Parting

What is a musket? The appearance of the first musket. How muskets changed military doctrines 19th century muskets

"A new name, musket, appeared around 1530 in Italy. The origin of this term is rather vague. Since many large artillery pieces bore the names of various living creatures, the use of the word "moschetto" - musket, as a young male sparrowhawk is called - is not at all does not seem strange. The Italians themselves were nevertheless among the first to associate this word with the name of the inventor, whose name was Moschetta from Feltro. There was also an assumption about the Spanish origin of the term - precisely from the word “mascas” or “masquas”, which means “sparks from fire.” “Another version points to Russia, which was called Muscovy at that time, as the birthplace of this weapon.

In Dresden there are muskets dating from 1570 and 1573, and the first versions of these weapons, which appeared in France, were so heavy that they could only be fired with their elbows resting on a support. The musket was initially unpopular in England, but by 1570 military theorists who had seen it in action during the continental wars began to insist on its use. Thus, the list of equipment issued in 1577 to the troops sent to help the Dutch included “muskets with powder flasks and shooting supports.”

In the case of the musket, the Germans had to be content with a military term of foreign origin, and in the inventory of the military supplies of the city of Würzburg in 1584, “muscaten”, “halbe-musketen” and “dop-pel-musketen” are indicated. As for the prices of these weapons, in 1588 the citizens of the city of Norwich paid 27 shillings for each of the muskets made in England with bipods, powder flasks and “matchboxes”. By 1620 the price had dropped to 1 pound 8 pence, and in 1632 a musket cost 15 shillings 6 pence, a bipod 10 pence and a charge bag a further 2 shillings 6 pence.

By the early 17th century the musket was still a cumbersome weapon, as Sir Thomas Kelly in 1623 reports its barrel to be 4 feet long and to have a caliber of 12 balls per pound2.

However, the musket underwent improvements and became lighter, so that by the time of the English Civil War the need for using a bipod was no longer necessary. The old name continued to be used to designate the most common type of firearm, fired from the shoulder. This continued until rifled muskets became so popular that they were simply called "rifles."

(With) William Carman. "History of firearms from ancient times to the 20th century"

“Musket, assassin of the Middle Ages.

How was a musket different from an arquebus? Size! Weighing 7-9 kilograms, the musket had a caliber of 22-23 millimeters and a barrel about one and a half meters long. Only in Spain - the most technically developed country in Europe at that time - could a durable and relatively light barrel of such length and caliber be made.

Naturally, such a bulky and massive gun could only be fired from a support, and two people had to operate it. But a bullet weighing 50-60 grams flew out of the musket at a speed of over 500 meters per second. She not only killed the armored horse, but also stopped it. The musket hit with such force that the shooter had to wear a cuirass or a leather pad on his shoulder to prevent the recoil from splitting his collarbone.

The long barrel provided the musket with relatively good accuracy for a smooth gun. The musketeer hit a person not from 20-25, but from 30-35 meters. But of much greater importance was the increase in the effective salvo firing range to 200-240 meters. At this entire distance, the bullets retained the ability to hit knightly horses and pierce the iron armor of pikemen. The musket combined the capabilities of an arquebus and a pike, and became the first weapon in history that gave the shooter the opportunity to repel the onslaught of cavalry in open terrain. Musketeers did not have to run away from cavalry during a battle, therefore, unlike arquebusiers, they made extensive use of armor. Throughout the 16th century, there were few musketeers in European armies. Musketeer companies (detachments of 100-200 people) were considered the elite of the infantry and were formed from nobles. This was partly due to the high cost of weapons (as a rule, a musketeer’s equipment also included a riding horse). But even more important were the high requirements for durability. When the cavalry rushed to attack, the musketeers had to repel it or die.”

A classic example of a 16th-17th century matchlock musket

17th century Dutch musketeer

If we say that the musket is the progenitor and the main archetype of muzzle-loading weapons, it will sound very plausible. The appearance of the musket on the battlefields of the Middle Ages turned the rules of warfare upside down and sent the most famous warriors of that time - the knights - into oblivion. If we ignore the fact that this was by no means the very first small arms, the shotguns and rifles of our time owe their existence to it alone.

late 17th century musket

Operating principle

The operating principle of the musket mechanisms is based on the use of a lock-type trigger mechanism, which was the founder of all subsequent methods of igniting a powder charge. Due to its low cost, the matchlock mounted on a musket dominated in Europe until the invention of the first flintlock guns.

wick lock

The ignition of the gunpowder occurred due to the interaction of the trigger coupled with the smoldering wick and, in fact, the gunpowder charge. It is not difficult to imagine that such weapons had a number of significant disadvantages:

the wick had to be kept smoldering;
the need for constant access to fire;
problems of combat in conditions of high humidity;
problems with camouflage in the dark - the light from the wick gave away the shooter’s position.

A musket is a single-shot weapon. As a result, after each shot it was necessary to charge it again. Thus, having fired a shot, the shooter poured a pre-measured portion of gunpowder into the barrel of the weapon, pressed it with a wad and a cleaning rod, added another bullet (a ball of lead) to this mixture and fixed it with another wad. This kind of manipulation made it possible to fire about one shot per minute.

The musket's aiming system included only a barrel and a front sight - there was no rear sight at that time.

In order to avoid inaccuracies in terminology, it is worth noting that the concept of a musket and a gun takes into account only the length of the barrel of a firearm, while their design and everything else is of a secondary nature. For example, the famous "Winchester 1873", released in conjunction with a specially designed unitary cartridge, had a rifled barrel and was produced as a carbine, shotgun and musket, which had different barrel lengths.

Basic performance characteristics of the musket (XVII century)

The musket of the late 17th century had the following characteristics (performance characteristics):

caliber – 17-20 mm;
barrel length – 900-1000 mm;
total length – 1300-1450 mm;
weight – 4-6 kg.

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Musket(from fr. Mousquet, more likely - from him. Muskete listen)) - a type of antique hand firearm. The specific meaning of this term may vary depending on the historical period and the characteristics of national terminology.

Story

Initially under musket understood the heaviest type of hand-held weapon, intended mainly for hitting targets protected by armor. According to one version, the musket in this form originally appeared in Spain around 1521, and already in the Battle of Pavia in 1525 they were used quite widely. The main reason for its appearance was that by the 16th century, even in the infantry, plate armor had become widespread, which did not always make it out of the lighter culverins and arquebuses (in Rus' - “arquebuses”). The armor itself also became stronger, so that arquebus bullets weighing 18-22 grams, fired from relatively short barrels, were ineffective when fired at an armored target. This required an increase in caliber to 22 or more millimeters, with a bullet weight of up to 50-55 grams. In addition, muskets owe their appearance to the invention of granular gunpowder, which radically facilitated the loading of long-barreled weapons and burned more completely and evenly, as well as to the improvement of technology, which made it possible to produce long, but relatively light barrels of better quality, including from Damascus steel.

The length of the musket barrel, usually faceted, could reach 65 calibers, that is, about 1400 mm, while the muzzle velocity of the bullet was 400-500 m/s, making it possible to defeat even a well-armored enemy at long distances - musket bullets pierced steel cuirasses at a distance of up to 200 meters. At the same time, the aiming range was small, about 50 meters for an individual living target - but the lack of accuracy was compensated for by conducting salvo fire. As a result, by the beginning of the 17th century, the musket had practically replaced the arquebus in the weapon system of the European infantry. Muskets were also very popular among sailors for their ability to pierce a two-inch wooden ship's bulwark at short distances.

Combat use

The musket of the 16th-17th centuries was very heavy (7-9 kg) and was essentially a semi-stationary weapon - it was usually fired from a rest in the form of a special stand, bipod, reed (the use of the latter option is not recognized by all researchers), a fortress wall or the sides of the ship. The only hand weapons that were larger and heavier than muskets were fortress guns, which were fired exclusively from a fork on the fortress wall or a special hook (hook). To reduce recoil, shooters sometimes put a leather pad on their right shoulder or wore special steel armor. In the 16th century, locks were made of wick or wheel locks; in the 17th century, they were sometimes impact-flint locks, but most often wick locks. In Asia there were also analogues of the musket, such as the Central Asian multuk.

The musket was reloaded on average in about one and a half to two minutes. True, already at the beginning of the 17th century there were virtuoso shooters who managed to fire several unaimed shots per minute, but in battle such shooting at speed was usually impractical and even dangerous due to the abundance and complexity of methods for loading a musket, which included about three dozen separate operations, each of which it was necessary to carry out with great care, constantly monitoring the smoldering wick located not far from the flammable gunpowder. For example, sometimes a shooter in a hurry forgot to remove the ramrod from the barrel, as a result of which, at best, it flew towards enemy battle formations, and the unlucky musketeer was left without ammunition. In the worst case, with careless loading of the musket (a ramrod left in the barrel, an excessively large charge of gunpowder, a loose bullet seating on the gunpowder, loading with two bullets or two powder charges, and so on), ruptures of the barrel were not uncommon, leading to injury to the shooter himself and those around him. . It was difficult to accurately measure the charge in battle, so special cartridge belts were invented, each of which contained a pre-measured amount of gunpowder per shot. They were usually hung on uniforms, and are clearly visible in some images of musketeers. Only at the end of the 17th century was a paper cartridge invented, which slightly increased the rate of fire - a soldier tore the shell of such a cartridge with his teeth, poured a small amount of gunpowder onto the seed shelf, and poured the rest of the gunpowder along with the bullet into the barrel and compacted it with a ramrod and wad.

In practice, musketeers usually fired much less often than the rate of fire of their weapons allowed, in accordance with the situation on the battlefield and without wasting ammunition, since with such a rate of fire there was usually no chance of a second shot at the same target. Only when approaching the enemy or repelling an attack was the opportunity to fire as many volleys as possible in his direction appreciated. For example, in the Battle of Kissingen (1636), during 8 hours of battle, the musketeers fired only 7 volleys.

But their volleys sometimes decided the outcome of the entire battle: killing a man-at-arms from 200 meters, even at a distance of 500-600 m, a bullet fired from a musket retained sufficient lethal force to inflict wounds, which, given the level of development of medicine at that time, were often fatal. Of course, in the latter case we are talking about random hits from “stray” bullets - in practice, the musketeers fired from a much shorter distance, usually within 300 steps (about the same 200 m). However, even at such a distance, confident hits on an individual target, especially a moving one, from a primitive smooth-bore musket, devoid of sighting devices, were impossible: even modern smooth-bore guns are capable of providing an effective bullet firing range of about 50-75 m, only in some cases - up to 100 m. That is why the musketeers were forced to fire in volleys, compensating for low accuracy with the amount of metal released into the air. Other reasons for this were the desire to inflict maximum damage on a fast-moving group target (cavalry detachment) in the very short time that it is in the firing sector, as well as, last but not least, the strong psychological impact of organized salvo fire on the enemy.

For comparison, one archer fired up to ten arrows in two minutes (however, in the case of both a crossbow and firearms, the low rate of fire of an individual shooter was largely compensated by the use of multi-line formations, caracoling). The experienced archer also surpassed the musketeer in shooting accuracy: it is mentioned, in particular, that under ideal conditions, out of 20 fired arrows at 100 yards (91 m), 16 hit the target, while a musket in the same conditions, at best, had only 12 hits out of 20. Meanwhile, when shooting from bows, it was considered a very good result if at least one out of a hundred fired arrows hit a target protected by plate armor, since an arrow could only pierce it by chance, hitting at a certain angle, preferably in the softest area of the plate with a defect in heat treatment (armor steel was very heterogeneous in carbon content and hardened with “spots”) or in their unprotected joint, the likelihood of which was low, especially in the case of later armor, in which all joints were well covered. A heavy musket bullet practically did not ricochet, did not get stuck in shields, and it was impossible to protect against it with freely hanging panels of fabric that stopped the arrows. The damaging effect on a living target of a soft, large-caliber lead bullet, capable of flattening in the wound canal and effectively transferring its energy to its tissues, was incomparably stronger than that of a relatively slowly flying pointed arrow. Moreover, attempts to increase the lethality of arrows by increasing the width of the tip almost completely deprived them of their penetrating ability, making them suitable only for hitting an enemy not protected by armor, while the bullet combined high lethality against a living target and a stopping effect with high armor penetration. The crossbow was also usually inferior to the musket in terms of penetrating power and lethality, and heavy siege crossbows with mechanical cocking were not superior to it in rate of fire.

Both the bow and the crossbow were firing along a suspended trajectory for a hundred meters, while the musket, with its relatively high initial bullet speed, made it possible to shoot directly (in fact, it was in relation to firearms that targeted shooting itself first arose in modern sense of the word), which made it easier to make adjustments and significantly increased the likelihood of hitting a group target with a salvo in constantly changing battle conditions. Archers and crossbowmen could show amazing accuracy in competitions, firing with specially prepared arrows at a target located at a predetermined distance, but when shooting in the field at a moving target, even the most experienced of them experienced difficulties due to the low speed of the projectiles thrown by these weapons, especially when, instead of a relatively small supply of their own arrows, they began to use mass-produced ammunition from the general supply. The same low speed of arrows also made it difficult to accurately shoot in windy weather (in fairness, it is worth noting that loading a musket in a strong wind was not very convenient, and in the rain it was practically useless; mounted shooting from bows and crossbows was sometimes useful for defeating target located behind a fold of terrain, a low wall or other obstacle). In addition, a musket shooter spent much less energy during battle than an archer or crossbowman, so the requirements for his physical training were significantly lower, and he could fire without rest breaks for much longer. To conduct more or less intense fire from a crossbow, good general physical training is required, and for an archer - also special, since successful archery requires good development of specific muscle groups, achieved only by many years of training. These requirements made the creation of mass armies of archers from recruits impossible, while musket fire could be carried out by soldiers without special physical training.

Moving on to guns

Meanwhile, in the 17th century, the gradual withering away of armor, as well as a general change in the nature of combat operations (increased mobility, widespread use of artillery) and the principles of recruiting troops (a gradual transition to mass conscript armies) led to the fact that the size, weight and power of the musket over time began to be felt as clearly redundant. The appearance of light muskets is often associated with the innovations of the Swedish king and one of the great commanders of the 17th century, Gustav II Adolf. However, in fairness, it is worth noting that most of the innovations attributed to him are borrowed from the Netherlands. There, during the long war between the United Provinces and Spain, Stadtholder Moritz of Orange and his cousins John of Nassau-Siegen and Wilhelm-Ludwig of Nassau-Dillenburg fundamentally changed the military system, carrying out a military revolution. Thus, John of Nassau-Siegen wrote back in 1596 that without heavy muskets, soldiers would be able to move forward faster, it would be easier for them when retreating, and in a hurry they would be able to shoot without a bipod. Already in February 1599, the weight of the musket was reduced by the Dutch charter and amounted to approximately 6-6.5 kg. Now such muskets could be fired without a bipod if necessary, but this was still a rather difficult process. It is often claimed that it was the Swedish king who finally abolished the bipod in the 1630s, but records in the Swedish arsenals of the time indicate that he himself personally placed an order for the production of bipods for muskets from the Dutch entrepreneur Louis de Geer, who moved to Sweden, as early as 1631. Moreover, their mass production continued even after the death of the king, until 1655, and bipods were officially abolished in Sweden only in the 1690s - much later than in most European countries.

Later, already in 1624, the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, by decree, ordered the production of new matchlock muskets, which had a barrel of 115-118 cm and a total length of about 156 cm. These muskets, which were produced until 1630 in Sweden, weighed approximately 6 kilograms, which indicates that they were still not entirely comfortable, and the long barrel similar to the old ones did not greatly increase their effectiveness when shooting. Lighter and more convenient muskets were produced around the same 1630 in the German city of Suhl, which was achieved by shortening the barrel. Such a musket had a barrel of 102 cm, a total length of about 140 cm and a weight of approximately 4.5-4.7 kg. . They initially fell into the hands of the Swedes, most likely, after the capture of German arsenals. In May 1632, in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, only a few Swedish soldiers were seen carrying such Suhl muskets without bipods.

By the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, muskets began to be massively replaced with lighter weapons weighing about 5 kg and a caliber of 19-20 millimeters or less, first in France and then in other countries. At the same time, flintlocks began to be widely used, more reliable and easier to use than the old matchlocks, and bayonets - first in the form of a baguette inserted into the bore, later put on the barrel with a tube. All this together made it possible to equip the entire infantry with firearms, excluding from its composition the previously necessary pikemen - if necessary, the fusiliers entered into hand-to-hand combat, using guns with a bayonet attached, which acted in the manner of a short spear (with a musket this would be very difficult due to its weight) . At the same time, at first, muskets continued to be in service with individual soldiers as a heavier type of handgun, as well as on ships, but later they were completely replaced in these roles.

In Russia, this new type of lightweight weapon was first called fusee- from fr. fusil, apparently, through the Polish. fuzja, and then, in the middle of the 18th century, renamed gun. Meanwhile, in some countries, in particular - in England with colonies, including the future USA - there was no change in terminology during the transition from muskets to guns; the new lightweight weapons were still called muskets. Thus, in relation to this period, English. musket corresponds to the Russian concept "gun", since it denoted precisely this type of weapon, real muskets in the original sense had not been made for a long time by that time; whereas in the 16th-17th centuries its correct translation would have been precisely the term “musket”. The same name was subsequently transferred to muzzle-loading smoothbore shotguns with a primer lock.

Moreover, even the general army rifled weapons that appeared in the mid-19th century, which in Russia until 1856 were called “screw guns”, and subsequently “rifles”, in the official English language were initially designated by the phrase “rifled musket” (eng. rifled muscle). This is exactly what, for example, in the United States during the Civil War they called mass-produced army muzzle-loading rifles, such as the Springfield M1855 and Pattern 1853 Enfield. This was due to the fact that before that the infantry had two types of weapons - relatively long guns - “muskets” (musket), more rapid-fire, suitable for hand-to-hand combat, and shorter for ease of loading the rifle (rifle; in Russia they were called fittings), which shot much more accurately, but had a very low rate of fire due to the need to “drive” a bullet into the barrel, overcoming the resistance of the rifling, were of little use for hand-to-hand combat, and also cost several times more than smoothbore guns. After the advent of special bullets, such as the Minié bullet, and the development of mass production technologies, it became possible to combine in one mass model of weapons the positive qualities of previous “musket” guns (rate of fire, suitability for hand-to-hand combat) and rifles (combat accuracy) and equip them with all infantry; This model was initially called a “rifled musket.” Finally the word musket disappeared from the active vocabulary of the English and American military only with the transition to breech-loading rifles, in relation to which the more easily pronounceable word was finally “legalized” rifle.

It should also be remembered that in Italian official military terminology, “musket” means moschetto- was the name of the weapon corresponding to the Russian term "carbine", that is, a shortened version of a shotgun or rifle. For example, the Carcano carbine was in service as Moschetto Mod. 1891, and the Beretta M1938 submachine gun - like Moschetto Automatico Beretta Mod. 1938, that is, literally, "Automatic musket "Beretta" mod. 1938"(the correct translation in this case is "automatic carbine", "automatic").

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Notes

Excerpt characterizing the Musket

- Dinner, time for dinner! Here come the gypsies! - Indeed, with their gypsy accent, some black men and women were already coming in from the cold and saying something. Nikolai understood that it was all over; but he said in an indifferent voice:
- Well, you won’t do it yet? And I have a nice card prepared. “It was as if he was most interested in the fun of the game itself.”
“It’s over, I’m lost! he thought. Now there’s a bullet in the forehead - only one thing remains,” and at the same time he said in a cheerful voice:
- Well, one more card.
“Okay,” answered Dolokhov, having finished the summary, “good!” “It’s 21 rubles,” he said, pointing to the number 21, which equaled exactly 43 thousand, and taking the deck, he prepared to throw. Rostov obediently turned the corner and instead of the prepared 6,000, he carefully wrote 21.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said, “I’m only interested in knowing whether you’ll kill or give me this ten.”
Dolokhov began throwing seriously. Oh, how Rostov at that moment hated these hands, reddish with short fingers and with hair visible from under his shirt, which had him in their power... Ten was given.
“You have 43 thousand behind you, Count,” said Dolokhov and stood up from the table, stretching. “But you get tired of sitting for so long,” he said.
“Yes, I’m tired too,” said Rostov.
Dolokhov, as if reminding him that it was indecent for him to joke, interrupted him: When will you order the money, Count?
Rostov flushed and called Dolokhov into another room.
“I can’t suddenly pay everything, you’ll take the bill,” he said.
“Listen, Rostov,” said Dolokhov, smiling clearly and looking into Nikolai’s eyes, “you know the saying: “Happy in love, unhappy in cards.” Your cousin is in love with you. I know.
"ABOUT! it’s terrible to feel so in the power of this man,” thought Rostov. Rostov understood what blow he would deal to his father and mother by announcing this loss; he understood what happiness it would be to get rid of all this, and he understood that Dolokhov knew that he could save him from this shame and grief, and now he still wanted to play with him, like a cat with a mouse.
“Your cousin...” Dolokhov wanted to say; but Nikolai interrupted him.
“My cousin has nothing to do with it, and there is nothing to say about her!” - he shouted furiously.
- So when can I get it? – asked Dolokhov.
“Tomorrow,” said Rostov, and left the room.

It was not difficult to say “tomorrow” and maintain a tone of decency; but to come home alone, to see your sisters, brother, mother, father, to confess and ask for money to which you have no right after your word of honor was given.
We weren't sleeping at home yet. The youth of the Rostov house, having returned from the theater, having had dinner, sat at the clavichord. As soon as Nikolai entered the hall, he was overwhelmed by that loving, poetic atmosphere that reigned in their house that winter and which now, after Dolokhov’s proposal and Iogel’s ball, seemed to thicken even more, like the air before a thunderstorm, over Sonya and Natasha. Sonya and Natasha, in the blue dresses they wore at the theater, pretty and knowing it, happy, smiling, stood at the clavichord. Vera and Shinshin were playing chess in the living room. The old countess, waiting for her son and husband, was playing solitaire with an old noblewoman who lived in their house. Denisov, with shining eyes and tousled hair, sat with his leg thrown back at the clavichord, clapping them with his short fingers, striking chords, and rolling his eyes, in his small, hoarse but faithful voice, sang the poem he had composed, “The Sorceress,” to which he was trying to find music.
Sorceress, tell me what power
Draws me to abandoned strings;
What fire have you planted in your heart,
What delight flowed through my fingers!
He sang in a passionate voice, shining at the frightened and happy Natasha with his agate, black eyes.
- Wonderful! Great! – Natasha shouted. “Another verse,” she said, not noticing Nikolai.
“They have everything the same,” thought Nikolai, looking into the living room, where he saw Vera and his mother with the old woman.
- A! Here comes Nikolenka! – Natasha ran up to him.
- Is daddy at home? – he asked.
– I’m so glad you came! – Natasha said without answering, “we’re having so much fun.” Vasily Dmitrich remains for me one more day, you know?
“No, dad hasn’t come yet,” said Sonya.
- Coco, you have arrived, come to me, my friend! - said the countess's voice from the living room. Nikolai approached his mother, kissed her hand and, silently sitting down at her table, began to look at her hands, laying out the cards. Laughter and cheerful voices were still heard from the hall, persuading Natasha.
“Well, okay, okay,” Denisov shouted, “now there’s no point in making excuses, barcarolla is behind you, I beg you.”
The Countess looked back at her silent son.
- What's wrong with you? – Nikolai’s mother asked.
“Oh, nothing,” he said, as if he was already tired of this same question.
- Will daddy come soon?
- I think.
“Everything is the same for them. They don't know anything! Where should I go?” thought Nikolai and went back to the hall where the clavichord stood.
Sonya sat at the clavichord and played the prelude of the barcarolle that Denisov especially loved. Natasha was going to sing. Denisov looked at her with delighted eyes.
Nikolai began to walk back and forth around the room.
“And now you want to make her sing? – what can she sing? And there’s nothing fun here,” thought Nikolai.
Sonya struck the first chord of the prelude.
“My God, I am lost, I am a dishonest person. A bullet in the forehead, the only thing left to do is not sing, he thought. Leave? but where? anyway, let them sing!”
Nikolai gloomily, continuing to walk around the room, glanced at Denisov and the girls, avoiding their gaze.
“Nikolenka, what’s wrong with you?” – asked Sonya’s gaze fixed on him. She immediately saw that something had happened to him.
Nikolai turned away from her. Natasha, with her sensitivity, also instantly noticed her brother’s condition. She noticed him, but she herself was so happy at that moment, she was so far from grief, sadness, reproaches, that she (as often happens with young people) deliberately deceived herself. No, I’m having too much fun now to spoil my fun by sympathizing with someone else’s grief, she felt, and said to herself:
“No, I’m rightly wrong, he should be as cheerful as I am.” Well, Sonya,” she said and went out to the very middle of the hall, where, in her opinion, the resonance was best. Raising her head, lowering her lifelessly hanging hands, as dancers do, Natasha, energetically shifting from heel to tiptoe, walked through the middle of the room and stopped.
“Here I am!” as if she was speaking in response to the enthusiastic gaze of Denisov, who was watching her.
“And why is she happy! - Nikolai thought, looking at his sister. And how isn’t she bored and ashamed!” Natasha hit the first note, her throat expanded, her chest straightened, her eyes took on a serious expression. She was not thinking about anyone or anything at that moment, and sounds flowed from her folded mouth into a smile, those sounds that anyone can make at the same intervals and at the same intervals, but which a thousand times leave you cold, in the thousand and first times they make you shudder and cry.
This winter Natasha began to sing seriously for the first time, especially because Denisov admired her singing. She no longer sang like a child, there was no longer in her singing that comic, childish diligence that was in her before; but she still did not sing well, as all the expert judges who listened to her said. “Not processed, but a wonderful voice, it needs to be processed,” everyone said. But they usually said this long after her voice had fallen silent. At the same time, when this raw voice sounded with irregular aspirations and with efforts of transitions, even the expert judges did not say anything, and only enjoyed this raw voice and only wanted to hear it again. In her voice there was that virginal pristineness, that ignorance of her own strengths and that still unprocessed velvet, which were so combined with the shortcomings of the art of singing that it seemed impossible to change anything in this voice without spoiling it.
“What is this? - Nikolai thought, hearing her voice and opening his eyes wide. -What happened to her? How does she sing these days? - he thought. And suddenly the whole world focused for him, waiting for the next note, the next phrase, and everything in the world became divided into three tempos: “Oh mio crudele affetto... [Oh my cruel love...] One, two, three... one, two... three... one... Oh mio crudele affetto... One, two, three... one. Eh, our life is stupid! - Nikolai thought. All this, and misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor - all this is nonsense... but here it is real... Hey, Natasha, well, my dear! Well, mother!... how will she take this si? I took it! God bless!" - and he, without noticing that he was singing, in order to strengthen this si, took the second to the third of a high note. "My God! how good! Did I really take it? how happy!” he thought.
ABOUT! how this third trembled, and how something better that was in Rostov’s soul was touched. And this was something independent of everything in the world, and above everything in the world. What kind of losses are there, and the Dolokhovs, and honestly!... It’s all nonsense! You can kill, steal and still be happy...

Rostov has not experienced such pleasure from music for a long time as on this day. But as soon as Natasha finished her barcarolle, reality came back to him again. He left without saying anything and went downstairs to his room. A quarter of an hour later the old count, cheerful and satisfied, arrived from the club. Nikolai, hearing his arrival, went to him.
- Well, did you have fun? - said Ilya Andreich, smiling joyfully and proudly at his son. Nikolai wanted to say “yes,” but he couldn’t: he almost burst into tears. The Count was lighting his pipe and did not notice his son’s condition.
“Oh, inevitably!” - Nikolai thought for the first and last time. And suddenly, in the most casual tone, such that he seemed disgusted to himself, as if he was asking the carriage to go to the city, he told his father.
- Dad, I came to you for business. I forgot about it. I need money.
“That’s it,” said the father, who was in a particularly cheerful spirit. - I told you that it won’t be enough. Is it a lot?
“A lot,” Nikolai said, blushing and with a stupid, careless smile, which for a long time later he could not forgive himself. – I lost a little, that is, a lot, even a lot, 43 thousand.
- What? Who?... You're kidding! - shouted the count, suddenly turning apoplectic red in the neck and back of his head, like old people blush.
“I promised to pay tomorrow,” said Nikolai.
“Well!...” said the old count, spreading his arms and sank helplessly onto the sofa.
- What to do! Who hasn't this happened to? - said the son in a cheeky, bold tone, while in his soul he considered himself a scoundrel, a scoundrel who could not atone for his crime with his whole life. He would have liked to kiss his father's hands, on his knees to ask for his forgiveness, but he said in a careless and even rude tone that this happens to everyone.
Count Ilya Andreich lowered his eyes when he heard these words from his son and hurried, looking for something.
“Yes, yes,” he said, “it’s difficult, I’m afraid, it’s difficult to get... never happened to anyone!” yes, who hasn’t happened to... - And the count glanced briefly into his son’s face and walked out of the room... Nikolai was preparing to fight back, but he never expected this.
- Daddy! pa... hemp! - he shouted after him, sobbing; forgive me! “And, grabbing his father’s hand, he pressed his lips to it and began to cry.

While the father was explaining to his son, an equally important explanation was taking place between the mother and daughter. Natasha ran to her mother excitedly.
- Mom!... Mom!... he did it to me...
- What did you do?
- I did, I proposed. Mother! Mother! - she shouted. The Countess could not believe her ears. Denisov proposed. To whom? This tiny girl Natasha, who had recently been playing with dolls and was now taking lessons.
- Natasha, that’s complete nonsense! – she said, still hoping that it was a joke.
- Well, that's nonsense! “I’m telling you the truth,” Natasha said angrily. – I came to ask what to do, and you tell me: “nonsense”...
The Countess shrugged.
“If it’s true that Monsieur Denisov proposed to you, then tell him that he’s a fool, that’s all.”
“No, he’s not a fool,” Natasha said offendedly and seriously.
- Well, what do you want? You are all in love these days. Well, you’re in love, so marry him! – the countess said, laughing angrily. - With God!
- No, mom, I’m not in love with him, I must not be in love with him.
- Well, tell him so.
- Mom, are you angry? You’re not angry, my dear, what’s my fault?
- No, what about it, my friend? If you want, I’ll go and tell him,” said the countess, smiling.
- No, I’ll do it myself, just teach me. Everything is easy for you,” she added, responding to her smile. - If only you could see how he told me this! After all, I know that he didn’t mean to say this, but he said it by accident.
- Well, you still have to refuse.
- No, don't. I feel so sorry for him! He's so cute.
- Well, then accept the offer. “And then it’s time to get married,” the mother said angrily and mockingly.
- No, mom, I feel so sorry for him. I don't know how I'll say it.
“You don’t have anything to say, I’ll say it myself,” said the countess, indignant that they dared to look at this little Natasha as if she were big.
“No, no way, I myself, and you listen at the door,” and Natasha ran through the living room into the hall, where Denisov was sitting on the same chair, by the clavichord, covering his face with his hands. He jumped up at the sound of her light steps.
“Natalie,” he said, approaching her with quick steps, “decide my fate.” It's in your hands!
- Vasily Dmitrich, I feel so sorry for you!... No, but you are so nice... but don’t... this... otherwise I will always love you.
Denisov bent over her hand, and she heard strange sounds, incomprehensible to her. She kissed his black, matted, curly head. At this time, the hasty noise of the countess's dress was heard. She approached them.
“Vasily Dmitrich, I thank you for the honor,” said the countess in an embarrassed voice, but which seemed stern to Denisov, “but my daughter is so young, and I thought that you, as a friend of my son, would turn to me first.” In this case, you would not put me in the need of refusal.
“Athena,” Denisov said with downcast eyes and a guilty look, he wanted to say something else and faltered.
Natasha could not calmly see him so pitiful. She began to sob loudly.
“Countess, I am guilty before you,” Denisov continued in a broken voice, “but know that I adore your daughter and your entire family so much that I would give two lives...” He looked at the countess and, noticing her stern face... “Well, goodbye, athena,” he said, kissed her hand and, without looking at Natasha, walked out of the room with quick, decisive steps.

The next day, Rostov saw off Denisov, who did not want to stay in Moscow for another day. Denisov was seen off at the gypsies by all his Moscow friends, and he did not remember how they put him in the sleigh and how they took him to the first three stations.
After Denisov’s departure, Rostov, waiting for the money that the old count could not suddenly collect, spent another two weeks in Moscow, without leaving the house, and mainly in the young ladies’ room.
Sonya was more tender and devoted to him than before. She seemed to want to show him that his loss was a feat for which she now loves him even more; but Nikolai now considered himself unworthy of her.
He filled the girls' albums with poems and notes, and without saying goodbye to any of his acquaintances, finally sending all 43 thousand and receiving Dolokhov's signature, he left at the end of November to catch up with the regiment, which was already in Poland.

After his explanation with his wife, Pierre went to St. Petersburg. In Torzhok there were no horses at the station, or the caretaker did not want them. Pierre had to wait. Without undressing, he lay down on the leather sofa in front of the round table, put his big feet in warm boots on this table and thought.
– Will you order the suitcases to be brought in? Make the bed, would you like some tea? – asked the valet.
Pierre did not answer because he did not hear or see anything. He began to think at the last station and continued to think about the same thing - about something so important that he did not pay any attention to what was happening around him. Not only was he not interested in the fact that he would arrive in St. Petersburg later or earlier, or whether he would or would not have a place to rest at this station, but it was still, in comparison with the thoughts that occupied him now, whether he would stay for a few days. hours or a lifetime at this station.
The caretaker, the caretaker, the valet, the woman with Torzhkov sewing came into the room, offering their services. Pierre, without changing his position with his legs raised, looked at them through his glasses, and did not understand what they could need and how they could all live without resolving the questions that occupied him. And he was preoccupied with the same questions from the very day he returned from Sokolniki after the duel and spent the first, painful, sleepless night; only now, in the solitude of the journey, did they take possession of him with special power. No matter what he started to think about, he returned to the same questions that he could not solve and could not stop asking himself. It was as if the main screw on which his whole life was held had turned in his head. The screw did not go in further, did not go out, but spun, not grabbing anything, still on the same groove, and it was impossible to stop turning it.

Most people know very roughly. First of all, this word is associated with the heroes of the novels of A. Dumas - the famous French musketeers. Many will be surprised to learn that the first musket did not appear in France at all, and the French had nothing to do with its invention. And they first learned about what a musket was in completely unpleasant circumstances.

The history of the musket

By the beginning of the 16th century, the equipment of soldiers had reached such a level that the “light” firearms available at that time simply lost their effectiveness. Bullets fired from an arquebus (the predecessor of a musket), due to their low weight (18-20 grams) and small caliber, could not penetrate the armor and chain mail of enemy soldiers. A new weapon was required, with increased destructive properties. And the invention of granular gunpowder became a fundamental factor for the modernization of weapons and the creation of a musket.

The first musket (a gun with a long barrel and a matchlock) appeared in Spain, and, according to some historians, it was invented by the Spanish gunsmith Mocqueto from the city of Veletra. His invention had a barrel whose length reached 140 cm. It was the increase in the length of the barrel that made it possible to increase the caliber of the gun and the mass of the gunpowder charge, and, accordingly, its firing range and penetration capabilities.

But grainy gunpowder made it possible to increase the length of the barrel. It did not need to be pushed to the breech of the gun with a ramrod, as was required to do with the powder pulp sticking to the walls of the bore. Now the powder granules fell to the breech without outside help, and a wad was clogged with a ramrod on top. In addition, such gunpowder burned tightly and evenly, which also increased the initial speed and range of the bullet.

Characteristics of the first musket

The total length of the musket was 180 cm, and it weighed about 8 kg, so support was needed when firing. A buffet table (stand) was placed, one end of which was stuck into the ground, and a support trunk was placed on the other.

With the increase in caliber to 23 mm (for the arquebus it was 15-17 mm), the weight of the bullet also increased. For a musket it began to weigh 50-60 grams. The firing range was 200-240 meters, and at this distance the bullet easily pierced the strongest armor. However, to hit the enemy with a musket, you had to try very hard. The probability that a target measuring two by two meters, placed at a distance of 70 meters, would be hit was only 60%.

In addition, only a person with good physical training could withstand the powerful recoil of a shot. In order to somehow soften the blow, a stuffed pad was put on the shoulder, playing the role of a shock absorber.

In order to load the musket, a whole ritual was required.

The musket was loaded through the muzzle hole. The gunpowder needed to fire one shot was poured into it from a special wooden case (charger). The gunpowder in the charges, which were hung on the shooter's belt, was measured out in advance. Fine gunpowder was poured onto the seed flange of the musket from a natruska (small powder flask). The bullet was pushed into the barrel using a ramrod. The charge was ignited with the help of a smoldering wick, which was pressed by a lever to the seed shelf. The gunpowder ignited and pushed the bullet out.

Thus, it took about 2 minutes to prepare for a shot, which was considered a good rate of fire at that time.

Initially, only infantry were armed with muskets, and the crew for servicing the musket consisted of two people: the second number monitored the burning fuse, and also carried the ammunition and the buffet table.

for the musketeers

Due to the low rate of fire, special tactics were used to use muskets. Soldiers armed with muskets lined up in a rectangular square, the depth of which could reach 12 ranks. After the first line fired a volley, it gave way to the next one, while itself retreating to the end of the line to reload its muskets. Thus, the shooting was carried out almost continuously. The musketeers performed all actions on command, including the loading process.

Armament with muskets of Europe

In 1515, the French first learned what a musket was in a battle with Spanish soldiers. Musket balls easily penetrated the strongest armor. The Spaniards, with the help of their long-barreled innovations, won an unconditional victory over the French.

In 1521, muskets were already adopted en masse by the Spanish army. And in 1525, again in a battle with the French, which received the historical name “Battle of Pavia,” the Spaniards showed in all its glory the superiority of muskets over other weapons. The musketeers turned out to be an insurmountable wall for the French cavalry.

It was after this battle that they decided to learn more about what a musket was in Europe. They began to equip infantry units in France and Germany, and subsequently in other European countries.

Subsequently, the musket began to undergo improvements. Gunsmiths from Germany replaced the matchlock. The trigger, which replaced the lever, released a spring with flint, which, when hit on the arm, struck sparks that ignited the gunpowder. The need for a wick has disappeared.

The Dutch improved the barrel. They replaced the metal from which it was made with a softer one. This eliminated cases of its rupture when fired.

The Spaniards, having borrowed the experience of the Dutch and lightened the musket to 4.5 kg, created a weapon for cavalry. Such a musket became universal; it could be used in any branch of the military, which was done in all European armies.

The appearance of firearms and their combat use would have been impossible without black powder. Soon after its appearance, the musket was invented - a powerful and heavy weapon, the predecessor of which was the arquebus. Thanks to A. Dumas and his famous work about the musketeers, many contemporaries mistakenly believe that the French invented muskets. In fact, they had a hand in improving it, but not in the invention itself. In general, the meaning of the term “musket” may vary depending on the historical period.

The first firearm, the arquebus, appeared in the middle of the 16th century and is, in fact, the predecessor of the musket. At first, arquebuses were considered deadly and powerful, but in reality they turned out to be unreliable weapons. The charges that were used for them were too small in caliber and weight (up to 20 g) to pierce the armor or chain mail of the enemy. And reloading an arquebus took such a long time that the invention of a more effective weapon was only a matter of time.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the musket in the history of firearms. Its own history remains unknown (there are several versions), but the closest information to reality suggests that the first gun with a long barrel and a wick lock was invented in Spain. Presumably its creator was a certain Mokcheto, who lived in the city of Veletra.

A musket shot could easily pierce a wooden partition

The barrel length of the first musket, according to ancient records, was about one and a half meters. Compared to arquebuses, the caliber also increased - up to 22 mm, and the weight of the charge for muskets was about 50 g. During the shooting process, more gunpowder was used, and therefore the bullet had greater acceleration and flew over a greater distance. This means that its destructive power increased significantly - the charge easily penetrated plate armor and other armor that was common in infantry troops in the 16th century.

At first, muskets could only be fired from pre-prepared positions, since the weight of the gun reached 9 kg, and it was very inconvenient to carry them. Loading the musket required skill and dexterity, and the strong recoil made the shooting process much more difficult. Despite all the negative features of muskets, European soldiers (this weapon was common among the armies of Spain, France and Germany) after being armed with muskets became a formidable force.

The functioning of a musket-gun is associated with the operation of the trigger mechanism. It was the appearance of the castle that gave impetus to the development of all methods of igniting gunpowder in firearms. Matchlock muskets remained in service with European armies for a very long time, despite the simplicity of the design and the fact that this method of firing the gun was far from ideal.

With the development and improvement of muskets, during the reign of the Spanish fleet in the sea, this type of weapon began to be used on ships. Handguns provided powerful fire support in naval battles, where the situation was usually resolved faster than in land skirmishes. Rifle and artillery salvoes were capable of causing significant damage to the rigging, manpower and the ship itself.

Muskets were especially popular in naval battles because their heavy bullets easily destroyed wooden ship structures. The close-range shooting that preceded the boarding battle was accurate and devastating.

Manufacturing technology

Making a working musket at home is extremely difficult and unsafe.

It should be noted right away that the manufacture of functional firearms is not only a complex, but also a dangerous process. Especially when it comes to early models, which include the musket.

Even factory samples of such weapons often led to injuries, jamming and bursting right in the hands of the shooter, so it is better to limit ourselves to creating a model without going into the intricacies of the functioning of the combat prototype.

Material selection

The best material for making a musket model with your own hands is wood. And so that your weapon does not lose its attractive appearance, becoming distorted under the influence of moisture, the workpiece should be dried for a year. To do this, you must follow these recommendations:

Cut off a branch or trunk.
We paint the cuts on both sides. For this, varnish, paint or adhesive can be used. This approach is necessary so that the wood dries more evenly and internal cracks do not appear in it.
Now the workpiece is placed in a dry, dark place where sunlight should not penetrate.
After a year, you can carefully remove the bark from the workpiece, after which it should dry for about another week.
Now you should cut the branch in half, after which you can begin to directly create the musket.

Model assembly

Exploded view of a musket

In addition to a wooden block, to make a model musket you will need a small piece of pipe and strong wire. It is advisable to choose a not very thick chrome-plated pipe or, on the contrary, one covered with rust (this approach will allow you to create a model with a touch of antiquity).

First we make the handle. To do this you need to follow these steps:

We find a picture of a musket on the Internet, which will become our model.
Carefully transfer the pen of the product to a sheet of paper. In this case, you must try to maintain all proportions.
Cut out the resulting pattern.
We apply the pattern to a wooden beam and securely fasten it to it.
We draw the contours of the future workpiece.
Using a utility knife, we remove excess layers of wood until we get a handle that matches our pattern.
The last stage is surface treatment with sandpaper. At this stage, you can hide small irregularities that were made earlier. As a result of such processing, the workpiece should become perfectly smooth.

Advice! To protect a wooden surface from moisture, it is advisable to soak it in oil, varnish or paint.

After you have finished making the handle, you should attach a pre-prepared tube to its upper part. In the original muskets, the barrel is slightly “recessed” into the handle, so a small recess should be made in it to securely fix the elements.

After the parts are adjusted to each other, they are fixed together with wire. The musket model is ready. Now it can be decorated with patterns by burning wood.

Features of the wick system

It was impossible to ensure rapid fire from a musket

If you want to equip your musket with a matchlock system, then you should understand its main nuances.

Such weapons were loaded from the muzzle of the barrel using a special charger. It was a case with a precisely measured dose of gunpowder required to fire one shot. In addition to it, in the shooter’s arsenal there should have been a small powder flask, represented by natrusk, from which small gunpowder was poured onto the seed shelf.

The bullet was sent into the barrel using a ramrod. To ignite the charge in such designs, a smoldering wick was used, pressed by the trigger to the powder shelf. A short trigger appeared in such designs only in the 17th century.

The weight of a combat matchlock musket was 7 and sometimes 9 kg. In addition, the recoil of this weapon was so strong that only a strongly built person with certain training could withstand it. Therefore, attempts were constantly made to soften the blow - special soft pads were used.

On average, it took about two minutes to reload a matchlock musket. True, already at the beginning of the 17th century there were virtuoso shooters who managed to make several unaimed shots per minute.

In battle, such high-speed shooting was ineffective and even dangerous due to the abundance and complexity of loading techniques for a musket: for example, sometimes the shooter in a hurry forgot to remove the ramrod from the barrel, as a result of which it flew towards enemy battle formations, and the unlucky musketeer was left without ammunition.

In the worst case, when loading a musket carelessly (an excessively large charge of gunpowder, a loose bullet seating on the gunpowder, loading with two bullets or two powder charges, and so on), ruptures of the barrel were not uncommon, leading to injury to the shooter himself and those around him.

In practice, the musketeers fired much less often than the rate of fire of their weapons allowed, in accordance with the situation on the battlefield and without wasting ammunition, since with such a rate of fire there was usually no chance of a second shot at the same target.

Silicon system

German craftsmen also made a significant contribution to the improvement of the musket. They improved the firing mechanism of the musket. Instead of the matchlock method of shooting, the flint method appeared.

The flintlock gun, which replaced the matchlock, was a revolution in the development of weapons in medieval Europe. The lever in the wick mechanism was replaced by a trigger, which, when pressed, released the spring with the flint, the flint hit the arm, resulting in a spark being struck and igniting the gunpowder, which, in turn, ejected the bullet from the barrel.

A flintlock musket was much easier to shoot than a matchlock.

You can practice making a musket using Lego.

The Lego constructor is an excellent option for making various models. It allows not only a child, but also an adult to realize a whole range of ideas, creating models, structures, buildings and even mechanisms. With the right choice of blocks, you can build anything.

In the case of Lego, you should not count on creating a working model, since even integrating an elastic mechanism into such a structure will be very problematic. However, creating an effective layout is quite possible.

To make the final product truly attractive, you need to prepare construction blocks of three colors:

Brown - for making a handle.
Dark gray or black to create the muzzle.
The light gray that the trigger will be made from.

Naturally, when making your own model, you do not have to adhere to this color scheme.

Having prepared everything you need, you can proceed directly to assembly. To do this, we assemble the individual parts of our model:

Trunk. Since the Lego designer assumes the creation of angular models, in our case the trunk will have a square cross-section. We assemble the barrel using dark blocks.
Handle. The shape of this element can be arbitrary, but it is better to be guided by photographs of real muskets when assembling. Otherwise, you may end up with an ordinary pistol. The main difference between the musket is the handle, which smoothly flows into the body of the weapon, on which the muzzle tube rests.
Trigger. A small part that can be represented in one block. Attached to the handle from below. The musket model may not have a trigger; in this case, this part is optional.

In the end, all that remains is to fasten the resulting parts together, assembling a solid model of the musket.