Korovin's submachine gun. The machine gun of the Great Patriotic War

When we remember the Red Army soldier of the Great Patriotic War, we invariably imagine a thoughtful, sad soldier who reached Berlin. Behind his shoulders - not only thousands and thousands of kilometers covered, but also the skate of the cape-tent, and in his hands - the faithful PPSh. But was the brainchild of the legendary Shpagin the only automatic weapon in the Red Army?

Of course, RPM and PPS were in service, the last of which many historians and gunsmiths are generally considered to be the best submachine gun of that war. But practically no one knows that there was also a Korovin submachine gun, in many respects in no way inferior to its "older brothers".

About him and his inventor, we'll talk about this article.

Prehistory

It was a terrible October 1941, when the Red Army retreated in all directions. The Germans tried to break through the ring of defense and get out to Moscow. The main attack was tank groups, whose vehicles approached the capital from three directions at once.

Tula was defended by the army of General Boldin, from which, after terrible and fierce battles, there was not much left. In order to somehow help the cadre military in the difficult defense of the city, the Workers' Council passed a resolution on the formation of a militia regiment of 1500 people. That's where the difficulties started ... If there were practically no problems with clothes and food for the volunteers, then the provision of weapons quickly turned into a painful issue.

Yes, in extreme cases it could be manufactured (the Tula Arms Factory, after all!), But it took too much time. Such luxury no one was going to provide to the defenders.

Weapon selection

However, it was extremely clear that the required weapons - submachine guns. Only at their earliest production was it possible to count at least somehow. Do not do the same high-precision rifles from pieces of pipes and rolled metal!

In short, the Tula people were placed in the same conditions as the British, who "made knees" made their "Stan" literally from scraps of water pipes. Engineers were unaware that in 1930 Sergei Aleksandrovich Korovin had already designed such weapons. It was not only simpler than the English "plumber's dream", but also twice as reliable and more accurate than that submachine gun.

Man of a difficult fate

Korovin was a little-known armourer. He took part in almost all test competitions, but the victory was won only by competitors: Degtyarev, Shpagin, Simonov ... The color of Soviet weapons culture, which created the best weapons of the USSR. It is still unknown whether the great Fedorov really loved his pupils so much that he awarded them prizes, or Korovin's weapons still had some design flaws.

"His" Korovin was not, that's for sure. He was a student of the Belgian master Browning. In the series, once only went his 6.35 mm gun, which until 1936 was freely sold to all Soviet citizens without any documents. The described Korogin submachine gun was completely lost in oblivion.

Therefore, the inventor had to be satisfied only with the development of prototypes on an initiative basis. Weapons, which then dusted in the windows of the Tula gun shop. It was there that the authorities found a submachine gun, which Sergei Alexandrovich once created to participate in the competition, where he won the PAP.

It took only a few days for the initial deployment of production, and by the end of October the first samples had already appeared. Near the village of Rogozhinsky gun passed its baptism of fire October 30, 1941. Once again, the Tula Arms Factory proved that it is able to produce superior weapons in any conditions.

The first combat application of PPK

In the early morning 40 enemy tanks broke through to the factory buildings. They were covered by several detachments of submachine gunners. Tanks Guderian decided to take the Tula in pliers, approaching them from both flanks. But they were waiting for failure: brave warriors undermined cars with grenades, threw them bottles with incendiary compounds. German infantrymen were able to try on a pistol-machine gun Korovin.

Archival sources indicate that the hot battle lasted more than four hours. The Nazis about five times tried to take the position of the Tula militiamen. The tanks were never able to approach them, and the infantry was mowing fire from Korovin's weapons. The submachine gun showed itself in that battle from the very best side.

Technical characteristics of weapons

Simplicity is the key to the success of this product of Sergei Alexandrovich. The Korovin submachine gun, which managed to fight at Tula, was radically different from the weapon that was submitted to the contest. So, he completely lacked a wooden bed, which required a long and painstakingly cut, and also there was no barrel casing. The latter required a special punching, which in those circumstances simply did not have time.

All the details of the submachine gun (except for the bolt and the receiver) were made by primitive cold stamping. Welding was used to connect them together. The very same box was made from ... an ordinary pipe (hello, "Stan")! In fact, Korovin for a couple of days was able to create a completely new weapon. In the war, it could produce any plant (even a semi-artisan shop), which even had the most primitive stamping equipment.

The "body" of the arms had a length of 682 mm. Applied (wire, on the hinged attachment) added to it another millimeter 400.

Automation and USM

As it is easy to guess, the principle of automatic operation was based on a free shutter. The initial speed of the bullet was 480 m / s. The barrel was locked with a bolt of increased mass and a return-locking spring. The fuse did not have a weapon. His role was performed by a cutout in the right side of the receiver, where you could start and lock the load handle. Shoot from the PPK in this position was absolutely impossible, spontaneous dropping of the handle from the locking slot was excluded.

The trigger and trigger mechanism of the weapon allowed the shooter to lead only automatic fire. "Zest" was a whisper, considerably advanced. This position of his provided high accuracy of the first shot. Trigger hook had a relatively long and smooth stroke, the force on it did not exceed 2.9 kg. A special ejector was responsible for the extraction of the fired cartridge case and for its removal from the weapon. It was fixed to the bottom of the receiver.

The sighting device was an open, simple design: there was a reed-type (100 and 200 meters), and a fly that could be moved horizontally.

Other features

Due to the large mass of the shutter group (700 grams), as well as the stroke of the shutter at 143 mm, fired the PPK with a very low rate: only 470 rounds per minute. Unlike the PPSh, whose name experienced front-line soldiers were deciphered as "a devourer of Shpagin's cartridges", Korovin's product allowed to economize ammunition. Adapted arrows without problems made from weapons even single shots, which from the same PPSh military years of release was impossible to achieve.

In general, if we consider all the submachine guns of the Second World War, then it was normal for American "Thompson" to fire single cartridges only. That's just worth it hundreds of times more expensive, even "unnecessarily complex PPD", what can we say about a penny PPK, which could be made from scrap metal.

On the folding wire butt, the backplate was attached (it could turn). A wooden cheek was put on the pistol grip of the weapon. Since these weapons in the "military" version did not have forearm, the fighter held his hand for a store made by the method of cold stamping. Capacity - 35 rounds, the chess location of the ammunition. Like other Soviet weapons of this class, this Russian submachine gun was used by the standard Soviet patron of that time - 7.62x25.

Undecidedly forgotten ...

If we take into account that it took only two days to deploy production, the weapons turned out to be fantastically reliable! Of course, there were shortcomings (not too reliable shutter, no forearm), but for all the positive qualities of PPC they can be safely forgiven. So in the rating of "Second-World Machine Guns" this weapon confidently occupied the first places.

Unfortunately, Korovin did not receive proper recognition. Sergei Alexandrovich still continued to create new examples of weapons, but in competitions traditionally did not take prizes. For his heroism and professionalism at Tula, he received only the Badge of Honor and the Order of the Red Star. Only before his death in the USSR did he "notice" his merits. The designer was awarded a modest medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War". Actually, this is the only award for his invention.

Conclusion

Even if one considers that none of his developments went into the series (except for the pistol), it is impossible to deny all those discoveries that were later used by other Soviet gunsmiths. Sergei Alexandrovich's achievements allowed them to create new weapons of the USSR with less effort and labor.