The musket is the strength of the infantry and the weapon of brave soldiers. What is a musket? The appearance of the first musket. In what year did muskets appear?

There is probably no person who has not at least once heard the word musket, and even more so the word “musketeers” derived from this weapon. By the way, this word has brought historical confusion to humanity. Thanks to the writer Dumas and his musketeers, humanity has taken root in the misconception that France is considered the birthplace of muskets, but these firearms were not invented by the French, although later they had a hand in the musket in terms of its improvement.

How did the first muskets appear?

In the mid-16th century, a firearm called the arquebus arose, which can be considered the ancestor of the classic musket. For some time, arquebuses were considered a formidable weapon, but it soon became clear that the arquebus was an unreliable weapon. The bullets fired from the arquebus, due to their low weight (no more than 20 grams), as well as their modest caliber, were powerless against enemy chain mail and armor, and loading the arquebus was a long process. It was necessary to invent new, more effective firearms.

And such a weapon was invented. History assures us that the first long-barreled gun with a wick-lock, later called a musket, appeared in Spain. History has preserved the name of the gunsmith who invented the musket. This is a certain Mocheto, who lived in the Spanish city of Veletra.

The first musket had a long barrel - up to 150 cm. Thanks to the long barrel, the caliber of the musket also increased. The new gun now has the ability to fire new charges with big amount gunpowder, which allowed the bullet to fly further and at greater speed, resulting in the bullet having greater stopping power. Such a bullet could no longer be stopped by chain mail and armor.

The first samples of muskets were quite heavy (up to 9 kg), and therefore it was difficult to carry them - the muskets were fired from previously prepared positions. And still, shooting from them was not an easy task: when firing, the musket had a strong recoil, and loading it required time and skill. Soldiers of European armies armed with muskets (primarily Spain, Germany and France - as the most powerful powers of the Middle Ages) represented a formidable force.

How to load a musket

Each of us has probably seen in films exactly how muskets were loaded. It was a long, complicated and tedious procedure:

1. They loaded the musket through the muzzle;
2. Gunpowder was poured into the barrel in the amount necessary for the shot (according to the shooter). However, in order not to make a mistake in the dose of gunpowder during the battle, the powder doses were measured in advance and packaged in special bags called chargers. These same charges were attached to the shooter’s belt during shooting;
3. First, coarse powder was poured into the barrel;
4. Then finer gunpowder, which ignited more quickly;
5. The shooter pushed the bullet into the table with the help of a ramrod;
6. The charge was pressed against a constantly smoldering wick;
7. The ignited gunpowder threw a bullet out of the barrel.

It was believed that if the entire charging procedure takes no more than two minutes, then this is wonderful. In this case, it became possible to fire a salvo first, which often guaranteed victory in the battle.

Features of fighting with muskets

A warrior armed with a musket was called a musketeer. A bullet fired from a musket could win a battle, which, in general, was what happened. When firing from muskets in one gulp, it was possible to lay down a whole line of the enemy at a distance of up to 200 meters. The weight of musket bullets could be 60 grams. Armored knights were knocked out of their saddles with musket bullets.

Still, firing a musket was not an easy task. It took a long time to load the musket. The recoil when firing was such that it could knock the shooter off his feet. To protect themselves, the shooters wore special helmets and also tied a special pad to their shoulder. Due to the difficulty of shooting, there were two people with the musket: one loaded the weapon, the other fired, and the loader supported him so that the shooter did not fall.

In order to make it possible to fire muskets faster, the armies of many countries came up with various tricks. One of these tricks that history has preserved was the following. The musketeers lined up in a square consisting of several ranks. While the first rank was firing, the rest were loading their muskets. Having fired, the first line gave way to another, with loaded guns, and that one to the third, fourth, and so on. Thus, musket fire could be carried out constantly.

In the 16th century, during a battle, musket shooting was the decisive condition for victory. Often the side that was the first to fire a volley at the enemy won. If the first salvo did not give a decisive result, then there was no time to fire the musket again - everything was decided in close combat.

Double-barreled musket: the history of its appearance

In order to get out of the situation, it was necessary to somehow increase the rate of fire of the musket. However, rapid firing of muskets with a matchlock was impossible. The matchlock musket, due to its design, simply could not fire quickly. It was necessary to invent some new musket that could be fired faster.

The double-barreled musket was invented. The advantage of a double-barreled musket over a single-barreled one was obvious: instead of one shot, it could fire two, that is, shoot twice as fast. It was a kind of weapons revolution, but for unknown reasons the double-barreled musket could not take root in the infantry units of European powers. By the way, it is the double-barreled musket that is the progenitor of our hunting rifle - continuity through the centuries.

Pirate musket - the prototype of a modern pistol

But the double-barreled musket, like the single-barreled one, aroused interest among pirates of the 16th century. In subsequent centuries, until the 19th century, when muskets were replaced by more advanced weapons, and the pirates themselves for the most part sank into historical oblivion, pirate enthusiasm for this did not diminish at all. It was the pirates who, first of all, had a hand in improving muskets and contributing to the appearance of the first pistols.

Unlike the army, the “knights of fortune” were the first to fully appreciate what firearms are, and what advantage they give to those who own them and know how to handle them. Heavy musket bullets could easily disable a merchant ship, making it easy prey for filibusters. In addition, in hand-to-hand combat, a pirate armed with a musket was a very formidable combat unit.

To make it more convenient to shoot from a musket and carry it with them, the pirates thought about improving it. The French sea robbers were the most successful in this. They were the first to think of making the musket barrel shorter, reducing its size and caliber, and equipping the weapon with a handle resembling a pistol grip. The result was an easy-to-handle musket, which became the forerunner of modern pistols and revolvers.

The pirates nicknamed certain versions of the shortened musket blunderbusses. They differed from ordinary muskets in their shortened appearance, as well as the expansion at the end of the barrel. Blunderbuss could fire shotguns and hit several enemies at once. In addition, the blunderbuss had a very loud sound when fired, which produced a terrifying effect on the enemy. psychological impact. By the way, not only pirates, but also civilian ships of that time were equipped with muskets and blunderbuss to suppress mutinies on ships.

Further improvement of the musket

Meanwhile, the authorities of the leading European powers were not asleep. Their gunsmiths also began to think about improving the musket. Several European powers have achieved impressive results in this matter.

The Dutch were the first to succeed. Their craftsmen designed lighter muskets. Troops armed with such muskets were more mobile, and the muskets themselves became easier to fire. In addition, the Dutch improved the musket barrel by producing musket barrels from soft steel. As a result, musket barrels no longer exploded when fired.

German craftsmen also made a significant contribution to the improvement of the musket. They improved the firing mechanism of the musket. Instead of the matchlock method of shooting, the flint method appeared. The flintlock gun, which replaced the matchlock, was a revolution in the development of weapons medieval Europe. The lever in the wick mechanism was replaced by a trigger, which, when pressed, released the spring with the flint, the flint hit the arm, resulting in a spark being struck and igniting the gunpowder, which, in turn, ejected the bullet from the barrel. It was much easier to shoot from a flintlock than from a matchlock.

The French were not far behind. First, they changed the butt of the musket: it became longer and flatter. Secondly, they were the first to equip muskets with bayonets, as a result of which muskets could be used as edged weapons. Thirdly, they installed a battery lock on the gun. Thus, the French musket turned into the most advanced firearm at that time. As a result, the flintlock gun replaced the matchlock. In fact, it was Napoleon’s army that was armed with French flint muskets, as well as the Russian army that opposed it.

The main parts of the musket remained unchanged until the very end of its existence. Some individual parts were modified at different times, but the principle of operation itself did not change. This applies to such parts as the butt, stock, working mechanism.

Musket as part of history and culture

By and large, it was with the musket that development and improvement began small arms worldwide. On the one hand, the musket gave rise to shotguns, rifles, carbines, machine guns and machine guns, and on the other hand, short-barreled weapons like pistols and revolvers. That is why these ancient weapons exhibits are part of history.

On the other hand, muskets are a cultural and collectible value. Having an antique weapon can be the pride of a true amateur collector. In addition, some examples are decorated with precious metals and stones, which further increases their cultural significance.

The east is burning with a new dawn
Already on the plain, over the hills
The guns roar. The smoke is crimson
It rises in circles to the heavens.
A. S. Pushkin, “Poltava”

It is often believed that discoveries are the result of sudden insights that occasionally visit lonely and unrecognized geniuses. But in this way only general concepts are born, unsuitable for practical implementation. That is why geniuses sometimes remain unrecognized for many centuries until someone brings their fantasies to life. Real, important, revolutionary inventions are born long and hard, but they arrive exactly on time. This is exactly the story of the flintlock rifle with a bayonet.

IN SEARCH OF A GUN

In the second half of the 17th century, the basis of European armies was infantry, armed with lightweight muskets, suitable for use without support, and three-meter “Swedish” pikes. The cavalry, no longer threatened by the slow but impenetrable “hedgehogs” of battles, felt more confident and experienced a new flourishing. Common in the Middle Ages, but later forgotten, the attack in close formation, galloping, edged weapons and hooves again came into fashion. But the cavalry could no longer regain its dominant position in battle: a horseman was no longer worth ten footmen, as it once was. The musketeer had a real chance of shooting the horse. The pikemen, although “shortened,” also gave their lives dearly.

But, on the contrary, they cost the treasury much less than cuirassiers. Now it was the infantry that was to become the main striking force. But the art of offensive combat was not given to her for a long time. The musketeers had to keep a respectful distance from the enemy; in close combat they were too vulnerable. And it wasn’t even that the dirk was a rather weak argument in hand-to-hand combat. The shooter could not use it at all while simultaneously holding a huge gun, a smoldering fuse and a wooden cleaning rod. Pikemen without fire support were also worth little.

Time required the creation of a fundamentally new weapon - single and universal. The combining properties of a musket and a pike.

THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND

The flintlock rifle allowed every soldier to participate in both skirmishing and close combat. It arose as a result of the combination of several inventions, each of which had a complicated history. The barrel borrowed from the matchlock musket was supplemented with a flintlock and a paper cartridge, increasing the rate of fire, a reliable steel ramrod, and a bayonet. By the end of the 17th century, each of these elements had already existed for at least a century and a half. But they couldn’t find each other for a very long time.

The flintlock was invented in the Middle East almost simultaneously with the advent of the wheel lock in Europe. In 1500, at least, it was already used in Turkey. Four years later, Arabian flint became famous in Spain. A long series of prohibitions on its use helps to track the further spread of this technology throughout Europe.

The last time a flintlock was banned was on pain death penalty! - King Louis XIV of France in 1645. But this did not mean at all that anyone who had it was immediately dragged to the executioner. It was not forbidden to produce, store, carry and even use weapons with a flintlock. It was impossible to be with him but to catch the eye of the captain during the regimental review. A soldier with a “non-statutory” musket was not considered equipped. At a time when a warrior received funds from the treasury, but purchased equipment on his own, this was equivalent to desertion.

Why did the rulers not like the convenient and inexpensive (compared to the wheeled) castle? In fact, the claims were significant. The Turkish lock, extremely simple to manufacture and not prone to breakage, was at the same time extremely unreliable in operation. One misfire occurred every 3-5 shots. In practice, this meant that the regiment's salvo would be 25% thinner than if matchlock muskets were used.

The reliability problem was partly solved with the advent of the German or “battery” flintlock in the thirties of the 17th century. The much more massive and complex European version was misfired only once in 7-15 shots.

But the German castle was not without its shortcomings. It consisted of many parts, each of which could fail. Even if a screw was lost during cleaning, a new one could not be made in the camp forge. In addition, the flintlock needed a new type of ammunition: properly hewn pieces of stone. The flint could withstand only two or three dozen shots, and it was not easy to get a new one. While flintlock guns remained rare, sutlers did not supply consumables for them.

The transition to weapons with a flintlock became possible only after the emergence of regular armies that received weapons from government warehouses. Now, if a gun failed, the soldier was punished and... immediately given a new one. After all, an unarmed shooter is of no use. The issue of flint production was also easily resolved.

At the same time, an iron ramrod was also introduced, which was conveniently retracted into the stock of the gun. The thick wooden ramrods used earlier were constantly breaking, and they were inconvenient to wear, although they were cheap and did not damage the barrel. But since the musketeers stopped spending their own money on weapons, these advantages lost their importance.

Economic considerations also contributed to the adoption of the paper muzzle cartridge, known since 1530. The essence of the invention was that instead of a wooden charger, the amount of gunpowder required for a shot was poured into a paper tube - a “case”. The bullet was also glued into it. The use of cartridges made it possible to dispense with a horn with seed powder and a pair of wads. Now the shooter simply took the cartridge out of the bag, bit into it, poured a little gunpowder onto the shelf, the rest into the barrel, and then hammered the bullet and cartridge case into the same place with a ramrod. The convenience of this charging technique was beyond doubt. But in the era of mercenary armies, musketeers, with no less valor than the onslaught of enemy cavalry, repelled the command’s attempts to force them, in addition to gunpowder and lead, to also buy paper, which was expensive at that time.

The bayonet completed the transformation. Musketeers have long found that they need a stronger weapon than the sword. Attempts to attach a point to the support stopped, because the support itself was no longer used. It seemed logical to equip the musket itself with a blade. Already in the 16th century, bayonets appeared - knives inserted into the barrel. But they constantly broke or fell out. In the mid-17th century, the Dutch invented a screw-in mount. But this did not satisfy the military either, since when the muzzle, heated by the shooting, cooled, the thread jammed tightly. Only a bayonet welded to the outside of the barrel could be used.

Field artillery

From the replacement of culverins with rapid-firing short cannons in the 17th century until the advent of rifled guns at the end of the 19th century firepower artillery remained unchanged. And the development of this type of troops was forced to be limited to a gradual increase in maneuverability. Instead of hired horses and oxen, strong, fast and not afraid of shots, artillery horses were increasingly used. First of all - at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries - field artillery was completely transferred to “official” traction in Russia. Mainly because Russian peasant horses were smaller and weaker than their Western counterparts and could not pull cannons. But by the middle of the century, other sovereigns followed Peter’s example. Field guns different countries differed in design, but not in characteristics. They almost always weighed about one and a half tons and had a caliber of 122 millimeters (12 lb). The gun fired one shot per minute and “reached” 400 meters with buckshot and twice as far with ricochets. The cannonball could fly two or three kilometers, but at a long distance it no longer bounced off the ground and did not pose a danger.

FROM THE FUSE TO THE SEVEN-LINE GUN

In the 80s of the 17th century, the “weapons of the future” took on their finished form. The designers had to do a lot of work: after all, the musket itself weighed more than six kilograms, but now a heavy German lock, a one and a half meter steel ramrod and a half-meter bayonet were added to it, weighing another two kilograms in total. Only at the cost of the most severe savings (even sighting devices were sacrificed) was it possible to keep the total weight of the gun within 5.7 kilograms.

It was not so easy to decide on the choice of caliber. At the beginning of the 17th century, “double” 20-23 mm muskets began to be replaced by much more convenient 16-18 mm ones. But the creators of the fusee still settled on an impressive caliber of 20.3-21.6 mm.

Strangely enough, the length of the barrel played a decisive role. It now also served as a “shaft” for the bayonet: the ability to strike a little earlier seemed like a big advantage. At that time they could not mass produce barrels with a caliber to length ratio of more than 1:70.

Of course, the fusee with a 142-centimeter barrel seems like a huge gun. But in order to fully assess its dimensions, some additional information is required. For example, the fact that even in 1836 (and this is already the 19th century) only every hundredth of the recruits drafted into the French army was taller than 172 centimeters. The average height of recruits was only 158 centimeters. However, the French were then considered a short nation. The Russians and British were slightly higher.

The caliber of the fusee was not only large “from birth”, but also gradually increased over time. After all, after every twenty shots, the gun had to be cleaned with brick powder, otherwise carbon deposits (a mixture of lead, soot and scale) would clog the barrel to such an extent that the bullet would no longer enter it. And since the barrel rubbed faster near the treasury and muzzle than in the middle, periodically the gun was sent to a workshop and drilled out.

The bullets fired from the fusée caused terrible wounds, but rarely hit the target. Moreover, the result practically did not depend on the efforts of the shooter - the legendary accuracy of Hawkeye (as well as his predecessor Robin Hood) is a myth. Even in an ideal case, the dispersion of bullets leaving the smooth barrels of that era was very large. The best sporting shotgun with a 120-caliber barrel ensured a reliable shot at a tall target from 60 meters. Military 70-caliber - from 35 meters. A short and light hunting or cavalry rifle - only from 20 meters. That is, a bad shooter, of course, could miss from such a distance. But from a greater distance, even a sniper hit the enemy only by accident.

Alas, only new guns, loaded with great care, had such a fight. The barrel of the old fusee, which had seen and experienced a lot, was, as a rule, more than once bent by bayonet strikes. And a bullet dented with a ramrod and covered with paper could be considered “round” only very conditionally. To the above it is worth adding the crushing impact.

Despite the convenience of the new lock and the use of a paper cartridge, the rate of fire remained very low: loading took from one to one and a half minutes, the weapon was monstrously long, and the bayonet made it difficult to use a cleaning rod.

Only in the middle of the 18th century did King Frederick II of Prussia decide that the advantages in bayonet combat could be partly sacrificed in favor of increasing the rate of fire. This is how a new seven-line (17.8 mm) gun with a barrel shortened to 60 calibers appeared.

The effectiveness of shots at a horse decreased somewhat, but now the infantry could fire one and a half salvos per minute. Through systematic, inveterate and intense flogging of the musketeers, the Prussians even managed to increase the rate of fire to four volleys. But... the experiment was considered unsuccessful. That is, the musketeers, of course, continued to be flogged, but infantry were no longer taught to fire more than a salvo per minute until the middle of the 19th century. All the same, the bullets flew away to no one knows where, and frequent fire had no consequences other than smoke and consumption of ammunition. Only point-blank shots and bayonet strikes had a real effect.

However, by the end of the century, the convenience and practicality of the short gun were recognized throughout Europe, and the seven-line caliber became standard.

However, there was no need to talk about real standardization yet. A feature of the armaments of the armies of the 18th century (as well as many previous centuries) was the lack of uniformity. For each type of infantry - musketeers, rangers, grenadiers - and for each type of cavalry, a special model of gun was developed and approved at the highest level. But only the guards regiments were supplied with it. Most of the soldiers carried weapons of the most diverse, and often mysterious origins. After all, the bulk of it consisted of trophies taken during countless wars, the results of alterations and modernizations, as well as relics of bygone eras. For example, fusees made under Peter I continued to be used until the Patriotic War of 1812. And after it, the situation only got worse: having collected the most impossible weapons trash from all over Europe, the French brought it to Russia and threw it near Moscow.

The trophies captured in 1812-1815 did not lend themselves to any classification. But even before that, in the Russian army, guns were divided by caliber (from 13 to 22 millimeters), and each caliber by type: infantry (the longest), huntsman (shorter), dragoon (even shorter), cuirassier and hussar (with the shortest barrel ). There were a total of 85 "combinations". Some standardization existed only within the regiments. Each of them received guns - albeit released at very different times in various countries, but with barrels of approximately the same caliber and length.

Naturally, this rule was not observed in practice. Some handed over faulty guns to warehouses, and in return received not the ones they needed, but those that were available. In addition, even among guns of “equal proportions” there were both new and old ones with barrels that had been repeatedly drilled and thinned. Each of them had individual ballistics. As a result, the accuracy of salvo fire did not stand up to criticism. Soldiers who received the ancient 22mm squeakers were regularly injured by the heroic recoil. Those same shooters who were issued 13-millimeter rifles (probably once taken from the Janissaries or Polish partisans) began to have their teeth chattering when meeting enemy cavalry.

Siege artillery

The fight against enemy fortifications in the 17th-19th centuries was entrusted to guns with a four-meter barrel with a caliber of 152 millimeters (24 pounds). Deviations from this standard were rare and generally unsustainable. A gun heavier than five tons would be very difficult to transport by horseback. A large team did not solve the problem of gun mobility. The “Achilles heel” of 18th-century artillery was narrow wooden wheels - the guns got stuck in ruts. And if soldiers weighed four centners of a regimental 6-pounder, it happened that they carried it in their hands across the ditch and threw it into the breach of the walls, then in order to pass siege parks it was often necessary to strengthen bridges and roads. The energy of the core dropped rapidly with distance. Therefore, the siege cannon fired from a distance of only 150-300 meters. It was not so easy for sappers to build a reliable shelter from wooden log cabins filled with earth at such a distance from the enemy walls.

Horse artillery

If in the 16th century a battery in battle could not change position at all, then in the 18th century the cannon rushed across level ground so recklessly that the gunners on foot could not keep up with it. They tried to find a solution by equipping the carriage, limber and charging box with several seats. This is how “moving artillery” appeared. But this method of transportation turned out to be very uncomfortable and dangerous: when the horses began to trot, the carts, devoid of springs, literally shook the soul out of the passengers. People often fell from them and died under the wheels of the guns Much better results were achieved by placing the artillerymen on horses. Suddenly appearing where the guns seemed unable to reach in principle, horse artillery, created on the initiative of Peter the Great during the Northern War, presented the Swedes with many unpleasant surprises. During the 18th century, other European countries followed Russia's example.

A unique feature of Russian artillery of the 18th-19th centuries is the mixed composition of artillery batteries, each of which included an equal number of cannons and howitzers - “unicorns”. With the same weight as a conventional gun, the short “unicorn” had a caliber of 152 mm and hit three times the area with buckshot. But the cannonballs fired from it flew twice as slow and produced virtually no ricochets. Over long distances, fire was carried out only with explosive shells.

In practice, this meant that Russian artillery had an advantage in close combat, but was inferior to the enemy in long-range firefights - ricochets were much more dangerous than bombs. Cast iron spheres filled with black powder exploded weakly, producing few lethal fragments. If they exploded at all.

On the other hand, the result of firing cannonballs was highly dependent on the characteristics of the soil and topography. The shells got stuck in the sand, flew over ravines, and bounced off hillocks and redoubts. Grenades, of course, also often sank in swamps and broke on rocks, but still they worked more accurately on rough terrain.

TACTICS OF ARMIES OF THE 18TH CENTURY

With the advent of the fusee, peaks became redundant. Now the infantry could drive away the cavalry with shots and move into the attack with bayonets at the ready. However, strategists still did not fully trust the new weapon. The pike regiments were abolished by 1721 (the latest in Russia), but pikes were also in service in the musketeer regiments, as were muskets in the pike regiments. Systematically, these weapons continued to be used until the middle of the century, and sporadically (in case of a shortage of guns) even at the beginning of the 19th century.

The techniques of bayonet fighting were not immediately mastered. At the beginning of the 18th century, musketeers continued to wear dirks or cutlasses and even tried to use them in battle. According to Swedish regulations, during an attack, the first row of fighters was supposed to hold a fusée in their left hand and a sword in their right. Physically this was impossible, but in the army they traditionally do not attach importance to such trifles.

Nevertheless, the gun with a bayonet gradually established itself as a universal infantry weapon. Uniformity made it possible to simplify the organization of regiments. In fact, they again became battalions of 900 men with two or four light guns. Larger units - brigades, divisions, corps - already included several branches of troops and consisted of infantry regiments, cavalry squadrons and field artillery batteries.

The regiments were divided into musketeer, grenadier and jäger regiments. Theoretically, the types of infantry differed in their tactics of use: grenadiers in closed columns went for a breakthrough, shooting only at point-blank range, musketeers, lined up in a square, met the cavalry with fire, and rangers acted in chains on difficult terrain. Almost all the infantry had the same training and fought as circumstances required. The only difference (except for the uniform) was that the huntsmen's guns were shortened and adapted for more frequent shooting.

The cavalry was also divided into three types, but there the difference was real. The cuirassiers, who represented the color and pride of the cavalry, on huge “knightly” horses attacked the infantry head-on. The fast hussars carried out envelopment and pursuit. The dragoons occupied an intermediate position. Relatively long guns and “universal” boots allowed them to operate on foot, although dismounting was very rarely practiced.

The most important of all that the 18th century brought to military affairs was the emergence of regular armies. Industry and trade developed rapidly, and the kings seriously improved their financial affairs. Now they had the opportunity to constantly maintain a large army. Hire for short term It only made sense for already trained soldiers. Now governments only needed recruits who could be armed and trained. It was unprofitable to let experienced warriors go. Military service, regardless of whether one entered it voluntarily or ended up as a result of mobilization, became extremely long: from 16 to 25 years.

The 18th century is the era of bright uniforms. The armies multiplied, the battle formations spread out, and now it was difficult for the commander even with a telescope to see the banners: only by the shade of the camisoles could he distinguish his troops from those of others.

This is the time of clouds of powder smoke floating over the battlefield, the time of drums and whistling cannonballs. The Middle Ages are over.

Appearance firearms and its combat use would have been impossible without black powder. Soon after its appearance, the musket was invented - a powerful and heavy weapons, the predecessor of which was the arquebus. Thanks to A. Dumas and his famous work about the musketeers, many contemporaries mistakenly believe that the French invented muskets. In fact, they had a hand in improving it, but not in the invention itself. In general, the meaning of the term “musket” may vary depending on the historical period.

The first firearm, the arquebus, appeared in the middle of the 16th century and is, in fact, the predecessor of the musket. At first, arquebuses were considered deadly and powerful, but in reality they turned out to be unreliable weapons. The charges that were used for them were too small in caliber and weight (up to 20 g) to pierce the armor or chain mail of the enemy. And reloading an arquebus took such a long time that the invention of a more effective weapon was only a matter of time.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the musket in the history of firearms. Its own history remains unknown (there are several versions), but the closest information to reality suggests that the first gun with a long barrel and a wick lock was invented in Spain. Presumably its creator was a certain Mokcheto, who lived in the city of Veletra.

A musket shot could easily pierce a wooden partition

The barrel length of the first musket, according to ancient records, was about one and a half meters. Compared to arquebuses, the caliber also increased - to 22 mm, and the weight of the charge for muskets was about 50 g. More gunpowder was used during the shooting process, and therefore the bullet had greater acceleration and flew over a greater distance. This means that its destructive power increased significantly - the charge easily penetrated plate armor and other armor that was common in infantry forces in the 16th century.

At first, muskets could only be fired from pre-prepared positions, since the weight of the gun reached 9 kg, and it was very inconvenient to carry them. Loading a musket required skill and dexterity, and strong recoil made the shooting process much more difficult. Despite all the negative features of muskets, European soldiers (this weapon was common among the armies of Spain, France and Germany) after being armed with muskets became a formidable force.

The functioning of a musket-gun is associated with the operation of the trigger mechanism. It was the appearance of the castle that served as the impetus for the development of all methods of igniting gunpowder in firearms. Matchlock muskets remained in service with European armies for a very long time, despite the simplicity of the design and the fact that this method of firing the gun was far from ideal.

With the development and improvement of muskets, during the reign of the Spanish fleet in the sea, this type of weapon began to be used on ships. Handguns provided powerful fire support in naval battles, where the situation was usually resolved more quickly than in land skirmishes. Rifle and artillery salvoes were capable of causing significant damage to the rigging, manpower and the ship itself.

Muskets were especially popular in naval battles because their heavy bullets easily destroyed wooden ship structures. The close-range shooting that preceded the boarding battle was accurate and devastating.

Manufacturing technology

Making a working musket at home is extremely difficult and unsafe.

It should be noted right away that the manufacture of functional firearms is not only a complex, but also a dangerous process. Especially when it comes to early models, which include the musket.

Even factory samples of such weapons often led to injuries, jamming and bursting right in the hands of the shooter, so it is better to limit ourselves to creating a model without going into the intricacies of the functioning of the combat prototype.

Material selection

The best material for making a musket model with your own hands is wood. And so that your weapon does not lose its attractive appearance, having become distorted under the influence of moisture, the workpiece should be dried within a year. To do this, you must follow these recommendations:

1. Cut off a branch or trunk.
2. We paint the cuts on both sides. For this, varnish, paint or adhesive can be used. This approach is necessary so that the wood dries more evenly and internal cracks do not appear in it.
3. Now the workpiece is placed in a dry, dark place where sunlight should not penetrate.
4. After a year, you can carefully remove the bark from the workpiece, after which it should dry for about another week.
5. Now you should cut the branch in half, after which you can begin to directly create the musket.

Model assembly

Exploded view of a musket

In addition to a wooden block, to make a model musket you will need a small piece of pipe and strong wire. It is advisable to choose a not very thick chrome-plated pipe or, on the contrary, one covered with rust (this approach will allow you to create a model with a touch of antiquity).

First we make the handle. To do this you need to follow these steps:

1. We find a picture of a musket on the Internet, which will become our model.
2. Carefully transfer the pen of the product to a sheet of paper. In this case, you must try to maintain all proportions.
3. Cut out the resulting pattern.
4. We apply the pattern to a wooden beam and securely fasten it to it.
5. We draw the contours of the future workpiece.
6. Using a utility knife, we remove excess layers of wood until we get a handle that matches our pattern.
7. The last stage is surface treatment with sandpaper. At this stage, you can hide small irregularities that were made earlier. As a result of such processing, the workpiece should become perfectly smooth.

Advice! To protect a wooden surface from moisture, it is advisable to soak it in oil, varnish or paint.

After you have finished making the handle, you should attach a pre-prepared tube to its upper part. In the original muskets, the barrel is slightly “recessed” into the handle, so a small recess should be made in it to securely fix the elements.

After the parts are adjusted to each other, they are fixed together with wire. The musket model is ready. Now it can be decorated with patterns by burning wood.

Features of the wick system

It was impossible to ensure rapid fire from a musket

If you want to equip your musket with a matchlock system, then you should understand its main nuances.

Such weapons were loaded from the muzzle of the barrel using a special charger. It was a case with a precisely measured dose of gunpowder required to fire one shot. In addition to it, in the shooter’s arsenal there should have been a small powder flask, represented by natrusk, from which small gunpowder was poured onto the seed shelf.

The bullet was sent into the barrel using a ramrod. To ignite the charge in such designs, a smoldering wick was used, pressed by the trigger to the powder shelf. A short trigger appeared in such designs only in the 17th century.

The weight of a combat matchlock musket was 7 and sometimes 9 kg. In addition, the recoil of this weapon was so strong that only a strongly built person with certain training could withstand it. Therefore, attempts were constantly made to soften the blow - special soft pads were used.

On average, it took about two minutes to reload a matchlock musket. True, already at the beginning of the 17th century there were virtuoso shooters who managed to make several unaimed shots per minute.

In battle, such high-speed shooting was ineffective, and even dangerous due to the abundance and complexity of loading techniques for a musket: for example, sometimes the shooter in a hurry forgot to remove the ramrod from the barrel, as a result of which it flew towards enemy battle formations, and the unlucky musketeer was left without ammunition.

In the worst case, when loading a musket carelessly (an excessively large charge of gunpowder, a loose bullet seating on the gunpowder, loading with two bullets or two powder charges, and so on), ruptures of the barrel were not uncommon, leading to injury to the shooter himself and those around him.

In practice, the musketeers fired much less often than the rate of fire of their weapons allowed, in accordance with the situation on the battlefield and without wasting ammunition, since with such a rate of fire there was usually no chance of a second shot at the same target.

Silicon system

German craftsmen also made a significant contribution to the improvement of the musket. They improved the firing mechanism of the musket. Instead of the matchlock method of shooting, the flint method appeared.

The flintlock gun, which replaced the matchlock gun, was a revolution in the development of weapons in medieval Europe. The lever in the wick mechanism was replaced by a trigger, which, when pressed, released the spring with the flint, the flint hit the arm, resulting in a spark being struck and igniting the gunpowder, which, in turn, ejected the bullet from the barrel.

A flintlock musket was much easier to shoot than a matchlock.

You can practice making a musket using Lego.

The Lego constructor is an excellent option for making various models. It allows not only a child, but also an adult to realize a whole range of ideas, creating models, structures, buildings and even mechanisms. Thanks to the right choice blocks, you can build anything.

In the case of Lego, you should not count on creating a working model, since even integrating an elastic mechanism into such a structure will be very problematic. However, creating an effective layout is quite possible.

To make the final product truly attractive, you need to prepare construction blocks of three colors:

1. Brown - for making a handle.
2. Dark gray or black to create the muzzle.
3. The light gray that the trigger will be made from.

Naturally, when making your own model, you do not have to adhere to this color scheme.

Having prepared everything you need, you can proceed directly to assembly. To do this, we assemble the individual parts of our model:

1. Trunk. Since the Lego designer involves creating angular models, in our case the barrel will have square section. We assemble the barrel using dark blocks.
2. Handle. The shape of this element can be arbitrary, but it is better to be guided by photographs of real muskets when assembling. Otherwise, you may end up with an ordinary pistol. The main difference between the musket is the handle, which smoothly flows into the body of the weapon, on which the muzzle tube rests.
3. Trigger. A small part that can be represented in one block. Attached to the handle from below. The musket model may not have a trigger; in this case, this part is optional.

In the end, all that remains is to fasten the resulting parts together, assembling a solid model of the musket.

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Musket(from fr. Mousquet, more likely - from him. Muskete listen)) - a type of antique hand firearm. The specific meaning of this term may vary depending on the historical period and the characteristics of national terminology.

Story

Initially under musket understood the heaviest type of hand-held weapon, intended mainly for hitting targets protected by armor. According to one version, the musket in this form originally appeared in Spain around 1521, and already in the Battle of Pavia in 1525 they were used quite widely. The main reason for its appearance was that XVI century Even in the infantry, plate armor became widespread, which did not always make it out of the lighter culverins and arquebuses (in Rus' - “arquebuses”). The armor itself also became stronger, so that arquebus bullets weighing 18-22 grams, fired from relatively short barrels, were ineffective when fired at an armored target. This required an increase in caliber to 22 or more millimeters, with a bullet weight of up to 50-55 grams. In addition, muskets owe their appearance to the invention of granular gunpowder, which radically facilitated the loading of long-barreled weapons and burned more completely and evenly, as well as to the improvement of technology, which made it possible to produce long but relatively light barrels best quality, including Damascus steel.

The length of the musket barrel, usually faceted, could reach 65 calibers, that is, about 1400 mm, while the muzzle velocity of the bullet was 400-500 m/s, making it possible to defeat even a well-armored enemy at long distances - musket bullets pierced steel cuirasses at a distance of up to 200 meters. Wherein sighting range was small, about 50 meters against an individual living target - but the lack of accuracy was compensated by tracking volley fire. As a result, by the beginning of the 17th century, the musket had practically replaced the arquebus in the weapon system of the European infantry. Muskets were also very popular among sailors for their ability to pierce a two-inch wooden ship's bulwark at short distances.

Combat use

The musket of the 16th-17th centuries was very heavy (7-9 kg) and was essentially a semi-stationary weapon - it was usually fired from a rest in the form of a special stand, bipod, reed (the use of the latter option is not recognized by all researchers), a fortress wall or the sides of the ship. The only hand weapons that were larger and heavier than muskets were fortress guns, which were fired exclusively from a fork on the fortress wall or a special hook (hook). To reduce recoil, shooters sometimes put a leather pad on their right shoulder or wore special steel armor. In the 16th century, locks were made of wick or wheel locks; in the 17th century, they were sometimes impact-flint locks, but most often wick locks. In Asia there were also analogues of the musket, such as the Central Asian multuk.

The musket was reloaded on average in about one and a half to two minutes. True, already at the beginning of the 17th century there were virtuoso shooters who managed to fire several unaimed shots per minute, but in battle such shooting at speed was usually impractical and even dangerous due to the abundance and complexity of methods for loading a musket, which included about three dozen separate operations, each of which it was necessary to carry out with great care, constantly monitoring the smoldering wick located not far from the flammable gunpowder. For example, sometimes a shooter in a hurry forgot to remove the ramrod from the barrel, as a result of which, at best, it flew towards enemy battle formations, and the unlucky musketeer was left without ammunition. In the worst case, with careless loading of the musket (a ramrod left in the barrel, an excessively large charge of gunpowder, a loose bullet seating on the gunpowder, loading with two bullets or two powder charges, and so on), ruptures of the barrel were not uncommon, leading to injury to the shooter himself and those around him. . It was difficult to accurately measure the charge in battle, so special cartridge belts were invented, each of which contained a pre-measured amount of gunpowder per shot. They were usually hung on uniforms, and are clearly visible in some images of musketeers. Only at the end of the 17th century was a paper cartridge invented, which slightly increased the rate of fire - a soldier tore the shell of such a cartridge with his teeth, poured a small amount of gunpowder onto the seed shelf, and poured the rest of the gunpowder along with the bullet into the barrel and compacted it with a ramrod and wad.

In practice, musketeers usually fired much less often than the rate of fire of their weapons allowed, in accordance with the situation on the battlefield and without wasting ammunition, since with such a rate of fire there was usually no chance of a second shot at the same target. Only when approaching the enemy or repelling an attack was the opportunity to fire as many volleys as possible in his direction appreciated. For example, in the Battle of Kissingen (1636), during 8 hours of battle, the musketeers fired only 7 volleys.

But their volleys sometimes decided the outcome of the entire battle: killing a man-at-arms from 200 meters, even at a distance of 500-600 m, a bullet fired from a musket retained sufficient lethal force to inflict wounds, which, given the level of development of medicine at that time, were often fatal. Of course, in the latter case we are talking about random hits from “stray” bullets - in practice, the musketeers fired from a much shorter distance, usually within 300 steps (about the same 200 m). However, even at such a distance, confident hits on an individual target, especially a moving one, from a primitive smooth-bore musket, devoid of sighting devices, were impossible: even modern smooth-bore guns are capable of providing an effective bullet firing range of about 50-75 m, only in some cases - up to 100 m. That is why the musketeers were forced to fire in volleys, compensating for low accuracy with the amount of metal released into the air. Other reasons for this were the desire to inflict maximum damage on a fast-moving group target (cavalry detachment) in the very short time that it is in the firing sector, as well as, last but not least, the strong psychological impact of organized salvo fire on the enemy.

For comparison, one archer fired up to ten arrows in two minutes (however, in the case of both a crossbow and firearms, the low rate of fire of an individual shooter was largely compensated by the use of multi-line formations, caracoling). The experienced archer also surpassed the musketeer in shooting accuracy: it is mentioned, in particular, that under ideal conditions, out of 20 fired arrows at 100 yards (91 m), 16 hit the target, while a musket in the same conditions, at best, had only 12 hits out of 20. Meanwhile, when firing from bows, it was considered a very good result if at least one out of a hundred arrows fired hit a protected target plate armor, since an arrow could penetrate it only by chance, hitting at a certain angle, preferably in the softest area of ​​a plate with a heat treatment defect (armor steel was very heterogeneous in carbon content and hardened with “spots”) or in their unprotected joint, the probability which was small, especially in the case of later armor, in which all the joints were well covered. A heavy musket bullet practically did not ricochet, did not get stuck in shields, and it was impossible to protect against it with freely hanging panels of fabric that stopped the arrows. The damaging effect on a living target of a soft, large-caliber lead bullet, capable of flattening in the wound canal and effectively transferring its energy to its tissues, was incomparably stronger than that of a relatively slowly flying pointed arrow. Moreover, attempts to increase the lethality of arrows by increasing the width of the tip almost completely deprived them of their penetrating ability, making them suitable only for hitting an enemy not protected by armor, while the bullet combined high lethality against a living target and a stopping effect with high armor penetration. The crossbow was also usually inferior to the musket in terms of penetrating power and lethality, and heavy siege crossbows with a mechanical platoon did not surpass it in rate of fire.

Both the bow and the crossbow were firing along a suspended trajectory for a hundred meters, while the musket, with its relatively high initial bullet speed, made it possible to shoot directly (in fact, it was in relation to firearms that targeted shooting itself first arose in modern sense of the word), which made it easier to make adjustments and significantly increased the likelihood of hitting a group target with a salvo in constantly changing battle conditions. Archers and crossbowmen could show amazing accuracy in competitions, firing with specially prepared arrows at a target located at a predetermined distance, but when shooting in the field at a moving target, even the most experienced of them experienced difficulties due to the low speed of the projectiles thrown by these weapons, especially when, instead of a relatively small supply of their own arrows, they began to use mass-produced ammunition from the general supply. The same low speed of arrows also made accurate shooting in windy weather difficult (in fairness, it is worth noting that loading a musket in a strong wind was not very convenient, and in the rain it was practically useless; mounted shooting from bows and crossbows was sometimes useful for defeating target located behind a fold of terrain, a low wall or other obstacle). In addition, a musket shooter spent much less energy during a battle than an archer or crossbowman, so the requirements for his physical training were significantly lower, and he could fire without breaks for rest for much longer. To conduct more or less intense fire from a crossbow, good general physical training is required, and for an archer - also special, since successful archery requires good development specific muscle groups, achieved only by many years of training. These requirements made the creation of mass armies of archers from recruits impossible, while musket fire could be carried out by soldiers without special physical training.

Moving on to guns

Meanwhile, in the 17th century, the gradual withering away of armor, as well as overall change The nature of combat operations (increased mobility, widespread use of artillery) and the principles of manning troops (a gradual transition to mass conscript armies) led to the fact that the size, weight and power of the musket over time began to be felt as clearly excessive. The appearance of light muskets is often associated with the innovations of the Swedish king and one of the great commanders of the 17th century, Gustav II Adolf. However, in fairness, it is worth noting that most of the innovations attributed to him are borrowed from the Netherlands. There, during the long war between the United Provinces and Spain, Stadtholder Moritz of Orange and his cousins ​​John of Nassau-Siegen and Wilhelm-Ludwig of Nassau-Dillenburg fundamentally changed the military system, carrying out a military revolution. Thus, John of Nassau-Siegen wrote back in 1596 that without heavy muskets, soldiers would be able to move forward faster, it would be easier for them when retreating, and in a hurry they would be able to shoot without a bipod. Already in February 1599, the weight of the musket was reduced by the Dutch charter and amounted to approximately 6-6.5 kg. Now such muskets could be fired without a bipod if necessary, but this was still a rather difficult process. It is often claimed that it was the Swedish king who finally abolished the bipod in the 1630s, but records in the Swedish arsenals of the time indicate that he himself personally placed an order for the production of bipods for muskets from the Dutch entrepreneur Louis de Geer, who moved to Sweden, as early as 1631. Moreover, their mass production continued even after the death of the king, until 1655, and bipods were officially abolished in Sweden only in the 1690s - much later than most European countries.

Later, already in 1624, the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, by decree, ordered the production of new matchlock muskets, which had a barrel of 115-118 cm and a total length of about 156 cm. These muskets, which were produced until 1630 in Sweden, weighed approximately 6 kilograms, which indicates that they were still not entirely comfortable, and the long barrel similar to the old ones did not greatly increase their effectiveness when shooting. Lighter and more convenient muskets were produced around the same 1630 in the German city of Suhl, which was achieved by shortening the barrel. Such a musket had a barrel of 102 cm, a total length of about 140 cm and a weight of approximately 4.5-4.7 kg. . They initially fell into the hands of the Swedes, most likely, after the capture of German arsenals. In May 1632, in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, only a few Swedish soldiers were seen carrying such Suhl muskets without bipods.

By the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, muskets began to be massively replaced with lighter weapons weighing about 5 kg and a caliber of 19-20 millimeters or less, first in France and then in other countries. At the same time, flintlocks began to be widely used, more reliable and easier to use than the old matchlocks, and bayonets - first in the form of a baguette inserted into the bore, later put on the barrel with a tube. All this together made it possible to equip the entire infantry with firearms, excluding from its composition the previously necessary pikemen - if necessary, the fusiliers entered into hand-to-hand combat, using guns with a bayonet attached, which acted in the manner of a short spear (with a musket this would be very difficult due to its weight) . At the same time, at first, muskets continued to be in service with individual soldiers as a heavier type of handgun, as well as on ships, but later they were completely replaced in these roles.

In Russia this the new kind lightweight weapons were first called fusee- from fr. fusil, apparently, through the Polish. fuzja, and then, in the middle of the 18th century, renamed gun. Meanwhile, in some countries, in particular - in England with colonies, including the future USA - there was no change in terminology during the transition from muskets to guns; the new lightweight weapons were still called muskets. Thus, in relation to this period, English. musket corresponds to the Russian concept "gun", since it denoted precisely this type of weapon, real muskets in the original sense had not been made for a long time by that time; whereas in the 16th-17th centuries its correct translation would have been precisely the term “musket”. The same name was subsequently transferred to muzzle-loading smoothbore shotguns with a cap lock.

Moreover, even the general army rifled weapons that appeared in the mid-19th century, which in Russia until 1856 were called “screw guns”, and subsequently “rifles”, in the official English language originally designated by the phrase “rifled musket” (eng. rifled muscle). This is exactly the case, for example, in the USA during Civil War called mass-produced military muzzle-loading rifles, such as the Springfield M1855 and Pattern 1853 Enfield. This was due to the fact that before that the infantry had two types of weapons - relatively long guns - “muskets” (musket), more rapid-fire, suitable for hand-to-hand combat, and shorter for ease of loading the rifle (rifle; in Russia they were called fittings), which shot much more accurately, but had a very low rate of fire due to the need to “drive” a bullet into the barrel, overcoming the resistance of the rifling, were of little use for hand-to-hand combat, and also cost several times more than smoothbore guns. After the advent of special bullets, such as the Minié bullet, and the development of mass production technologies, it became possible to combine in one mass model of weapons the positive qualities of previous “musket” guns (rate of fire, suitability for hand-to-hand combat) and rifles (combat accuracy) and equip them with all infantry; This model was initially called a “rifled musket.” Finally the word musket disappeared from the active vocabulary of the English and American military only with the transition to breech-loading rifles, in relation to which the more easily pronounceable word was finally “legalized” rifle.

It should also be remembered that in Italian official military terminology, “musket” means moschetto- was the name of the weapon corresponding to the Russian term "carbine", that is, a shortened version of a shotgun or rifle. For example, the Carcano carbine was in service as Moschetto Mod. 1891, and the Beretta M1938 submachine gun - like Moschetto Automatico Beretta Mod. 1938, that is, literally, "Automatic musket "Beretta" mod. 1938"(the correct translation in this case is "automatic carbine", "automatic").

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• during the English Civil War - loading and shooting.

Excerpt characterizing the Musket

- Dinner, time for dinner! Here come the gypsies! - Indeed, with their gypsy accent, some black men and women were already coming in from the cold and saying something. Nikolai understood that it was all over; but he said in an indifferent voice:
- Well, you won’t do it yet? And I have a nice card prepared. “It was as if he was most interested in the fun of the game itself.”
“It’s over, I’m lost! he thought. Now there’s a bullet in the forehead - only one thing remains,” and at the same time he said in a cheerful voice:
- Well, one more card.
“Okay,” answered Dolokhov, having finished the summary, “good!” “It’s 21 rubles,” he said, pointing to the number 21, which equaled exactly 43 thousand, and taking the deck, he prepared to throw. Rostov obediently turned the corner and instead of the prepared 6,000, he carefully wrote 21.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said, “I’m only interested in knowing whether you’ll kill or give me this ten.”
Dolokhov began throwing seriously. Oh, how Rostov at that moment hated these hands, reddish with short fingers and with hair visible from under his shirt, which had him in their power... Ten was given.
“You have 43 thousand behind you, Count,” said Dolokhov and stood up from the table, stretching. “But you get tired of sitting for so long,” he said.
“Yes, I’m tired too,” said Rostov.
Dolokhov, as if reminding him that it was indecent for him to joke, interrupted him: When will you order the money, Count?
Rostov flushed and called Dolokhov into another room.
“I can’t suddenly pay everything, you’ll take the bill,” he said.
“Listen, Rostov,” said Dolokhov, smiling clearly and looking into Nikolai’s eyes, “you know the saying: “Happy in love, unhappy in cards.” Your cousin is in love with you. I know.
"ABOUT! it’s terrible to feel so in the power of this man,” thought Rostov. Rostov understood what blow he would deal to his father and mother by announcing this loss; he understood what happiness it would be to get rid of all this, and he understood that Dolokhov knew that he could save him from this shame and grief, and now he still wanted to play with him, like a cat with a mouse.
“Your cousin...” Dolokhov wanted to say; but Nikolai interrupted him.
“My cousin has nothing to do with it, and there is nothing to talk about her!” - he shouted furiously.
- So when can I get it? – asked Dolokhov.
“Tomorrow,” said Rostov, and left the room.

It was not difficult to say “tomorrow” and maintain a tone of decency; but to come home alone, to see your sisters, brother, mother, father, to confess and ask for money to which you have no right after your word of honor was given.
We weren't sleeping at home yet. The youth of the Rostov house, having returned from the theater, having had dinner, sat at the clavichord. As soon as Nikolai entered the hall, he was overwhelmed by that loving, poetic atmosphere that reigned in their house that winter and which now, after Dolokhov’s proposal and Iogel’s ball, seemed to thicken even more, like the air before a thunderstorm, over Sonya and Natasha. Sonya and Natasha, in the blue dresses they wore at the theater, pretty and knowing it, happy, smiling, stood at the clavichord. Vera and Shinshin were playing chess in the living room. The old countess, waiting for her son and husband, was playing solitaire with an old noblewoman who lived in their house. Denisov, with shining eyes and tousled hair, sat with his leg thrown back at the clavichord, clapping them with his short fingers, striking chords, and rolling his eyes, in his small, hoarse, but faithful voice, sang the poem he had composed, “The Sorceress,” to which he was trying to find music.
Sorceress, tell me what power
Draws me to abandoned strings;
What fire have you planted in your heart,
What delight flowed through my fingers!
He sang in a passionate voice, shining at the frightened and happy Natasha with his agate, black eyes.
- Wonderful! Great! – Natasha shouted. “Another verse,” she said, not noticing Nikolai.
“They have everything the same,” thought Nikolai, looking into the living room, where he saw Vera and his mother with the old woman.
- A! Here comes Nikolenka! – Natasha ran up to him.
- Is daddy at home? - he asked.
– I’m so glad you came! – Natasha said without answering, “we’re having so much fun.” Vasily Dmitrich remains for me one more day, you know?
“No, dad hasn’t come yet,” said Sonya.
- Coco, you have arrived, come to me, my friend! - said the countess's voice from the living room. Nikolai approached his mother, kissed her hand and, silently sitting down at her table, began to look at her hands, laying out the cards. Laughter and cheerful voices were still heard from the hall, persuading Natasha.
“Well, okay, okay,” Denisov shouted, “now there’s no point in making excuses, barcarolla is behind you, I beg you.”
The Countess looked back at her silent son.
- What happened to you? – Nikolai’s mother asked.
“Oh, nothing,” he said, as if he was already tired of this same question.
- Will daddy arrive soon?
- I think.
“Everything is the same for them. They don't know anything! Where should I go?” thought Nikolai and went back to the hall where the clavichord stood.
Sonya sat at the clavichord and played the prelude of the barcarolle that Denisov especially loved. Natasha was going to sing. Denisov looked at her with delighted eyes.
Nikolai began to walk back and forth around the room.
“And now you want to make her sing? – what can she sing? And there’s nothing fun here,” thought Nikolai.
Sonya struck the first chord of the prelude.
“My God, I am lost, I am a dishonest person. A bullet in the forehead, the only thing left to do is not sing, he thought. Leave? but where? anyway, let them sing!”
Nikolai gloomily, continuing to walk around the room, glanced at Denisov and the girls, avoiding their gaze.
“Nikolenka, what’s wrong with you?” – asked Sonya’s gaze fixed on him. She immediately saw that something had happened to him.
Nikolai turned away from her. Natasha, with her sensitivity, also instantly noticed her brother’s condition. She noticed him, but she herself was so happy at that moment, she was so far from grief, sadness, reproaches, that she (as often happens with young people) deliberately deceived herself. No, I’m having too much fun now to spoil my fun by sympathizing with someone else’s grief, she felt, and said to herself:
“No, I’m rightly mistaken, he should be as cheerful as I am.” Well, Sonya,” she said and went out to the very middle of the hall, where, in her opinion, the resonance was best. Raising her head, lowering her lifelessly hanging hands, as dancers do, Natasha, energetically shifting from heel to tiptoe, walked through the middle of the room and stopped.
"Here I am!" as if she was speaking in response to the enthusiastic gaze of Denisov, who was watching her.
“And why is she happy! - Nikolai thought, looking at his sister. And how isn’t she bored and ashamed!” Natasha hit the first note, her throat expanded, her chest straightened, her eyes took on a serious expression. She was not thinking about anyone or anything at that moment, and sounds flowed from her folded mouth into a smile, those sounds that anyone can make at the same intervals and at the same intervals, but which a thousand times leave you cold, in the thousand and first times they make you shudder and cry.
This winter Natasha began to sing seriously for the first time, especially because Denisov admired her singing. She no longer sang like a child, there was no longer in her singing that comic, childish diligence that was in her before; but she still did not sing well, as all the expert judges who listened to her said. “Not processed, but a wonderful voice, it needs to be processed,” everyone said. But they usually said this long after her voice had fallen silent. At the same time, when this raw voice sounded with irregular aspirations and with efforts of transitions, even the expert judges did not say anything, and only enjoyed this raw voice and only wanted to hear it again. In her voice there was that virginal pristineness, that ignorance of her own strengths and that still unprocessed velvet, which were so combined with the shortcomings of the art of singing that it seemed impossible to change anything in this voice without spoiling it.
“What is this? - Nikolai thought, hearing her voice and opening his eyes wide. -What happened to her? How does she sing these days? - he thought. And suddenly the whole world focused for him, waiting for the next note, the next phrase, and everything in the world became divided into three tempos: “Oh mio crudele affetto... [Oh my cruel love...] One, two, three... one, two... three... one... Oh mio crudele affetto... One, two, three... one. Eh, our life is stupid! - Nikolai thought. All this, and misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor - all this is nonsense... but here it is real... Hey, Natasha, well, my dear! Well, mother!... how will she take this si? I took it! God bless!" - and he, without noticing that he was singing, in order to strengthen this si, took the second to the third of a high note. "My God! how good! Did I really take it? how happy!” he thought.
ABOUT! how this third trembled, and how something better that was in Rostov’s soul was touched. And this was something independent of everything in the world, and above everything in the world. What kind of losses are there, and the Dolokhovs, and honestly!... It’s all nonsense! You can kill, steal and still be happy...

Rostov has not experienced such pleasure from music for a long time as on this day. But as soon as Natasha finished her barcarolle, reality came back to him again. He left without saying anything and went downstairs to his room. A quarter of an hour later the old count, cheerful and satisfied, arrived from the club. Nikolai, hearing his arrival, went to him.
- Well, did you have fun? - said Ilya Andreich, smiling joyfully and proudly at his son. Nikolai wanted to say “yes,” but he couldn’t: he almost burst into tears. The Count was lighting his pipe and did not notice his son’s condition.
“Oh, inevitably!” - Nikolai thought for the first and last time. And suddenly, in the most casual tone, such that he seemed disgusted to himself, as if he was asking the carriage to go to the city, he told his father.
- Dad, I came to you for business. I forgot about it. I need money.
“That’s it,” said the father, who was in a particularly cheerful spirit. - I told you that it won’t be enough. Is it a lot?
“A lot,” Nikolai said, blushing and with a stupid, careless smile, which for a long time later he could not forgive himself. – I lost a little, that is, a lot, even a lot, 43 thousand.
- What? Who?... You're kidding! - shouted the count, suddenly turning apoplectic red in the neck and back of his head, like old people blush.
“I promised to pay tomorrow,” said Nikolai.
“Well!...” said the old count, spreading his arms and sank helplessly onto the sofa.
- What to do! Who hasn't this happened to? - said the son in a cheeky, bold tone, while in his soul he considered himself a scoundrel, a scoundrel who could not atone for his crime with his whole life. He would have liked to kiss his father's hands, on his knees to ask for his forgiveness, but he said in a careless and even rude tone that this happens to everyone.
Count Ilya Andreich lowered his eyes when he heard these words from his son and hurried, looking for something.
“Yes, yes,” he said, “it’s difficult, I’m afraid, it’s difficult to get... never happened to anyone!” yes, who hasn’t happened to... - And the count glanced briefly into his son’s face and walked out of the room... Nikolai was preparing to fight back, but he never expected this.
- Daddy! pa... hemp! - he shouted after him, sobbing; excuse me! “And, grabbing his father’s hand, he pressed his lips to it and began to cry.

While the father was explaining to his son, an equally important explanation was taking place between the mother and daughter. Natasha ran to her mother excitedly.
- Mom!... Mom!... he did it to me...
- What did you do?
- I did, I proposed. Mother! Mother! - she shouted. The Countess could not believe her ears. Denisov proposed. To whom? This tiny girl Natasha, who had recently been playing with dolls and was now taking lessons.
- Natasha, that’s complete nonsense! – she said, still hoping that it was a joke.
- Well, that's nonsense! “I’m telling you the truth,” Natasha said angrily. – I came to ask what to do, and you tell me: “nonsense”...
The Countess shrugged.
“If it’s true that Monsieur Denisov proposed to you, then tell him that he’s a fool, that’s all.”
“No, he’s not a fool,” Natasha said offended and seriously.
- Well, what do you want? You are all in love these days. Well, you’re in love, so marry him! – the countess said, laughing angrily. - With God blessing!
- No, mom, I’m not in love with him, I must not be in love with him.
- Well, tell him so.
- Mom, are you angry? You’re not angry, my dear, what’s my fault?
- No, what about it, my friend? If you want, I’ll go and tell him,” said the countess, smiling.
- No, I’ll do it myself, just teach me. Everything is easy for you,” she added, responding to her smile. - If only you could see how he told me this! After all, I know that he didn’t mean to say this, but he said it by accident.
- Well, you still have to refuse.
- No, don't. I feel so sorry for him! He is so cute.
- Well, then accept the offer. “And then it’s time to get married,” the mother said angrily and mockingly.
- No, mom, I feel so sorry for him. I don't know how I'll say it.
“You don’t have anything to say, I’ll say it myself,” said the countess, indignant that they dared to look at this little Natasha as if she were big.
“No, no way, I myself, and you listen at the door,” and Natasha ran through the living room into the hall, where Denisov was sitting on the same chair, by the clavichord, covering his face with his hands. He jumped up at the sound of her light steps.
“Natalie,” he said, approaching her with quick steps, “decide my fate.” It's in your hands!
- Vasily Dmitrich, I feel so sorry for you!... No, but you are so nice... but don’t... this... otherwise I will always love you.
Denisov bent over her hand, and she heard strange sounds, incomprehensible to her. She kissed his black, matted, curly head. At this time, the hasty noise of the countess's dress was heard. She approached them.
“Vasily Dmitrich, I thank you for the honor,” said the countess in an embarrassed voice, but which seemed stern to Denisov, “but my daughter is so young, and I thought that you, as a friend of my son, would turn to me first.” In that case, you wouldn’t put me in the position of having to refuse.
“Athena,” Denisov said with downcast eyes and a guilty look, he wanted to say something else and faltered.
Natasha could not calmly see him so pitiful. She began to sob loudly.
“Countess, I am guilty before you,” Denisov continued in a broken voice, “but know that I adore your daughter and your entire family so much that I would give two lives...” He looked at the countess and, noticing her stern face... “Well, goodbye, Athena,” he said, kissed her hand and, without looking at Natasha, walked out of the room with quick, decisive steps.

The next day, Rostov saw off Denisov, who did not want to stay in Moscow for another day. Denisov was seen off at the gypsies by all his Moscow friends, and he did not remember how they put him in the sleigh and how they took him to the first three stations.
After Denisov’s departure, Rostov, waiting for the money that the old count could not suddenly collect, spent another two weeks in Moscow, without leaving the house, and mainly in the young ladies’ room.
Sonya was more tender and devoted to him than before. She seemed to want to show him that his loss was a feat for which she now loves him even more; but Nikolai now considered himself unworthy of her.
He filled the girls' albums with poems and notes, and without saying goodbye to any of his acquaintances, finally sending all 43 thousand and receiving Dolokhov's signature, he left at the end of November to catch up with the regiment, which was already in Poland.

After his explanation with his wife, Pierre went to St. Petersburg. In Torzhok there were no horses at the station, or the caretaker did not want them. Pierre had to wait. Without undressing, he lay down on a leather sofa in front of a round table, put his big feet in warm boots on this table and thought.
– Will you order the suitcases to be brought in? Make the bed, would you like some tea? – asked the valet.
Pierre did not answer because he did not hear or see anything. He began to think at the last station and continued to think about the same thing - about something so important that he did not pay any attention to what was happening around him. Not only was he not interested in the fact that he would arrive in St. Petersburg later or earlier, or whether he would or would not have a place to rest at this station, but it was still in comparison with the thoughts that occupied him now whether he would stay for a few days. hours or a lifetime at this station.
The caretaker, the caretaker, the valet, the woman with Torzhkov sewing came into the room, offering their services. Pierre, without changing his position with his legs raised, looked at them through his glasses, and did not understand what they could need and how they could all live without resolving the questions that occupied him. And he was preoccupied with the same questions from the very day he returned from Sokolniki after the duel and spent the first, painful, sleepless night; only now, in the solitude of the journey, did they take possession of him with special power. No matter what he started to think about, he returned to the same questions that he could not solve and could not stop asking himself. It was as if the main screw on which his whole life was held had turned in his head. The screw did not go in further, did not go out, but spun, not grabbing anything, still on the same groove, and it was impossible to stop turning it.

Story

Initially under musket understood the heaviest type of hand-held firearms, intended mainly for hitting targets protected by armor. According to one version, the musket in this form originally appeared in Spain around 1521. The main reason for its appearance was that by the 16th century, even in the infantry, plate armor had become widespread, which did not always make it out of the lighter culverins and arquebuses (in Rus' - “arquebuses”). The armor itself also became stronger, so that arquebus bullets of 18-22 grams, fired from relatively short barrels, turned out to be of little effect when fired at an armored target. This required an increase in caliber to 22 or more millimeters, with a bullet weight of up to 50-55 grams. In addition, muskets owe their appearance to the invention of granular gunpowder, which radically facilitated the loading of long-barreled weapons and burned more completely and evenly, as well as to the improvement of technology, which made it possible to produce long, but relatively light barrels of better quality, including from Damascus steel.

The length of the musket barrel, usually faceted, could reach 65 calibers, that is, about 1400 mm, while the muzzle velocity of the bullet was 400-500 m/s, making it possible to defeat even a well-armored enemy at long distances - musket bullets pierced steel cuirasses at a distance of up to 200 meters. At the same time, the aiming range was small, about 40-45 meters for an individual living target - but the lack of accuracy was compensated for by salvo fire. As a result, by the beginning of the 16th century, the musket had practically replaced the arquebus in the weapon system of the European infantry. Muskets were also very popular among sailors for their ability to pierce a two-inch wooden ship's bulwark at short distances.

Combat use

The musket of the 16th-17th centuries was very heavy (7-9 kg) and was essentially a semi-stationary weapon - it was usually fired from a rest in the form of a special stand, bipod, reed (the use of the latter option is not recognized by all researchers), a fortress wall or the sides of the ship. The only hand weapons that were larger and heavier than muskets were fortress guns, which were fired exclusively from a fork on the fortress wall or a special hook (hook). To reduce recoil, shooters sometimes put a leather pad on their right shoulder or wore special steel armor. In the 16th century, locks were made of wick or wheel locks; in the 17th century, they were sometimes flint locks, but most often wick locks. In Asia there were also analogues of the musket, such as the Central Asian multuk.

The musket was reloaded on average in about one and a half to two minutes. True, already at the beginning of the 17th century there were virtuoso shooters who managed to fire several unaimed shots per minute, but in battle such shooting at speed was usually impractical, and even dangerous due to the abundance and complexity of loading techniques for a musket: for example, sometimes the shooter in a hurry forgot pull the ramrod out of the barrel, as a result of which it flew away towards enemy battle formations, and the unlucky musketeer was left without ammunition. In practice, the musketeers fired much less often than the rate of fire of their weapons allowed, in accordance with the situation on the battlefield and without wasting ammunition, since with such a rate of fire there was usually no chance of a second shot at the same target. For example, in the Battle of Kissingen (1636), during 8 hours of battle, the musketeers fired only 7 volleys. But their volleys sometimes decided the outcome of the entire battle: killing a man-at-arms from 200 meters, even at 500-600 m a musket bullet retained sufficient lethal force to inflict wounds that, given the level of medicine at that time, were often fatal. Of course, at such a distance, hitting individual targets, especially moving ones, from a primitive smooth-bore musket, devoid of sighting devices, was impossible; that is why the musketeers fired in volleys. Other reasons for this were the desire to inflict maximum damage on a fast-moving group target (cavalry detachment) in the very short time that it is in the firing sector, as well as, last but not least, the strong psychological impact of organized salvo fire on the enemy.

For comparison, one archer fired up to ten arrows in two minutes. The experienced archer also surpassed the musketeer in shooting accuracy: it is mentioned, in particular, that under ideal conditions, out of 20 fired arrows at 100 yards (91 m), 16 hit the target, while a musket in the same conditions, at best, had only 12 hits out of 20. Meanwhile, when shooting from bows, it was considered a very good result if at least one out of a hundred fired arrows hit a target protected by plate armor, since an arrow could only penetrate it if it hit it at a certain angle, preferably in the softest area of ​​the plate with a heat treatment defect (armor steel was very heterogeneous in carbon content and hardened with “spots”) or at their joint, the likelihood of which was low. A heavy musket bullet gave almost no ricochets, moreover, it did not get stuck in shields; it was impossible to protect against it with freely hanging panels of fabric in which arrows got stuck. The crossbow was also usually inferior to the musket in terms of penetrating power, and heavy siege crossbows with mechanical cocking were not superior to it in rate of fire. Both the bow and the crossbow were firing along a suspended trajectory for a hundred meters, while the musket, with its relatively high initial bullet speed, allowed direct fire, which made it easier to make adjustments and significantly increased the likelihood of hitting a group target with a salvo in constantly changing battle conditions . Archers and crossbowmen could show amazing accuracy in competitions, firing at a target located at a predetermined distance, but when shooting at a moving target, even the most experienced of them experienced difficulties due to the low speed of the projectiles thrown by these weapons. This also made accurate shooting in windy weather difficult (in fairness, it is worth noting that loading a musket in a strong wind was not very convenient, and in the rain it was practically useless; mounted shooting from bows and crossbows was sometimes useful for hitting a target located behind a fold of terrain or other obstacle). In addition, a musket shooter spent much less energy during a battle than an archer or crossbowman, so the requirements for his physical training were significantly lower (to conduct more or less intense fire from a crossbow, good general physical training is required, and for an archer - even more and special, since successful archery requires good development of specific muscle groups, achieved only by many years of training).

Moving on to guns

Meanwhile, in the 17th century, the gradual withering away of armor, as well as a general change in the nature of combat operations (increased mobility, widespread use of artillery) and the principles of recruiting troops (a gradual transition to mass conscript armies) led to the fact that the mass and power of the musket began to be felt over time as clearly redundant. Already at the beginning of the 17th century, the Swedish king Gustav Adolf ordered to significantly lighten the musket - to about 6 kilograms, as a result of which the stand became redundant; Swedish musketeers fired from their hands, which significantly increased the mobility of their battle formations. By the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, muskets began to be replaced with lighter weapons weighing about 5 kg and a caliber of 19-20 millimeters or less, first in France and then in other countries. At the same time, flintlocks began to be widely used, more reliable and easier to use than the old matchlocks, and bayonets - first in the form of a baguette inserted into the bore, later put on the barrel with a tube. All this together made it possible to arm the entire infantry with firearms, excluding the previously necessary pikemen from its composition - if necessary, the fusiliers entered into hand-to-hand combat, using guns with a bayonet attached, which they used in the manner of a short spear (with a musket this would be very difficult due to its weight) . At the same time, at first, muskets continued to be in service with individual soldiers as a heavier type of handgun, as well as on ships, but later they were completely replaced in these roles.

In Russia, this new type of lightweight weapon was first called fusee- from fr. fusil, apparently, through the Polish. fuzja, and then, in the middle of the 18th century, renamed gun .

Meanwhile, in some countries, in particular - in England with colonies, including the future USA - there was no change in terminology during the transition from muskets to guns; the new lightweight weapons were still called muskets. Thus, in relation to this period, English. musket corresponds to the Russian concept "gun", since it denoted precisely this type of weapon, real muskets in the original sense had not been made for a long time by that time; whereas in the 16th-17th centuries its correct translation would have been precisely the term “musket”. The same name was subsequently transferred to muzzle-loading smoothbore shotguns with a cap lock.

Moreover, even the general army rifled weapons that appeared in the mid-19th century, which in Russia until 1856 were called “screw guns”, and subsequently “rifles”, were originally designated in official English by the phrase "rifled musket"(English) rifled muscle, see also ). This is exactly what, for example, in the USA during the Civil War, mass-produced army muzzle-loading rifles, such as Springfield M1855 and Pattern 1853 Enfield, were called. This was due to the fact that before that the infantry had two types of weapons - relatively long guns - “muskets” (musket), more rapid-fire, suitable for hand-to-hand combat, and shorter for ease of loading the rifle (rifle), which shot much more accurately, but had a very low rate of fire due to the need to “drive” the bullet into the barrel, overcoming the resistance of the rifling, and were also of little use for hand-to-hand combat. After the advent of special bullets, such as the Minié bullet, as well as the development of technology, it became possible to combine in one type of weapon the positive qualities of previous “musket” guns (rate of fire, suitability for hand-to-hand combat) and rifles (combat accuracy) and equip all infantry with them ; this sample was initially called a “rifled musket” (more precisely, rifled muscle literally it can even be translated as “rifle musket” or “rifle musket”). Finally the word musket disappeared from the active vocabulary of the British and American military only with the transition to breech-loading rifles.

It should also be remembered that in Italian official military terminology, “musket” means moschetto- was the name of the weapon corresponding to the Russian term "carbine", that is, a shortened version of a shotgun or rifle. For example, the Carcano carbine was in service as Moschetto Mod. 1891, and the Beretta M1938 submachine gun - like Moschetto Automatico Beretta Mod. 1938, that is, literally, "Automatic musket "Beretta" mod. 1938"(the correct translation in this case is "automatic carbine", "automatic").