This article covers the Suhl biathlon rifles models 626/626-1 and 628 and continues the previous articles.
KK (.22lr) rifles have been used in international biathlon since 1978. Initially, the large-caliber rifles used until then were simply made smaller. Later, attempts were made to shorten the shooting times by redesigning special biathlon rifles. The Suhl biathlon rifles models 626/626-1 and 628 were developed and manufactured in the former GDR from 1978 onwards. Until 2007, many international titles at World Championships and Olympic Games as well as victories and podium finishes in the World Cup were achieved with rifles of these models. The article continues the articles on the Suhl biathlon rifles (see also Suhl biathlon rifles) and the Model 626-1 (see also Model 626-1), looks at all Suhl biathlon rifle models and will be updated as more information becomes available.
In this article I would like to deal in particular with the question of how many rifles were actually produced.
The production of approx. 171 Model 626/626-1 and approx. 41 Model 628 rifles is known from the literature [1]. The models 626 and 626-1 are referred to as "under-cocking" rifles. The model 628 differs in its repeating mechanism. This is referred to as the "upper cocking" mechanism.
The source I now have access to documents the production of 208 rifles of all three models. Only competition weapons are included in the count. The source is the device number book of the experimental construction of the "Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk Ernst Thälmann Suhl", also abbreviated to FAJAS. This was started in 1976 and contains the last entries in 2015. All biathlon rifles were manufactured in the experimental construction building.
The first rifle was manufactured on September 13, 1978 with the serial number V0400. A further four rifles of the same model with consecutive serial numbers, i.e. up to V0404, were produced with this rifle. The two rifles with the serial numbers V0400 and V0401 were delivered to ASK Oberhof.
The last rifle was manufactured on June 11, 1991 with the serial number V0806. At the same time, a second rifle with the serial number V0805 was built. Both rifles were model 626-1. According to my sources, this marked the end of the production of Suhl biathlon rifles of all three models.
The source does not refer to serial numbers, but to device numbers. Nevertheless, I have decided to use the term serial number that is commonly used today.
In addition to the competition weapons, various biathlon-related test samples and training rifles were produced. The training rifles emitted an infrared light pulse as a firing simulation and could not be fired with real .22lr cartridges. These rifles were also given serial numbers.
The serial numbers were assigned consistently for all rifles and weapons built in the experimental construction and not exclusively for the biathlon rifles. This means that the number of rifles produced cannot simply be calculated using the known serial numbers.
There was no series production of rifles as we imagine it today. The rifles were produced more or less individually or in small batches for athletes moving up to the top level.
The source documents, for example, the manufacture of a rifle for Frank Ullrich.
I know of a total of 19 surviving examples of all three models that can be considered documented. Of these, 10 weapons are documented. These are nine weapons of the model 626-1 and one weapon of the model 628. I know of one weapon of the model 626.
The occupied weapons range in serial number from V0574 to V0790.
The information published in this article is certainly not the end of the knowledge gained. In particular, the discrepancy between my findings and the literature regarding the number of rifles produced remains to be clarified.
Es gilt darüber hinaus weitere offene spannenden Fragen zu klären. Das betrifft neben den im Beitrag behandelten Themen auch die Technik der Gewehre. Weitere Untersuchungen der vorhandenen Realexemplare und die Auswertung weiterer Originalquellen werden sicher weiter helfen.
Of course, every reader is very welcome to contribute with his knowledge to the further "research" of this interesting part of the sport and weapon history. Of course, this also applies to corrections of my assumptions or previous results.
[1] Dieter, Ernst G.: Im Zeichen des Waffenschmieds (Alamanach der modernen Schusswaffenfertigung in der Region um Suhl/Thüringen, Teil 2 Erfindungen, Patente, Konstruktionen, Kuriositäten), Bad Liebenstein, Federal Republic of Germany: Ernst G. Dieter Selbstverlag 2010
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