!
Back to Volmer and his M35 carbine.
I must say that no matter how far-sighted the German customer turned out to be in determining the requirements for new weapons, there were also enough idiots in the armaments department. There was a ban on weapons with automatic gas venting through a side hole in the barrel. What was the reason for this, one can only guess. It seems to me that the problem was in the increased risk of contamination of the gas outlet with powder combustion products and a weakening of gas pressure in the barrel. Vollmer applied the solution once found by J. Browning. The automatics worked as follows: after the bullet flew out of the barrel, the gases pressed on the muzzle, which moved forward and through the thrust along the barrel transmitted a translational impulse to the bolt group. There are two versions of what happened next. One by one, the translational impulse was inverted into reverse and opened the butterfly valve. According to the other, this impulse only released the clutch between the barrel and the bolt, and then the bolt would fly off under the influence of the recoil force.
In 1939, after successful tests, the army abandoned both the GECO cartridge and the Volmer assault rifle. But a year before that (!), The Armaments Directorate signed an agreement with POLTE for a new cartridge, and with Herr Hähnel's for weapons for it. The guys from POLTE didn't bother with calculations and tests. They took an ordinary Mauser cartridge, shortened the sleeve, poured in pistol powder and lightened the bullet. It turned out the same kurz, which some dreamers now call the "progenitor" of all intermediate cartridges. But in fact, what was expected when the work was done by amateurs turned out. The bullet got bad ballistics. The customer's requirements for the installation of an aiming bar on an assault gun with a markup of 50 meters speak only of its low flatness, and at the most combat distances - up to 350 meters.
The European civilized society is lost in conjectures: why did the choice fall on this particular patron and on the Henel firm? Why did Walter receive a contract for the development of weapons for kurz only two years after Schmeisser had already worked on this topic? Why, finally, did the armaments department cease to be afraid of the side gas vents? Let it get lost! They are still confident that important decisions are made in their offices. But we know that if we have a cozy hunting lodge, then with its help it is possible to influence the course of history much more effectively than from the offices of the Armaments Directorate.
Part ten. What did Schmeisser do?
Schmeisser produced a heavy submachine gun, albeit dubbed the Mkb-42 (H) "mashinenkorabin". Shooting was continued from the open bolt. Even setting the safety catch was carried out according to the old "latch" method, known from the time of the MP-18. The firing mechanism of the descent, and the invention of Herr Volmer - his "telescope", was used as a return spring. Otherwise, it was simply impossible to keep within the rate of fire required by the customer - 350-400 rounds per minute. On the other hand, progress has appeared in automation: instead of recoil of the free shutter, gas-operated automation has finally begun to be used and the shutter is locked by a bias.
The first samples of Sturmgewers were made with a file. Further, all stamped units were designed and produced at the Merz-Werke firm.
According to the test results, together with Walter's samples, the Sturmgever was radically redesigned.
The first step was to replace the drum trigger with a trigger trigger. This led to the rejection of firing from an open bolt. And this is not even a revision of the sample, it is the introduction of a completely different mechanism, which was “elegantly” “borrowed” from Walter by a direct order of the customer. The espagnolette fuse was finally replaced with a flag fuse. Thus, in the revised version of the Sturmgever, only the gas outlet and the locking principle remained from the original concept. In this form, the device became known as the MP-43.
In April 1943, when the first batch of assault guns went to the troops for testing, they were all the same Mkb-42 (H). Perhaps, they simply did not have time to make an experimental batch. True, instead of Volmer's telescopes, there were already conventional springs from the MP-43. The customer decided to raise the rate to 600 rounds per minute, and the long stroke of the bolt carrier helped to reduce the rate of fire to an acceptable one. To the great relief of Schmeisser.
Remark 5. In "studies" of the history of the Sturmgewer, the fact is often cited that Hitler was against its adoption. Most likely, this is one of the dogs that were hung on the Fuhrer by his surviving accomplices and are still being hanged by modern historians, trying to whitewash the obvious failures in making military and technical decisions.
The question of adopting a new model of personal small arms with a new cartridge requires a much more complicated solution than even with a new model of the tank. Such events are possible only in peacetime, or, in extreme cases, not when your army retreats and the chaos factor begins to dominate in military logistics.
Before Stalingrad, there was no need to re-equip the German army with Sturmgevers with a new cartridge! In fact, almost four years have passed since the contract for the development of new weapons was given to the companies HAENEL and POLTE. Most likely, this contract was of a research and development nature. But 1942, when the mass delivery of PPSh, and later PPS began to the Soviet troops, and the myth of the invincibility of the German troops was dispelled, made the Wehrmacht's analytical minds move in search of a “wunderwaffe”.
In the meantime, the military industry in Germany is reaching its peak. By the end of the war, more than a thousand foreign "specialists", including more than 400 citizens of the Soviet Union, were mercilessly exploited at the Henel plant. I wonder how many designers and technologists were among them?
Hänel's milking is going at an accelerated pace. The brothers' share in the profit is several times higher than the share of the present owner. In August 1943, Herr Hähnel fell ill, so badly that he completely retired from the business of the company. Either the disease was not serious, or the simulation was excellent, but Herr Hanel survived them all, dying only in 1983. The position of the technical director is occupied by engineer Shtumpel. And Schmeisser? According to the source of the information (A. Kulinsky), Schmeiser did two things like Caesar at once, he was engaged in the design and management of HAENEL at the same time. Please note that the Mkb42 is being transformed into the MP-43 at this time. That is, the design is radically changing, and, accordingly, the production equipment. Something I hardly believe that the richest man Zul (by that time richer than Henele) is engaged in the implementation of Walter's trigger in the stormgower.
Next - a small chronicle
November 1943 The USSR People's Commissariat of Defense announces a competition for a new weapon for an intermediate cartridge according to the given ballistic characteristics, without directly specifying the caliber. The calibers 7.62, 6.5 and 5.6 were considered and tested. After working out more three hundred options settled on the option 7.62, which is now known. Moreover, the rejection of other calibers was caused by the fact that it was not possible to satisfy the customer's requirements with smaller calibers.
April 25, 1944 the stormgower is finally officially entering service with the German army. And already in May, Soviet designers Sudaev, Degtyarev, Simonov, Tokarev, Korovin and Kuzmishchev presented their first samples of automatic machines for the Soviet intermediate cartridge.
July-August 1944. Round two, joined by Shpagin and Bulkin.
December 1944. Sergeant of the Soviet Army Mikhail Kalashnikov begins work on a carbine for the same cartridge. The design solution in the locking unit of this carbine formed the basis of the future glory of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. It was then - at the end of 1944!
January 1945 … The Sudaev assault rifle arrives at the proving grounds for the troops.
May 1945 Victory! Suhl is temporarily in the zone of American occupation. American chekists are processing all bright German heads that can work for the good of the American Reich. And such heads were found. For example, Wernher von Braun, who literally saved America from cosmic shame. If not for him, Nikita Khrushchev's prophecy that the first person on the moon would undoubtedly be a Soviet man would have come true. Having pressed Schmeisser to the fullest, the American security officers came to the same conclusion as the Izhevsk security officers much later - "Herr Schmeisser is of no value." Stormgover did not impress the Americans either. Resource - 5000 shots, heavy weight, large size, non-collapsible trigger, you can't shoot in long bursts, stamped iron looks unreliable. The general verdict is "weapons before the first breakdown." Here is an excerpt from the 1945 US Department of Armaments report:
“Nevertheless, when trying to create mass methods of light and accurate weapons with significant firepower, the Germans faced problems that severely limited the effectiveness of the Sturmgewehr assault rifle. Cheap stamped parts, of which it is largely composed, are easily subject to deformation and chipping, which leads to frequent seizures. Despite the declared ability to fire in automatic and semi-automatic modes, the rifle does not withstand prolonged fire in automatic mode, which forced the leadership of the German army to issue official directives instructing the troops to use it only in a semi-automatic mode. In exceptional cases, soldiers are allowed to fire in a fully automatic mode in short bursts of 2-3 shots. The possibility of reusing parts from serviceable rifles was neglected (interchangeability was not ensured. - Approx.the author), and the general design hinted that if it was impossible to use the weapon for its intended purpose, the soldier should have simply thrown it away. A significant portion of the weapon's weight is responsible for the ability to fire in automatic mode, which reaches 12 pounds with a full magazine. Since this opportunity cannot be fully exploited, this additional weight puts the Sturmgewehr at a disadvantage compared to the US Army carbine, which is almost 50% lighter. Receiver, frame, gas chamber, shroud and sighting frame are made of stamped steel. Since the trigger mechanism is fully riveted, it is non-separable; if repair is required, it is replaced entirely. Only the piston rod, bolt, striker, barrel, gas cylinder, nut on the barrel and magazine are machined on the machine. The stock is made of cheap, roughly processed wood and in the process of repair creates difficulties in comparison with automatic rifles with a folding stock."
The Americans cannot be accused of overlooking something progressive in the stormgief. For a nation whose history of formation is associated with the development of small arms, and the culture of weapons is its integral feature, this would be at least disrespectful. For the Soviet designers and the military, the position formulated by the "godfather" of MT Kalashnikov - Academician AA Blagonravov worked: "Weapons that do not have complete reliability in battle do not enjoy recognition among the troops for any, any positive qualities, and should not be allowed to operate."
Remark 6. A little about the resource. The Volmer M35, rejected by the Wehrmacht, had 18,000 rounds during testing. Some samples of the Soviet DP-27 were brought up to 100,000 rounds. The declared resource of the Kalashnikov assault rifle and machine guns is 25,000 rounds.
October 45th. The USSR People's Commissariat of Defense, dissatisfied with the tests of the Sudaev assault rifle, announces a second competition, to which Mikhail Kalashnikov joins. And the bourgeois Schmeissers, who have lost their capital, are beginning to adapt to the harsh realities of socialism. Strange, but after the nationalization of Hähnel's company, the post of commercial director remained with Hans Schmeisser. Why didn't Hugo return to the post of technical director or, at worst, a simple designer, but ended up in the commission for the selection of German technologies for use in the USSR? The answer is obvious to me, but I will write about it in the epilogue. For a whole year, the commission represented by Karl Barnitzke and Hugo Schmeisser selected candidates for the stage in Russia.
Finally, in October 1946 several families of German specialists settled in Izhevsk. Schmeisser was still unpacking his suitcases in Izhevsk and received a pass to Izhmash, and in Kovrov, where Kalashnikov was sent, the first batch of the first AK-46s was already being manufactured. The tests of the AK-46 were carried out in the summer of 1947. After these tests, the famous "rearrangement" of the assault rifle in the AK-47 took place, which made it possible to win the competition. If you smoke properly, then if you wish, you can somehow pull Schmeisser to this rearrangement with "a number of his advice." True, for this version, Schmeisser would have to be transported to Kovrov or the AK-46 to Izhevsk, and Dr. Ryosh would have to deal with Dmitry Shiryaev. Both are standing, well, God bless them. The history of this rearrangement is described in sufficient detail in the memoirs of the direct participants in those events. Schmeisser is not there.
March 1948. Kalashnikov in Izhevsk. At the former arms factory of Berezin, and at that time the Izhevsk motorcycle plant, an experimental batch of AK is being manufactured for participation in military trials. In a short time, while an experimental batch of machine guns is being manufactured, Mikhail Timofeevich manages to create another carbine and a pistol in the iron.
February 1949. The Kalashnikov assault rifle was adopted by the Soviet Army. And his designer finally settled in Izhevsk and began work at Izhmash to prepare for mass production. Finally, the moment came when Schmeisser had to run for beer for Kalashnikov. But that did not happen.
Epilogue
What are you doing in Izhevsk, old and sick Hugo Schmeisser? How did you even get here? After all, quite recently, in your hunting grounds, you hosted high-ranking Nazi and military leaders in order to get lucrative contracts. It is not known what you did more, designing or weaving intrigues against your competitors from Walter and Mauser.
What the hell made you contact the Soviet technical commission? After all, you could work as a simple constructor. Your brother Hans has stayed where he is, despite the nationalization of Hähnel's company. You could do your favorite thing - the design of sporting and hunting weapons, and no Bergman would still be a decree to you. But once you took a prudent step, relying on your intuition, joined the ranks of the Nazis - and it was right. Most likely, you hoped for cooperation with the "Soviet occupiers", which will bring dividends in the future. Or maybe he was afraid that you would be charged for your Nazi past and the exploitation of those unfortunate slaves from Europe and Russia who created your financial well-being? But this time intuition let down, and now you are forced to live far from your homeland and look into the eyes of those people - your compatriots who came here not without your help. By the way, why isn't your eternal rival Heinrich Volmer among them? He is now spinning like a top, lifting his firm from its knees. He pays off workers with bicycle tires and develops complex barter schemes to supply his company with raw materials. Just like in the Soviet Union many years later …
A son died in Germany. A sick wife is suffering. From melancholy and uncertainty of what awaits in the future, bad soaps roll. Reading technical magazines and walking with the daughter of one of his colleagues in misfortune in the vicinity of Izhevsk helps to distract from them. All your life you have designed only what you wanted. It turned out to be beyond my strength to design according to the instructions of others. The Russians didn't get what they hoped for from you. As it turned out, the MP-40 is completely mistakenly called "Schmeisser", and you have nothing to do with this weapon. They studied "Sturmgever", and they are not at all interested in it. They say that the plant is preparing for the production of a new Russian "Sturmgever" for an intermediate cartridge, which was invented by a sergeant-tanker. It would be interesting to see.
Hugo Schmeisser died without seeing this Soviet "Sturmgever". The Kalashnikov assault rifle was widely presented to the world community in Hungary only three years after his death. Therefore, he could not answer the question: "Do you, Herr Schmeisser, have anything to do with the Kalashnikov assault rifle?" It is unlikely that the Americans knew anything about the AK-47 before the Hungarian events. Even if they did know, their interest was only theoretical. In reality, it manifested itself only in Vietnam, but after it fell into their hands, they had only one question: "Huh out, Mr. Kalashnikov?" So the phrase about "a few tips" is entirely on the conscience of those who composed it, as well as the tale about the English helicopter, which was supposedly supposed to kidnap Schmeisser from the GDR. Everything that needed to be learned from Schmeisser could be obtained in the GDR without any kidnapping. He really had nothing to tell. About how he regularly reported to the Soviet special officer about the mood and conversations between German specialists? This is not interesting to anyone. The personal files of secret KGB officers will never be declassified, so no one will ever see documentary evidence of this. But the assumption of Schmeisser's cooperation with the KGB is not groundless either. Among the German colonists there was supposed to be an informant, on whom the case was started and on which information and reports were regularly written. It was supposed to be so, and it is pointless to deny it. Schmeisser, who personally helped to select the "business travelers" to Izhevsk, in whose character openness and friendliness are not in the first place, was more suitable for this role than others.
And yet: what did the German gunsmiths designers do at Izhmash? We are terribly interested. Developed weapons and possibly tooling and equipment for production. Somewhere in the archives, drawings are gathering dust, which bear the signatures of Hugo Schmeisser and Werner Gruner. I have not seen, but I can believe that it is. There are only questions.
First: Schmeisser, having no technical education, did not know how to draw and do calculations, but worked, like most designers, from sketches, leaving this work to professional draftsmen.
Second: the system of German design documentation does not correspond to the Soviet one. Tolerance and fit tables too. There are different standards for steel, quality of surface treatment, coating technology, processing modes.
Third: in order for the designer's work to have at least some meaning, they had to make parts according to drawings or sketches, assemble some of these parts, test them, make changes to the documentation. For this, design drawings are not enough, both technologists and locksmiths are needed, who can, according to documentation different from the usual Soviet one, cut, grind or mill something. Even the culture of production can become a serious obstacle to work. Therefore, most likely, they did something, they drew something. But most of all I like the quote from the “historian” I. Kobzev: “German gunsmiths brought excellent paper and other supplies for work from Germany to the Kalashnikov design bureau. But their drawings, which looked like a work of art, were covered with machine tools. Schmeisser could not stand such a sight and fell ill. This is such a sadness. I was crying.
The Schmeisser generation is over, there are no direct relatives left. The patent "legacy" of Louis, Hans and Hugo Schmeisser is left to gather dust in the archives.
Conclusion
After the war, the remnants of stormgears spread across countries and continents, they could be seen at the German police and Yugoslav paratroopers. Goodness should not be lost.
The Kalashnikov assault rifle did not interest the West even after the Hungarian events. In fact, the ballistic characteristics of the weapon could be restored from spent cartridges, or even a machine gun could be stolen. The main advantage of the AK - its amazing reliability - became known only after its real combat applications in the jungles of Vietnam.
Time passed. AK began to spread throughout the world. But this Forces of Evil could no longer forgive, because such a spread encroached on the mythical basis of this evil that "they have all the best." Billions of dollars floated out of the arms business.
New times have come. Along with the freedom of information came the freedom of the five "S": sensations, sex, scandals, fear and verbiage.
In the wake of the world fame of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, Hugo Schmeisser's mummy surfaced. His haughty face began to surface at any mention of AK on the Internet.
The appearance of publications by “historians” such as A. Ruchko, A. Korobeinikov, I. Kobzev, “expert” A. Kolmykov and others can be explained by the psychiatric term “Nosov and Fomenko syndrome”. But there are individuals who benefit from it financially.
German "historian of the creative heritage of the great designer Hugo Schmeisser" Dr. Werner Rösch. The commercial successes of the "historian", apparently, did not surpass the abilities of the Schmeisser brothers. For example, his firm "Schmeisser Suhl GmbH" does not even have its own website, and only an attempt to create a joint production of gas pistols in Ukraine was discovered on the Internet. But the founders of the company "Schmeisser GmbH" Thomas Hoff and Andreas Schumacher are working hard. They don't give a damn about the "creative legacy". They produce, of course, not stormgivers, but using screwdriver technology, various variations of the American AR-15. But to arrange a prank in the spirit of the "great" Schmeisser is easy. Concern Kalashnikov has Waffen Schumacher GmbH as a business partner (dealer). The founder of this company is the same Andreas Schumacher, the founder of "Schmeisser GmbH". So, until recently, the link to Waffen Schumacher GmbH from the Kalashnikov website led directly to Schmeisser GmbH, which in fact is a direct competitor of the concern! To write off this disgrace on someone's mistake is the pinnacle of infantilism.
There is a brand underfoot, created by the work of another person with a smile of fate. It remains to compose a myth about alleged involvement in the most famous automaton in the world and give it the look of scientific research.
It is to such Ryosham and Schumachers a direct benefit to support the simulacrum of the "great" gunsmith Hugo Schmeisser, a member of the NSS-Te-A-Peh since 1933.
Literature:
1. Alexander Kulinsky. Schmeissers, Fates and Weapons. Kalashnikov. No. 7-8 / 2003.
2. Ilya Shaidurov. Swabian Character. Master weapon. No. 9/2012 (186).
3. Ilya Shaidurov. Theodore Bergman and his weapons. Master weapon. No. 8-9 / 2009 (150-151).
4. Ilya Shaidurov. Hugo Schmeisser in Izhevsk, or The End of a Myth. Master weapon. No. 11-12 / 2009 (152-153).
5. Ilya Shaidurov. Unknown and famous Louis Stange. Master weapon. No. 12/2010 (165).
6. Sergey Monetchikov. "Miracle weapon" of the Third Reich. Brother. No. 1-2 / 2008.
7. A series of soldiers at the front number 49. Sturmgewer 44 is a weapon of the German infantry.
8. Mike Ingram. Submachine gun MP-40.
9. A. A. Malimon. Domestic submachine guns (notes of a gunsmith tester).
10. Kalashnikov M. T. Gunsmith's notes.
11. Bolotin D. N. History of Soviet small arms and ammunition.
12. Chris McNab, German automatic rifles 1941-1945, 2005.
Hugo Schmeisser: from Bergman to Kalashnikov
