Dueling pistols 19. How Pushkin fought with pistols: analysis of the famous duel

The "legal" way of killing - a duel, according to the plan of its inventors, was supposed to contribute to the improvement of morals in society. However, the costs of this method of punishing the offender were so great that it was banned almost everywhere. But, being outside the law, it continued to exist. The peculiarity of a duel duel required not only its own set of rules, but also a special weapon designed to equalize the chances of opponents who came to the barrier.

European contagion

Sometimes the case puts a person in such a difficult situation when it is no longer possible to endure the insult. We grind our teeth, swear, clench our fists and, as if in a fit of monstrous pain, we moan and rush about in search of a way out, not finding it. What to do? How to wipe off a burning insult? How to punish the offender?

Just a hundred years ago, the answer was extremely simple and clear duel!

But the romantic idea that duels contributed to the improvement of morals and the normalization of interpersonal relations is highly controversial and ambiguous. Moralists, lawyers, Pushkinists and Lermontov scholars will argue about this for many centuries to come. And collectors and amateurs, in turn, will admire the elegance of dueling weapons and the peculiarities of the officer's code of honor.

Scary weapon a single-shot dueling pistol equipped with a flintlock or capsule lock in the hand of an experienced shooter left little chance for the enemy. Differences in combat experience, moral and physical qualities of the participants never made the duel absolutely equal. The statement that the same pistols gave duelists equal chances during a duel is true only in comparison with more ancient tools for sorting out relations such as a sword or saber. Coming to the fatal barrier, many hoped for the "Judgment of God", for the Supreme Justice, thanks to which the offender will surely suffer a well-deserved, inevitable punishment. It happened this way, it happened the other way. One thing became certain: the number of those killed in duels was growing. Not a single monarch in Europe could come to terms with the idea that his subjects were dying from injuries in the conditions of ordinary peaceful life. Too often, graceful martial arts with swords or pistols developed into bloody battles, in which not only the duelists themselves took part, but also their many friends, relatives, servants, and even residents of entire streets and quarters. (Remember tragic story clans of Montague and Capulets.

Emperor Peter I, who boldly "cut a window to Europe", involuntarily let in a "draught" through this window with a special opinion about officer and noble honor. Before Peter, all disputes between Russian nobles were resolved privately, in the old fashioned way, on fists or in the "field" with the help of a wooden club "oslop" and ended, as a rule, with a joint plentiful drink and fraternization. In more difficult cases, the enemy was simply cut boot knife and then went to the chopping block. The European contagion, satisfaction, or duel, having penetrated into Russia, spread and multiplied. As usual, everything new and western has taken on gigantic, grotesque dimensions here. They fought under any pretext, anywhere and everywhere. A lot of this was facilitated by the universal love for vodka, gambling and flirtatious beautiful ladies. The officer corps consisted of very brave, but very ignorant and full of all sorts of prejudices, petty nobles, for whom the duel was a good remedy affirmation of self-worth and satisfaction of self-esteem. Peter I introduced the death penalty for all participants in the duel, but did not hang anyone.

Sparkling Flint

In the middle of the 18th century, pistol duels became the most common. The appearance of the dueling weapon was finally formed. First of all, it should be noted that the pistols were paired, absolutely identical and did not differ from each other in any way, with the exception of the numbers "1" and "2" on the structural elements. To eliminate misunderstandings, the seconds brought two boxes of pistols to the duel. During the famous duel on the Black River, the wounded Pushkin fell and dropped his weapon. Snow had accumulated in the barrel of his pistol. For a return shot, he asked the second to give him a pistol from the second set. It can be seen that Pushkin's adversary showed a certain nobility by allowing the replacement of faulty weapons, since according to the rules this should have been agreed in advance, before the duel, and during the duel any replacement of weapons was not allowed.

In the 18th and in the first third of the 19th century, pistols were equipped with a flintlock, the so-called "French battery" ignition lock, which was invented by the mechanic and writer Chevalier de Aubigny. This lock was improved by the great English gunsmiths Joseph Menton, James Perde, Charles Lancaster, Harvey Mortimer, Henry Knock and was a very progressive mechanism for its time. The principle of its operation was quite simple and in many ways resembled an ordinary lighter. A piece of specially sharpened and broken flint was clamped in the hard jaws of the trigger. Opposite it was a steel flint and steel, under it was the so-called "shelf" with fine seed gunpowder. When the trigger was pressed, the flint hammer hit the steel strongly, the shelf automatically folded back and a bright beam of sparks fell on the gunpowder. Through a special seed hole in the breech of the barrel, the fire got inside and ignited the main charge. A booming, booming shot followed.

However, flintlock pistols had some disadvantages. First of all, a bright flash of gunpowder on the shelf and a cloud of smoke interfered with the accuracy of the sight. Despite the invention by the British of a special “waterproof” lock, shooting in rainy, damp weather was extremely risky, because moisture soaked the gunpowder on the shelf and often led to a misfire, and a misfire, according to the harsh rules of a duel, was equated to a shot.

destructive force

AT early XIX century, a modest Scottish priest from Bellelview, Alexander John Forsyth, made a truly revolutionary turn in the history of firearms. He invented a fundamentally new igniter lock, which would later be called "capsule". The meaning of the innovation boiled down to the fact that now it was not gunpowder that ignited on the seed shelf, but a special chemical composition. Later, the composition ignited by impact was placed in a copper cap-primer, put on a steel rod - a brand pipe, through which the fire instantly went into the barrel. The capsule worked in any weather with virtually no misfires. It was from the capsule pistol that Alexander Pushkin was killed. It is believed that these fatal pistols are kept in the museum of the small French town of Amboise. They were made by the Dresden gunsmith Karl Ulbrich. The pistols used by Pushkin, unfortunately, have not been preserved.

The dueling pair was placed in an elegant box along with accessories. Usually they consisted of a charging ramrod, a wooden hammer, a bullet gun, a powder flask, a powder measure, tools - a screwdriver, cleaning, a kreuzer for unloading a pistol. The seconds of the opponents in front of each other, jealously following all the subtleties, measured out an equal amount of gunpowder, carefully wrapped the lead bullet with a special leather plaster and, using a ramrod, hammered it into the barrel with hammer blows. The bullets were round, lead, with a diameter of 1215 mm and a weight of 10 12 g. Black smoke powder was put in 38 g. According to the rules, it was allowed to use both rifled and smoothbore pistols, as long as they were exactly the same. All dueling pistols had sights. On the earliest samples, the sight and front sight were fixed, like army weapons. Later, adjustable sights appeared front sight horizontally, rear sight vertically, to adjust the aiming line. Sometimes the trigger mechanism of the pistol was equipped with a special device that softens the trigger force - a shneller, but most duelists preferred the usual "tight" descent. This is explained simply in excitement, unable to control his own finger, the shooter could give an involuntary, random shot off target. And without a shneller, the pistol made it possible to make a very accurate shot. It is known that Pushkin trained every day and hit an ace of cards from a distance of 10 steps. As a rule, for especially important duels, new pistols were bought or taken from friends.

Opponents had to shoot from unfamiliar weapons. The amount of black powder and the mass of the bullet were such as to provide the necessary stopping power. The well-known weapons historian Yu.V. Shokarev, in one of his articles, says that “in the middle of the last century, an expert commission that studied all the circumstances of Lermontov’s death fired control shots from a dueling pistol and a powerful army TT. It turned out that the penetrating power of a dueling pistol is only slightly inferior to the power of the TT, whose shelled pointed bullet pierces through eight dry inch boards at a distance of 25 meters. But most duels took place at a distance of 15 steps ”Some slaves of honor happened to shoot at 6 steps. Occasionally, by special agreement, the shot was generally fired point-blank, through a handkerchief, when the opponents held their left hand at different angles. The subtlety of this duel was that only one pistol was loaded from a pair, and it was not known which one, everything was determined by chance. The bloodthirstiness of Russian duels is proverbial. However, it should be said that in special, absolutely exceptional cases, the seconds of the opponents, not wanting the death of their friends, allowed, by mutual agreement, some liberties when loading pistols. The most innocent was a double or even triple charge of gunpowder: when fired, the pistol was strongly thrown up and the bullet flew past the target. “Criminal” from the point of view of the code of honor was simply not lowering a bullet into the barrel, which was so well described by M.Yu. Lermontov in "A Hero of Our Time". One of the most anecdotal cases happened to Alexandre Dumas. The French writer lost the “American” and, according to the terms of this wild duel, had to shoot himself within an hour. After a great meal, he locked himself in a separate office. The seconds waited gloomily at the threshold, finally a deafening shot rang out and a few seconds later Dumas came out alive and unharmed to his friends. "I fired and missed!" the writer said casually, pouring a glass of champagne.

Sleek and reliable

Pistols could be purchased without special police clearance from any major gun shop or directly from a gunsmith. The products of English gunsmiths were considered the best, but in 1840 in England, on the initiative of peers, admirals and generals, a society was created, whose members swore under an oath not to take part in duels anymore. Thus, under the influence of the British elite protesting against duels, duels were rejected and all conflicts were resolved in court.

Since that time, the production of dueling pistols in England has practically ceased, and gunsmiths have switched to the creation of sports, road and hunting weapons. The palm passed to the French and German masters. In Russia, dueling pistols were purchased in St. Petersburg from the merchants Kurakin, Zhernakov, Ponomarev, Surguchev, Shishkin, as well as in the workshops of the court gunsmiths Bertrand and Orlov. In Moscow, pistols could be ordered from the excellent craftsmen Artari Kolomba on Basmannaya or Ivan Aristov. In Tula with Nikita Krapivintsov. In Paris at the gunsmith of Napoleon Nicolas Butet, at Henri Lepage on the Rue de Richelieu; Tom's at the Delorme Gallery; at Devim on Italian Boulevard; at Karon and Firmen in Opera passage; at Gustin-Renette on Rue Antenne. In Germany famous dynasty Kuchenreiter gunsmiths from the city of Regensburg in Bavaria. In Prague with Antonin Vincent Lebeda. Pistols were bought in all European capitals and even ordered by mail. Needless to say, dueling sets have always been distinguished by particularly careful dressing. These perfect killing mechanisms were decorated with steel engraving, gold and silver inlays, stocks made from aged butt of Italian walnut, ebony or Karelian birch. The trunks were forged from the best varieties Bouquet Damascus and were deep blued in black, brown or blue. The handles of the pistols were covered with beautiful grooves - flutes. The decor often used arabesques and grotesque stylized ornaments of flowers and plants, bizarre images of half-humans, half-animals, mysterious masks, faces of satyrs, mythical monsters and acanthus leaves. Dueling pistols were expensive, but who would have dared to bargain, acquiring an instrument of honor.

Approaching the fatal line, often a moment before death, the duelist wanted to hold in his hand something extraordinary, beautiful and amazing. Death arrived in the form of a work of art. Death was beautiful. The duel was great. The challenge was exquisite, and even the insult itself was sometimes a subtle and moving act. Any dandy would envy the severity and elegance of the black dueling coat. In general, it must be said that life among people of the 19th, and even more so of the 18th century, was not an absolutely dominant value or, as they would say today, the main instinct. The attitude towards life and death was completely different then. Death in battle or in a duel was not feared and even often did not respect it at all. The fear of death was invented much later. It is difficult for us, children of electronic technologies and thermonuclear reactions, to understand this.

Code of honor

Society has recognized several types of pistol duels. Three of them were the main ones: a duel with fixed arrows, with "barriers" and on parallel lines. A duel has always started with a challenge, or a cartel. Let's remember Pushkin.

It was pleasant, noble,
Short call, il cartel:
Courteously, with cold clarity
He called his friend Lensky to a duel.

After the challenge was made and accepted, the opponents had to communicate only through the seconds. It is them personal experience, knowledge of the rules, composure and nobility determined the entire course of the duel. The second was the second most important figure after the duelist; a huge burden of responsibility fell on him. It should not be forgotten that the duel differed from the murder precisely in that it was always carried out according to certain rules.

The main and dominant was that the challenge to a duel and the duel itself could be made only between the nobles. Inter-class duels were not allowed. Only healthy adult men had the right to participate in the duel. A duel between blood relatives, the sick and the mentally ill was not allowed. It was impossible to accept the challenge for career, economic or political reasons. It was considered absurd to fight with a deep old man or a green youth. It is ridiculous to call a lady who offended you to the barrier. In this case, her husband, brother or “family friend” should have been responsible for the lady. In France, duels between women or men and women were allowed, but here, in Russia, far from emancipation, they preferred not to fight with the ladies, but to languidly fan them, carefully blowing off dust particles and rush headlong into the far corner to pick up a handkerchief that had been dropped by accident.

A noble person could not exist outside the laws of honor, outside a society that jealously watched all his actions. First of all, the nobleman was proud of his family, a series of glorious ancestors, to whom he was responsible. To endure an insult meant for him not only a personal insult, but also a direct humiliation of the whole family. The nobleman could not run away, dissolve in the indifferent human sea everywhere and everywhere he had to answer for his actions, protect the weak, protect the honor of women and the holy of holies the honor of the uniform. The judgment of society was more important than the fear of physical death, the order of the commander and even the will of the emperor. There is a known case when, at a review, one of the guards officers of the cavalry regiment, Mikhail Lunin, was called to a duel for insulting the commander of the regiment, Their Imperial Highness Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. A hundred years earlier, the Russian tsar could and had the right to personally punish any of his subjects with a stick. This was considered "fatherly teaching" and was not taken as an insult. Many were even proud and willingly showed bruises and bumps, for example, Alexander Menshikov. Now things were different. In matters of honor there could be no ambiguity, no undertones and inconsistencies “Half-brave”, “a little less noble”, “more honest than usual” this is a direct insult, which was immediately followed by a challenge. It is hard to imagine, but for almost a hundred and fifty years, the dueling rules were not written down or published anywhere and by anyone, but entirely belonged to the oral tradition of the nobility. The rules of the duel were determined by the opponents themselves and the seconds strict in matters of honor. The French dueling code of Chatovilliard, which appeared in 1836, and many other written Rules did not take root in Russia.

Usually the duel was held outside the city, in nature, in a quiet and secluded place where no one could interfere with rivals. In St. Petersburg, such places were most often Okhta, Kamenny Ostrov, Chernaya Rechka. In Moscow, duels took place in Sokolniki, Izmailovo and Maryina Roshcha.

The type of duel was not always chosen arbitrarily. This depended on the severity of the insult inflicted, of which there were three: a simple insult inflicted from ordinary impoliteness, a shameful insult, and the most serious insult by action. In the first case, the offended person chose the weapon, in the second - the weapon and the type of duel, in the last - the weapon, the type of duel and the distance. Opponents received pistols from the seconds on the safety platoon. The duel began in complete silence at the command of the senior second with the words "shoot", uttered in an impassive voice. A feature of a fixed duel was the alternate exchange of shots, in which the right of the first was determined by lot. A variation of this duel was a duel in which the opponents stood with their backs to each other, and after the command they quickly turned around, cocked the hammers and fired. The exchange of shots was to follow in no more than a minute. Who squandered, lost the right to shoot. In a duel "with barriers", the distance was initially equal to 3540 steps. A line was drawn in front of the opponents, indicated by a sword, cane or white flag. As a result, the final distance turned out to be 1520 steps. On the command “forward,” the opponents walked towards each other, holding their pistols with their barrels up. Any duelist could make a shot and from any distance, but if one of them reached the barrier, and the second stopped, then no one could force him to move on. The first shooter was obliged to wait for a return shot motionless for a minute, while it was not considered shameful to stand in a “dueling position”, that is, sideways, covering his chest with a pistol. The opponent could come close to the barrier at this time. The wounded man had only two minutes to shoot. This is how the famous duel between Pushkin and Dantes took place.

Similar was the duel on parallel lines. The opponents moved each along their line, the distance between them was 15 steps. At the beginning of the duel, they were separated from each other by 2530 steps, but in the process of movement, the distance was reduced to a minimum, although each remained in his own line. The dueling code specifically stipulated what to do if one of the opponents deliberately shot to the side. If the offended person does this, then the offender must also refuse to shoot. However, if the offender fired into the air, then the offended person had every right to shoot at the target The seconds had to take care of the doctor in advance, but in practice the presence of the doctor was not encouraged. By law, a duel was a criminal offense, and the presence of an extra witness interfered. In addition, it was rather difficult to get and persuade a good doctor, and a bad one could not cure even a runny nose. The seconds stocked up with bandages and often bandaged the wounds themselves if necessary.

Wild West Games

For all its obvious militancy, the duel has never been an ordinary murder, much less a sporting event. In the distant North America, a land of merchants, colonists, trappers, cowboys, farmers, and Indians, the strict noble dueling code was never popular. This semi-wild people by the then European standards had their own rules for fights. The children of the endless prairies, majestic forests and dusty towns preferred freedom of action in all manifestations. It should be remembered that American culture developed in very special conditions, different from those of Europeans. Basically, it was not a battle with an equal opponent, but a struggle with the elements and the endless development of new lands. A real American duel was, accordingly, more like a hunt, where rivals armed with carbines went into the forest, often for several days, and tracked each other for a long time, using various Indian tricks, up to disguise and installing false effigies. Such a duel was more in line with the worldview of the stern buffalo hunters. Often the "American" looked like an ordinary cowboy brawl with a knife and a six-shot 45-caliber revolver, but always in front of gambling spectators. However, the most sophisticated and, one might even say, cynical form of the American duel was the duel called "Ku-Ku"! This gruesome duel was held in a completely darkened room with shoes off. One of the opponents cried out “cuckoo”, and the other quickly fired at the sound. The one who screamed had to stay where he was. After that, the roles of the "cuckoo people" changed until one of the opponents was killed or seriously wounded.

National Busts

In Russia, duel hunting, despite the huge number of forests and first-class hunters, has not received distribution. The personal honor of a nobleman and an officer did not extend beyond the dueling code, and the unlimited freedom of the individual did not extend beyond the limits of serving the sovereign and the ideals of the empire.

There are no rules without exceptions! Any social movement, any foundations and orders sooner or later acquire all sorts of perversions and deviations from the norm. Not escaped this fate and a strict duel duel. At the beginning of the 19th century, a special kind of dueling insanity arose in Russia called bragging (from the French bretteur “bully”). Breters enjoyed nationwide fame, they were proud of their friendship, their "exploits" were described by famous writers. These madmen made the duel an end in itself, the duel a kind of altar on which they constantly celebrated a bloody mass. The gun in their hands turned into a cult symbol, and even an insult was like a prayer. These Knights of the Barrier, Kings of Challenge, Troubadours of Honor believed that a noble person has the right to do any action, if they do not contradict his personal ideas of honor and if he is ready to answer for them with weapons in his hands. The duel is like a life's work. Duel as self-expression

The insane courage of these sinister and predatory people could not help but admire the violent, warlike youth, who clearly got bored in the intermissions between hostilities. Breter's names were widely known M.I. Lunin, F.I. Tolstoy-American, A.I. Yakubovich, F.F. Gagarin, F.A. Uvarov-Cherny and many others are undoubtedly outstanding outstanding personalities that deserve a separate description. They reflected an era where there was no place for petty feelings, trifling insults, light sins, or simple delights.

Retribution for the winner

The usual punishment for a duel at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century was imprisonment in a fortress for up to a year, demoting to a soldier with the right to serve, transfer to the active army in the Caucasus, from the guard to the army, dismissal from service with sending to exile in his village. Non-serving nobles were most often assigned strict church repentance, exile to the village and a ban on entering the capitals. All these measures had no effect on the spread of duels, the participants of which enjoyed the approval and support of society.

Only at the end of the 19th century, when fights became very rare, and the decline in morals in society, and especially in the army, was too obvious, did the emperor Alexander III On May 13, 1894, the highest gave the court of officer honor the right to appoint duels.

The duel was still a criminal act, but topics who went to the barrier by the decision of the society of officers, as if the highest pardon was guaranteed in advance. According to the dueling code of General F.V. Durasov, the entire course of the duel had to be carefully recorded by the seconds and certainly entered into a special duel protocol. Historians know that in Russia between 1894 and 1910 more than three hundred recorded pistol fights were held. 644 people participated in them, including 4 generals, 14 staff generals, 187 captains and staff captains, 367 lieutenants, second lieutenants and ensigns, 72 people of civil ranks. On average, up to 20 duels took place in Russia per year.

It was pleasant, noble,

Short call, il cartel:

Courteously, with cold clarity

He called his friend Lensky to a duel.

(A.S. Pushkin)

dueling weapon what was it like? Until the 19th century, the dueling century, edged weapons were used in duels and wars for thousands of years. Fencing training was very popular in ancient india and Ancient China, and in the Middle Ages any free person in Europe had the right to bear arms.

When did dueling weapons begin to be used?

Pirate duel. Drawing by Howard Pyle.

When, after the invention of gunpowder, Knight armour became thicker and stronger, began to reduce the weight of the sword: it became narrower. Again, as in Ancient Rome, a sword appeared. Italian sword and remained a thin and narrow sword for an injection. But such a blade easily bent and broke. And they began to make it trihedral: the wounds inflicted by it were very severe.

From the end of the XV century. sword is firmly included in the armament of the knights of Western Europe, and fencing becomes an art. There are also manuals for those wishing to master this skill. The first fencing manual was published in 1474 by Jacques Ponce and Peter Torres.

Initially, sword fighting proceeded using shields. different forms. They were small and were called broquels. At the same time, the shields themselves were equipped with metal spikes like daggers. They were of different lengths, and they could be both chopped and stabbed. The sword itself of the late XV-XVII centuries could also cut and stab. In the XVI century. the shield is being phased out, replaced by dagoy(kind of dagger). In Spain, a cloak was used to act with the left hand (hence the expression "knights of the cloak and sword"). It was either wound around the hand and repulsed by blows like a shield, or thrown onto the opponent’s weapon or head.

After the French invented the rules of the duel, it became a form of leisure, and dueling fever in many countries of Europe turned into an epidemic. In France under Henry III (1519-1559) and Henry IV (1553-1610) dueling excitement sent more nobles to the next world than a ten-year-old Civil War. The rules also provided for fights between seconds: duels turned into real fights. Kings threatened with jail and death penalty- nothing helped. The winner was the one who died last.

The unusual popularity of fencing required and a large number teachers. Numerous fencing teachers, as well as professional killers and duelists, united in unions. The first such corporation was the "Fencing Union of St. Mark" (1478 Frankfurt). In Spain, there was Fencing Brotherhood" or " Bravo"- a caste of duelists and hired killers.

Duels were also fought with cavalry and infantry swords and sabers. Such a duel, as a rule, ended in the death of one of the opponents, since the injuries inflicted by such weapons were very severe.

When did the first fencing schools appear in Russia?

In the book composed at the behest of Peter I, “An Honest Mirror of Youth, or an Indication for Worldly Behavior, Collected from Various Authors” (1717), among other instructions, there is this: “A young gentry, or a nobleman, if he is perfect in his training, and most languages, horse riding, dancing, in a sword fight, and can make a good conversation, besides, he speaks eloquently and is learned in books, he can be a direct court person with such leisure. And the nobleman could already learn sword fighting. In 1701, a school of mathematical and navigational sciences was founded, in the program of which, since 1702, the subject " rapier science became obligatory (he practiced in educational institutions until the First World War). Fencing was also taught at the Naval Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, opened in 1719, and from the second half of the 18th century. fencing is introduced in some military schools. Well, women were also not inferior to men in this art.

Duel Mastallo. Detail of a postcard. 1905

Pistol duels

As firearms improve, disputes begin to be resolved with their help. The use of pistols removed the main problem of all duels - the difference in age. They also equalized the chances of duelists of different physical training. As for shooting skills, it is difficult to find a military man who cannot hit the target from a distance of 10 steps (seven meters). From the second half of the 18th century pistol duels become dominant, especially since public opinion has always been on the side of the duelists. By the end of this century, the appearance of dueling pistols was finally formed. First of all, it should be noted that dueling pistols were paired, absolutely identical and did not differ from each other in any way except for the number 1 or 2 on the barrel. Usually the duelists did not receive weapons familiar to them, they were not even allowed to try the quality of the descent from the issued pistol.

The exception was a duel due to a very serious insult, but then the second participant was also allowed to take his weapon. During the duel between Pushkin and Dantes, both participants used someone else's weapons. Pushkin fired from pistols rented for him by Danzas. Unfortunately, they have not survived. Dantes was given pistols by his second d'Archiac, who borrowed them from his friend Baron Ernest de Barantes. Currently, this pair of pistols is kept in the museum of the small French town of Amboise. They were made by the Dresden gunsmith Karl Ulbrich, who is not listed among the famous masters.

According to the rules of the duel, it was allowed to use both rifled and smoothbore pistols, as long as the shooters had the same ones. The pistol trigger mechanism could have a softening device - a shneller, because this invention has existed since the time of crossbows. However, oddly enough, many duelists preferred coarse-triggered pistols. This is explained very simply: in excitement, a duelist unfamiliar with a sensitive shneller could fire an accidental shot before he had a good aim. The ergonomics of the pistol, the smooth running of the lock details made it possible to make an entire accurate shot. It is known, for example, that Pushkin hit an ace of cards at a distance of 10 steps. The amount of gunpowder and the mass of the bullet were sufficient to provide stopping power. The bullets were round, lead, with a diameter of 12-15 mm and a weight of 10-12 grams. Gunpowder could put up to 3.8 grams.

In the 60s of our century, an expert commission that studied the circumstances of the death of Lermontov fired control shots from dueling pistols. It turned out that their penetrating ability is only slightly inferior to the TT pistol, whose bullet pierces through 8 pine boards at a distance of 25 meters. With such high combat properties of dueling pistols and a small distance between duelists, one can only wonder why they did not shoot each other. Explanations for this can be found in the features of a shot from a flintlock pistol. After a flash of gunpowder on the shelf, about a second should elapse before the charge in the barrel ignites and a shot follows. Purely psychologically, it is extremely difficult to keep the pistol in the right direction after the ignition of the seed charge, the hand involuntarily moves. In addition, a cloud of smoke from the shelf obscures the target and gets into the eyes. Each country had its famous dueling weapon makers. In England, this is Joseph Menton and the Mortimer family, in Germany, the Küchenreitors from Regensburg, who worked in the pistol business for almost two centuries, in France, Nicolas Boutet and Henri Le Page. The latter was so famous in Russia that his pistols were considered synonymous with dueling weapons. As you know, in "Eugene Onegin" a duel is described on flintlock pistols, and Pushkin himself was already shooting on percussion caps.

It is curious that if in the second half of the 19th century the number of duels in the Russian army clearly began to decline, then after official permission in 1894 their number again sharply increases.

For comparison: from 1876 to 1890, only 14 cases of officer duels reached the court (in 2 of them, the opponents were acquitted); from 1894 to 1910, 322 duels took place, of which 256 - by decision of the courts of honor, 47 - with the permission of military commanders and 19 unauthorized ones (none of them reached the criminal court). Every year there were from 4 to 33 fights in the army (on average - 20). According to General Mikulin, from 1894 to 1910, 4 generals, 14 staff officers, 187 captains and staff captains, 367 junior officers, 72 civilians. Of the 99 insult duels, 9 ended in a heavy outcome, 17 with a minor injury, and 73 without bloodshed. Of the 183 duels for severe insult, 21 ended in a severe outcome, 31 with a minor injury, and 131 without bloodshed. Thus, the death of one of the opponents or a serious injury ended in an insignificant number of fights - 10-11% of total number. Of all 322 duels, 315 took place with pistols and only 7 with swords or sabers. Of these, in 241 duels (i.e., in 3/4 of the cases) one bullet was fired, in 49 - two, in 12 - three, in one - four and in one - six bullets; the distance ranged from 12 to 50 paces. The intervals between the insult and the duel ranged from one day to ... three years (!), But most often - from two days to two and a half months (depending on the duration of the trial by the court of honor).

Types of pistol duels

Several varieties of pistol duels were recognized. Three of them were the main ones: a duel with fixed arrows, a duel with "barriers" and a duel on parallel lines. In addition, there were fights with different conditions, which included shooting at a short distance, a duel with one pistol, duels with guns, carbines, revolvers and, finally, an American duel. The duel was not always chosen arbitrarily, its appearance depended on the severity of the insult inflicted, of which there were three: a simple insult inflicted from ordinary impoliteness; shameful insult and the most serious - insult by action. With a simple insult, the offended person chose a weapon, with a shameful one - a weapon and a type of duel, with the last one - a weapon, a type of duel and distance.

At the duel itself, the opponents could not talk to each other, the clothes were supposed to be dark, but the collar of the shirt was white. Both duelists had to empty their pockets, remove cufflinks and clasps. The rules didn't say anything about hats, but they were usually removed. Opponents received weapons from the seconds on the safety platoon. The duel began at the command of the senior second with the words “Cock up” or “Shoot”, pronounced in an impartial voice. A feature of a fixed duel was the alternate exchange of shots, in which the right of the first was determined by lot or the severity of the offense. Both the first and the second shot were supposed to follow each other no more than a minute later, whoever misses it loses the right to shoot, but the intervals could be shorter by agreement.

A variation of this duel was a duel in which the shooters stood with their backs to each other, and after the command they turned, cocked the hammers and fired in the prescribed manner. During these duels, the distance ranged from 15 to 35 steps, but the seconds could agree on less. For example, in 1802, the duel between Prince Shcherbatov and Joseph von Saxony took place at 8 steps. The Russian prince fired first and hit his opponent in the chest.

The so-called duel with barriers. The distance at first was 35-40 steps. In front of both opponents, at a distance of 10 steps from each, a line was drawn, indicated by a cane or a white flag. As a result, the final distance turned out to be 15-20 steps. At the command "Forward", the opponents cocked the hammers and went to meet each other, holding the weapon muzzle up. The speed of movement is arbitrary, stops without a shot are possible. Any duelist could start a fire from any distance, but if one of them reached the barrier, the second stopped, then no one could force him to move on. The first shooter must wait for a return shot for a minute, while his opponent can come close to the barrier. The wounded man had two minutes to shoot.

was similar duel on parallel lines. The opponents moved each along their line, the distance between them was 15 steps. Before the duel, they were separated from each other by 25-30 steps. In the process of moving, the distance was reduced to a minimum, but everyone remained on their own line. The order of firing is arbitrary, the speed of movement and stopping, too.

The American duel stood apart. Sometimes "American" was not called a duel, but drawing lots, after which the one who pulled out the black ball was obliged to shoot himself within a year. The real American duel was more like a hunt, when the rivals went into the forest for several days and tracked each other there, using all sorts of tricks, such as false fires, scarecrows and ambushes. Sometimes the American duel looked like a regular duel with a revolver or a knife, but was held without seconds in front of the audience. A sort of democratic, unconditional type of "competition".

The sharpest was duel without witnesses in a locked room, as described by Mine Reid in The Headless Horseman. However, the most sophisticated form of the duel was the duel called "cuckoo". This fight was held in a completely darkened room, with shoes off. One of the opponents shouted “cuckoo”, and the other fired at the sound. Whoever called out had to stay where they were. After that, the roles changed until one was killed or wounded.

Sports duel with swords and sabers are a thing of the past, but the passion for duels in men's hearts is indestructible. How many types of duels have been invented! For example, during the American War of Independence, General Isaac Putnam received a challenge, but refused to duel with swords. He offered to put a stearin candle on a barrel of gunpowder and sit next to him, whoever rushes to run away first is a coward. The general sat down by the barrel and began to smoke a cigar, but at that time the enemy's second appeared and apologized that he was refusing to fight.

Another American general during the hostilities in 1808 suggested that the opponent walk along the city wall of the besieged city in front of the enemy. Whoever gets killed is the one who lost. Both were killed. America again, but already at the end of the 19th century. A certain Major Bright came to the duel not with a sword or a pistol, but with a plate on which lay two green apples, one of which he offered to the enemy - at that time there was an epidemic of cholera in those places. The enemy hastened to refuse ...

Dueling Code

A duel can and should only take place between equals.

The main principle and purpose of the duel is to resolve misunderstandings between individual members of the common noble family among themselves, without resorting to outside help.

When a nobleman is summoned by a commoner, the former is obliged to reject the summons and grant the latter the right to seek satisfaction by judicial procedure.

Duels between raznochintsy are possible, but they are an anomaly, not meeting their purpose.

Insult is an attack on someone's pride, dignity and honor. It can be inflicted in words, in writing and by action.

According to the severity of the insult, there are three degrees: a simple or first degree insult, a grave or second degree insult, an insult by action or the third degree ...

Insults of the first degree: insults directed against pride, not affecting honor, violation of politeness, failure to comply with certain duties towards a person, the performance of which the latter has the right to expect.

Insults of the second degree: insults directed against the honor or dignity of a person, defamation, insulting gestures that do not go into the field of insult by action.

Defamation is the imputation to a famous person of such an act that is not allowed by the rules of honor or is not consistent with the dignity of this person.

Threatening to inflict insult by action also constitutes an insult of the second degree.

Insults by action or the third degree is a really expressed aggressive action of one person in relation to another.

When insulted by an action, touching is tantamount to hitting. The severity of the insult does not depend on the force of the blow. Wounding equals insulting with an action.

If, in response to an insult by action, the offended person also inflicts an insulting action on the offender, then this can by no means be considered satisfaction, and the one who received the insult first remains insulted.

The circumstances that change the severity of the insult depend on the personality of the offended, on the personality of the offender, on the method of inflicting the insult. The severity of the insult inflicted on a woman increases by one degree.

If the wife is unfaithful, the husband is considered offended.

All insults inflicted on the name of the genus are insults of the second degree.

All insults inflicted by a woman are considered insults of the first degree.

Insults can be delivered intentionally or unintentionally. In the latter case, with an apology, the incident should be considered settled.

The offended person has the right to choose the type of weapon for the duel: swords, pistols or sabers.

When insulted by an action, the offended person has the right to choose a weapon, the type of duel, distance and use of his own weapon, and the remaining conditions of the duel are decided by the seconds, either by mutual agreement or by lot.

Insults are personal and are avenged personally.

The inability to use a weapon can in no case serve as a reason for substitution or for refusing to duel.

The insult inflicted on a woman does not concern her personally, but directly falls on her natural protector, who becomes the offended person, and the severity of the insult increases by one step.

The moral and honest behavior of a woman is a necessary condition for the admissibility of a duel.

If at the time of the insult the woman is without an accompanying person, then the right to demand satisfaction for the insult belongs to any of the outsiders present.

Responsibility for insulting a woman falls on her closest capable relative up to and including second cousins, the existence of which releases everyone else from liability.

All insults inflicted by a woman, including assault by action, are considered insults of the first degree.

For one insult there should and can be only one satisfaction.

Seconds

The seconds are during the duel the judges of the opponents and, as such, must be of equal origin with them.

The second must have the following mandatory qualities:

1. honesty
2. impartiality
3. lack of personal benefits in the outcome of this case,
4. physical and mental qualities necessary for the worthy fulfillment of his appointment.

Having received an insult, the offended must declare to his opponent: "Dear Sovereign, I will send you my seconds." If the opponents do not know each other, they exchange cards and addresses.

When insulting by action, apologies are not allowed.

Only apologies made in the presence of all seconds are valid.

Apologies at the fight site are not allowed.

Duel types

The duel was not always chosen arbitrarily, its appearance depended on the severity of the insult inflicted, of which there were three: a simple insult inflicted from ordinary impoliteness; shameful insult and the most serious - insult by action.

With a simple insult, the offended person chose a weapon.

When shameful - a weapon and a kind of duel.

With the latter - weapons, type of duel and distance.

At the duel itself, the opponents could not talk to each other, the clothes were supposed to be dark, but the collar of the shirt was white. Both duelists had to empty their pockets, remove the fasteners. The rules didn't say anything about hats, but they were usually removed. Opponents received weapons from seconds.

Pistol length: 39.5 cm

Material: metal, wood

Moving parts: trigger, lock

Single gun weight: 800g

Manufacturer: Denix (Spain)

Packing: color carton box

Does not require permission to purchase and carry
Attached certificate

This product does not apply general system discounts

You can look at other products of the brand Denix

You can buy dueling pistols of the 19th century only in a store or with courier delivery in St. Petersburg. This product is not sent by mail due to the prohibition of the Russian post on sending items structurally similar to weapons.

- Is this weapon a firearm?

No, this is not a firearm, not a pneumatic, not a traumatic or airsoft weapon.

In our shop only models of weapons are sold.

- What gift storage options can you offer?

Our store sells wall brackets for placing the model on the wall.

Dueling pistols were used during fights in defense of honor and dignity between two rivals and had to comply with all the rules of the code. This is a set of rules for dueling, not confirmed by the official authorities, but known and observed in those classes in which duels were practiced. In our country, the most famous was the Durasov Code of 1912.

Initially not used in fights firearms, chose what is always at hand - sabers, swords, rapiers. It even came to anecdotal cases when candelabra or cobra became weapons. With the advent of dueling pistols in the 19th century, factors such as the physical strength or age of the opponents ceased to play any role in the duel. They were to be exactly the same (this was checked by the seconds) and were usually numbered. Each of the rivals came to the battlefield with his own pair of pistols, which should not have been shot by him, and which one to use was decided by lot. Dueling is currently prohibited by law.

You can see what dueling pistols are in the video:

Many things that are now done in one-two were previously more difficult and required much more time. Like reloading weapons. Below is an interesting video showing the process of preparing weapons for a duel.

At the same time, we learn other interesting facts about the famous duel in Russia

Frame: the film "Pushkin: The Last Duel"

One hundred and eighty-one years ago, the chamber junker Alexander Pushkin fought in a duel with the lieutenant of the cavalry regiment Georges de Gekkeren (Dantes). The circumstances and the course of the duel seem to have been thoroughly studied, but historians still cannot say for sure why Pushkin's opponent survived, despite the bullet hitting him in the chest? Saved by his own hand, which he defended himself with, was a copper button, or he cheated and took advantage of additional protection - such a version pops up in publications from time to time. "Lenta.ru" about how they fought in duels and whether a button could protect a duelist from a bullet.

In the duel, Pushkin, as you know, was mortally wounded in the stomach. Dantes, according to the report of the senior police doctor, was wounded "in right hand right through and got a concussion in the belly.

We decided to consider the technical aspects of the duel - tactics, the level of training of shooters, the characteristics of weapons, etc. We paid special attention to the notorious button and the hypothetical cuirass of Dantes. We managed to find two videos showing experiments with firing dueling pistols at metal button plates, get a comment from a surgeon and an expert on muzzle-loading weapons.

Lessons in morality and good manners

A strictly regulated duel not only allowed the nobleman to respond to an insult, but, according to the plan of European moralists, contributed to the improvement of morals in society. After all, an awkward joke or an inappropriate pun could end fatally for the wit. True, the duel required to completely equalize the chances of opponents, and in duels with melee weapons, the advantage in health, age and training often turned the duel into a legalized murder. This was used to, without violating the law, to deal with an opponent and even a political opponent.

The gun changed everything. It was not for nothing that he was called the equalizer of chances: an old man could defeat a young man, a strong man could yield to a weak one. The relative availability of weapons and ammunition allowed civilians to practice shooting as thoroughly as the military. Finally, there was always an element of chance in a duel with pistols. By the middle of the 18th century, pistol duels began to dominate, and by the end of the 19th century they had almost supplanted other types of fights.

The first dueling sets were produced by the workshop of the British gunsmith Menton (Manton) - a pair of completely identical pistols (they were distinguished only by the numbers "1" and "2" on the details) in a special case made of expensive breeds tree. In addition to weapons, the set included a powder flask, a supply of bullets, a bullet gun, ramrods, a hammer and an oiler.

Who fought duels

Only nobles could fight duels - inter-class fights were not allowed. Duels between blood relatives, sick people were also excluded; it was considered ridiculous to fight old people or teenagers, one could not accept a challenge for career or economic reasons, a creditor could not fight a debtor.

The rules were very different. Opponents could shoot from a spot, and whoever fired the first shot was determined by lot. But more often they shot ahead of the curve, for example, the opponents stood with their backs to each other, at the command of the second they quickly turned around, cocked the hammers and fired a shot. The most famous option is a duel with barriers, this is how Pushkin and Dantes fought. In the Russian version, barriers - any object, a sword, a cloak - were placed at 10-15 steps, this is seven to ten meters. Opponents were separated by 20-30 steps. At the command of the second, they began to walk in the direction of the barriers and could shoot at any moment from any distance.

If the shooter missed first, he remained in place (in the so-called "duelist pose" - half-sided, the hand covers the chest, the pistol - the head), and his opponent could come close to the barrier, aim and shoot. For a return shot, a minute was usually given, for a wounded shooter - two. Those who delayed lost the right to shoot. A misfire was also considered a shot.

Pushkin and Dantes had barriers at 10 steps, opponents were bred at 20 - five steps to the barrier each.

The weapons were capsule pistols, presumably by the famous French master Lepage with rifled barrel caliber 12 mm. “In terms of accuracy, these pistols are not inferior to modern ones. Record for 25 meters - 100 points. A modern sports target, an ordinary ten, good shooters put 10 bullets into it,” says Igor Verbovsky, representative of the Russian branch of the Association of Muzzle Loaders in the International Committee of Muzzle Loading Associations, explaining that today in many countries, including Finland, Poland, the Baltic states, competitions in shooting from ancient weapons.

The weight of gunpowder in dueling pistols ranged from three to eight grams, depending on the caliber. A 50-caliber bullet weighing about 12 grams left the barrel at a speed of about 350 meters per second. Its energy reached 730 Joules - this is slightly more than that of a TT pistol, however, the penetration ability of a round lead bullet was much lower, and it lost speed faster than a modern bullet. According to the most common version, the seconds loaded the pistols of Pushkin and Dantes with weakened charges of gunpowder.

How did the Russians do it?

It is believed that Russian duels were particularly bloody - in Europe, barriers were usually placed at 30 steps, and for satisfaction it was enough to shoot in the direction of the enemy. In Russia duels were often fought until one of the duelists was killed or badly wounded. A duel was practiced “through a handkerchief” - from a distance of an unfolded handkerchief, the ends of which the duelists held with their hands. In 1824, the future Decembrist Ryleev shot with Prince Konstantin Shakhovsky from three steps, because of the close distance, the bullets hit the opponents' pistols twice.

Lepage dueling pistols

In the first half of the 19th century in Russia, for the military, the refusal to duel actually meant retirement, for a secular person - excommunication from high society. Historians believe that the wars of the beginning of the century - the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809 and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army during the Napoleonic wars - played a significant role in this. On the one hand, many officers got acquainted with the traditions of the European aristocracy, including dueling, on the other hand, many military men were prone to post-traumatic syndrome - military officers were used to looking death in the face, they felt like winners strongest army peace and the liberators of Europe. This was reflected in exaggerated ideas about honor and attitude towards duels.

How did the fights go?

Literature and cinema have formed a duel stereotype: duelists slowly walk towards each other, slowly raising their pistols, carefully aiming ... In fact, the duel could look completely different. “There was such a strategy - it was preferred by experienced duelists - to quickly, almost run, go your distance and shoot at the approaching enemy, explains Igor Verbovsky. “The shooter created favorable conditions for himself: it is difficult for his opponent to make an aimed shot on the move, in addition, standing sideways, you reduce your projection as much as possible, and when you walk, it is difficult to do so.”

Technically, it is not difficult for a trained shooter to run five steps and quickly hit a target the size of a human torso from seven meters. According to Verbovsky, at a costumed shooting show in Finland, Russian shooters from muzzle-loading weapons specifically set up an experiment: a moderately trained shooter, who had never dealt with dueling pistols before, practically ran up to the barrier and fired offhand at a cardboard target. Of the six attempts, five were successful. One bullet hit the edge of the target, the rest hit closer to the center line.

Pushkin also chose this strategy in the last duel, he very quickly covered the distance to the barrier and began to aim. But Dantes outplayed him, shooting immediately, not reaching the barrier just one step.

Level of training of duelists

Alexander Sergeevich was known as a good shooter and, according to legend, from 10 steps he could hit a card ace from a pistol. “The targets have not been preserved, but there are memories of contemporaries,” says Verbovsky. - In exile in Chisinau, the poet, barely getting out of bed, without getting dressed, shot at the wall with a pistol many times. There are recollections of his serf that during his exile in Mikhailovskoye, Pushkin every morning put a hundred bullets into the wall of the barn. In general, he had a reputation as a good shooter, they were afraid to shoot him.

Even the fact that, being seriously wounded, Pushkin found the strength not only to fire back, but to hit the enemy, says a lot about his skill and character. The poet shot reclining, leaning on his left hand.

Painting by Adrian Volkov "The last shot of A. S. Pushkin"

Dantes, a professional military man, also had to have a good shooting training besides, as Verbovsky recalls, while studying at an officer's school in France, he won the championship title in pigeon shooting. This is the forerunner of modern trap shooting or sporting (shooting from a shotgun at flying clay plates).

Pushkin is sometimes called an experienced duelist, almost a breter, attributing dozens of duels to him. In fact, the poet had about 30 dueling stories - this is how they call situations with a challenge to a duel, but most ended in reconciliation. Before the duel with Dantes, the poet went to the barrier four times, and only once shot at the enemy, but missed. There is no exact information about the duel experience of Heckeren-Dantes.

Why Dantes survived

In anticipation of the shot, Dantes, as expected, stood sideways, hiding behind his hand with a pistol. The bullet pierced the forearm and hit the torso - having been wounded, he fell, but quickly got up.

According to the official version, a button saved Dantes from a bullet, but it was not presented at the trial. This gave rise to rumors that Pushkin's killer was playing a foul game, wearing chain mail or a cuirass specially made for him, tightly fitting to the body. After all, before the duel, the opponents were not examined.

Photo: provided by the Russian branch of the Association of muzzle-loading weapons

The opinions of modern experts on this matter differ. “The bullet fired by the poet pierced the sleeve, the soft tissues of the arm, the sleeve again and hit the fabric of the uniform, which it could no longer pierce. On the front surface of the chest, protected by a uniform, there could well have been no damage at all, including abrasions. Although the wounded, of course, would have felt a blow to the chest, ”commented surgeon Mikhail Khramenkov to Lente.ru.

During the Finnish experiment, shots were fired at a mannequin (a plastic bag with earth, dressed in an M65 jacket), on which copper plates two millimeters thick and about five centimeters in diameter were attached - they played the role of buttons. With a reduced weight of gunpowder, up to 3.5 grams (the same weakened charge), the bullet did not pierce the button, leaving a dent and breaking through the bag. Of course, this experiment cannot be considered scientific, if only because of the material of the dummy. Nevertheless, European, in particular English, sources of the 18th-19th centuries speak in support of the “button” version, describing cases when buttons and coins were saved from a pistol bullet, and the victim experienced severe pain as a result of the hit, but remained practically unharmed.

On the other hand, we do not know exactly how much gunpowder was in the pistol from which Pushkin fired, because when he fell, the barrel of his pistol clogged with snow, and the seconds gave him another one. The authors of the documentary-staged film “Pushkin. 29th duel" also experimented with 19th-century weapons. They have a bullet fired at a dummy made of ballistic gelatin, pierced the body and drove a button into it.

How did the duel take place and how did they duel

Rules of duels (Duel Code Durasov Vasily Alekseevich)

First of all, a duel is an occupation of the nobles, commoners and raznochintsy should not have anything to do with it, and an occupation of noblemen equal in position and status. According to the “Dueling Code of Durasov” of 1912, insults can be:

The first degree - hurting pride and violating decency (apparently an oblique look, the code does not specify what exactly).

The second degree - offending honor (gestures, swearing).

The third degree is usually an insult by action (from a wound, to a blow or throwing a glove, a touch is enough).

If there are aggravating circumstances: a woman or a weak person is offended, the severity automatically increases by a degree, if vice versa, the severity decreases.

The insulted person chooses a weapon, depending on the severity of the insult, he can have privileges (when insulted by an action, he can set distances, fight with his weapon, choose the type of duel, etc.).

If someone cannot fight, then a relative or an interested person can replace him.

One quarrel - one duel.

ESPECIALLY INTERESTING NOW - for slandering a journalist if he is unavailable - the editor or the owner of the leaflet where the libel is printed is dueling.

Duels are divided into:

Legal (according to the rules on pistols, swords or sabers);
- exceptional (having deviations from the code in the conditions);
- for secret reasons (they don’t want to wash dirty linen in public, but they are ready to make a hole in each other).

The seconds are appointed from worthy ones, of which the court of honor - three decide contentious issues, the seconds can kill the violator of the duel rules.
Having received an insult, the offended must declare to his opponent: “Dear Sovereign, I will send you my seconds.” If the opponents do not know each other, they exchange cards and addresses. Then they communicate through seconds.

Before the duel, a “Protocol of the meeting” is drawn up, where they describe how the duel will go and the “Protocol of the duel” - how it went (there are forms in the code, I’m not kidding).
At the duel, you can’t speak, make extra sounds except for “I fuck you mother!” after a hit or injection, violate the orders of the duel leader (!), violate the commands “stop”, “shoot”, “1,2,3”.

For swords, an alley is chosen wide and long, for pistols, an open area.

It is better to undress to the waist, but you can also wear clothes that have been tested for protection.
They fight on swords either, having the opportunity to jump around and around, or put their left legs on the indicated point and stab each other, retreating three steps is defeat. You can fight to the limit, you can do it with breaks of 3-5 minutes per round. They fight with the hand they are used to, you can’t change it.

The swords are either their own or someone else's, of the same length, the seconds should have a bench tool for urgent repairs, including a vice and files (I'm not kidding).

A bunch of rules like knocked out a weapon, fell, wounded - you can’t finish it off, otherwise you’ll lose, yell a little loudly and defend yourself, but you can’t attack anymore, in general, you violated something - you will be punished.

Pistol duel at 25-35 steps in Europe, 10-15 in Russia.

The six types of legal pistol duels are:

1. Duel on the spot on command: they shoot from 15-30 steps while standing after the command: “one”, but not later than “three”.
2. Duel on the spot at will: shoot from 15-30 steps after the command "shoot" as they wish, they can stand with their backs and turn around.
3. Duel on the spot with successive shots: shoot from 15-30 steps, determining who is first by lot.
4. Duel with approach: converge from 35-45 steps to the barrier (mark) with a distance between the barriers of 15-25 steps, you can shoot as soon as the command "approach" arrives. You can’t shoot on the move, you stopped and fired before the barrier, wait in the same place, the enemy can approach the barrier itself.
5. Approach and stop duel: the same distances, but you can shoot on the move, after the first shot everyone freezes like rabbits and shoots from the stop.
6. Duel approaching along parallel lines: they go towards each other along parallel lines, at a distance of 15 steps, it is impossible to shoot at once.

All duels have a time limit on the second shot.

The head of the duel is in charge of the action, oversees the loading of weapons by the seconds or a specially invited prima ballerina from the loaders, how they bow at the beginning, during and after, scribbling denunciations to the officer meeting (!)

Usually two shots are fired, a misfire is usually counted as a shot (even a serviceable flintlock of high quality workmanship gave 15 misfires for 100 shots).

You can show off: shoot in the air, it’s only legal for the second, the first is not allowed, although they did it, if the first shoots into the air and the second does so, the first loses, and the second can shoot at him, if he doesn’t hit, he won’t be punished.

You can’t talk, burp, fart - they will consider it unworthy and count the loss.

The conditions for a duel with sabers are the same as those for a duel with swords. The only difference is that the duel of this type of weapon can take place on straight or curved sabers. In the first case, opponents can chop and stab, in the second, only chop. (Remark: I climbed to look for a “straight saber”, I found “a cavalryman’s straight saber, five letters - a broadsword.” Or I don’t know something, or the broadsword became a straight saber or the saber was a curved broadsword, but we’ll write it off as a shock, go on, Durasov figured it out in "straight sabers" better than ours).

Here are the rules in a nutshell. You just need to understand that, as stated in Pirates of the Caribbean, the Pirate Code is not a set of laws, but recommended concepts. It's the same here - if you want to duel with two-handers - no one forbids it, your cause is "noble". At the end of the twentieth century. shot at ten paces from the "sea" Colts - siege artillery, in the First World War and Civil War from Mausers and Nagans. Recommendations are for that and recommendations, so as not to fulfill, the main thing is to find the same crazy like-minded people.

The madmen were regularly, therefore not described in the code, but the "exceptional" duels that took place:

1. At a noble distance: the appointment of a distance of more than 15 steps, the probability of a successful outcome was small. Meanwhile, it was at the initial distance of 20 steps from his opponent that Alexander Pushkin was mortally wounded.
2. Fixed duel blind: opponents stand motionless at a specified distance, with their backs to each other. After the command of the steward, they, in a certain or random order, shoot over their shoulders. If both are still intact after two shots, the pistols can be loaded again.
3. Put a pistol to the forehead: a purely Russian version, opponents stand at a distance that provides a guaranteed hit (5-8 steps). Of the two pistols, only one is loaded, the weapon is chosen by lot. At the command of the steward, the opponents simultaneously shoot at each other.
4. Muzzle to muzzle: a purely Russian version, the conditions are similar to the previous ones, but both pistols are loaded. In such duels, both opponents often died.
5. Through a handkerchief: a duel with a 100% fatal outcome was appointed in exceptional cases. The opponents took the opposite ends of the handkerchief with their left hands and, at the command of the second, fired at the same time. Only one pistol was loaded.
6. Duel in the grave: fired at a distance of no more than ten steps, almost 100% death for both.
7. American duel: suicide by lot. Rivals in one way or another cast lots, and the one on whom it fell was obliged to commit suicide within a short time. The "American duel" was resorted to more often in cases where it was not possible to arrange a traditional duel (due to legal prohibitions, too unequal position of rivals, physical restrictions), but at the same time, both rivals believed that differences could only be resolved by the death of one of them .

As a variant of the “Russian roulette” duel with one cartridge in the drum, and it happened that only one cartridge was taken out of the drum. It is also called hussar roulette, also soprano, although there are great doubts both in the Russian origin of this phenomenon (the first mention was in 1937 in the article "Russian Roulette" in the American magazine "Collier's Weekly"), and in its wide application due to the lack of documentary sources. There are a number of inconsistencies, in particular, the article describes Russian officers in the First World War, but the number of Nagant cartridges is 7 pcs. (I myself was shocked, I double-checked, I also thought that 6), and it describes a revolver with 6 rounds, so perhaps “Russian roulette” is not so “Russian”.

Duel weapons

In the 18th century, firearms became more and more common in duels, mainly trigger single-shot pistols. A terrible weapon - a single-shot dueling pistol equipped with a flintlock or capsule lock - in the hand of an experienced shooter left few chances for the enemy. Differences in combat experience, moral and physical qualities of the participants never made the duel absolutely equal. The statement that the same pistols gave duelists equal chances during a duel is true only in comparison with more ancient tools for sorting out relations such as a sword or saber. In the middle of the 18th century, pistol duels became the most common, and the appearance of dueling weapons finally took shape. First of all, it should be noted that the pistols were paired, absolutely identical and did not differ from each other in any way, with the exception of the numbers "1" and "2" on the structural elements. To eliminate misunderstandings, the seconds brought two boxes of pistols to the duel. In the 18th and in the first third of the 19th century, pistols were equipped with a flintlock, the so-called "French battery" ignition lock, which was invented by the mechanic and writer Chevalier de Aubigny. This lock was improved by the great English gunsmiths Joseph Menton, James Perde, Charles Lancaster, Harvey Mortimer, Henry Knock and was a very progressive mechanism for its time. The principle of its operation was quite simple and in many ways resembled an ordinary lighter. A piece of specially sharpened and broken flint was clamped in the hard jaws of the trigger. Opposite it was a steel flint and steel, under it was the so-called "shelf" with fine seed gunpowder. When the trigger was pressed, the flint hammer hit the steel strongly, the shelf automatically folded back and a bright beam of sparks fell on the gunpowder. Through a special seed hole in the barrel breech, the fire got inside and ignited the main charge. A booming, booming shot followed. However, flintlock pistols had some drawbacks: first of all, a bright flash of gunpowder on a shelf and a cloud of smoke interfered with the accuracy of the sight. Despite the invention by the British of a special “waterproof” lock, shooting in rainy, damp weather was extremely risky, because moisture soaked the gunpowder on the shelf and often led to a misfire, and a misfire, according to the harsh rules of a duel, was equated to a shot.

Over time, a safety cocking of the trigger, or half-cocking, appeared on the shock-flint locks: the shooter cocked the trigger to half, while the sear of the trigger fell into the deep transverse cutout of the ankle of the trigger, and the trigger was blocked. For a shot, the trigger had to be cocked to the combat platoon, while the sear was included in the second, less deep notch of the combat platoon, from which the trigger could already be released by pulling the trigger. This became necessary, among other things, due to the appearance of the first (muzzle) cartridges designed to increase the rate of fire of the military from the muzzle of loaded guns. When using such a cartridge, its paper shell was used as a wad over a bullet, so the gunpowder was first poured onto the castle shelf, and only then poured into the barrel. If the trigger had remained cocked while the bullet was being sent into the barrel, an accidental shot could have occurred, which would inevitably have ended in a serious injury to the shooter. Before the advent of muzzle cartridges, for safety, gunpowder was usually poured from the powder flask first into the barrel, and only then onto the shelf.

The first safety devices in their modern form appeared even with shock-flint, and even wheel locks. On expensive flintlock hunting rifles and rifles there was a fuse in the form of an engine located on the keyboard behind the trigger, which in the forward position fixed the trigger on a half-cock, so that it could not only be lowered, but also cocked to a combat platoon. This ensured complete safety when carrying a loaded weapon. At the wheel lock, the fuse usually looked like a flag located in the back of the keyboard, which in the rear position did not allow the cocked trigger to be pulled, blocking the sear. The most expensive variants of matchlocks could have the same fuse.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Alexander John Forsyth, a modest Scottish priest from Bellelview County, made a truly revolutionary turn in the history of firearms. He invented a fundamentally new igniter lock, which would later be called "capsule". The meaning of the innovation boiled down to the fact that now it was not gunpowder that ignited on the seed shelf, but a special chemical composition. Later, the composition ignited by impact was placed in a copper cap-primer, put on a steel rod - a brand pipe, through which the fire instantly went into the barrel.

The dueling pair was placed in an elegant box along with accessories. Usually they consisted of a charging ramrod, a wooden hammer, a bullet gun, a powder flask, a powder measure, tools - a screwdriver, cleaning, a kreuzer for unloading a pistol. The seconds of the opponents in front of each other, jealously following all the subtleties, measured out an equal amount of gunpowder, carefully wrapped the lead bullet with a special leather plaster and, using a ramrod, hammered it into the barrel with hammer blows. The bullets were round, lead, with a diameter of 12-15 mm and weighing 10-12 g. Black smoke powder was put in 3-8 g. According to the rules, it was allowed to use both rifled and smoothbore pistols, as long as they were exactly the same. All dueling pistols had sights. On the earliest examples, the sight and front sight were fixed, like those of an army weapon. Later, adjustable sights appeared - front sight horizontally, rear sight - vertically, to adjust the aiming line. Sometimes the trigger mechanism of the pistol was equipped with a special device that softens the trigger force - a shneller, but most duellists preferred the usual "tight" descent. This is explained simply - in excitement, unable to control his own finger, the shooter could give an involuntary, random shot past the target. And without a shneller, the pistol made it possible to make a very accurate shot.

The well-known weapons historian Yu.V. Shokarev, in one of his articles, says that “in the middle of the last century, an expert commission that studied all the circumstances of Lermontov’s death fired control shots from a dueling pistol and a powerful army TT. It turned out that the penetrating power of a dueling pistol is only slightly inferior to the power of the TT, whose shelled pointed bullet pierces through eight dry inch boards at a distance of 25 meters. But most duels took place at a distance of 15 steps ... ”Some slaves of honor happened to shoot at 6 steps. However, it should be said that in special, absolutely exceptional cases, the seconds of the opponents, not wanting the death of their friends, allowed, by mutual agreement, some liberties when loading pistols. The most innocent was a double or even triple charge of gunpowder: when fired, the pistol was strongly thrown up and the bullet flew past the target.
“Criminal” from the point of view of the code of honor was simply not lowering a bullet into the barrel, which was so well described by M.Yu. Lermontov in "A Hero of Our Time".

Pistols could be purchased without special police clearance from any major gun shop or directly from a gunsmith. The products of English gunsmiths were considered the best, but ... in 1840 in England, on the initiative of peers, admirals and generals, a society was created, whose members swore under an oath not to take part in duels anymore. Thus, under the influence of the British elite protesting against duels, duels were rejected and all conflicts were resolved in court.

Since that time, the production of dueling pistols in England has practically ceased, and gunsmiths have switched to the creation of sports, road and hunting weapons. The palm passed to the French and German masters. Pistols were bought in all European capitals and even ordered by mail. Needless to say, dueling sets have always been distinguished by particularly careful dressing. These perfect killing mechanisms were decorated with steel engraving, gold and silver inlays, stocks made from aged butt of Italian walnut, ebony or Karelian birch. The trunks were forged from the best varieties of Bouquet Damascus and subjected to deep bluing in black, brown or blue. The handles of the pistols were covered with beautiful grooves - flutes. The decor often used arabesques and grotesques - stylized ornaments of flowers and plants, bizarre images of half-humans, half-animals, mysterious masks, faces of satyrs, mythical monsters and acanthus leaves. Dueling pistols were expensive, but who would have dared to bargain, acquiring an instrument of honor.

Much less often for duels, long-barreled firearms were used (dueling with guns, rifles, carbines) and multiply charged pistols or revolvers, for example, the "sea" Colt. The duel on rifles and guns was popular in America and Mexico, the "American" duel consisted of two or a group entering a house, a forest, a gorge, finding an enemy there and seeing what happens. This is already a completely wild kind of duel, rather than a noble, but commoners.

A sword (from Italian Spada) is a long-bladed piercing-chopping or piercing weapon with a blade length of 1000 mm or more, directly descending from a one-and-a-half-handed sword, straight, in early designs with one or two blades, later with a faceted blade, as well as a characteristic developed a complex-shaped hilt with a protective bow, weighing from 1 to 1.5 kg. The epee appeared, like many types of sword, in Spain in the 1460s. Gradually, the sword became lighter and turned into a sword, which at first was just a light sword with a somewhat complicated hilt, which made it possible not to wear a plate glove. The sword was originally chopped, only over time it became predominantly a stabbing weapon.

What can be called a combat sword is a reiter sword, common among armored reiter riders (from German Schwarze Reiter - “black riders”), they preferred not to cut into the infantry formation like cuirassiers after firing, but systematically shoot the infantry from pistols. They had a sword as an auxiliary weapon, since most of the reiters were from southern Germany, the legendary mercenaries famous throughout Europe gave a name to their sword. The Reiter sword (German: Reitschwert (“rider’s sword”) is a stabbing and chopping weapon with a straight blade, total length is 1000-1100 mm, blade length is 850-950 mm, blade width is from 30 to 45 mm, crosspiece width is 200 -250 mm, weight from 1100 to 1500, there are early samples weighing up to 1700. It was most popular in the cavalry of the 16th century, it was mainly used as a sword, and more chopping than stabbing.

A rapier or civilian sword with a straight blade about 1100-1300 mm long, weighing about 1.5 kg is familiar to us from films about musketeers, where they are forced, out of ignorance of the directors, to brandish and stab it like later models. In fact, fencing with such a rapier was rather poor, a stabbing attack, a few simple defenses, rather evasions, rarely rang with blades and a couple of basic chopping blows, for example, a “muzhik”, when a sword grabbed with two hands was struck with all the dope. Musketeers, whose fencing skills were extremely poor, were taught something like this, in the time of d'Artagnan fencing was considered shameful, you had to win at the expense of strength, chopping, otherwise it was considered dishonorable. The musketeers shot badly (they didn’t carry a matchlock musket, preferring to buy guns for their money), they fenced even worse, but sometimes they only burst into the bastions with swords, inspiring well-deserved horror, however, like the cardinal’s guards, who were not inferior to them. But basically the musketeers were engaged in the dispersal of peasant uprisings and political arrests, for which rapiers were enough for them. It fell out of use in the 17th century, and was often used in tandem with fist shields, then dags (daggers).

Short swords (English Small sword "small sword") piercing weapons with a straight blade about 800 mm long, total length about 1000 mm, weight 1-1.3 kg. They can be either with blades or exclusively faceted with a sharpened point. Appearing in the middle of the XVII century under the influence of the French school of fencing fr. Academie d "Armes, founded at the end of the 16th century, subsequently almost supplanted other types of swords. These are the swords familiar to us in later times, which were owned by officers, sometimes soldiers, of course nobles, according to status, it later relied on university students or their graduates , was a distinction of the status of civil officials and gradually degenerated into a ceremonial weapon, still used today and sports swords and rapiers.

The saber in its usual sense appeared in the 7th century among the Turkic peoples as a result of the modification of the broadsword, the first sabers were found in the kuruk near the village. Voznesenki (now Zaporozhye). Saber (Hungarian szablya from Hungarian szabni - “cut”) chopping-cutting-stabbing edged bladed weapons with an average length of a curved one-sided blade sharpening of 80-110 cm, with a mass of 0.8-2.6 kg. The saber appeared as an idea to reduce the weight of the blade with the same cutting abilities, by reducing the contact area and, in general, copes with the task. As a bonus, with a slight bend, it became possible to inflict a cut wound, which significantly increases the chances of quickly incapacitating the enemy due to large blood loss.

In the countries of Central and Western Europe sabers were not common until the second half of the 16th century, they received recognition in the 18th-19th centuries, and swords and swords were mainly used. AT XVII-XVIII centuries under Eastern European influence, sabers spread throughout Europe and are cavalry weapons, they are armed with hussars, dragoons and mounted grenadiers. They came from the sabers of the Polish-Hungarian type. During the Egyptian campaign, the French introduced the fashion for Mamluk-type sabers, and the Cossacks, who flaunted such popular weapons in Paris, only strengthened it. Sabers began to be used everywhere in European armies, regardless of the military branches, up to aviation. As ceremonial weapons, sabers and broadswords (or dragoon drafts) are still used in many countries.

Weapons and dueling code