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Arming ivan Russian small arms of WWI part 1: during the Great War, the Russians violated the first rule of a gunfight—have a gun
Guns Magazine , March, 2005 by John Sheehan
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The Eastern Front, September 1914--The Regiment changed formation from column to line as they approached the stand of trees. The last furrows of wheat were passing underfoot as Vladimir came on line with his company and plunged into the underbrush just inside the tree line. "Stay on line!" shouted the NCOs as the first artillery shell shrieked by overhead, bursting in a fiery ball within a cloud of grayish blue smoke. The line reflexively crouched in anticipation of the shower of shrapnel. The soldier to his right screamed in pain, doubling over as his right knee collapsed in full stride, plunging him to the ground. Vladimir glanced back to see Nicolai Alexyavich Petrov writhing on the ground in pain, holding the stump that was his left arm, a wide dark stain enveloping the ground around him. He shuddered uncontrollably as he looked back to the front, his mind trying to keep pace with what was happening around him. Another shell burst overhead, cutting a swath through the scattered ranks of brown greatcoats. The thick underbrush swallowed the casualties as the line pushed forward. Some soldiers slowed due to the varied thickness of the underbrush in the dense section of forest, while others slowed out of fear. Another shell screamed by, erupting in a loud explosion, 40 meters to the rear--good news--they were inside the fuse setting of the Austro-Hungarian 75mm shells! "DRESS RANKS" screamed the master sergeant, a hopeless likelihood in among the thick brush and tree branches brought down by the artillery fire. The ragged brown line continued to advance.
Vladimir could hear scattered gunfire on the right flank now, a staccato of pops amid the deeper roar of the artillery shells exploding to their rear. The light filtering through the trees was gradually increasing, they were nearing the edge of the woods. He plowed through the last patch of brush to emerge on the edge of another large wheat field. There before them, was a mass of flowing Austro-Hungarian Pike Gray tunics, passing down the slope of the field from right to left, in several deep ranks, their regiment's flank totally exposed to the axis of the Russian advance.
"Halt! ... commence firing! Vladimir reflexively raised the M91 Three-Line Rifle to his shoulder, the rush of adrenaline brought everything into slow motion--the familiar butt plate settled in against his shoulder, his cheek finding the birch stock, his eyes picking up the tip of the front post in the V notch of the battle sight. "Aim low!" shouted the NCO to his right. He swung the sights of the rifle in line with the knees of the nearest Austro-Hungarian soldier, tracked him for a split second before the sear broke clean and the rifle bucked against his shoulder. As the muzzle of the rifle flipped upward from the recoil, the bullet struck the enemy soldier. He had partially turned in surprise at the sudden appearance of the Russians on his exposed flank when the bullet caught him full in the chest. He dropped instantly, hitting the ground hard. Vladimir cycled the bolt of the Three-Line Rifle, running another 7.62x54mmR Ball L cartridge into the chamber, his eyes falling back in line with the sights, searching for another target, The entire Russian line now exploded with a ragged volley of rifle fire, delivered at a range of 30 to 50 meters. The left flank of the Austro-Hungarian formation nearly disintegrated as the entire formation recoiled from the sudden volley poured into the regiment at such close range. Vladimir's sights settled on another target, he squeezed the trigger ...
The fighting on the Eastern Front in the early days of WWI was performed in open order, columns and close order regimental line formations, much like the tactical doctrine developed in Napoleon's day. The well equipped frontline regiments of the Russian army that took the field in 1914, carried a variety of different rifles. The standard issue model was the battle proven, Model 1891 Three-Line Rifle, better known to the casual collector as the M91 Mosin-Nagant. This two part article will explore the diversity of the firearms officially issued to Russian combat troops during the Great War. It is an interesting field of study with a tremendously wide range of weapons, both modern and obsolete, having been issued to front line units.
Russian First Line Small Arms
The "Three-Line" moniker used in the nomenclature of the Mosin-Nagant Model 1891 was based on the caliber of the weapon in the old system of linear measurement still in use when the rifle was first introduced. The bore diameter was literally three "linea". The actual caliber as measured today in the U.S. is .310" to .311". The M91 was produced in six different configurations before WWI. It was produced in greatest numbers as an infantry rifle, however, several shorter variations were produced for specialty troops. These included both the Cossack and Dragoon rifles, the M91 Gendarmerie carbine, which was a precursor of the later Model 1907 carbine. In addition, there was a special carbine pattern produced for the Cossack Cavalry School in St. Petersburg. All of the various Mosin-Nagant variations were chambered for the 7.62x54mmR cartridge. At the outbreak of war in 1914, the Russian inventories were estimated to be as follows.
M91 Three-Line rifles--3,854,036
M91 Cossack rifles--713,551
M91 Dragoon rifles--779,985
M91 Gendarmerie rifles--8,749
M07 Cavalry carbines--236,659
St. Petersburg Cavalry carbines--unknown
This supply of small arms was just barely adequate for the number of troops mobilized at the outset of the war in August of 1914. By January 1st of 1915, the Russians had an estimated 5,000,000 men mobilized, 2,240,000 of whom were serving at the front, with the balance in training or serving in various garrisons spread across the vast Russian Empire. An estimated 800,000 of the recruits undergoing training had no rifles at all. Add to this an estimated loss of over 250,000 rifles at the disastrous Battle of Tannenberg in the opening months of the war and it becomes rather obvious the Russians could not sustain the war effort for very long without substantial help from her allies. The Russian manufacturing capabilities simply were not adequate to support a long protracted struggle on this scale. By January of 1915, the daily consumption of rifle ammunition was estimated at 45,000 rounds. The maximum production of Russian munitions factories at this time totaled a meager 13,000 rounds per day. The balance was being provided by the French and the British. U.S. munitions factories were to supplement this effort beginning in mid 1915.
All of the various patterns of the Model 1891 Three-Line Rifle were marked with the name of the manufacturer in Cyrillic on top of the barrel, between the hexagonal receiver and the rear sight base. The Imperial double-headed eagle was marked just underneath the rear sight and on top of the receiver flat just below the barrel. The date of manufacture and serial number of the rifle was stamped below the name of the arsenal. The date of manufacture of the receiver was marked on the underside of the receiver tang, generally in the form of the last two or three digits of the date. This is important to collectors as this date is what will actually determine whether or not any given M91 is classified as an antique by the BATF. There are many of the later pattern Mosins which have been rebuilt using pre 1899 receivers that are legally classified as antiques. All of the rifles produced before and during WWI were produced with the hexagonal receiver the round receivers seen on Model 91/30s being introduced well alter WW1. The Three-Line Rifle was produced at the Russian Government arsenals at Tula, Izhevsk and Sestroryetsk. Prior to WWI, the M91 was also produced in the infantry rifle configuration at Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Chatellemult in France. During the war, M91 Three-Line Rifles were also produced on contract at Remington and Westinghouse in the United States.
The Model 1891 Three-Line Rifle was the first smokeless powder rifle introduced in the Russian army. The original loading featured a 210-grain, cupro-nickel jacketed, lead-core bullet. The original rear sight was of tangent leaf design, consisting of a stepped base with a flat sight leaf. The steps of the sight base were numbered in 200 arshin increments from a battle-sight setting of 200 arshini to a maximum range of 1,000 arshini. For ranges beyond this, the sight leaf was raised perpendicular to the barrel and the push-button sight slide was adjustable. The slide engaged different graduations marked in 100 arshini increments on the sight leaf, up to a maximum range of 2,600 arshini (1,822 yards), which was composed of a V-shaped notch cut into the very top of the sight leaf above the slide.
The Model 1891 Three-Line Rifle saw its combat debut during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. The rifle performed poorly at long range when pitted against the fiat-shooting 6.5x50mm cartridge of the Japanese Type 30 Arisaka. After extensive testing, a new bullet was selected in order to improve the ballistics of the 7.62x54mmR cartridge. The new load was adopted in 1908. The bullet was of spitzer design and weighed 148 grains. The bullet was produced with a cupro-nickel jacket over a lead core. The base of the bullet was designed with a concave cupped base. Some of the ammunition loaded during the war incorporated a copper-washed steel jacket over a lead core. The flatter trajectory of the new round required alteration of the rear sight. The flat sight leaf was replaced with a curved leaf that was adjustable from 1,300 arshini to a new maximum range of 3200 arshini. However, the 3,200-range setting was no longer found on the very top of the sight leaf. Instead, the maximum range setting was achieved using the sight slide in its upper most position. The rear sight base was renumbered from 400 to 1,200 arshini in increments of 200. Neither the original nor the second pattern sight were adjustable for windage.
Both the early and second pattern sight leaves were used on the Dragoon and Cossack rifles, with the maximum range markings remaining the same as on the infantry rifle, in spite of the shorter barrels. The original M91 Dragoon and Cossack rifles had the sight base markings stamped into the wooden "ears" of the original pattern top hand guards. The M1907 Three-Line carbine and the St. Petersburg Cavalry School carbine had a maximum range setting of 2,000 arshini.
The earliest examples of the Model 1891 Three-Line Rifle were produced with a "musket" style sling swivel configuration. By this, I am referring to the sling swivels being mounted on the upper most barrel band and on the front of the magazine housing. This matches the configuration of the earlier Berdan II and most of the muzzle-loading rifles of the mid 1800s. Like the Berdan II, the Model 1891 Three-Line Dragoon and Cossack rifles along with the M1907 Carbine were all designed with the more familiar sling slots seen on most Mosin-Nagants today. A percentage of the first pattern rifles lacked any top swivel at all and instead, were issued with a special pattern sling that had a built in wire hook that was slipped into a gap between the "ears" of the top barrel band and hooked over the tightening screw. Beginning in 1908, newly manufactured stocks were equipped with the sling slots, which up until that time, had only been produced in the specialty patterns, i.e. the Dragoon, Cossack and carbines.
The French Connection
Initial production of the Model 1891 Three-Line Rifle was begun in 1892 at Tula, Izhevsk and Sestroryetsk. Production got off to an extremely slow start with each of the three arsenals rapidly falling behind the projected production requirements. While the three Russian government arsenals were struggling to tool up production, the Russian ordnance department immediately placed large orders with Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Chatellerault in France. Between 1892 and 1895, Chatellerault produced and delivered 503539 infantry rifles. The early rifles produced in Russia and in France were originally equipped with a finger spur extending from the rear of the trigger guard to the rearmost portion of the stock wrist. The finger spur was discontinued in June of 1893 and examples of this early configuration are extremely rare today and highly sought after by collectors. Chatellerault produced rifles can be distinguished by the French arsenal name, in Cyrillic, along with a C inside a circle on top of the barrel.
Small Arms of the Reserves
To help equip the reserves, during the 1890s, the Russian Army had contracted several of the arms manufacturers in Liege, Belgium, to convert approximately 200,000 Model 1870 Berdan II, single-shot black powder rifles, to the 7.62x54mmR smokeless cartridge. This would help ease supply problems as the reworked rifles, known officially as Three-Line Berdan's, would fire the same ammunition as the newer M91 Three-Line repeating rifles.
The Three-Line Berdan rifles received new barrels, with a beefed-up breech section to handle the higher-pressure smokeless cartridge. The barrel channel within the stock was shimmed to support the smaller diameter smokeless barrel. The Berdan II bolt had no locking lugs whatsoever and relied on the bolt root base closing against the forward portion of the split receiver bridge to provide the necessary lock-up during ignition. While this was acceptable with the low pressures generated by black powder, it proved inadequate for smokeless powder. To resolve this problem, a brand new bolt body was produced with a single locking lug added to the detachable bolt head. A locking groove was machined in the steel floor of the bolt way. When the bolt was closed, the locking lug rotated into the machined groove in the floor of the receiver locking the action adequately. The rear sight was of the exact same pattern as that of the M1891 Three-Line Rifle. The Three-Line Berdan's smaller barrel diameter was identical to that of the M91 and enabled the use of the newer M 1891 socket bayonet rather than the older pattern 1870 Berdan II bayonet.
In addition to the Three-Line Berdan conversions, the Russian Army still had a reported 362,400 Model 1870 Berdan II rifles. Unlike the Three-Line Berdans, these rifles and carbines were chambered for the original 10.66x57.5mmR black powder cartridge. Like the M91 Three-Line rifles series, the Berdan II was produced in various configurations, including model variations for the Infantry, the Cossacks, Dragoons and a single carbine version for the Cavalry. The Infantry rifle and the Dragoon rifle were both issued with separate variations of the M1870 Berdan bayonet.
In addition to the Berdan IIs, small numbers of surviving Model 1868 Berdan I rifles were reissued during WWI to reserve troops. The M68 Berdan I fired the same cartridge as the Berdan II, but was of a completely different design. Whereas the Berdan II was one of the early successful bolt action designs, the Berdan I was a hinged, pivoting block, single shot rifle along the same lines as the trapdoor Springfield. Unlike the Springfield, which was originally an Allen type conversion of a muzzleloader, the Berdan I was a newly manufactured pattern designed by Hiram Berdan, formerly of the United States Army and the 1st and 2nd Sharpshooter Regiments, which he raised during the American Civil War. Berdan was also the designer of the later M1870 Berdan II. Beyond the small stores of Berdan I rifles, the Russian small arms inventory fell off" fast, with an unknown number of Krnka's, Karls, and Holub rifles, all of which were not only obsolete, but had not been particularly serviceable rifles when they were brand new.
The second installment in this special series on the Russian weapons of WWI will deal with the varied arms purchased .from or supplied by the Allies in an attempt to keep Russia in the war and the Eastern Front alive. The French and the British both worried that a collapse of the Eastern Front and the withdrawal of Russia from the war would result in a potentially decisive manpower advantage on behalf of the Central Powers. Had the German and Austro-Hungarian Armies been able to mass the bulk of their Jorces on the Western Front before American troops had arrived in France in large numbers, the outcome of the war might have been very different.
RECEIVER MARKINGS
1: The rare Cossack Rifle is identical in dimensions to the more numerous Model 1891 Three-Line Dragoon Rifle, however, it is recognizable by the distinctive "KA3" marking found on the barrel marking just below the serial number. The "bow and arrow" mark, which was distinctive to Izhevsk, is stamped underneath the "KA3" Cossack marking. The "KA3" is also found in smaller form on the rear sight leaf, just visible in the top of this photo, beside the slide on the right side of the sight leaf. As with the markings of all of the arsenals, the Romonov crest is repeated on the barrel and the receiver flat. Izhevsk was the sole producer of the Three-Line Cossack Rifle, producing 713,551 before production of this model was discontinued. 2: The barrel of the M91 Three-Line Rifles produced by Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Chatellerault in France were marked in Cyrillic with the Circle/C mark found just below the date of manufacture, this example having been produced in 1895. Below the Circle/C mark is the serial number of the rifle and below the rear sight is the Imperial double-headed eagle of the Romanov Family. The same mark is repeated in slightly different form on top of the receiver flat. In this example, the crest on the receiver flat appears to have been a light strike further reduced by wear or possibly an arsenal refinish. Rifles produced at such an early date have more than likely been overhauled at some point. Keep in mind this one was already 19 years old at the outbreak of WWI. 3: The barrel marking of the Sestroryetsk Arsenal, complete with decorative flourishes surrounding the Sestroryetsk trademark arrow, was the most attractive of all the markings. This particular example is marked "Deutschland" on the top receiver flat, indicating German capture during WWI. The "Deutschland" mark, as stamped on this rifle is very rare when compared to the "Deutsches Reich" mark commonly found on captured WWI Three-Line Rifle stocks. 4: The barrel markings of a Tula produced rifle from 1892 until mid 1912, didn't have the Peter the Great reference, which was begun gradually after February of 1912. The markings read: "Tulski Czarist Weapons Factory." Rifles in process up until the time of the order would have retained these original markings.
IMPERIAL RUSSIAN SYSTEM OF MEASURE
The Russians used an archaic system of measurement prior to WWI. Among the measurements common to this system was the arshin, which equals 28" or one pace. The rear sights of both the Berdan I and II, as well as the Model 1891 Three-Line rifle variations were all marked in arshins. The actual caliber of each weapon was measured in liniya. One liniya equals 1/10" or 2.54mm, hence the designation of the Model 1891 Three-Line rifle, which is equal to the caliber of the weapon. By the same token, the Berdan I and II were also known as 4.2 Line rifles,
COPYRIGHT 2005 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

__________________
To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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Arming Ivan Part II: the bear begs, borrows and buys guns to stay in the fight
Guns Magazine , April, 2005 by John Sheehan
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The Eastern Front, August 1916--The shrill scream of the officer's whistle snapped Sergey back to reality. He was trying to picture Svetlana's face, the way she always smiled when they worked in the little garden outside their hovel near the village of Safonovo. He wondered if he would ever see her again as he braced himself for what might be his last day on earth. He waited for his turn at the ladder as the staccato of Austrian machineguns began to spray the top of the parapet. He could here the bullets passing overhead like so many angry wasps. He squeezed and opened the palms of his hands reflexively and then looked at Sasha in front of him, wishing that he had a rifle, any rifle, even the antiquated French Gras rifles being carried by the majority of his company. The whistle blasted another mournful wail and the packed mass of Russians began to move up and out of the frontline trench.
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His NCO, Sergeant Vladimir Nicolaiyivch Ivanov, was screaming and kicking a soldier who was cowering in the bottom of the trench, screaming at him to get up and join the attack. Sergey steeled himself as best he could and scrambled up the ladder behind Sasha, instinctively crouching as he cleared the top of the parapet. A burst of gunfire swept the ground to his left, several rounds zinging off the barb wire entanglement to the left of the path that had been cleared through the wire by the pioneers in preparation for the assault. He followed Sasha through the wire diving for cover in a shell hole, just as a round from a trench mortar obliterated the three men who cleared the wire seconds before them. Another round burst in front of them, as they hugged the earth. Four more rounds tore the air around them and the shrapnel whizzed by just over their heads. Someone screamed, but the sound was blotted out by the next round of incoming shells. The Austrians had the path through the Russian wire bracketed.
Sergey crawled to the edge of the shell hole and peered over the crest. In front of them. writhing in pain, screaming, were several soldiers who were caught in the open by the last round of mortar fire. They were flanked by the lifeless bodies and body parts of four other soldiers who had caught the brunt of the blasts. He remembered Sgt. Ivanov words, "For those of you without rifles, one will become available shortly." Sergey marked the sergeants words as he slithered out of the shell hole to grab the French Mle 1874 Gras rifle that lay in the dirt next to one of the lifeless bodies of his comrades ...
That's right, a French Mle 1874 Gras, one of more than 450,000 sent to Russia by the French Government during 1915 and 1916, to help alleviate the chronic weapons shortage, which plagued the Russians throughout the war. The combatant nations who squared off in 1914 estimated that the fighting would last for somewhere between six weeks and three months. When Christmas had come and gone, it was apparent to everyone that the war was going to last much longer and take a far greater toll than anyone could have imagined. More and more troops were mobilized and, from the very beginning in Russia, there were not enough rifles to arm them all.
If the original accounts are to be believed, an estimated eight percent to as many as 28 percent of Russian troops in any major engagement went into battle without rifles. They were issued ammunition and told that a rifle would "become available" after battle was joined. There are not many soldiers in the world, then or now, who would not have mutinied at the mere suggestion of such a thing. It's not that the Russian Army wanted it this way. It is simply a matter of Russia, along with all of the other major powers of Europe, never having imagined fighting a war on this scale. In addition, the battlefield losses of small arms, due to the advent of high explosive artillery rounds, wets much greater than anyone imagined. The net result was that nearly every breech-loading rifle developed following the end of the American Civil War was eventually used in some capacity during WWI. In Russia, obsolete rifles older than the soldiers who carried them, saw frontline combat service.
The U.S. Connection
With solid contacts already existing within the U.S. small arms market, Russia turned immediately to the United States. Russian Ordnance experts visited Remington and Westinghouse where large contracts were let for American-made M1891 Three-Line rifle. Both companies produced an estimated 1,609,827 million rifles before Russia withdrew in 1917 (Remington made 840,307 and Westinghouse 769,520). The balance of the Remington and Westinghouse orders in process when Russia withdrew were purchased by the U.S. Army and issued as training rifles. Both U.S.-produced Three-Line Rifles are marked with the name of the manufacturer in English atop the barrel in the same location as the Russian-made rifles. U.S.-issued M91s are generally marked with U.S. Ordnance eagle heads or a small flaming bomb surmounted with "US" stamped on the underside of the stock just forward of the magazine.
In addition to the contracts issued to both Remington and Westinghouse, the Russian team placed an order for 300,000 Model 1895 Winchester muskets. These rifles were equipped with charger guides to allow the use of the same five-round stripper clips as the M91. The Model 95 has a five-round inline magazine fully compatible with the use of spitzer bullets. The first deliveries of Winchesters where shipped with knife bayonets with 8 1/2" blades. The Russian tactical doctrine placed a lot of emphasis on the bayonet. They were extremely pleased with the first Winchesters, but immediately requested the blades of the bayonets be increased to 16". The Winchester earned an excellent reputation with the troops, and the rifles saw continued use through the Russian Civil War. There is a slight discrepancy regarding the number of M95 Winchesters that were delivered to Russia. The Russians claim to have received 299,000 rifles, while the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. shows 293,818 rifles shipped. Some historians believe the additional rifles may represent commercial Model 95s purchased out of Winchester's work in progress when the two parties first met.
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An unspecified number of U.S. .30-40 Krag-Jorgenson rifles made their way to Russia during WWI. Examples of these rifles exist in Russian museum collections. Since the Krag-Jorgenson was by that time considered a reserve weapon in the U.S., a large number were owned and stored by various state's militias, Who sold the .30-40 Krags to the Russian delegation, as well as the numbers delivered, remains a mystery in the U.S.
The Japanese Arisaka
The Russians cared very little where rifles came from, so long as they were serviceable. With this consideration, the Russians approached the Japanese who had soundly thrashed them over hegemony in the Far East just 10 years before in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. Now the Russians sought to buy the very same rifles that had been used against them during that war. Some 600,000 Arisaka rifles were shipped to Russia during 1915 and '16. The vast majority of rifles and carbines were Type 30 Arisakas (1897). A much smaller percentage were Type 35 Naval rifles (1902) and the newer Type 38 infantry rifles (1905). All were shipped complete with Type 30 bayonets, the same pattern used against U.S. forces in the Pacific 30 years later. The Type 30, 35 and 38 rifles were chambered for the 6.5x50mm cartridge, accepted standard chargers and had a five-round magazine capacity.
The Japanese, in an effort to clean up an old mess, included an additional 34,400 Mexican Arisaka Type 38 rifles and carbines. These rifles had been produced on contract for Mexico, but only a very small number had been delivered when the Mexican Revolution interrupted the sale. The Mexican contract Arisakas are identical in every way to their Japanese counterparts with few exceptions. They are marked with Mexican crests on the receiver and are chambered for the 7x57mm Mauser cartridge. These rifles and carbines also used Type 30 bayonets.
Arisakas from Britain?
In late 1915 and through the end of 1916, the Russian Army received an additional 128,000 Type 30 and 38 Arisaka rifles from Great Britain. In 1914, during the dark days before the Marne, the French sought to purchase weapons from Japan, too. France bought 150,000 Arisaka Type 30 and 38 rifles. While the shipment was in transit, the British approached the French and bought all 150,000. The shipment was diverted to Britain and the rifles issued to the reserves and the Royal Marines. In British service, the Arisakas were referred to as the Rifle, Magazine, .256-inch, Pattern 1900 (Type 30) or 1907 (Type 38). As the situation in Russia grew more desperate, the British, who now had large quantities of P14 Enfields from the U.S., decided to ship the bulk of the remaining Arisakas to Russia. Several British companies were already producing 6.5 ammunition for the Russian Army. An estimated 16,000 of the original shipment of 150,000 Arisakas had been shipped to the Middle East for use by the Arab Revolt under Prince Feisal and T.E. Lawrence, and a small number were still aboard ships at sea. Of the original 150,000 Arisakas in British inventory, 128,000 eventually went to Russia.
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According to Russian sources, a grand total of 763,000 Arisaka rifles were issued to Russian troops during WWI. When you count the shipments per western sources, there is a discrepancy of only 600 rifles. The discrepancy is small enough to be not much more than a footnote.
French Contributions
The French were prepared to help Russia, too. France, more than any other country, wanted Russia to stay in the war. Without the Eastern Front, Germany would shift the weight of her army to the Western Front and the destruction of France. Beginning in 1915, regular shipments of small arms, ammunition, artillery and shells where made continually to Russia. The first arms sent to Russia were obsolete Mle 1874 French Gras single-shot, black-powder rifles and carbines. The Gras was a later cartridge evolution of the Mle 1866 Chassepot needle rifle. The bolt-action Gras series included a full-length infantry rifle, cavalry carbine, artillery musketoon and two variations of short rifle for the mounted and foot gendarmerie. The Gras was chambered for the 11x59mmR black-powder cartridge. The Gras infantry rifles were issued with the Mle 1874 bayonet, an epee style made solely0 for thrusting. The Mle 74 has a 20 1/2" T-backed blade. Many of the Gras bayonets were inspected at the Sestroryetsk arsenal in Russia and stamped inside the mounting slot with an arrow, the standard small-parts mark of the arsenal. The Mle 1874 Artillery musketoon and the Mle 74 Foot Gendarmerie rifles were generally issued with the Mle 1866 yataghanstyle sword bayonet. By the end of 1916, a total of 450,000 Mle 74 Gras single-shot rifles were delivered.
In addition to the Mle 74 Gras rifles, the French also shipped 150,000 Mle 1878, Mle 1878/84 and Mle 1885 Kropatchek repeating rifles. Western sources list a total of 105,000 Kropatchek rifles delivered to Russian forces. The addition of these rifles made sense, since the Kropatcheks were chambered for the 11x59mmR and the Mle 78/84 was issued with the Mle 74 Gras bayonet. The first Kropatchek rifle in French service, "Le fusil Mle 1878 de Marine, was produced by Steyr of Austria. The total production of the Mle 78 was 25,000 rifles. The next Kropatchek, the Mle 1878/84, was produced entirely in France and was an improved version of the Mle 78. The majority of the rifles shipped to Russia were Mle 78/84s. The last version of the black-powder-chambered Kropatcheks, the Mle 1885, was in fact the forerunner of the Mle 1886 Lebel and incorporated the slab-sided, steel receiver with separate buttstock and forearm, as opposed to the full-length stock of the other two models. These rifles were of Kropatchek design and incorporated an eight-round tubular magazine enclosed in the forearm and running underneath the barrel almost to the muzzle. An additional cartridge could be carried in the lifting mechanism and a 10th round in the chamber. While not exactly a modern weapon, the black-powder Kropatcheks were at least repeaters. Any way you look at it, any repeating rifle is a step up from a black-powder single shot, such as the Berdan II or Gras!
With the inventory of obsolete rifles pretty much exhausted, the French began to ship more modern weapons to Russia, including Mle 1886 Lebel rifles, the French first-line rifle at the outbreak of the war. The Lebel was the last of the Kropatchek designs adopted by a major power. The ground-breaking Mle 1886 Lebel introduced the French 8x51mmR cartridge, the first small-bore, smokeless-powder cartridge adopted by any army in the world. As it was, the rifle itself was outdated almost before it was introduced. As the Lebel was being designed, Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher had already introduced the Mannlicher en bloc clip system for his Model 1885 Mannlicher. Three years later, Paul Mauser would eclipse Mannlicher with the introduction of the Mauser charger loading system. Like the previous French Kropatchek designs, the Mle 1886 Lebel had a tubular magazine that ran the entire length of the forearm. The total number of Mle 1886 Lebels delivered to Russia, is listed by both Russian and Western sources, as 86,000 rifles.
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The French also shipped quantities of the Mle 1907/15 Berthiers. These Mannlicher clip-loading rifles were an outgrowth of the Mle 1890 Berthier carbines. The Berthier was originally introduced in three configurations, a special carbine with a combless stock and a leather buttplate for the French heavy armored cavalry--the Cuirassiers--a standard cavalry version and a special model for the Gendarmerie. Two years later, a Berthier artillery musketoon was introduced, the Mle 1892. In 1902, the first Berthier rifle was introduced, a scaled-down Mle 1902 short rifle specially designed for the Annimese colonial troops from French Indo-China. The next addition, and the last before the outbreak of war in 1914, was the Mle 1907 Berthier "Senegalese" Coloniale rifle. It was upon this version of the Berthier that the Mle 1907/15 was designed.
The Mle 1907/15 Berthier was a Mannlicher design with a split receiver bridge that utilized the en bloc Mannlicher clip system. In the case of the Mle 1907/15 Berthier, the clips held a scant three rounds. Since the Mannlicher required an inline magazine to accept the clips, the original cavalry version were designed as three-shot rifles, since it was deemed an extended magazine reaching below the bottom line of the stock might catch on different pieces of the cavalryman's equipment, In addition, the primary weapons of the cavalry were still considered to be the lance and saber in 1907. Whether or not this makes much sense today is certainly debatable, but there was no good reason whatsoever to design a three-round infantry rifle. It wasn't a good idea in 1907, let alone 1915. The French pressed the Mle 1907/15 rifles into production out of desperation and quickly decided in 1916 to add a five-shot magazine that extended well below the stock on both rifles and carbines. Not surprisingly, both new variations were given Mle 16 designations.
However, shipments of Mle 1907/15 to Russia preceded the introduction of the Mle 16. Still, three shots were better than one and the Berthier fired the same 8x51mmR cartridge as the Mle 86 Lebel. Besides, Russia was still short of weapons and anything that slung lead was an improvement over sending a percentage of troops into battle unarmed. Both the Mle 1886 Lebel and the Mle 1907/15 Berthier accepted the same Mle 1886 or Mle 1886/16 epee bayonet. The Poilu's referred the Mle 86 epee bayonet as "Rosalie." There is no reference to the Russian soldiers having applied a nick name of their own.
For reasons unknown, neither the French nor the Russians listed the Mle 1886 Lebel and Mle 1907/15 Berthier shipments separately. As a result, we have a grand total of rifles delivered that both countries agree upon--86,000 rifles. How many of each type made up this number is anyone's guess.
Help from Italy
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Although suffering severe supply problems of their own, the Italians wanted to help their Allies because they didn't want the entire weight of the Austro-Hungarian Army descending on the Southern Front across the Isonzo or in the jagged crags and peaks of the Alps. Their contribution to Russia came in the form of 400,000 Model 1870/87 Vetterli-Vitali repeating rifles. Like the Berdan II and the Mle 1874 Gras, the Model 1870 Vetterli was originally adopted as a black-powder single shot. In 1887, one year after the French introduced the smokeless powder Mle 86 Lebel, the Italians wanted a new smokeless powder rifle of their own, but needed to extend the life of the Vetterli, The answer came in the form of the Vitali box magazine. The stocks were cut to accommodate a box magazine and a piece of sheet metal reinforcement was added to the bottom of the stock surrounding the magazine. A four-shot magazine, with reinforced side ribs was hen added to the action.
The floor of the boltway was cut away to allow the magazine to be from the top. In this respect, the Vetterli-Vitali is quite different from other rifles of the period that utilized Mannlicher clips. The four-round Vetterli clips had small linen pull tabs to pull the empty clip out of the top of the magazine after the last round. All other Mannlicher rifles of the period were allowed the empty clip to fall or be pushed out of the bottom of the magazine. The M70/87 Vetterli-Vitali's were chambered for the rather anemic 10.4x47mmR cartridge, the ballistics of which just about match a heavy-bullet .44 Magnum fired out of revolver. Not exactly a long-range proposition, but still preferable to a single shot in volume of fire and it was better than no rifle at all! The Vetterli-Vitali was issued to Russian troops with the Model 1870 sword bayonet. The M70 has an extremely long straight blade, measuring 20 3/16" from the cross-guard to the tip of the blade. The Model 1870 Vetterli-Vitali was produced in several carbine and gendarmerie configurations, however, all of the weapons known to have been shipped to Russia were infantry rifles.
Too Little, Too Late?
Despite increased production at each three major Russian arsenals, combined with the issue of more than two million rifles by her allies, the Russian Army never managed to resolve the chronic shortage of small arms throughout the war. It is a testimony to the stubborn character of the individual Russian soldier who continued to fight on under conditions that would have resulted in mutinies in most other armies. To what degree the constant weapons shortages contributed to the Revolution and Civil War may never be known, but the myriad of unusual, obsolete and antiquated weapons seeing frontline service in Russia during WWI is a fascinating small arms collector.
RELATED ARTICLE: The American M1891.
Both the Westinghouse and Remington contract M91s were produced in the United States during the war, marked on the barrel in English rather than Russian. This example is one of the 769,520 Model Westinghouse delivered to Russia during the war. Remington delivered a total of 840,307 M91s before Russia withdrew from the war at the end of 1917 and shipments were halted. Both Remington and Westinghouse had large inventories of work in process and the United States Army bought the remaining inventories from both companies for use in training the millions of new recruits who signed up in droves once America declared war on the Central Powers.
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RELATED ARTICLE: Lever actions on the front.
The Russians remembered the drubbing they took from the Turks armed |with Peabody-Martini single shots and Winchester Model 1866 lever actions at the Battle of Plevna in 1877. Their respect for the firepower a lever action delivered led them to purchase 299,000 Model 1895 Winchester Muskets. The Model 1895 was shorter than most WWI era bolt-action infantry rifles due to the shorter barrel length and more compact action. Many ordnance departments rejected the Winchester during field trials, questioning the ruggedness of the Model 95's action under combat conditions. Despite these concerns, the Model 95 performed extremely well on the Eastern Front and proved to be very popular with Russian troops.
The Model 1895 contract rifles are easily identified by the full-length military forearm, upper handguard and bayonet lug on the top barrelband. The clip guides, screwed to either side of the receiver on the Model 1895 Winchester, accommodated the standard Russian 7.62x54mmR five-round chargers. That was small consolation for an ordnance department that had to supply ammunition to the frontlines in more than a dozen different calibers.
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