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Why submachine gun Reising not caught at the front?

Why submachine gun Reising not caught at the front?

American submachine gun delivered to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program «Raising» did not take root at the front, but it was actively used by the US police services

There is a legend that, that before the war, Soviet military experts considered submachine guns to be police weapons, fit for american gangsters when robbing banks. As usual in such cases, in reality, everything was much more complicated. Their submachine gun was created in the USSR since the beginning of the 20s.. But here is a sample, having not only high performance characteristics, but also the level of manufacturability, suitable for mass production - the famous Shpagin submachine gun - it was possible to create only before the war.

A somewhat similar picture was observed in other countries.. Many early submachine guns - American Thompson, Finnish "Suomi" - demanded high quality workmanship, and as a consequence, they hurt not only the enemy, but also within the user's pocket. Not surprising, that for the most part gangsters and the forces of law and order opposed to them were heard. However, and among the bandits, not everyone could afford the "Chicago typewriter" at a price equal to a third of the cost of a car.

Designers from many countries worked on solving this problem.. One of them was Eugene Reising - a constructor with a rather bizarre biography.. Not finishing my studies at the university, by the mid-30s, he managed to be a cowboy in Texas, work as Browning's assistant during creation Colt М1911, release your own small-bore pistol and serve 15 months for breaking the "Sullivan Act" (law, according to which the police began to issue licenses for the acquisition of weapons).

AT 1938 year, when the smell of war was felt from Europe, Eugene decided, that submachine guns may well become a promising direction - the demand for them will clearly exceed the production capacity of complex and expensive Thompsons.

Why submachine gun Reising not caught at the front?

The result of his work was a submachine gun, named after its inventor. By agreement, which the designer concluded with Harrington & Richardson Arms Inc. at 1939 year, he was owed 2 dollar for every submachine gun sold.

There were two main modifications of the submachine gun. «Raising» —M50 with solid wood stock and M55 with foldable shoulder pad, designed for parachutists and armored vehicle crews. Besides, The M55 was also distinguished by the absence of a muzzle compensator and some simplification of the design..

Why submachine gun Reising not caught at the front?

Why submachine gun Reising not caught at the front? Reising submachine guns, M50 and M55

Need to say, that regarding the increased demand, Eugene's expectations were fully justified. Auto Ordnance and other Tommy Gun makers find themselves loaded with orders from the army. For the police and other law enforcement agencies «Raising» turned out to be the only PCB available on the market, what predetermined the high demand. In addition, the new submachine gun was cheaper., easier, and thanks to the shutter slower, it retained a fairly high accuracy of fire.

For police needs PP «Raising» turned out to be a very successful model, and 1950 the company even resumed its production, fulfilling police orders before 1957 of the year.

It turned out quite differently with a military career.. «Raising» failed army trials twice. However, the United States, except for the army, there was also a Marine Corps. Finding, that on the list of recipients of scarce «Thompsons» they are extremely far from the first lines, the leadership of the ILC began to look for at least some available options - and one of them was «Raising».

Why submachine gun Reising not caught at the front?

Alas, combat debut of new submachine guns on Guadalcanal was very far from success. In a tropical island setting «Raising» proved to be not the best in terms of reliability, and for ease of use. known history, how Lieutenant Colonel Anson ordered his subordinate Rangers to throw «Raising» into the river. Phrase"As long as the raises were kept clean, they worked, but it was impossible to keep them clean " was actually a sentence for the use of weapons at the front.

Apart from problems with the submachine gun itself, there were also problems with the store - a hastily developed version with a single-row arrangement reduced the already low capacity with 20 to 12 rounds, which for a submachine gun looked more like a mockery. Besides, some details were hand-fitted in place, which actually made it impossible to repair in the field using spare parts from another submachine gun.

Why submachine gun Reising not caught at the front?

all with 1941 by 1945 gg. it was released 114 216 «Raising». Of these, the KMP, before receiving feedback from the front, managed to purchase 66 500, most of the rest went to police and other logistical guards in the United States. However, at lend-lysis «Raising» also managed to check in, according to available data, 2000 ended up in England, a 6000 — in USSR.

As it appears, delivery of a batch of raises to the USSR in 1942 year happened on the principle of "take what they give" and by that time, when one of the submachine guns hit the shooting range, it was already clear, that there will be no new supplies. Unlike many other designs, «Raising» did not undergo a full cycle of tests - shooting in difficult conditions, shot for survivability, and so on - but very carefully familiarized ourselves with its design features.

Particular attention was paid to the semi-free shutter deceleration system:

"Semi-free locking PP «Raising» significantly complicated the design of the entire system, but allowed to reduce the weight of moving parts (on 0,2-0,3 kg) and all weapons in general. Reducing the weight of the moving parts should help to reduce the vibration of the submachine gun during automatic firing. "

But.. followed by the conclusion.

«…»Raising» much more difficult to disassemble, and especially in production, as it requires precise manufacturing of parts and does not allow the use of stamping in the manufacture of individual parts. From this point of view, PP «Raising» is of no interest ".

Why submachine gun Reising not caught at the front?

As for the store, then here are the Soviet testers, without even knowing about the problems of Americans, noted, what“This design of the magazine makes it much more difficult to fill it with cartridges and, Besides, when the magazine is dirty or dusty, significant friction is formed in the neck, as a result, the feeder may jam and the cartridge will not feed. ".

Interesting, that despite slowing down the shutter, rate of fire «Raising» in the USSR got equal 775 rounds per minute. American sources usually cite company data - 500-550 rounds / min, but with a careful caveat: «but it was reported that the true full-auto rate was closer to 750–850 rounds per minute» (but reportedly, the real rate of fire in automatic mode was closer to 750-780 rounds / min).  It is unlikely that this means messages from the USSR - most likely, such measurements were also carried out in the USA, getting a similar result.

Generally, the conclusions of the Soviet testers were quite natural. Although «Raising» and was created as a simpler and cheaper alternative «Thompson», yet in many ways it was a peacetime submachine gun, when the designers were still trying to keep up with the formal combat characteristics in police conditions. For the front, a simple and reliable weapon was required - and here the American engineers also had something to brag about..

/Andrey Ulanov, kalashnikov.media/

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