Trotsky is a 2017 Russian TV series, a biopic of Leon (Lev Davydovich) Trotsky starring Konstantin Khabenskiy. The plot is structured as a series of flashbacks to various episodes of Trotsky's biography, framed by the events of his life and eventual death in Mexico in 1940.
The following weapons were used in the television series Trotsky:
Nagant M1895 revolvers are widely used throughout the series. They are seen in hands of Leon Trotsky (Konstantin Khabenskiy), Josef Stalin (Orkhan Abulov), and many other revolutionaries, along with Red Army commanders and Chekists. Both pre- and post-1930 versions are seen.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingNagant M1895, produced 1920s - 7.62x38R NagantError creating thumbnail: File missingNagant M1895 Revolver - 7.62x38R Nagant. Note the angular front sight which was used from 1930s.Error creating thumbnail: File missingDuring the robbery of the bank stagecoach by a revolutionary group led by Stalin in 1903, an old cashier (Tariel Keniya) draws a Nagant. The deactivating pin is seen in the muzzle.Error creating thumbnail: File missingStalin takes a revolver from the holster of the young cashier (Evgeniy Serzin). The Nagant holster is seen.Error creating thumbnail: File missingStalin gives the revolver to the cashier and orders him to kill his elder colleague. The post-1929 TOZ marking can be seen on the frame.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA good view of the revolver. This is a pre-1930 version with deep blue finish.Error creating thumbnail: File missingStalin holds a pre-1930 Nagant during the encounter with gendarmes in the train.Error creating thumbnail: File missingIn the scene set in 1917, an officer (Aleksey Fokin) on guard at Prime Minister Kerenskiy's residence aims a Nagant at revolutionary sailor Nikolay Markin (Artyom Bystrov).Error creating thumbnail: File missingLarissa Reissner (Anastasiya Meskova), a revolutionary and poet, takes Trotsky's revolver from the table in the scene on Trotsky's train in 1918. The extractor rod is pushed forward; in the next moment, the revolver is seen with the rod on its place.Error creating thumbnail: File missingIn the scene in 1918, Trotsky's aide Sergey Sermuks (Andrey Feskov) fires point-blank at a peasant woman who protests against using the wooden crosses from the cemetery as fuel for the locomotive.Error creating thumbnail: File missingRed Army commander Agranovich (Sergey Linkov) confronts Trotsky with a Nagant in hand. The revolver is a post-1930 version. The half-erased TOZ marking still can be seen.Error creating thumbnail: File missingTrotsky raises his Nagant when he stops the Red Army men from retreating from the battlefield. The revolver is a pre-1930 version.Error creating thumbnail: File missingSermuks arrests army commander Kliment Voroshilov (Anton Momot).Error creating thumbnail: File missingA Nagant is seen among the handguns that Sermuks suggests to the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Yakov Sverdlov (Vladimir Chernyshov).Error creating thumbnail: File missingSverdlov takes the Nagant.Error creating thumbnail: File missingChekist Yakov Agranov (Ivan Tarabukin) holds a Nagant during the arrest of Trotsky in the late 1920s.
Nagant M1895 "Blef"
A blank-firing "Blef" (VPO-503 "Nagan-S") is seen in hands of the sailor Solovyaninov (Aleksey Mantsygin) during his attempt on Trotsky.
A Gletcher NGT CO2 replica of a Nagant M1895, identified by the raised rear part of the frame, is seen in the hands of Red Army commander Mukhanskiy (Andrey Vergelis).
During the robbery of the bank stagecoach in 1903, a member of Stalin's group is armed with a Mauser C96. A Mauser in a holster is carried by a Red sailor during the Civil War.
A rubber- and gas-firing Rhöner SM 15 pistol, used as a stand-in for an early 20th century pocket pistol, is used by Vladimir Efstafyevich Skalon (Sergey Bezrukov), former General of the Russian Army and the military expert during the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. In Trotsky's nightmare in Mexico, he sees Skalon handing him the pistol for suicide.
During Siqueiros' raid on Trotsky's villa in May 1940, the attackers are armed with various submachine guns. While in reality a single Thompson together with several revolvers were used, here we see a variety of guns, none of which fit for 1940. This scene was filmed in Mexico that explains the usage of weapons that are not common for Russian cinema.
Custom Sten Mk II
One of the guns of the attackers is a Sten Mk II, fitted with a pistol grip in the place of the buttstock. The submachine gun also has some muzzle device, possibly a blank firing adapter.
Two of the attackers are armed with MAC-10 submachine guns that would only appear nearly twenty-five years later. One of the MAC-10s is fitted with a barrel extension.
Two more SMGs of unclear model are used. They have closely placed pistol grips and magazine wells along with long perforated barrel shrouds. An Intratec TEC-9 with barrel extension seems to be a possible guess, but it isn't seen clear enough for positive identification.
Mosin Nagant rifles are seen in hands of Russian Imperial soldiers and police and Red Army men, including the so-called "leather hundred" of Trotsky's personal bodyguards. Most of these guns are M1891/30 rifles. Some lack the hood on the front sight and these may be M1891 Dragoons or the pre-1935 version of the M91/30.
Mosin Nagant Rifle (visually modified as M1907 Carbine)
A custom shortened full-length Mosin Nagant rifle, modified to resemble a Mosin Nagant M1907 Carbine, is seen in several scenes. Such props can be seen in a number of Soviet films.
A German agent who makes an attempt to gun down Trotsky in 1905 is armed with a Karabiner 98AZ with sniper scope (this short rifle was issued beginning in 1908). In a scene set in 1918, a Red Army man carries a Karabiner 98AZ with bayonet.
During the revolutionary events of 1905, Russian Imperial soldiers use a Maxim M1910 machine gun (the version of the Maxim first issued to the Russian Army in 1905 was mounted on a large artillery-style carriage, while the Sokolov mount seen here would appear five years later). A Maxim is also seen during the events of the October Revolution of 1917.
During the Russian Civil War, Trotsky is the chairman of the Supreme Military Council and uses a personal armored train as his mobile headquarters. In the series, the train is a computer generated image.
