Izhevsk biathlon rifle bi 7 4. Nine naive questions about biathlon. Biathlon rifles for professional biathletes

The history of domestic biathlon rifles began in 1958, when Soviet athletes went to the first World Championships in Austria with the Mosin repeating rifle, proven in two world wars.

With the advent of new rifles, progress in sporting weapons did not stop. In an effort to reduce the weight of the rifle and the recoil, Soviet gunsmiths relied on reducing the caliber. As a result, the Bi-6.5 and BiL-6.5 rifles appeared (the latter was created on the basis of the Los hunting carbine). And in 1976, a rifle with a bolt of its own design with accelerated reloading of 5.6 mm caliber appeared in the Izhmash line of sporting weapons.

Soviet gunsmiths correctly assessed the direction of improving biathlon rifles, since the biathlon revolution broke out in 1978. In order to increase the attractiveness of biathlon and its entertainment, it was decided to reduce the shooting distance to 50 meters so that spectators could see the targets. The reduction in firing distance led to the elimination of the need for powerful ammunition; accordingly, biathlon rifles were required to use a small-caliber .22LR rimfire cartridge (5.6×15 mm).

Through the efforts of Soviet gunsmiths, Soviet athletes went to the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid (USA) with a Bi-7-2 rifle equipped with a crank-type bolt. This bolt is still used today in Izhevsk rifles of this type.

Izhmash biathlon rifles were the main weapon of the Soviet team until the early 1990s, but with the beginning of the 90s the situation changed dramatically. Hard times have come for the country and hard times for Izhmash. The quality of rifles has fallen, and the development of new weapons has been reduced to almost zero. If earlier the Soviet team always had an Izhmash gunsmith, who quickly solved problems with rifles and took into account the wishes of the athletes, which were then implemented into the rifles, now the athletes could not afford to maintain a gunsmith. Russian athletes began to buy Austrian Anschutz biathlon rifles, and even Izhmash began to produce BI-7-4A rifles with Anschutz barrels.

As of today, the situation with Russian biathlon rifles has improved. The machines at Izhmash were replaced and a gunsmith engineer again joined the Russian team.

It is worth saying that biathlon rifles are expensive weapons that are made individually. The athlete himself chooses the type of wood to make the stock; handles, butts, rests, etc. are made specifically for the anatomical features of the athlete. And the wishes of high-level athletes are often embodied both in their personal weapons and in basic versions of rifles.

The main competitor to Russian biathlon rifles is the Austrian company Anschutz. Anschutz and Izhmash rifles differ primarily in their locking methods. So, in a Russian rifle there is a regular bolt, but to move it, a circular movement of the bolt handle is used, and in an Austrian rifle, locking is carried out using 6 balls, which are located in grooves located around the circumference of the bolt and, when locked, enter mating grooves in the barrel bore. There are also technological differences, for example, barrels for Russian rifles are made using rotary forging on a mandrel, while barrels for Austrian rifles are made by drawing a punch through a pre-drilled and polished workpiece.

The main advantage of Russian biathlon rifles is their price. The Bi-7-4 biathlon rifle is approximately half the price of the Austrian Anschutz-Fortner 1827 and can be bought not only in Russia, but also abroad. There are quite a few companies abroad that sell Russian rifles and modernize them according to the wishes of customers. Bi-7-4 are ideal rifles for training entry-level athletes from which top-class athletes can grow.

On the eve of the start of the 2010 Games in Vancouver, Sportbox.ru found answers to nine naive questions about one of the most popular winter sports - biathlon.

1) What are the targets made of, what diameter are they and how many meters are they from the shooting area?

In modern biathlon, two types of targets are used - metal (during competitions) and paper (for zeroing weapons before the start). It is curious that initially the targets were exclusively paper. And at the first official competitions, a silhouette was generally used, in the center of which a circle with a diameter of 250 mm (when shooting prone) or 350 mm (when shooting standing) was drawn. If an athlete missed the circle, he received a minute as a penalty, and for missing the silhouette, he received two. Keeping count at that time was very difficult, and often the final shooting results were determined only after the finish.

It is clear that the system was imperfect and regularly led to conflicts of interest. Therefore, the idea with the silhouette did not take root; the organizers of the competition began to experiment. At first they suggested shooting at rubber tubes stretched behind a metal shield. Soviet science went further: there was an attempt to make glass targets. So, in 1974, the Saratov glass factory launched the production of special glasses. Their peculiarity was that when hit by a bullet they did not crumble into fragments, but flowed down as if they had been melted. However, this idea was also doomed to failure - the glass often broke during transportation.

Currently, the target size is 45 mm for prone shooting and 115 mm for standing shooting. Shooting is carried out from a distance of 50 m.

2) How is time determined at control marks?

Before the start, special electronic sensors are attached to each biathlete’s legs. You cannot refuse this procedure. It is thanks to these sensors that you can always track in real time the speed at which each athlete moves along the track. Sensors react every time a biathlete passes one of the control lines.

3) How much does the rifle weigh and what bullets do athletes use?

In modern biathlon, weapons and ammunition are not considered separately, but as a whole. The shooting result depends not only on the accuracy of the athlete and the rifle manufacturer, but also on the quality of the cartridges. Thus, in biathlon, 5.6 mm rimfire cartridges are used. They were invented in 1888 and were called the “22 Long Rifle,” which means “22-caliber long rifle,” although these cartridges later began to be used in pistol shooting. International athletes usually spend a lot of time pre-shooting various brands of ammunition. Today, the best are considered to be English Tenex, P-50 for Anschutz rifles, which are produced by the German company Dynamite-Nobel, and Russian-made Olympus cartridges. On average, a professional biathlete fires up to 1,200 rounds of ammunition per month.

The rifle used by biathletes is small-caliber, designed specifically for this sport. It weighs no more than 3.5 kg. The clip is designed for five rounds. And the speed of a bullet fired from such a weapon reaches 380 meters per second.

4) What punishment does an athlete face if he shoots at the wrong target or confuses “prone” with “stand”?

All biathlon fans know the story of the Belarusian athlete Daria Domracheva, who was embarrassed in Oberhof, Germany, for the second year in a row. In the 2009/2010 season, in the mass start, the hope of all Belarus fired three shots at someone else’s target, depriving itself of a chance to win. And a year ago, in the prone position, Domracheva suddenly began shooting at targets while standing.

However, such situations are not uncommon in biathlon. At one time, Russian biathletes Anfisa Reztsova and Natalya Guseva also shot at other people's targets. The second, matching Domracheva, was embarrassed in this way twice. There is an opinion that such mistakes come from an overflowing desire to win. After all, Domracheva, Reztsova, and Guseva made mistakes when they arrived at the shooting range first.

According to the rules of the International Biathlon Union, as a punishment for shooting at someone else's target, a miss is recorded as if he shot correctly and simply missed. So, Domracheva in Oberhof 2010 came to her senses and after three shots at someone else’s target, she hit two of her own. But the punishment for shooting from the wrong position (“standing” instead of “prone” or vice versa) is much harsher - disqualification.

5) What happens if an athlete starts shooting from a location other than his own?

The official rules state that it is forbidden not only to shoot from someone else’s mat, but also to trip and step off your own if the rifle is not slung over your shoulders. Surprisingly, compliance with this rule is monitored quite strictly, and the organizers sometimes mercilessly punish even famous athletes. Thus, the Norwegian Halvard Hanevold once accidentally dropped a cartridge and, trying to pick it up, stepped off the mat, for which he was immediately disqualified.

A much more curious incident occurred with American Jay Hakkinen. In one race, he made five misses and was so upset that when he got up from the mat, he forgot his poles. Returning to get his equipment, Häkkinen dropped his gloves. I had to go back for them too. The judge was about to disqualify the absent-minded athlete, but Häkkinen lifted the heavy burden from the referee’s soul by throwing off his skis in a fit of rage and finishing the race.

6) What should you do if your rifle breaks during a race?

This happened to the Russian team at the 2008 World Championships in Östersund, when Albina Akhatova, who was running the second leg of the relay, had her rifle jammed on the first prone stage. While they were changing weapons, the Russian team lost a lot of time and, as a result, fell short of the podium. However, such cases are classified as force majeure, because before the start, the rifle is checked not only by the athlete himself, but also by a special team. Particular attention is paid to the trigger pull force, which should not exceed 500 grams.

According to the regulations, in addition to the main one, each athlete has two spare rifles. If a weapon breaks down at a distance, it can only be changed at the shooting range, and only one of the representatives of his team can hand it over to the athlete. Those who violate this rule will be disqualified.

Interestingly, if a biathlete loses his clip or scope during a race, it is not fatal. The main thing is to get the barrel and trigger to the finish line, otherwise the result will be canceled. So, Belarusian Ekaterina Ivanova’s rifle once simply fell apart, and she had to grab the parts and drag them to the finish line.

7) What punishment does an athlete face if he forgot or did not want to take the penalty loop?

Such a curiosity happened to Russian biathlete Nikolai Kruglov. While shooting from a standing position, he made two mistakes, but was so carried away by the pursuit of the Frenchman Vincent Defran that he forgot to take the second penalty loop and thanks to this he was ahead of the Frenchman at the finish line, becoming third in the pursuit race. For this, two penalty minutes were added to Kruglov’s time, which is why he lost his place on the podium.

8) What punishment does an athlete face if he “cuts” the distance?

The unpleasant story at the 2009 World Championships still does not allow Russian biathlon fans to sleep peacefully. Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen cut the distance by ten meters in the pursuit race, for which a special commission deprived him of gold and awarded the victory to Maxim Chudov. However, the Norwegian team appealed, and, to the surprise of many, Bjoerndalen's already long list of awards was added to another gold medal. The decision really turned out to be blatantly unfair - according to the regulations, any violation while passing the track, which allows you to gain time, should be followed by disqualification. At the same time, for many Russian fans, it was not the commission members who became persona non grata, but Bjoerndalen, who did not share the award with Chudov, contrary to the fair play principle.

9) What punishment faces a slow-moving biathlete who refuses to allow a faster-footed athlete who is not his direct competitor to pass?

In motorsport this is called overtaking laps, but in biathlon such situations often arise in time trial races. According to the new traffic rules, the driver must give way to a pedestrian, but in practice this does not always happen. In such cases, careless motorists should be fined. The same thing happens in biathlon. Refusal to let a faster colleague pass is punishable by a penalty minute. So it is difficult to understand whether most biathletes are really so well-mannered that they always give way, or whether they are simply afraid of severe punishment.

Tatyana Pomelnikova, Sportbox.ru

It is not difficult to guess that biathlon has military roots. The Norwegian military trained on skis and with rifles on their backs in the mid-19th century, and the sport was first introduced at the Olympic Games in 1924 under the name “War Patrol Competition.” In those days, biathlon did not gain recognition due to the small number of participating countries. It was only in the 1950s that the new sport gained popularity in the USSR and Sweden.

Its military component was still strong: athletes fired live ammunition from serious distances from 100 to 250 m. It is not surprising that our athletes went to the first world championship in 1958 with the good old Mosin rifle.

The famous “three-line” Mosin with a trouble-free rotary bolt was designed in 1891 and served the Russian army faithfully until the Great Patriotic War inclusive. It was called “Three Line” because its caliber was equal to three Russian lines (this old measure of length corresponded to 0.1 inches, 2.54 mm), that is, 7.62 mm. The Mosin rifle formed the basis for many models of sporting weapons, some of which are still in use today. In the army they were replaced by self-loading rifles, but they are prohibited in biathlon.

“The Soviet athletes shot poorly,” the newspapers honestly commented on the successes of our biathletes at the first championship. The situation needed to be corrected. In 1959, the team received the first specialized rifle “Biathlon-59”, created by Izhmash designer Shestryakov based on the same “three-line”. With her, in Squaw Valley (1960), the first Olympic medal was won - bronze by Alexander Privalov.

The athletes of the Soviet national team spent the second half of the 1960s with the Biathlon-7.62 rifle, designed taking into account the experience of competing in world championships. For the first time, it featured a hinged cover to protect the barrel bore from clogging with snow and a diopter sight.

In the early 1970s, Soviet designers made a very important bet: gradually moving away from military models, they took the path of reducing the caliber of weapons, trying to minimize recoil. The BI-6.5 and BIL-6.5 rifles were created (the latter based on the Los hunting carbine). And in 1976, designers Anisimov and Susloparov created the BI-5 - the world's first rifle with fast reloading (with a bolt of its own design) of 5.6 mm caliber.

Thus, when the so-called biathlon revolution broke out in 1978, the Soviet Union was completely ready for it. The International Modern Pentathlon and Biathlon Union has established a firing distance of 50 m and mandated the use of a weak rimfire cartridge. 22LR (5.6 x 15 mm). This was done for the sake of safety and entertainment: biathlon attracted more and more spectators who wanted to see the target.

There were stories that while some biathletes stood at the firing line with 7.62 mm rifles, others running along the course were scaring away mushroom pickers in the forest. Although there is another opinion: they say, the decision was lobbied by the Germans and Austrians, who had long been developing small-caliber rifles.

Frankly, it’s hard to believe in such a lobby. Indeed, it was at that time that the German company Anschutz entered the market. However, its rifles were equipped with an old-fashioned rotary bolt, while the Izhevsk BI-7 sported a fast reloading system with a skewed bolt in a vertical plane, saving athletes precious seconds on the firing line.

In Lake Placid (1980), Soviet athletes went with the Bi-7−2 rifle, which for the first time featured a crank bolt with vertical axes of rotation - a design that is used in Izhevsk rifles to this day. The new weapon brought Alexander Tikhonov a gold medal in the relay.

Latest model rifle. Maxim Nagovitsyn, a design engineer at the design and technology center of the Kalashnikov Concern OJSC, demonstrated to Popular Mechanics the BI-7−4 rifle in the latest version 11 and spoke about its latest improvements.

German breakthrough

Until the end of the 1980s, Izhmash biathlon rifles dominated the world market. Needless to say, athletes of Soviet national teams of all levels were armed with them.

In the mid-1990s, the situation began to change dramatically. More and more athletes, including Russian ones, began to arm themselves with German Anschutz weapons. It got to the point that in the period from 2007 to 2009, not a single Russian biathlete at the national team level shot from a domestic rifle. 95% of the world's athletes preferred weapons from Germany.

This is explained by several reasons. The first is the technological breakthrough of Anschutz, due to collaboration with the talented gunsmith Peter Fortner. In an effort to solve the problem with the long reloading of German rifles, he invented a mechanism with a rectilinear bolt movement. Such a shutter is cocked by moving the index finger towards you, and returns by pushing the thumb away from you. Just a slight movement of the wrist is enough.

The rectilinear movement of the control handle itself was not a novelty. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Since then, military designers have proposed schemes in which the translational movement of the bolt frame activated a rotary bolt sliding along a curved groove. However, such schemes suffered from increased reloading effort, which is unacceptable either in sports or in the army.

Fortner invented a locking mechanism in which the bolt does not turn at all. Locking is carried out using six balls that move out of the grooves in the bolt and fit into the corresponding grooves in the barrel bore. This mechanism requires a minimum of effort and movement to reload. In 1984, the inventor received a patent for his creation, and in 1985, the first Anschutz-Fortner rifles already went to the World Championship in Ruhpolding.

Another pride of the Anschutz company is its precision barrels. They are cut by drawing a punch - a cylinder made of a hard alloy (such as tungsten carbide) with grooves, the shape of which corresponds to the shape of the rifling of the barrel. The punch is pulled through a drilled and polished barrel blank using a hydraulic press. The barrel is then heat treated to relieve internal stress.

A robotic arm removes the finished rifled barrel from the machine. The rotary forging process of the barrel takes about three minutes.

Izhmash uses another method for manufacturing rifled barrels - rotary forging on a mandrel. A thick and short workpiece is put on a mandrel, the shape of which corresponds to the internal shape of the future barrel, and, rotating, is fed under a hammer, which compresses it from all sides. During the forging process, the workpiece is stretched and thinned, and inside it takes the shape of a mandrel. On the barrels of Izhevsk rifles you can see a characteristic “honeycomb” pattern. These are marks from hammer blows.

The rotary forging method, developed in the 1930s in Germany, is still considered the most advanced method in the production of rifled barrels. Anschutz President Jochen Anschutz claims that punch broaching produces more accurate barrels, but he only cites his own testing at the shooting range. By the way, each barrel manufactured by Anschutz is shot at a shooting range from a machine, and the test target is included in the product passport. They do exactly the same at Izhmash.

The only disadvantage of the rotational forging method is its intolerance to machine wear. The harsh economic realities of the 1990s did not allow Izhmash to update outdated equipment, as a result of which the accuracy of Izhevsk barrels began to decline. In an effort to improve the situation, the plant even began producing BI-7−4A rifles with Anschutz barrels.

There is another reason why our rifles have almost completely disappeared from the market. The Soviet team always included a gunsmith from Izhmash. The Russian team after perestroika could not afford such luxury. In case of problems with the rifle, the athlete was forced to go to Izhevsk himself and, for several weeks, slowly look for a solution together with the plant specialists, completely falling out of the rhythm of the competition.

Made in Germany. Barrels, receivers and trigger mechanisms for Anschutz rifles are produced in the company's own production facility in Ulm. These parts are sent to Rohrdorf to the home workshop of Peter Fortner, where he, his son and four other company employees fit the bolt mechanism to them. Then, in disassembled form, the kit again leaves for Ulm, where a stock is made for the future rifle.

And Anschutz offered a guaranteed free service, including at the World Cup and Olympics. Vladimir Drachev was the first Russian to appreciate German quality. His example was followed by Anfisa Reztsova, Udmurt biathlete Nadezhda Talanova, and then the entire Russian team.

Return of a Legend

In 2009, the President of the Russian Biathlon Union, Mikhail Prokhorov, promised to purchase 30 Izhevsk rifles for the Russian team to give the legendary enterprise a chance to restore its reputation. The national team once again included a full-time gunsmith - the same Vladimir Fedorovich Susloparov, the creator of the first rifle with quick reloading "BI-5" and the leading designer of all subsequent models of the Biathlon series.

The presence of Vladimir Fedorovich at the competitions is difficult to overestimate. And the point is not only that a gunsmith with enormous experience is able to quickly help athletes solve technical problems with weapons, be it Izhmash or Anschutz. Much more important is that the leading designer of the plant constantly communicates with the athletes, hears their wishes, sees their successes and failures, providing feedback to the manufacturer at the highest level.

The Fortner-designed bolt contains an internal mechanism due to which, when the cartridge is chambered at the end of the handle stroke, balls protrude from the grooves of the bolt body. They fit into the corresponding grooves in the receiver, securely locking the barrel.

Rifles for national team level biathletes are made individually. The athlete chooses the wood from which the stock is made, determines the shape of the handle, butt and stops, and the location of the holes for additional cartridges. The wishes of top-class biathletes are embodied not only in their personal weapons, but also in new standard modifications of rifles. Quantity certainly turns into quality.

Structurally, our rifles are in no way inferior to German ones. The circular movement of the control handle instead of linear is more of a feature than a drawback. The crank bolt has a slightly shorter handle stroke than the Fortner bolt. The latter, by the way, also has a sin: if there is insufficient force on the handle (which is quite likely when the athlete is tired), the bolt reaches the extreme position, but the balls do not fit into the grooves, and locking does not occur. In Izhevsk weapons such a problem is excluded.

Having visited the former Izhmash, now renamed the Kalashnikov Concern, we saw with our own eyes how barrels for the latest generation rifles and for combat and high-precision sporting weapons are made on new rotary forging machines.

Don’t forget about such a serious advantage of the Izhevsk rifle as the price: “BI-7−4” costs about half as much as the Anschutz-Fortner 1827. You can buy it not only in Izhevsk: there are many companies abroad that sell Izhevsk rifles and accessories for their tuning.

The price makes the Biathlon series weapons more accessible to juniors, who may become world-class biathletes in the future. With the proper level of service and attention to the wishes of athletes, it is quite possible that they will remain faithful to the weapon they have been accustomed to since childhood throughout their entire career. A striking example of such loyalty to the Izhevsk rifle was demonstrated by the German superstar Kati Wilhelm, to whom I would like to say a huge thank you on behalf of all Russian fans.

Over its long history, biathlon has undergone many important innovations and minor amendments to the rules. For the most part, the changes concerned sports equipment, namely weapons with which athletes earn coveted points. At first, when biathlon was not an Olympic sport, small arms were similar to large-caliber army carbines with a barrel diameter of six and a half or 7.62 mm. In this case, the firing distance was about 150-200 meters.

Appearance of the Biathlon-7-2 rifle

After a long period of skiing, it was very difficult for athletes to shoot at targets with heavy military weapons. In addition, the strong recoil that occurs during shooting had a negative effect on the accuracy of biathletes. For this reason, sporting firearms gradually reduced their caliber to 5.6 mm. This was a real revolution in biathlon. This is how the 5.6 mm Biathlon-7 rifle of the second model appeared.

About the rifle

"Biathlon-seven-two", abbreviated as "Bi-7-2", is not the very first sporting weapon of 5.6 mm caliber. Before him, in Soviet times, other small-caliber carbines were widely used, which had similar tactical and technical characteristics. However, in reloading speed these guns were much inferior to the Biathlon-7-2. The fact is that at that time this carbine had a unique reloading system, which included not a longitudinally sliding rotary, but a lever-connecting rod locking mechanism, the handle of which, when cocked, described an arc of a certain diameter. This allowed athletes to reload the rifle very quickly, in much the same way as a self-loading firearm. The widely known rimfire ones are used as projectiles. Advantages of the Biathlon-seven-two rifle produced in 1980-1991:

• low weight (up to 4.5 kg), compared to guns from other manufacturers;
• weak recoil;
• butts and handles with the function of customization to the individual characteristics of each athlete.
• magazine designed for five rounds.

The main performance characteristics of the Biathlon-7-2 rifle are given in the table:

As the caliber decreased, the distance from the shooting site to the targets began to decrease. Now it is 50 meters. The peak of popularity of the Biathlon-7 sports screw gun of the second type occurred in the eighties of the last century. Not only Soviet, but also many foreign athletes wanted to have such small arms. The desire to acquire weapons products from the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant was determined by the numerous successes of biathletes of the former USSR. A. Tikhonov, for example, became the champion of the first Olympic Games in 1980 thanks to the 5.6 mm Biathlon-7-2.

The following markings are applied to parts and components of small arms:

Like any other small arms, the Biathlon-7-2 rifle leaves unique marks on the bottom of the cartridge case of its ammunition. A diagram of such traces is proposed below:

trace: 1 - reflector, 2 - ejector hook, 3 - striker, 4 - sleeve holder

Modifications

For many years, Izhmash products were in first place. This continued until the German company Anschutz released its sports carbine with a fast reloading mechanism. Without thinking twice, the designers of the Izhevsk plant presented a new weapon - the improved Biathlon-7 rifles of the third and fourth models, the basis for which was the same Biathlon-7 of the second modification. However, the updated carbines could not compete with German sporting weapons. The last time the Biathlon series rifles were used by athletes was at the Olympics in Vancouver. There are also copies of the “Bi-7-4” with an “Anschutz” barrel that are currently being produced. The hunting versions of “Biathlon-7-2”, currently being mass-produced, received an additional index “KO” to their name. Such new weapons in terms of characteristics are catching up with the products of German gunsmiths. In addition, Izhmash designers plan to equip their rifles with new locking mechanisms of their own production.

Earlier in the article “What do biathletes shoot from” we already talked about the technical characteristics of biathlon rifles. In this article we will describe some history of the use of biathlon rifles.

Biathlon rifles.
What do biathletes shoot with at the Olympics?

In 1960, biathlon was included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games. In those days, this sport was actually a military applied one: shooting was carried out from rifles created on the basis of army repeating carbines, the distance to targets was 150-200 m, and powerful cartridges of 7.62 and 6 calibers were used to confidently hit targets at such a distance ,5.

The first Soviet biathlon rifle was created by designer A. S. Shestryakov on the basis of the famous “three-line”, the Mosin rifle. It was called Biathlon-59 and was produced at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant. This rifle was tested at the VIII Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, where Alexander Privalov took bronze in the 20-kilometer individual race. It is worth mentioning that in 1960 this race was the only one at the Olympics, and there were no competitions among women at all (women's biathlon first appeared at the 1992 Olympics).

Already, 10 sets of medals are being played out in biathlon in Vancouver, 5 each for men and women. Thus, Privalov’s performance with the Izhevsk rifle cannot be called unsuccessful.

A year after Squaw Valley, production of new rifles for biathlon began; the same designer Shestryakov. The base for this sports equipment was the same - the legendary brainchild of Mosin. The rifles were produced in two versions: in 7.62 mm caliber, which received the simple name “Biathlon” BI-7.62, and in 6.5 mm caliber, respectively BI-6.5. The 6.5 mm sports cartridge was based on the 7.62 rifle cartridge case, which had already performed well in competitions, but was not liked by many athletes due to its high recoil force.

In 1964, the triumph of Soviet athletes and their weapons took place. At the IX Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Vladimir Melanin took gold in biathlon, and Alexander Privalov took silver in that very only individual 20 km race.

In 1970, production of the lightweight Biathlon series BI-4 rifle for firing a rimfire cartridge began, and a year later the BI-5 rifle was developed for the 5.6 mm centerfire cartridge. The famous biathlete Alexander Tikhonov took part in competitions with BI-5 in the 70s. It was he and his national team partners who took Olympic gold in the biathlon relay in 1972 and 1976.

Among the foreign manufacturers of biathlon rifles, it is worth noting the German company Anschutz. In 1975, before the Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, the German army, which sent its athletes to biathlon competitions, made a proposal to the management of the Anschutz company to create a rifle that suited German biathletes in terms of convenience and recoil force. For the new sporting weapon, a low-impulse caliber .222 centerfire cartridge was chosen, and the rifle itself became a further development of the Anschutz-54 model, the best small-caliber match rifle of the time.

And in 1977, “thunder struck.” At the congress of the International Pentathlon and Biathlon Federation, new rules were adopted, according to which a small-caliber rifle chambered for a 5.6mm rimfire cartridge, commonly known as .22lr, became the standard weapon in biathlon. This transition also led to a decrease in the distance to the target - now it became 50 m, and a number of other changes.

Izhevsk designers reacted with lightning speed, and in the same year they introduced the BI-6 rifle chambered for rimfire. This efficiency can be explained very simply: the new rifle had a single design base with the Ural-5-1 and Ural-6-1. It is worth mentioning that for a long time the biathlon rules allowed the use of sports weapons only with a longitudinally sliding rotary bolt. But at the end of the 70s, events took place that were later called the “great biathlon revolution,” and the ban on rifles with rapid reloading was lifted.

The Finns were among the first to use the principle of a longitudinally sliding bolt without rotation in their Finnbiathlon rifle. A little later, the Soviet “BI-7” appeared, working according to this scheme, and its further development “BI-7-2” is perhaps the most famous rifle of the “Biathlon” series. In 1980, 1984 and 1988, our biathletes won Olympic gold in the relay with this particular rifle. And even some foreign athletes sought to get their hands on this example of Soviet sports weapons.

Based on the "BI-7-2" the following models of rifles of the "Biathlon" series were created - "BI-7-3" and "BI-7-4", which were used by our and foreign athletes in the 90s and with minor design changes that reached the Olympic Games in Vancouver. But these rifles will be discussed in more detail below.

Despite the successes of Finnish and Soviet designers of sporting weapons in creating models with fast reloading, in the first half of the 80s the German company Anschutz still produced bolt-action rifles, first models 1427 and 1450, and then 1827. A little later, the German gunsmith Peter Fortner adapted the reloading mechanism with the rectilinear movement of the handle of his own design to the Anschutz rifle. Time has passed, and now the name of the rifle "Anschutz-Fortner 1827" has become a household name, as the standard of a biathlon rifle.

For some time, the Anschutz and Biathlon rifles shared the palm in biathlon competitions. They tried to compete with the already mentioned Finnbiathlon from Tampeeren Asepaja, rifles from Suhler, Sako and others, but without success. Gradually, Izhevsk Biathlon also ceased to be popular with leading athletes, including Russian ones. Anschutz-Fortner has virtually become a monopolist: according to the management of the German company, about 95% of biathletes at international competitions use the 1827 model.

BI-7-4
Now let’s describe in more detail the rifles that our team competed with at the Olympics in Vancouver.

BI-7-4

Production of the BI-7-4 small-caliber sports rifle for biathlon began in 1991 at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (Izhmash).

The rifle is fired with standard biathlon 22lr rimfire cartridges. Food is supplied from detachable five-round magazines. In addition to the five-round magazines, the rifle comes with magazines for three additional rounds. There are no restrictions on the use of ammunition; it is allowed to use both domestic and foreign-made .22lr cartridges. The cassette for four magazines is located on the butt.

The rifle uses a hinge-lever system for locking the barrel bore. Reloading is carried out by a reciprocating movement of the hand using a special handle, while the bolt describes an arc of a certain radius. Such manipulations allow you to quickly reload a weapon at the firing line, practically without affecting the shooter’s positioning and aiming.

The balancing of the weapon is regulated by special weights, which, if necessary, can be removed or installed. Adjustment of the length of the trigger stroke, the force and nature of the trigger itself is carried out without disassembling the rifle. The trigger force is adjustable in the range of 0.5-1 kgf. The working stroke of the trigger is adjustable within 2-4 mm.

The bolt of a rifle of the Biathlon-7 family

The cheekpiece on the butt of the stock is adjustable vertically and horizontally, and the butt itself is adjustable in length. This allows the shooter to individually adjust a position that is convenient for him when aiming. This procedure is simple and does not require the presence of a specialist. The diopter sight, front sight and bore have special hinged covers to protect them from dirt, snow, etc. The procedure for bringing the rifle into firing position at the firing line does not take much time.

Over the years of production, BI-7-4 was gradually modified and modernized. Almost all the main parts of the rifle were subject to changes: the barrel, the stock, the sight, and the carrying belt. For example, the BI-7-4A model is now being produced with a barrel from Anschutz, a well-known manufacturer of biathlon weapons. Modifications of the rifle are also manufactured, adapted for left-handers.

One of the latest models is the BI-7-4 rifle, version 9, produced by Izhmash on order from the Russian Biathlon Union. It differs significantly from the serial BI-7-4. The rifle has a new stock, almost completely customizable for a specific athlete. In addition, she received a diopter sight from Anschutz, popular among biathletes, and an adjustable ring front sight. The barrel and receiver of the rifle are coated with chrome, which significantly increased the performance characteristics of the BI-7-4, including corrosion protection.

Rifle BI-7-4 elite version 9

For athletes at the national team level, the rifle is made individually, to order, according to the athlete’s requirements. But, unfortunately, that's all; Fewer and fewer Russian biathletes use Izhevsk rifles, giving preference to the German Anschutz. However, Izhmash also plans to create a model with a bolt action similar to that of a German rifle.

For a long time, the Biathlon series rifles confidently competed with the Anschutz-Fortner model, but the dashing 90s did not have the best effect on the position of Russian weapons in world biathlon. Samples of sporting weapons from the Biathlon family are now mainly used by biathletes from the countries of the former USSR and novice athletes, mainly because of the price: our rifles are about half the price of German ones.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the BI-7-4 rifle:
Caliber: 22lr
Weight: 4.5 kg
Dimensions: 1050x90x290 mm
Barrel length: 500mm
The amount of adjustment of the back of the butt in length: 20 mm
Butt cheek adjustment amount:
- vertical 7.5 mm
— horizontally 6 mm

BI-7-4 was used by athletes of the Russian national team: Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, Yana Romanova (reserve), Viktor Vasiliev (reserve)
Successes with the BI-7-4 rifle:
Russian team:
Anna Bogaliy-Titovets - gold in the relay
Other Olympic participants:
Kati Wilhelm (Germany) - bronze in the relay;
Elena Khrustaleva (Kazakhstan) - silver in the individual race.

Anschutz 1827 Fortner


Anschutz 1827 Fortner

The Anschutz 1827 rifle received its modern appearance in the mid-1980s, after the German gunsmith Peter Fortner developed a prototype of a new bolt for a biathlon rifle. The product of cooperation between the German company Anschutz and the designer Fortner was named “Anschutz 1827 Fortner”, and now occupies a leading position among all models of biathlon rifles.

The main feature of Fortner's new bolt was fast reloading. Cocking was carried out with the index finger on a special handle, and the bolt was returned by pressing the thumb on its back. In contrast to the locking design of the Izhevsk rifles of the BI-7 series, Peter Fortner in his design used a locking design using lugs, the role of which was played by 6 balls. In the extreme forward position, they moved out of the grooves of the bolt and entered the corresponding grooves of the receiver, locking. This design is very effective and allows you to reload the rifle with two fingers. And if we take into account that previously all Anschutz sporting weapons had longitudinally sliding bolts with a rotation, then the new scheme made it possible to reduce the reload time significantly.

By the way, a reloading scheme similar to Fortner’s design still existed; at the beginning of the 20th century. It was used in some types of military weapons, but was not particularly widespread due to the complexity of production, correspondingly high cost and the need to apply significant force when reloading. Peter Fortner was able to get rid of the last drawback in his design, and the new era, when athletes do not skimp on quality equipment, discarded the first two. In the fall of 1984, a German gunsmith patented his invention.

German biathlete Andrea Henkel reloads her Anschutz 1827 Fortner rifle after being shot

A little later, Peter Fortner organized his own company, Peter Fortner Jagd- und Sportwaffen, which has been installing its own bolts on Anschutz rifles for a long time. The manufacture of sporting weapons requires special care and precision. The assembly procedure for the Anschutz 1827 rifle looks like this: the Anschutz company sends barrels, receivers and triggers to the city of Rohrdorf, where Fortner’s company is located. There, all these parts are carefully fitted to the valves manufactured at Peter Fortner Jagd- und Sportwaffen, and then, assembled, they are returned back to Ulm to Anschutz. Next, the barrel, receiver with bolt and trigger mechanism are mounted in the stock, and a diopter sight and ring front sight are installed.

In total, two basic versions of the German sports rifle are produced: a regular and a sprint version. The sprint version of the rifle can be equipped with a heavy barrel.

The trunks are a special pride of the Anschutz company. This part is produced at the enterprise itself and has high performance characteristics. Each barrel is tested by shooting at a distance of 50 meters (the standard distance to targets at biathlon ranges) at a temperature of -20 degrees. In addition, all barrels are first shot at a shooting range, and the target that is hit is pasted into the rifle’s passport. In the manufacture of barrels, high-quality steel is used, which is nitrided (saturated with nitrogen) during the production process, which increases the corrosion resistance and survivability of the barrel. An interesting fact is that even the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant now produces models of biathlon rifles BI-7-3A and BI-7-4A with Anschutz barrels.

The Anschutz 1827 trigger is adjustable for parameters such as trigger pull and trigger travel. The minimum value of the trigger force is 550g. The rifle's diopter sight, front sight and muzzle are equipped with special rubber covers that protect them from contamination during the biathlon race. Also, all Anschutz 1827 models are equipped with safety locks that block the trigger.

Barrel, receiver, bolt and trigger mechanism of the rifle "Anschutz 1827 Fortner"

Feeding comes from two types of magazines: a standard one for five rounds and a specially designed extended magazine, also for five rounds, but with a holder for three additional rounds in the bottom. By the way, the bottom of the Anschutz magazines is painted red - this helps biathletes during the race not to get confused about which side to attach the magazine to. The magazine is removed quickly using a convenient large lever in front of the trigger guard.

The rifle stock is made of walnut wood. The butt of the stock has a cheekpiece that is adjustable in height and inclination, and the butt itself is adjustable in length using an aluminum butt plate. In front of the trigger guard and magazine there is a special rest for the left hand (if the shooter is right-handed). This stop is adjustable in height using special screw-on pads. In the production Anschutz 1827, the magazine cassette is located on the rifle's forend. Nearby there is a compartment for six additional cartridges. Russian rifles have cassettes for magazines and extras. It is customary to install cartridges on the butt of the stock.

It’s rare that a world-class athlete would be comfortable with a serial stock of a sporting rifle, so for them there are special programs for making a stock for individual requirements. Anschutz works very closely with biathletes, their coaches, and national team specialists to create a truly comfortable design for a particular athlete. Anschutz has even created a special service team that accompanies athletes at major biathlon competitions. At the same time, the head of the company himself always heads the service team.

In addition to the stock, it is possible to order numerous other accessories for the rifle: belts, cases, cleaning and lubrication devices - all of this is handled by the company "ahg-Anschütz Handels GmbH", part of the Anschutz concern.

The price for the Anschutz 1827 starts at $3,500 - a considerable amount, but if you take into account the accuracy, reliability, quality of workmanship, ease of reloading, good service of the rifle, then that’s it; falls into place - the rifle is truly made by professionals for professionals. All of the above qualities helped this model of sporting weapon win the palm and become the most popular biathlon rifle in the world.

Performance characteristics:
Caliber: .22lr
Weight: 4 kg (3.7 kg for the sprint model, 3.85 kg for the sprint model with a heavy barrel)
Weapon length: 1040 mm
Barrel length: 550 mm
Number of grooves: 8
Rifling pitch: 355 mm

Anschutz 1827 Fortner was used by athletes of the Russian national team: Anna Bulygina, Olga Zaitseva, Olga Medvedtseva, Svetlana Sleptsova, Nikolai Kruglov, Evgeny Ustyugov, Ivan Tcherezov, Maxim Chudov, Anton Shipulin

Successes:
In total, with the Anschutz 1827 rifle at the Olympic Games in Vancouver, the following were won: 15 gold (including 3 gold in the women's relay and 4 in the men's), 16 silver (including 4 silver in the women's relay and 4 in the men's) and 14 bronze (including 3 bronze in women's relay and 4 men's) medals.