Legendary products Tula Arms Plant

The best weapon February 26, 1712 Russian Emperor Peter I issued a decree on the basis of the Tula arms factory - then became a legendary company, which is associated with many successes of the domestic defense industry. TT pistol, rifle Mosin, Maxim machine gun - Today we will talk about the top ten most famous samples of products manufactured by this key factory in Russia.





Berdan rifle

Tula Armory affair began to engage in the sixteenth century, and by the end of the seventeenth in this city has been a lot of individual masters or even small enterprises producing weapons. And it is not surprising that this is where Emperor Peter I ordered to build a major arms factory in Russia. It happened in 1712.

Over the next half century the Tula factory produced many beautiful and not so samples of firearms, but the first truly famous and legendary model was the so-called "Berdan rifle" - Berdan rifle system with a sliding gate. Its production was mastered in 1879.



Mass production Berdan rifle allowed the plant to reach a new level of development, to grow quantitatively and qualitatively, to nurture talented designer, determine the future of the plant. For example, Sergei Mosin. Berdan rifle was produced until the end of the nineteenth century, and in the armies of different countries and used later. It is believed that the last case of its application in warfare occurred during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, when the Finns due to lack of arms had to use Berdan rifle, stockpiled since the time when Finland was part of the Russian Empire.



Mosin

Young designer Sergei Ivanovich Mosin came to work at the Tula factory in 1875, immediately after the completion of training in the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy in St. Petersburg. In 1880 he was listed as the head of the tool shop, and in 1891 was approved by the famous trilinear rifle, which received the name of its creator.



However, the mechanism of the shop "trehlineyki" was borrowed from the weapons developed by the Belgian revolver - this system has been more successful. Mosin rifle was produced in different variations with significant changes made in 1930, until 1965. It was successfully held two world wars and is still used in some armies as a sniper, ceremonial and even combat. Love her rebels in "hot spots" of the world and hunters (most Russian copies after the decommissioning of the armed forces were converted into hunting).



Maxim machine gun

In 1904 Russia bought the UK rights to the production of Maxim machine gun (in honor of Hiram Stevens Maxim designer). Already in 1910 the Tula gunsmiths significantly upgraded its making it smaller in size and weight by replacing carriage wheel on the machine and changing the cartridges used in the genital. The first combat use in the national army machine gun Maxim received by the Russian-Japanese war. Used it during the First World and the Civil War (it is put on the famous weapons Makhno carts, terrifies the Priazovskiye and Black Sea steppes, and the machine-gunner Anka Chapayev do not forget), and he lived up to the Great Patriotic War.



Maxim machine gun production at the Tula Arms Plant was completed in 1945, but it was used in the Red Army and later. Last recorded history fact of its use occurred in 1969 during the conflict on the Sino-Soviet.



Aviation gun ShKAS

In 1930, was designed in 1932 and put into mass production at the Tula Arms Plant was the first Soviet automatic rapid-aircraft gun - ShKAS, which became the main weapon of domestic aircraft until the end of the Second World War.



In 1937, it was developed advanced modification - UltraShKAS allowing an increase in rate of up to 2800-3000 rounds per minute. There is a legend that in the bunker with Hitler in 1945, found a copy of such weapons, located in a glass box. Hitler allegedly posed by German designer in this example is a machine gun and demanded from them to develop at least a successful model.



TT pistol

TT pistol (Tula Tokarev) - this is probably the most famous weapon ever produced in this arms factory. Its development began in 1929, when the army leadership has decided to abandon the Nagano and other foreign pistols, held at the Red Army. In the announced competition won development designer Fedor Tokarev, and in 1931 was made a trial batch of thousands of pieces. A formally adopted TT was adopted only in 1934.



Tula Tokarev distinguished by simplicity of design, ease of handling and maintenance, compactness, and low cost of production. He was produced until 1953, until it was replaced in the army Makarov pistol. In Soviet times, he has long been in service with the police, and now they are police officers, collectors and some other services.



Self-loading rifle Tokarev

Another well-known weapon developed Fedor Tokarev was the automatic self-loading rifle, production of which began at the Tula factory in 1939, and that same year she officially entered the Soviet army.



Automatic rifle Tokarev replaced the long outdated Mosin rifle. It was one of the best weapons in the world in its class in the middle of the twentieth century. Furthermore, in the production of this rifle first started to be used belt, thus speeding up the process and reduce the cost of its creation. However, consisting of 143 parts (22 of them spring) SVT still cost several times more expensive than the same rifle Mosin.



By the middle of World War II, it became clear that the multitude of advantages, Tokarev rifle has significant disadvantages that the designer could not solve. This is an unnecessary design complexity, high cost, the need particularly careful maintenance and more time for training recruits handling. And because in 1945 it was decided to stop production of these weapons.



Aircraft gun ShVAK

Another model weapons manufactured at the Tula factory during the war and forgotten after its completion - this gun ShVAK (Shpitalnaya-Vladimirov Air Launcher). It was created on the basis of the same gun, the test which proved that his design could withstand the increase in the size of the barrel to caliber 20 mm. History has preserved the name of the first pilot who had the courage to try new gun in a flight - in 1936 it was Valery Chkalov on the plane I-16.



ATRA contest

Since 1970, at the Tula plant produces anti-missile system "Competition", designed by local design office. This is one of the most popular and mass in the world ATRA, which is or was last in service in more than thirty countries.



Versatility ATRA contest allows you to mount it on the BRDM-2, BMP-1P, BMP-2, BMD-2 and BMD-3. Modernized in the eighties, competition-M and is still produced in large quantities for the Russian army.



Grenade launcher GP-25 "Bonfire»

In 1978, at the Tula Arms Plant began production grenade launcher GP-25, which is used in conjunction with AKM, AK-74 (AK-74SU, incidentally, also produced in Tula), as well as other domestic assault rifles.



Simple and reliable device is still produced in Tula. True, in the course of its upgraded version - GP-30 "Obuvka." Sighting range it hinged fire is 150-200 meters, maximum - 400.



-Automatic grenade launcher A-91

A-91 - a successful attempt to make the automatic, which would not need to attach an external grenade launcher. Both devices are one weapon - a compact, lightweight and efficient. When this has its own launcher sight mounted on the left and a trigger located in front of an automaton. Versatile and reliable-automatic grenade launcher A-91 was designed in Tula in 1990, and put into production - in 1991. Now it is used in special operations army and Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation, as well as actively being exported - this is one of the best models in the world of weapons of this class.



Source: ifun.ru