Chukchi and what they do. How do modern Chukchi live?

In 1873, the South American inventor Hiram Stevens Maxim invented a weapon, the introduction of which influenced the ending of many fights late XIX, first half of the 20th century. It was an easel machine gun, the mechanism of which was based on the use of recoil when firing. It can be called the first automatic weapon in the history of the world's population.

A decade before Maxim, Richard Gatling had already invented a machine gun, but to fire it you had to turn the handle, so it could be called “automatic” very conditionally. So the first automatic shooting device was invented specifically by Hiram Stevens Maxim.

Maxim did not specialize only in the development of weapons; his interests lay in other areas, so 10 years passed between the drawings of a new device and the creation of the first working standard.

custom_block(1, 35872163, 456);

In 1883, the inventor showed his brainchild to the South American military, on whom it did not make a good impression. The generals considered that the Maxim system machine gun had a very high rate of fire, and this was bad because it led to a large waste of ammunition.

Good start

Hiram emigrated to England and offered his gun there. The British military also did not show any particular ecstasy towards the machine gun, although it aroused their enthusiasm. The release of the new device began thanks to banker Nathaniel Rothschild, who financed the new endeavor.

The arms company created by Maxim began to produce and advertise machine guns. The operation scheme of this weapon, painstakingly developed by the inventor, was so perfect that, amazed by its reliability and reliability, the British adopted the machine gun, and it was successfully used during the Anglo-Boer War, causing countless protests among pacifist organizations.

Maxim comes to Russia

The inventor brought a machine gun to Russia in 1887. The caliber of the gun was 11.43 mm. Then it was made for the caliber of the Berdan rifle cartridge, which was then in service in Russian army. The military department placed a small order. The sailors also showed enthusiasm for the machine gun. Then the gun was converted to the 7.62 mm caliber of the Mosin rifle cartridge.

custom_block(1, 79886684, 456);

From 1897 to 1904, about 300 machine guns were purchased, and the history of the use of this weapon in the Russian army began. The weight of the machine gun was great - 244 kg. Mounted on a heavy wheeled carriage, similar to a cannon and equipped with a huge armor shield, the Maxim machine gun was supposed to be used for the defense of fortresses. Therefore, he was assigned to the artillery department. Since 1904, Maxim began to be produced at the Tula Arms Factory.

The new machine gun proved its extraordinary effectiveness in the process Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Already on the ground, it was removed from the cannon carriage, the dimensions of which were very significant, and installed on tripods.

And from 1910 it begins Russian history this weapon. The gunsmiths of the Tula plant, Pastukhov, Sudakov and Tretyakov, modernized the machine gun, and Sokolov equipped it with a comfortable, small-sized carriage. The design has been changed. The gun began to weigh about 70 kg together with water, which was poured into the casing to cool the barrel.

Custom_block(5, 60199741, 456);

The machine gun received the following performance characteristics:

• cartridges caliber 7.62 mm;
• initial bullet speed 800 m/s;
• target firing range 3000 m;
• combat rate of fire 300 rounds per minute;
• weight 66 kg.

The weapon was successfully used during the First World War and the Civil War in Russia. The gun was mounted on cavalry carts, which can be seen in countless films showing this period of Russian history.

Next upgrades

Modernization of the machine gun was also carried out in 1930, but was already insignificant. Thus, the hole for pouring water into the casing was expanded, which made it possible to fill it with snow in winter. And for long-distance shooting, the languid bullet of the 1930 standard was used. The caliber of the gun has not changed. For clearer shooting, the machine gun began to be equipped with an optical sight and an inclinometer. The barrel casing received longitudinal corrugation, which increased its strength. Other properties have also been changed.

We can say that the Maxim machine gun is a frequently encountered Russian machine gun during the Great Russian War.

Use of guns on aircraft and air defense forces

The Maxim machine gun began to be installed on airplanes, tanks, and armored vehicles. It has not gained much popularity on airplanes. The prerequisite was the heavy weight of the gun.

Back in 1928, the machine gun was mounted on a tripod and began to be used as an anti-aircraft gun, which has been very successfully used against aircraft since then. In 1931, the famous Russian gunsmith N.F. Tokarev created an anti-aircraft installation consisting of 4 machine guns. A special sight was also developed. This installation was successfully used throughout the Great Russian War.

Making a light machine gun

Back in 1924, the same gunsmith made a Russian light machine gun based on a heavy machine gun, significantly reducing its weight. The Maxim light machine gun weighed only 12.5 kg, and even that was considered a lot. Nevertheless, it was put into service, and in just one year the Tula Arms Plant produced almost 2.5 thousand units of this weapon. But its popularity, as annoying as it may sound, was far from the popularity of its easel brother.

End of production, but continuation of the story

In 1943, the Maxim was replaced in the army by a new weapon - the SG-43. This was the name of a new machine gun with an air-cooled barrel, developed by gunsmith P. Goryunov. Its caliber was also chambered for 7.62, but it had different performance characteristics. Its properties were more adapted to combat in the changed conditions, although it also had a fairly large weight - 27.7 kg on a tripod. The release of Maxim ended, but the story did not, and it continued to be used. The last use of this famous weapon is considered to be 1969, when Russian border guards used it during the conflict on the Damansky Peninsula.

There are facts that Maxim was used in 2014 during the defense of the airport in the town of Donetsk. Thus, the history of this weapon has lasted for more than 100 years.

Now in every museum you can see either a real Maxim machine gun or a model of a Maxim machine gun. They also make models of the famous machine gun for interior decoration.

Fascinating fact. In the inventor's surname, the emphasis was placed on the first syllable. But when talking about this weapon, the emphasis is usually placed on the last syllable, as is customary in the Russian language. Although, in the works of some poets, the Maxim machine gun is still played out with the original emphasis.

Video about the Maxim machine gun

Machine gun in action

The automatic operation of most modern machine guns is based on the use of recoil of the barrel during its short stroke or on the principle of removal of powder gases through a hole in the barrel wall. The machine gun is fed with cartridges from a belt or magazine. Firing from a machine gun can be carried out in short (up to 10 shots), long (up to 30 shots) bursts, continuously, and for some machine guns - also with single fire or a burst of a fixed length. The barrel is usually cooled by air. To conduct targeted shooting, machine guns are equipped with sights (mechanical, optical, night). The crew of the machine gun consists of one, two or more people (depending on the characteristics of the machine gun).

Types of machine guns

There are machine guns of small (up to 6.5 mm), normal (from 6.5 to 9 mm) and large (from 9 to 14.5 mm) caliber. Depending on the design and combat purpose, machine guns are divided into hand-held (on a bipod), mounted (on a tripod, less often on a wheeled machine), large-caliber infantry, anti-aircraft, tank, armored personnel carrier, casemate, ship, and aviation. In a number of countries, in order to unify a machine gun chambered for a rifle cartridge, so-called single machine guns have been developed and adopted as the main machine guns, allowing firing both from a bipod (light machine gun) and from a machine gun (machine gun).

Light machine guns

The food was supplied from flat disk magazines - “plates”, in which the cartridges were located in a circle, with bullets towards the center of the disk. This design ensured reliable supply of cartridges with a protruding rim, but also had significant disadvantages: large dimensions and weight of an empty magazine, inconvenience in transportation and loading, as well as the possibility of damage to the magazine in combat conditions due to its tendency to deform. The magazine capacity was initially 49 rounds; later 47-round cartridges with increased reliability were introduced. The machine gun was equipped with three magazines with a metal box for carrying them.

It should be noted that, although the DP magazine externally resembles a Lewis machine gun magazine, in fact it is a completely different design in terms of its operating principle; for example, in Lewis, the cartridge disc rotates due to the bolt energy transferred to it complex system levers, and for the DP - due to a pre-cocked spring in the magazine itself.

At the end of the war, the DP machine gun and its modernized version DPM, created based on the experience of combat operations in - years, were removed from service in the Soviet Army and were widely supplied to countries friendly to the USSR. The ATS was in service with the participating states until the 1960s. Used in Korea, Vietnam and other countries.

Combat experience on the fields of World War II showed that infantry needs single machine guns that combine increased firepower with high mobility. As an ersatz substitute for a single machine gun in a company link, on the basis of earlier developments in 1946, the RP-46 light machine gun was created and put into service, which was a modification of the DPM for belt feeding, which, coupled with a weighted barrel, provided greater firepower at maintaining acceptable maneuverability.

Degtyarev light machine gun (RPD)

7.62 mm Degtyarev light machine gun (RPD, GAU Index - 56-R-327) - Soviet light machine gun, developed in 1944 and chambered for 7.62x39 mm cartridge. The RPD became one of the first weapons chambered for the 1943 cartridge to be put into service. From the early 1950s to the mid-1960s, it was the main squad-level support weapon, and then gradually began to be replaced by the PKK, which was more preferable from a unification point of view. However, the RPD is still in the warehouses of the army reserves. Like many other types of Soviet weapons, the RPD was widely exported to countries friendly to the USSR, and was also produced abroad, for example, in China under the designation Type 56.

The range of a direct shot at the chest figure is 365 m. Fire at air targets is carried out at a distance of up to 500 m. The bullet retains its lethal effect at a distance of up to 1.5 km.

Combat rate of fire - up to 150 rounds per minute. Intensive burst fire without barrel cooling is possible up to 300 rounds.

Kalashnikov light machine gun (RPK)

7.62 mm Kalashnikov light machine gun (PKK, GRAU Index - 6P2) - Soviet light machine gun, created on the basis of the AKM assault rifle. Adopted Soviet army in 1961.

Madsen

FN Minimi

Bisal MK 2

Breda 30

Stoner

Lewis

Bren

Single machine guns

MG-34

MG-42

PC

MG-3

UKM-2000

FN MAG

Pecheneg

Heavy machine guns

Maxim machine gun

Maxim machine gun (“Maxim”)- an easel machine gun developed by the American gunsmith Hiram Stephens Maxim ( Hiram Stevens Maxim) in 1883. The Maxim machine gun became the ancestor of all automatic weapons; it was widely used during the Boer War, World War I and World War II.

The Maxim system machine gun (or simply “Maxim”) is an automatic weapon based on automatic recoil with a short-stroke barrel. As the shot is fired, the powder gases send the barrel back, setting in motion the reloading mechanism, which removes the cartridge from the fabric tape, sends it into the breech and at the same time cocks the bolt. After firing the shot, the operation is repeated again. The machine gun has an average rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, and the combat rate of fire is 250-300 rounds per minute.

To fire a 1910 model machine gun, 7.62x54 mm R rifle cartridges with 1908 model (light bullet) and 1930 model (heavy bullet) bullets are used. The trigger system is designed only for automatic fire and has a safety lock against accidental shots. The machine gun is powered by cartridges from a slider-type receiver, with a fabric or metal belt with a capacity of 250 cartridges, which appeared later. The sighting device includes a rack-mount sight and a front sight with a rectangular top. Some machine guns could also be equipped with an optical sight. The machine gun was initially mounted on bulky carriages, modeled after mitrailleuse carriages; then portable machines appeared, usually on tripods; in the Russian army since 1910 a wheeled machine developed by Colonel A. A. Sokolov was used. This machine gave the machine gun sufficient stability when firing and, unlike tripods, made it possible to easily move the machine gun when changing position.

Machine gun "Maxim" model 1910 in comparison with other machine guns:

Name	A country	Cartridge	Length, mm	Weight, kg	Rate of fire, rds/min	Sighting range, m	Initial bullet speed, m/s
"Maxim" model 1910	Russian empire/USSR	7.62×54 mm	1067	64,3	600	1000	865 (bullet model 1908) 800 (heavy bullet model 1931)
Schwarzlose M.07/12	Austria-Hungary	8×50 mm R Mannlicher	945	41,4	400-580	2000	610
MG-08	German Empire	7.92×57 mm	1190	64	500-600	2400	815
Vickers	Great Britain	.303 British	1100	50	500-600	740	745
Lewis	Great Britain	.303 British	1280	14,5	500	1830	747
Hotchkiss M1914	France	8×50 mm R Lebel	1390	23.58 (46.8 on the machine)	500	2000	746
Browning M1917	USA	7.62×63 mm	1219	47	450-600	1370	854

Vickers heavy machine gun

Browning M1917

Maschinengewehr 08

SG-43

DS-39

Heavy (large-caliber) machine guns

Browning M2

DShK

CPV

NSV-12.7

Cord

CIS 50MG

Large-caliber infantry machine guns are mounted on wheeled or tripod-mounted machines or attached to the embrasures of bunkers, and are used in these units to combat lightly armored ground targets. Infantry machine guns are usually used as anti-aircraft, tank, armored personnel carrier, casemate and ship-mounted ones, somewhat modified taking into account the peculiarities of their installation and operation at sites.

Aviation machine guns

Breda-SAFAT

MG-15

MG-17

MG-81

MG-131

Type 92

PV-1

ShKAS

UB

Tank machine guns

DT

Kalashnikov tank machine gun (PKT)

KPVT

NSVT

BESA

Machine gun design

A machine gun, as a rule, consists of the following main parts and mechanisms: barrel, receiver (box), bolt, trigger mechanism, return spring (return mechanism), sight, magazine (receiver). Light and single machine guns are usually equipped with butts for better stability when firing.

Thanks to the use of a massive barrel, easel and single machine guns provide a high practical rate of fire (up to 250-300 rounds per minute) and allow intense shooting without changing the barrel up to 500, and large-caliber ones - up to 150 shots. When overheating, the barrels are replaced.

Due to the barrel heating factor at a high rate of fire, all machine guns (with the exception of light machine guns developed on the basis of automatic rifles) have the following fundamental differences from other automatic weapons in the design and operation of the mechanism. When the weapon is cocked, the cartridge is not located in the breech of the barrel - as is done in automatic rifles, pistols or submachine guns. In machine guns, the cartridge is located in the bolt group on the line of chambering into the barrel, not inserted into the breech. This is done in order to prevent jamming of the cartridge case in the breech of an overheated barrel and sintering of the cartridge case with the breech during breaks between firing.

Invention and development of machine guns

Machine guns appeared on the battlefield as a result of a constant and persistent search for a way to increase the density of fire against an advancing enemy by increasing the rate of fire of weapons in service with the army. One of the ways to increase the rate of fire was to create weapons that provide continuous fire. This is how the machine gun appeared.

The prototypes of machine guns were a block of rifle barrels mounted on an artillery carriage, firing alternately with continuous fire. Reloading and firing a shot was carried out using the muscular energy of the crew.

Since the 16th century, attempts have been made to create revolver-type pistols and shotguns (with drums). In 1718, the English lawyer James Puckle patented the Puckle gun, which was a gun mounted on a tripod and equipped with a drum. The rate of fire more than doubled compared to a conventional gun (from 4 to 9 rounds per minute), but the gun was also more cumbersome to handle, requiring several servants who otherwise could fire themselves. It was of no interest to anyone and was not adopted. In addition, the appearance of the drum freed up the reloading of cartridges, but not the manipulation of adding primer to the flintlock, which also took considerable time during reloading. Thus, before the advent of a unitary cartridge, there could be no talk of a true rate of fire in our understanding, and therefore a cannon firing buckshot remained the simplest, cheapest to produce and effective weapon ensuring massive defeat of the enemy.

The immediate predecessor of the machine gun is the mitrailleuse - a burst-firing weapon chambered for a unitary cartridge, manually operated and with several barrels. Usually they consisted of several single-shot mechanisms combined into a block.

In 1718, English lawyer James Puckle patented the world's first machine gun. This weapon was designed on the principle of a revolver. Subsequently, the machine gun was improved by many designers, but the first truly effective model appeared in 1883 - it was made by the American Hiram Maxim. At first, the military underestimated the new weapon and treated it with disdain. However, in the First world war the machine gun showed what it was capable of: it accounted for 80 percent of all combat losses. We can say that it was from the machine gun that all traditional ideas about war were shot.

Depending on their design and purpose, machine guns are divided into several main types:

Manual the machine gun can be carried by one person. The support for such a machine gun is the bipod and butt. The heavy machine gun is used for firing from fortified positions. The machine gun has a belt feed of cartridges, a massive barrel for continuous shooting and is mounted on a special machine on wheels or on a tripod.

United machine guns are capable of firing both from a bipod and from a machine gun. Quickly replacing the barrel avoids overheating of the machine gun and ensures continuous shooting.

Large-caliber machine guns are designed to combat lightly armored combat vehicles and air targets. IN separate group special machine guns can be distinguished. These include aircraft, tank, anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft machine gun installations.

The fastest firing machine gun is considered M134 "Minigun", created for arming helicopters and armored forces. It has 6 barrels rotated by an electric motor and can fire 6,000 rounds per minute (almost 10 times more than a conventional machine gun). By the way, Australia has developed a 36-barreled machine gun that is capable of firing a million rounds per minute. Instead of mechanical strikers, special electronic starters are built into the barrels of this machine gun.

In 1987 it was released american film"Predator" with Arnold Schwarzenegger in leading role. In one of the episodes, a group of special forces fires with all guns, including a six-barreled machine gun. Subsequently, similar machine guns were seen in other films. In reality, none of these machine guns can be used as hand weapons: firstly, a person would have to carry a heavy electric motor with a battery on his back; secondly, the portable ammunition would only be enough for one minute of fire; thirdly, even Schwarzenegger could not withstand the recoil of such a machine gun. For the film "Predator" they made a special version of the machine gun, which fired only blank cartridges. Power was supplied to it through an electrical cable. The actor had to wear a mask and body armor so as not to be injured by the bullet casings flying out at high speed.

A machine gun is a small-caliber automatic weapon that fires as long as the trigger is pulled and ammunition is present. A special mechanism automatically carries out cycles of charging, firing and ejecting cartridges. Light weapons This type, invented later, is usually called submachine guns.

The forerunner of modern machine guns was the semi-automatic rifle (or "machine called defense"), patented in 1718 by the English lawyer and inventor James Puckle. It was a huge gun mounted on a tripod. Its metal drum had ten slots for loaded cartridges and was rotated by hand. During a demonstration in 1722, Pakla's gun fired 63 shots in 7 minutes. In a hundred seconds extra years- in 1856 - American Charles Varne improved Puckle's design by equipping the weapon with a handle that rotated the drum and automatically cocked the bolt. This weapon, nicknamed the “coffee grinder,” fired 80 rounds per minute. It was used during Civil War in USA. Another American, Eleazar Ripley, made this weapon multi-barrel. With the invention of metal cartridges, repeating shotguns received further development. In 1862, American gunsmith Richard Gatling patented one of the first machine guns. It had ten trunks connected in the form of a bundle of brushwood, the rotation of which was carried out by hand. Ammunition was dropped into the chamber from a top-mounted hopper magazine under the influence of gravity, allowing it to fire over 350 rounds per minute.

In the 1870s American William Gardner invented another weapon that charged under the influence of gravity. It had a vertical magazine and two or more barrels located side by side. The block of barrels was moved by a lever; At the same time, cartridges from the magazine were poured into the charging chamber from above.

Attempts to create a single-barrel machine gun failed, since at a rate of fire of 300-400 rounds per minute the barrel overheated. In 1875, De Witt Farrington of Lowell (Massachusetts) invented a lever-action four-barreled machine gun, called the Lowell, based on Gardner's design, which fired through only one barrel. When it warmed up, the machine gunner placed another, cold one in its place. Even more barrels were used in the Nordenfelt machine gun, invented in 1879 by the Swedish engineer Helge Palmkranz and named after the banker Thorsten Nordenfelt who financed the work. The block in it consisted of 12 barrels. They loaded them and fired them at the same time by turning the lever; when it was pulled back, the spent cartridges were thrown out.

In 1883, the English inventor Hiram Maxim patented a machine gun in England that operated using the recoil energy of the barrel. The cartridges—at first using black smoky (black) powder and later using smokeless (cordite)—were inserted into a special belt. The weapon did approx. 600 rounds per minute and worked until the tape ran out. To cool the barrel, the inventor used a water radiator. Maxim established cooperation with the English shipbuilding company Vickers, which began producing his machine guns. This weapon was used in the Russo-Japanese and 1st World Wars. The Germans used the same cartridge belts in the Spandau-0815 machine guns.

In addition to recoil, machine guns use the energy of powder gases generated during a shot. The first machine guns powered by gas energy were created in the USA by John Browning, in Denmark by artilleryman Wilhelm Madsen, and in France by a company founded by the American Benjamin Hotchkiss. The Hotchkiss machine gun had a window for venting gases, the force of which cocked the bolt, ejected the spent cartridge case and reloaded. In 1911, American inventor Isaac Lewis designed a light machine gun with a rate of fire of 550 rounds per minute with a disk magazine (“pan”) and an air barrel radiator. Due to its high rate of fire and the ability to operate the machine gun alone, it was installed on American and British aircraft during World War I. The Madsen-1902 machine gun used a magazine that was fired from a bipod, but could be carried. Therefore, it is considered the first light machine gun (LM) or automatic rifle.

Soon, RPs were in service with the armies of all leading countries. The French RP was called CSRG M1915, it was named after the first letters of the names of the designers and the manufacturing company. The United States, which did not have such weapons, adopted the CSRG into service with its army in 1917. But already in 1918, Browning released the RP BAR, which was in service until the end of the 2nd World War. In 1924, in France, at the Chatellerault plant, they began to produce the MAC M 1924/29 RP, designed by Colonel Reibel. In Czechoslovakia, the Holek brothers from Brno designed the ZB-26, which was adopted by the British Army in 1938 as the Bren. All these models were quite light. Submachine guns (SMGs) weighed even less. There are many models of PP, including: "Tommy" (1920), the German "Egta MP-40" (1939) and the similar British "Sten". All these SMGs have a rate of fire from 500 to 800 rounds per minute.

In 1927, the Red Army adopted the V. Degtyarev light machine gun (DP). DP and DShK ( heavy machine gun Degtya-reva-Shpanin) were widely used during the 2nd World War. After the war, in 1947, the M. Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle was developed in the Soviet Union, one of the best examples of individual automatic weapons. It became the most widely used in the world and served as the basis for the creation of a whole family of military weapons of various calibers.

The water-cooled Vickers machine gun is an improved Maxim. In the photo episode of its combat use by American machine gunners, approximately in 1917, Western Front 1st World War. The hose extending from the casing is connected to a container of water for cooling.

The Chukchi consider themselves a special people, which is emphasized in their self-name. From their folklore you can learn that the world was created by a raven. He taught people how to survive in harsh northern conditions. At the same time, the Luoratvelan people were recognized as superior. It is worth noting that they put Russians on the same level as themselves. According to researchers, in this way the Chukchi decided to justify the fact that their lands were part of Russian Empire.

The Chukchi consider themselves superior race and they put only Russians on the same level // Photo: russian7.ru

By the way, the Russians could not win the war with the Chukchi. The colonial war, which lasted from 1730 to 1750, ended in victory northern people. The Chukchi were conquered under Catherine the Great and not military force, but “fire water”, iron, sugar, tobacco and the like.

Life, customs and raising children

The Chukchi are forced to lead a nomadic lifestyle. This is due to the fact that the basis of their economy is deer. As soon as the deer eat all the food, the Chukchi are forced to change their camp site. The Chukchi live in polygonal tents covered with reindeer skins. To prevent the tent from being blown away by the wind, it is lined with stones around its perimeter. A special structure is erected at the back wall of the tent, where the Chukchi eat, sleep and rest.
Representatives of the northern people, young and old, are dressed in reindeer skins and fur. Newborn babies are also placed in a special deerskin bag with slits for the legs and arms. It is noteworthy that researchers attribute the invention of the baby diaper to the Chukchi. Since mothers found it quite difficult to keep their children clean in low temperatures, they began to put wood shavings, as well as reindeer moss, which has antibacterial properties.

the basis of the Chukchi economy are reindeer // Photo: asiarussia.ru

Illustrious Warriors

The Chukchi enjoy the glory of brave and strong warriors // Photo: cyrillitsa.ru

Chukotka women are no less severe than men. If the enemy wins, they kill their children, parents, and then commit suicide.

Certainly, modern Chukchi are no longer as severe as in ancient times. According to residents of the northern regions, the Chukotka people are distinguished by their extraordinary hard work, and also, as before, suffer greatly because of the “fire water”. The thing is that the body of northern peoples is unable to produce the enzyme that breaks down ethyl alcohol. This is why the Chukchi become avid alcoholics literally after the first hundred grams of vodka or other strong alcoholic drinks.

The Chukchi are one of the peoples who most value a sense of humor in a person. It is almost impossible to meet a sad Chukchi. Even in ancient times, it was believed that if a person is sad, it means he has been possessed evil spirit. For this reason, representatives of the northern people could only enjoy life no matter what.