The history of weapons knows not so many examples of how a well-known and tested model in difficult conditions of war receives very controversial reviews. As a rule, the majority of experts agree, and this or that system receives a fairly unambiguous assessment based on the rich experience of its combat use. But not always. A striking representative of such a "controversial" weapon is the Soviet self-loading rifle SVT-40. It just so happened that amateurs and connoisseurs of weapons in our country did not have the most flattering opinion about it. And even more so, this rifle did not fall into the number of iconic, milestone ones. Not the least role in this was played by domestic weapons experts - popularizers of weapon history, as well as specialized weapons publications. They, as a rule, bypassed the SVT-40 topic, considering it not worthy of attention. Unsuccessful rifle - and that's it! And few people tried to analyze the situation with this weapon, at least in the open press. And the situation, in our opinion, is not so simple. Of course, the rifle had shortcomings due to the design and the fact that its mass production fell on the difficult war years, when more attention was paid to solving the problem of quantity than to the problem of quality. And yet, for all its flaws, she deserves a more respectful attitude.
Firstly, not all of us who had to fight the SVT-40 agree with its negative assessment. Secondly, the rifle enjoyed considerable popularity among our opponents in two wars - the Finns and the Germans. And they cannot be blamed either for the lack of qualifications in the field of weapons, or for their special love for everything Soviet. And, thirdly, do not forget that on the eve of World War II, only the USSR and the United States had self-loading rifles in service with their armies. No other state with a highly developed military industry could solve such a problem. Let's try to understand the reasons for the above phenomenon and try to objectively assess the advantages and disadvantages of SVT-40 as objectively as possible.
The Tokarev self-loading rifle is one of the most "controversial" models in the history of Russian military weapons. The range of opinions about her - from abuse to delight. On the one hand, it is traditionally believed that this system was too unreliable, cumbersome, sensitive to pollution, which is why it was abandoned. On the other hand, a number of experts, historians and users have left the most positive reviews about SVT..
The idea of making the main small arms of the army an "automatic" rifle chambered for a rifle cartridge took shape and carried away many military personnel in the first decade of the 20th century (although various projects and even prototypes were created long before that time). By the time of its adoption, Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev (1871-1968) had, perhaps, the longest experience of working on "automatic" rifles. A centurion of the 12th Don Cossack Regiment, a former weapons master, he presented his first project in October 1908, while studying at the Officer Rifle School in Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg. Like most inventors, Tokarev started with a three-line magazine rifle. The automation of his brainchild was supposed to operate on the principle of recoil of the barrel with a short stroke, the barrel bore was locked by turning the bolt, the store was constant - from this it follows that that first development of Tokarev cannot be considered a prototype of SVT.
1. Self-loading rifle SVT-38 with detached bayonet. Left view
2. Self-loading rifle SVT-38 with detached bayonet. Right view
3. Receiver, trigger, SVT-38 rifle magazine
Around the same period, a Commission was created in Russia to develop a sample of an automatic rifle, and Tokarev's further work went on within the framework of this organization. The Sestroretsk Arms Plant became the production base. An interesting fact - at the same time V. A. Degtyarev, who helped Colonel V. G. Fedorov in the work on the rifle of his system. Over the past decade and a half, Tokarev has repeatedly altered his system - in particular, he introduced locking with a rotary clutch. Finally, in 1914, Tokarev's 7.62-mm rifle was recommended for military trials along with the experimental Fedorov and Browning rifles (this was already a success, although the 6.5-mm Fedorov rifle had the greatest chances of getting into service at that time). but the war began. In 1915 Tokarev and a number of other inventors were withdrawn from the front. Soon he asks for permission to continue the work (this request, by the way, was supported by Colonel Fedorov), in the summer of 1916, with the rank of captain of artillery, he takes the position of head of the department for inspection and assembly of finished products of the Sestroretsk plant and at the same time continues to improve his system. But the matter is dragging on. In July 1919, the Civil War was in full swing, as a civilian engineer Tokarev was sent to the Izhevsk Arms Plant. Here he, in addition to his main responsibilities for the production of magazine rifles, is trying to bring his "automatic carbine". At the end of 1921 he was transferred as a designer-inventor to Tula.
Working at an arms factory, and since 1927 at the Design Bureau (PKB) of hand weapons (later - SLE small arms), he creates the MT light machine gun (modification of the "Maxim"), TT pistol, prototypes of various weapons. But he does not leave the topic of "automatic" rifle, especially since the interest of the customer - the military - about this topic does not cool down. Having abandoned the developed VT. Fedorov, the concept of an automatic rifle chambered for a different ballistics and geometry, the Red Army returned to the idea of an automatic rifle chambered for a standard rifle cartridge.
For the competition in 1926, Tokarev presents a 7.62-mm rifle with an automatic mechanism based on a barrel recoil with a short stroke, locking with a rotary clutch, a permanent magazine for 10 rounds, a fire mode translator, and in addition - 6, 5-mm automatic carbines (in this time the issue of switching to a reduced caliber was still being considered). At the next competition in June 1928, he demonstrates a slightly modified 7.62 mm sample and again receives a number of comments.
Since 1930, another requirement was imposed on automatic rifles: an automation system with a fixed barrel (primarily for the possibility of using a rifle grenade launcher). In March of the same year, Tokarev presented for the competition a 7.62-mm rifle with automatic equipment based on the removal of powder gases, with a gas chamber under the barrel, with locking by turning the bolt, and a permanent magazine for 10 rounds.
It is worth remembering that in the same 1930, among other modernized samples, a magazine rifle arr. 1891/30 beers once again extended the career of the 7, 62-mm rifle cartridge mod. 1908 In 1931, the Degiatrev rifle arr. 1930, but it was not possible to bring it to the series, as well as the Simonov automatic rifle arr. 1931 Automatic rifles, in addition to the variable mode of fire, also acquired detachable magazines, which made them akin to an automatic rifle. Tokarev worked on the new system since 1932. His self-loading carbine mod. 1935 was released in a small series, but the Simonov automatic rifle was officially put into service (ABC-36, its experimental production began in 1934), although single shots were considered the main one for it.
Since that time F. V. Tokarev and S. G. Simonov became the main competitors in the creation of a new rifle. On the side of Simonov, a student of Fedorov and Degtyarev, there was a higher culture of design, while Tokarev took, perhaps, with his experience and a certain authority, besides, his style of work was characterized by the introduction of constant, sometimes cardinal changes, even in the experienced, but not brought at the moment the system. Nevertheless, Tokarev finished his self-loading rifle. Of course, not alone - the design engineer N. F. Vasiliev, senior foreman A. V. Kalinin, design engineer M. V. Churochkin, as well as mechanics N. V. Kostromin and A. D. Tikhonov, fitter M. M. Promyshlyaev.
On May 22, 1938, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense and Defense Industry, a new competition for a self-loading rifle was announced.
4. Rifle SVT-40 military production (above) and SVT-38 (below)
5. Bayonets for rifles SVT-38 (above) and SVT-40 (below)
6. Bayonet SVT-40 with scabbard
7. Rifle SVT-40 without bayonet
8. SVT-40 rifle with bayonet
9. SVT-40 sniper rifle with PU telescopic sight
10. Mounting the bayonet on the SVT-40 rifle
Among the general requirements for this weapon were indicated high survivability in war conditions, the reliability and safety of the mechanisms, the ability to fire with all regular and surrogate cartridges. The competition was attended by self-loading rifles of S. G. Simonova, N. V. Rukavishnikov and F. V. Tokarev (all with automation based on the removal of powder gases, detachable box magazines for 10-15 cartridges). The tests ended in September 1938, according to the commission's conclusion, not a single sample met the requirements put forward, but the Tokarev system rifle was distinguished for such qualities as survivability and reliability, which was apparently due to the quality of production of prototypes. After some changes were made on November 20, 1938, repeated tests were carried out. This time his rifle performed better. And on February 26, 1939, the Red Army adopted the "7, 62-mm self-loading rifle of the Tokarev system of the 1938 model (SVT-38)". In March, the inventor was awarded the Order of Lenin.
The adoption of the SVT-38 into service did not remove the question of choosing the best system - not everyone shared the opinion about the superiority of the Tokarev model. A special commission of the People's Commissariat of Armaments and the Main Artillery Directorate, comparing the modified Tokarev and Simonov rifles, preferred the latter in terms of mass, simplicity of design, time and cost of production, metal consumption. So, the design of the SVT-38 included 143 parts, the Simonov rifle - 117, of which the springs were 22 and 16, respectively, the number of steel grades used was 12 and 7. The then People's Commissar of Armaments (former director of the Tula Arms Plant) B. L. Vannikov defended the Simonov rifle. However, the decree of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated July 17, 1939. stopped further discussions in order to focus on CBT ready for quick production. The day before, on July 16, the first serial SVT-38 was manufactured. The war was approaching, and the country's top leadership clearly did not want to drag out the rearmament process. SVT-38 was supposed to become the main rifle in the army. It was believed that a self-loading rifle in terms of fire power corresponds to two magazine ones, it allows you to fire on the move, without stopping and without wasting time reloading. As early as June 2, 1939, the Defense Committee ordered the production of 50 thousand SVT-38s this year; in 1940 - 600 thousand; in 1941 - 1800 thousand. and in 1942 2000 thousand.
11. Marines with SVT-40 rifles. Defense of Odessa
12. Presentation of the party card. 110th Infantry Division. October 1942
13. Panfilov division. Young snipers: Avramov G. T. killed 32 fascists, S. Syrlibaev killed 25 fascists. 1942
14. Snipers Kusnakov and Tudupov
At the Tula Arms Plant, a single design bureau for SVT-38 was created, preparations for full-scale production were carried out in six months, along the way, finishing drawings, defining technologies and preparing documentation for other factories. On July 25, the assembly of rifles in small batches began, and on October 1, a gross release. The assembly was organized on a conveyor belt with a forced rhythm - this was part of the introduction of mass production technologies into the arms business.
Combat experience was not long in coming - SVT went to the front already during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-40. Naturally, the new weapon required a number of improvements. Even before the end of the Finnish campaign, by order of I. V. Stalin, who did not lose sight of the progress of work on rifles, a Commission was created under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Central Committee G. M. Malenkov to address the issue of improving SVT in order to "bring Tokarev's self-loading rifle closer to Simonov's self-loading rifle."
It was, first of all, about reducing the mass of SVT without reducing the strength and reliability. The first required a lightening of the ramrod and the store, but at the same time it was necessary to slightly strengthen the stock (it was made in one piece), change the metal casing of the receiver lining and install the forend lining. except
15. Receiver cover, trigger (fuse off) and magazine latch of the SVT-40 rifle
16. Perforated metal forend and barrel cover of the SVT-40 rifle, you can see the mounting of the cleaning rod
17, 18. Muzzle parts of barrels of SVT-40 rifles with muzzle brakes of various designs, front sight with fuses, ramrod mountings
Moreover, for greater ease of wearing and reducing the size of the ramrod was moved under the barrel, the bayonet was shortened (according to Vannikov, Stalin, having received feedback from the Finnish front, personally ordered "to take the smallest cleaver, for example, an Austrian one"). In addition, a fairly high sensitivity of the rifle to dirt, dust and grease was revealed due to the relatively accurate fit of the mechanism parts with small gaps. It was impossible to eliminate all these claims without a radical alteration of the system. Due to frequent complaints about the loss of a detachable store during movement, the requirement for a permanent store once again surfaced, which, however, was not implemented in the series. The protruding magazine, apparently, was the main reason for repeated and later complaints about the "severity and cumbersomeness" of the SVT, although in weight and length it slightly exceeded the magazine rifle mod. 1891/30, which, by the way, was laid down in the terms of the competition. With strict weight restrictions, the requirements for the margin of safety and reliability of operation forced many parts of the mechanisms to be fulfilled "to the limit".
On April 13, 1940, by a decree of the Defense Committee, the modernized rifle was put into service under the designation "7, 62-mm Tokarev self-loading rifle arr. 1940 (SVT-40)", and its production began on July 1 of the same year.
Externally, the SVT-40 was distinguished by a metal forearm casing, a ramrod mount, one false ring instead of two, a smaller number and increased dimensions of the muzzle brake windows. The mass of the SVT-40 without a bayonet was reduced in comparison with the SVT-38 by 0.3 kg, the length of the bayonet blade from 360 to 246 mm.
Tokarev in the same 1940 was awarded the Stalin Prize, awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences. Note that even now no cross was put on the Simonov system, as evidenced by the continuing in 1940-1941. comparative tests of its self-loading carbines.
The Tula Arms Plant became the main manufacturer of SVT. According to the report of the People's Commissar of Arms Vannikov dated October 22, 1940. submitted to the Defense Committee, the serial production of the rifle began on July 1 of the same year. In July, 3416 units were manufactured, in August - already 8100, in September - 10,700. The Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant began production of SVT-40, using the capacities freed up after the withdrawal from production of ABC-36. Both at the Tula plant, which did not have its own metallurgy, and in Izhevsk, where its own metallurgy was at hand, as well as the experience in the production of ABC-36, the organization of serial production of SVT cost a lot of effort. New machines were required, restructuring of the instrumental economy, retraining of personnel, and, as a result, time and money.
19. Simplified swivel swivel on the SVT-40 stock
twenty. Articulated sling swivel at the bottom of the buttstock of the SVT-40 rifle release in 1944
21. Lower sling swivel at the bottom of the SVT-38 rifle buttstock
22. Articulated upper swivel mount of the SVT-40 rifle
23. Simplified upper swivel swivel on the upper stock ring of the SVT-40 rifle
At the beginning of 1941, a commission headed by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V. M. Molotov and with the participation of the main customers of the People's Commissar of Defense S. K. Timoshenko, Chief of the General Staff G. K. Zhukov. People's Commissar of Internal Affairs L. P. Beria, decided the issue of ordering rifles for the current year. It was proposed to include only self-loading rifles in the order, but the active resistance of the People's Commissariat of Armaments, aware of the difficulties of the rapid deployment of such production, made it possible to keep the magazine rifles in plan and continue their production. The plan for orders of arms for 1941, approved by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, on February 7, included I 800 thousand rifles, of which -1 100 thousand self-loading (note that the production of 200 thousand pistols was included in the same plan -Machine guns Shpagin - still representing an auxiliary weapon).
SVT device
The design of the rifle includes several units: a barrel with a receiver, a gas vent mechanism and sights, a bolt, a firing mechanism, a stock with a receiver plate and a magazine. The barrel is equipped with a multi-slot muzzle brake and has a lug for mounting a bayonet. Automation with a gas engine, a gas chamber with a branch pipe and a short stroke of the gas piston. Powder gases are discharged through a side hole in the barrel wall into a chamber located above the barrel, equipped with a gas regulator that changes the amount of exhaust gases. There are 5 holes of different diameters around the circumference of the regulator (the diameter is indicated on the lateral planes of the pentagonal regulator head protruding in front of the gas chamber). This allows, within a wide range, to adapt the operation of the automation to the conditions of the season, the state of the rifle and the type of cartridge. Gases entering the chamber cavity are fed through the longitudinal channel of the regulator to the tubular piston covering the gas chamber branch pipe. A piston with a rod and a separate pusher transmits the impulse of the powder gases to the bolt and returns forward under the action of its own spring. The absence of a permanent connection between the gas piston rod and the bolt and the receiver, which is partially open at the top, allow you to equip the magazine from the clip.
The shutter consists of a skeleton and a stem that plays the role of a leading link. The loading handle is made integral with the bolt stem and is located on the right. The barrel bore is locked by tilting the rear of the bolt frame downward. When the bolt is rolled back, the inclined grooves in the rear of its stem, interacting with the lateral protrusions of the frame, raise its rear, disengaging it from the receiver. A striker and a spring-loaded ejector are mounted in the body of the bolt, a return spring with a guide rod and a tube is inserted into the stem channel. The other end of the return spring rests against the bushing at the rear of the receiver. The bushing serves as a limiter for the movement of the bolt back, a channel is drilled in it for the passage of the cleaning rod when cleaning the rifle. A reflector with a shutter stop is mounted in the receiver. The stop delays the bolt in the rear position when the cartridges are used up.
The trigger-type firing mechanism is assembled on a detachable base (trigger guard), attached to the bottom of the receiver. Descent - with warning. When the trigger is pressed, its upper part pushes the trigger rod forward, it turns the rocker (sear). The rocker releases the combat platoon, made on the trigger head, and the trigger, under the action of the helical mainspring, strikes the drummer. If the shutter is not locked, the self-timer keeps the trigger from turning. The uncoupler is the mainspring guide rod - when the trigger is turned forward, the rod, pressing the trigger thrust stand, lowers the thrust, its protrusion jumps off the rocker ledge and the latter, under the action of the mainspring, returns with its upper end forward and is ready to capture the trigger cocking when the mobile system rolls back. Although an uncoupler is considered more reliable, the operation of which is directly related to the movement of the shutter, the scheme adopted in CBT works quite reliably and, moreover, is quite simple. A flag non-automatic safety device is mounted behind the trigger and pivots in the transverse plane. When the flag is turned down, it locks the descent.
Food is made from a detachable box-shaped metal sector-shaped magazine with a staggered arrangement of 10 rounds. A cartridge with a protruding edge of the sleeve forced to take a number of measures to prevent the cartridges from clinging to each other when feeding - the radius of curvature of the magazine box was selected, and the surface of the feeder was profiled so that the edge of each upper cartridge was in front of the edge of the lower one; on the inner walls of the magazine case, there are protrusions that keep the cartridges from axial mixing (in this, the SVT magazine was like a 15-round Simonov rifle magazine). Compared to the SVT-38, the SVT-40 magazine is lightened by 20 I. The grooves of the front part of the receiver cover and the large upper window made it possible to equip a magazine mounted on a rifle from a standard clip for 5 rounds from a rifle mod. 1891/30
A cylindrical front sight with a safety catch is mounted on the muzzle of the barrel on the rack. The bar of the sector sight is cut to 1500 m with intermediate divisions corresponding to each 100 m. Note that in the self-loading rifle they went to a formal reduction in the aiming range, on which many experts insisted already in the First World War. The rifle is aimed without a bayonet. The stock is wooden, one-piece, with a pistol-like projection of the neck and a metal back of the butt, in front of the forearm the barrel and the gas piston are covered with a perforated metal casing. There was also a wooden barrel plate. To reduce the thermal leash of the barrel and the heating of wooden parts, as well as to reduce the mass, through holes are made in the metal casing and in the receiver plate. Belt swivels are made on the stock and stock ring. Bayonet-blade, with one-sided sharpening and wooden grip plates, attached to the barrel from below with a T-shaped groove, stop and latch.
Since sniper rifles at that time were created on the basis of conventional ones, the SVT sniper version was also adopted. It is distinguished by a more thorough finish of the barrel bore and a protrusion (tide) on the left side of the receiver for attaching a curved bracket with a PU 3, 5-fold magnification sight (this sight was adopted specifically for the SVT rifle, and for the magazine sniper rifle, model 1891 / 30g. it was adapted later). The sight was mounted in such a way that a spent cartridge case that flew out of the receiver window would not hit it. The weight of SVT with a PU sight is 4.5 kg. On the basis of the SVT, a self-loading carbine was created.
It is well known that in 1939-1940. a new armament system for the Red Army was formed. SVT - together with Voevodin's pistol, Shpagin's submachine gun (PPSh). with a heavy machine gun Degtyarev (DS) and a large-caliber Degtyarev-Shpa-gin (DShK), an anti-tank rifle Rukavishnikov - was supposed to make up a new system of small arms. From the above list, the pistol and anti-tank rifle did not reach the series, the DS machine gun had to be removed from production due to technological lack of knowledge, and the DShK and PPSh, relying on the already existing production potential, proved to be excellent. SVT had its own destiny. Its most important shortcomings were the impossibility of rapidly increasing production on the scale required by the war and the difficulty of quickly training reinforcements to handle such weapons.
24. Fuse SVT-40 in the off position
25, 26. SVT-40 fuses of various designs in the on position
27. Sector rifle scope SVT-40
28. PU optical sight on the SVT-40 rifle. Left front view
War always causes a spasmodic increase in the need for weapons against the background of a sharp contraction in terms of capacity deployment, a decrease in the quality of materials and average qualifications of workers involved in production, and rapid wear and tear of equipment. The catastrophic development of events at the front only aggravated these factors for Soviet industry. The loss of weapons was extremely high. On June 22, 1941, the Red Army was generally provided with small arms (although in a number of western districts there was a lack of its stock). The active army had 7,720,000 rifles and carbines of all systems. In June - December, 1,567,141 units of these weapons were manufactured, 5,547,500 (i.e. about 60%) were lost, over the same period, 98,700 submachine guns (about half) were lost, and 89,665 were manufactured. By January 1 1942 The Red Army had about 3,760,000 rifles and carbines and 100,000 submachine guns. In no less difficult 1942, 4,040,000 rifles and carbines entered the army, 2,180,000 were lost. Personnel losses during this period are still debated. But in any case, it was no longer a question of replenishing troops, but actually of the urgent formation and arming of a new army.
The available reserves and mobilization reserves did not save the situation, and therefore the return to the good old "three-line", which was 2.5 times cheaper in production and much simpler, became more than justified. The refusal to expand the production of SVT in favor of the long-mastered magazine rifle and less sophisticated submachine guns, in fact, in the current conditions made it possible to provide the army with weapons.
Note that it was not the rifle itself that was abandoned, but its role as the main weapon. The production of SVT continued to the best of its ability. In 1941, out of the planned 1,176,000 conventional and 37,500 sniper SVT-40s, 1,031,861 and 34,782 were manufactured, respectively. rifles, and the break from the termination of production in Tula to the beginning of its restoration in Mednogorsk was only 38 days. In January 1942, the production of Tokarev rifles was practically brought to the previous "Tula" level. But when they fought here to bring the production of SVT up to 50 thousand per month. The Izhevsk plant has already received the task to issue magazine rifles up to 12 thousand per day (in the memoirs of the then Deputy People's Commissar of Armaments V. N. Novikov, it is described what efforts it took for the plant's staff to do this by the end of the summer of 1942). The plan for 1942 already envisioned only 309,000 and 13,000 sniper SVTs, while 264,148 and 14,210 were produced. For comparison, 1,292,475 magazine rifles and carbines were produced in 1941, and 3,714,191 in 1942. …
29. Shop rifle SVT (stepped feeder is visible) and clips (with training 7, 62-mm rifle cartridges)
30. Equipment of the SVT store with cartridges from the clip (here - training)
31. Shop SVT, equipped with training cartridges
According to the soldier's tradition, SVT received the unofficial nickname "Sveta"; they began to attribute to her a capricious female character. The complaints received from the troops were mainly reduced to the complexity of the rifle in the development, handling and care. The presence of small parts also led to a high percentage of the failure of this weapon due to their loss (31%, while the magazine rifle model 1891/30, of course, was much lower - only 0.6%). Some aspects of working with SVT were really difficult for mass weapons. For example, rearranging the regulator required the use of a key and was rather painstaking: separate the magazine, move the bolt back and put it on a stop (lifting the stop with your finger through the receiver window), remove the ramrod, remove the false ring, separate the metal casing, pull back the gas piston, with a key turn the branch pipe half a turn, set the required edge of the regulator nut horizontally at the top and fasten the branch pipe with a wrench, release the piston, close the shutter, put a cover plate, put on the false ring, insert the cleaning rod and the magazine. The condition and accuracy of the regulator installation required constant attention from the user. Overall, however, CBT required only careful maintenance to ensure reliable operation and an understanding of the basics to quickly resolve delays. That is, the user had to have a certain technical background. Meanwhile, back in May 1940, the People's Commissar of Defense S. K. Tymoshenko, taking cases from K. E. Voroshilov, wrote, among other things: "a) the infantry is less prepared than other types of troops; b) the accumulation of a prepared infantry stock is not enough." By the beginning of the war, the level of training had grown insignificantly, and the SVT device was poorly known even by the majority of those who did military service. But they were also lost in the first six months of the fighting. The reinforcements were even less willing to use such weapons. This is not the fault of an ordinary soldier. Almost all conscripts, in the slightest degree familiar with technology, were selected for tank and mechanized troops, artillery, signal troops, etc., the infantry received mainly replenishment from the village, and the terms of training fighters for the "queen of the fields" were extremely tight. So for them, the "three-line" was preferable. It is characteristic that the marines and naval rifle brigades retained their loyalty to SVT throughout the war - more technically competent youth were traditionally selected for the fleet. SVT worked quite reliably in the hands of trained snipers. For most partisans, the SVT abandoned by the retreating army or recaptured from the Germans evoked the same attitude as in rifle units, but the trained NKVD and GRU groups preferred to take sniper SVT and automatic AVTs to the enemy rear.
32, 33. Factory hallmarks on rifles SVT-40
A few words about these modifications. Sniper rifles accounted for only about 3.5% of the total number of SVTs produced. They were removed from production on October 1 J '1942, resuming the production of the magazine snai-I Persian rifle. Accuracy of fire from SVT turned out to be 1, 6 times worse. The reasons lay in the shorter barrel length (it also caused a greater muzzle flame), imbalance due to movement and impacts of the mobile system before the bullet flew out of the barrel, displacement of the barrel and receiver in the stock, insufficiently rigid attachment of the sight bracket. It is worth considering the general advantages of magazine systems over automatic ones from the point of view of sniper weapons. Head of GAU N. D. Yakovlev talked about a "certain craftsman" on the Western Front, who already in the fall of 1941. remade his SVT into an automatic one (in Vannikov's memoirs, this episode is attributed to 1943). Stalin then ordered "to reward the author for a good offer, and punish him for unauthorized alteration of weapons with several days of arrest." Here, however, something else is interesting - not all front-line soldiers "tried to get rid of self-loading rifles", some even looked for a way to increase their combat rate of fire. On May 20, 1942, the USSR State Defense Committee made a decision to launch production of the previously postponed AVT-40 - in July it went into the active army. For automatic firing, the fuse in it turned further, and the bevel of its axis allowed a greater displacement of the trigger back - while the release of the trigger rod from the trigger rocker did not occur and the shooting could continue as long as the hook was pressed and there were cartridges in the store. SVTs were converted in 1942 into automatic and military workshops. Specialists of the GAU and the People's Commissariat of Armament were well aware of the low accuracy of fire in bursts from rifles (it was also detected on the AVS-36), and that with a relatively light barrel, the rifle loses its ballistic properties after the first long burst, and that the strength of the barrel SVT boxes are insufficient for automatic firing. The adoption of the AVT was a temporary measure, designed in the decisive moments of the battle to increase the density of fire at ranges of 200-500 m with a shortage of light machine guns in the infantry, although, of course, they could not replace the AVT and ABC light machine guns. The accuracy of the AVT-40 was inferior at a distance of 200 m to the accuracy of, say, the PPSh submachine gun - if the PPSh had a bullet muzzle energy-to-weapon weight ratio of about 172 J / kg, then uAVTiSVT-787 J / kg.
The issue of mass automatic individual weapons was by no means dormant, only it was solved by means of submachine guns, again much cheaper and easier to manufacture and more quickly mastered by fighters.
In total, during the war years, 12 139 300 rifles and carbines and 6 173 900 submachine guns were produced in the USSR. At the same time, the general production of conventional SVT-40 and AVT-40 in 1940-1944. amounted to more than 1 700 000, sniper - more than 60 000, and most of them were produced in 1940-41. The production of conventional SVT was completely discontinued only in accordance with the order of the State Defense Committee of the USSR on January 3, 1945 - it is unlikely that a really "unusable" sample would have remained in production for such a time.
VT. Fedorov, who generally spoke positively about Tokarev's works, wrote in 1944: "With regard to the number of self-loading rifles, the Red Army was by the beginning of World War II higher than the German one; unfortunately, the quality of SVT and AVT did not meet the requirements of the combat situation." Even before the adoption of SVT, such prominent specialists as VT. Fedorov and A. A. Blagonravov pointed to the reasons that complicate the creation of an effective automatic rifle - the contradiction between the presence of an automation system and weight restrictions, excessive power and mass of a cartridge - as well as a decrease in the role of rifles in shooting at medium and long ranges with the development of light machine guns. The experience of the war has confirmed this. Only the adoption of an intermediate cartridge - which Fedorov also wrote about - made it possible to satisfactorily resolve the problem of individual automatic weapons. We can say that since 1944. not only SVT, but also other rifles (except for sniper rifles) or carbines for a powerful rifle cartridge did not have any further prospects in the armament of our army.
34. Sniper Spirin, who killed 100 Nazis
35. Defender of Moscow with SVT-40 rifle. 1941
36 In the trenches near Moscow. 1941
The attitude of the enemy towards SVT during the war years is very interesting. The famous painting by the artist A. Deineka "Defense of Sevastopol" with SVT in his hands depicts not only Soviet sailors, but also soldiers of the Wehrmacht. The painter, of course, may not understand weapons, but in this case he unwittingly reflected reality in some way. Lacking small arms, especially automatic, the German army widely adopted trophy imagery as a "limited standard". So, captured SVT-40 received the designation "Selbstladegewehr 259 (g)" in the German army, sniper SVT - "SI Gcw ZO60 (r)". But German soldiers and officers really used our SVTs willingly, when they could stock up on cartridges. "Russian self-loading rifle with telescopic sight" was listed, for example, among the "best weapon" in the counter-guerrilla "yagdkommandas". They say the best form of flattery is imitation. Having failed with the development of the self-loading rifles G.41 (W) "Walter" and G.41 (M) "Mauser", the Germans in the middle of the war adopted 7, 92-mm G.43, bearing the features of the strong influence of the Soviet SVT - scheme gas outlet, short stroke of the piston rod, detachable magazine, lug under the telescopic sight bracket. True, the G.43 and its shortened version of the K. A. 43 did not become particularly widespread in the German army either. In 1943-1945. produced about 349,300 conventional G.43 and 53,435 sniper G.43ZFs (13% of the total - the Germans gave self-loading rifles with telescopic sight more importance), during the same period they produced about 437,700 assault rifles under the "shortcut". The clear influence of SVT can be seen in the post-war Belgian self-loading rifle SAFN M49, which was in service in a dozen countries.
Often, listing the shortcomings of the SVT, they cite as an example the successful experience of the Americans 7, 62-mm self-loading rifle Ml of the J. Garand system, which has earned both a good reputation and military glory. But the attitude towards her in the troops was ambiguous. Former paratrooper General M. Ridgway, comparing "Garand" with the store "Springfield", wrote: "Springfield I can act almost automatically, but with the new ML I am somehow not sure of myself." The Americans, by the way, spoke well about the SVT-40.
So, the reason for the curtailment of production of SVT and a sharp drop in its role in the weapons system was not so much design flaws as the problems of increasing production in difficult war conditions and the complexity of operation by insufficiently trained fighters. Finally, the era of massive military rifles chambered for powerful cartridges was simply ending. If, say, the Simonov rifle had been adopted on the eve of the war, instead of the SVT, it would surely have suffered the same fate.
The experience of the war forced us to speed up work on a new cartridge and a new type of individual automatic weapon - an automatic rifle, radically change approaches to the design and technology of its production. After World War II, the remaining SVT along with other weapons were supplied abroad, in the USSR the Tokarev self-loading rifle was used in honor guards, in the Kremlin regiment, etc. (It should be noted that here it was later replaced by a self-loading carbine of the Simonov system).
Partial disassembly of SVT-40:
1. Disconnect the store. Holding the weapon in a safe direction, pull back the bolt, inspect the chamber and make sure that there is no cartridge in it, release the bolt handle, pull the trigger, turn on the safety catch.
2. Push the receiver cover forward and, holding the return spring guide rod from the rear-bottom, separate the cover.
3. Pulling forward the guide rod of the return spring, release it, lift it up and remove it together with the return spring from the bolt.
4. Take the bolt stem back by the handle, move it up and remove the bolt from the receiver.
5. Separate the shutter frame from the stem.
6. Pressing the ramrod latch (under the muzzle of the barrel), remove the ramrod; press the cover of the false ring (bottom), remove the ring forward.
7. Pull the metal cover of the receiver lining forward, lift it and separate it from the weapon. Separate the wooden receiver plate by pushing back and up.
8. Pull back the rod until it comes out of the bushing of the gas piston, lift the rod up and pull it forward. Detach the gas piston.
9. Using a wrench from the accessory, unscrew the gas connection, press the front of the gas regulator and remove it.
10. Using a wrench, unscrew the front muzzle brake bushing and separate it.
Reassemble in reverse order. When assembling, pay attention to the exact position of the gas regulator and the coincidence of the grooves of the receiver cover with the protrusions and grooves of the return spring guide rod.
37. Sniper in the tree. Kalinin front. Summer 1942
38. Incomplete disassembly of the military production SVT-40 rifle. Piston and pusher are not separated. Simplified swivels are visible. Nearby - a bayonet in a scabbard
39. Tokarev 1940 self-loading carbine with a telescopic sight, specially made at TOZ as a gift to K. E. Voroshilov
40. At the observation post. Karelian front. 1944
41. Volkhovtsy snipers. Volkhov front
42. Defense of Odessa. Sailor in position
43, 45. Infantry before the attack Karelian front. Summer 1942
44. Sniper in a tree. Kalinin front. Summer 1942
