Simonov Rifles
Simonov automatic rifle ABC-36 (USSR)
The Red Army began the first tests of self-loading rifles back in the 1926 year, but until the mid-thirties, none of the tested samples met army requirements. Sergey Simonov began developing a self-loading rifle at the start of the 1930s and exhibited his designs for the 1931 and 1935 competitions of the year, but only in 1936 did his rifle be adopted by the Red Army under the designation "Simonov 7.62 automatic rifle of the year" or ABC-1936. The experimental production of the ABC-36 rifle was launched back in 36, mass production in 1935 - 1936, and continued until the 1937 year, when ABC-1940 was replaced with the Tokarev self-loading rifle SVT-36. In total, according to various sources, it was released from 40 35 to 000 65 ABC-000 rifles. These rifles were used in the Khalkhin Gol battles in 36, in the winter war with Finland in 1939, as well as in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. Interestingly, the Finns, who captured both the Tokarev and Simonov designs as rifles in 1940, preferred to use the SVT-1940 and SVT-38 rifles, since the Simonov rifle was significantly more complex and more whimsical. However, that is why the Tokarev rifles and replaced the ABC-40 in service with the Red Army.
ABC-36 rifle - automatic weaponusing the removal of powder gases and allowing the maintenance of single and automatic fire. The translator of fire modes is made on the receiver on the right. The main fire regime was single shots, automatic fire was supposed to be used only when repelling sudden enemy attacks, while at the expense of ammunition in rounds no more than 4-5 stores. The gas outlet with a short stroke of the gas piston is located above the barrel (the first in the world). The barrel is locked using a vertical block moving in the grooves of the receiver. When moving the block up under the action of a special spring, it entered the grooves of the shutter, locking it. Unlocking occurred when a special clutch connected to the gas piston squeezed the locking unit down from the gate grooves. Since the locking block was located between the breech breech and the magazine, the path of supply of cartridges to the chamber was quite long and steep, which served as a source of delays when firing. In addition, because of this, the receiver had a complex structure and a great length. The arrangement of the bolt group was also very complicated, since inside the gate there was a drummer with a mainspring and a special anti-rebound mechanism. The rifle was powered from detachable magazines with a capacity of 15 cartridges. Shops could be equipped both separately from the rifle, and directly on it, with the shutter open. For equipment store used regular 5-cartridge clips from the Mosin rifle (3 clips on the store). The barrel of the rifle had a large muzzle brake and a mount for a bayonet, while the bayonet could adjoin not only horizontally, but also vertically, with the blade down. In this position, the bayonet was used as a one-legged bipod for shooting from the stop. In the stowed position, the bayonet was carried in a sheath at the fighter's belt. The open sight was marked in range from 100 to 1 500 meters in 100 meters. Some ABC-36 rifles were equipped with an optical sight on the bracket and were used as snipers. Due to the fact that the spent cartridges are ejected from the receiver up and forward, the optical sight bracket was attached to the receiver to the left of the weapon axis.
SKS - Simonov self-loading carbine arr. 1945 of the year
The experience gained during the first half of the Second World War showed the need to create weapons that are lighter and more maneuverable than self-loading and magazine rifles in service, and at the same time having greater firepower and effective firing range than submachine guns. Such weapons primarily required the creation of cartridges intermediate in characteristics between pistol and rifle, and providing an effective range of about 600-800 meters (against 200 meters for pistol cartridges and 2000 and more meters for rifle guns). Such cartridges were created in Germany (cartridge 7.92mm Kurtz) and in the USSR (cartridge 7.62х41mm, later turned into 7.62X39mm). Whereas in Germany they focused mainly on one, the most universal type of weapon for an intermediate cartridge - the automatic carbine (MaschinenKarabiner), later renamed the assault rifle (SturmGewehr), in the USSR the development of a whole family of weapons for the new cartridge began. This family included a shop carbine, a self-loading carbine, a machine gun (the same assault rifle) and a light machine gun. The first samples of the new family of weapons appeared by the end of the Great Patriotic War, and their mass flow into service began only at the end of the 1940s. Store rifle, as obviously outdated concept, remained only in the form of prototypes. The Kalashnikov assault rifle assumed the role of an assault rifle. Manual machine gun - RPD. And as the rifle was adopted by the SCS.
The first samples of the self-loading carbine under the new cartridge were created by the designer Simonov by the end of 1944 of the year. A small pilot batch of carbines was tested at the front, but the finishing of both the carbine and the new cartridge continued until the 1949 year, when the “7.62-mm self-loading Simonov carbine - SKS model 1945 of the year” was adopted by the Soviet army. During the first post-war decades, the SKS was in service with the SA along with AK and AKM, but with the proliferation of automata, the SCS began to be gradually expelled from the troops, although some of them were in service right up to the 1980 and even 1990 in such combat arms as communications and air defense, where small arms are not the primary. Up to the present, SCS are used as a ceremonial and ceremonial weapon due to its much greater aesthetics than modern automata.
As in the case of other samples of post-war weapons, the SCS was widely distributed in the countries of the socialist camp and others who were friends with the USSR. SKS was licensed in China (carbine Type 56), GDR (Karabiner-S), Albania, Yugoslavia (Type 59 and Type 59 / 66) and several other countries. As far as decommissioning took place, a significant amount of SCS turned out to be on civilian arms markets, both in the original and in more or less “civilized” form. And, as a rule, "civilization" was reduced to the removal of the bayonet. The low price of both the carbines themselves and their ammunition, combined with high operational and combat characteristics, made the SCS more popular among civilians in various countries, from Russia to the USA. It should be noted that Americans are very fond of Simonov carbines, as with reliability and combat data comparable to other samples (AR-15, Ruger Mini-30), the SCS has a much lower price.
SKS is a self-loading shortened rifle (carbine), built on the basis of automation with a gas engine. The vapor chamber and the gas piston are located above the barrel. The gas piston is not rigidly connected to the slide frame and has its own return spring. Locking is carried out by tilting the bolt down, behind the combat stop in the bottom of the receiver. The shutter is installed in a massive bolt carrier, on the right side of which the handle for loading is rigidly fixed. USM trigger, fuse located in the trigger guard.
A distinctive feature of the SCS is the integral middle shop, equipped with separate cartridges when the shutter is open or with the help of special clips for 10 cartridges. The clip is installed in the guides, made in the front end of the bolt carrier, after which the cartridges are pressed into the magazine, as shown in the photo. In connection with a similar loading scheme, a bolt delay is included in the carabiner’s design, which turns on when all the cartridges in the magazine are used up and stops the bolt group in the open position. For accelerated and safe unloading, the bottom cover of the magazine can fold back and forth, its latch is located between the magazine and the trigger guard.
Sights SKS made in the form of a fly on the basis of a protective ring and an open rear sight, having an adjustment in range. The stock is solid, wooden, with a semi-pistol butt neck and a metal back plate. SKS is equipped with an integral blade bayonet, in the stowed position, retractable down under the barrel. The Chinese 56 Type Carabiners have a longer bay needle bayonet with a similar mounting.
Unlike the original SCS, the carbines of the Yugoslav type 59 / 66 release have a combined choke designed to launch rifle grenades. For the same purpose, there is a folding grenade sight behind the front sight and a gas cut-off valve in the gas chamber, which is activated when firing a grenade and overlapping the vapor path.
In general, as an army weapon, the SKS is largely outdated, although it has an advantage over Kalashnikov assault rifles of the 7.62mm caliber in the sighting range of firing due to the longer barrel and sighting line. As a civilian weapon for hunting small and medium game (with the right choice of cartridges), the SCS remains at the present level. The presence of a wide range of civilian accessories (lodges of various configurations, light bipods, mounts for optics, etc.) only expands the scope of application of this undoubtedly worthy and deserved model of the Soviet arms thought.
From the author: there is an opinion that the SKS should occupy a place not among self-loading rifles, but among automats and assault rifles, assuming that it uses an intermediate cartridge. Nevertheless, since the SCS lacks such a formative sign of assault rifles, as the possibility of automatic fire, I believe that its place is among ordinary self-loading rifles.
M.Popenker
The Red Army began the first tests of self-loading rifles back in the 1926 year, but until the mid-thirties, none of the tested samples met army requirements. Sergey Simonov began developing a self-loading rifle at the start of the 1930s and exhibited his designs for the 1931 and 1935 competitions of the year, but only in 1936 did his rifle be adopted by the Red Army under the designation "Simonov 7.62 automatic rifle of the year" or ABC-1936. The experimental production of the ABC-36 rifle was launched back in 36, mass production in 1935 - 1936, and continued until the 1937 year, when ABC-1940 was replaced with the Tokarev self-loading rifle SVT-36. In total, according to various sources, it was released from 40 35 to 000 65 ABC-000 rifles. These rifles were used in the Khalkhin Gol battles in 36, in the winter war with Finland in 1939, as well as in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. Interestingly, the Finns, who captured both the Tokarev and Simonov designs as rifles in 1940, preferred to use the SVT-1940 and SVT-38 rifles, since the Simonov rifle was significantly more complex and more whimsical. However, that is why the Tokarev rifles and replaced the ABC-40 in service with the Red Army.
ABC-36 rifle - automatic weaponusing the removal of powder gases and allowing the maintenance of single and automatic fire. The translator of fire modes is made on the receiver on the right. The main fire regime was single shots, automatic fire was supposed to be used only when repelling sudden enemy attacks, while at the expense of ammunition in rounds no more than 4-5 stores. The gas outlet with a short stroke of the gas piston is located above the barrel (the first in the world). The barrel is locked using a vertical block moving in the grooves of the receiver. When moving the block up under the action of a special spring, it entered the grooves of the shutter, locking it. Unlocking occurred when a special clutch connected to the gas piston squeezed the locking unit down from the gate grooves. Since the locking block was located between the breech breech and the magazine, the path of supply of cartridges to the chamber was quite long and steep, which served as a source of delays when firing. In addition, because of this, the receiver had a complex structure and a great length. The arrangement of the bolt group was also very complicated, since inside the gate there was a drummer with a mainspring and a special anti-rebound mechanism. The rifle was powered from detachable magazines with a capacity of 15 cartridges. Shops could be equipped both separately from the rifle, and directly on it, with the shutter open. For equipment store used regular 5-cartridge clips from the Mosin rifle (3 clips on the store). The barrel of the rifle had a large muzzle brake and a mount for a bayonet, while the bayonet could adjoin not only horizontally, but also vertically, with the blade down. In this position, the bayonet was used as a one-legged bipod for shooting from the stop. In the stowed position, the bayonet was carried in a sheath at the fighter's belt. The open sight was marked in range from 100 to 1 500 meters in 100 meters. Some ABC-36 rifles were equipped with an optical sight on the bracket and were used as snipers. Due to the fact that the spent cartridges are ejected from the receiver up and forward, the optical sight bracket was attached to the receiver to the left of the weapon axis.
SKS - Simonov self-loading carbine arr. 1945 of the year
The experience gained during the first half of the Second World War showed the need to create weapons that are lighter and more maneuverable than self-loading and magazine rifles in service, and at the same time having greater firepower and effective firing range than submachine guns. Such weapons primarily required the creation of cartridges intermediate in characteristics between pistol and rifle, and providing an effective range of about 600-800 meters (against 200 meters for pistol cartridges and 2000 and more meters for rifle guns). Such cartridges were created in Germany (cartridge 7.92mm Kurtz) and in the USSR (cartridge 7.62х41mm, later turned into 7.62X39mm). Whereas in Germany they focused mainly on one, the most universal type of weapon for an intermediate cartridge - the automatic carbine (MaschinenKarabiner), later renamed the assault rifle (SturmGewehr), in the USSR the development of a whole family of weapons for the new cartridge began. This family included a shop carbine, a self-loading carbine, a machine gun (the same assault rifle) and a light machine gun. The first samples of the new family of weapons appeared by the end of the Great Patriotic War, and their mass flow into service began only at the end of the 1940s. Store rifle, as obviously outdated concept, remained only in the form of prototypes. The Kalashnikov assault rifle assumed the role of an assault rifle. Manual machine gun - RPD. And as the rifle was adopted by the SCS.
The first samples of the self-loading carbine under the new cartridge were created by the designer Simonov by the end of 1944 of the year. A small pilot batch of carbines was tested at the front, but the finishing of both the carbine and the new cartridge continued until the 1949 year, when the “7.62-mm self-loading Simonov carbine - SKS model 1945 of the year” was adopted by the Soviet army. During the first post-war decades, the SKS was in service with the SA along with AK and AKM, but with the proliferation of automata, the SCS began to be gradually expelled from the troops, although some of them were in service right up to the 1980 and even 1990 in such combat arms as communications and air defense, where small arms are not the primary. Up to the present, SCS are used as a ceremonial and ceremonial weapon due to its much greater aesthetics than modern automata.
As in the case of other samples of post-war weapons, the SCS was widely distributed in the countries of the socialist camp and others who were friends with the USSR. SKS was licensed in China (carbine Type 56), GDR (Karabiner-S), Albania, Yugoslavia (Type 59 and Type 59 / 66) and several other countries. As far as decommissioning took place, a significant amount of SCS turned out to be on civilian arms markets, both in the original and in more or less “civilized” form. And, as a rule, "civilization" was reduced to the removal of the bayonet. The low price of both the carbines themselves and their ammunition, combined with high operational and combat characteristics, made the SCS more popular among civilians in various countries, from Russia to the USA. It should be noted that Americans are very fond of Simonov carbines, as with reliability and combat data comparable to other samples (AR-15, Ruger Mini-30), the SCS has a much lower price.
SKS is a self-loading shortened rifle (carbine), built on the basis of automation with a gas engine. The vapor chamber and the gas piston are located above the barrel. The gas piston is not rigidly connected to the slide frame and has its own return spring. Locking is carried out by tilting the bolt down, behind the combat stop in the bottom of the receiver. The shutter is installed in a massive bolt carrier, on the right side of which the handle for loading is rigidly fixed. USM trigger, fuse located in the trigger guard.
A distinctive feature of the SCS is the integral middle shop, equipped with separate cartridges when the shutter is open or with the help of special clips for 10 cartridges. The clip is installed in the guides, made in the front end of the bolt carrier, after which the cartridges are pressed into the magazine, as shown in the photo. In connection with a similar loading scheme, a bolt delay is included in the carabiner’s design, which turns on when all the cartridges in the magazine are used up and stops the bolt group in the open position. For accelerated and safe unloading, the bottom cover of the magazine can fold back and forth, its latch is located between the magazine and the trigger guard.
Sights SKS made in the form of a fly on the basis of a protective ring and an open rear sight, having an adjustment in range. The stock is solid, wooden, with a semi-pistol butt neck and a metal back plate. SKS is equipped with an integral blade bayonet, in the stowed position, retractable down under the barrel. The Chinese 56 Type Carabiners have a longer bay needle bayonet with a similar mounting.
Unlike the original SCS, the carbines of the Yugoslav type 59 / 66 release have a combined choke designed to launch rifle grenades. For the same purpose, there is a folding grenade sight behind the front sight and a gas cut-off valve in the gas chamber, which is activated when firing a grenade and overlapping the vapor path.
In general, as an army weapon, the SKS is largely outdated, although it has an advantage over Kalashnikov assault rifles of the 7.62mm caliber in the sighting range of firing due to the longer barrel and sighting line. As a civilian weapon for hunting small and medium game (with the right choice of cartridges), the SCS remains at the present level. The presence of a wide range of civilian accessories (lodges of various configurations, light bipods, mounts for optics, etc.) only expands the scope of application of this undoubtedly worthy and deserved model of the Soviet arms thought.
From the author: there is an opinion that the SKS should occupy a place not among self-loading rifles, but among automats and assault rifles, assuming that it uses an intermediate cartridge. Nevertheless, since the SCS lacks such a formative sign of assault rifles, as the possibility of automatic fire, I believe that its place is among ordinary self-loading rifles.
M.Popenker
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