M43 rifle bullet: Named after the same model as its predecessor.
Generally speaking, to develop a weapon system, there is a bomb first, and then a gun. Here, let's first look at the development of bombs.
The 7.62×39mm bullet fired by AK47 is also called M43 rifle bullet. Judging from the model name, it should be the finalized product of 1943, and the German 7.92× 33mm Courths short bullet was successfully developed in 194 1, indeed before the M43 rifle bullet. 1in July, 942, the German company Hanel developed the MKb42(H) automatic carbine, which fired 7.92mm short bullets. /kloc-in the spring of 0/943, the gun was delivered to the 5th Viking Armored Division of the Eastern SS for actual combat inspection. In the later period of the Stalingrad campaign, this weapon played a certain role and was captured by the Soviet Union in the battle. But can it be judged that M43 has inherited the German short bullet of 7.92×33mm? Speaking of the development of M43 rifle, we should first talk about the theoretical and practical contribution of the Soviet Union to the development of modern automatic weapon system. As early as the early 20th century, Fedoroff, the father of automatic weapons in the Soviet Union, established his own unique viewpoint. His Automatic Weapons, published in 1907, is an enlightening work that guided Kalashnikov, who was recovering in the hospital at that time, onto the road of design. Fedoroff thinks that the ideal caliber of automatic firearms for infantry should be between 6~7mm, and has tested bullets with smaller caliber and power such as 6 ~ 7mm, 6.5mm and 7mm, and finally chooses M 19 16 automatic rifle from Japanese 6.5mm rifle with smaller recoil. Fedoroff's thought was too advanced to be recognized by the Soviet Union at that time, and the innovative attempt of M 19 16 automatic rifle was not taken seriously, but the research theory he initiated was not submerged. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Soviet-German war delayed the relevant work, so the factory must try to produce the existing models to meet the needs of the front line. During World War II, although Soviet troops were equipped with two new semi-automatic rifles, AVS-36 and S VT-40, they still fired powerful 7.62× 54mmR rifles.
Before World War II, Germany had realized the trend of full automation of individual weapons in the future from the successful application of submachine guns. The power and accuracy of submachine guns firing pistols are difficult to meet the requirements, while automatic rifles firing powerful rifles are large and heavy, which are difficult to control when they are fired repeatedly. After studying some actual combat cases, it is found that the firefight distance in infantry weapons is generally less than 400m, and it is absolutely unnecessary for rifles to exceed the range of 2 000 m. If the warhead and shell of rifles are appropriately shortened and the charge of ammunition is reduced, a new type of bullet with short and light weight but obviously better performance than ordinary pistols can be obtained, and a brand-new individual automatic weapon will be designed on this basis, which will be more ideal. Thanks to the efforts of German designer Hugo Smythe, this idea has finally come true. This is the successful development of MKb42(H) automatic carbine, which has been improved to become the ancestor of assault rifle-STG 44. The gun is made of a large number of stamping and welding, with simple structure, compact design, low firing rate, easy control when firing, good projectile dispersion, superior firepower intensity to all kinds of manual and semi-automatic rifles, and far more range and power than submachine guns, which has played a great role in the Soviet-German battlefield. The root of all this is that the gun uses a brand-new 7.92×33mm Courths short bullet. The shell length of this kind of bullet is only 33mm, the length of the whole bullet is only 47.7mm, and the mass of the whole bullet is 17.3g, and the technical data in all aspects is reduced by about half compared with the 7.92×57mm Mao Se rifle bullet. As the cartridge case is shortened from 7.92×57mm Mao Se rifle cartridge case, the dimensions of primer chamber and bottom edge are basically the same, which can simplify the production mold. The cartridge case is still bottle-shaped, and the charge can meet the power of killing targets 800m away. The shell casing is made of painted soft steel shell widely used in Germany at the end of World War II, which can save a lot of copper. The warhead is an arc-shaped pointed stern, with a length of 25.6mm and a mass of 8g, with an arc-shaped flat-topped cylindrical soft steel core inside and a lead sleeve outside, with an initial velocity of about 700 m/s. This kind of warhead has good aerodynamic shape, strong penetration and no excessive wear on the rifling. In addition, 7.92mm short ammunition is also relatively comprehensive, in addition to the standard 43mE steel-core ordinary ammunition, there are armor-piercing ammunition, tracer ammunition and blank ammunition.
Just one year after the Germans began to develop 7.92 mm short ammunition, the Soviet Union began to consider developing new rifle ammunition, with more than one caliber, even including the 5.45 mm ammunition which was famous for its application in AK74 half a century later. At that time, a semi-automatic carbine with corresponding caliber had been developed, and at least one 7.62×25mm carbine ammunition was available. Related research and experimental work started before 1943. At that time, although the information of Germany's development of new medium-power rifles and related automatic weapons could be obtained through specific channels, at least the physical objects could not be obtained. Therefore, the appearance of German 7.92mm short ammunition only accelerated the development process of Soviet new rifle ammunition. Previously, Fedoroff's research thought that the bullet with a caliber of 6mm, a warhead mass of 7g and a muzzle velocity of 1000m/s had the best comprehensive effect. However, considering the convenience of production and wartime conditions, the Soviet Union decided to set the caliber of the new bullet at 7.62mm, which was the standard military caliber of the Soviet Union at that time. This idea is similar to that of the Germans. At first, this new type of bullet was only used for new semi-automatic rifles. The proposed technical index is the effective killing range 1 000m, which is obviously higher than that of German 7.92 mm short ammunition. ..
The new bomb developed by the Soviet Union adopts a bottle-shaped bottomless shell with a total length of 4 1mm, made of copper-clad steel, with a bottom diameter of 1 1.35mm, and is equipped with Bertin primer commonly used in the Soviet Union. The warhead is flat-bottomed lead core, the tip is arc, and the armor is copper-clad steel. The diameter of the warhead is 7.62mm, the weight of the warhead is 8g, the total length of the bullet is 56mm, the total weight of the bullet is 16.3g, and the initial velocity of the warhead is 740 m/s. Compared with the old 7.62×54mm rifle ammunition, the volume and mass of the new ammunition are obviously reduced, and the carrying capacity of individual ammunition can be improved by 38% under the same mass. In addition, the new bomb is more material-saving, with 6.5438+0 million rounds. Compared with the 7.62×54 mm bullet, the new bullet saves 4 tons of copper-clad steel plate, 654.38 0.5 tons of lead and 654.38 0.5 tons of propellant. At the same time, due to the reduction of the length and volume of bullets, it is more conducive to the structural design of automatic weapons and the layout can be more compact. The specifications of the original M43 rifle bullets were 7.62×4 1 mm. This kind of bullet was produced from 1944 until it was discontinued in June 1945. The manufacturer number is 543, which may be due to confidentiality and other reasons. Some shells are unmarked at the bottom. This 7.62× 4 1mm rifle was originally equipped with SKS semi-automatic rifle designed by simonov. Experimental semi-automatic rifles such as M 1944 and M 1945 developed by Kalashnikov in1945 also fired such bullets, but they were finally defeated by SKS semi-automatic rifles in simonov and did not become standard weapons (the mass-produced SKS semi-automatic rifles used 7.62×39mm rifles). Both the AK46 automatic rifle developed by him in 1946 and the initial experimental AK47 designed in 1947 have fired this M43 bullet, and the casing length is 41mm. ..
Another evidence that M43 was not an imitation of the German 7.92mm short bullet was that it was not the only choice for the Soviet army at that time. In order to further tap the potential of bullets and find the best caliber and casing length, in 1945, the Soviet Union also tested other 10 kinds of bullets, ranging from 6.75mm to 7.62mm in caliber and various casing lengths. Propellants include new varieties developed by the University of Wisconsin and Kazan Launch Pharmaceutical Factory. In addition to fully armored warheads, there are even extended warheads with heads exposed. Through experiments, it is found that the elastic properties of 6.75×50mm and 7.62×60mm rifles are the most outstanding, but due to the size, they are not suitable for automatic weapons, and the power of 6.75mm bullets is questioned, so this caliber is completely rejected. The final conclusion is that it is the most feasible to upgrade and improve the existing 7.62×4 1mm rifle cartridge case, further shorten the length of the cartridge case to 38.5mm, and adopt a three-piece composite warhead with steel core and thin lead sleeve to improve the penetration ability of the warhead to the target. This improvement finally gave birth to the familiar 7.62×39mm rifle bullet, which was officially used in the experimental AK47 rifle in 1948. Because it is improved on the basis of the original M43 rifle bullet, this new bullet is still called M43 rifle bullet.