A very good Russian friend of mine, Ruslan Chumak, who is also a famous Russian author of small arms and subject matter expert, recently published this excellent article, titled "SCS, which never entered the battle." Ruslan has given me his permission to post his article on this forum in its entirety. He has written several excellent books and numerous articles on different aspects of Soviet/Russian military history and the associated weapons, arsenals and repair facilities. The history of designing Russian and Soviet weapons is Ruslan’s main interest.
A little information about Ruslan since most of you probably don’t know him personally, or maybe just know him by reputation. Ruslan N. Chumak: Candidate of Technical Sciences (2007, Tula State University). After graduating from Penza high military artillery engineering school (specialty - "Small arms"), he served over 24 years in Soviet / Russian Federation Army. Particularly, in The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (GRAU). Dr. Chumak was a lecturer in Tula high military artillery engineering school. He holds a military rank of Colonel.
Credit and recognition for all the pictures: All rifles for the article were provided by the Museum of Artillery, Russia, Saint-Petersburg (the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps (Saint-Petersburg).
I suggested to Dr. Chumak that he become a member of this forum so he can directly address any questions related to his article that anyone may have, but at a minimum I will provide him the link to this post, so he can view any discussion Americans may have to his article. Additionally, he did tell me that he will be happy to answer any questions American collectors may have related to his article but his response will not be in real time. There is a time difference, coupled with his busy schedule, so his answers will be provided in a timely manner considering those factors (approximately 1-2 days) and relayed through me. Lastly, I have translated his article to English but did not Americanize specific terminology the Russians use with this rifle.
PS: Regarding his pending book on stamps and markings on Russian weapons that many are anxiously waiting on. At the beginning of 2018 this book was ready for publication but Ruslan decided to send his manuscript for review to a great specialist on the activities of the Russian and Soviet military industries. He returned the manuscript back and recommended an amendment to a large number of fragments, since they require more detailed explanation, because not all readers are so advanced in this topic as Ruslan, and readers must understand everything without having to read others books. So he is making changes to the manuscript and the publication of the book is delayed until he completes these changes.
SCS, which never entered the battleOn the Simonov self-loading carbine of the SKS model of 1941 with a 7.62 mm rifle cartridge 7.62 × 53R
In the circles of people interested in weapons, there is no one who does not know the 7.62-mm Simonov self-loading carbine SKS. But despite the widely known SCS, the history of its creation is still "covered with darkness" and is accompanied by delusions. One of them is the story that in 1944 the party of the SKS carbines was tested on the 1st Belorussian front. This information is given in the well-known book by D. N. Bolotin, “The History of Soviet Small Arms”, and it was specifically stated that these were Simonov carbines chambered for arr. 1943
The story of the SKS carbine that fought at the front became widespread in circles of arms lovers, becoming an integral part of the "biography" of the SKS. However, this is a mistake: the SKS carbine did pass the tests at the front, but ... it was a completely different SKS, not the one that everyone knows, but its prototype, developed in 1941. And - and this is the most important thing - it was not designed for an intermediate cartridge, model 1943, but for a classic 7.62 mm rifle cartridge. Extremely compact and almost weightless (weight without cartridges and a bayonet of 2.9 kg), this carbine and now makes a strong impression with its ease of handling. Made by a small series, the carbine remained virtually unknown to researchers of the history of domestic weapons.
S.G. Simonov. 1947. Photo from the VIMAIV archive and Sun., published for the first time.In 1940, even before the completion of work on the development of the self-loading rifle of the SVS, S. G. Simonov began creating a carbine at its base. It’s not to say that only Simonov was engaged in the development of weapons of this type: in 1940–1941 self-loading and automatic rifles were designed in several design offices: TsKB-14 (Tula - FV Tokarev), EPB of Plant No. 314 (Tula ), KB plant number 74 (Izhevsk). All of them were developing carbines based on the SVT-40 series rifle. The OKB-180, headed by S. G. Simonov, created a carbine of the original design. At the end of 1940 — beginning of 1941, four samples of self-loading carbines were ready for testing at the same time in the USSR:
- Tokarev TKB-65 designs;
- Design of the plant number 74;
- Design of the EPB of plant number 314;
- Simonov SVS-53 design.
Karabin Simonov SVS-53. The sample is stored in VIMAIVVS. Published for the first time.The carbine SVS-53 passed field tests in October 1940. According to their results, the test site came to the conclusion that the carbine showed unsatisfactory results in various operating conditions, had several malfunctions of non-core parts and needed to be improved. However, its design was recognized as the most promising, and the test site recommended the development of a new model based on the SVS-53 in order to finally decide on the adoption of a self-loading carbine.
Simonov carbine SKS-30. The sample is stored in VIMAIVVS. Published for the first time.In April 1941, S. G. Simonov developed two carbines with magazines for 10 and 5 rounds - the SKS-30-P-41g. and SKS-31-P-41g. Their automation mechanisms were identical, the difference was only in the design of the shops - the SKS-30 carbine had a magazine with a capacity of 10 rounds charged by a pack from the bottom of the magazine box, the SKS-31 carbine had a magazine with a capacity of 5 rounds charged from the top rifle holder.
A pack of cartridges for the SKS-30 carbine. (Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation)In May 1941, the SKS-30 and SKS-31 rifles entered the field tests. It turned out that the SKS-31 with a permanent magazine for 5 rounds provided a rate of 20 shots / min., Which was significantly higher than that of a rifle mod. 1891/30 (15 shots / min.). The SKS-30 carbine had an even higher rate of fire (about 25 shots / min.). At the same time, the cartridges for the SKS-30 carbine required much more time to be loaded with cartridges than to be loaded with cartridges of an ordinary cage. Loading the magazine with a pack of ammunition also required more time than loading the SVT-40 rifle with a detachable magazine due to the additional operation of opening and closing the magazine cover to remove the empty pack and insert the loaded one.
The reliability of the SKS-31 carbine with a 5-round magazine was higher than that of competing designs. The number of delays when firing a SKS-30 carbine with a 10-round magazine was 4.58%, and a SKS-31 carbine with a 5-round magazine - 3%. Breakdowns of carbine parts during the shooting for the full resource did not happen. In terms of maneuverability, both carbines were found to be comfortable, including in bayonet fighting, but the SKS-31 carbine turned out to be the best, due to the lack of a box box protruding beyond the dimensions.
According to the results of the test, the GAU test site acknowledged that the Simonov SKS-31 carbine with a permanent magazine for 5 rounds of survivability and dependability of the automatics operation showed satisfactory results. The SKS-30 carabiner failed the test because of the large number of delays. On July 1, 1941, the test results of the Simonov SKS-31 and SKS-30 carbines, the Tokarev carbines and carbines of the designs of plants No. 74 and No. 314 were examined by the AA GAU, which arrived at the following conclusions:
"one. The main feature of the 1941 Simonov self-loading carbine is a light weight and a permanent magazine that improves the design as follows: a) the carbine is significantly lighter than the Tokarev carbine. For example, the weight of a Tokarev carbine with a bayonet and a foot, a set of stores and clips at the rate of ammunition ammunition (90 pcs.) Is 4.6 kg, and the weight of a Simonov carbine with a bayonet, a leg and a set of clips based on ammunition kit (90 pcs.) 3.4–3.55 kg, which makes it possible to increase ammunition by approximately 50 rounds.
[...]
In bayonet fighting has an advantage over SKT, especially with a long injection, due to the fact that he does not act shop. "
The State Agrarian University decided to approve the drawings of the Simonov carbine with a permanent magazine for 5 rounds for ordering a batch in the amount of 50 pcs. for conducting military tests with a production time of the party until July 15, 1942, military tests were ordered to be held in July 1942.
As you can see, the decision to manufacture a batch of Simonov carbines for military trials took place on July 1, 1941, i.e. in the conditions of the outbreak of World War II, which largely determined the course of further events on this product. It is clear that under the conditions of the most severe defeats suffered by the spacecraft at the beginning of the war and the emergency evacuation of defense industry enterprises that followed, accompanied by the demand for a sharp increase in the number of weapons produced, there was no question of making a batch of experienced carbines. The NKV returned to this issue only in the spring of 1942, when the deployment of mass production of weapons at arms factories was basically completed.
Simonov carbine SKS-31 (serial model of the SKS carbine No. 19 produced in 1944 at the plant No. 314 of Mednogorsk). The sample is stored in VIMAIVVS. Published for the first time.
On May 29, 1942, the People's Commissariat of Arms reported to the State Aviation Administration that the manufacture of a batch of self-loading 7.62-mm Simonov carbines (SKS) for military trials was scheduled at plant number 74 (Izhevsk). The term for making a batch of carbines was established in the third quarter of 1942. However, the plant number 74, to the limit loaded with the manufacture of weapons for the front, refused to fulfill the order. In this connection, in April 1942, the State Aviation Administration applied to the People's Commissariat of Armament to transfer the manufacture of a batch of SKS carbines to Plant No. 314 (Mednogorsk), which since November 1941 produced self-loading Tokarev SVT-40 rifles. In June, the NKV authorized the transfer of the order and decided that Plant No. 314 should produce a batch of carbines by July 25, 1942. But as time went on, the production time of the batch of carbines came, and the situation almost did not go away. August 12, 1942 S.G. Simonov sent a letter to the State Agrarian University in which he reported that Plant No. 314 could not fulfill the order for the manufacture of carbines in time for production reasons, and asked to transfer it to the IV quarter of 1942. Work on the production of carbines began, but by September 1, 1942, the plant had completed the task of mastering the technological cycle of their production by only 50%. This provision did not suit the GAU, and it began to hurry the plant, sending letters to the NKV, asking it to speed up and hand over the batch of carbines by October 20, 1942. However, neither in 1942, nor in the following 1943, the manufacture of a batch of Simonov carbines was completed - Plant No. 314 experienced great difficulties in producing SVT-40 rifles, and could not pay attention to fulfilling the order for carbines. As a result, the production of the party carbines suspended. It was possible to return to this work only in December 1943, when the plant finally manufactured the first three carbines, and the release of their entire batch was completed in May 1944. Of the 50 carbines, one was shot at the NITSVO for a total survivability of 8000 shots (1.76% of delays were received), one was sent to the NKV and six were sent to the GAU. The plant prepared 42 karabiners for shipment to military trials. June 14, 1944 the party of Simonov carbines in the amount of 37 pcs. left the factory in the army, the other five carbines went to refresher courses for the officers “Shot”. 76% of delays), one sent to the disposal of the NKV and six sent to the GAU. The plant prepared 42 karabiners for shipment to military trials. June 14, 1944 the party of Simonov carbines in the amount of 37 pcs. left the factory in the army, the other five carbines went to refresher courses for the officers “Shot”. 76% of delays), one sent to the disposal of the NKV and six sent to the GAU. The plant prepared 42 karabiners for shipment to military trials. June 14, 1944 the party of Simonov carbines in the amount of 37 pcs. left the factory in the army, the other five carbines went to refresher courses for the officers “Shot”.
Factory stamp of Mednogorsk Arms Plant No. 314 on the butt of a SKS (SKS-31) carbine no. 191944 / inAt the front, the SKS carbines decided to give the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front into units in defense, finding that under these conditions it would be possible to evaluate them as fully as possible. The course and results of the SKS carbines testing at the front are reflected in the report of the representative of the GAU, Captain P.I. Paranichev (document dated August 19, 1944): Dubovitsky N.N. Report-report of the engineer-captain Paranchev N.I., who took part in the military trials of the party of 7.62-mm self-loading Simonov carbines. [...] The carbines were handed over to the personnel of the 2nd company of the 1083 rifle regiment on August 14, 1944. From August 14, 1944 to August 18, 1944, the carbines were used in combat operations by units. In combat conditions, there was no test.
From conversations with officers and soldiers of the 2nd company of the 1083 rifle regiment of the 312 rifle division, the following shortcomings were identified:
- 7.62-mm Simonov self-loading carbines with a slight dusting (pollution), with dry parts of the mobile automation system and without daily cleaning, which is inevitable in modern combat, give a lot of delays when shooting. Characteristic delays in firing in combat conditions are set out in the act of 08/18/1944 in four reviews by officers of the unit, who were armed with carbines. 08/18/1944 I and other members of the commission interviewed 12 fighters who, with Simonov's carbines, took part in combat operations of the unit. Of these, most of the fighters of the vol. Meninov, Lomzin, Ngazbekov, Shakirov and others pointed to frequent delays “non-cure”, “non-reflection”, “plugging”, “non-movement”, etc. [...] At the same time, the “non-cure” delays were repeated. When the chamber was lubricated, the same carbines had no “non-extraction” delays. [...] According to the fighters, individual carbines in combat conditions work relatively well. I believe that 7.62-mm Simonov self-loading carbines in combat conditions showed unsatisfactory results in the reliability of the automation. In connection with the identified negative qualities of the carbine under combat conditions, the command of the 312 rifle division did not consider it possible to use them further under combat conditions not in the front line of defense, and transferred most of the carbines to the 2nd echelon and special units. [...] Tests of Simonov's 7.62-mm self-loading carbines in the military showed that without significant modifications to the carbines in the direction of increasing the reliability of automation in all conditions of their use in the army, mass use and in the current army in modern combat conditions that in combat conditions, the 7.62-mm Simonov self-loading carbines on the fail-safe operation of the automation showed unsatisfactory results. In connection with the identified negative qualities of the carbine under combat conditions, the command of the 312 rifle division did not consider it possible to use them further under combat conditions not in the front line of defense, and transferred most of the carbines to the 2nd echelon and special units. [...] 
S.G. Simonov in the design bureau at work on the SKS-31 carbineThe above document reflects one of the most important aspects of testing the SKS-31 carbines at the front - they did not participate directly in military clashes with the enemy!
According to the results of tests of carbines, given the lack of reliability of weapons and reviews of personnel, the command of the division withdrew them from the units of the first line and transferred them to artillery units. But even there they did not deserve recognition from the fighters. Other documents reveal the reasons for their attitude:
“... the head of the artillery supply of 312 pages of the Smolensk Red Banner Division reports:“ At the moment, 1083 UPC requires (because of a significant number of delays) the carbine to be removed from them."
The bayonet mounted on the trunk of the SKS carbine (SKS-31)However, despite the significant shortcomings of the carbines, the front commission made a rather benevolent final conclusion from their tests: “Simonov’s 7.62-mm self-loading carbine on maneuvering and operational qualities can be adopted for parts of the spacecraft while eliminating the negative sides, i.e. increasing the reliability of automation. " The motive of such a decision by the commission is clear - the low weight, compactness and maneuverability of the carbine looked very attractive.
Movable system (bolt carrier with bolt)The result of testing carbines on the courses "Shot" is given in the act of August 29, 1944. Summarizing the material of the act, you can bring the information contained in it in the following form. The carbines were tested in the following points:
- the speed and convenience of mastering the materiel by conscripts;
- determine the reliability of automatics operation in various conditions: with grease, after crawling through a plowed field, with wiped dry parts, after a 25 km transition (dusting), after crawling 100 m through a swampy area and a narrow trench, keeping for a long time without cleaning , after exposure for 24 hours in the open air, in the rain and in marsh mud, after daily keeping in marshy mud. Each test was accompanied by the shooting of 50 rounds. In addition, the carbine was assessed for maintainability, its maneuverability was determined in everyday use in the field situation and for convenience in bayonet combat, and officers with front-line experience took part in the last test.
Dulny part of the SKS carbine (SKS-31)
View of the mirror shutterThe main results of the SKS carbines testing were as follows:
- mastering the material of the carbine, the techniques and rules of firing from it are not difficult;
- loading the carabiner from the cage takes a lot of time and is extremely difficult due to the incorrect location of the cartridges in the magazine after loading, which caused an overlap of flanges, which makes sending the cartridges impossible;
- The obtained practical rate of fire (6 shots / min.), Taking into account the aiming, despite automatic reloading, is lower than the rate of fire of the rifle arr. 1891/30 due to delays during the descent of cartridges to the store. Distortions of cartridges in the store, snacking of the cartridges with flanges beyond the wall of the store were noted;
- carbine strongly throws up when firing, which requires additional time to return to the aiming line and reduces the rate of fire;
- shooting is accompanied by a strong and sharp sound, stunning the arrow on the left ear, with hearing loss during the day. The flame of the shot, and in dry weather and dust, unmasks the rifle position, and the flash is visible not only at night, but during the day. Shooting in the unit from the car is impossible due to the fact that the arrows overwhelm each other. Shooting from a horse forward is also difficult due to the stunning of the horse;
- carbine has a great return: after 50 shots, the shooter feels a strong pain in his shoulder;
- the accuracy of the fight when shooting at different ranges of the carbine is not inferior to the rifle arr. 1891/30 and it exceeds CBT: R50sr (100m) = 7.9 cm, R100sr (100m) = 16.5 cm;
- the carbine does not provide the required level of reliability due to the large number of delays. The work of automation is considered unsatisfactory, especially in difficult conditions - in these conditions 20–100% of delays occur. Under normal conditions, the number of delays was 4.61–6.16%.
- in hand-to-hand fighting in the open area and in a trench the carbine is comfortable, has good maneuverability.
Trigger mechanismAccording to the results of tests on the “Shot” courses, the commission concluded that the Simonov carbine has the following significant drawbacks:
Unacceptable number of delays and high sensitivity to pollution;
The sharp return and strong and sharp sound of a shot, because of what the shooter is not able to conduct a long fire;
Large flame when fired;
Low rate of fire, due to the difficulty of loading, the presence of delays, throwing the carbine when fired.
Shop box carbine SKS (SKS-31)Part of the delay was due to the unsatisfactory workmanship of a number of important parts of carbines, but this factor was not decisive. Much of the delay was due to design flaws. For example, a lot of complaints caused the magazine to be loaded with a clip, in which the cartridges did not occupy the desired position in the magazine box. The cause of the phenomenon was the uniformity of the holder position in the grooves of the receiver not provided by the designer. Due to these shortcomings, the Shot courses did not recommend the SKS carbine for adoption.
Summarizing the results of military tests, Artkom GAU in the document dated October 18 came to the following main conclusions:
Simonov's self-loading carbines do not work satisfactorily: they gave a high percentage of delays, proving themselves to be sensitive to pollution, and had a low rate of fire, i.e., they lacked the main advantage as compared to shop carbines.
The main delays obtained during military trials are similar to the delays obtained when firing from the SVT-40: tight extraction of the liner, under-closure of the bolt, non-reflection of the liner, patching the cartridge. "
Strong recoil, sharp sound of a shot and a big flame when fired.
Fragment of the SKS carbine drawing (SCS-31) (Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation)
In his conclusions, Artkom GAU separately indicated that the delays arising from the shooting of the SCS require serious revision. The direction of this work, indicated by the GAU, was to increase the weight of the mobile system. This indication was absolutely correct: such a measure, primarily in the direction of increasing the weight of the bolt carrier, made it possible to increase the energy of the moving system in the run-up, i.e., in the most energy-intensive part of the movement, when the moving parts move only under the action of a return spring. In the future, a way to increase the reliability of the automatic operation of weapons due to the forced “tightening” of the bolt carrier was used not only by Simonov in his SKS karabiners chambered by mod. 1943, but also by other designers in the most successful machines designed by Sudayev, Bulkin and Kalashnikov.
The final conclusion on the SKS carbine troop testing sounded like a sentence: “With these shortcomings, the positive aspects of the carbine (simplicity of the device, light weight, good maneuverability, satisfactory accuracy and ease of shooting) are not of significant interest, since most of the above positive qualities are the cause the appearance of deficiencies. As a result, the 7.62-mm self-loading carbine of the Simonov design with a permanent magazine for 5 rounds did not withstand military tests and, in the presented form, its refinement is not advisable. ”
Opinion 1 of the Belarusian Front about the potential suitability of the Simonov self-loading carbine for a rifle cartridge was not taken into account for revision and adoption: it was impossible to ignore the shortcomings of the SCS that appeared on the front and on the “Shot” courses - they were very serious in nature. The final part of the GAU’s conclusions, which rightly asserted that the positive aspects of the Simonov carbine were at the same time sources of its shortcomings, “put an end to” not only the development of a specific sample of the carbine, but also, in general, the concept of the most lightweight individual automatic weapons for a full-sized rifle cartridge. The army’s desire to have a compact sample of a self-loading carbine of minimum weight with a rifle cartridge led to a significant increase in recoil and toss when fired, to compensate which accounted for installation on the muzzle brake weapon. But, as can be seen from the test documents, the muzzle brake did not fully cope with the task of reducing recoil, despite the fact that its use led to the formation of a powerful shock wave, raising the sound pressure level on the arrow to a critical value. The short barrel of the carbine in combination with the rifle cartridge led to the appearance of a strong flash of a shot, which, together with the dust raised by the shock wave of powder gases flowing from the muzzle brake, unmasked the rifle position. This once again proved the immutable truth: it is impossible to outwit physics, because it is impossible. that its use led to the formation of a powerful shock wave, raising the sound pressure level to an arrow to a critical value. The short barrel of the carbine in combination with the rifle cartridge led to the appearance of a strong flash of a shot, which, together with the dust raised by the shock wave of powder gases flowing from the muzzle brake, unmasked the rifle position. This once again proved the immutable truth:
it is impossible to outwit physics, because it is impossible. that its use led to the formation of a powerful shock wave, raising the sound pressure level to an arrow to a critical value. The short barrel of the carbine in combination with the rifle cartridge led to the appearance of a strong flash of a shot, which, together with the dust raised by the shock wave of powder gases flowing from the muzzle brake, unmasked the rifle position. This once again proved the immutable truth: it is impossible to outwit physics, because it is impossible.
Carabiner SKS №19 with a mounted holder equipped with rifle cartridgesWork on the design of self-loading carbines for rifle cartridge no longer resumed. But this was no longer necessary: in 1944, the USSR already had a 7.62-mm cartridge of intermediate power, and S. G. Simonov, like some other gunsmiths, switched to developing weapons for this, much more convenient in all respects the ammunition that promised to break the deadlock. And in these works, S. G. Simonov fully used the experience gained during the development and testing of the SKS-31 carbine. Based on the design of its main parts (bolt carrier, bolt, receiver), in 1944–1948 S.G. Simonov developed several samples of self-loading and automatic carbines, the best of which was adopted in 1949 as the SKS.
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