Organization of Design Work at the Scientific Testing Range for Small Arms at the Main Artillery Directorate: a Case Study

The article reviews and analyzes the role of design and engineering activities at the Scientific Testing Range of Small Arms of the Main Artillery Directorate, which is a military unit number 01773. The relevance of this research stems from the fact that identifying the main directions and stages of research and development in the field of small arms and artillery weapons within this organization allows us to better understand the activities of the Soviet weapons design school and the model of its development during that period. Work on the topic required consulting scientific research literature on the creation of weapons during the period 1920-1950. In addition, materials from state and departmental archives at the federal and regional levels were used, including the Russian State Archive in Samara, the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents in St. Petersburg, and the Scientific Archive of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps. A certain difficulty was presented by the fact that documents related to the organizational structure of the Testing Range after 1940 and some technical materials currently have restrictive labels and were therefore not available to us during the preparation of this material. This led us to turn, among other sources, to memoir literature for additional information. The research clarifies the importance of the Testing Range Design Bureau activities within the framework of domestic experimental weapon design developments and reviews the main stages of design work development at the facility since the 1920s. The period of the 1940s is analyzed in more detail, particularly the machine gun development. This approach seems appropriate in light of the fact that the test site was, without exaggeration, the most intensely operating testing center for experimental weapons. Additionally, the Testing Range Museum is mentioned, and the storage of samples after the cessation of operations (1960) is traced.