Original taken from berserk711 in Hats Off...

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5.45x39: small, but bold

The domestic cartridge 5.45x39 is a typical example of how the "arms race" stimulates the implementation of design solutions that are usually shelved. The idea of ​​adopting a small-caliber cartridge with optimal ballistic characteristics as the main ammunition for small arms automatic weapons was proposed and justified at the beginning of the 20th century, but gained practical implementation only at the end of the last century.

This, of course, is about the work of the outstanding domestic designer V.G. Fedorov, who back in 1913 offered his automatic rifle chambered for a reduced caliber of 6.5 mm, and in the 1930s and 40s. comprehensively substantiated the advantages of small-caliber small-sized ammunition at effective firing ranges. For more than a decade, Fedorov consistently and persistently defended the ideas of small-caliber, and then low-impulse ammunition, combining in his works not only a weighty theoretical base, but also rich practical material. However, for a number of reasons, including purely technological ones, his work did not have practical implementation for a long time, until the very notorious “arms race” factor joined the case.

Intelligence reports accurately...

The intensification of work to justify the use of small-caliber cartridges for armament of the army began in the late 1950s. after receiving information from abroad about the Americans' experiences with the 5.56-mm AR-15 automatic rifle and the new Remington automatic cartridge. The history of the development of the 5.56x45 ammunition and its adoption in 1962 for limited supply by the US Air Force has already been described in our magazine (No. 2 for 2011). It is only worth adding to it that already in 1959, two experienced American cartridges (the future M193) were at the disposal of Soviet designers. With them, the history of the creation of 5.45x39 began, which lasted almost 10 years. Such a long period of development and refinement of such a "small" ammunition is explained by the fact that the designers had to find a middle ground among the many conflicting requirements and parameters of a promising cartridge. So, in order to reduce dispersion and increase the probability of hitting a target, it was necessary to reduce the recoil momentum and power, but at the same time, to increase the penetration and lethality of the bullet, on the contrary, it was necessary to increase the power of the cartridge and the mass of the bullet. On top of that, the developments had to take into account a number of new calculated values, such as effective range and hit probability. To conduct comprehensive tests of the new American cartridge, a kind of “hybrid” was created from the domestic cartridge case of the “mod. 43 years old ”, re-compressed for experimental 5.6-mm bullets made according to the American model. For shooting were made trunks cal. 5.6 mm with rifling of the same steepness as in American weapons. Comparative tests of experimental 5.6 mm cartridges with domestic 7.62 mm mod. 43, carried out at NII-61, revealed a high instability of cal. 5.6 mm. This was due not only to the length and shape of the 3.56-gram M193 bullet, but also to the steepness of the rifling. The calculated data of the ballistic characteristics of the experimental bullet, its design, lethality and penetrating power also did not allow us to draw any unambiguous conclusions. Work on the study of a small-caliber cartridge continued, but with bullets of its own design. Initially, research was focused on choosing the most effective bullet shape and design, after which the characteristics of the cartridge's recoil momentum and DPV of the bullet were developed. In turn, this led to the development of a new type of gunpowder and the choice of its optimal weight, as well as to a radical change in the dimensions of the sleeve. To improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the bullet, its length was increased compared to the American one, and in order to maintain optimal mass, a steel core was introduced into its design (the presence of a steel core made it possible to further increase the penetration ability of the bullet). For the new bullet, a steel, tombac-clad (bimetallic) jacket was developed, which increased its strength characteristics compared to American bullets with a soft tombac jacket, which, after hitting an obstacle, fragmented into many fragments. As a result of the experiments, a bullet with a length of 25.55 mm and a mass of 3.4 g was worked out, which received the symbol 5.45 PS.

New sleeve

At first, in a 5.45-mm low-pulse cartridge, pyroxylin tubular powder of the VUfl 545 brand was used, but it was almost immediately replaced by lacquer, the latest development of the Sf033fl brand (spheroid, burning arch thickness - 0.33 mm, phlegmatized) of spherical graining with more high energy performance and higher gravimetric density. The sample weight was chosen as 1.44 g. Gunpowder brand VUfl 545 is currently used only for equipping 5.45-mm cartridges with bullets with reduced ricochet ability - PRS. Initially, new bullets were loaded into recompressed bimetallic automatic cartridge cases “mod. 43 years”, which by that time had already been mastered in the production of domestic sports and hunting cartridges 5.6x39 and were used in the Bars hunting carbine.
An experimental batch of about 2 million pieces was sent for testing to the Odessa Military District. However, when working in automatic weapons, a number of shortcomings appeared in the design of the sleeve with a large slope and too “thick” body. The use of the new gunpowder Sf033fl in the cartridge made it possible to reduce the diameter of the case body without losing the required characteristics of the ammunition. The project of the reduced sleeve was carried out by the engineer of the development group Lidia Ivanovna Bulavskaya. At the final development stage, the new compact ammunition received a conditional developer index (TsNIITOCHMASH, Klimovsk) - 13MZhV. After the final refinement of the bullet, carried out by cartridge production technologist Mikhail Egorovich Fedorov, it was assigned a caliber of 5.45 mm, measured according to the domestic standard - in the fields. For some time, the new cartridge was produced with bimetal sleeves, but at the stage of final refinement of the cartridge by 1967, more economical steel lacquered sleeves were worked out. The actual length of the sleeve was 39.82 mm, but in the now accepted international designation of this ammunition, it is customary to round the length of the sleeve to 39 mm. To equip the sleeves of the 5.45-mm cartridge, a brass primer-igniter of the KV-16 brand with a diameter of 5.06 mm was used, which later received the army index 7KV1. A large team of ammunition specialists led by V.M. took part in the creation of a new ammunition. Sabelnikov.
In parallel with the experiments on the ordinary, work was carried out to create cartridges with special bullets - tracer and reduced speed. After working out the entire complex of new small-caliber small arms of the Soviet Army - machine guns and light machine guns - the 5.45x39 cartridge received the GRAU 7N6 index and was officially adopted in 1974, although its mass production began in the late 1960s. Simultaneously with 7N6, ammunition with tracer bullets (index 7T3), cartridges with reduced bullet speed (index 7U1), blanks (index 7X3) and training (index 7X4) were accepted. The production of automatic cartridges was deployed at six Soviet cartridge factories - Ulyanovsk (No. 3), Amur (No. 7), Barnaul (No. 17), Frunzensky (No. 60), Lugansk (No. 270) and Tula (No. 539).

standard bullet

The 7N6 cartridge was loaded with a PS bullet with a conical bottom part 25.55 mm long and weighing 3.4 g. The bullet consisted of a bimetallic shell, a lead jacket and a blunt core made of grade 10 steel. There is a technological cavity between the upper end of the core and the shell of the bullet. The charge of gunpowder Sf033fl (since 1987 - brand SSNf 30 / 3.69) gives the bullet an initial speed of about 870-890 m / s. Subsequently, in connection with the increase in the level of protection of targets with personal protective equipment (IPB), it became necessary to increase the penetration ability of a conventional bullet. 5.45 mm, which was achieved through the use of a hardened core made of steel grades 65G, 70 or 75. A new modification of the 7N6M cartridge was adopted in 1987. The 7N6 and 7N6M cartridges do not have a special distinctive color marking. The subsequent appearance of bulletproof vests with titanium armor plates served as an impetus for the search for new ways to further increase the penetrating effect of 5.45-mm bullets. By 1991, specialists from the Lugansk Machine-Tool Plant (No. 270) had worked out a cartridge with an increased penetration bullet (cartridge symbol 5.45 PP), which, after being put into service, received the GRAU 7N10 index. The bullet of the new cartridge received an elongated stamped hardened core made of steel grades 70 and 75 with a pointed top and a flat cut of the head part with a diameter of about 1.8 mm. There was also a technological cavity in the head of the bullet. In addition to increasing the mass of the bullet to 3.6 g by increasing the length of the core, the mass of the powder charge was also slightly increased - up to 1.46 g. The new cartridge was adopted, but with the collapse of the USSR, the technological line for the production of 7N10 cartridges and the corresponding development remained in Lugansk. In this situation, Russian manufacturers urgently had to “re-develop” the 7N10 cartridge, which later resulted in a number of upgrades to the 5.45x39 cartridge, which will be discussed in our next issue.

tracer bullets

The second main cartridge of the 5.45-mm caliber ammunition was the cartridge with a tracer bullet, which was developed in parallel at the very early stage of experiments with small-caliber cartridges. The bullet structurally consisted of a bimetallic shell, a lead core in the head and a tracer composition with a calibration ring in the bottom. Due to the small size of the bullet, the tracer composition was placed directly into the shell without a tracer cup. To improve the incendiary effect, the composition itself was made two-component - from the main tracer composition and the incendiary initiating it. Until 1976, bullets with a length of 26.45 mm and a mass of 3.36 g were produced, which were soon replaced by shorter ones with a length of 25.32 mm and a mass of 3.2 g. Reducing the length of the bullet, without significant damage to its characteristics, allowed several to reduce the length of the cylindrical leading part, which, in turn, made it possible to reduce the wear of small arms barrels. The mass of the powder charge of the Sf0033fl brand was 1.41 g. The cartridge with a tracer bullet under the symbol 5.45 T and the GRAU 7T3 index was put into service in 1974. A distinctive marking of tracer ammunition was the color of the top of the bullet in green.

Reduced speed

Another regular 5.45-mm ammunition was a cartridge with a reduced bullet speed, which received the symbol 5.45US (cartridge index 7U1). It is designed for use with weapons equipped with a "silent and flameless firing device" - PBS. The experience of operating the domestic 7.62-mm AKM assault rifle and the PBS-1 device in the troops served as the basis for the development of a similar complex for the AK74 cal. 5.45 mm. In the course of experimental work, various types of "silent" bullets were consistently tested along with different models of silent and flameless firing devices - first with PBS-2, then with PBS-3 and, finally, with the final version adopted for service - PBS-4. During the development, the designers encountered a number of technological and physical problems associated with both the ammunition itself and the weapon under it. Small caliber and dimensions of ammunition cal. 5.45 mm made it very difficult to create a special cartridge with optimal characteristics. On the one hand, for the satisfactory operation of the PBS, it was necessary to reduce the charge (in order to obtain a subsonic bullet speed) and increase the mass of the bullet (to increase its lethality), and on the other hand, it was necessary to increase the mass of the powder charge to increase the effective firing range. At the same time, the difference in the length of the barrels of AK74 assault rifles, RPK74 machine guns and shortened AKS74U assault rifles made it almost impossible to create a “universal” cartridge that works equally in all samples. In addition, it was necessary to take into account the influence of the degree of wear of the small-caliber barrel on the ballistic characteristics of the bullet. With increased wear, the muzzle velocity of the bullet increased, and the excess of subsonic speed nullified the "subsonic" principle of muffling sound. As a result, a compromise decision was made - to work out the US cartridge only for shortened AKS74U assault rifles with their subsequent refinement for the improved PBS-4 device. This measure, in turn, limited the use of the PBS-4 to only modified models of machine guns and, accordingly, narrowed the general distribution of the complex to only some special forces of law enforcement agencies - the KGB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the USSR Ministry of Defense. The new machine with the designation AKS74UB was assigned the index GRAU 6P27. Additionally, the AKS74UB could be equipped with a BS-1M underbarrel silent grenade launcher with a 30-mm 7P25 cumulative incendiary grenade. This rifle-grenade launcher (SGK) under the name "Canary" was assigned the index GRAU 6S1. Throwing a 30-mm grenade was carried out using a special blank PHS cartridge supplied from an 8-round grenade launcher magazine. In parallel with the experiments on working out the PBS, there was a constant modernization of the US cartridge.

By the end of the 1970s, the first version of the cartridge was developed, consisting of an ordinary 7N6 bullet and a reduced powder charge. The cartridge had reinforced varnishing at the junction of the bullet with the sleeve and the top of the bullet was black. Then, a special bullet with a lead core and a reduced radius of the ogival part was developed for the US cartridge. A distinctive marking of the new US cartridge model was the color of the bullet tip with purple varnish. However, the mass of the new bullet was insufficient for the full-fledged operation of the PBS, and in addition to the lead core, an additional weighted core made of a tungsten-cobalt alloy (grade VK8) was introduced into the design. To improve the obturation of the bullet in the bore, its diameter was increased from 5.65 mm to 5.67 mm, due to which a characteristic ledge appeared on its ogival part. The total length of the bullet after completion was 24.3 mm. P-125 pistol powder weighing 0.31 g was used as a propellant charge. The production of several batches of the final version of the 7U1 cartridge was launched in the late 1980s. at the Lugansk machine-tool plant.

test cartridges

For testing weapons cal. 5.45-mm cartridges were developed VD (high pressure) and US (reinforced charge). VD (GRAU index 7SCH3) is designed to test the strength of weapon barrels in the factory. This cartridge is equipped with a bullet with a steel core weighing 3.5 g and a charge of gunpowder increased to 1.52 g. The VD bullet has an enlarged leading part due to the absence of a rear cone, like a conventional PS. A distinctive marking of the VD cartridge is the color of the bullet in yellow. A cartridge with a UZ bullet is designed to test the strength of weapon locking units. As follows from its name, it has a charge of gunpowder grade SSNf 30 / 3.69 reinforced to 1.46 g. The cartridge, which received the GRAU 7Sh4 index, is equipped with a conventional PS bullet with a steel core. The distinctive marking of the UZ cartridge is a black bullet.
Exemplary cartridges are intended for certification of ballistic weapons, testing of new samples of cartridges and carrying out control measurements during firing. Exemplary cartridges are made from the components of shaft cartridges, selected during mass production according to more stringent quality and geometric requirements. Exemplary cartridges have a distinctive marking in the form of a white bullet tip.

Soviet Minimi
In the second half of the twentieth century. the idea of ​​​​creating a machine gun with combined power was put into practice: from a tape and a magazine. This concept was implemented in the Belgian machine gun FN Minimi / M249, the Israeli Negev and the Czech Vz.52 / 57. In the USSR, such developments began in the fall of 1971 at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant. The objective of the project called PU (unified feed machine gun) was to develop a belt-fed machine gun based on the standard RPK-74 with the additional possibility of using magazine feed and increasing the efficiency of the base sample by one and a half times. Well-known design engineers took part in the work: Yu.K. Aleksandrov, V.M. Kalashnikov, M.E. Dragunov, A.I. Nesterov. The drawings of the first prototype were ready in 1973, and in the spring of 1974, preliminary tests of the first model of an experimental PU machine gun were carried out at the Izhmash training ground. In the same year, the prototype was submitted for testing at TSNIITOCHMASH. The development was called "Poplin". In the course of subsequent work, several models of machine guns with belt-shop feed were developed, which were tested at TSNIITOCHMASH and at the training ground of the Ministry of Defense. For experimental machine guns, several variants of metal belts with a capacity of 200 rounds were developed. The tape was placed in a duralumin box, which was attached from below to the receiver. The machine gun was developed for standard magazines from RPK-74 and AK-74, but in the course of work on the Poplin theme, high-capacity magazines were developed - a disc for 100 rounds (designer V.V. Kamzolov) and a drum MZO (designer V.N. Paranin). The last experimental model of the machine gun was assembled in 1978, but soon the topic was closed. According to the conclusion of the military, belt power, along with an increase in combat rate of fire, still increases the mass and dimensions of machine guns. Variants of machine guns with combined feed have a complex design of the feed unit and reduced reliability due to differences in the amounts of energy required for reloading with tape and magazine feed. Later, based on the results of the Poplin theme, a removable SPU tape feeder was developed, which made it possible to use tape feed for standard RPK machine guns and AK assault rifles. SPU consisted of a metal tape, a box and a tape feeder driven by a bolt carrier. However, this development was also not developed due to the complexity of the design and the large amount of adjustment of nodes.

Single and training

In the late 1970s to simulate the sound of a shot when firing from standard weapons cal. 5.45 mm by the designers of the Central Research Institute TOCH MASH V.I. Volkov and B.A. Johansen developed a blank cartridge. At the stage of experiments, a blank cartridge with an elongated muzzle crimped by a star was worked out. However, later preference was given to cartridges with a conventional sleeve and a white hollow plastic bullet. This cartridge was put into service under the symbol GRAU 7X3. A blank cartridge is used together with a special muzzle sleeve, which provides the necessary level of pressure of powder gases when fired and guaranteed destruction of the plastic "bullet". Until the 1980s a violet sealant varnish was applied to the junction of the barrel of the sleeve and the bullets of blank cartridges, later they began to use red varnish.
In the 1970s for training in the rules for handling weapons, a 5.45-mm training cartridge was developed (GRAU index 7X4). This ammunition, developed by the designer TSNIITOCHMASH V.I. Volkov, consists of a regular cartridge case with a chilled primer and a conventional PS bullet. The training ammunition has a reinforced fixation of the bullet in the muzzle of the case and four longitudinal grooves on the case body. Sealer varnish and distinctive color marking were not applied to the training cartridge.
In the Soviet period, the nomenclature of cartridges cal. 5.45 mm cartridge was much more modest compared to the 7.62 mm cartridge mod. 43 years. There were no cartridges with incendiary and armor-piercing incendiary bullets in this caliber. This was due to the small internal volume of the bullet, which did not allow the placement of "overall" elements of incendiary systems and any effective amount of initiating compositions.

5.6x45 "Biathlon"
A separate bright episode in the domestic history of small-caliber intermediate ammunition flashed a 5.6-mm sports cartridge "Biathlon". From the mid 1960s. in parallel with the development of a 5.45-mm automatic cartridge in the USSR, work began on the creation of sports small-caliber ammunition and a sports rifle. As in the case of the 5.45 mm automatic cartridge, the cartridge case of the 7.62 mm automatic cartridge "mod. 43 years". But, unlike military ammunition, the sleeve of a sports cartridge was immediately made of brass, which is the norm for sports cartridges. The result was a fairly powerful ammunition with a sleeve 45 mm long, which allows you to place a sufficiently large powder charge, and a bullet 25.0 mm long and weighing 4.93 g. The primer had a reinforced fixation using triple point punching. Under the new cartridge, Izhevsk designers Anisimov and Susloparov developed the world's first "biathlon" rifle BI-5 with fast reloading and low recoil momentum. The release of new cartridges was carried out in small experimental batches in the late 1960s - early 1970s. Small-scale production of BI-5 rifles was launched in 1973-1975. in the experimental workshop of Izhmash. At first, the cartridge and rifle were “run-in” at intra-union biathlon competitions, and in 1976, during the Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, the world premiere took place. The result exceeded all expectations: all the gold went to the Soviet team. N. Kruglov became the Olympic champion in the 20 km race, and the USSR national team became the Olympic champion in the relay. The new Soviet cartridge made a splash, because. at that time, even a regular 5.45-mm submachine gun was a secret for Europe with seven seals, and what can we say about highly specialized sports ammunition. A year later, the world of biathlon said goodbye to powerful cartridges: in 1977, at the Congress of the International Pentathlon and Biathlon Federation, new rules were adopted, according to which, since 1978, .22 “long rifle” became the standard cartridge for biathlon, and the distance to the target was reduced to 50 m.
The farewell of Soviet biathletes with a promising rifle took place in 1977 in the Norwegian city of Vingrom. The main hero of the sprint race was the outstanding Soviet biathlete Alexander Ivanovich Tikhonov. Without making a single mistake, leaving all competitors far behind, at the final stage of the race, the athlete took off his rifle from his shoulder, raised it above his head and thus overcame the last 300-400 meters of the distance. At the finish line, he defiantly threw his weapon into the snow, never to pick it up again. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the king of Norway, who was present at these competitions, could hardly hold back his tears - the scene was so piercing. So Tikhonov won his last, 11th, gold medal, and so ended the career of the domestic sports cartridge 5.6x45 "Biathlon". The following year, the World Championship was held in Austrian Hochfilzen, but with new rules and new cartridges. Our team returned from there without a single award.
To facilitate the equipping of magazines with cartridges, special fast-loading clips (index 6Yu20. 6) for 15 rounds were adopted. It was assumed that in conditions close to combat, a soldier would be able to have spare ammunition, pre-equipped in clips for quick reloading of magazines during the battle. The clip is fixed on the neck of the magazine using a special Y-shaped adapter (Index 6Y20.7). During the development of the clip, other options were tested, both with and without an adapter.

Container and marking

Packing capacity of 5.45 mm cartridges was a multiple of the capacity of a standard 30-round automatic magazine. Initially, the cartridges were packed in cardboard boxes for 30 rounds, but in the mid-70s it was decided to switch to a simplified paper wrapper fastened with two staples. 36 paper bags with a total of 1,080 rounds were placed in a metal welded-rolled box. Two metal boxes were placed in a standard wooden box for 2,160 ammunition. A stencil was applied to the lid of the box indicating the basic data of the ammunition. In parallel with the packing of cartridges in paper wrappers in metal boxes, it was practiced to pack 4 paper packs of 30 cartridges into moisture-proof bags for 120 cartridges and put these bags in a wooden box without metal boxes. With such packaging, 2,160 rounds of ammunition were also placed in a wooden box. A distinctive feature of ammunition intended for sealing in moisture-proof bags was a protective oxidized coating of the primer in black, which was abolished as mandatory in 1988. boxes and wooden crates. For cartridges with tracer bullets, a color marking in the form of a green stripe is adopted, and for cartridges with a reduced bullet speed, in the form of a black-and-green stripe. An unusual feature that has not yet found a documentary explanation is the system of symbols on the capping of 5.45-mm live cartridges produced before 1982, which differed from the standard scheme adopted for small ammunition of the Soviet Army. According to the “traditional” system of symbols, the caliber of the cartridge, the type of its bullet (PS, T or US) and then the type of cartridge case used (GZh - bimetallic, GS - steel lacquered) should be sequentially applied to the closure with cartridges. For some reason, until 1982, on all types of containers of 5.45-mm cartridges, after the designation of the caliber, the designation of the type of sleeve was applied, and only after it - the designation of the type of bullet, for example - 5.45gsPS instead of 5.45PSgs.

The legend of the "center of gravity"
It is worth noting that the unusually small cartridge was perceived ambiguously by weapons specialists and the military. "Grandfather of Soviet machine guns" M.T. Kalashnikov was categorically against the new ammunition, arguing that for a small and long bullet, or "punch", as Mikhail Timofeevich dubbed it at one of the ministerial meetings, it would not be possible to work out the survivability of the barrel. Indeed, initially the barrels of experimental assault rifles withstood about 2,000 shots, while the military demanded at least 10,000. 12,000 shots. A characteristic feature of the 5.45 mm ammunition is a sharp loss of bullet stability when it hits an obstacle. A curious video has been posted on the YouTube Internet resource, in which the Americans are almost point blank trying to shoot a TV screen from an AK-74 at an angle, but the bullets ricochet off its surface and cannot break it. This property of the bullet - to sharply change the flight path when meeting with an obstacle - gave rise to the people (and even in the army environment) of a stable legend about the "bullet with a displaced center of gravity." In fact, the center of gravity of the bullet, of course, lies on its longitudinal axis of symmetry (closer to the bottom) and does not "shift" anywhere. It's just that the combination of such indicators as the length and mass of the bullet, the position of its center of gravity, the ratio of the moments of inertia and the pitch of the rifling of the barrel are selected so that the bullet during the flight is at the limit of gyroscopic stability. When hitting an obstacle, the action of two forces - gravity and the force of resistance to the environment - create an overturning moment, in which light small-caliber bullets lose their stability and turn around. This property of the bullet causes certain inconveniences when shooting "on TV", but leads to serious injuries when it hits live targets.

The shops

The AK-74 assault rifle was powered from a box-shaped sector magazine (index 6L23) with a capacity of 30 rounds, made of orange AG-4V fiberglass. For RPK-74 light machine guns, high-capacity box sector magazines for 45 rounds (6L18 index) were developed, which were also made from AG-4V fiberglass. Since the 1980s stores for 30 rounds and new improved magazines for 45 rounds (index 6L26) began to be made from glass-filled polyamide PA-6 in dark purple, which received the nickname "plum" in the army environment. Since the 1970s, experimental work has been carried out with varying degrees of intensity to further increase the capacity of cartridge magazines. Options for creating steel 60-round magazines with a 4-row arrangement of cartridges were worked out, followed by the restructuring of the cartridges at the neck into a standard 2-row feed. However, the practical implementation of these works took place only by 2000, when a high-capacity magazine (RF Patent No. 2158890) made of black plastic was adopted by the power structures of the Russian Federation.

1. 5.45x39 7H6; 2. 5.45x39 7H24; 3. 5.45x39 7H10; 4. 5.45x39 7H22

A low-impulse intermediate cartridge developed in the early 70s by a group of Soviet designers as a counterweight to the American cartridge 5.56x34.5 (.223 Remington), which was widely used by the Americans in Vietnam in the 60s. By the beginning of the 70s, Soviet designers also realized the promise of intermediate small-caliber cartridges. A small-caliber bullet, having a high muzzle velocity, provides a high flatness of the trajectory, has good armor penetration and significant lethal force. At the end of the 1950s, news reached the Union about tests in the United States of a new M16 small-caliber automatic rifle. As usual then, along with the news, the rifle itself appeared. Legend has it that a hybrid was tested, consisting of a Kalashnikov assault rifle, an M16 barrel and a newly designed magazine. The tests served as an impetus for the deployment of their own program to create a small-caliber machine gun. The American barrel was caliber .22 or 5.56 mm, which corresponded to our small-caliber cartridge known as 5.6 mm. Thus began - rather as a tribute to fashion, and not an urgent need - the development of a domestic 5.6-mm machine gun. Again, the legend says that in Podolsk a certain number of American-style cartridges were made for testing, which they quickly abandoned and set about designing their own ammunition with a bullet of the same diameter. They did something, but remembered that in the USA a different system for measuring the caliber of weapons was adopted. We measure by the fields of grooves, and overseas, as a rule, by the grooves themselves. With the same caliber designation, our bullets are thicker than American ones in terms of rifling depth. So, in the early 70s, their .22 caliber with a bullet diameter of 5.56 mm turned into our 5.45 mm. There is nothing criminal in such a practice of reasonable borrowing: the same Americans, having received our cartridge, however, without a barrel, and having tested it to the fullest, came to the conclusion that it was superior to their own. Immediately, to some extent, they made an analogue of our XM777 bullet, replacing the lead core with a steel one. In the 80s, the Belgian SS109 ammunition with a steel core bullet was nevertheless adopted to replace the American M193 cartridge in service with NATO countries with a lead-core bullet. To defeat protected targets, along with the SS109, the P112 cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet was adopted. The 5.45 mm automatic cartridge with a 7N6 steel core bullet and a 7T3 tracer bullet was developed under the direction of V. M. Sabelnikov, a group of designers and technologists consisting of L. I. Bulavskaya, B. V. Semin, M. E. Fedorov, P. F. Sazonov, V. I. Volkov, V. A. Nikolaev, E. E. Zimina, P. S. Koroleva and others. The 5.45-mm cartridge bullet was developed "on the verge of stability", i.e. it flies steadily in the air and begins to "tumble" when it enters a denser medium - living tissues, wood etc. This is achieved by shifting the center of gravity to the bottom of the bullet. To ensure the loss of stability of the bullet in a dense medium, the bullet core is located in the shell of the bullet with a gap in the front of the bullet. There is a void in front of the core and jacket in the front part, which provides a shift in the center of gravity of the bullet and instability in a dense environment compared to air. Types of cartridges 5.45 x 39:

"PS" - with a bullet with a steel core (index 7N6, 7N6VK) weighing 3.30-3.55 g. Since 1986 they have been produced with a heat-strengthened (up to 60 HRC) steel (65G) cylindrical core. Bullet unpainted. "T" - tracer (7T3). Green bullet tip. The cartridge for firing from weapons with silent firing devices (index 7U1) contains a bullet weighing 5.15 g, which has an initial speed of 303 m/s. The coloration is a black bullet top with a green rim. Blank (7X3) with a plastic bullet weighing 0.22-0.26 g. It has a charge of special fast-burning gunpowder weighing 0.24 g. Training (without a charge). It is distinguished by the presence of four longitudinal stampings on the sleeve and a double annular crimp of the bullet in the muzzle of the sleeve. In 1993, a PP (7N10) cartridge was produced with a stamped core made of special grades of alloys such as steel 70 or 75 (a bullet with increased penetration), a bullet of which weighs 3.49-3.74 g pierces a 16-mm steel plate at a distance of 100 meters, elements body armor made of titanium alloys at a distance of 200 meters. The sealant varnish is dark purple, unlike the red in 7H6. A stamped pointed core is used, having a short ogive, and the nose of the core has a flat area with a diameter of about 0.8 mm. In 1994, a cartridge with a modernized 7N10 bullet of increased power was developed and accepted for production, the main difference of which is that the cavity in the nose is filled with lead, which prevented the shell from being pulled into the hole punched in the barrier by the core. Upon contact with the barrier by the pressure of lead, compressed between the head of the core and the bullet shell, the latter is destroyed. Such a device eliminates the pulling of parts of the shell into the hole, which increases the penetrating power of the bullet. In 1998, a cartridge BP (7N22) with an armor-piercing bullet weighing 3.68 g was developed and put into service, which pierces an armor plate 5 mm thick at a distance of 250 meters. In the 7N22 pool, a pointed core is used, made of U12A high-carbon steel, by cutting with subsequent grinding of the ogival part. The sealing varnish is red, the bullet has a black nose. FSUE PO "Vympel" (Amursk) produces a 7N24 cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet weighing from 3.93 to 4.27 g, with a speed of 840 m / s (data from the manufacturer's website). Exemplary cartridge - designed for comparative verification of the ballistic characteristics of cartridges stored in warehouses. Corresponds to the standard cartridge (7H6), but made with increased accuracy. The nose of the bullet is painted white. Cartridge with enhanced charge (US) - the entire bullet is entirely black. High pressure cartridge (HP) - the entire bullet is entirely yellow. Cartridge 5.45x39 (5.45x40) SN-P for the SONAZ TP-82 complex. The bullet originally had a lead core and a shell in the head part, later - a steel core and a hole in the head part. Bullet weight 3.6 g, muzzle velocity - 825-840 m/s.

1. 5.45x39 7T3; 2. 5.45x39 7x3

The main technical characteristics of 5.45 mm bullets

In recent years, the Russian arms market is increasingly experiencing events that just a few years ago were considered impossible. Numerous carbines in pistol calibers went on sale, the limit on the number of carried cartridges was increased, shooting clubs appeared where you can train with short-barreled weapons, new calibers for hunting weapons were certified. One of the most unexpected and discussed changes was the certification of the 5.45x39 caliber, previously unavailable to civilian shooters.

The first certified weapon chambered for 5.45x39 ammunition was the Saiga 5.45 in several versions. Of course, "Saiga" in this caliber did not appear yesterday - for many years this sample was produced and exported, mainly to the USA. There, our caliber was and remains in high demand due to the low cost of ammunition, comfortable recoil and good ballistic characteristics.

At the very beginning of 2014, new Saigis, version 08, were put into the production plan of the Kalashnikov concern, the first samples of which were produced and sent to the warehouse in June of the same year. All Saigas that appeared in stores were produced specifically for the Russian market, and the high quality of the new carbine is standard for the new products of the Kalashnikov concern, which in 2014 began a large-scale modernization of production.

"Saiga" for the Russian market was produced in three main versions: version 01 with a hunting stock, without a muzzle device, version 08 without DTK and version 08 with DTK, which is now presented in stores throughout the country.

The new Saiga has very few external differences from the machine gun: the fuse has two positions, marked with the Latin letters “S” (Safety - fuse) and “F” (Fire - fire), there is no middle support for the ramrod, and there is a non-automatic shutter delay. The shutter release button is located on the right side above the trigger guard. The bolt lag allows the bolt carrier to be locked in the rear position, which makes it easier to control the status of the weapon and allows the chamber and barrel to cool down faster after intense firing.

Otherwise, the new "Saiga" in appearance completely repeats the AK74M assault rifle. The barrel length and rifling pitch also do not differ from the combat prototype. On the left side of the receiver, as on all samples of the “hundredth” series, there is a side bracket for mounting optical sights, collimators and other sighting systems. The butt of the carbine is regular plastic, folding, with the folded butt of the carbine it is impossible to fire a shot.

The experience of using Saiga 5.45 carbines shows that regular army magazines for the AK74 assault rifle are suitable for this carbine without alterations, they snap in, feed, but the lack of a “rusk” leads to the fact that in some cases the last cartridge is not sent to the chamber. This problem is easily solved by bending the magazine feeder by 2–3 mm.

In the last few months, the carbine has been actively refined in accordance with the wishes of our customers. The following changes were introduced into the design documentation: the muzzle brake-compensator is no longer pinned, all carbines will be equipped with a "rusk" - a guide and equipped with ten-shot magazines in an elongated case.

The operation of the carbine showed that in terms of reliability it is in no way inferior to the Kalashnikov assault rifle, and in terms of accuracy of fire, on average, it surpasses carbines in caliber 7.62x39. "Saiga 5.45" is perfect for practical shooting - a reliable weapon will not let you down in a match, a good flatness of the ammunition trajectory makes it easier to hit targets at long distances, and the affordable price of cartridges allows you to train effectively. The new carbine will be an excellent weapon for those who would like to have in their personal use a civilian version of the assault rifle, which is in service with the Armed Forces.

kalashnikovconcern.ru

Characteristics of the rifle Saiga 5.45 version 08

• Caliber: 5.45x39
• Overall length: 925 mm
• Barrel length: 415 mm
• Weight: 3.27 kg.
• Magazine capacity: 10 rounds

Video review of the carbine Saiga 5.45 version 08

civilian weapons

The year 1991 was a turning point in the history of the 5.45x39 cartridge. After this milestone, the distribution and practical use of 5.45-mm automatic ammunition narrowed to the framework of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and work on the development and improvement of this ammunition with varying degrees of intensity was carried out only in a few former Soviet republics - in Russia, Ukraine and some time in Kyrgyzstan.

The Soviet government made a rather late decision to adopt weapons under the caliber of 5.45 mm into service with the countries of the Warsaw Pact. With even greater delay and obvious reluctance, the ATS countries adopted this ammunition and the Soviet small arms systems developed for it into service with their armies, and only a few of them created their own models of weapons in this caliber. And without having time to gain popularity among the neighbors of the USSR, the Soviet caliber 5.45x39 actually lost its relevance in the late 1980s. in connection with the reorientation of many Eastern European countries towards the Western model of statehood development, including in the military field. In the early 1990s, many ATS countries abandoned Soviet-style rifle systems and began re-equipping with NATO-standard models - calibers 9x19, 5.56x45 and 7.62x51. By the mid-2000s, not only some of the countries of the former Warsaw Pact, but also some of the former republics of the USSR officially joined the NATO military bloc, finally embarking on the path of “de-Sovietization” of their small arms. However, due to a number of political and economic reasons, the 5.45x39 is still the main submachine gun ammunition in many post-Soviet states. Moreover, the resource for its modernization is far from being exhausted, and it is unlikely that the 5.45-mm cartridge will be replaced by any other similar caliber in the near future.

Russia

In the early 1990s in connection with the general political and economic crisis in the expanses of the former USSR, work in Russia on the creation of new modifications of 5.45x39 was carried out rather sluggishly. Some revival was observed only around the cartridge with a bullet of increased penetration 7N10, since its production in the USSR was established only at the Lugansk Machine-Building Plant (No. 270), which remained in Ukraine. Almost immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the technical documentation for the cartridge with the 7N10 bullet was taken out of Lugansk and transferred to the Barnaul Machine-Building Plant (No. 17), where its serial production began in 1992. Since that time, the development of the 7N10 cartridge has gone in two directions. 7N10, developed in Lugansk, was left within the framework of the former, "Soviet" design, and its production was launched in 1992. At the same time, Barnaul specialists began their own work on its modernization in order to increase the penetrating ability of the bullet. Since 1994, the Barnaul plant began producing high-penetration cartridges with modernized bullets. A distinctive feature of the new bullet was a slight increase in weight (from 3.60 g to 3.62 g) due to the filling of the technological cavity in the head with lead. Also in the new cartridge, the mass of the powder charge was increased from 1.44 g to 1.46 g, which together led to an increase in the level of penetration of a 16 mm steel sheet of low-carbon steel grade St.3kp along the normal by 100 m to 60%. The cartridge received the GRAU 7N10M index and the symbol 5.45 PP gs. Later, in connection with the removal from production of the previous model 7N10 and the release of only a modernized version of the cartridge, he was left with the same index - 7N10, without the letter M. The distinctive color of the modernized 7N10 cartridge of Barnaul production is the application of a purple sealing varnish at the junction of a bullet with a sleeve.

After a brief lull since the mid-1990s, work on the modernization of 5.45x39 has begun again in Russia. The constant qualitative improvement of personal protective equipment (PPE) is forcing cartridge designers to look for new ways to increase the penetration ability of 5.45 mm bullets. By 1998, at the Barnaul Machine-Tool Plant, under the leadership of V.N. Dvoryaninov, a cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet BP (cartridge symbol 5.45 BP gs, bullet weight - 3.69 g) was developed and put into service, which received the GRAU 7N22 index. A pointed armor-piercing core made of U12A high-carbon tool steel is introduced into the design of the bullet, which makes it possible to penetrate 20 mm steel sheet St.3kp at a distance of 100 m along the normal. A distinctive color of the cartridge is the coloring of the top of the bullet in black and the application of a black stripe to all types of packaging containers. In the same 1998, another version of the armor-piercing bullet, the BS, was adopted for service, which has a special armor-piercing core made of a VK8 tungsten-cobalt alloy. A bullet weighing 4.1 g consists of a bimetallic shell, a ceramic-metal core, a lead jacket and a technological cavity in the head of the bullet. The design of the bullet provides penetration of 5 mm steel armor plate of the 2p grade at an angle of 90 ° at a distance of up to 350 m. The BS bullet received the index 7N24 and the symbol of the cartridge 5.45 BS gs. It is noteworthy that in the early period of production, the distinctive color of the cartridge changed several times arbitrarily - depending on the manufacturer. After being put into service, the top of the bullet of the 7N24 cartridge was painted black, similar to the bullet of the 7N22 cartridge. In the early 2000s, at the Amur Cartridge Plant, ammunition was painted with black varnish at the junctions of the cartridge case with a bullet and with a primer. Finally, the color of the cartridge has now been adopted, similarly to the discontinued 7H6 - with a red sealing varnish at the junction of the cartridge case with a bullet and primer. On the packaging container, except for the symbol of the cartridge, no distinctive color stripes are applied.
By the mid-2000s, ammunition with tracer bullets also underwent minor modernization. In the modernized 5.45 TM gs, the shape of the bottom of the lead core has been slightly changed, and a new type of tracer composition is used with the tracing range removed by 50-100 m from the muzzle of the weapon, providing a guaranteed tracing distance of up to 850 m. An index was adopted for the new cartridge GRAU - 7T3M.

New old developments From the moment the Kalashnikov assault rifle was adopted by the Soviet Army, the planned and initiative work of various design bureaus to further improve and modernize this rifle system did not stop. Not all of the experimental developments subsequently received practical implementation. But the experience gained by designers in the development of experimental samples often served as the basis for later developments. For example, Yury Alexandrov's experimental AL-7 assault rifle with balanced automatics, developed in the early 1970s, became the basis for the creation of AK-107 cal. 5.45x39 and AK-108 cal. 5.56x45 NATO to participate in the intersectoral state competition "Abakan" to create a new machine gun that exceeds the combat effectiveness of the regular AK-74 by 1.5-2 times. As part of the competition of the Ministry of Defense "Modern", announced in 1973, work began on the creation of a small-sized machine gun for armored vehicle crews. As you know, the competition ended with the adoption in 1979 of the AKS74U assault rifle. However, in addition to the "miniaturization" of the standard machine, during the "Modern" competition, a number of special technical solutions were worked out. For example, designer E.F. Dragunov, on the instructions of the Central Research Institute of ITCH MASH, developed a version of the small-sized MA assault rifle using the maximum number of plastic parts (high-strength polyamide), including the receiver, magazine and handle. Further developments in the creation of small-sized automata were used in the 1990-2000s. when creating submachine guns "Vityaz" and "Bizon" for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, as well as other types of small arms.

One of the absolutely new types of 5.45-mm cartridges in the recent history of this ammunition has become cartridges with reduced ricochet ability (abbreviated as RRS), which since 2002 have been adopted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. A distinctive feature of these ammunition is the absence of a steel core in the design of the bullet, which was replaced with lead. Such a bullet, capable of rapid deformation, makes it possible to minimize ricocheting when it hits various buildings during the use of weapons in urban conditions and significantly reduce its anti-barrier effect. In 1995, the Amur Cartridge Plant produced the first test batches of PRS-type cartridges, the design of which was based on a modification of the standard 7N6 bullet. The upper part of the shell of the 7H6 bullet was cut off to expose the internal cavity, and on the inside of the shell a semblance of 4 cuts was made, as a result of which, in its action, the bullet became similar to expansive hunting ones. The cartridges did not have a distinctive color, except for the blackening of the primer and the lack of varnishing at the joints. The PRSs produced by the Barnaul Cartridge Plant, adopted in the 2000s, are marked with a purple sealing varnish at the junctions of the cartridge case with a bullet and the cartridge case with a primer. The cartridge was assigned the symbol 5.45 PRS gs. Until 2008, the bottom of the case was marked with the standard commercial marking of the Barnaul plant - the plant logo and cartridge caliber, and since 2008 - the last two digits of the year of production, plant number (17) and cartridge type - PRS. Both the early tubular powder of the 5.45 VUfl brand and the later spheroid Sf033fl are used to equip PRS cartridges. Currently, the purchase of PRS cartridges by the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been suspended.

Auxiliary cartridges 5.45x39 as a whole remained unchanged, with the exception of blanks. Since the late 1990s the production of modernized blank cartridges was launched, structurally similar to the first experimental blanks of the 1970s - with an elongated muzzle, crimped into a "star", followed by varnishing the edge of the crimped muzzle. The production of new cartridges under the index 7X3M has been established since 2000 at the Barnaul Cartridge Plant (No. 17).

Ukrainian PDW In September 2006, in Ukraine, representatives of the famous Belgian company Fabric Nationale (FN) for the first time demonstrated samples of small arms of the PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) class, designed specifically for servicemen of auxiliary units. During the presentation, Ukrainians were presented with R-90 submachine guns and Five-Seven pistols chambered for a single small-caliber small-sized cartridge 5.7x28 (more about weapons and cartridges in O&O, No. 1/2007). To familiarize themselves with the new weapons and conduct test firing from the Ukrainian side, employees of some law enforcement agencies, as well as representatives of the arms industry, were invited. As it turned out, similar developments also existed in Ukraine. Since the mid-1990s, a group of scientists from one of the Ukrainian research institutes has been working on the development and implementation of original design solutions in the field of ammunition. One of the results of their work was the creation of an experimental small-sized cartridge based on the standard 5.45x39. Taking as a basis the previous mathematical calculations and prototypes, Ukrainian designers in the same 2006 presented a used small-sized pistol cartridge cal. 5.45 mm, which, in terms of its external dimensions, fully met the criteria for ammunition for weapons of the PDW class. The experienced Ukrainian ammunition had a very unusual design: a regular automatic 5.45-mm PP bullet (increased penetration, index 7N10) was installed in a regular sleeve shortened to 24 mm 5.45x39 with the bottom up. The bullet was centered by placing its "former" nose in a technological recess above the anvil of the cartridge case. The total length of the cartridge was about 35 mm. The cartridge was equipped with a charge of special gunpowder grade SP - 0.45-0.55 g. The first experimental firing was carried out using a ballistic installation with a barrel length of 130 mm and a rifling pitch of 135 mm. With an initial bullet velocity of about 540 m/s, the armor penetration rate per 25 m of a sheet of 2P armor steel with a thickness of 4 mm along the normal was about 90% of through penetrations. However, firing from a ballistic launcher was only the beginning. The PSh-45 pistol, developed by the Ukrainian designer Viktor Leonidovich Shevchenko, was quickly adapted to the cartridge. The choice of this weapon was not accidental, since its modular design made it possible to use several types of cartridges from among the most common pistol ammunition in the world in the same sample - by simply replacing the barrel and magazine. To use the experimental 5.45x24 for the PSh-45 pistol, it was only necessary to make a barrel of cal. 5.45mm and 16 round magazine. The results of test firing confirmed the performance of the “cartridge-weapon” system and the general prospects of working on domestic ammunition: the actual indicators of the muzzle velocity, armor penetration and other important characteristics of the cartridge were almost identical to the data obtained in the ballistic installation. —

Ukraine, Lugansk cartridge

The second country after Russia in which the production of the 5.45x39 cartridge has been preserved on a large-scale scale is Ukraine, where the remnants of the capacities of the Lugansk Machine Tool Plant, having gone through the difficult path of numerous transformations of recent decades, continue to work to this day. The legacy of independent Ukraine was not just a giant plant with various activities, but also one of the largest cartridge factories since the days of Tsarist Russia. However, the decline in military orders from the Ministry of Defense, the low liquidity of civilian products, the loss of contacts and disruptions in work with Russian suppliers eventually led to the systematic instability of the enterprise. The management of the plant, struggling with the debts of the enterprise and, at the same time, not forgetting about their own selfish interests, constantly sold hundreds of pieces of equipment for scrap, gradually destroying the plant. Separate deliveries of expensive cartridge lines abroad through the mediation of the Ukrspetsexport and Ukrinmash companies could not significantly improve the financial position of the enterprise, since the profit from transactions settled mainly in the pockets of intermediaries and officials. As a result, in 1998 the state-owned enterprise PO Lugansk Machine-Tool Plant was declared bankrupt, and in 2001 an investor in the reorganization of the plant was appointed in the person of CJSC Brinkford. Over the next 2002, all the assets of the LSZ were divided into three separate enterprises: two state-owned enterprises - SE Lugansk Patron and State Enterprise Lugansk Machine-Tool Plant and one private one - CJSC Lugansk Cartridge Plant (the main founder of which was the same company " Brinkford). Only two of them were directly involved in the production of ammunition. From that moment, despite the close interaction, the development of both enterprises went in different directions. SE "Lugansky patron" was engaged in the production of small arms ammunition on orders from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the private CJSC "LPZ" was engaged in the production of sports and hunting cartridges. At the same time, it was assumed that the main technical assistance with ammunition components for Lugansk Patron would be provided by a private manufacturer - LPZ. However, in the absence of state support, the state-owned enterprise was forced to constantly pay off its debts with its assets and production capacities, which, as a result, were almost completely concentrated in the hands of a private LPZ, and in April 2009, the state-owned enterprise Luhansk Patron was declared bankrupt. To date, the main manufacturer of 5.45x39 cartridges, both in its sports and hunting version and in the army sample, is only PJSC "Lugansk Cartridge Plant" (until 2010 - CJSC).
Until the mid-2000s, cartridges with a high-penetration PP bullet (index 7N10, later - the Ukrainian designation 7S2.00.000), blank 7X3, and also (small-scale orders by special services) US cartridges with a reduced bullet speed of an early design (sample of the mid-1970s) - with a lead core and a reduced charge of gunpowder. The US was assigned the symbol 5.45 USPgs.

Cartridges similar in design with a lead core are produced by a private LPZ for civilian circulation. Initially, the products of LPZ cal. 5.45 mm was produced only for export, but since the mid-2000s, after the certification of civilian hunting weapons of this caliber in Ukraine, 5.45x39 ammunition produced by LPZ began to enter the domestic market. Hunting cartridges with a lead bullet have the symbol 5.45x39-4 Pgs. The mass of a bullet with a lead core is 4.3-4.5 g. On commercial production cases, the company logo is stamped - LPZ and cartridge caliber - 5.45x39, and the old Soviet factory code "270" was also used on army nomenclature ammunition.

Returning to the prospects of the state enterprise "Lugansky patron", I would like to note that on April 28, 2011, the Economic Court of the Lugansk region opened the procedure for its reorganization. Whether this will make any sense, time will tell, because almost all the former production facilities of the state enterprise are already concentrated in private ownership. Yes, and all the main army options for cartridges - 9x18, 5.45x39 and 7.62x39 with bullets with steel cores - are now offered for sale by the same PJSC "Lugansk Cartridge Plant" ...

water world The experience of Soviet designers in creating rifle complexes for underwater shooting led to the emergence of unique theoretical and practical developments in the weapons and cartridge areas. Work in this direction was carried out in the USSR for several decades and ended with the adoption by the anti-sabotage forces of special samples of underwater weapons - a 4.5-mm four-barreled SPP-1M pistol and a 5.66-mm APS assault rifle. The design of the submachine gun cartridge is based on a standard 5.45 mm submachine gun cartridge case. The difference in the designation of calibers 5.45 and 5.66 is caused by the absence of rifling in the underwater smoothbore machine, along the fields of which the caliber is usually measured. In the case of an underwater assault rifle, the caliber is measured by the actual diameter of the barrel and bullet, which is 5.66 mm. The basis for work on the creation of an underwater submachine gun cartridge was the large-scale experimental developments carried out by a group of designers from TSNIITOCHMASH in 1968-1970. when creating a 4-barrel underwater pistol with active-reactive and later with active ammunition. Designers D.I. Shiryaev and S.I. Matveikin created active-reactive cartridges of 7.62 mm caliber, and designer I. Kalyanov - active 4.5 mm caliber (4.5x40R). Of particular difficulty at the first stage of development was the lack of theoretical and practical data on the ballistic specifics of the movement of ammunition in the aquatic environment, which is a complex relationship of hydrodynamic processes. However, in the course of experiments, Soviet designers managed to establish the fundamental principles for designing the head of the projectile elements, under which their stable movement in the aquatic environment is carried out. Long steel bullets with a head in the form of a truncated cone and a flat cut of the top (cavitator) created the so-called cavitation effect when fired, in which a long bullet, when moving in water, stabilized inside a kind of “bubble” - a cavitation cavity. Such a design of the head of the bullet with a truncated cone and a flat cut of the top was also chosen for the bullet of the 5.66 MPS submachine gun cartridge (small-caliber underwater special). A cartridge developed in the early 1980s. designers TSNIITOCHMASH P.F. Sazonov and O.P. Kravchenko for a special underwater machine APS designed by V.V. Simonov, consists of a steel varnished sleeve and a steel varnished bullet 120.3 mm long and weighing 20.7 g. The total length of the ammunition is 150 mm with a mass of 23 g. A charge of pyroxylin tubular powder brand 4/1 Fl (or 4/1 Fl Sp) weighing 1.45 g provides an initial bullet speed of 340-360 m/s. To seal the cartridge operating in conditions of constant contact with water, the joints of the bullet with the sleeve and the sleeve with the primer are covered with a special black sealant. To power the APS underwater machine, plastic magazines of the original form with a capacity of 26 rounds are used. The production of 5.66x39 cartridges was launched at the Yuryuzan Cartridge Plant No. 38 using automatic cartridges 5.45x39 manufactured by the Ulyanovsk Plant No. 3. In parallel with the testing of the APS machine gun, an experimental underwater machine gun was also tested, the use of which was supposed to be used on stationary coastal underwater installations, however, for armament this system was not adopted. The machine guns were fed with 5.66x39 cartridges using a metal loose belt, the link of which was almost equal in length to the total length of the cartridge. At present, new types of underwater cartridges based on the standard 5.45x39 cartridge case have been developed and are being tested by the army in Russia. Cartridges with a shorter sub-caliber bullet in a plastic pallet do not exceed the size of any regular submachine gun in their total length and are intended for use in a special two-medium submachine gun ADS. The design of the machine allows the use of both standard live ammunition for firing on land, and new underwater cartridges in the aquatic environment. Live cartridges were assigned the symbol PSPgs, and cartridges with a practical training bullet - PSP-UDgs.

former republics

After the collapse of the USSR, the former Soviet republics that gained independence continued to use the Soviet small arms complex, along with ammunition left in military depots. For most independent states, the stocks of the Soviet army will last for many more years, but some countries have decided to take on the heavy burden of cartridge production. Among them is Azerbaijan, which in 2010 declared its independence in the supply of ammunition. As we wrote earlier, the exact data on the supplier of ammunition equipment is not yet known, but with a high degree of probability it can be assumed that the lines for the production of ammunition were delivered to this country from Russia and Ukraine. Since 2010, Turkey has become Azerbaijan's partner in the production of military products, including cartridges. In the catalog of the Ministry of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan, 5.45x39 cartridges are represented by three models: 7H10 with an increased penetration bullet weighing 3.62 g; 7T2 with a tracer bullet weighing 3.23 g and blank 7X3 with a white plastic bullet weighing 0.24 g. All cartridges are loaded into lacquered steel cases. Ammunition with the 7N10 armor-piercing bullet is sealed with black varnish along the edge of the case mouth and along the contour of the primer, cartridges with a 7T2 tracer bullet are sealed with red varnish along the edge of the case mouth and along the contour of the primer, and the top of the bullet is painted green. Blank cartridges do not have distinctive markings and sealing. Presumably, Azerbaijani ammunition is marked with the manufacturer's code "050". Another former Soviet republic, Uzbekistan, decided to organize cartridge production using European technologies. In 1999, the government of this country signed a contract with the French company Manurhin for the supply of modern lines for the production of closed-loop ammunition. Production of the line for 5.45x39 began in the same year. It is interesting to note that the testing of the assembly line was carried out using cartridge cases and bullets purchased from the Indonesian company PT. PINDAD (Persero). In 2000, equipment for the production of cartridge cases was manufactured, and since 2002, Uzbekistan began its own production of ammunition at the Vostok plant in Tashkent. The new Uzbek equipment is designed for the production of cal. 9x18, 9x19, 5.45x39, 7.62x39, 7.62x54R in brass cases with a "boxer" type primer socket. The cartridges are marked by the manufacturer in the form of the code "601".

Neighbours

Perhaps the most characteristic illustrations of the distribution of 5.45x39 cartridges in the "pro-Soviet" countries can serve as Bulgaria and Poland. Bulgaria, which traditionally gravitates towards Russia, began production of 5.45x39 cartridges at least in 1984. All ammunition of this caliber was produced in lacquered steel cases with a red sealing varnish at the junction of the cartridge case with a bullet and primer. The nomenclature of ammunition almost completely duplicated the Soviet one and consisted of a cartridge with a conventional PS bullet weighing 3.5 g, a cartridge with a tracer bullet weighing 3.3 g (green bullet tip), a blank cartridge with a plastic bullet and a training cartridge with three longitudinal grooves on the body sleeves and a punched silver primer. The adoption of 5.45x39 in Poland, the eternal enemy of Russia, developed somewhat differently. The Polish military leadership decided to follow the path of their own development of weapons and cal. 5.45x39. In the early 1980s in Poland, the experimental design projects Tantal (development of 5.45-mm caliber weapons) and Cez (development of 5.45-mm caliber ammunition) were launched. The first experimental batches of ammunition were made in 1983, and the first prototype of the machine appeared in 1985. In January 1988, military tests of the machine began, and in 1991, the machine Karabinek automatyczny wz. 1988 Tantal and cartridge Naboj 5.45-mm x39 wz. 1988 were adopted by the Polish army. The range of ammunition was relatively small. The cartridge with a conventional steel-core bullet Naboj bojowy z pociskiem zwyklym o rdzeniu stalowym typu PS did not have a special color marking. Cartridge with a tracer bullet Naboj bojowy z pociskiem smugowym typu 7T3 had a green bullet tip. Only a small trial batch of tracer cartridges was produced. The first version of blank ammunition (Naboj swiczebny (sleepy)) had a cartridge case with an elongated muzzle crimped on top with a “star”. However, when using such cartridges, problems were identified with the operation of small arms automation. Therefore, a blank cartridge with a plastic hollow bullet of the “Soviet” type was soon developed. The training cartridge (Naboj szkolny) consisted of a cartridge case with a drilled primer socket filled with white plastic in such a way that the upper part of the plastic filler protruded from the cartridge case and imitated a live cartridge bullet. The Polish high-pressure and reinforced test cartridges were similar in design and color marking to the Soviet designs. The cartridges were loaded into lacquered steel cases. Issue of ammunition cal. 5.45x39 was set up at the Zaklady Metalowe "Mesko" factory (manufacturer code 21) in Skarzynsko-Kamenna. In 1996, the release of cartridges wz. 1988 was discontinued due to the adoption by the Polish army of the kb. wz. 1996 Beryl and 5.56x45 NATO ammunition.

Commercial use

In the first half of the 1990s. Russian cartridge factories experienced a severe economic crisis. The landslide decline in government orders, including for the main 5.45x39 submachine gun cartridge, forced ammunition manufacturers to look for alternative markets for selling their products. At the same time, active development of purely hunting ammunition models for export supplies begins; moreover, each manufacturing plant created the terms of reference for this new product on its own. The simplest solution, initially chosen by almost all ammunition manufacturers, was to replace the steel core of a military bullet with a lead one. The inevitable increase in bullet mass due to the heavier core was often offset by an increase in the technological cavity in the head of the bullet. Most manufacturers used for the first models of hunting bullets a regular bimetallic shell from a 7N6 cartridge bullet. Only the Ulyanovsk factory No. 3 equipped the lead core of commercial bullets in a shell from a standard 7T3 tracer bullet, since this enterprise has been the main manufacturer of this ammunition since the early 1970s. The same shell was used by the Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plant (UPZ) in the manufacture of bullets with a cavity in the head of the NR weighing 4.5 g. Wolf brand. After 2009, these products began to be produced under a new trademark - Tulammo. The cartridges are equipped with FMJ and HP bullets weighing 3.9 g developed by TPZ, and UPZ bullets using tracer bullet shells have been discontinued. The Amur Ammunition Plant under the trademark Golden Tiger (“Golden Tiger”) exports cartridges with two types of bullets - FMJ and HP weighing 3.8 g.
By the end of the 90s, at the Barnaul Cartridge Plant, for equipping hunting variants of the 5.56x45 cartridge, a line was developed of the main types of hunting bullets - with a cavity in the HP head (PN designation - empty nose, bullet weight - 3.56 g) and semi-shell with exposing the lead core SP (designation software, bullet weight - 3.56 g). The same line of bullets has been used since the late 90s for equipping hunting cartridges cal. 5.45x39. Barnaul cartridges are completed with varnished steel, galvanized steel and polymer-coated steel sleeves. By order of the American company Hornady Manufacturing Company, Inc., the Barnaul Ammunition Plant supplies steel cases with a polymer coating, which in the USA are equipped with a 60-grain (3.9 g) Hornady V-Max ™ semi-jacketed bullet with a plastic ballistic tip. In addition to the hunting variants of cartridges, the Tula and Barnaul factories produce the so-called “noise” cartridges, which in fact are regular blank 7X3 cartridges - with the only difference being that civilian designations are used in branding cartridge cases and the color marking has been changed.

MPU - cartridges for creation A purely peaceful purpose has another cartridge, created on the basis of the 5.45x39 cartridge case. This is an MPU mounting cartridge (reinforced mounting cartridge, TU 3-1064-78), which is used in special gunpowder tools during construction work. Structurally, MPU cartridges consist of a lacquered steel sleeve with a crimping of the muzzle “into a star”, a charge of smokeless powder and an igniter primer. Depending on the relative power of the cartridge, the mass of the powder charge and its energy, MPU cartridges are divided into three numbers and have a corresponding distinctive color marking on the crimped muzzle. MPU-1 with a white neck color (nominal power - low, energy - 1640 J) is used to punch holes in multi-hollow reinforced concrete panels with a special shock column UK-6. MPU-2 with a green coloration of the muzzle (conditional power - average, energy - 2200 J) is used for sealed electrically conductive connection of steel pipes using a PPST-33M press. Also in this type of work, the use of the MPU-1 cartridge is also allowed. The MPU-3 cartridge with a yellow neck color (conditional power is high, energy - 2700 J) is used for terminating electrical cables using a PPO-240 press. Recently, MPU cartridges have found another application - they are used for signal-dummy firing from a depleted military weapon cal. 7.62x25 TT (TT pistol, PPSh and PPS assault rifles) as part of military-historical reenactment activities and during filming. MPU cartridges are packed in paper wrappers, 30 pcs. (or in cardboard boxes in bulk of 250 pieces) and a total of 1000 pieces. are stacked in a standard metal welded-rolled box with subsequent stacking of two metal boxes in a standard wooden cartridge box.

For a number of reasons, the cartridge, being purely military, was not widely used in Europe as a hunting cartridge. This implies its low prevalence and a limited number of manufacturers. Basically, these are firms of those countries in which it was in service - Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, etc. In the end, I would like to dwell in more detail on one of the few European hunting cartridges 5.45x39, which was in the 1990s. certified by the German company RWS and which was given a rather unusual designation for a European manufacturer in the imperial system of units - caliber.215. The cartridge was completed with a bullet SG (Scheibengeschoss) with a cavity in the head and a mass equal to 3.8 g (59 grains). The sleeve is lacquered steel, without sealing paint at the junctions of the sleeve with the bullet and primer.

Bullets with a displaced center of gravity: reality and myths September 19th, 2016

Bullets with a displaced center of gravity are known to any person more or less knowledgeable about weapons. Various legends are associated with them, the essence of which boils down to the following: when it hits the body, a bullet with a displaced center of gravity begins to move along a chaotic trajectory; hitting, for example, in the leg, such a miracle bullet can get out of the head. All this is often told in all seriousness.

Do bullets with a displaced center of gravity really exist and are they capable of inflicting such injuries? Let's try to figure it out.

What are bullets with a displaced center of gravity?

The answer to the question of the existence of bullets with a displaced center of gravity is beyond doubt. Such bullets do exist, and for a long time. Their history began in 1903-1905, when instead of the previous blunt-pointed rifle bullets, two types of pointed bullets were adopted: heavy - for firing at long distances and light - for firing at close range. These bullets were distinguished by improved aerodynamics compared to blunt ones. They entered service with the armies of the leading powers of the world almost at the same time, and in Germany, the USA, Turkey and Russia, light bullets were first adopted, and in England, France and Japan - heavy ones.

Types of bullets Types of bullets: A - blunt, B - pointed heavy, C - pointed light. Squares indicate the center of gravity, circles - the center of air resistance.

Light bullets, in addition to improved aerodynamics, had a number of other advantages. The smaller mass of the bullet, taking into account the colossal volumes of manufactured ammunition, gave a significant savings in metal. The wearable ammunition of the shooter also increased. A light bullet had a higher initial velocity (compared to a blunt bullet - by 100-200 m / s), which, together with its improved ballistics, increased the range of a direct shot. The experience of conducting military operations in the late XIX - early XX centuries. showed that ranges up to 300-400 m are the limit for aimed shooting by an averagely trained fighter. The introduction of light bullets made it possible to increase the effectiveness of aimed fire at the indicated ranges, with the same training of shooters. The advantages of heavy bullets at close range were redundant. They were necessary only for long-range machine-gun and rifle fire.

The experience of the practical application of light pointed bullets revealed one not very pleasant feature of them. They fired from rifles designed to fire blunt bullets. The barrels of such rifles had gentle grooves, which were sufficient to stabilize blunt bullets, but the light bullets fired from them turned out to be unstable in flight due to insufficient rotation speed. As a result, the accuracy and penetrating power of light bullets decreased, and their drift increased under the action of a side wind. To stabilize the bullet in flight, its center of gravity began to be artificially moved back, closer to the bottom. To do this, the nose of the bullet was specially lightened by placing some light material there: aluminum, fiber or pressed cotton mass. But the Japanese were the most rational. They made bullets with a shell thickened in front. Thus, two problems were solved at once: the center of gravity of the bullet was shifted back, since the specific gravity of the shell material is less than that of lead; at the same time, due to the thickening of the shell, the penetrating ability of the bullet increased. These were the first bullets with a displaced center of gravity.

As you can see, the displacement of the center of gravity of the bullet was done not at all for its chaotic movement when it hit the body, but, on the contrary, for better stabilization. According to eyewitnesses, such bullets, when they hit the tissues, left fairly neat wounds.

The nature of wounds from bullets with a displaced center of gravity

So what caused the rumors about the terrible wounds inflicted by bullets with a displaced center of gravity? And how true are they?

Wound channel from the M-193 bullet

For the first time, incomprehensibly extensive (relative to the small caliber bullets) wounds were seen in relation to the .280 Ross cartridge of 7 mm caliber. However, the reason for them, as it turned out, was the high initial velocity of the bullet - about 980 m / s. When such a bullet hit the body at high speed, the tissues located near the wound channel ended up in the zone of hydraulic shock. This led to the destruction of nearby internal organs and even bones.

Even more severe damage was inflicted by M-193 bullets, which were loaded with 5.56x45 cartridges for M-16 rifles. These bullets, at an initial speed of about 1000 m / s, also have the property of hydrodynamic impact, but the severity of the wounds is not only explained by this. When it hits the body, such a bullet passes through soft tissues for 10-12 cm, then unfolds, flattens and breaks in the area of ​​​​the annular groove designed to fit the bullet into the sleeve. The bullet itself continues to move upside down, while many small fragments of the bullet formed during breaking strike tissues at a depth of up to 7 cm from the wound channel. Thus, tissues are affected by the combined action of fragments and water hammer. As a result, holes in the internal organs from bullets, seemingly of such a small caliber, can reach 5-7 cm in diameter.

At first it was believed that the reason for this behavior of the M-193 bullets was instability in flight due to too shallow rifling of the M-16 rifle barrel (pitch - 305 mm). However, when the M855 heavy bullet was developed for the 5.56x45 cartridge, designed for steeper rifling (178 mm), the situation did not change. The increased rotation speed made it possible to stabilize the bullet, but the nature of the wounds remained the same.

Based on the foregoing, the conclusion suggests itself that in itself the displacement of the center of gravity of the bullet in this case does not affect the nature of the wounds inflicted by it. The severity of the damage is due to the speed of the bullet and some other factors.

Ammunition 5.45x39 - Soviet response to NATO

It turns out that everything they say about the properties of bullets with a displaced center of gravity is fiction? Not really.

Following the adoption of the 5.56x45 cartridge by the armies of the NATO countries, the Soviet Union developed its intermediate cartridge of a reduced caliber - 5.45x39. His bullet had a deliberately shifted back center of gravity due to the cavity in the nose. This ammunition, which received the index 7H6, was "baptized by fire" in Afghanistan. And here it turned out that the nature of the wounds inflicted by him is seriously different from the same M-193 and M855.

Ammunition 5.45x39

When it hit the tissues, the Soviet bullet did not turn over with its tail section forward, like small-caliber American bullets - it began to randomly somersault, repeatedly turning over during movement in the wound channel. Unlike American bullets, 7N6 did not collapse, as its durable steel shell withstood hydraulic loads when moving inside the body.

Experts believe that one of the reasons for the behavior of the 7N6 ammunition bullet in soft tissues is just the shifted center of gravity. When it hits the body, the rotation of the bullet slows down sharply, and the stabilizing factor ceases to play its role. Further tumbling occurs, apparently, due to processes occurring inside the bullet itself. The part of the lead jacket, located closer to the nose, shifts forward due to sharp braking, which leads to an additional shift in the center of gravity, and, accordingly, the point of application of forces already during the movement of the bullet in the tissues. In addition, the bullet nose itself bends.

Given the heterogeneity of the structure of tissues, we get a very complex nature of the wounds inflicted by such bullets. The most severe damage to tissues by bullets of 7N6 ammunition occurs in the final section of the movement at a depth of more than 30 cm.

Now about the cases of "entered the leg - left the head." If you look at the scheme of the wound channel, then indeed, some of its curvature is noticeable. Obviously, the inlet and outlet of the bullet in this case will not strictly correspond to each other. But the deviation of the trajectory of the 7N6 ammunition bullet from a straight line begins only at a depth of 7 cm when it hits the tissue. The curve of the trajectory is noticeable only with a long wound channel, at the same time, with edge hits, the damage caused is minimal.

Theoretically, given the increased tendency of the 7N6 ammunition bullet to ricochet, a sharp change in its trajectory is also possible when it hits the bone tangentially. But, of course, hitting the leg, such a bullet will still not come out, for example, from the head. She just doesn't have the energy to do it. When shooting ballistic gelatin at close range, the penetration depth of the bullet does not exceed half a meter.

About ricochets

There is an opinion, moreover, typical for military personnel who have shot a lot in practice, about an increased tendency to ricochet bullets with a displaced center of gravity. Examples are given of ricocheting from branches, water and window glass when hit at sharp angles or multiple re-reflections of a bullet when firing in enclosed spaces with stone walls. However, the shifted center of gravity does not play any role in this.

Wound channel from ammunition bullet 5.45x39

First of all, there is a general pattern - heavy blunt bullets are the least susceptible to ricochet. It is clear that the bullets of the 5.45x39 ammunition do not belong to those. At the same time, at sharp meeting angles, the momentum transmitted to the barrier can be very small, insufficient to destroy it. There are known cases of ricocheting from water even by lead shot, which, for obvious reasons, cannot have any displaced center of gravity.

As for reflection from the walls of the room, it is true that the bullets from the M193 cartridge are less susceptible to it than the bullets from the 7N6 ammunition. But this should be attributed only to the lower mechanical strength of American bullets. When they meet an obstacle, they simply deform more and lose energy.

findings

Based on the above, several conclusions can be drawn.

First of all, bullets with a displaced center of gravity do exist, and are not some kind of secret or forbidden type of ammunition. These are standard bullets of Soviet ammunition 5.45x39. Stories about some “rolling balls” specially placed in them and the like are nothing more than fiction.

Secondly, shifting the center of gravity back was undertaken to increase flight stability, and not vice versa, as many people think. It would be correct to say that the displaced center of gravity is a common property of all small-caliber pointed high-velocity bullets, resulting from their design.

Thirdly, in relation to the bullets of the 7H6 cartridge, the shift in the center of gravity really affects the behavior of the bullet in the tissues. In this case, the bullet begins to randomly somersault, and its trajectory deviates from a straight line as it deepens in the tissue. This behavior of the bullet significantly increases the traumatic effect when hitting unarmored live targets.

However, there are no miracles like "hit in the shoulder, went out through the heel" and cannot be. This is a side effect of the use of small-caliber high-speed bullets with a strong shell, and not a specially incorporated characteristic. The role of the displaced center of gravity in causing complex atypical wounds and increased ricocheting by such bullets is greatly overestimated by public opinion.

sources