- Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov
Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov (1894 - 1986) was a Soviet weapons designer; he is one of the fathers of the modern
assault rifle .Mostly known for the Samozaryadnyi Karabin sistemi Simonova (Russian: Самозарядный карабин системы Симонова), 1945 (Self-loading Carbine, Simonov's system, 1945), or
SKS carbine, he also pioneered the assault and semi-automatic rifle field in the 1920s and 1930s, mostly under the supervision of both Vladimir Fedorov andFedor Tokarev . His early work preceded both the M1 Garand (of 1933), and the later M1 Carbine,AK-47 , and M16 series.Born in 1894 in
Fedotow , Simonov began work in a foundry immediately after completing his elementary school studies. By the end ofWorld War I , after completing a basic technician's course of instruction, he began working on a pioneeringautomatic rifle designed byVladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov , theFedorov Avtomat . After the Russian Revolution, Simonov continued further at theMoscow Polytechnic Institute , graduating in 1924 to work at Russia's giantTula Arsenal . By 1926 he had become a quality-control inspector at Tula, and by 1927, had been promoted into theSoviet Design and Development Department where he worked directly under Fedorov. The Simonov AVS-36, which entered service in the 1930s would see service in the early part ofWorld War II , up to about 1940 or so where it was replaced by other semi-automatic designs.During
World War II , Simonov designed some firearms of his own; asubmachine gun which did not enter production, and a self-loadinganti-tank rifle , the14.5 x 114 mm PTRS , which went on to form the basis — in scaled-down form - of theSKS . An earlier semi-automatic rifle was hindered by official insistence on using the powerful7.62 x 54 mm R , which was at that point standard amongstRussia nrifles ; unfortunately, as had been found withFedor Tokarev 'sSVT-40 , the round's excessive power was detrimental to reliable, rapid function of asemi-automatic rifle .By 1943, advances in thinking — which would soon be confirmed by the successful German
Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle - led to the adoption of a shorter, less powerful round, the 7.62 x 39 mm M1943 (also known as "7.62 Soviet" or "7.62 short" to differentiate it from several other rounds in 7.62 mm calibre). Field trials of the new rifle proved the weapon and, in 1944 a pre-production run of theSKS went to theByelorussian front for battlefield trials. After some tweaking, it was officially adopted and designated the 7.62 Samozaryadnyi Karabin Sistemy Simonova Obrazets 1945g (translated, "7.62 Self-loading Carbine System Simonov model year 1945"), and chosen as the ideal replacement for theSVT-40 .
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