Riches (Bogatstvo) is a 2004 Russian adventure TV series directed by Eldor Urazbaev, a screen adaptation of the eponymous novel by Valentin Pikul. The plot is set in 1903-1905 on Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. Andrey Petrovich Solomin (Sergey Nikonenko) is appointed the administrator of Kamchatka. Upon arrival, he is confronted by a conspiracy of fur traders and corrupt officials who make illegal business, smuggling, and even collaborate with the Japanese spies. Solomin befrends the local trapper Aleksandr Mikhailovich Ispolatov (Konstantin Milovanov) who turns out to be a former Russian officer, in the past convicted of a murder of passion and now living in Kamchatka, where no one cares about his past. When the Russian-Japanese war begins, Kamchatka is defenceless against a Japanese landing, but Solomin gathers volunteers from local hunters, and this militia under the command of Ispolatov defeats the invading enemy unit. Despite the success, Solomin is slandered by his old enemy Gubnitskiy (Oleg Tabakov) and recalled from office, while Ispolatov after a deep personal drama disappears forever in the taiga.
The following weapons were used in the television series Riches (Bogatstvo):
Andrey Petrovich Solomin (Sergey Nikonenko) purchases a Nagant M1895 in a gun store in Vladivostok before depart to Kamchatka and then uses the revolver in several scenes. In the firing scenes, Lt. Yamagata's (Aziz Beyshenaliev) ZKR 551 (see below) is replaced with a Nagant. In the scene on the steamship Mineola in the final episode Kobayashi (Amadu Mamadakov) holds a Nagant. All Nagants (maybe a single prop reused) are post-1930 version.
Bentley (Aleksandr Yakovlev), an American who owns a Wild West style saloon in Petropavlovsk, carries a nickel plated Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver. Several close-ups of this gun allow to identify it as a non-firing Denix replica, incorrectly named "Schofield Cal.45 revolver".
Japanese Imperial Army Lt. Yamagata Matsuoka (Aziz Beyshenaliev), the commander of the unit that lands of Kamchatka, carries a ZKR 551 revolver. It may be used as a stand-in for Single Action Army although the correct service sidearm of a Japanese officer in 1905 would be a Type 26 Revolver. In the firing scenes Yamagata's ZKR 551 is replaced with a Nagant M1895.
A top-break revolver with typical Webley outlook and 4" barrel is seen in the gun store (1). It has a wide wooden grip, like Webley .38 Mk III Police Contract model but it's hard to say if this is a .38 revolver or one of .455 pre-Mk VI models.
A Smith & Wesson No.3 Russian Model revolver is seen in the gun store (4). Two Smith & Wesson No.3 Russian Model revolvers are seen on the wall in Bentley's saloon, one of which lacks the hammer, trigger and trigger guard (supposedly a broken or partially disassembled gun).
Helene (Irina Lindt) owns a nickel plated FN Model 1906 pocket pistol. The extrator on the pistol is too wide and positioned slightly different that on the original Belgian pistol so this gun seems to be rather one of the numerous clones, possibly some Spanish Eibar model. Of course, none of these pistols did exist in Spring 1905.
In the scene on the steamship Mineola in the final episode Solomin (Sergey Nikonenko) holds an anachronistic Sauer 1919 pistol (a .25 caliber version of better known Sauer 1913) instead of his common Nagant revolver.
A Mannlicher Model 1905 is seen in the gun store in Vladivostok (2). The scene is set in 1903, and the pistol is anachronistic but it may be a stand-in for earlier and similar looking Mannlicher Model 1901.
Aleksandr Ispolatov (Konstantin Milovanov) carries a triple barreled shotgun with exposed hammers throughout the series, using it for hunting and on the war. In the original novel, Ispolatov's gun is described as German-made combination rifle/shotgun with two rifled barrels and one smoothbore. Ispolatov calls it Byuksflint, from German Buchsflinte, a term for side by side combination guns. Contrary to the gun in the novel, the screen gun has three smooth barrels of same 12 gauge (the gauge marks are seen on shotgun shells). It has two triggers and two hammers: one is used for two top barrels, automatically switching from one to the other, and another one for the bottom barrel. Triple shotguns were produced by order; in early 20th century French gunsmiths made 12 gauge guns while German and Belgian gunsmiths prefered 16 and 20 gauge.
Single Barreled Shotguns of unknown model are seen among the long guns in the gun store in Vladivostok.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingSeven long guns are seen behind the gun store manager. The one at the left is definitly a single barreled shotgun, and the following three are very likely also of same kind. Three more guns look different, they are described below.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe stock of the shotgun at the left is seen.
Berdan Shotgun
Berdan bolt action shotguns, known under the nickname "Berdanka", are used by some reservists and volunteers, notably by Sergey Blinov (Ivan Kokorin). These guns, converted from surplus Berdan No.2 rifles, were really very common among Russian hunters in early 20th century.
Cossack Uryadnik (NCO) Mikhail Osipovich Sotenniy (Sergey Batalov) and some of his subordinates carry Mosin Nagant M1891/30 rifles, used as a stand-in for original M1891 Dragoon or Cossack model. Some civilian volunteers on defence of Kamchatka are also armed with M91/30 rifles. Due to the lack of Arisaka rifles, M91/30 rifles are also carried by Japanese soldiers. These rifles are fitted with Arisaka-style prop bayonets. Many M91/30s have light yellow stocks.
Sotenniy's (Sergey Batalov) rifle constantly switches between M91/30 and Mosin Nagant M1891 Infantry. Cossacks and volunteers use M91 Infantry rifles. Like M91/30s, M91s with Arisaka-style prop bayonets are carryied by Japanese soldiers. During the shootout with Japanese soldiers in the leper colony, both Ispolatov's (Konstantin Milovanov) rifles switch to M91 Infantry from previously seen Karabiner 98k (see below).
Mauser Gewehr 1898 rifles are also used as a stand-in for Arisaka. Like Mosin Nagant rifles, they are fitted with prop Arisaka style bayonets. Ispolatov (Konstantin Milovanov) gets a Gewehr 98 during the encounter with Gubnitskiy and Yamagata; in the following shootout his rifle switches to a Karabiner 98b (see below).
Several Karabiner 98b rifles is seen among the guns of Japanese soldiers. Ispolatov (Konstantin Milovanov) takes a Kar 98b from a killed soldier during his escape from Japanese occupied Petropavlovsk; in the following shootout his Gewehr 98 switches to another Kar 98b, so no less then two rifles of this type were used.
Local hunters, notably Ivan Denisovich Yegorshin (Gennadiy Yukhtin), and fishing guards are armed with Winchester Model 1895 rifles. Winchesters are also used by the Japanese poachers during the shootout on the seacoast. The screen rifles are Russian contract modification that appeared only in 1915.
Among the long guns, seen in the gun store, some may be rifles.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingSeven long guns are seen behind the gun store manager. * The fifth from the left gun is unknown. The large opening on the breech may indicate that this is a kind of early breechloading rifle, like falling block or Peabody action. * The sixth gun may be a Winchester Model 1895 rifle (the shadow on the wall reveals the lever). * The seventh gun one that is shorter than others is also unknown.
Other Weapons
Model 13 Kugelhandgranate
During the landing on Kamchatka, Lt. Yamagata Matsuoka (Aziz Beyshenaliev) carries a hand grenade. This is the German Model 13 Kugelhandgranate, identified by the spherical prefragmented body, fitted with a mockup fuze that differs from the original grenade by less height, larger loop and the safety lever that wasn't used on the German fuze. While hand grenades found some use during the Russian-Japanese war, especially in the battle for Port Arthur, they were makeshift weapons.
Documentary footage is used to depict the events of the Russian-Japanese war on sea. Some of these materials are really of the described era while others are of early 1910s or WWI time.
Russian Gunboat Manchzhur
Colorized and animated photos of Russian Navy gunboat Manchzhur are used in the series. In 1890s-1900s Manchzhur fulfiled patrol duties on Kamchatka and Komandorski Islands, being one of those "ghost-white" Russian cruisers that "proved the law with shot and steel", as described in Kipling's The Rhyme of the Three Sealers. During the Russian-Japanese war the gunboat was armed with two 8-inch and one 6-inch main guns as well as a number of small caliber artillery pieces.
Several destroyers, seen in documentary footage that depicts the naval battles at Port-Arthur, are actually Russian Dobrovolets class ships that were build after the Russian-Japanese war. The footage shows the destroyers in 1910s, after the rearming with 4-inch/L60 main guns.
