The desire of Russian gunsmiths to adapt to the new conditions that arose after the collapse of the USSR and to find their place in the emerging market economy led to the emergence of a number of unexpected weapons, sometimes successful, sometimes curious.
One of such "weapon monuments" of that era was the RMB-93 (magazine combat rifle), or, rather, a whole group of civilian models made on its basis.
This smooth-bore gun, which can be conditionally referred to as "pump-action", was designed in the Tula Central Design and Research Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons (TsKIB SOO) and was intended for arming the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
However, the idea of equipping Russian police officers with smooth-bore rifles (and not only RMB-93) in the manner of American cops did not have much success. Despite the advanced world experience, our law enforcement officers preferred the proven and versatile AKS-74U, well, or, in extreme cases, submachine guns, several models of which were also developed in the 80-90s of the last century.
So the gun, although it entered the arsenal of employees of the internal affairs bodies, occupied in it a very modest and narrow niche of the device for shooting various special ammunition. The very same RMB-93 did not get into service with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and did not arouse any interest in the department.
But this design has been "converted". The new version very quickly appeared on the civilian market, and in several versions at once. That personally makes me think that the police story of the "combat" gun is a well-thought-out and successful marketing move, which, if it did not provide a huge demand for the device, then, in any case, aroused considerable interest in it. Still: the "combat rifle of the Ministry of Internal Affairs" (or even the "weapon of the special forces") is available to ordinary citizens! Then the audience, not yet imbued with healthy cynicism and suspicion, easily swallowed the bait of various advertising tricks.
Actually, at the very first acquaintance with the rifles of the Lynx family (the gun received this name in civilian execution), it becomes clear that the reason for the refusal to accept it into service with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (if, of course, this question was at all) is not only the distrust of the Russian security officials in "Smoothbore".
The fact is that the Lynx device is radically different from the traditional pump. This unconventionality of the gun is ensured by its main advantage - compactness. At the same time, it is also the source of its many shortcomings.
It was possible to achieve small dimensions with a full barrel length due to the fact that there is no receiver as such in the gun. Unlike a conventional pump, the Lynx tube magazine is not under the barrel, but above it. The shutter remains stationary, and the barrel itself moves - not backward - forward, but forward - backward.
When the barrel is retracted forward, the cartridge is lowered onto the loading line, and the barrel is “put on” by the reverse movement. The trigger mechanism is self-cocking, like on a revolver, with the difference that a preliminary cocking of the trigger is not provided in the gun. That is, the mainspring is cocked only when the trigger is pulled. The shotgun is equipped with a metal shoulder rest that folds up and down. In the civilian version of the RMO (shop hunting rifle) 96 "Lynx-K (short)" has a USM blocker, excluding firing with a folded stock.
The weight of the gun is 2, 26 kg, the cartridge used is 12x70, the magazine capacity is 6-7 (depending on the method of twisting the sleeve) of cartridges. The length of the rifle with the stock folded is 657 mm, in the firing position - 895 mm (with a barrel length of 528 mm).
But you have to pay for everything, and the recoil from the Lynx, due to its low weight and not very comfortable shoulder rest, is perceived as very strong even for a 12 gauge and tires very quickly. In any case, already on the 20th shot, I had a steady feeling of discomfort.
It is noteworthy that fans of this design assure that "the toss of the weapon when fired is minimal due to the lower location of the barrel, which reduced the shoulder of the impact of the recoil force by 20-35% and increased the practical rate of fire." If this is the case, then it is even scary to think what the impact would be if the "shoulder of the force impact" had not been reduced. As for the "rate of fire", this statement does not stand up to criticism at all, given the very tight and long trigger of the gun. I would compare it with self-cocking from a new military edition revolver with an unworked mechanism. However, when shooting from the "Lynx" I never managed to "catch" the moment of the shot (which was possible on the revolver without much difficulty). But it might be a matter of practice.
But with all the drawbacks of only self-cocking descent, which reduces the possibility of an accurate shot at long (for a smoothbore gun) distances and excludes the use of the Lynx for hunting, it has the advantage that it allows you to keep the cartridge in the chamber without the cocked mainspring and with the fuse turned off. That is, in instant combat readiness.
There is a separate issue of loading. It is carried out through a special window covered with a lid, which must first be folded back (it reminds me very much of loading a machine gun), after which cartridges are loaded into it, the flanges of which must be inserted into a special groove. This feature makes the loading process slow and completely eliminates "tactical recharging" (this is when the shooter, during firing, constantly recharges the under-barrel magazine of a pump-action or self-loading rifle, without waiting for all the ammunition in it to be used up). That is, if in the course of a hypothetical combat contact the cartridges in the Lynx store run out, reloading, most likely, will not work.
Lynx supporters assure that these problems are compensated by the fact that "RMO-96 does not have open windows into which dust, sand, foreign objects can get into during operation and cause delays or refusals." Everything is so, if we do not take into account the fact that in the process of reloading, the chamber and the cartridge itself, on which it is put on, turns out to be completely open, as a result of which there may be not only dust in the barrel, but also branches, grass and even snow (with prone shooting in winter).
All these moments probably ruled out the possibility of adopting the RMO-93 for service, if, of course, there were such plans at all.
To this we can add that, according to the owners of this gun, it is quite sensitive to the quality of ammunition and categorically rejects overloaded cartridges.
It should be noted that the Lynx rifles are distinguished by a very high quality of workmanship (TsKIB is TsKIB!), And it is pleasant to take them in hand.
Several versions were produced, including those with long (680 mm) barrels and wooden butts (orthopedic and "Monte Carlo"), as well as with chambers for a 76 mm sleeve.
Which, in my opinion, is completely unnecessary, since the use of a gun for hunting, for which these options are important, is unlikely.
Due to the tiring recoil, the gun, in my opinion, is also not suitable for "post-fire". Its niche is self-defense, and also, due to its compactness and low weight, it can be used as a "companion gun", including for hiking.
It should be noted that with all the design flaws, the Lynx rifle has a circle of its fans and a limited but steady demand.
