Small-caliber rifles were initially positioned as a means to develop training in mass shooting, as well as to strengthen existing skills. It was believed that if a person mastered the art of well-aimed hit from this type of gun, he would very quickly master combat weapons.
general information
The most widely used in our country are TOZs. It was them during the years of World War II that our partisans used. Small-caliber rifles TOZ were developed at the
Tula plant. The author and designer is the gunsmith D. Kochetov.
TOZ is distinguished by the simplicity of the device. For a very long time, these weapons were used in school shooting galleries and in DOSAAF. Representatives of the older generation are well aware of this model. Small-caliber rifles brand TOZ distinguished reliability and operational reliability. Some models are used as hunting.
Modifications
After the war, several varieties of this weapon were produced. The very first were TOZ-8 and TOZ-9. The latter is a five-shot magazine rifle, which was developed on the basis of the previous model.
But the weapons of this series received special popularity after the Tula plant began to produce TOZ-11, -12 and -16. These lightweight small-bore rifles were intended for hunter-hunters. Their mass was reduced to two kilograms. In addition, the designers of this modified TOZ-8 model were equipped with a birch bed of a new sample at that time.
And their efforts were appreciated. Available from 1946 to 1957, these small-caliber hunting rifles were awarded numerous awards and diplomas.
Design TOZ
The founder of this sporting weapon had the following combat properties: weight of 3.12 kilograms, rate of fire up to twelve rounds per minute, caliber - 5.6 millimeters, initial bullet speed - up to 310 meters per second. A shutter with a trigger was placed in his steel box. There were no combat stops in TOZ-8. The trigger mechanism pulled the trigger from the platoon. The hook was fastened down at the rear end of the spring.
The barrel, designed to direct the flight of bullets, had four rifling. They curled from left to right up. A bullet passing through the barrel made about two revolutions. Small-caliber rifles of the TOZ-8 brand had an aiming device designed to direct the cartridge into the target and give it the necessary aiming angle.
Features TOZ-9
This modification differs from the previous one in that it is equipped with a magazine for five rounds and has a slightly longer forearm box. Shooting from a small-caliber rifle TOZ-9 is carried out by special cartridges made of a brass sleeve and a lead bullet. Their impact composition ignites from the impact, igniting gunpowder. It is placed on the edge of the sleeve. Apparently, therefore, firing from a small-caliber rifle TOZ-9 is carried out by the so-called side-combat cartridges. They differ from their military counterparts in that they do not have caps with an impact composition located in the center of the sleeve cap.
Shooting
All TOZ small-caliber rifles have excellent accuracy. Two types of cartridges are suitable for them: ordinary and PTB - accurate combat. A skilled shooter can, with five bullets fired at a distance of fifty meters, get into the top ten target circle.
The cartridge fired from the barrel of a small-caliber weapon flies up to a thousand meters, retaining its lethal force up to eight hundred of them, which means that within a given distance, shooting from such a rifle, it is quite possible to inflict a mortal wound on both a person and an animal.
At close range, for example, fifty meters, a bullet pierces a dry tree six centimeters thick or a millimeter iron sheet.
The story of the creation of hunting modifications
Some believe that the characteristic of a small-caliber rifle does not make it possible to use it for catching the beast. Nevertheless, this weapon, which is popularly called affectionately “small things”, has long been used for hunting purposes. With him went mainly to fur production. In the USSR, rifled weapons were actually prohibited. However, small-caliber rifles for hunting, the price of which was then quite high, helped to get the "currency", which was considered a furry animal.
Today there are self-loading models, the principle of which is based on the free shutter, as well as modifications with accelerated manual reloading.
Combat weapon
Today, small-caliber rifles are mainly used for commercial hunting and sport shooting, and, surprisingly, during special operations. Their use in hostilities is real facts. The military in this rifle is attracted by the accuracy and characteristics of the bullet. After all, it has low energy, which in some extreme situations is simply vital. After an accurate hit, the bullet will surely disable the target. There are even specially designed modifications, the basis for which are small-caliber sporting rifles used in biathlon. These samples are equipped with optics, a removable silencer and a butt.
Types of weapons for hunting
Today, hunting hunters mainly use two types: a smoothbore “small fry” and a small caliber rifled gun. The main difference between these types is the presence or, naturally, the absence of cuts inside the barrel, which makes it possible to load ammunition with a greater or, conversely, less lethal force.
Small-caliber rifles for hunting, the price of which depends on the year of manufacture of the model, as well as on the time of use, if we are talking about used ones, have smooth cylindrical surfaces inside their barrel, with the exception of the model created by the "paradox" system.
A double-barreled shotgun, which is considered to be a reliable, popular classic variant, is called exactly that kind of equipment with which you need to start training any shooter - the future trader. Smooth-bore "small things" with folding trunks that need to be "broken" for erection, experts call the safest and easiest for amateur hunters at the initial stage of their career.
It is this kind of small-caliber weapon that is allowed by law for use by those who only comprehend the basics of shooting. And only after five years of using the smooth-bore, a citizen gets the right to use any of the types of rifled weapons that exist today.
Product Range Overview
The most popular in the hunting arms market of our country are currently considered non-self-loading store carbines TOZ-78 and "Sable". Some options, such as SM-2KO or BI-7-2KO, produced at the Izhevsk rifle factory, are much less known. Some of the hunters know only by hearsay about these carbines, which can not be said about arrow-athletes and biathletes. The SM-2 and BI-7-2 sports small-caliber rifles are familiar to them.
The differences between the hunting option and the sporting "brother" are such characteristics as a shortened trunk and a lightweight box, as well as a much more simplified sighting device. As a result of a special factory refinement, good rifles were obtained for hunting small animals and pine forest.
Cost
According to the price scale, without specifying specific numbers, specialists have small-caliber carbines as follows: the cheapest of the domestic model range is considered TOZ-78. Then SM-2KO followed in ascending order, followed by BI-7-2KO and, finally, Sable.
And this is not surprising. Sable is rightly considered one of the best in manufacturing quality. Do not fail and its consumer properties with design. Therefore, this model is the most expensive.
For example, “Sable Premier” with two spare shops in the stock of the box and with a crank mechanism can be purchased at a price of fifty two thousand rubles. Its other modifications without an optical sight with a birch forearm will cost half the price. "Nut" performance costs a little more - from forty thousand rubles.
The most inexpensive in the domestic model range are considered TOZ rifles. For example, rifles with manual reloading, a whole drum type and a closed front sight can be purchased for only nine thousand. However, there are models that are available in souvenir design. They can be highly artistic manual engraving, notch and even inlaid with precious metals. These gift options are much more expensive. However, they do not consist in mass production, and therefore are produced in units.