Berdan rifle

Berdan rifles #1 and #2
Type	Service rifle
Place of origin	United States Russian Empire
Service history
In service	1870–1895, later as reserve issue
Used by	Russian Empire Kingdom of Bulgaria Greece Ottoman Empire Romania Finland (limited) Kingdom of Montenegro Kingdom of Serbia Outer Mongolia Persia
Wars	Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 Greco-Turkish War Russo-Japanese War (limited) Balkan Wars World War I (limited) Russian Revolution Finnish Civil War Winter War (limited)
Production history
Designer	Hiram Berdan
Designed	1868 (Berdan I) 1870 (Berdan II)
Produced	1870–1891
No. built	3,000,000
Variants	Berdan I: infantry rifle Berdan II: infantry rifle, dragoon rifle, cossack rifle, cavalry carbine
Specifications
Weight	4.2 kg (9.3 lb) without bayonet 4.6 kg (10 lb) with bayonet
Length	130 cm (51 in) (infantry rifle)
Barrel length	83 cm (33 in) (infantry rifle)
Cartridge	10.75×58 mmR; 24 gram paper-patched round nose lead bullet, 5 gram black powder; cartridge also known as .42 Berdan or 4.2 Line Berdan, 7.62×54mmR
Action	Berdan I "trapdoor"; Berdan II "bolt"
Rate of fire	6–8 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	437 m/s
Effective firing range	400 arshins (284 m, 310.6 yd)
Feed system	Single-shot
Sights	rear sight in "arshins" 200–1200; front sight is inverted v; some infantry rifles have a long range "volley sight" on the right side of front barrel band, along with a second "V" on the right side of the rear sight slide

The Berdan rifle (винтовка Бердана/vintovka Berdana in Russian) is a Russian rifle created by famous American firearms expert and inventor Hiram Berdan in 1868. Standard issue in the Russian army from 1870 to 1891, the Berdan was replaced by the Mosin–Nagant rifle. Widely used in Russia as a hunting weapon, sporting variants, including shotguns, were produced until the mid-1930s.

The Russian Berdan I (M1868) and Berdan II (M1870) rifles of .42 caliber are distinct from the Spanish Berdan 15mm (.58+ cal) conversion rifles adopted by Spain as the M1857/67 Berdan (and related engineer, artillery & short rifles).

Two different versions of the later single-shot Berdan rifle were adopted as service weapons by Imperial Russia. The first version, manufactured by Colt in the USA, is known as the model of 1868, or Berdan I. It is a hammerless "trapdoor" breechblock design, and was manufactured in limited numbers (the contract stipulated 30,000) as a full length infantry rifle. Colt also manufactured a few half-stock Berdan I cavalry carbine prototypes, but these were never adopted for Russian service. Colt even produced a few target rifles based on the Berdan I.

The model of 1870, or Berdan II, is a single-shot bolt-action with a distinctive short, pear-shaped bolt handle. The bolt handle serves as the only locking lug for the action, and when closed, points upwards at a 30-degree angle, rather than horizontally. The Berdan II was produced in four variants: an infantry rifle, the lighter and slightly shorter dragoon rifle, a Cossack rifle with a button trigger and no trigger guard, and a cavalry carbine. Infantry and dragoon rifles were issued with quadrangular socket bayonets. Initial production of the Berdan II was at Birmingham Small Arms in England. The rifles were later manufactured in large numbers by Russian factories at Tula, Izhevsk, and Sestroretsk. Estimated total production of all models is over 3 million. The rifle was known for its accuracy, simplicity and reliability.

The 10.7×58mmR cartridge used in the Berdan was also invented by Hiram Berdan, with assistance of Russian Colonel Gorloff. It was the subject of many patents in both the USA and United Kingdom. The bottleneck cartridge case used the Berdan primer, its first use in a small arms cartridge. Cartridges were issued in blue paper packets of six rounds each. In addition to the regular cartridge for rifles, a special cartridge was manufactured for use in the cavalry carbine. It consisted of the same cartridge case and bullet, but with a lighter powder charge of only 4.5 grams, and was issued in six round pink paper packets. At the time of its use, the 10.75×58mmR (4.2 line) cartridge was known for its power and accuracy.

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Wikipedia