Technical characteristics of "Mauser K-96". Mauser C-96 pistol - the legendary firearm

There are few people who have not heard about the legendary Mauser pistol. Thanks to literary works and movies about the Civil War and the Revolution, in our country this pistol, together with the leather jacket, became a recognizable card of commissars and chekists everywhere and was proudly called "Comrade Mauser".

Did not ignore this type of weapons and foreign directors, showing the Mauser in many foreign films.

The gun was so much liked by cinematographers and science fiction writers that its forms are clearly visible in the outlines of intergalactic weapons - the blaster.

Prevalence of the Mauser

This model had considerable popularity as a civilian weapon almost up to the fortieth year of the twentieth century. Researchers, hunters, bandits, travelers - all those who needed a compact and powerful weapon, widely used the Mauser each for their own purposes.

At the same time, the Mauser S-96 gun could not get such widespread official use in the regular military forces of any power, but some countries for certain categories of military bought and used this type of weapons in relatively small quantities.

Also this type of weapons has been quite actively used informally in many military conflicts in countries of different parts of the world. The high rate of fire of the automatic model put the Mauser on a step higher than other similar firearms.

The fact that the pistol of this brand was not widely used is explained by the fact that it was expensive, heavy and relatively large. In addition, the Mauser was easily and heavily clogged with dirt, and it was heavily cleaned because of the complicated process of disassembly and assembly of the mechanism.

Another reason for not very popular was the design of the fuse: the weapons delivered to it could not be quickly unlocked with one finger at an unexpected threat, which made the owner of this weapon risk.

Creating a Mauser

The development of the pistol of this model was carried out by the German company Mauser in Obendorf, headed by the talented brothers Mauser: the elder Wilhelm and the younger Paul.

Employees of the firm, the brothers Federle, began the creation of the pistol in 1893, approved by the Kaiser Wilhelm II in March, and the owner of the company Paul patented the "Mauser S-96 (K-96)" in September 1895, and in 1896 the first samples were already produced.

The serial production of pistols began in 1897 and ended in 1939, during this time about one million units, including more than one hundred modifications, were produced.

Design features

The reason for the popularity of this type of pistol among certain circles of society is its unprecedented power at the time - the killer force of the Mauser K-96 was declared up to a kilometer of the bullet's flight. True, there was no need to think about aiming at such a distance: the bullets could be scattered up to several meters, even when the weapon was fixed.

In fact, the pistol with such characteristics was similar to a carbine. Mauser distinguished the presence of a long trunk, a non-removable magazine that was located in front of the trigger, a specific form of a handle in the form of a broom. The volume of the magazine was 6-20 cartridges, depending on the modification.

In accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, after the First World War ended, Germany ceased to develop and produce firearms with a trunk length of more than 10 cm. Spain took this baton, not only copying the Mauser S-96 model, but also creating its own modifications , Which later switched to German models.

From the twentieth to the beginning of the thirties of the twentieth century, German Mausers are produced with a few short 99mm barrels.

A new stage in development

After the Hitlerite party came to power in Germany, the creation of new army weapons began on an expanded scale. During this period, new innovative modifications of the "Mauser K-96" are being developed.

Modifications basically touched the hammers - they became smaller, the types of fuses and the length of the barrel changed several times. In addition, the early thirties of the twentieth century was marked by the creation of a pistol with a detachable box-store that housed from twenty to forty cartridges, and the appearance of the possibility of automatic shooting through a special two-position switch.

For example, the 712 model showed a firing rate of up to 1,000 rounds per minute. True, to increase the stability and accuracy of the shot with short bursts, it was required that the Mauser bead-holster must be used, since the powerful cartridge and the light barrel of the pistol gave a wide spread of bullets.

Appearance in Russia

In the Russian Empire, the "Mauser K-96" was seen in the same year 1896 and was recommended to be equipped with personal weapons by officers in 1908. But more actively this category of the military still began to use the revolver revolver than the Mauser: the price of this pistol was pretty Is high and was then about forty gold rubles.

In addition, since 1909 pistols of this model began to arm pilots-aviators, and since 1915 the Mauser got into the equipment of some specialized units and automobile divisions and went on sale as a civilian weapon.

Also, the pistol-carbine Mauser was widely used by the Red Army during the Civil War, mostly they were models of the 12th model with the caliber of 7.63. After the end of the war, the military was ordered to have almost thirty thousand such pistols, which the command staff of the army used until the Second World War began.

With the start of the Soviet-Finnish war, in addition to the three-line carbine, the Mausers became the weapon of the army's intelligence reconnaissance ski groups, and during the Patriotic War these pistols were at the disposal of partisan detachments.

Since 1920, Germany was producing weapons with shortened barrels, it was in this modification that a Mauser was delivered to Soviet Russia during this period: its caliber was 7.63, its length was 99 mm. The pistol was distinguished by cheeks from the walnut tree and swaying horizontally the antabaka on a short handle with twenty two grooves and a branded trigger. This model was called "Bolo", which meant a short one from "Bolshevik".

Later in Russia, the Mauser K-96 model, on which the image of the Order of the Red Banner was applied, was used as an award weapon for special services to the country.

Principle of operation of the pistol mechanism

When the weapon uses automatic, working on the principle of a barrel recoil, then the locking occurs behind the support platforms located on the shutter.

After the shot is fired, the barrel, being movable, overcomes a small distance, being locked. After that, the underbarrel larva rests against the ridge of the pistol frame, rotates perpendicular to the axis of the trunk and unlocks it, thereby allowing the bolt to retreat.

The larva in the mechanism of the pistol is connected with a moving box, in front of which the barrel of the weapon is screwed, and in the inner part the rectangular shape of the shutter moves. Two gritted teeth on the upper plane of the larva clings the bolt. When the mechanism begins to reverse movement, the larva descends, the bolt is released and the barrel stops. In this case, the shutter throws up the spent cartridge case, cockles the open trigger and sends a new cartridge to the barrel.

Characteristic qualities of the Mauser

The layout and design of the Mauser K-96 is called a revolver, its box-shop is located slightly ahead and is located in front of the lowering bracket, the weapon belongs to the category of self-loading pistols.

Mauser is the most powerful model of all known samples of automatic pistols of the time, the principle of automatics is based on the application of the energy of its recoil on a short stroke of the barrel.

The wooden holster for the Mauser from the nut served simultaneously as a butt. On its cut from the front was an insert of steel, on which a protrusion and a mechanism for fixing the joint of the handle and the butt of the pistol were arranged. The hinged lid of the butt-holster at the same time rested against the shoulder of the shooter. A holster was worn over his shoulder at the shoulder strap. More expensive samples were skinned from the outside and could be equipped with pockets in which they carried a spare cartridge holder and tools for cleaning and disassembling the gun.

The dimensions of the butt-holster were 355 mm in length, 45 mm in width in front and 105 mm in the rear.

The range of effective shooting was one hundred meters, provided the stock was used.

Structurally, the gun contained box-stores that were initially non-removable, mainly with a volume of ten cartridges, but there were variations with six or twenty warheads. All modifications of the box-shops had a two-row arrangement of ammunition, which filled from above. In this case, the bolt should have been opened, and the assembly itself was carried out either with a special combat cartridge, the number of cartridges of ten pieces, or one cartridge.

If there was a need to discharge the Mauser, then it was necessary to manually complete the full recharge cycle to remove each cartridge from the store. This was a significant disadvantage of this design, as it required strength and time. However, this defect was managed to get rid of, when new modifications appeared removable stores.

The Mauser pistol was equipped with aiming devices of two types: adjustable to a range of firing to a kilometer in total or fixed. And if you did not have to talk about exact shooting for long distances, then at a range of up to two hundred meters and using the standard butt-butt "Mauser K-96" showed very good results of killing and accuracy.

The safety lever was located to the left of the trigger on the back of the frame. Depending on the modification of the pistol, he locked the trigger with absolutely any position of the trigger, which was characteristic of the early models, or the locking occurred after manually retracting the trigger slightly back to the position when it was disconnected from the fuse.

Technical and tactical qualities of the Mauser

It should be noted distinguishing pistol "K-96 Mauser" technical characteristics:

• A removable or non-removable magazine is charged using a clip.
• Has a shock-trigger mechanism with a single action.
• The caliber of the pistol is 7.63, 9.
• Cartridges of calibers 7.63 * 25 Mauser, 9.0 parabellum, 9 * 19, 9 * 25 Mauser, cartridge 0.45 ACP are used.
• The weight of the Mauser without cartridges is 1 kg 250 g.
• The total length of the pistol with a conventional barrel is 312 mm.
• The length of the usual trunk is 140 mm, the shortened one is 99 mm.
• The number of cartridges in the store varies from 6 to 40 depending on the modification.
• The principle of action is a short-stroke barrel yield.
• The initial speed of bullet departure from the barrel is 425 m / s.
• Sighting range of accurate shooting without butt - 200 m, with butt-holster - 300 m.
• The maximum range is 500 m.

Pneumatic analog

The company Umarex at the exhibition of weapons Shot-Show presented its novelty, it began production of a pistol Mauser C-96.

The pneumatic "Mauser S-96" is characterized by such technical qualities:

• The energy source is a CO2 bulb of 12 g.
• Smooth trunk caliber 4.5 mm, length 14 cm.
• As the ammunition serve balls of steel in an amount of 20-30 pcs.
• The outer part of the analog is made of plastic, while the inner part and the trunk are made of a metal alloy.
• Single action of the shock-trigger mechanism.
• The velocity of the ammunition is 116 m / s.
• The device for the sight is a kink-shaped fly without adjustment and a vertically adjustable sectoral sight.
• There is a marking for a distance of up to a kilometer.
• The pneumatic Mauser is equipped with a non-automatic fuse.
• The total length of the pistol is 29 cm.
• The model differs in weight in 795 g.
• It is possible to switch single or automatic shooting.
• The weight of the model is 1100 g.
• The energy capacity of the shot is about 1 J.
• The price for the date of publication is, on average, from 4,500 to 7,000 rubles.

Principle of operation of a pneumatic analog

With the help of a clamping screw, a cylinder puncture is realized which contains carbon dioxide. In the cased form, the screw is behind the end of the magazine.

On the back side of the handle there are decorative slots similar to the combat weapon, in which they fixed a holster-butt with their help.

By the same analogy, a pneumatic gun is equipped with an imitation of the shutter release.

When a cylinder with carbon dioxide is inserted into the gun, it is required to pull the bolt and then cock the trigger to begin the shooting.

This pneumatic weapon is characterized by the economical use of consumables - gas: using only one balloon, the shooter has the ability to produce up to one hundred and twenty volleys.

Like the current Mauser, the fire switch in the pneumatic analog is on the left, but it does not perform its function by analogy with the combat model, since it is rigidly attached to the body and serves as a decorative part for greater similarity to a real gun.

Many companies today have tried to start producing similar weapons, but so far these attempts have not been successful and such a model has not appeared. So far only the manufacturer Umarex is the sole owner of the produced exact copy, most appropriate to the kind of this Mauser.