Firearms - the history of occurrence. Improvement of weapons in the XVII-XVIII centuries Carl RussellFirearms of the New World

Fantasy writers often bypass the possibilities of "smoky powder", preferring good old sword and magic to it. And this is strange, because primitive firearms are not only natural, but also necessary element medieval environment. Warriors with "fiery shooting" did not appear by chance in the knightly armies. The spread of heavy armor naturally led to an increase in interest in weapons capable of penetrating them.

Ancient "lights"

Sulfur. A common component of spells and component gunpowder

The secret of gunpowder (if, of course, we can talk about a secret here) lies in the special properties of saltpeter. Namely, in the ability of this substance to release oxygen when heated. If saltpeter is mixed with some kind of fuel and set on fire, “ chain reaction". The oxygen released by the saltpeter will increase the intensity of combustion, and the stronger the flame flares up, the more oxygen will be released.

People learned to use saltpeter to increase the effectiveness of incendiary mixtures as early as the 1st millennium BC. But it wasn't easy to find her. In countries with hot and very humid climate white, snow-like crystals could sometimes be found on the site of old fires. But in Europe, saltpeter was found only in stinking sewer tunnels or in populated areas. bats caves.

Before gunpowder was used for explosions and throwing cores and bullets, saltpeter-based compositions for a long time were used to make incendiary projectiles and flamethrowers. So, for example, the legendary "Greek fire" was a mixture of saltpeter with oil, sulfur and rosin. Sulfur, igniting at low temperature, was added to facilitate the ignition of the composition. Rosin, on the other hand, was required to thicken the “cocktail” so that the charge would not flow out of the flamethrower tube.

"Greek fire" really could not be extinguished. After all, saltpeter dissolved in boiling oil continued to release oxygen and support combustion even under water.

In order for gunpowder to become an explosive, saltpeter must be 60% of its mass. In the "Greek fire" it was half as much. But even this amount was enough to make the process of burning oil unusually violent.

The Byzantines were not the inventors of "Greek fire", but borrowed it from the Arabs as early as the 7th century. In Asia, they also purchased saltpeter and oil necessary for its production. If we take into account that the Arabs themselves called saltpeter "Chinese salt", and rockets - "Chinese arrows", it will not be difficult to guess where this technology came from.

gunpowder spread

It is very difficult to indicate the place and time of the first use of saltpeter for incendiary compositions, fireworks and rockets. But the honor of inventing cannons definitely belongs to the Chinese. The ability of gunpowder to eject shells from metal barrels is reported by Chinese chronicles of the 7th century. By the 7th century, the discovery of a method of “growing” saltpeter in special pits or shafts from earth and manure also dates back. This technology made it possible to regularly use flamethrowers and rockets, and later firearms.

The barrel of the Dardanelles cannon - from a similar Turks shot the walls of Constantinople

At the beginning of the 13th century, after the capture of Constantinople, the recipe for "Greek fire" fell into the hands of the crusaders. By the middle of the 13th century, the first descriptions by European scientists of "real", exploding gunpowder also belong. The use of gunpowder for throwing stones became known to the Arabs no later than the 11th century.

In the "classic" version, black powder included 60% saltpeter and 20% sulfur and charcoal each. Charcoal could be successfully replaced with ground brown coal (brown powder), cotton wool or dried sawdust (white powder). There was even "blue" gunpowder, in which charcoal was replaced with cornflower flowers.

Sulfur was also not always present in gunpowder. For cannons, the charge in which was ignited not by sparks, but by a torch or a red-hot rod, gunpowder could be made, consisting only of saltpeter and brown coal. When firing from guns, sulfur could not be mixed into gunpowder, but poured immediately onto the shelf.

gunpowder inventor

Invented? Well, step aside, don't stand like a donkey

In 1320, the German monk Berthold Schwartz finally "invented" gunpowder. Now it is impossible to determine how many people in different countries gunpowder was invented before Schwartz, but we can say with confidence that after him no one succeeded!

Berthold Schwartz (who, by the way, was called Berthold Niger), of course, did not invent anything. The "classic" composition of gunpowder became known to Europeans even before its birth. But in his treatise On the Benefits of Gunpowder, he gave clear practical advice for the manufacture and use of gunpowder and cannons. It was thanks to his work that during the second half of the 14th century the art of fire shooting began to spread rapidly in Europe.

The first gunpowder factory was built in 1340 in Strasbourg. Soon after, the production of saltpeter and gunpowder began in Russia as well. Exact date this event is not known, but already in 1400 Moscow burned for the first time as a result of an explosion in a gunpowder workshop.

Gun tubes

The first image of a European cannon, 1326

The simplest hand firearm - the handgun - appeared in China already in the middle of the 12th century. The oldest samopals of the Spanish Moors date back to the same period. And from the beginning of the 14th century, "fire pipes" began to shoot in Europe. In the annals, handguns appear under many names. The Chinese called such weapons pao, the Moors - modfa or karab (hence the "carbine"), and the Europeans - hand bombarda, handkanona, slopetta, petrinal or culevrina.

The handle weighed from 4 to 6 kilograms and was a blank of soft iron, copper or bronze drilled from the inside. The barrel length ranged from 25 to 40 centimeters, the caliber could be 30 millimeters or more. The projectile was usually a round lead bullet. In Europe, however, until the beginning of the 15th century, lead was rare, and self-propelled guns were often loaded with small stones.

Swedish hand cannon from the 14th century

As a rule, petrinal was mounted on a shaft, the end of which was clamped under the arm or inserted into the current of the cuirass. Less commonly, the butt could cover the shooter's shoulder from above. Such tricks had to be done because it was impossible to rest the butt of the handgun on the shoulder: after all, the shooter could support the weapon with only one hand, with the other he brought fire to the fuse. The charge was set on fire with a "burning candle" - a wooden stick soaked in saltpeter. The stick rested against the ignition hole and turned, rolling in the fingers. Sparks and pieces of smoldering wood poured into the barrel and sooner or later ignited the gunpowder.

Dutch hand culverins from the 15th century

The extremely low accuracy of the weapon made it possible to conduct effective shooting only from a distance "point blank". And the shot itself took place with a large and unpredictable delay. Only the destructive power of this weapon caused respect. Although a bullet made of stone or soft lead at that time was still inferior to a crossbow bolt in penetrating power, a 30-mm ball fired at point-blank range left such a hole that it was a pleasure to see.

Hole-hole, but still it was necessary to get there. And the depressingly low accuracy of the petrinal did not allow one to count on the fact that the shot would have any other consequences than fire and noise. It may seem strange, but it was enough! Hand bombards were valued precisely for the roar, flash and cloud of gray smoke that accompanied the shot. It was far from always considered expedient to charge them with a bullet as well. Petrinali-Sklopetta was not even supplied with a butt and was intended exclusively for blank firing.

15th century French marksman

And the knights managed to introduce their horses to gunpowder far from immediately. In the 14th century, "smoky powder" in Europe was an expensive and rare commodity. And most importantly, for the first time, he caused fear not only among horses, but also among riders. The smell of "hellish sulfur" plunged superstitious people into awe. However, in Europe they quickly got used to the smell. But the loudness of the shot was listed among the advantages of firearms until the 17th century.

Arquebus

At the beginning of the 15th century, self-propelled guns were still too primitive to seriously compete with bows and crossbows. But gun tubes improved rapidly. Already in the 30s of the 15th century, the ignition hole was moved to the side, and a shelf for seed gunpowder was welded next to it. This gunpowder flashed instantly upon contact with fire, and in just a fraction of a second the hot gases ignited the charge in the barrel. The gun began to work quickly and reliably, and most importantly, it became possible to mechanize the process of lowering the wick. In the second half of the 15th century, fire tubes acquired a lock and butt borrowed from a crossbow.

Japanese flint arquebus, 16th century

At the same time, metalworking technologies were also improved. Trunks were now made only from the purest and softest iron. This made it possible to minimize the likelihood of a break when fired. On the other hand, the development of deep drilling techniques made it possible to make gun barrels lighter and longer.

This is how the arquebus appeared - a weapon with a caliber of 13-18 millimeters, weighing 3-4 kilograms and a barrel length of 50-70 centimeters. An ordinary 16 mm arquebus threw out a 20 gram bullet with initial speed about 300 meters per second. Such bullets could no longer tear off people's heads, but steel armor made holes from 30 meters.

Shooting accuracy increased, but still remained insufficient. An arquebusier hit a person only from 20-25 meters, and at 120 meters, even shooting at such a target as a battle of pikemen turned into a waste of ammunition. However, light guns retained approximately the same characteristics until the middle of the 19th century - only the lock changed. And in our time, shooting a bullet from smoothbore guns is effective no further than 50 meters.

Even modern shotgun bullets are designed not for accuracy, but for hitting power.

Arquebusier, 1585

Loading an arquebus was a rather complicated procedure. To begin with, the shooter disconnected the smoldering wick and put it away in a metal case attached to a belt or hat with slots for air access. Then he uncorked one of the several wooden or tin shells he had - “chargers”, or “gasers” - and poured a pre-measured amount of gunpowder from it into the barrel. Then he nailed gunpowder to the treasury with a ramrod and stuffed a felt wad preventing the powder from spilling out into the barrel. Then - a bullet and another wad, this time to hold the bullet. Finally, from a horn or from another charge, the shooter poured some gunpowder onto the shelf, slammed the lid of the shelf, and again fastened the wick into the jaws of the trigger. It took an experienced warrior about 2 minutes to do everything about everything.

In the second half of the 15th century, arquebusiers took a firm place in European armies and began to quickly push out competitors - archers and crossbowmen. But how could this happen? After all, the fighting qualities of guns still left much to be desired. Competitions between arquebusiers and crossbowmen led to a stunning result - formally, the guns turned out to be worse in every respect! The penetration power of the bolt and the bullet was approximately equal, but the crossbowman fired 4-8 times more often and at the same time did not miss the growth target even from 150 meters!

Geneva arquebusiers, reconstruction

The problem with the crossbow was that its advantages were of no practical value. Bolts and arrows flew "fly in the eye" in competitions when the target was stationary, and the distance to it was known in advance. In a real situation, the arquebusier, who did not have to take into account the wind, the movement of the target and the distance to it, had a better chance of hitting. In addition, the bullets did not have the habit of getting stuck in shields and slipping off the armor, they could not be evaded. Didn't have much practical value and rate of fire: both the arquebusier and the crossbowman managed to shoot at the attacking cavalry only once.

The spread of the arquebus was held back only by their high cost at that time. Even in 1537, hetman Tarnovsky complained that "there are few arquebuses in the Polish army, only mean hands." The Cossacks used bows and self-propelled guns until the middle of the 17th century.

pearl powder

Gasyri worn on the chest by the warriors of the Caucasus gradually became an element of the national costume

In the Middle Ages, gunpowder was prepared in the form of powder, or "pulp". When loading the weapon, the "pulp" stuck to inner surface barrel and had to be nailed to the fuse with a ramrod for a long time. In the 15th century, to speed up the loading of cannons, they began to sculpt lumps or small “pancakes” from powder pulp. And at the beginning of the 16th century, “pearl” gunpowder was invented, consisting of small hard grains.

The grains no longer stuck to the walls, but rolled down to the breech under their own weight. In addition, graining made it possible to almost double the power of gunpowder, and the duration of gunpowder storage - 20 times. Gunpowder in the form of pulp easily absorbed atmospheric moisture and deteriorated irreversibly in 3 years.

However, due to the high cost of "pearl" gunpowder, the pulp often continued to be used to load guns until the middle of the 17th century. Cossacks also used homemade gunpowder in the 18th century.

Musket

Contrary to popular belief, the knights did not at all consider firearms to be “non-knightly”.

It is a fairly common misconception that the advent of firearms put an end to the romantic " knightly era". In fact, the arming of 5–10% of the soldiers with arquebus did not lead to a noticeable change in the tactics of European armies. At the beginning of the 16th century, bows, crossbows, darts and slings were still widely used. Heavy knightly armor continued to improve, and the lance remained the main means of countering the cavalry. The Middle Ages continued as if nothing had happened.

The romantic era of the Middle Ages ended only in 1525, when, at the Battle of Pavia, the Spaniards first used matchlock guns of a new type - muskets.

Battle of Pavia: museum panorama

What is the difference between a musket and an arquebus? Size! With a weight of 7–9 kilograms, the musket had a caliber of 22–23 millimeters and a barrel about one and a half meters long. Only in Spain - the most technically developed country Europe of that time - they could make a durable and relatively light barrel of such a length and caliber.

Naturally, it was possible to shoot from such a bulky and massive gun only from a prop, and it was necessary to serve it together. But a bullet weighing 50-60 grams flew out of the musket at a speed of over 500 meters per second. She not only killed the armored horse, but also stopped it. The musket hit with such force that the shooter had to wear a cuirass or a leather pillow on his shoulder so that the recoil would not split his collarbone.

Musket: Assassin of the Middle Ages. 16th century

The long barrel provided the musket with relatively good accuracy for a smooth gun. The musketeer hit a man no longer from 20-25, but from 30-35 meters. But much more important was the increase in the effective range of volley fire to 200-240 meters. At all this distance, the bullets retained the ability to hit knight horses and pierce the iron armor of pikemen.

The musket combined the capabilities of the arquebus and the pikes, and became the first weapon in history that gave the shooter the opportunity to repel the onslaught of cavalry in the open. The musketeers did not have to run away from the cavalry for the battle, therefore, unlike the arquebusiers, they made extensive use of armor.

because of heavy weight weapons, musketeers, like crossbowmen, preferred to move on horseback

Throughout the 16th century, there were few musketeers in European armies. Musketeer companies (detachments of 100-200 people) were considered the elite of the infantry and were formed from the nobility. This was partly due to the high cost of weapons (as a rule, a riding horse was also included in the musketeer's equipment). But even more important were the high requirements for durability. When the cavalry rushed to the attack, the musketeers had to beat them off or die.

Pishchal

archers

According to its purpose, the pishchal of Russian archers corresponded to the Spanish musket. But the technical backwardness of Russia, which was outlined in the 15th century, could not but affect the combat properties of guns. Even pure - "white" - iron for the manufacture of barrels at the beginning of the 16th century still had to be imported "from German"!

As a result, with the same weight as the musket, the squeaker was much shorter and had 2-3 times less power. Which, however, had no practical significance, given that the eastern horses were much smaller than European ones. The accuracy of the weapon was also satisfactory: from 50 meters, the archer did not miss the two-meter-high fence.

In addition to the archery squeakers, Muscovy also produced light “curtain” (having a strap for carrying on the back) guns, which were used by mounted (“stirrup”) archers and Cossacks. According to their characteristics, the "veiled squeaks" corresponded to European arquebuses.

pistol

Smoldering wicks, of course, gave the shooters a lot of inconvenience. However, the simplicity and reliability of the matchlock forced the infantry to put up with its shortcomings until the end of the 17th century. Another thing is the cavalry. The rider needed a weapon convenient, constantly ready to fire and suitable for holding with one hand.

Wheel lock in the drawings of Da Vinci

The first attempts to create a castle in which fire would be extracted using an iron flint and "flint" (that is, a piece of sulfur pyrite or pyrite) were made as early as the 15th century. Since the second half of the 15th century, “grater locks” have been known, which were ordinary household fire flints installed above a shelf. With one hand, the shooter aimed the weapon, and with the other he hit the flint with a file. Due to the obvious impracticality of distribution, grating locks have not received.

Much more popular in Europe was the wheeled castle that appeared at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, the scheme of which was preserved in the manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci. The ribbed flint and flint was given the shape of a gear. The spring of the mechanism was cocked by the key attached to the lock. When the trigger was pressed, the wheel began to rotate, striking sparks from the flint.

German wheeled pistol, 16th century

The wheel lock was very reminiscent of the device of a watch and was not inferior to a watch in complexity. The capricious mechanism was very sensitive to clogging with gunpowder and flint fragments. After 20-30 shots, he refused. Take it apart and clean the shooter on their own could not.

Since the virtues of the wheel lock represented greatest value for the cavalry, the weapons equipped with it were made convenient for the rider - one-handed. Starting from the 30s of the 16th century in Europe, the knightly spears were replaced by shortened wheeled arquebuses that lacked a butt. Since they began to manufacture such weapons in the Italian city of Pistol, they began to call one-handed arquebus pistols. However, by the end of the century, pistols were also being produced at the Moscow Armory.

European military pistols of the 16th and 17th centuries were very bulky designs. The barrel had a caliber of 14-16 millimeters and a length of at least 30 centimeters. The total length of the pistol exceeded half a meter, and the weight could reach 2 kilograms. However, the pistols hit very inaccurately and weakly. The range of an aimed shot did not exceed a few meters, and even bullets fired at close range bounced off cuirasses and helmets.

In the 16th century, pistols were often combined with edged weapons - the pommel of a club ("apple") or even an ax blade.

In addition to large dimensions, pistols of the early period were characterized by rich finishes and whimsical design. Pistols of the 16th - early 17th centuries were often made multi-barreled. Including with a rotating block of 3-4 barrels, like a revolver! All this was very interesting, very progressive ... And in practice, of course, it did not work.

The wheel lock itself was worth so much money that the decoration of the pistol with gold and pearls did not significantly affect its price. In the 16th century, wheeled weapons were affordable only for very rich people and had more prestigious than combat value.

Asian pistols were distinguished by their particular elegance and were highly valued in Europe.

* * *

The appearance of firearms was a turning point in the history of military art. For the first time, a person began to use not muscular strength, but the energy of gunpowder combustion to inflict damage on the enemy. And this energy by the standards of the Middle Ages was overwhelming. Noisy and clumsy crackers, now capable of causing nothing but laughter, a few centuries ago inspired people with great respect.

Beginning in the 16th century, the development of firearms began to determine the tactics of sea and land battles. The balance between melee and ranged combat began to shift in favor of the latter. The value of protective equipment began to decline, and the role field fortifications- increase. These trends continue to our time. The weapon that uses chemical energy for projectile ejection, continues to improve. Apparently, it will maintain its position for a very long time.

On the basis of the further development of the productive forces, the armament of the troops was also improved, primarily hand firearms. Hand-held edged weapons have not undergone significant changes, except that since the formation of the regiments of the new system, swords have appeared in the Russian army.

On the basis of the further development of the productive forces, the armament of the troops was also improved, primarily hand firearms.

The most important improvements in the manufacture of handguns related to the design of the castle. The existing flint lock had a serious drawback: the flint and flint did not close the gunpowder shelf and a movable lid was arranged over the latter, which had to be pushed back by hand each time before the shot. Now the flint was moved to the very shelf in such a way that it opened the shelf when the trigger was struck. By the end of the XVII century. the flintlock was basically finished and so practical that it existed for more than two centuries without major changes, before the introduction of percussion cap guns. The flintlock appeared in the West around 1670. 1. In the invention and use of such locks, Russia was far ahead of Western Europe, since such locks were already known in Russia in the first half of the 17th century.

Rifled hand firearms were repeatedly mentioned in the 17th century. Russian masters of the 17th century. manufactured a rifled rifle loaded from the breech hand weapon. However, this invention has not received practical implementation. The inventiveness of Russian masters was ahead of the technical capabilities of the country.

From hand firearms in the 17th century. squeaks, muskets, carbines and pistols were used. The musket was the same pishchal, but had a larger size, weight and caliber. Muskets were fired from fork-shaped bipods (stands). The infantry (soldiers, archers) and part of the dragoons were armed with squeakers and muskets.

Only smooth-bore carbines are known from surviving samples. With a medium caliber, the carbines had a smaller barrel, were shorter and lighter than the squeakers. This was the main advantage of carbines as cavalry weapons over squeakers and muskets. Firearms belonged to hand grenades weighing 1-5 pounds, which have been widely used in the infantry since the middle of the 17th century. /173/

Hand edged weapons did not undergo in the XVII century. significant changes compared to the previous period, except that since the formation of the regiments of the new system, swords appeared in the Russian army. Swords were introduced into service by foreign instructors who trained the first Russian soldiers. They did not receive combat significance in the Russian army and were used only in the training of soldiers, and in the second half of the 17th century they completely disappeared from the armament of the Russian army.

In the 17th century each branch of the army began to correspond to a certain set of hand weapons.

When sending military men to serve, the government demanded that “the hussars have a hussar pole and a pair of pistoles, and spearmen have a spear and a pair of pistols, and a reiter has a carbine and a pair of pistols, everyone has their own kind and to reliable in battle, the archers, soldiers and other ranks of the infantry formation of people had good muskets and reeds ”1. The reality of these requirements was reinforced by the fact that all military men of the new system received firearms from the treasury (cavalry mainly for a fee).

The introduction of uniformity of weapons in the respective branches of the army amounted to necessary condition when training military people for a new system. It was impossible to teach soldiers, reiters and other military people the same methods of military formation and the use of weapons if they did not have the same weapons. The introduction of such weapons significantly increased the combat capability of the troops, and this was the main point of this event.

The state of the Russian outfit (artillery) of the 17th century. characterized primarily by important changes that have taken place in the manufacture of tools. These changes consisted in the gradual replacement of forged iron tools with cast tools made of copper and cast iron.

Forging tools from iron was an art of blacksmithing, it required skilled craftsmen, a long time to make each tool, and, moreover, it was expensive. Casting guns from copper and cast iron made it possible to prepare products in more short term and at a lower price. Cast tools made of copper and cast iron were of higher quality. The production of iron tools was gradually reduced and was replaced by the production /174/ of them by casting. By the end of the XVII century. the manufacture of iron tools almost completely ceased.

Copper foundry production in Russia in the 17th century. has not been widely adopted. The main reason for this was the lack of own raw materials; search copper ores and copper smelting in Russia did not yield significant results. In terms of their design and external decoration, copper tools were less perfect than iron ones. This circumstance should explain the fact that for more than a century the copper foundry production of tools could not supplant the manufacture of tools from iron. Both of these types of production continued to exist and develop simultaneously in the 16th - first half of the 17th centuries.

The most important achievement in the development of Russian artillery was the widespread use of cast iron for the production of guns.

Along with improvements in the production of tools, there were changes in their design. Loading guns from the breech, known as early as the 16th century, became widespread in the 17th century. and later. The surviving guns of this kind were of two types: in some, the breech was locked by means of a screw, in others, by means of a retractable wedge.

The second most important achievement was the introduction of rifled (screw) guns. The surviving rifled guns date back to the beginning of the 17th century, the same guns in Western Europe known since the end of the 17th century. 1. Consequently, in the manufacture and use of rifled guns, Russian artillery was ahead of Western Europe by almost a whole century.

In the 17th century, rifled, breech-loading guns (with piston and wedge locks) appeared in Russia, in which two major changes in the design of guns: barrel cutting and loading from the breech. In this form, weapons of the 17th century. had everything essential elements tools of later times, reflecting high level technical thought in Russia.

Rapid-firing guns designed for rapid firing in volleys received further improvement. Such tools in the XVII century. were known under the general /175/ name of organs and organs 1. All guns had carriages.

Production and use of gun shells of the 17th century. characterized wide application explosive shells (cannon grenades), which was facilitated by the emergence of metallurgical plants and the use of cast iron in the production of nuclei. For the first time cannon grenades were used during the war for the liberation of Ukraine. After the war, grenade production continued to expand. In the next five years after the war (1668-1673), the government received more than 25,000 cannon grenades from the Tula factories alone2.

Reviews of grenade shooting were periodically held. A description of one of these reviews, which took place on January 21, 1673 in Moscow on Vagankovo, in the presence of the tsar and representatives of foreign states, has come down to our time. The successes of grenade firing aroused the admiration and envy of foreigners. Mounted cannons (mortars), cast by Russian craftsmen in 1668-1669, fired grenades up to 13 pounds in weight, which was a great success for Russian artillery of the 17th century3.

Artillery of the 17th century It also had serious drawbacks, the main of which was the multi-caliber guns.

According to their purpose (type of service) all artillery pieces still divided into serfs, siege and field (regimental).

The most numerous was the serf town attire. In 1678, there were 3,575 guns in 150 cities and suburbs subordinate to the Discharge Order4. The fortress attire consisted of medium-caliber and small-caliber guns and was intended for the defense of cities.

In the Russian-Polish war of 1632-1634. artillery participated in the small (field) and large (siege) "outfit". In total, 256 guns were sent to Smolensk, that is, almost twice as many as Ivan the Terrible had during the siege of Kazan. This indicates a significant increase in the siege and regimental "outfit", despite the great damage inflicted on artillery by the invaders of the early 17th century. /176/

Significant changes have also taken place in the composition of the "outfit". All of these guns were divided into siege (50 guns) and field (206 guns). Siege (ramming) guns were very bulky and fired heavy cannonballs (stone cannonballs up to 4 pounds). Field guns were divided into military and regimental.

Military guns were attached to a large regiment, they were subordinate only to the governor of this regiment and served the entire army. The existence of a siege and field (military) "attire" is known in the 16th century.

Particularly noteworthy is the presence of regimental artillery, which arose in the Russian army as early as the middle of the 16th century. Each regiment of the new system had 6-12 regimental guns. The presence of its own artillery in each soldier, dragoon, and later streltsy regiment increased the maneuverability of artillery and increased the combat effectiveness of each regiment.

Equally important in the development of Russian artillery was the appearance of horse regimental artillery in the Russian-Polish war. Regimental horse artillery appeared along with the regiments of the new system and was attached to the dragoon regiment.

Major changes in the composition and organization of the siege and regimental order occurred during the war with Poland. As a result of the loss of the entire "outfit" that participated in the Russian-Polish war of 1632-1634, the siege "outfit" in the thirteen-year war was replenished with new mounted cannons (mortars), which fired grenades weighing from 1 to 13 pounds. Stone cores began to fall into disuse, the effectiveness of the siege "outfit" increased. Siege squeakers had solid cast-iron cores of 15-30 pounds. As a result, the siege "outfit" lost its former bulkiness and became more mobile and combat-ready.

During the war, the composition and use of regimental artillery expanded significantly. According to the experience of the soldier regiments, regimental artillery was introduced in the archery orders. Thus, all infantry now had regimental artillery. By the beginning of the 80s, the number of guns in each regiment increased from 2-7 to 5-21, and the caliber of regimental guns decreased; these guns had cores of 1-3 pounds instead of 5-10 pounds. This means that regimental artillery has become more mobile and combat-ready.

In general, the Russian army on a campaign in the second half of the 17th century. had about 350-400 guns. F. Engels pointed out that the number of guns that participated in the battles in / 177 / of the 17th century was very significant and that artillery parks of 100-200 guns were a common occurrence. exceeded the artillery of any Western European army.

All the improvements in the composition and organization of Russian artillery were the result of major achievements in the production of guns. The most ancient center of cannon production was the Moscow cannon yard. More than a hundred craftsmen and workers were constantly working at the Cannon Yard; in addition, Moscow artisans were involved in blacksmithing and other work. The productivity of the Cannon Yard could not satisfy the growing demand for guns, and simultaneously with the Moscow (large) Yard there were "small" cannon yards in Ustyug, Vologda, Novgorod, Pskov, Tobolsk and other cities. At the end of the XVII century. a new cannon yard in Moscow is also mentioned.

Until the beginning of the 1930s, only handicraft ore mining and iron smelting in manual blast furnaces existed in different regions. The iron mined in this way satisfied the needs of local state and township artisans, but this iron was not enough for the state production of weapons. The increased demand for metal forced the government to take measures to expand its own metallurgical base.

The search for their own ore begins. Numerous expeditions to the North, in the Urals, in the Volga region were crowned with success. In the 17th century in Russia, the first state-owned copper and iron-working plants (manufactories) appeared: Nitsynsky, Krasnoborsky, Pyskorsky, Kazansky, Smolensky, etc.

The short existence of state-owned factories is due to several reasons. The government had no experience in organizing such factories, and there were no qualified craftsmen. The remoteness of factories from metal processing centers hindered the continuity of their supply, and a small volume of products did not satisfy the country's needs for metal. Under all these circumstances, state-owned factories could not compete with private ones and gradually ceased to exist.

More viable were private ironworks (15 in total), which arose in the 30s of the 17th century. (Tula, Kashirsky, Aleksinsky, Olonets, etc.), who worked on local ore. Their appearance was caused by the military needs of the state. Under agreements with the government, factories were obliged to supply their products to the treasury; armament and equipment of the troops occupied the first place in this production.

Especially big role Tula and Kashira factories, which produced cannons, shells, handguns, etc., played a role in supplying the troops. For example, in 1668-1673. 154,169 hand grenades, 25,313 cannon grenades, 42,718 cannonballs, about 40,000 poods of iron and cast iron, and other products were purchased from them.

Private enterprise penetrated in the 17th century. and in such a branch of military production as the manufacture of gunpowder, which was supplied to the treasury mainly from private gunpowder mills (factories).

The productivity of state and private metallurgical plants in the second half of the 17th century. was so significant that it not only satisfied the military needs of the state, but allowed Russia to export cannons, cannonballs, hand weapons, etc.1 abroad.

Firearms- a weapon in which, to eject a projectile (mines, bullets) from the bore, the pressure force of gases generated during the combustion of a propellant explosive (gunpowder) or special combustible mixtures is used. Combines means of direct destruction ( artillery shell, mine, bullet) and a means of throwing them to the target (cannon, mortar, machine gun, etc.). It is subdivided into artillery and small arms and grenade launchers.

Firearms include jet systems salvo fire.

It is officially believed that firearms appeared in Europe in the 14th century, when the development of technology made it possible to use the energy of gunpowder. This meant new era in military affairs - the appearance of artillery, including a separate branch of artillery - hand artillery.

The first samples of hand firearms were relatively short iron or bronze pipes, deafly soldered at one end, which sometimes ended in a rod (all metal or turning into a shaft). Pipes without rods were attached to stocks, which were roughly processed wooden decks.

The weapon was loaded in the most primitive way - a charge of gunpowder was poured into the channel, and then an iron or lead bullet was introduced there. The shooter clamped the weapon under his armpit or rested it on his shoulder (however, the ground sometimes served as an emphasis). The fuse of the charge was made by bringing a smoldering wick to a small hole in the wall of the barrel.

Already in the first quarter of the 15th century, the first improvements appeared in the design of handguns - the barrels became longer, the butts were curved, the seed holes were located not on the aiming line, but on the side (and near these holes there were shelves on which the seed was poured), but on the barrel itself appeared sights. Such weapons in Western Europe were called culverins. The firing efficiency of such samples remained rather low, and the charging process took several minutes. A great inconvenience was the way the charge was ignited - the smoldering wick distracted the shooter from aiming.
Design small arms during the XIV-XV centuries. remained unchanged. Only minor improvements have been made. In particular, from the second half of the 15th century, the wick began to be attached to the end of a curved lever hinged to the weapon. When one end of the lever was pressed, the other (with an attached smoldering wick) touched the seed and ignited it. The lever was called "serpentine". Sometimes all weapons were also called serpentine. But in Europe, the word arquebus was more often used, and in Russia - the squeaker.

Push to further development firearms was the emergence of spark locks at the beginning of the XVI century. Their widespread use was made possible only by common development technology in Europe. The most widespread will be the so-called Nuremberg wheel lock. To activate its pre-cocked mechanism, it was necessary to pull the trigger. At the same time, a special wheel was released and began to rotate rapidly, the knurled edge of which, simultaneously with the start of rotation, was touched by a trigger with clamped pyrite. Before pressing the trigger, the trigger was pressed against the cover of the shelf by the force of the two-pointed spring, which, with the start of rotation of the wheel, automatically moved away, allowing the pyrite to come into contact with the wheel, as a result of which sparks were immediately cut out, igniting the powder seed. Before firing (of course, after introducing gunpowder and a bullet into the barrel), it was necessary to turn on the wheel spring with a key, pull the trigger away from the shelf in order to sprinkle powder seed on it, close the shelf, slide the lid on it, and bring the trigger to it. Wheel lock guns had many advantages over matchlock guns. More convenient handling, reliability and the ability to shoot in any weather. The main disadvantage of wheel locks was their high cost, which made it possible to arm only elite units of the army with such guns.
Around the same time ( early XVI century) a spark flintlock appears in Europe. In it, the sparks that ignited the charge were cut out from a piece of flint that hit the steel plate, fixed on the trigger. The advantage of a flint lock over a wheel lock was in the ease of production and use. The design of the flint lock allowed the shooters to reduce the interval between two shots to 1 minute. This is how the Flintlock weapon appeared, which was used for several centuries.

“Flintlock weapon - the term is more often used to refer to a firearm with a flintlock, the ignition of the charge in which occurred with the help of sparks, carved by flint when it hit a flint plate.

In the 16-19 centuries, flintlock weapons were in service in all countries of the world (including Russia). In Russia, flintlock weapons were used from 17.5 to 21.5 mm in caliber, weighing from 4.0 to 5.6 kg. Average range of a flintlock gun: from 140 to 800 meters. There were two types of flintlock guns: smoothbore and sliced. the rate of fire of smoothbore was 1 shot per minute, and for rifled ones - 1 shot in 5 minutes. in the middle of the 19th century, flintlock guns were replaced by rifles.

A bit of history:

The secret (if, of course, we can talk about a secret here) lies in the special properties of saltpeter. Namely, in the ability of this substance to release oxygen when heated. If saltpeter is mixed with any fuel and set on fire, a “chain reaction” will begin. The oxygen released by the saltpeter will increase the intensity of combustion, and the stronger the flame flares up, the more oxygen will be released.
People learned to use saltpeter to increase the effectiveness of incendiary mixtures as early as the 1st millennium BC. But it wasn't easy to find her. In countries with a hot and very humid climate, white, snow-like crystals could sometimes be found at the site of old fires. But in Europe, saltpeter was found only in stinking sewer tunnels or in caves inhabited by bats.

Before gunpowder was used for explosions and throwing cores and bullets, compounds based on saltpeter were used for a long time to make incendiary projectiles and flamethrowers. So, for example, the legendary "Greek fire" was a mixture of saltpeter with oil, sulfur and rosin. Sulfur, igniting at low temperature, was added to facilitate the ignition of the composition. Rosin, on the other hand, was required to thicken the “cocktail” so that the charge would not flow out of the flamethrower tube.

In 1320, the German monk Berthold Schwartz finally “invented gunpowder”. Now it is impossible to establish how many people in different countries invented gunpowder before Schwartz, but we can say with confidence that after him no one succeeded!

Berthold Schwartz, of course, did not invent anything. The “classic” composition of gunpowder became known to Europeans even before its birth. But in his treatise On the Benefits of Gunpowder, he gave clear practical recommendations for the manufacture and use of gunpowder and cannons. It was thanks to his work that during the second half of the 14th century the art of fire shooting began to spread rapidly in Europe.

The first gunpowder factory was built in 1340 in Strasbourg. Soon after, the production of saltpeter and gunpowder began in Russia as well. The exact date of this event is not known, but already in 1400 Moscow burned for the first time as a result of an explosion in a gunpowder workshop.

The simplest hand firearm - the handgun - appeared in China already in the middle of the 12th century. The oldest samopals of the Spanish Moors date back to the same period. And from the beginning of the 14th century, "fire tubes" began to shoot in Europe. In the annals, handguns appear under many names. The Chinese called such weapons pao, the Moors - modfa or karab (hence the "carbine"), and the Europeans - hand bombarda, handkanona, slopette, petrinal or culevrina.

As a rule, petrinal was mounted on a shaft, the end of which was clamped under the arm or inserted into the current of the cuirass. Less commonly, the butt could cover the shooter's shoulder from above. Such tricks had to be done because it was impossible to rest the butt of the handgun on the shoulder: after all, the shooter could support the weapon with only one hand, with the other he brought fire to the fuse. The charge was set on fire with a “scorching candle” - a wooden stick soaked in saltpeter. The stick rested against the ignition hole and turned, rolling in the fingers. Sparks and pieces of smoldering wood poured into the barrel and sooner or later ignited the gunpowder.

The extremely low accuracy of the weapon made it possible to conduct effective shooting only from a distance “point-blank”. And the shot itself took place with a large and unpredictable delay. Only the destructive power of this weapon caused respect. Although a bullet made of stone or soft lead at that time was still inferior to a crossbow bolt in penetrating power, a 30-mm ball fired at point-blank range left such a hole that it was a pleasure to see.

The knight's horse was not afraid of fire. But if, instead of being honestly stabbed with spikes, they blinded him with a flash, deafened him with a roar, and even insulted him with the stench of burning sulfur, he still lost his courage and threw off the rider. Against horses not accustomed to shots and explosions, this method worked flawlessly. And the knights managed to introduce their horses to gunpowder far from immediately. In the 14th century, "smoky powder" in Europe was an expensive and rare commodity. And most importantly, for the first time, he caused fear not only among horses, but also among riders. The smell of "hellish sulfur" plunged superstitious people into awe. However, in Europe they quickly got used to the smell. But the loudness of the shot was listed among the advantages of firearms until the 17th century.

This is what the European petrinal looked like.

This is how the arquebus appeared - a weapon with a caliber of 13-18 millimeters, a weight of 3-4 kilograms and a barrel length of 50-70 centimeters. An ordinary 16 mm arquebus fired a 20 gram bullet at an initial velocity of about 300 meters per second. Such bullets could no longer tear off people's heads, but steel armor made holes from 30 meters.

Shooting accuracy increased, but still remained insufficient. An arquebusier hit a person only from 20-25 meters, and at 120 meters, shooting even at such a target as a battle of pikemen turned into a waste of ammunition. However, light guns retained approximately the same characteristics until the middle of the 19th century - only the lock changed. And in our time, shooting a bullet from smoothbore guns is effective no further than 50 meters.

In the second half of the 15th century, arquebusiers took a firm place in European armies and began to quickly push out competitors - archers and crossbowmen. But how could this happen? After all, the fighting qualities of guns still left much to be desired. Competitions between arquebusiers and crossbowmen led to a stunning result - formally, the guns turned out to be worse in every respect! The penetration power of a bolt and a bullet was approximately equal, but the crossbowman fired 4-8 times more often and at the same time did not miss a growth target even from 150 meters! Low-powered rifles of the 16th and 17th centuries rested with the butt not on the shoulder, but on the cheek.

The problem with the crossbow was that its advantages were of no practical value. Bolts and arrows flew “fly in the eye” in competitions when the target was stationary, and the distance to it was known in advance. In a real situation, the arquebusier, who did not have to take into account the wind, the movement of the target and the distance to it, had a better chance of hitting. In addition, the bullets did not have the habit of getting stuck in shields and slipping off the armor, they could not be evaded. The rate of fire was not of great practical importance either: both the arquebusier and the crossbowman had time to shoot at the attacking cavalry only once.

The spread of the arquebus was held back only by their high cost at that time. Even in 1537, hetman Tarnovsky complained that "there are few arquebuses in the Polish army, only vile hands." The Cossacks used bows and self-propelled guns until the middle of the 17th century.

A fairly common misconception is that the advent of firearms put an end to the romantic “knightly era”. In fact, the arming of 5-10% of the soldiers with arquebus did not lead to a noticeable change in the tactics of European armies. At the beginning of the 16th century, bows, crossbows, darts and slings were still widely used. Heavy knightly armor continued to improve, and the lance remained the main means of countering the cavalry. The Middle Ages continued as if nothing had happened.

The romantic era of the Middle Ages ended only in 1525, when, at the Battle of Pavia, the Spaniards first used matchlock guns of a new type - muskets.

What is the difference between a musket and an arquebus? Size! With a weight of 7-9 kilograms, the musket had a caliber of 22-23 millimeters and a barrel about one and a half meters long. Only in Spain - the most technically advanced country in Europe at that time - could a strong and relatively light barrel of such length and caliber be made.

The long barrel provided the musket with relatively good accuracy for a smooth gun. A musketeer hit a person no longer from 20-25, but from 30-35 meters. But much more important was the increase in the effective range of volley fire to 200-240 meters. At all this distance, the bullets retained the ability to hit knight horses and pierce the iron armor of pikemen. The musket combined the capabilities of the arquebus and the pikes, and became the first weapon in history that gave the shooter the opportunity to repel the onslaught of cavalry in the open. The musketeers did not have to run away from the cavalry for the battle, therefore, unlike the arquebusiers, they made extensive use of armor.

The first attempts to create a castle in which fire would be extracted using an iron flint and “flint” (that is, a piece of sulfur pyrite or pyrite) were made as early as the 15th century. Since the second half of the 15th century, “grater locks” have been known, which were ordinary household fire flints installed above a shelf. With one hand, the shooter aimed the weapon, and with the other he hit the flint with a file. Due to the obvious impracticality of distribution, grating locks have not received.

Much more popular in Europe was the wheeled castle that appeared at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, the scheme of which was preserved in the manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci. The ribbed flint and flint was given the shape of a gear. The spring of the mechanism was cocked by the key attached to the lock. When the trigger was pressed, the wheel began to rotate, striking sparks from the flint.

The wheel lock was very reminiscent of the device of a watch and was not inferior to a watch in complexity. The capricious mechanism was very sensitive to clogging with gunpowder and flint fragments. After 20-30 shots, he refused. The shooter could not disassemble it and clean it on his own.

Since the advantages of the wheel lock were of the greatest value for the cavalry, the weapons equipped with them were made convenient for the rider - one-handed. Starting from the 30s of the 16th century in Europe, the knightly spears were replaced by shortened wheeled arquebuses that lacked a butt. Since they began to manufacture such weapons in the Italian city of Pistol, they began to call one-handed arquebus pistols. However, by the end of the century, pistols were also being produced at the Moscow Armory.

Preparations for the war with the Commonwealth in the early 1650s. put the Russian government before the need to resort to European experience and resources in order to increase the chances of success in the fight against a dangerous enemy. One aspect international relations Russia with the countries of Europe began to purchase weapons for the Russian army

Organization of the regiments of the "new system" in the early 1650s. to participate in the war with the Commonwealth forced the Russian government to turn to the purchase of new firearms and cold steel, as well as military supplies in Europe, since this was the most fast way to provide all necessary reytar, dragoons and soldiers. The use of European experience was not new to the government of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Back in July 1646, an embassy of the stolnik I. D. Miloslavsky and the clerk I. Baibakov was sent to Holland, which, along with solving other issues, was supposed to hire officers for the regiments of the “new system” and discuss possible supplies of weapons ( Bantysh-Kamensky N. N. Review foreign relations Russia (until 1800). Part I. (Austria, England, Hungary, Holland, Denmark, Spain). M., 1894. S. 181). However, the foreign trade activities of the Russian government in the early 1650s. stands out against this background with its turnovers.

Let's start, however, from 1651. In August, the Swedish commissioner in Moscow, I. de Rodes, wrote to Queen Christina about the incident in the Baltic possessions of the Swedish crown. Purchased in Europe and delivered to Riga, Narva and Revel, weapons for the Russian army were detained by the Governor-General of Riga, waiting for special permission from the Swedish Queen. The Russian government immediately demanded clarification from the Swedish commissar, insisting that I. de Rodes write to the Governor-General of Riga and convince him to let the weapon through. The commissioner wrote the required letter, but in his report he advised the queen to resolve the issue of arms supplies to Russia through the Baltic ports at the government level, giving the appropriate authority for negotiations in Moscow to I. de Rodes himself ( Kurtz B. G. State of Russia in 1650–1655 according to reports from Rhodes. M., 1914. No. 8. S. 56). It was about weapons ordered earlier by the Russian government, but this was only the beginning of the story.

Armament and equipment of a soldier of the middle of the XVII century. (source - www.academic.ru)

In March 1653, the incident with the delay of a shipment of weapons for the Russian government in the Swedish Baltic ports was repeated. Colonel A. Leslie, at the request of the boyar I. D. Miloslavsky, asked the same Swedish commissar about the detainee in Reval - a certain Anton Thomason, who was carrying a batch of pistols, carbines, muskets and locks bought in Holland on behalf of the king. When, in October 1653, arms again began to arrive from Holland through Revel and Narva, bought by the merchant A. Vinius for the Russian army, I. de Rodes, taught by bitter experience, asked in advance for instructions from Queen Christina in case the Riga governor-general suddenly decides to detain this shipment of weapons as well - what to answer the Swedish commissioner in Moscow to the question of the Russian government about this matter ( Kurtz B. G. State of Russia in 1650–1655 according to reports from Rhodes. M., 1914. No. 30, 33. S. 137, 142).

We can assume that already in the early 1650s. a certain route was developed for the delivery of weapons to Russia, and this route went from Holland, with which Moscow had long-standing and strong trade relations, through the Baltic states to the north-west of the country. Trade turnover did not decrease even later. In August 1653, Captain Just von Kerk Goven was sent to Holland to buy carbines and pistols, and on October 17, a messenger of the clerk of the Local Order G. Golovnin and an interpreter Dryabin were sent to Holland "with a letter of petition to the stats" about sending 20 thousand guns to Russia. muskets, as well as gunpowder and lead. On April 23, 1654, the messenger arrived in Amsterdam, a few days later he was introduced to the ruler of the Netherlands, and on June 21 he was released with a promise to send 20,000 muskets and 30,000 pounds of gunpowder and lead to Russia. The messenger was already in Moscow with a letter on December 29, 1654 ( Bantysh-Kamensky N. N. Review of Russia's foreign relations (up to 1800). Part I. (Austria, England, Hungary, Holland, Denmark, Spain). M., 1894. S. 184).

But this path was not the only one. Moreover, the difficulties that periodically arise with the Swedish authorities in the Baltic ports forced the Russian government to transfer the main direction of military purchases to the north of the country, to the port of Arkhangelsk. The inconvenience associated with the freezing northern port was obvious, but it guarded against unforeseen outbursts of official zeal among Swedish officials in Riga, Reval or Narva. Even in the spring of 1653, when the merchant A. Vinius was sent to Holland to purchase a large consignment of gunpowder, wicks and "other necessary accessories for the war", he was ordered to try to hold trade negotiations in Germany. A. Vinius had to find funds for this purchase by selling the grain accumulated in Vologda and 2-3 thousand barrels of potash, but just in case, the Dutchman received a loan of 10 thousand rubles and a bill of 25 thousand, which the merchant expected to turn into money on arrival ( Kurtz B. G. State of Russia in 1650–1655 according to reports from Rhodes. M., 1914. No. 31. S. 138). In October 1653, the servant of A. Vinius arrived in Revel, intending to move further to Narva, who was carrying the first batch of military supplies bought in Holland, namely “all kinds of carbines and spear weapons, several hundred pairs of pistols and carbines”, “ all kinds of weapons and armaments ”and even several large millstones for making gunpowder. The next batch of "gunpowder, wicks and other necessary military supplies" was to be sent from Lübeck to Narva, but the last batch from Hamburg was supposed to go by sea to Arkhangelsk.

Finally, neighboring Sweden has become another area of foreign trade activity of the Russian government. In the spring of 1655, negotiations began with the Swedes on the sale of muskets. Negotiations were conducted through the Swedish commissioner in Moscow I. de Rodes, who was able to agree on the sale of 8 thousand muskets with delivery to Nyenschanz, but the Russian government was able to bring down the price, and instead of the expected 3 Reichstalers apiece, they were ready to pay 2 , 5 Reichsthaler, and not even in money, but in “tradable goods” that the Swedish commissioner had to sell in order to help out the required 20 thousand Reichsthaler. They promised to give the commissar hemp as a "tradable commodity". In the end, the deal was still upset, the hemp, for which I. de Rodes expected to bail out even more than 20 thousand Reichstalers, was never given to him, and the Russian government no longer showed particular interest in the Swedish muskets. This behavior of the Russian government was also due to the fact that in the spring of 1655 a certain “commissar” was appointed. P. Miklyaev agreed with Lubeck merchants in Narva on the sale of 30 thousand muskets, which cost 1 r. 20 kopecks, 1 rub. 15 kop. and 1 p. 5 kop. apiece, and the merchants pledged to deliver the entire batch of weapons to Russia by next year. This reduced the price of Swedish muskets, and then completely upset the whole thing, in view of the Russian government’s not so urgent need for them ( Kurtz B. G. State of Russia in 1650–1655 according to reports from Rhodes. M., 1914. No. 38, 39, 42. S. 241–242, 246).

17th century pistol Germany. Replica (source - www.knife-riffle.ru).

Even a rather superficial sketch of the foreign trade activities of the Russian government in the purchase of weapons and military supplies in Europe, based, moreover, on a limited number of sources, gives an idea of its scope. In fact, during the preparations for the war with the Commonwealth and its first years, the main hopes of the Russian side for the successful arming of the regiments of the "new system" were associated with European manufacturers. This state of affairs will continue for a long time, until, finally, the Russian government begins to closely deal with the development of its own industry and achieves success in this, which everyone knows from the school history textbook.