Freedom of arms before the revolution

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Let's open, for example, the Easter issue of Ogonyok magazine, 1914. Peaceful pre-war spring. We read the advertisement. Along with advertisements for "cologne with a wonderful scent of Dralle", photographic cameras "Ferrotype" and the remedy for hemorrhoids "Anusol" - advertisements for revolvers, pistols, hunting rifles.

And here is our old friend! The same Browning sample of 1906:

The magazine advertises EXACTLY Browning. In the classic book of A. Zhuk "Small arms" the number of this model is 31-6.

Production: Belgium, sample 1906, caliber 6.35 mm. It weighs only 350 grams, but has 6 rounds. And what cartridges! The cartridges were created specifically for this model. Shell bullet, smokeless gunpowder (3 times more powerful than smoky powder). Such a cartridge was more powerful than a revolving cartridge of the same caliber.

Browning's 1906 model was very successful. The size of the pistol was only 11.4 x 5.3 cm and it easily fit in the palm of your hand.

What else was needed for a safe trip to the market ???

Market traders were armed before the revolution. It is not surprising that the concept of "racketeering" in those days was completely absent …

Browning could be worn discreetly - it even fit in a waistcoat pocket and ladies' travel bag. Because of its low weight and low recoil, women willingly bought it, and the name "ladies' pistol" was firmly stuck to it.

Browning has been a popular model among wide sections of Russian society for many years. Students, grammar school students, female students, businessmen, diplomats, even officers - even gardeners! - had it at hand.

Due to its low price, it was available even to schoolchildren, and teachers noted among high school and university students the fashion "to shoot for unhappy love." Small-bore pistols were also called "suicide weapons". Large-caliber pistols carried the head like a pumpkin, and after a shot in the head from Browning, the deceased looked good in a coffin, which should have led to tears of repentance from the unfaithful traitor …

But Browning was dangerous not only for its owner:) It was an effective weapon of self-defense. A small-caliber shell bullet pierced the muscle layer and got stuck inside the body, giving it its full energy. The level of medicine at the beginning of the twentieth century often did not allow to save a person who was struck in the internal organs.

Due to its compact size and its fighting qualities, the 1906 Browning was the most popular model. More than 4 MILLION of them were made in total!

But how was it viewed in tsarist times about "exceeding the limits of necessary defense" ??

The very term "necessary defense" first appeared in the decree of Paul I (whom our citizens often imagine as almost half-crazy) and did not mean at all what we are all used to.

In the 18th century, there was such a robbery in Russia - river piracy. Bands of vagabonds attacked and plundered river ships sailing along the main rivers. Emperor Paul I adopted a decree on the strict deprivation of the nobility of all nobles who were attacked on the rivers and did not offer armed resistance. The nobles then were, naturally, with swords, and if they did not carry out the NECESSARY DEFENSE, they were deprived of this sword, as well as their estates and titles …

Thanks to this formulation of the question, in a very short time the robbers were killed or fled and the robbery on the rivers stopped.

That is, the necessary defense was a NECESSITY for an armed man to DEFEND. Naturally, no "limits" existed.

In Soviet times, however, this useful concept was distorted and if it occurs, it is only in the combination "EXCEEDING THE LIMITS of necessary defense."For armed rebuff to robbers, a criminal article was introduced, and the weapon itself was taken away from the population.

The Bolsheviks confiscated weapons from the population. For the complete "disarmament of the bourgeoisie" detachments of the Red Guard and the Soviet militia did a lot, conducting mass searches. However, some irresponsible "kulaks", as we see, were in no hurry to part with the Browning until the mid-30s. And I understand them, a beautiful and necessary thing …

The pistol has since turned from an everyday item into the USSR into a symbol of belonging to power structures or the highest party elite. The caliber of the pistol was inversely proportional to the position in society. (The taller the officer, the smaller the caliber of his pistol.)

… This Browning model was so popular that it gradually fell out of circulation only with the creation in 1926 of the Korovin pistol. Compared to Browning, the cartridge was strengthened and the barrel was slightly lengthened, and the magazine capacity increased to 8 rounds. Interestingly, despite its small caliber, it enjoyed great success among the command staff of the Red Army.

And all that is left for an ordinary Russian man in the street, exhausted from street crime, is to look longingly at the pages of pre-revolutionary magazines:

REVOLVER WITH 50 CARTRIDGES. ONLY 2 RUBLES.

Safe and loyal weapon for self-defense, intimidation and raising the alarm. Completely replaces expensive and dangerous revolvers. Strikingly hard. It is necessary for everyone. No license is required for this revolver. 50 additional cartridges cost 75 kopecks, 100 pieces - 1 r. 40 kopecks, 35 kopecks are charged for sending by mail by cash on delivery, and 55 kopecks to Siberia. When ordering 3 pieces, ONE REVOLVER is included for FREE.

Address: Lodz, O.