Russo-Turkish War of Liberation 1877-1878

Chapter Three - Small arms of the warring states - Bulgarian volunteers

Cavalry carbine "Berdana-2"

At the end of the 60s of the 19 th century, it became obvious that the use of rear-cartridge guns was related to the increase of ammunitions. This fact was decisive for the future use of the big caliber fire arms, which required from the soldiers to increase beyond their capacity the weight of the ammunitions they carried with them. The alternative was to create guns and carbines with smaller caliber and a lighter cartridge.

This was the main purpose of the visit of the Russian arms constructors Alexander Pavlovich Gorlov and Karl Ivanovich Gunius to the United States. After having tested tens of American arms systems and ammunitions, they came to the conclusion that only the system of Colonel Hiram Berdan could be used for the army. However, the two models of Colonel Berdan they had tested demonstrated a number of flaws such as the morally outdated firing mechanism, the big caliber of 11.43 mm, the difficult re-loading, and the technological complexity of the bolt production, and others.

The two arms constructors decided to use all the good qualities of the Berdan arms by introducing some changes related to the new tendencies of that time in fire arms production.

Their first task was to create a new, strong, small caliber metal unitary cartridge. They introduced a new caliber of 4.2 inches (10.67 mm). At that time, the majority of constructors used ammunitions with caliber of over 11 mm. The cylinder form of the cartridge case was also changed. The constructors used in a creative way the expertise of Colonel Rakus-Sustevskii and Captain Patzevich, who worked in the Ohtin ammunition factory in the middle of the 60s. The bottle-like form of the cartridge case was created as a result. The new cartridge had a firing gunpowder charge of 5.07 g-weight and could provide the initial speed of 362 m/s of the bullet. To limit the gunpowder residue and to lubricate the barrel grooves, a divider of fused stearin was placed between the bullet and the gunpowder charge. The bullet base was covered in a paper belt, which increased the tightness and limited the oxidation.

In comparison with those used in the United States and other countries with traditions in arms production, the new bullet had a higher initial speed, greater precision and firing strength, and less weight.

Gorlov and Gunius dropped the outer firing pin and invented a new construction of a firing pin moving rectilinearly. It had a cylinder form finishing with a pin, which was set in motion by a spiral spring.

The bolt opened forwards and upwards. This was a new way of opening. It was already used in the arms constructed by Albini-Brendley (1867), Wenzl (1866), Alain (1866), and others. To serve the objectivity right, it should be noted that to a considerable degree the bolt of Gorlov and Gunius was more reliable. It made the rear part of the barrel tighter and allowed for a more reliable bullet extraction. There was a special opening in the bolt housing a short needle, which was set in motion when the firing pin moved forwards.

On October 18, 1868, Emperor Alexander II recognized the new system. It was named “fire rifle model 1868”, but it was most frequently called “Berdana 1”.

Historians noted that the Russian constructors had introduced 25 significant changes to the initial version of Hiram Berdan's rifle. Therefore, Gorlov and Gunius had actually created a new weapon, which had a number of good tactical and technical qualities. It was by no chance that during the tests it demonstrated an extraordinary reliability and good ballistic qualities.

In April 1869, Colonel Berad proposed a new breech bolt. It was in the form of two concentric tubes. The tube with the smaller diameter had a rectangular block holding the hand grip. The block housed the extractor. The firing head-stock was woven around the front of the tube. It had an opening for the firing pin.

The tube with the bigger diameter ended with a cone screw holding the firing pin. Two short grooves were etched on the outer side of the tube at an angle in relation to its axis. The teeth of the firing mechanism were coming inside allowing for the bolt to stay in two positions. The first position ensured the bolt locking. When in the second position, all parts were ready for the fire.

In the course of the army tests, the new bolt was compared with the most modern bolt of those times. The results had demonstrated that it allowed for a speedier firing of the gun and a better cleaning of the barrel and the cartridge chamber. Its production was cheaper, while at the same time its functioning was more reliable.

In 1870, the new gun model was introduced for armament under different names such as “rifle model 1870” or “quick firing small-caliber rifle Berdana 2”. A cavalry carbine Berdana 2 was constructed simultaneously with the production of the infantry gun. It was later used by the cavalry units of the Volunteers' Corps. The famous Russian arms specialist V.L. Chebishev was involved in its construction.1

The carbine charging was simple and corresponded to the tendencies of the day. It comprised three movements. First, the bolt grip turned leftwards and moved backwards, shrinking the spiral spring. Second, the cartridge was placed in the cartridge chamber. The bolt returned to its initial position with the third movement.

The Gorlov Gunius gun was considered as one of the best models for sports competitions. It was known even in the United States as the “Russian musket”. Captain V. Bunyakovskii, who had participated in the test, noted that the “Russian musket” was famous, which could not be identified with the names of those who are to blame for its existence - the Russian officers”. “The Russian fire arms”, wrote Bunyakovskii, “belonged to the best-quality fire arms”. He had also noted that “in the United States, Russian arms and cartridges, known in Russia as Berdanovski, were considered to be the best”.

In their book, History of the State Weaponry , V.V. Mavrodin and Val. V. Mavrodin wrote that the high quality of the gun evoked the envy of some American arms specialists. Despite certain “ill-will deeds” on their side, the Gorlov and Gunius rifle showed very good results in the course of comparative tests with American models.2

This new fire arm had better tactical and technical indicators than other guns, which were already part of the armament of the Bulgarian Volunteers' Corps. When comparing Berdana 2 with Chassepot, it is easy to come to the conclusion that it is on a higher level qualitatively. The advantages of the unitary metal Berdan cartridge before the cartridge with unstable paper cover give the basis for such reasoning. The use of new strong ammunitions led to the production of a more reliable bolt and the use of high-quality materials for the production of barrels and other parts.

Berdana had also surpassed the weapons of the Russian firing units – the Krnka gun and carbine. It had a comparatively smaller caliber, longer firing distance, lesser weight, and increased reserves of ammunitions. The firing speed was also considerably higher.

A question comes up in this respect. Why was the Russian army not rearmed with the Berdana system?

The answer is related to the negative attitude of the main part of the Russian commanding staff towards the far-distance and quick-firing arms. On one hand, they were of the opinion that using these weapons, Russian soldiers would be “fixed to the ground” thus reducing the efficiency of the Russian “bayonet attacks” famous across Europe. On the other hand, Russia's military industry had no capacity to provide arms to the whole army within a short period of time before the war outbreak. There were also difficulties related to organizing the production of Berdana ammunitions.

Nonetheless, the cavalry unit of the Volunteers' Corps carried guns which were excellent for their time.

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