The outstanding Russian gunsmith designer, weapons expert and weapons historian V.G. Fedorov rightly went down in the history of domestic small arms as the “father of automatic weapons.” He was the author of the first theoretical work “Automatic Weapons” (1907) with the appendix “Atlas of drawings of automatic weapons”, for a long time the only remaining research in this area. He owns the first Russian automatic rifle and the world's first machine gun, adopted by the Russian army. He also belongs to the classification of automatic infantry weapons into:
The rifles are self-loading, firing single shots and having a magazine with a capacity of 5-10 rounds.
Self-firing rifles, structurally similar to self-loading ones, but allowing you to fire in bursts until the magazine is empty.

Automatic machines. The weapon is similar to self-firing rifles, but has an attached magazine with a capacity of 25 rounds... a shortened barrel with a handle, making the weapon suitable for a wide range of combat missions.

Russia began work very early on the creation of automatic rifles, not inferior in this to the leading military-industrial powers of the time. The research was carried out by Ya. U. Roshchepey, P. N. Frolov, F. V. Tokarev, V. A. Degtyarev and other enthusiasts - inventors. All work was carried out on the sheer enthusiasm of the authors, without financial, theoretical and organizational support from the state. Y. U. Roshchepey was forced to sign a declaration that if his work were successful, he “will be satisfied with a one-time bonus and will not claim anything in the future.” So it is not surprising that none of these nuggets (Tokarev and Degtyarev are famous gunsmiths of the future) were able to bring their samples to at least military testing. Only V. G. Fedorov succeeded in this. Russian gunsmith V.G. Fedorov began work on remaking a repeating rifle of the 1891 model. automatic since 1905. To help Fedorov, the head of the Rifle Range of the officer rifle school, N. M. Filatov, appointed mechanic V. A. Degtyarev. Converting a repeating rifle into an automatic rifle was considered impractical, and in 1906 a fundamentally new project was prepared, which was simple and expedient (54 parts instead of 74 for Browning). A rifle of original design chambered for a standard cartridge successfully passed all military tests in 1909-1912. The tests were cruel: the weapon was left for a day in the rain, disassembled, lowered into a pond, carried on a cart along a dusty road, and then tested by shooting. For this rifle, Fedorov was awarded the Grand Mikhailov Prize (Gold Medal), given out every 5 years (S. I. Mosin was also awarded this prize). The Sestroretsk plant was ordered 150 new rifles.

The Russo-Japanese War sharpened interest in light automatic infantry weapons: the Madsen light machine gun, adopted by the Russian cavalry, turned out to be a formidable type of weapon. And the designer was seriously interested in the technologies used in small arms of the Japanese army. Let us recall that Japan, and a considerable number of other countries - Greece, Norway, Italy, Sweden, Romania were armed with a rifle of a reduced caliber - 6.5 mm. The tradition of caliber reduction, which began in the last quarter of the 19th century, was evident: the conversion (converted from a rifled muzzle-loading gun) Krnka rifle (or Krynka in the common version) had a caliber of 6 lines (15.24mm); Berdan rifle No. 2 (actually Gorlov and Gunius, Berdan had nothing to do with it :)) already had 4 lines, and Mosin’s creation already had three calibers - that is, 7.62 mm. Each reduction in caliber reflected the increasing level of barrel processing technology and mass production of precision ammunition. Some designers decided to go further. And it seemed fashionable: the ammunition carried by the shooter increased, the recoil when fired decreased, and the metal consumption in the production of cartridges decreased.

Fedorov automatic rifle

Reviews from officers stated that “there was no difference between the fire of Russian and Japanese rifles, with the exception of close combat.” Since in close combat they preferred to rely on hand grenades, bayonets and revolvers, the problem of the lesser stopping effect of a small-caliber bullet has not yet worried anyone. It should be noted that the decrease in metal intensity was to a certain extent offset by an increase in costs due to defects and tighter manufacturing tolerances.
In 1913, Fedorov proposed his own 6.5 mm cartridge with improved ballistics, which did not have a welt (a cap for removal from the chamber with an extractor) and a new lightweight automatic rifle for it. This automatic rifle was very close to its predecessor -7.62, distinguished by a magazine that did not protrude beyond the weapon with a staggered arrangement of five rounds. The rifle was tested successfully, and the Sestroretsk plant was given an order for 20 6.5mm automatic rifles, but the first one began World War, which forced him to interrupt his work, and sent Fedorov himself abroad “In Search of Weapons”...
The tactics of infantry combat have changed radically. The long-barreled rifle, with its sniper accuracy, has lost its importance in many ways. Platoon salvo firing at targets invisible to the naked eye has completely disappeared, giving way to field artillery and heavy machine guns. The bayonet has lost its meaning. “Chest-to-chest” fights degenerated into massacres in the trenches, where thicker and more frequent shots, more skillful and sharper shots were used. Moreover, the infantry assembled in tight formation for a bayonet attack was simply doomed to slaughter by enemy riflemen and artillery. New types of weapons were cutting teeth: at medium distances, various types of bomb throwers (mortars) and machine guns, hand and mounted, turned out to be more successful. With the enemy bursting into the trenches, they shot with revolvers and cut themselves with sapper blades; Hand fragmentation grenades have proven themselves well. The popularity of the short-barreled offspring of the rifle - the carbine (it is shorter and more maneuverable) has increased. The war interrupted or delayed work on automatic weapons in all countries.

Fedorov assault rifle

Germany: at the end of the First World War, the Mauser automatic rifle was used to a limited extent, not suitable for fully arming infantry (sensitivity to dirt and abundant lubrication of cartridges for stable operation of the automatic).
England: there were no precedents.

France: the Riberol-Chauche-Stattar automatic rifle has been tested by the army since 1916 and in 1917 was partially adopted for infantry armament.

USA: The weight of the Browning rifle was considered excessive and the automatic rifle with an increased capacity magazine was positioned as a light machine gun.

In 1916, Fedorov made his brilliant discovery: he invented a machine gun. By shortening the barrel of his Model 1913 rifle and equipping it with a removable box magazine for 25 rounds and a handle for hand-held shooting, he received the first sample of a weapon, which today has become the basis of the infantry weapons of any army. One can only be amazed at the accuracy of the conclusions made by the Russian gunsmith: not an automatic rifle with its weight, long barrel, crushing recoil and slowness when meeting face to face; not a pistol - a machine gun with its helplessness when shooting at medium and long distances - namely an assault rifle - a short-barreled weapon with a direct shot range of about 300 meters, weighing about 5 kg and a rate of fire of about 100 rounds per minute - that is, what is called in Russian exactly automatically. The First World War will end; Civil; and only in 1943 Hugo Schmeisser will show the world (of course, already as the fruit of the technical thought of enlightened Europe) his assault rifle chambered for a shortened rifle cartridge with similar tactics - technical characteristics... And experts will argue whether M. T. Kalashnikov’s creation was related to him - or not? (Interesting, but for some reason no one is intrigued by the question of the relationship between the M16 and STG-44!) And the veterans of the 11th Army who stormed Koenigsberg will note that the weapon was convenient, very lethal, and they willingly used this trophy. And yet, the birthplace of the machine gun is Russia.

Russian scooter armed with a Fedorov assault rifle

Fedorov assault rifle in battle

The career of this wonderful weapon was disastrous. In the summer of 1916, Fedorov’s machine guns and automatic rifles were used to arm the team of the 189th Izmail Regiment, which on December 1 of the same year was sent to the Romanian Front consisting of 158 soldiers and 4 officers. They became the first Russian machine gunners. Fedorov's assault rifles were also sent to the 10th Air Division. They were 400 grams lighter than Fedorov's 7.62 mm rifles and allowed intense burst fire. Since the production of the author's cartridge in war time there was nothing to even dream about, the weapon was converted to fire with the cartridge of the Japanese Arisaka rifle mod. 1895 6.5mm. Russia, finding itself in a state of industrial collapse, was buying weapons all over the world. Among other samples, Japanese weapons occupied a significant place (782 thousand). The Japanese cartridge was shorter and weaker than the original one, which brought it even closer to the intermediate one, but the rim left by the designers (the cartridge has both an annular groove and a rim - but of a smaller diameter than usual) still made it less suitable for automatic operation1. The machine gun received excellent reviews: high reliability, strength of the bolt-locking parts, good accuracy of fire - and at the same time it was seen only as a light machine gun, but still a machine gun. Soon after the October Revolution (or government coup), Fedorov was sent to Kovrov to continue work on the production of machine guns. The year was 1918. At the plant he was elected director (at that time this position was elective!) Degtyarev was appointed head of the experimental workshop. The following year, the machines went into mass production. In 1924, the team began to create a number of machine guns unified with a machine gun - light, aviation, anti-aircraft, and tank. Historians and sources are silent about the participation of the Fedorov assault rifle in the civil war. The only mention of the units where these weapons were used I found (paradox!) in M. Bulgakov. In the novel “Fatal Eggs,” OGPU operative Polaitis had an “ordinary 25-round machine gun”—the term “machine gun” never came out of academic circles. The type of ammunition used remains a mystery – either the Arisaka rifle cartridge, or the designer’s ammunition. However, until the beginning of the 30s, the Red Army was armed with light machine guns from many countries. Two Fedorov tank machine guns were installed in the turret of the MS-1 tank, and it was in this form that it took part in the conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway. “This was the last battle of this wonderful weapon.” People's Commissar of Armaments L. Vannikov noted in the “notes of the People's Commissar” that Fedorov’s assault rifle often lay on Stalin’s table; but this had no consequences for the machine. In the early 30s, the “responsible comrades” from the Kremlin will not like it and will be removed from service. Causes? No compelling reasons are given: from the use of an imported cartridge (was it imported; what prevented its production from being established?) to the presentation of fantastic demands for the ability to hit armored targets (however, it will happen to us: after the Finnish one, a completely grotesque mortar-shovel was adopted into service) .

Figure – Fedorov assault rifle

Caliber –6.5mm, special or Japanese cartridge. Automation with a short stroke of the movable barrel. The bolt is locked by two cylinders, the trigger mechanism ensures firing in bursts and single shots. The magazine is very rationally made - 25 rounds with a staggered arrangement of them. On early versions the sight is rack-and-pinion, on later versions it is sector-shaped, similar to the AKM sight. The direct shot range is estimated at 300-400 meters.

The picture shows an early version of the MS-1 tank with Fedorov machine guns. Later they will be replaced by one 7.62mm DT machine gun. The ammunition carried by the vehicle will be reduced by 25%. The density of machine gun fire will also decrease: in the ball mount, instead of two barrels, there was now one.

System name and country	Caliber, mm	Length, mm	Barrel length, mm	Operating principle	Curb weight, kg	Magazine capacity, pieces	Rate of fire, rds/min.	Sighting range, m
Fedorov, 1916 Russia, USSR	6.5	1045	520	Barrel rollback	4.4+0.8 (automatic and magazine)	25	----	2100
AK-47, 1947 USSR	7.62	870	414	Gas removal from the barrel	3.8	30	600	800
STG-44, Germany, 1944.	7.92	940	419	Gas removal from the barrel	5.2	30	----	800

1Note: There is a discrepancy in information. Reference book B.N. Zhuka describes the Arisaki cartridge as having a welt and an annular groove. The Mavrodins’ book and the journal “Science and Life” indicate that the cartridge did not have a welt; moreover, it was special.

Used Books:
Vlad. V. Mavrodin, Val. Vlad. Mavrodin “From History” domestic weapons. Russian rifle.”
B. N. Zhuk “Automatic machines and rifles.”
“Science and Life” No. 5 1984, article “Small arms” A. Volgin.
“Technology and Science” No. 2 1984, article “One of the first” A. Beskurnikov.

In the summer of 1916, several samples of a new rifle were brought to the 10th Air Squadron for testing. The very first demonstration caused surprise, shock and delight among the pilots at the same time. The new weapon made it possible to fire in bursts! These were the world's first automatic machines.

Gunsmoke over Europe

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Duchess Sophia of Hohenberg, were killed in an assassination attempt in Sarajevo. The Sarajevo murder became the formal reason for the start of the World War. But the war began long before the tragic shots in Sarajevo. The Archduke was still giving interviews to journalists, his wife was still posing for photographers and the first newsreels, and plans for future military operations were already being developed at headquarters. Uniforms were already being sewn for the still unformed regiments and divisions. Stocks of weapons and ammunition accumulated in warehouses. The tank did not yet exist, but the first airplanes were already flying in the sky, the first submarines were going under the water. The machine gun has already made its voice heard. In many countries, development of automatic small arms was carried out. They were also carried out in Russia.

Russian gunsmiths

Already in the early 1900s, Roshchepey, Frolov, Tokarev, and Degtyarev presented their developments of automatic weapons. The work was carried out with sheer enthusiasm. Even small amounts were allocated with reservations and numerous conditions. Thus, the talented soldier-gunsmith Yakov Roshchepey was allocated money for work to improve his automatic rifle after he signed an obligation that “if successful, he will be satisfied with a one-time bonus and will not claim anything in the future.” It is not surprising that many developments have stalled at the prototype stage. But the rifle, developed by gunsmith Fedorov, successfully reached military testing.

Gunsmith Fedorov and his automatic rifle

The clerk of the Main Artillery Directorate, Captain Vladimir Grigorievich Fedorov, was not self-taught. Behind him were the Mikhailovsky Artillery School and the Artillery Academy. Being, by the nature of his service, well aware of the work in the field of creating new types of small arms, Fedorov already in 1905 began designing an automatic rifle. Initially, he, like other designers, tried to modernize the Mosin rifle, which was in service with the Russian army. However, it soon turned out that it was easier to design a new weapon, initially focused on automatic fire, than to adapt the Mosin three-line gun for these purposes. In 1912, Fedorov presented for testing a 5-shot rifle of 7.62 caliber that he had developed. The tests were tough. The rifle lay in the rain for a day, was lowered into a pond, carried along a dusty road on a cart, and then tested by shooting. The Fedorovsky model successfully passed all tests. The developer was awarded a gold medal. A pilot batch of 150 pieces was ordered from the Sestroretsk Arms Plant. But it was not yet a machine gun.

New weapon - new cartridge

Based on his experience, Fedorov comes to the conclusion that to conduct effective automatic fire, you need not only a new weapon, but also a new cartridge! He developed such a 6.5 mm caliber cartridge and in 1913 he designed a new automatic rifle for it. Testing of the weapon is going well, and the commission of the Main Artillery Directorate strongly recommends continuing work on creating a new weapon based on the developed cartridge. But less than a year later, World War II began. All development work mass production author's patron were postponed until future times. The army lacked the usual three-line weapons, and weapons factories worked under increased load. Government emissaries traveled all over the world searching for and purchasing small arms. The Russian army received French, American, and Italian rifles. Among others, Japanese Arisaka carbines of 6.5 mm caliber were purchased, cartridges for which were produced in England and at the Petrograd Cartridge Plant. In 1915, Fedorov adapted his automatic rifle for the Japanese cartridge. Albeit in a deteriorated version, Fedorov’s rifle found its way into the army.

Made in Russia

In 1916, a significant event took place in the history of the development of small arms: the Russian gunsmith Fedorov invented an assault rifle. He shortened the barrel of the rifle, equipped it with a box magazine for 25 rounds, and a handle that made it possible to shoot "handheld". The result was a new type of weapon, which is now the basis of weapons ground forces every army in the world. In the summer of 1916, new weapons were tested, and on December 1, a team of the 189th Izmail Regiment of 4 officers and 158 soldiers armed with Fedorov submachine guns arrived at the Romanian Front. This was the world's first submachine gunner unit.

In 1918, Fedorov was mobilized by the Soviet Government and sent to the city of Kovrov, where he established the production of machine guns. From 1920 to 1924, about 3,200 units of these weapons were produced. There is no information about where and how it was used during the Civil War. But the machine guns entered the army, and until 1928 they were in service with the Red Army.

Last tour

The last officially recorded use of Fedorov assault rifles dates back to the Soviet-Finnish winter campaign of 1939–1940. Then the Red Army faced Finnish sabotage units armed with Suomi submachine guns. These groups used guerrilla tactics: they suddenly attacked Soviet troops, forced them into close combat, during which, thanks to their automatic weapons, they inflicted significant damage on the Red Army units, after which they also quickly left. The leadership of the Red Army, who had recently recklessly abandoned automatic weapons in favor of the Tokarev self-loading rifle, hastily returned the recently confiscated Degtyarev submachine guns to the troops. Together with the PPD, Fedorov assault rifles also returned to the army, which were equipped with special-purpose engineering units designed to destroy the most important defense units of the Mannerheim Line.

Care and return of the machine

After the Finnish campaign, Fedorov's assault rifle left the stage. On the Internet there are references to its use in the winter of 1941 during the Battle of Moscow, but this information has no documentary evidence and is classified as apocrypha. The years of the Second World War passed under the crackle of submachine guns MP-40, PPSh, PPS, Thompson, and other weapons developed for the pistol cartridge (hence the name submachine gun).
Only in 1943 did Hugo Schmeisser release his StG-44 assault rifle, and in 1947 machine gun No. 1, the legendary Kalash, appeared to the world. The time of submachine guns is over, the era of the machine gun has begun.

The assault rifle, or, as it is called in the West, the “assault rifle,” has gone through a long and difficult evolutionary path. Let's see what the first machine guns were like and how full-fledged examples of these weapons appeared.

Now the machine gun is the main weapon of the infantry. He, one might say, became a symbol of the war. The main advantage of the machine gun is the high density of fire it creates. Combined with its relatively low weight, this makes the assault rifle the optimal choice for the battlefield. But the machine was not always “ideal”. The very first examples of such weapons suffered from a number of serious shortcomings and could not be used on a par with conventional repeating rifles.

The term “automatic” itself was first applied to an automatic rifle, which was created by Russian engineer Vladimir Fedorov shortly before the First World War. An important difference between his weapons was the use of a cartridge, which some sources call “intermediate.” This feature will then be characteristic of all machines.

Wanting to combine the capabilities of a conventional rifle and a machine gun, Fedorov used a 6.5 mm caliber cartridge. By the way, the main weapon of the Russian army at that time was the Mosin rifle, using 7.62 mm caliber cartridges. Such a rifle, like its analogues, could shoot very accurately and very far: the sighting range was as much as two kilometers! But after each shot, the “three-line” (this is the nickname the Mosin rifle received) had to be manually reloaded. This is acceptable if you need to defend yourself, but storming enemy positions is more difficult. Therefore, the rifles were equipped with a bayonet, and this solution was very popular (by the way, it is still used today).

“If Fedorov created the world’s first machine gun, then the first self-loading rifle in history was developed by the Mexican military leader Manuel Mondragon. This weapon was born back in 1884. The Mondragon rifle could fire single fire without having to reload after each shot.”

Fedorov's attempt to create a universal weapon suitable for a variety of situations was partially successful. The machine confidently passed tests and was put into service at the very height of the war - in 1915. However, the backward Russian industry stood in the way of the talented engineer. At first, Fedorov wanted to use his own 6.5 mm caliber cartridge for the machine gun, but then difficulties forced him to use the Japanese 6.5x50 mm Arisaka cartridge.

Fedorov's early cartridge had a muzzle energy of about 3100 Joules. For a standard Russian 7.62 mm cartridge, this figure was 3600-4000 Joules, but the Mosin rifle, as we already noted, had to be reloaded after each shot. So the performance of Fedorov’s cartridge was very good, but the muzzle energy of the “Japanese” was 2615 Joules: this reduced the combat potential of the weapon, but not very much. It is important to note that both cartridges were closer in their ballistics to rifle cartridges, and not to intermediate ones. Full-fledged intermediate cartridges will appear later.

Characteristics of the Fedorov assault rifle

weight (without cartridges): 4.93 kg

length: 1045 mm

work principles: short recoil barrel, lever locking

cartridge: 6.5×50 mm

rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute

sighting range: 400 m

type of ammunition: 25-round magazine

Characteristics of the Mondragon rifle

weight (without cartridges): 4.18 kg

length: 1105 mm

work principles:

cartridge: 7×57 mm

rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute

sighting range: 550 m

type of ammunition: magazine for 8-100 rounds

During the First World War, the Fedorov assault rifle was rarely used. In 1916, a small party was sent to the Romanian front, where its combat debut took place. Then the weapons were used during the civil war in Russia, and some of the machine guns even took part in Soviet-Finnish war 1940 In general, the Fedorov assault rifle was never listed as the main infantry weapon. It was too complicated and unreliable for this.

“Do not confuse machine guns and submachine guns. The latter are also automatic weapons, but they do not use a rifle or intermediate cartridge, but a pistol cartridge. Accordingly, submachine guns do not have as great a firing range as machine guns. The power of a pistol cartridge is much less.”

In the fire of World War II

Created at the end of the 19th century, repeating rifles, such as the already mentioned “three-line” or the German Mauser 98, turned out to be surprisingly “tenacious”. They were cheap, simple and allowed you to shoot very accurately. Throughout World War II, such rifles remained the main infantry weapon. Popular culture has created a myth according to which almost all German soldiers The Eastern Front were armed with automatic MP-40s, but this is not true. Over the entire period, the Germans produced 1.2 million of these submachine guns. The figure seems incredible, but it cannot be compared with the number of Mauser 98 produced - 15 million units.

Characteristics of the Mauser 98 repeating rifle

weight (without cartridges): 4.1 kg

length: 1250 mm

work principles: sliding bolt, striker-type trigger

cartridge: 7.92×57 mm

rate of fire: 15 rounds per minute

sighting range: 2000 m

type of ammunition: 5-round magazine

The Germans, however, faced with a strong enemy on the battlefield, tried their best to create a revolutionary weapon for the infantry. They partially succeeded. Already in 1942, the Germans adopted the famous StG 44, which, with some reservations, can be considered the first full-fledged machine gun. Some consider it a prototype of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, but more on that later.

The StG 44 used a powerful intermediate cartridge of 7.92x33 mm, and its sighting range was 600 m. It would seem that this is the ideal battlefield weapon. Powerful and long-range. Creating a high density of fire and terrifying enemies. However, as operation progressed, shortcomings also emerged. The machine gun weighed a lot: if the weight of the Mauser 98k rifle without cartridges was 3.9 kg, then the StG 44 weighed 4.6. With a loaded magazine, the weight of the machine gun increased to 5.5 kg. Add to this the fact that the StG 44 was much more complex than magazine rifles, from a technical point of view, and required more careful maintenance. And the harsh conditions of that war did not always allow it to be carried out.

In total, the Germans produced 446 thousand StG 44 assault rifles, and they were actively used on all fronts of World War II. And this weapon outlived its developers by many decades. It is known, for example, that the StG 44 was used by the Iraqis against US troops in the 2000s. These particular machines, however, were produced mainly in Turkey and the former Yugoslavia, and not in Germany.

Characteristics of the STG 44 machine gun

weight (without cartridges): 5.2 kg

length: 940 mm

work principles: removal of powder gases, locking by tilting the bolt

cartridge: 7.92×33 mm

rate of fire: 500-600 rounds per minute

sighting range: 600 m

type of ammunition: 30-round magazine

Kalashnikov and M-16

If any military expert is asked to name greatest weapon XX century, he will answer without hesitation - Kalashnikov assault rifle. The AK was developed back in 1947, but still remains the main infantry weapon of many countries, including Russia. Over the decades, dozens of modifications have been created, and in total more than 70 million units of these weapons have been produced! This machine changed the world: it’s not for nothing that its image is found on the coats of arms of many African countries.

There is an opinion that the Kalashnikov assault rifle is a copy of the StG 44. This is not so. They are similar in appearance, but that's where the similarities end. These samples differ in the most important feature for automatic weapons - the method of locking the barrel. In a Kalashnikov, the barrel is locked by turning the bolt around the longitudinal axis, while in a German machine gun it is locked by tilting the bolt in a vertical plane.

It should be said that the Kalashnikov assault rifle has never been considered the most accurate or most convenient weapon - its advantages lie in its simplicity and cheapness. And Soviet military ideologists were among the first to appreciate the very concept of the machine gun. The AK quickly became the main weapon of the Red Army, while the Americans and Europeans continued to rely on self-loading and repeating rifles. Conservative British, for example, for many years after the war believed that “a soldier should save every cartridge.” But, in the end, even they recognized the advantage of automatic weapons as the main “argument” of the infantry.

Characteristics of the Kalashnikov assault rifle

weight (without cartridges): 3.8 kg

length: 870 mm

work principles: removal of powder gases, rotary bolt

cartridge: 7.62×39 mm

rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute

sighting range: 800 m

type of ammunition: 30-round magazine

The next revolution in the world of machine guns was made by the Americans. It's about about the famous M-16- AK's main competitor. In the 60s, the machine gun seemed like an ideal weapon, but there remained a drawback - heavy weight. Indeed, the 7.62 mm cartridge that the already mentioned Kalash used was too heavy, and its power was excessive. Therefore, the Americans decided to use a new 5.56x45 mm cartridge for their assault rifle. This decision, although it reduced the power of the bullet, predetermined the development of small arms for many decades to come. Even the Soviet military was inspired by the US experience, so in the 70s, a new version of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the AK74, was adopted by the Red Army. He used a low-pulse 5.45x39 mm cartridge - an analogue of the American 5.56 mm. Low-pulse cartridges are still very, very popular.

No matter how revolutionary the new caliber was, the military debut of the M-16 was overshadowed by a number of unpleasant aspects. The rifle's shortcomings were especially acutely revealed in Vietnam. In the harsh conditions of the jungle, in the hands of inexperienced recruits, complex and not fully developed weapons often “refused” to fire. This prompted designers to make a number of improvements, which made the M-16 a truly good rifle. And in 1994, the US military received a new shortened modification of the M-16 - a carbine M4, which has gained incredible popularity all over the world. He almost completely lost the shortcomings of his ancestor and became a favorite of the soldiers. Of Americans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan surveyed in 2006, 88% said they were satisfied with the M4 Carbine.

Characteristics of the M16 assault rifle

weight (without cartridges): 2.88 kg

length: 990 mm

work principles: removal of powder gases, rotary bolt

cartridge: 5.56×45 mm

rate of fire: 650-950 rounds per minute

sighting range: 600-800 m

type of ammunition: magazine for 20-30 rounds

Characteristics of the M4 assault rifle

weight (without cartridges): 3.4 kg

length: 840 mm

work principles: removal of powder gases, rotary bolt

cartridge: 5.56×45 mm

rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute

sighting range: 800 m

type of ammunition: 30-round magazine

The future of the machine

In conclusion, I would like to say that the assault rifle, as the main infantry weapon, has practically reached an evolutionary dead end and every year it becomes more and more difficult to create a weapon that would be seriously superior to previously developed designs. This is partly why Russia does not intend to abandon the proven AK, and the Americans are in no hurry to throw the M-16 modifications into the landfill.

This, however, does not mean that we will not see new machines. Currently, work is underway to create improved cartridges for small arms that can supplant the “classic” cartridges. Thus, during the Lightweight Small Arms Technologies program, the Americans developed new telescopic and caseless cartridges, as well as weapons for them. But a real revolution in the field of small arms will occur only when the infantry can use weapons based on “new physical principles.” These could be, for example, laser rifles. Decades may pass before the mass use of something like this begins, and we will talk about the prospects of such weapons in one of the future materials.

Soviet small arms designer M. T. Kalashnikov invented his legendary 7.62 mm assault rifle in 1947. In 1949, the AK-47 was already at all military bases of the USSR. At the end of the twentieth century, the Kalashnikov assault rifle was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most common weapon in the world. Today, for every 60 adult inhabitants of the planet there is one Kalashnikov assault rifle. According to sociological surveys, the first thing foreigners remember when asked about Russia is the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Over half a century of its history, the AK-47 has become a true legend. How are weapons created? How did the machine gun become a symbol of Russia? All these questions are answered by E. Bout’s book “Kalashnikov Automatic. Symbol of Russia."

“I never created a weapon to kill, I created a weapon to protect.”

M. Kalashnikov.

Who invented the Kalashnikov assault rifle?

As the popularity of the Kalashnikov assault rifle grew, new versions of this weapon appeared. Strange stories also appeared that M.T. Kalashnikov single-handedly developed the legendary machine gun, and directly opposite versions appeared that M.T. Kalashnikov had nothing to do with the development process of the machine gun. Two hypotheses have become most widespread: the so-called “dummy version” and the “Schmeiser machine version.

On March 1, 2002, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, under the heading “The Mystery of the 20th Century,” published an article without specifying the author under the heading “The legendary Kalashnikov is not a gunsmith, but a figurehead,” framed as a quote from an interview with a person presented in the article as "Small arms developer Dmitry Shiryaev." Despite the obvious inconsistencies, the article was a bombshell. The version about the figurehead immediately became widespread. Here is the text of this article:

“On July 15, 1943, civilian and military specialists gathered in Moscow at the technical council of the People’s Commissariat of Armaments. On the table lay a captured trophy - a German machine gun. An order was immediately issued: to immediately make a similar domestic “machine gun-cartridge” complex.

In record short term- in six months - Nikolai Elizarov, designer Pavel Ryazanov, technologist Boris Semin developed a 7.62 mm caliber cartridge, which occupied a position between a rifle and pistol cartridge and was called “intermediate”. According to an announced competition, 15 of the best designers began making weapons chambered for this cartridge.

Kalashnikov was not among them.

Create a weapon for an “intermediate” cartridge

“If Sergeant Mikhail Kalashnikov had offered not a machine gun, but a poker, for a competitive test in 1946, it would have been transformed into best weapon modernity,” says Dmitry Ivanovich Shiryaev, leading designer of the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (the parent organization for the development of small arms). – Could an unknown sergeant with a seventh grade education have been able to win a competition with experienced weapons designers if a certain group of knowledgeable, talented and powerful people had not stood behind him? I think it’s unlikely, especially considering that the first Kalashnikov assault rifle was rejected without the right to be modified...”

“At the Shchurovsky training ground in 1956, Colonel Biryukov showed us the first Kalashnikov assault rifle - the AK-46,” recalls the famous designer of automatic small arms Pyotr Andreevich Tkachev. – Was it similar in design to the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle adopted for service? The answer was obvious - no. Most of all, the machine resembled Bulkin’s invention.”

“In theory, Major Alexei Sudaev’s assault rifle should have been adopted,” continues Dmitry Shiryaev. – In battles, Sudaev’s submachine gun, the PPS, which he made in besieged Leningrad, proved to be excellent. But the 35-year-old designer was suddenly taken to one of the Moscow hospitals, and he died a few months later. During the blockade, he developed a stomach ulcer. The place of the leader is vacated - and a quarrel begins... The competition drags on for two years. Each participant has his own model of a machine gun, while none of them has obvious signs of a German prototype. And then Kalashnikov pops up.”

Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov himself believes that at that time engineer-colonel Rukavishnikov, the young designer Baryshev and himself could “raise the banner that fell from Sudaev’s hands.”

...Kalashnikov ends up at the training ground of the Main Artillery Directorate in the village of Shchurovo, Ramensky District, Moscow Region, on the recommendation of General Blagonravov. The academician supervised the department during the war years small arms Moscow Aviation Institute. It was during the evacuation that Kalashnikov, a tanker recovering from an injury, showed him a model of an assault rifle he had made together with military engineer Kazakov.

Blagonravov, “despite the negative conclusion on the sample as a whole,” noted the great and labor-intensive work done by Kalashnikov...

“During war years, a comprehensive answer must be given to any claimed invention,” explains Pyotr Tkachev. – Gunsmiths said years later that during the war they once received an application for the invention of a silent sniper rifle. Its bearer suggested putting... a pig's bladder on the barrel of a rifle. And what do you think, the designers bought pigs, slaughtered them, carried out experiments... On the application form for inventions of that time, in the upper right corner there was a quote from Stalin, the meaning of which was as follows: those who interfere with scientific and technological progress must be removed from its path . Everyone remembered the year 1937...”

Collapse tests in twelve days

“Before Kalashnikov came to my unit, he worked in Alma-Ata together with the gunsmith Kazakov,” the head of the testing unit, Vasily Lyuty, later recalled. – The samples were sent to the State Agrarian University Research Site in Golutvin. However, these samples were not tested by shooting because they were too primitive. Contrary to what Kalashnikov writes and talks about himself in newspapers and magazines, I responsibly declare that while working in Kazakhstan, he did not create anything worthy of attention. Mikhail Timofeevich is a very talented person. However, in terms of the level of general educational training, practical knowledge and experience, he did not reach the professional designers who armed the army...”

The next sample of the Kalashnikov assault rifle was tested at the shooting range by Senior Lieutenant Pchelintsev. After the tests, the engineer drew up a detailed report, the conclusions of which were disappointing for Mikhail Timofeevich: the system was imperfect and could not be improved. Then Kalashnikov asks the head of the testing unit, Captain Vasily Lyuty, to look at his machine gun, Pchelintsev’s report and draw up a modification program.

“And then in 1946 an order was issued: the military at the training ground was forbidden to engage in design work,” says Pyotr Tkachev. - I must say, a very wise order. The military has become only controllers, not developers.”

Gunsmith Vasily Lyuty, who has the necessary experience and knowledge, actually took matters into his own hands. He changed Pchelintsev’s conclusion in the report, outlined 18 necessary fundamental changes and recommended the machine for revision. Later, Lyuty’s longtime comrade, Colonel of the Main Artillery Directorate, and experienced engineer Vladimir Deikin, took part in improving the machine gun, with whom they worked on the creation of the LAD (Lyuty - Afanasiev - Deikin) machine gun.

In his book, Mikhail Timofeevich writes that Deikin helped him develop the trigger mechanism.

“This is not true,” says Dmitry Shiryaev. – The AK trigger mechanism belongs to the type of mechanism “with interception of the trigger”, which was invented in the 20s by the Czech Emmanuel Holek. In its pure form, such a mechanism is used on the Schmeiser machine gun. Deikin, most likely, only insisted on borrowing the design of this mechanism, since the mechanism proposed by Kalashnikov on his 1946 assault rifles was unsuccessful.”

To produce a modified model of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, he went to an arms factory in the city of Kovrov. He was driving and “worried how a stranger would be received at the factory, whether they would put a spoke in the wheels.” At the same plant, the famous designer Vasily Degtyarev worked on his model of the machine gun. Having worked in Kovrov for a year, Kalashnikov never met his eminent competitor. “We worked on the samples, as if fenced off by some kind of invisible fence,” Mikhail Timofeevich will later recall.

“In his memoirs, Vasily Lyuty, who took Kalashnikov under his wing, does not indicate the ranks or positions of the mentioned competition participants,” says our expert Dmitry Shiryaev. – But at the same training ground, in Lyuty’s division, about 15 assault rifles from other designers were tested. The conclusions from the tests of each of them, including Kalashnikov, depended to a large extent on the head of the testing unit, Lyuty, and the curator of the GAU at the test site, Deikin. It turned out that persons who, by their status, should have been strictly neutral intervened in the competition.”

The stages of the competition were closed. All participants in the competition presented documentation according to the template under the motto. Its transcript was contained in a separate envelope. Kalashnikov called himself “Mikhtim”. It was not difficult to guess that it was Mikhail Timofeevich.

“Experienced researchers at the test site could tell after the first day of shooting in what order the samples would be rejected,” recalls Kalashnikov. – Shpagin was the first to give up and leave. Having deciphered the initial recordings of the automation speeds of his sample, he announced that he was leaving the test site. More and more often, Degtyarev’s sample began to choke from incredible stress, overheating from endless shooting... Bulkin jealously followed every step of the testers, meticulously checked how the sample was cleaned, and was always personally interested in the results of processing the targets. Apparently, it seemed to him that his competitors might trip him up.”

Kalashnikov assault rifles are known all over the world. Due to the low cost of production, AK is cheaper than live chicken in some third world countries. It can be seen in news reports from almost any hot spot in the world. AK is in service with regular armies in more than fifty countries around the world

At the final stage of testing in January 1947, there were three assault rifles: TKB-415 from Tula Bulkin, KBP-520 from Kovrov designer Dementyev, and KBP-580 from Kalashnikov.

“The museum on Poklonnaya Gora has preserved a copy of the order, from which it follows that the tests, which began on December 27, 1947, were ordered to be carried out within 12 days: it was necessary to put a reliable machine gun into service as quickly as possible,” says Dmitry Shiryaev. – According to the order, based on the results of the tests, Bulkin came forward. But the Tula man had a malicious character and endlessly contradicted the military’s remarks. As a result, the talented designer “left” the race. Sergeant Kalashnikov was much more flexible. He obeyed his most experienced mentors, who were also senior in rank, in everything. At the last round of testing, ‘Mikhtim’, as he likes to call himself, took into account all the wishes of the experienced Deikin and Lyuty. And he succeeded. From the surviving documents it follows that, according to the conclusion of the commission, which, by the way, consisted entirely of graduates of the Artillery Academy, on January 10, 1948, preference was given to the Kalashnikov assault rifle - the future AK-47.”

Soviet must be the best...

It is known that it takes a long time to “learn how to shoot” a weapon. Kalashnikov and his sample again went to Kovrov for revision. “The military was forbidden to engage in design development, but they turned a blind eye to the conditions of the competition, committed violations - they began to rearrange the tested machine gun model,” says Pyotr Tkachev. “I assume that the talented engineer, the head of the design group, Alexander Zaitsev, was given a task from above: to take the best from all the machines proposed for the competition.”

Mikhail Timofeevich recalls these events somewhat differently: “In Kovrov, Sasha Zaitsev and I, secretly from the management, hatched a daring plan: disguised as modifications, to make a major re-arrangement of the entire machine. We still included Deikin in our plan...”

Needless to say, the main burden of design fell on the shoulders of experienced Kovrov designers.

“Zaitsev wrote in his memoirs that Kalashnikov did not know how to work even as a draftsman,” recalls Tkachev. “The design and calculation techniques were unknown to Mikhail Timofeevich.”

Before the final stage of testing, members of the commission “did not notice” that the barrel of the assault rifle presented by Kalashnikov became 80 mm shorter, a different trigger mechanism appeared, a receiver cover appeared, which began to completely cover the moving parts... Many people migrated to the new model of the AK-47 assault rifle elements of Kalashnikov's competitors. It was a different machine gun.

“No one will get ahead of Kalashnikov,” he would later tell Shiryaev chief designer Kovrovsky Design Bureau Konstantinov, - since certain high officials receive bonuses along with him...”

“Compared to other gunsmith designers, Kalashnikov has practically no weapon elements invented by him and protected by copyright certificates,” says Shiryaev. “We know of only one of them, and then in the company of four other co-authors.” This was followed by his statement, which sounded like a sensation: “Kalashnikov is not a gunsmith. This is a figurehead, stretched out by the ears.”

“Mikhail Timofeevich has nothing to do with it,” says Pyotr Tkachev. “It was just government policy.” The military did the right thing: what difference does it make whether it is a Kalashnikov assault rifle or a Dementiev assault rifle... It is important that a good assault rifle be adopted for service. It is also clear that not a single model in any country in the world immediately enters service: it is returned for repeated modifications.”

The fact is that the first model of the AK had two modifications: with a wooden non-folding stock - AK-47 and with a metal folding stock - AKS-47, the design of which was borrowed from German submachine guns. Doctor of Technical Sciences Yuri Bryzgalov, for example, believes that “the German MP-43 submachine gun is only slightly similar in appearance to the AK-47, the principle of its operation is completely different.” The fact that Kalashnikov collected and combined in his design all the best that was in the domestic and foreign arms industry, the professor gives him only credit, because “everyone,” the professor emphasizes, “all gunsmith designers use this when creating new types of weapons.” method."

The fact that the AK is still the best example of the world’s small arms is a well-known fact and cannot be doubted.”

The article in Moskovsky Komsomolets had the effect of a bomb exploding. A week later M.T. Kalashnikov had to issue a refutation.

In Andrei Kuptsov’s book “Belomor and the Kalashnikov assault rifle,” there is a hypothesis that the author of the AK-47 is actually another famous Soviet gunsmith, Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. Kuptsov claims that Simonov is at least the author of the bolt assembly and layout diagram. Kuptsov builds his hypothesis based on the fact that competitions, as a rule, receive samples with pre-agreed parameters that meet the tactical and technical requirements. Only until 1930 did something like free creativity exist among Soviet gunsmiths, and already in 1931 a bolt with a wedge locking was included in the list of tactical and technical requirements. Simonov's system (ABC-31) won then. But other designers also made samples with wedge locking.

It is widely believed that the German “assault rifle” StG-44 by Hugo Schmeisser served as the prototype for complete or partial copying during the development of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. As the basis for this hypothesis, supporters of this hypothesis often cite the external similarity between the samples and the fact that the AK-47 design was born during the work of a group of leading German gunsmiths in Izhevsk. “One look at this excellent weapon is enough to understand its influence on the entire post-war family AK,” writes Gordon Williamson. American scientist Gordon Rottman has repeatedly written about the design similarities and “influence” of the StG-44 on the Kalashnikov assault rifle. In addition to the external similarities, supporters of the hypothesis mention the work of the StG designer Hugo Schmeisser in the Izhevsk Design Bureau (despite the fact that the AK was not developed there, but at the Kovrov plant) and the study of the StG-44 by Soviet specialists took place at a plant in the city of Suhl, were assembled and transferred to for technical evaluation of 50 samples of StG-44.

One of the supporters of the Schmeiser theory puts it this way: “Have you noticed that the AK-47 is very similar to the Third Reich assault rifle - the Schmeiser? Have you ever guessed why? But because it had one author (or rather co-author) - Hugo Schmeisser. True, it must be said that inside the Schmeiser and AK are noticeably different. Firstly, because the second appeared later than the first and, for this reason, was more perfect. In addition, the Third Reich experienced an acute shortage of alloying metals. Because of this, it was necessary to make weapons from softer steel. And the design of the Schmeisser was developed specifically for making it from softer steel. Who is Hugo Schmeisser? He was a hereditary weapons designer. His father Louis Schmeisser was also one of Europe's most famous weapons designers. Even before the First World War, he was engaged in the design and production of machine guns at the Bergmann company. In this company, Hugo Schmeiser gained practical experience and took his first steps as a weapons designer. Hugo Schmeisser, who first proposed a new type of weapon: an assault rifle chambered for an intermediate cartridge. Before him, all machine guns were chambered for a pistol cartridge. And an ERMA machine gun, which they like to film in films about Germans and which is often mistakenly called “Schmeisser”. Both our PPSh and the American Thomson assault rifle. The armies of the world also had rifles chambered for the powerful 7.62 caliber cartridge or similar calibers. It was not possible to shoot such a cartridge in bursts without a stop or without a bipod due to the high recoil. So Hugo Schmeisser developed a weapon chambered for an intermediate shortened 7.62 caliber cartridge for a new type of weapon, which he called an assault rifle. The weapon turned out to be very successful and was only improved in the future. After the war, this Hugo Schmeisser was captured in the USSR, where he worked in a closed research institute in Izhevsk, developing weapon. Besides him, many other famous Russian and German gunsmiths worked in this design bureau. Young Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov also worked there. He worked in the weapons testing department and was the secretary of the Komsomol organization of the design bureau. He got into the design bureau by inventing a compact submachine gun chambered for a pistol cartridge to arm tank crews. Which in appearance was not at all similar to an AK. Hugo Schmeisser worked in this design bureau until the early 50s. Longest of all captured German designers. And he was released to Germany only as a terminally ill man. Where he died in his homeland in the GDR in 1953 from lung cancer. Hugo Schmeisser was a modest man. Or maybe he signed a non-disclosure agreement. In any case, when asked about his role in the creation of the AK, he answered: “I gave some useful advice.”

Neither the StG or its predecessors, nor the AK contained any fundamentally innovative weapon design elements. The main technical solutions used in both samples - gas engines, methods of locking the shutter, operating principles of the trigger, and so on - were basically known since the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. thanks to long-term experience in the development of automatic rifles of the previous generation (for rifle-machine-gun cartridges); in particular, gas-operated automatics with a bolt locking by turning were already used in the design of the world's first self-loading rifle by the Mexican Manuel Mondragon, developed in the 1880s. and entered service in 1908.

Hugo Schmeisser is a German designer of firearms and air guns. In October 1946, he was forcibly taken to Soviet Union. Schmeiser and a large group of designers were sent to Izhevsk to work in the weapons design bureau of the Izhmash plant.

The novelty of these systems lay in the very concept of a weapon chambered for an intermediate cartridge between a pistol and a rifle-machine-gun cartridge and the successful creation of a technology for its mass production, and in the case of the AK, also in bringing this model to a level of reliability considered the standard for automatic weapons.

The similar outlines of the barrel, front sight and gas tube are due to the use of a gas exhaust engine on both machines, which in principle could not be directly borrowed by Kalashnikov from Schmeisser, since it was known long before (moreover, a top-mounted gas exhaust engine was first used on the Soviet ABC rifle). A gas exhaust engine with a gas piston fixedly attached to the bolt frame was also not a new product and was used long before - for example, on the Degtyarev machine gun of 1927.

Otherwise, the design of the Schmeisser and Kalashnikov systems is radically different; There are fundamental differences in the design of such key components as the barrel locking mechanism (rotary bolt for AK, bolt misalignment for StG-44); trigger mechanism (when using the general trigger principle of action, the specific implementations of its functioning are completely different); magazine, magazine mount (StG has a fairly long receiving neck, on AK the magazine is simply inserted into the receiver window); fire translator and safety device (StG has a separate two-way button-type fire translator and a flag-shaped fuse located on the left, AK has a fuse translator located on the right).

There are also fundamental differences in the design of the receiver, and, accordingly, in the procedure for disassembling and assembling the weapon: for a Kalashnikov assault rifle, it consists of the receiver itself with a cross-section in the form of an inverted letter P with bends in the upper part along which the bolt group moves, and it is attached on top a cover that must be removed for disassembly; in the StG-44, the tubular receiver has an upper part with a closed cross-section in the form of the number 8, inside which the bolt group is mounted, and a lower part, which serves as a trigger box - the latter, to disassemble the weapon after separating the butt, must be folded down on a pin along with the fire control handle .

In the StG, the trajectory of the bolt group is set by the massive cylindrical base of the gas piston, moving inside the cylindrical cavity in the upper part of the receiver, resting on its walls, and in the AK, by special grooves in the lower part of the bolt frame, with the help of which the bolt group moves along the guide bends in the upper part of the receiver as if on “rails”.

Ultimately, between the two samples there are only similarities in concept and considerable overlap in external design.

So, although it is undeniable that the appearance of such a new and quite successful model as the StG-44 among the Germans did not go unnoticed in the USSR, its samples were certainly studied in detail, which could significantly influence the choice of the general concept of the new weapon and the course of work on Soviet analogues, including the AK, the version about Kalashnikov’s direct borrowing of the Sturmgewehr design does not stand up to criticism.

Anatoly Wasserman, in response to the emergence of a huge number of hypotheses about the authorship of the invention of the AK-47, responded as follows:

“The topic of copying a Kalashnikov assault rifle from a Schmeisser assault rifle is one of the most popular topics in specialized debates on weapons. It has long been possible to say about it with complete confidence that a person who claims that the Kalashnikov assault rifle was copied from Schmeisser simply knows nothing about weapons.

That is, he heard the names Kalashnikov and Schmeisser, but only heard, did not even try to look inside these weapons. There is practically nothing in common between these samples. Yes, they are indeed similar in appearance, but they have completely different internal structures. Moreover, they belong to different engineering schools, in the sense that they not only use a different operating principle of automation, but also use a completely different concept of the combat use of weapons.

Not to mention anything else, the Kalashnikov assault rifle is famous all over the world. First of all, its reliability in any conditions. The Schmeisser assault rifle is incomparably more sensitive to dirt and requires very careful care. This proves that it was created from a completely different concept of combat use. This is known to anyone who has even looked inside these weapons at least once.

It is clear that blogger Adagamov does not look into weapons, he prefers to look into completely different places, which is why he now finds himself far from his homeland. I will just say once again that from the example of this statement it becomes completely obvious that people become enemies of their country and their culture simply because they do not know either their country or their culture.

As for Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov specifically, I have repeatedly said and written that, contrary to the statements of many positively-minded, but no less ignorant journalists, he is not the inventor of either the concept of the machine gun as a whole, or this particular model.

He has a lot own inventions, but specifically in the Kalashnikov assault rifle there is nothing that he would have invented himself. This entire machine consists of components, in different time invented by other inventors. Kalashnikov's merit in this case is not in the invention, but in the design. He is precisely the designer of the machine gun; from the many different components created by others, he selected exactly those that optimally solve the problem facing him, the task of creating a weapon accessible to any fighter after the most minimal training, a weapon capable of working in any conceivable and inconceivable conditions, a weapon simple enough to manufacture that it could be produced in millions of copies, as they say, on the knee.

The Fedorov assault rifle, also known as the Fedorov automatic rifle, is a Russian 2.5-line (6.5 mm) automatic rifle that was created by Russian army captain Vladimir Grigorievich Fedorov in 1913-1916. In fact, this was the first machine gun that was created in Russia. had limited use, however, it managed to take part in the Winter War with Finland. The Fedorov assault rifle became the predecessor of modern infantry automatic weapons.

Captain of the Russian Imperial Army Vladimir Fedorov began work on creating a self-loading rifle in 1906. His first rifle was created for the standard Russian cartridge of the famous three-line - 7.62x54R and was equipped with a magazine designed for 5 rounds. Tests of this self-loading rifle were carried out in 1911, and in 1912 it was even decided to order an experimental batch of weapons - 150 rifles, which were planned to be sent for military testing.

Military tests of Fedorov's self-loading rifle were successful, but it never entered service. The rifle he created weighed 600 grams more than the three-ruler, and its magazine capacity remained the same as that of the Mosin rifle. Moreover, all attempts to reduce the weight of the rifle led to a decrease in its structural strength and reliability. Therefore, Fedorov simply continued to work, but on creating a new weapon, this time chambered for his own cartridge, of a smaller caliber, which was also supposed to solve the problem with the weight of the weapon.

Fedorov chose a 6.5 mm cartridge for his automatic rifle. This cartridge had a pointed bullet of 6.5 mm caliber, which weighed 8.5 grams, as well as a bottle-shaped cartridge case without a protruding rim. The initial flight speed of such a bullet was at the level of 850 m/s, which provided a muzzle energy of 3100 J. For example, the 7.62x54R rifle cartridge had a muzzle energy of 3600-4000 J, depending on the equipment option. From the presented characteristics we can conclude that the cartridge created by Fedorov was not “intermediate” in the modern sense - it was a fully-fledged rifle cartridge of a reduced caliber (for comparison: the muzzle energy of an intermediate cartridge 7.62x39 mm is about 2000 J). At the same time, Fedorov’s cartridge provided a lower recoil impulse compared to a standard 7.62 mm rifle cartridge, had less weight and was much more suitable for use in automatic weapons.

The high initial velocity of the bullet allowed the designer to reduce the length of the barrel and reduce the size of the weapon to approximately one meter. In terms of its combat qualities, Fedorov’s development turned out to be something intermediate between an automatic rifle and a light machine gun. For this reason, at the suggestion of the inventor himself, it was proposed to give the development a new name - machine gun.

Testing of Fedorov's new development began at the end of 1913, but the outbreak of the First World War put an end to research in the field of new cartridges. However, already in 1915, the Russian army began to experience an urgent need for small arms, including light machine guns. Enough a large number of small arms were lost in battle. Therefore, they returned to the Fedorov automatic rifle again, deciding to order it as a light infantry support weapon. The need for such weapons was prompted by the very nature of military operations, which had changed significantly in comparison with the wars of the past. Making the decision to resume production of the Fedorov assault rifle, we decided to convert it to the Japanese 6.5x50SR Arisaka cartridge, which had characteristics similar to the Fedorov cartridge. IN Russian army these cartridges were already available in significant amount. They were acquired along with Japanese Arisaka rifles already during the war to make up for losses in weapons. At the same time, the already released machine guns were simply going to be converted to use the Japanese cartridge by installing a special insert in the chamber.

His assault rifle differed from the self-loading rifle previously developed by Fedorov in the presence of a hammer-type trigger mechanism, a shortened barrel, the presence of a detachable sector box magazine for 25 rounds (double-row) and the presence of a flag-type fire mode selector. The weapon's automation worked due to the recoil of the barrel during its short stroke. The barrel bore was locked using locking larvae (clutch cheeks), which rotated in a vertical plane. At the same time, the weapon allowed firing both single cartridges and continuous shooting, and had a mechanical safety catch. The machine gun used open-type sighting devices, which consisted of a sector sight and a front sight. There was also the possibility of installing a bayonet on the weapon. The presence of a bayonet and a strong butt made it possible to use the machine gun in hand-to-hand combat, where, due to its smaller dimensions, it was more convenient than a rifle.

Already in 1916, after carrying out the necessary series of tests, the new product was adopted by the Russian army. The first combat use of the machine gun occurred on the Romanian front, where special companies of machine gunners were formed in some regiments. For example, at the end of 1916, a special team consisting of the 189th Izmail Infantry Regiment of the 48th Infantry Division received 45 Fedorov assault rifles of 6.5 mm caliber and 8 assault rifles of 7.62 mm caliber (an experimental model of the same designer) . It is curious that in addition to the machine gunner himself, the ammunition carrier was also included in the calculation of the new weapon. Also, teams of machine gunners were equipped with binoculars, optical sights, bebut daggers, portable shields. The Fedorov assault rifle was also used in aviation (primarily it was used by the crews of the Ilya Muromets heavy bombers), where it was the airborne weapon of the pilots. It was planned to re-equip the shock units of the army primarily with automatic weapons. At the same time, based on the results of his service at the front, he received a very good feedback: its reliability, accuracy of fire, and high strength of the bolt-locking parts were noted. At the same time, in the army, Fedorov’s machine gun was seen, albeit a light one, but still a machine gun.

Then, at the end of 1916, a decision was made in Russia to order a batch of 25 thousand machine guns, which were to go to the troops. The authorities’ mistake was that they initially chose a private plant as the contractor for the work. The selected contractor did not fulfill the government order. At that time, such enterprises were under the jurisdiction of Zemgor, whose leaders communicated closely and were connected with the participants of the future February Revolution. In essence, it was sabotage and sabotage as part of the economic war being waged within the country, which foreshadowed further turmoil. When it was finally decided to place the order at a state-owned enterprise, transferring it to the Sestroretsk plant, it was already too late; in February 1917, a revolution broke out in Russia.

After the October Revolution, which occurred in the same year, Vladimir Fedorov was sent to work in Kovrov, where he was supposed to launch the production of his machine gun. In 1918, he was elected director of the plant; at that time this position was elective. Degtyarev was appointed head of the experimental workshop at the plant. Already in 1919, they were able to put the machine gun into mass production, and in 1924 they began work on developing a whole range of machine guns unified with the Fedorov machine gun - light, tank, aviation, anti-aircraft. At the same time, in 1923, the machine gun was slightly modernized and a number of changes were made to its design: the shape of the feeder in the store was changed; introduced a shutter delay; grooves were made in the receiver for installing a clip of cartridges; they introduced a namushnik; created a sector sight with a range setting of up to 3000 steps (2100 meters).

Fedorov's assault rifles were safely in service with the Red Army until the end of 1928, until the military made excessive demands on infantry weapons (as it turned out only later). In particular, they demanded that the infantryman be able to use small arms with armor-piercing bullets to hit armored vehicles. Since the 6.5 mm bullet penetrated slightly less armor than the 7.62 mm rifle bullet, it was decided to discontinue the machine gun, focusing on the development of a new automatic rifle. Also, the military’s decision was related to the beginning of the unification of ammunition, when it was decided to remove from service weapons of calibers that differed from the main one - 7.62x54R. And the reserves of Japanese cartridges purchased during the First World War were not unlimited, and it was considered economically infeasible to launch our own production of such cartridges in the USSR.

In total, until 1924, when the production of Fedorov assault rifles was discontinued, about 3,200 units of this small arms were produced. After 1928, these machine guns were transferred to warehouse storage, where they remained until 1940, when during the war with Finland the weapons were hastily returned to the troops, experiencing an urgent need for automatic weapons.

It is necessary to understand that the Fedorov assault rifle itself could not be seriously considered as a mass-produced army weapon. Its reliability was insufficient (especially in conditions of pollution and dust), and it was difficult to maintain and manufacture. However, an analysis of the only reliable source available today on the operation of the Fedorov assault rifle - a brochure that was published in the Soviet Union in 1923 - suggests that main problem The machine was not flawed in its design, but the low quality of the construction materials used - the settling of parts, metal deposits, and so on, as well as the low quality of the ammunition that was supplied to the troops. It is worth noting that the author himself did not consider his weapons as mass-produced. In his work “The Evolution of Small Arms,” Vladimir Fedorov wrote that his machine gun is intended primarily for arming various special forces, and not line infantry. He assumed that the machine gun would become a weapon for motorcycle, equestrian and hunting teams, as well as selected marksmen among infantrymen who would be able to realize its potential.

Perhaps the main merit of Vladimir Fedorov was that he was the first in Russia to create a working (albeit not ideal) example of an individual automatic weapon for an infantryman - a machine gun. Fedorov became a pioneer in the creation of hand-held automatic weapons, anticipating the entire course of the 20th century, one of the brightest symbols of which, of course, was the machine gun.

Main technical characteristics:
Caliber - 6.5 mm.
Length - 1045 mm.
Barrel length - 520 mm.
Weight - 4.4 kg (without magazine), with magazine - 5.2 kg.
Rate of fire - 600 rounds/min.
Sighting range - 400 m.
Maximum firing range - 2100 m.
Magazine capacity - 25 rounds.

Information sources:
http://world.guns.ru/assault/rus/automatic-fedorov
http://armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/BeforeWWII/MS1/fedorov
http://www.opoccuu.com/af.htm
http://warspot.ru/776-pervyy-russkiy-avtomat
Open source materials