As a result, all these developments resulted in American patent No. 681, 481, issued on August 27, 1901 to Mr. Thomas Johnson for a very unusual carbine, which then appeared in metal in 1905-1906. and dubbed the "1907 Model". The primary sample, judging by the schemes from the patent documentation, was still quite archaic. The store was located in the butt, like a Spencer carbine, although there were already two new important details: a free breechblock and a bolt pusher protruding from the forend under the barrel.
M1910 carbine.
On the 1907 model, the free breech was preserved, the "pusher" was preserved, but the store received the Lee system. And that's it - this is how a very interesting weapon was born, which the company produced for half a century, from 1906 to 1958. A magazine for 5 or 10 rounds, located directly in front of the trigger guard. The only cartridge offered by Winchester for the 1907 model was the.351SL centerfire (ie centerfire) with a 12.96 g bullet (caliber 8.9 mm).
The first sheet of patent No. 681, 481.
The carbine was produced in a standard finish, and a deluxe one with a pistol grip. In 1907, the price was $ 28. In 1935, Winchester offered a special "police rifle" - a variant with a number of minor improvements and a bayonet.
The second sheet of patent No. 681, 481.
The Winchester Model 1910 (also known as the Model 10) was produced until 1936. This rifle had a magazine for four rounds of.401 Winchester self-loading or.401 WSL (caliber 10, 3 mm) with a bullet weighing 16, 2 g. The price of this model was $ 30. The weight of models of different releases ranged from 3.6 kg to 4.1 kg, length - 970 mm, barrel length 510 mm. True, the weight of the free shutter, and the springs associated with it, was also not small at all - 1, 2 kg. The bullet speed was 653 m / s (.351SL) - a very good indicator. The advantages of the weapon include the fact that the bolt was hidden in the receiver so that dirt practically did not get inside, and it was very convenient. At the same time, the aimed firing range was equal to 400 steps, which seemed a little to the military, who believed that 1200 steps were not enough.
The third sheet of patent No. 681, 481.
By the way, there was also a 1903 model, but chambered for.22 caliber "side fire" cartridges, and with a magazine in the butt under the 1901 patent, but it was not as popular as subsequent samples.
Winchester model 1903. The "socket" for charging the application store is clearly visible.
Winchester model 1903 exploded view.
Reloading the carbine was unusual, but convenient. He put his fingers on the head of the rod under the barrel (or rested it against something hard), pressed it, pulled it back all the way and released it. And that's it! The carbine is reloaded! There was practically nothing to break in the carbine itself, so its design was simple, and, therefore, reliable.
"Police model" - disassembly diagram.
For a long time, carbines were sold as hunting weapons, including here in Russia. But then the First World War began and the attitude towards them immediately changed. Winchester factory records indicate that in 1915, 150 “Model 1910” carbines and 25,000.401SL rounds were ordered by the French government. On December 7, 1917, about 400,000.401SL cartridges were ordered for the "model 1910", that is, they, apparently, were quite actively used. There is data on the order of 500 carbines "model 1910" by Russia, dating back to 1915 and 1916.
Model 1907 with an enlarged magazine.
The French government first ordered 300 rifles in 1907.in October 1915, and an order for 2,500 rifles soon followed. Ammunition orders for these rifles exceeded 1.5 million.351SL rounds until 1917. Subsequent orders in 1917 and 1918 totaled 2,200 more carbines from 1907. According to the factory records, these rifles were modified for fully automatic fire and were equipped with bayonets from the Lee Navey rifle. These rifles received the designation "Model 1907/17", and used magazines for either 15 rounds or 20 rounds, at a rate of fire between 600 and 700 rounds per minute.
Model 1907 with 20 rounds magazine and bayonet from Lee "Navey".
Where was this weapon used? And here is where: with the beginning of air battles, the Winchester model 1907, model 1907, caliber.351 and Winchester, 1910, caliber.401 began to be used … by observers on two-seater airplanes.
Patron. 351WSL.
Then they began to be used already in land battles. In particular, they were armed with assault units during the "Brusilov Breakthrough" in June 1916, and they were also used by the infantry in France. And if we assume that they fired not pistol, but "intermediate" cartridges and, in addition, automatic fire, under which they were altered, then what happens? "Typical trench broom", and with good slaughter. And this was the first machine gun, in any case, used at the front before our machine gun V. G. Fedorov! Indeed, in the summer of 1916, at the Officer Rifle School of Oranienbaum, Fedorov's automatic rifles were only armed with a company of the 189th Izmail Infantry Regiment, and they were sent to the Romanian front, consisting of 158 soldiers and 4 officers, only on December 1 of the same year. But this is, so to speak, inference based on dates and logic. The most interesting thing begins when studying books by Soviet authors on the history of small arms, that is, when referring to sources of information.
V. G. Fedorov arr. 1916 g.
Thus, in the well-known book by A. B. Beetle "Directory …" (1993 edition) Winchester, one way or another, is mentioned on pages 483, 498, 526, 608, 669, 678, 684, but about the samples of 1907/10. not a word is said, as if they simply did not exist! That the Beetle did not know about them? He looked at all the catalogs of weapons that were sold in Russia? Yes, he knew, of course, he even mentioned on page 535 that there were, they say, samples of automatic weapons, including a Winchester, and then he again went about Russia's priority in relation to the Fedorov assault rifle. And that she was the first of the Russian automatic rifles in 1916 to receive the baptism of fire. And that's all right! What's wrong? But not so - a trifle: "automatic machines" were already used during the "Brusilov breakthrough", therefore its work was supported, and even earlier, the Russian government bought these Winchester machines on the advice (and how else would our military know about this?) military attaché in France. Moreover, if someone is going to think that in this there is at least some belittling of the creative genius of our compatriot, then this person is clearly mistaken. Look at the dates.
Both Fedorov and Thompson began to work on the new weapon almost simultaneously, the work was carried out in parallel (in the history of technology, this happened all the time!), Almost at the same time they prepared their samples. And it is not our designer's fault that our military chose to buy American carbines, instead of intensifying work on their own development. Although … not so many bought. We looked - "how does it work ?!" And only after that they gave Fedorov the green light. Logically, by the way! But from the point of view of ideology, then yes - we had such a fad: to stick out everything that was ours and diligently obscure the others. Well, we know very well what such distortions in informing society have led to!
Advertising of M1910 carbines in Russia, even with a silencer!
As for the Thompson carbines, it turned out that their fire on the aircraft was very effective, and the bullet pierced even a 6 mm steel sheet, although at what distance is unknown. But it is known that along with the model 1907 hard drive, a small number (about 600) of semi-automatic model 1903 hard drives were delivered to France for training shooting of observers at fast-moving targets. As them, pigeons were used, which at that time, whenever possible, were destroyed in the rear, simply because they could carry enemy reports.
Large-capacity magazine for М1910.
At least 600,000 original.22 sidefire rounds were used to shoot pigeons. These small-caliber winchesters could only conduct semi-automatic fire, but they had a very high rate of fire if there were magazines ready to fire.
Caliber marking on the store.
It is interesting that in Cuba this Winchester was already made into a real submachine gun - "Cuban Winchester". It was made of parts from different types of weapons and could shoot with decent accuracy at a distance of up to 25 yards with 9x19 mm cartridges, which it fed from … Luger snail magazines.
Bolt carrier with bolt and magazine. At the back there is a fastening screw, by unscrewing which, you can disassemble the carabiner into two parts.
And that's how he understands!
Well, now a little imagination, because without it, well, you just can't! Look carefully. At the end of the pusher piston, we put a hemispherical cup and an L-shaped lever on the left side with grooves for the fingers. We connect this piston itself to the shutter and install the simplest locking mechanism - wedge. Under the barrel we make a hole for the gas outlet, again with an L-shaped tube at the end, the hole of which should be directed into the pusher cup. And what did we get in the end? In fact: the prototype of the Kalashnikov assault rifle!
The shutter is open. The neck of the store is visible in the window.
What would such an alteration give? While maintaining the caliber, but increasing the power of the cartridge (so that it becomes even more "intermediate" or less, as you like) - a longer firing range, bullet speed and a greater damaging effect. It would have been impossible to shoot such cartridges from a weapon with a free bolt, but with a bolt with a "piston drive" - as much as you like! True, the store would have to be lengthened, but that's all! All other alterations are small and, as they say, within reasonable limits and then technologies, at the level of the same rifle D. M. Browning BAR, which appeared later, but much heavier.
Piston-pusher model М1910. The answer is that the piston head is small, pushing it down is hard work. And, okay for me, a person without practice. But the American police also decided! Well, the soldiers pushed the piston against the wooden covering of the trenches and, in general, against any solid object!
Piston-pusher "police model". As you can see, the piston has acquired a more comfortable shape!
That is, the Americans overlooked, overlooked such a modification of the "mod.1910" carbine that it could well go down in history at the same level as our famous "Kalash". But our gunsmiths, who held him in their hands, also did not see anything “like that” in him, since at that time the main thing - “social order” was absent, and the inertia of thinking continued to remain simply monstrously huge!
Holding the M1910 in my hands, I was convinced that it was a very handy and convenient thing with a magazine for 20 rounds, and a shooting translator, it was a very good weapon, convenient in all respects.
