The most famous edged weapon of the times of the Patriotic War of 41-45 made in the Soviet Union is the NR-40 reconnaissance knife. A well-developed model still causes genuine respect among experts and connoisseurs of combat blades. Every collector dreams of having a real army knife of the 1940 model of HP-40.
History
The appearance of armed weapons in the Red Army had its own reasons. During the Russo-Finnish war of 39-40 years of the twentieth century, Soviet soldiers did not have any special edged weapons.
Finnish troops successfully and very effectively used puukko knives. There was nothing to oppose the Soviet Red Army against cold steel. They were not even armed with basic household knives (cut bread, open canned food, cut a rope or belt, etc.). The only bayonet-knife (attached to the Mosin rifle) of a trihedral shape was suitable for only one purpose - to stab.
The close battle in the trenches showed the need for a soldier to have a blade in order to be able to protect his own life and defeat the enemy. The reconnaissance knife HP-40 (photo below) was adopted by the army in 1940. Another reason was the fact that short samples of automatic weapons appeared in the troops. Their design did not involve mounting the bayonet.
The blade is not just taken into service. In 1940, V.P. Volkov developed combat sambo techniques using cold steel. Since 1941, cold steel exercises have been included in the recommendations (manual) on preparing Red Army soldiers for hand-to-hand combat. The most complete and justified melee system using combat knives was developed by N.N. Simkin (published in 1944). The reconnaissance knife -40 was necessarily entered in the Red Army book, as well as firearms.
Description
Blade blade with bevel as a clip-point ("pike"). Approximately half the width of the blade is occupied by slopes. In front of the S-shaped guard - a well-defined heel.
The scabbard and hilt were made of wood and covered with black paint (for unmasking at night). The blade itself was not burnished or otherwise coated.
Recommendations for wearing: on the waist belt, at an angle of 30 0 , on the left side, with the handle to the right.
Weapon production was established at the Trud plant in Zlatoust (Zlatoust Tool Plant-Combine No. 259 named after V. I. Lenin - ZiK). The maximum number of products was produced in 42-43 years:
- 261 thousand pieces in 1942;
- 388 thousand units in 1943, with 271 thousand in the first half of the year.
The production of NR-40 was also handled by handicraft industries and front-line workshops. They brought some variety to the standard model: decorated, handles were made not only wooden. Replaced by typesetting, including Plexiglass. Artisans did not always adhere to exact proportions. The result was the massive appearance of knives similar to the HP-40.
Specifications
Technical characteristics of HP-40 (scout knife) are as follows:
- product length is 263 mm;
- the blade has a length of 152 mm;
- the widest part of the blade is 22 mm;
- steel for U7 brand blades;
- the thickness (maximum) of the butt is 2.6 mm;
- wooden handle;
- suspension - leather loop;
- fastening the blade in the handle through, with the rivet of the shank;
- wooden sheath with a metal tip.
Gift models were distinguished by additional decoration and corresponding inscriptions on the blades.
Features
HP-40 (charter model of a combat knife) has its own characteristics. First of all, it was a weapon - a means to defeat the enemy. This is the main feature of the blade. Garda has an unusual bend, uncharacteristic for knives. The S-shaped crosshair of the guard is made with a “reverse” bend. From the side of the blade, it bends towards the blade.
The scout knife of the HP-40 is exclusively a military weapon. "Worker" was considered a grip, inverted straight with a blade pointing up. So it was possible to hit a person in the hypochondrium and abdomen. Reverse - allowed to strike in the neck. With both grips, the weapon rests in the hand in an upside down position, and it was under these deadly blows that the guard was made.
Specialists note the design of the scabbard. It is more characteristic of daggers or long blades. Another detail is characteristic of such weapons as the NR-40 reconnaissance knife - a large heel (a section that does not have sharpening) in front of the guard. It allows you to put your finger on the blade, enhancing its action.
The wooden handle had a small “abdomen”, which made it possible to determine the position of the blade by touch and very comfortable to lay down in the hand.
Prototypes
It is believed that the development of knives for the Red Army was based on the following models:
- The uniform bayonet of the Finnish army, developed by an officer-artist (at that time also an adjutant of the famous Marshal Mannerheim) Axeli Gallen-Kallele. It was an original model that has no analogues in the world. It would be more correct to call him a knife, since he did not have special devices for attaching to a rifle. Dimensions of the knife (Hackman company): 5 mm thick blade; blade –145 mm; handle length - 105 mm; the length (total) of the knife is 255 mm.
- Scout Finnish knives. They were developed for scout organizations. The American traditions had a great influence on the shape of the blade: a double-sided emphasis of the guard, a blade with a bevel of a butt (“pike”). They were not in service with the Finnish army, but were acquired at the personal expense of soldiers.
There is no direct evidence that they became the “ancestors” of the HP-40 model (scout knife). The product drawing nevertheless confirms that many of the elements and design of the blade resemble the above models.
Tank blade
The patriotism of Soviet people during the Patriotic War gave impetus to the manufacture of modifications of the HP-40. For the personnel of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps, a group of workers at the Zlatoust plant manufactured 3356 special samples at their own expense.
HP-40 black knife was slightly different from the scout knife. They had shortened blades. The shape of the blade is straight, the handle is wooden, as are the scabbard. The small iron guard was flat. The scabbard and the hilt were covered with black varnish (hence the name). Knives were famous for their great strength and sharpness of the blade.
HP-40 black tank knife became a terrible weapon in the hands of fighters. Superstitious Germans attributed mystical power to the blades. The corps was called the "Black Knife Division".
The plant also produced a premium version of the product in small batches. They were decorated with chrome trim on the scabbard and hilt. Such blades were received as a gift during the war by Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin.
Shooting option
In the 60s of the twentieth century, the HP-40 - the registered knife of a scout - served as the basis for the creation of shooting blades. The armed forces of the USSR received two samples at once.
A short barrel and a trigger were built into the handle. It was necessary to shoot from the position of "blade to oneself." Used bullets under the cartridge (silent) SP-3, caliber 7.62. The knife has a green plastic handle, a straight blade 160 mm long, 30 mm wide, and a metal guard. Blade with a bevel "pike" and a saw on the butt. The model NRS-2 has a spear-shaped blade and a mechanism for firing under the cartridge SP-4.
The metal sheath is equipped with a special hinged lever with a plastic coating. The lever allows the use of the sheath for crimping the detonator capsule.
Modern models
In the 1950s, a bayonet-knife was developed for the Korobov experimental machine gun, an assault knife was created in Poland, an M1951 combat knife was created in Yugoslavia, and several variants of the V07 combat blade were immediately available in Czechoslovakia.
In the countries of the Warsaw Pact, cold steel, created on the prototype of the HP-40, was in service with the armies until the 70s of the twentieth century.
Attractive and well-promoted brand HP-40 (scout knife) served as the basis for the development of many models, including:
- "Cherry". Key Features: symmetrical plastic handle, made of impact-resistant plastic (white, black, green); small weight - 150 grams (without scabbard); total length 270 mm; blade 158 mm; leather sheath.
- Gyurza. Main characteristics: knife length (total) 270 mm; blade 155 mm; handle made of type-setting leather (there is a model with brass inserts); scabbard in two versions - leather or synthetic fabric with plastic inlays.
- The Shtrafbat. Main characteristics: knife length (total) 258 mm; blade 140 mm; leather sheath with a rigid suspension for a narrow belt.
Unusual facts
UDTS (“Ural Volunteer Tank Corps”) included a jazz orchestra, which often performed a song about black knives. The author of the song was Ivan Ovchinin. He later died during the liberation of Hungary. The legendary knife is also mentioned in the essay "The War and Peace of Sergei Butyrin."
F.J. Stefens in his 1980 Fighting knives (“Combat Knives”) mistakenly calls the HP-40 an Armenian combat knife. The abbreviation on the stamp ZiK was deciphered as "Zlatoust Industry, the Caucasus."