Rifle of the system Mosina-Kholodovskogo or the Holodovsky Prototype 1912

This rifle was introduced as a prototype in 1912 and a limited number were produced for field trials between 1912 and 1914. The rifle contained a number of innovations that were appealing but unfortunately costly in manufacturing time and resources. These were two things that Russia could not afford at the time.

Some of the features of this rifle were absolutely revolutionary in their design such as a fluted barrel to improve accuracy through cooling the barrel. I can not find any other rifle that used this innovation in production until long after the Second World War and then only in the manufacture of rifles for competition. This visionary suggestion was as radical as stealth technology was in the 90's!

Here you can see the fluted barrel. The barrel appears over all to have been manufactured from heavier stock that the standard Model 1891 Mosin.

In addition, in order to lighten the over all weight of the rifle, Holodovsky incorporated the use of aluminum throughout the design. You can see the use of aluminum for the cleaning rod and barrel band retaining spring in the illustration above. Aluminum was also used in the rear sight assembly, receiver bedding, cross bolt and sling attachments.

You can see the aluminum cross bolt in this illustration.

Other improvements consisted of a redesigned trigger group, elongated bolt handle and variable length butt stock. The butt stock length could be changed by adding or removing sections.

The over all effect of these innovative modifications to the original 1891 design combined to produce the following:

1) The rifle is lightened by 550 grams.

2) Improved balance and accuracy due to the lighter barrel and variable stock length.

3) Improved rear sight.

4) Better cycling of the bolt due to the longer bolt handle.

5) Better clip strip guide.

6) Fluted barrel with better cooling capacity.

7) Narrower wrist and fore stock produces improved grip.

Notice the improved rear sights.

Here you can see the longer bolt handle and the modification to the cocking piece.

Although all of these changes combine to produce a highly innovative rifle, they also added to the cost of production, complicated the maintenance and lengthened the production time. Although the rifle was an accurate shooter, it did not fit the needs of the Russian Army at the time.

Photos by Margay2716