Recent article written and published by Andrey Ulanov, that I found interesting. I translated it and made it reader friendly for those interested. Perhaps a better category to list this topic but it does touch a few different Soviet designers and prototype rifles.
Taking part in the 1944 contest for a self-loading carbine, the young designer-gunsmith Mikhail Kalashnikov did not succeed. In the series went another design, and Sergeant Kalashnikov got only another portion of the experience. Who competed with him in the struggle to launch his brainchild into mass production?
Before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army could deservedly consider itself one of the leaders in equipping modern automatic small arms. In addition to manual machine guns DP and machine DS and Maxim, as well as submachine guns PAP, weapons were supplied in self-loading and automatic versions of the rifle structure Tokarev.
(A soldier of the Soviet Army with a self-loading carbine Simonov in hands)Unfortunately, the design flaws in it, combined with the fall of both the culture of the increased army and the level of training of the Red Army soldiers of the growing army, led to mass complaints from the troops on the unreliability of self-loading. As a result, only a relatively small production of the automatic version of the AVT-40 was retained, and even more so in the role of the ersatz-hand machine gun.
Old Rivals:Nevertheless, the command of the Red Army did not part with the dream of mass automatic weapons. In the list of technical requirements of the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army (GAU KA) for 1943, the following was recorded: " 7.62-mm self-loading and automatic carbine should be the main type of individual weapons of all branches of the Red Army ."
First of all, at this point, we had in mind the work of the constant rival F.V. Tokarev on pre-war "self-loading" competitions SG. Simonov. If the confrontation of full-size rifles - АВС-36 and СВТ-38/40 - is sufficiently known, then the "carbine" theme is much less illuminated. Meanwhile, the military customer insisted on developing a short version in a pair of rifles. So, on the eve of the war, in 1941, the polygon tests of the experienced carbines Simonov and Tokarev passed.
As a result, for military tests it was decided to make a small batch of Simonov carbines, but because of the war, the evacuation of industry and a number of other events, this decision was never implemented. However, even in the case of manufacture, they would hardly have received a positive response. As can be seen from the table, Simonov's carbine weighed less than the Tokarev's design, which was typical for the Tokarev-Simonov competition, but even the heavier Tokarev's models showed inadequate strength and reliability when working with a powerful rifle cartridge.
Nevertheless, as can be seen from the instructions for 1943, the military did not refuse plans for the carbine - moreover, the phrase in the technical specification "total weight with bayonet and scabbard should not be more than 3.4 kg" quite clearly indicates Simonov's carbine of 1941 as a "fashion trendsetter."
(Training of servicemen of the 154th separate commandant's Transfiguration Regiment with the carbines of SCS)One can confidently assume that this time the wishes of the military would have remained unrealized. But, as they say, there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. In fact, on the one hand, it is difficult to call happiness the emergence of a new type of prospective weapons from the enemy; on the other hand, it was the seizure of the "German car bombs Mkb," as they wrote in documents, that led to the intensification of work on the Soviet interim cartridge and weapon systems for it.
Already on August 12, 1943, the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army issued new tactical and technical requirements No. 2463 for the development of a "7.62-mm self-loading and automatic carbine for a special cartridge . " It is noteworthy that the document says: the overall dimensions of the cartridge must be maintained " according to the drawing developed by OKB-44 NKV dated August 4, 1943 ", that is, only eight days before the technical specification for the carbine. At the same time, the weight of the new carbine with bayonet was limited to 3.2 kg.
Rukavishnikov's Carbine:One of the most promising was initially a sample created by Kalashnikov's senior colleague at the shooting range - engineer-colonel Nikolai Vasilievich Rukavishnikov. Here's how he remembered Kalashnikov:
" Designers-gunsmiths of the testing range had their own school, different from others, their traditions, marked by high professionalism, original engineering thinking, honed design culture.
And the first among such weapons developers, I would call NV.Rukavishnikov, restrained in manners, laconic in the conversations of a man. According to the experience of design work in the design bureau of the test site, he also, perhaps, VF. Kuzmishchev were for us, young weapons developers, real veterans. Nikolai Vasilievich was preparing drafts of his future designs in such a way that you just admire it. Clean lines, accurate calculations, weighty arguments.
In competitions of projects he, as a rule, took prize-winning places. So it was during the competition for designing the submachine gun for the cartridge of the 1943 model. Project N.V. Rukavishnikova among the designers who worked in the design bureau and submitted their works to the competition, was awarded the first place, my was the second, the third place was occupied by the project of the young designer KA.Barysheva, shortly before that came to the testing ground as a test engineer after the end of the artillery academy and soon included in the design bureau . "
In this excerpt from the memoirs mention is made of "automatic" competition, but also in the development of carbines for the new cartridge of the product Rukavishnikov and the carbine of Kalashnikov and Petrov mentioned in the last article became rivals.
(SKR - self-loading carbine Rukavishnikova)The first versions of his TFR (self-loading carbine Rukavishnikov), the designer introduced in 1944. Two stages of the tests showed that the chosen circuit is interesting, but the raw carbine was not tested for failure-free operation of the automatics and survivability of the parts. Tests of the finalized TFR took place from January 11 to March 7, 1945. Such a long period (usually several days for such tests) may be due to the deficit of cartridges of the 1943 model: the test report lists four different batches of "intermediate" cartridges. However, in the test report with a chronological breakdown, pauses between shooting are eloquently designated as "carbine repair".
Unfortunately, there is no full description of Rukavishnikov's carbine in the case. There is only a list of improvements made, in which two events are of particular interest: "a shutter on the receiver has been introduced, which protects the shutter from dusting" and "the protrusion of the automatic fuse has been raised and a socket has been made in the butt for placing accessories . "
As can be seen from the table, Rukavishnikov's carbine did not satisfy all the conditions of technical specification - so, by weight, the designer could not meet the initial or softened new conditions.
(Experimental versions of the Simonov carbine (a-SCS-14, b-SCS-15) with bayonet in combat position)During the test, the shooting of the TFR for the accuracy of the battle at a distance of up to 800 meters was practically equivalent to the SCS carbine No. 14 and lost to its fellow SCS No. 13. However, as noted in the report, the results when firing from the Rukavishnikov carbine could be affected by weather conditions (frost -20-25 ° C, haze), which was not the case when firing from the SCS.
But when shooting at a practical rate of fire at a distance, the TFR confidently outstripped all, allowing 40 shots per minute to be fired against Simonov's 30-35 at a greater hit rate. The testers confidently attributed this advantage to the account of Rukavishnikov's applied stack loading.
(Experienced carbines Simonov (a - SCS-14, b - SCS-15) with a bayonet in the marching position)
Alas, the next stages of tests - on the survivability of the details and trouble-free operation of the automation - the TFR could not stand it. However, at that time it was still not a verdict for him: given the great practical rate of fire and the fact that there were no difficult to remove delays, the CCD was decided to recommend for revision.
The Birth of a Long-Liver:Meanwhile, two regular samples from Simonov arrived at the shooting range. Self-loading carabiners No. 14 and No. 15 had a fixed flap bayonet, differing in the way of its attachment. On the SKS # 14, the bayonet was fixed with a special clutch, in the SKS No. 15 a special hook was used. As noted in the report, the design of SCS number 15 was smaller in size, but less reliable and more difficult technologically. Otherwise, the carbines repeated previously tested samples: SCS number 14 was similar to those tested in December SKS № 13, and № 15 - from № 5 and № 6.
(Experienced carbine KB-P-290 Dolgusheva and Ivanova)The main "highlight" of the design of Simonov was the scheme of automation. Simonov applied a gas-discharge circuit with a short stroke of the piston, but the gas piston rod interacted with the valve frame not directly, but with a spring-loaded pusher made with a separate piece.
Did not stay away from the "carbine" competition and a constant opponent Simonov - F.V. Tokarev, who designed his version of the carbine for a new cartridge. Finally, several more options were developed in the "Degtyarevsky" KB-2. At the same time, the carbine KB-P-290 Dolgushev-Ivanov was similar to other samples provided, having a permanent store for 10 cartridges, the KB-P-330 carbine (Garanin, Bugrov, Degtyarev) had bipods and bins for 20 and 25 cartridges.
(Experienced carbine KB-P-330 designs Garanin, Bugrov and Degtyarev)As you know, the winner in the end was still a sample of Simonov. In something it is quite natural - the subject of self-loading carbine Sergey Gavrilovich was engaged in far not the first year and in the form of already fulfilled design of a carbine of 1941 had a solid head start before rivals. The full history of the creation and application of its carbine deserves a separate article or even a book, especially since there are a lot of white spots in it. But, as further events have shown, even the solid design experience and the presence in the luggage of proven solutions do not always help.
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