Unfortunately, humanity is constantly trying to improve its weapons, to make them more modern and powerful. We offer an overview of the most dangerous weapons in the world, which have been tested and proven destructive force on practice. Pistols and machine guns are toys for big boys. True, they are not fun, since by pressing the trigger once, you can take someone's life.

The 9mm Uzi submachine gun is not inferior to large submachine guns, but is easy to use in combat due to its small sizes. You can easily pack this weapon into a suitcase and transport it across the border; it fits perfectly on a tray with a lid. Despite its compact size, it is very powerful weapon. It is difficult to find an assault rifle with the same functionality, mobility and high rate of fire.

The M1911 pistol very often took part in dismantling mafia structures and was considered the most dangerous and popular weapon among bandits. For more than 50 years it has been a tool of terrorism and crime. The pistol is equipped with accessories such as a flashlight and a small optical sight. Often a 45-caliber pistol is used to carry out assassin orders. It shoots almost silently.

The 45mm MG4 light machine gun is one of the most dangerous weapons, ever produced by man, is on a par with the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle. It is characterized by a high rate of fire and functionality. A special stand allows you to install a machine gun for convenient shooting anywhere. It can be installed on armored personnel carriers and fired from any vehicle. The damage this machine gun causes can be compared to that left after using a bazooka. The machine gun fires 770 bullets per minute.

Throughout history, this machine gun has claimed the lives of more than several hundred thousand people around the world. The AK-47 is a very powerful weapon, has a recognizable shape, its mere presence causes tension. The machine gun fires 600 bullets per minute.

It is in service with the army and special forces. Thanks to his light weight and ergonomic characteristics, the pistol has gained wide popularity among specialists. Despite its compact size, it is reliable, accurate, powerful and functional.

The new HK416 A5 machine gun does not repeat the mistakes of its “parents”. Among the new products is a winter-type trigger, which allows you to shoot with gloves, and the rate of fire does not decrease, and fingerprints do not remain on the weapon. It is equipped with a night vision scope and fires with high accuracy.

This is one of the most dangerous pistols in the world, its bullets can tear everything into thousands of pieces. Every time a shot is fired, the victim has no chance to escape. This is a powerful and dangerous pistol, capable of causing damage incompatible with life in close combat.

If you remember all the films about cowboys, it becomes clear that the most popular during showdowns in the Wild West would be Colt revolvers 45 caliber. Modern models have not lost their former glory. This is a high quality and very powerful weapon used by the police, as well as for hunting and sport shooting.

This rifle is a phantom assassin's dream, as it can be easily camouflaged and hits with precision and power. It can be considered as a weapon of the future. The rifle can be used both for routine combat missions and for missions of special importance and secrecy. The power of the shot is such that it is compared to the explosion of a grenade.

The Tracking Point rifle is considered the most dangerous small arms on the planet. The technologies used in its creation made it the rifle of the future in literally this word. The cost is $22,000, so a common person will not be able to purchase it. It is equipped with a laser sight and a computer that automatically monitors the victim and decides when to fire a successful shot. The computer calculates the shot time, range, and effectiveness based on various parameters, taking into account the wind force. The computer operates on WI-FI, records video, and records all information. It is not surprising that you can make calls from a rifle.
When designers come up with their “brainchildren”, they cannot even imagine that their

The fastest firing weapon in the world

The beginning of the quest to produce the fastest-firing weapons in the world can be considered the creation of a rapid-firing machine gun by Dr. Gatling in 1862. It was then that Richard Gatling patented the Revolving Battery Gun - a multi-barreled machine gun with rotating barrels. The rate of fire of this gun ranged from 400 (in early models with manual drive) to 3000 rounds per minute (in later models with electric drive). Almost 150 years have passed since then, and the principles used in this machine gun remain unchanged.

The principle of a rotary machine gun, which was used in the Gatling machine gun, was also in demand in the 20th century.

Some of the popular machine guns were the six-barreled XM 134 and XM 214, with calibers of 7.62 and 5.54 mm. Their rate of fire reached 10,000 rounds per minute. They had 30 kg of ammunition, which the machine gun could “spit out” in a minute of shooting, power was supplied to them via a cable, and the recoil of 110 kg did not allow them to be fired hand-held. Another similar “toy” was the 20 mm Vulcan aircraft gun, which weighed 136 kg and fired 6,000 rounds per minute.

But our analogue to imported models, the GSh-6-23M, with its rate of fire of 10,000 rounds per minute, turned out to be twice lighter and more reliable, since it is not an electric motor, but the energy of powder gases that is used to rotate the barrels. Its recoil recoil is 5 tons and its recoil is 3.5 tons. This gun is designed to destroy ground and air targets, including cruise missiles. Installed on MiG-31, Su-24 aircraft. This particular gun is the fastest-firing gun in the world, although not the fastest-firing weapon overall.

The next step in the world of rapid fire was the development of a rifle system with a combat rate of fire exceeding one million rounds per minute. Mike O Dwyer ( Mike O Dwyer) from the Australian company Metal Storm, a 36-barrel installation was invented in the late 1990s, which showed more than a million rounds per minute in test firing. Naturally, a million bullets were not fired, but nevertheless, the rate of fire record was recorded after 540 shots from this installation.

Conventional mechanisms and charges cannot operate at such a speed, so the installation from Metal Storm used special ammunition, which is a barrel in which bullets are placed sequentially, and between them is a flammable accelerating mixture. To fire a shot, an electronic ignition method is used, which makes it possible to achieve perfect accuracy of the delay between shots.

It is this installation from Metal Storm that is today the fastest-firing weapon in the world.

A weapon that spits metal.

Back in the late 1990s, the Australian company Metal Storm invented a shooting system with a combat rate of fire of more than a million rounds per minute. This mind-blowing figure was achieved on a 36-barrel test rig. Naturally, a million bullets were not fired, but the rate of fire record was recorded after 540 shots.

A million RPM (rounds per minute) is an indescribable indicator for an ordinary small arms weapon, if only because of the time required to reload. Even drum-type aircraft guns do not provide a similar rate of fire.

No classical charging mechanisms can operate at such a speed, which is why the Metal Storm system uses special ammunition. They are a barrel in which bullets are laid one after another, broken by a flammable accelerating mixture (usually smokeless powder is used in small arms for this purpose). The bullets used are not simple, of a special design: when a highest pressure(from the previous shot), it expands and covers the barrel. With the help of electrical ignition, bullets are fired one after another, which allows them to achieve mind-boggling speeds of fire. The electric ignition method makes it possible to achieve impeccable delay between shots. Moreover, you can smoothly adjust the gun’s rate of fire depending on the tasks by simply setting the appropriate program to the electric ignition controller! The difficulties that arise with a similar approach are numerous, but were successfully resolved by the developers of the weapon. For example, the further the bullet is in the barrel, the longer it takes to accelerate (with a similar amount of accelerating consistency) and the greater its speed at the muzzle, which affects shooting accuracy. Therefore, the amount of consistency may be different, depending on the tasks and shooting distance. This problem can be solved simply - the ammunition is made non-separable and is completely loaded into the barrel. Currently, the US Navy has become interested in the system. Not long ago, the developers showed a prototype that could fire from a self-propelled bot. You can read in detail about this rapid-fire system on the developers' website.

Tunguska M1

In a fraction of a second, the Tunguska's rapid-fire cannon practically cuts the target in half.

The famous river was named after self-propelled gun Air defense, which entered the USSR troops in 1988. It is equipped with eight launchers 9M311M surface-to-air missiles, also double-barreled anti-aircraft gun caliber 30 mm. The rate of fire of guns equipped with a cooling system is 5,000 rounds per minute, the range against air and ground targets is 4 km. The gun is equipped with a radar installation, optical sight, digital computer and navigation equipment. The radar detects targets at a distance of 18 km and “leads” them from a distance of 10–12 km. The gun moves on tracks, it total weight– 34 t, hydromechanical gearbox. Tungusok batteries contain up to 6 units, usually followed by a transport-charging machine. The installations are used to combat low-flying aircraft and helicopters, but are also applicable for firing at ground targets.

Heckler & Koch G11

While the first bullet fired from a new German machine gun flies towards the target, two more bullets manage to fly out of the barrel.

The HK G11 assault rifle is one of the most advanced small arms weapons to date. Its development started in the late 1960s. With the collapse of the USSR and the unification of Germany, work on the G11 stalled, but as intra-European conflicts escalated into full-scale wars, many European countries began to think about creating a new machine gun. So G11 received a second birth.

The G11 from Heckler & Koch solves virtually all the difficulties of a modern small arms gun. The G11's rate of fire (in three-shot bursts) is 2,100 rounds per minute, which is faster than even the Micro UZI (which fires approximately 1,800 rounds per minute).

This rate of fire was achieved thanks to the use of a caseless cartridge, unique mechanics and the principle of “momentum accumulation”: when firing in bursts of three shots, the barrel, breech and magazine roll back, extinguishing recoil, only after the third shot (a similar system is used in the Russian AN-94 “ Abakan"). This allows you to achieve very high accuracy when firing in bursts. Along the way, a second problem emerged - now the fighter is obliged to carry not only bullets, but also shell casings, which are dead weight. The abandonment of cartridges made it possible to reduce the weight and volume of ammunition, in other words, to increase payload fighter. The G11 magazine contains 50 4.73 mm bullets. Bullets of this caliber fly faster than bullets of 7.62 and 5.45 calibers, which increases their penetration ability. Additionally, you can attach 2 horns on top, bringing the number of bullets to 150. A combination of optics and a laser marker is used for aiming. But despite all its advantages, the G11, for various reasons, has not yet been put into service, but is in experimental use by the German army.

Revolving Battery Gun

The beginning of the quest to produce the fastest-firing weapons in the world can be considered the creation of a rapid-firing machine gun by Dr. Gatling in 1862. It was then that Richard Gatling patented the Revolving Battery Gun - a multi-barreled machine gun with rotating barrels. The rate of fire of this gun ranged from 400 (in early models with manual drive) to 3000 rounds per minute (in later models with electric drive). Almost 150 years have passed since then, and the principles used in this machine gun remain unchanged.

The principle of a rotary machine gun, which was used in the Gatling machine gun, was also in demand in the 20th century.

XM 134, XM 214 and our answer

Some of the popular machine guns were the six-barreled XM 134 and XM 214, with calibers of 7.62 and 5.54 mm. Their rate of fire reached 10,000 rounds per minute. They had 30 kg of ammunition, which the machine gun could “spit out” in a minute of shooting, power was supplied to them via a cable, and the recoil of 110 kg did not allow them to be fired hand-held. Another similar “toy” was the 20 mm Vulcan aircraft gun, which weighed 136 kg and fired 6,000 rounds per minute.

But our analogue to imported models, the GSh-6-23M, with its rate of fire of 10,000 rounds per minute, turned out to be twice lighter and more reliable, since it is not an electric motor, but the energy of powder gases that is used to rotate the barrels. Its recoil recoil is 5 tons and its recoil is 3.5 tons. This gun is designed to destroy ground and air targets, including cruise missiles. Installed on MiG-31, Su-24 aircraft. This particular gun is the fastest-firing gun in the world, although not the fastest-firing weapon overall.

Just a barrage of fire!

The next step in the world of rapid fire was the development of a rifle system with a combat rate of fire exceeding one million rounds per minute. Mike O Dwyer ( Mike O Dwyer) from the Australian company Metal Storm, a 36-barrel installation was invented in the late 1990s, which showed more than a million rounds per minute in test firing. Naturally, a million bullets were not fired, but nevertheless, the rate of fire record was recorded after 540 shots from this installation.

Work principles

Conventional mechanisms and charges cannot operate at such a speed, so the installation from Metal Storm used special ammunition, which is a barrel in which bullets are placed sequentially, and between them is a flammable accelerating mixture. To fire a shot, an electronic ignition method is used, which makes it possible to achieve perfect accuracy of the delay between shots.

It is this installation from Metal Storm that is today the fastest-firing weapon in the world.

Svetlana Grushina, Samogo.Net

7.62 mm PK light machine gun
with a machine gun box with a capacity of 200 rounds.
Rate of fire - 650 rounds/min;
- 250 rounds/min

Rate of fire is one of the most important characteristics of the combat properties of a weapon, directly related to the actual shooting.

The rate of fire is determined by the number of shots fired from a given type of weapon per unit of time (usually per minute). The rate of fire, or theoretical rate of fire, and the practical, or combat, rate of fire and fire mode are used as characteristics of the weapon's rate of fire.

The theoretical rate of fire - the rate of fire - is a characteristic of the weapon itself, its adaptability to rapid loading for the next shot.

Practical rate of fire is a characteristic of the entire “ammunition-weapon” complex, since it takes into account the time for aiming, changing empty magazines with loaded ones, etc.

The desire to increase the rate of fire is associated with the need to hit a target that often fires back from a weapon that does not provide a 100% hit with a single shot (launch), in shortest time. In addition, the target may be within the range of a particular weapon for an extremely limited time. For example, modern air battle on oncoming courses it can last a fraction of a second. The more shells fired during this time, the higher the probability of hitting the enemy.

Rate of fire

The rate of fire is a characteristic of the rate of fire of an automatic weapon. It is determined by the number of shots that can be fired from an automatic weapon with continuous automatic fire. The rate of fire is completely determined by the time between two consecutive shots in a burst, called the automatic cycle time.

Thus, the rate of fire characterizes the highest rate of fire of a weapon, which is ensured by its technical capabilities, mainly by the design and operating conditions of the automation system. It does not take into account the breaks in firing between separate bursts that exist in real conditions, which are necessary to transfer fire from one target to another; for loading weapons when changing a magazine or tape; for aiming, etc.

Selecting the rate of fire for various types automatic weapons are produced based on their tactical purpose, as well as on the conditions for ensuring reliable operation of automatic weapons.

The optimal tempo value is the tempo that ensures both the highest accuracy of shooting at targets typical for a given weapon, and reliable operation of the weapon’s automation. When determining the optimal tempo from the point of view of actual shooting, one should take into account the effect of tempo on the probability of hitting moving targets, the influence of tempo on the magnitude of the combat rate of fire and bullet dispersion, as well as ensuring the required burst length when firing.

It is known that when shooting at moving targets, the probability of a hit increases with an increase in the rate of fire. In view of this, in the designs of automatic weapons intended for firing at fast-moving targets, they strive to increase the tempo as much as possible.

When shooting at moving living targets (such as a running shooter), which have a relatively low movement speed, the influence of tempo in the presence of existing shooting errors is small.

An increase in the rate of fire leads to a slight increase in the combat rate of fire, however, due to the short cycle time compared to the periods of time spent when shooting in real conditions, its change does not have a very large impact on the combat rate of fire. More significant is the influence of tempo on the dispersion of bullets when firing, which depends on the design features of the weapon and its stability when firing. This influence is usually greater, the less stable the position of the weapon when firing. Therefore, for models of manual automatic weapons that have relatively poor stability when firing, changing the tempo can be useful to reduce dispersion.

The rate of fire should also provide the ability for a given weapon to fire with the most advantageous burst length. In this regard, an increase in the rate of fire, for example, over 700 - 800 rounds per minute, makes it difficult to fire in short bursts, which are usually set for manual automatic weapons. On the other hand, as the rate of fire decreases, the maximum burst length that can be fired in a short period of time decreases, corresponding to the time the target appears on the battlefield, as well as the time allotted for shooting, taking into account the enemy’s return fire. This circumstance has important for such types of weapons as, for example, heavy machine guns, where increasing the burst length significantly increases the probability of hitting the target, which is why increasing the burst length is often used to increase the reliability of the hit.

Decrease maximum length burst, which can be fired in a limited time, has a particularly noticeable effect on reducing the probability of defeat when shooting at group targets using the method of uniformly dispersing bullets along the front.

Most modern models of small automatic weapons have a rate of fire of the order of 500 - 700 rounds per minute, which is considered acceptable from the point of view combat use this weapon. However, these speed limits were largely determined by the requirement to ensure the reliability of the automation mechanisms.

At a lower rate of fire, the speed and kinetic energy of the moving parts of the automation are insufficient to ensure the fail-safe operation of the automation, especially when unfavorable conditions operation (dust, grease, dry parts, etc.).

The use of a higher rate worsens the reliability of the weapon and significantly reduces the survivability of its parts. The most advantageous rate of fire, from the point of view of ensuring the reliability of the weapon, sometimes does not correspond to the desired rate under the conditions of combat use. To obtain an optimal rate that ensures maximum shooting efficiency, some types of automatic weapons use special retarding and accelerating mechanisms.

Practical rate of fire

Practical rate of fire refers to the rate of fire that can be achieved when firing from a given type of weapon while maintaining its inherent accuracy and taking into account the type of fire and the time spent on aiming, loading the weapon and transferring fire from one target to another.

Practical rate of fire is the main characteristic of the rate of fire of both automatic and non-automatic weapons. It has a direct impact on the reality of shooting, determining the number of targets fired per unit of time. Practical rate of fire is of particular importance when shooting during the most critical and intense periods of combat, for example during attacks and counterattacks. Increasing the practical (combat) rate of fire is the main means of ensuring a high density of fire on the battlefield, determined by the number of bullets per linear meter of the front.

The practical rate of fire depends on the following technical (design) characteristics of the weapon: aiming time; weapon loading time; magazine or tape containers; the cycle time of the automation, the degree of training of the shooter and shooting conditions.

Aiming time (in seconds) depends on the properties of the weapon, ensuring speed and ease of operation with the sight, aiming mechanisms and trigger mechanism, as well as on the training of the shooter and external conditions(nature of the target, its visibility, etc.). IN general case the amount of aiming time is determined by the time of installation of the sight, the time of aiming the weapon, taking into account the transfer of fire from one target to another, and the time of impact on the trigger when opening fire.

Aiming time can vary widely even for weapons of similar design. So, for example, for hand weapons it can be from 1.5 to 3 seconds, for heavy machine guns from 5 to 10 seconds - when performing only horizontal aiming, when the targets are on the same line, and up to 20 - 30 seconds - when performing horizontal and vertical aiming.

The loading time of a weapon (in seconds) depends on the properties of the weapon, which determine the speed of loading operations when changing a magazine or belt (in automatic weapons), or filling the magazine with cartridges and reloading (in non-automatic weapons), as well as on the training of the shooter and his position when shooting. Approximate loading times for magazine-fed weapons are 3 - 5 seconds; with belt feed 5 - 8 sec.

The capacity of the magazine or tape is a constant value for each specific type of weapon. As the power capacity increases, the loading time per shot decreases, which helps to increase the practical rate of fire.

The size of the power capacity for various types of weapons is established based on their combat purpose.

The cycle time of the automation, as already mentioned, is directly related to the rate of fire, which for each specific type of weapon is a very specific value.

The length of the burst can vary over a very wide range, ranging from two to three shots and up to a number of shots equal to the weapon’s power capacity. The choice of one or another burst length depends on the type of weapon and the nature of the combat mission it performs.

Specific values queue lengths for various types of weapons are selected depending on the nature of the target; its size; visibility and range; and also on the design of the weapon; its stability when shooting; power capacity and permissible fire mode. As the firing range increases and the visibility and size of the target decreases, the burst length usually increases to increase the reliability of hitting the target.

Thus, among the considered main factors that determine the value of the practical rate of fire, only cycle time and power capacity have a constant significance for a given type of weapon. Other factors can acquire different meanings, determining the different values ​​of the practical rate of fire that the weapon will have under certain shooting conditions. Among them the most significant influence The length of the burst affects the practical rate of fire.

Changing the rate of fire in the range from 300 to 1000 rounds per minute has a slight effect on the practical rate of fire, especially with increased aiming time and loading time.

The increase in power capacity is significantly more effective means increasing the practical rate of fire, including when large values aiming time and loading time.

The cases considered do not cover the entire variety of factors influencing the value of the practical rate of fire. The latter, for example, can be noticeably reduced due to delays in shooting caused by insufficient reliability of the weapon mechanisms, as well as due to breaks in shooting necessary to change the barrel (in weapons with an interchangeable barrel).

The Shooting Manuals (NSM) and Service Manuals usually provide specific values ​​for the practical rate of fire, sometimes called the combat rate of fire. It must be borne in mind that the practical rate of fire indicated in the Manuals and Service Manuals is established on the basis of experimental firing under the most favorable conditions, corresponding to the minimum values ​​of aiming time and loading time. Therefore it should be considered as limit value combat rate of fire, which in reality will be lower than the noted values ​​due to the influence of the combat situation, the permissible fire regime and other reasons that cannot be taken into account.

Fire mode

The fire mode refers to the rate of fire of a weapon obtained when performing a given fire task, based on the established type of fire (single, short or long bursts, continuous) and the firing time. For each type of weapon there is a maximum fire regime, determined by the technical capabilities of the weapon related to ensuring the failure-free operation of its mechanisms, maintaining the strength and survivability of parts and safe handling when firing.

Prolonged shooting at a high rate of fire can lead to excessive heating of the barrel, which sharply reduces its survivability, deteriorates shooting accuracy and creates the danger of spontaneous ignition of the cartridge charge in the chamber. The latter circumstance reduces the safety of handling weapons; in this case, an accidental shot can occur when the barrel is not closed (for example, when eliminating delays in shooting when the moving parts of the automation are on the sear).

In view of this, it is necessary to pay Special attention for timely cooling of the barrel during firing, especially in automatic weapons capable of long time conduct continuous fire and fire in long bursts (single, mounted and heavy machine guns). In these weapons, to ensure a high rate of fire, which is required during certain periods of combat, the barrels are usually made more massive, which protects them from excessively rapid heating. In addition, this weapon is equipped with spare barrels, allowing the heated barrel to be replaced in a short period of time during firing.

To obtain the required fire mode, along with barrel cooling, it is necessary to periodically clean and lubricate parts small arms in order to avoid delays in the operation of its mechanisms and ensure the necessary survivability.

Thus, the maximum fire mode limits the increase in the rate of fire above a certain norm, at which the normal operation of the weapon may be disrupted.

Since for each specific type of small arms the main influence on the rate of fire is the length of the burst, the latter should be set taking into account not only ensuring maximum shooting efficiency, but also maintaining a normal fire regime. Specific values ​​for this burst length are usually indicated in the Shooting Manuals and Service Manuals, which also provide standards for the maximum number of shots before cooling or replacing the heated barrel.

Sergey Monetchikov
Photo by Vladimir Nikolaychuk
and from the author's archive
Brother 10-2008

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