On February 20, 1920, the designer of small arms Yevgeny Dragunov was born. And, although he is not as famous as his colleague in the workshop Mikhail Kalashnikov, the contribution of Evgeny Fedorovich to the arms business is no less significant. And his sniper rifle, created half a century ago, is still in service with many armies of the world. Here are ten interesting facts about the rifle and its creator.
Evgeny Fedorovich Dragunov
1
From a young age, Evgeny Dragunov was fond of small arms. At the age of 14, he already acquired his own hunting rifle, converted by some craftsman from an Austrian rifle of the 1895 model. In 1934, Yevgeny easily passed the standards for the Voroshilov shooter, and then for almost a year in the evenings he studied at the Osoaviakhim rifle school. Not surprisingly, when the young man was drafted into the army, he was immediately appointed as a shooting instructor - his level of training was so much higher than that of most recruits.
2
After the war, Dragunov came to get a job at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant. His grandfather and great-grandfather once worked there. In the personnel department of the plant, having learned about who Yevgeny served in the army, they immediately sent him for an interview to the department of the chief designer. Dragunov passed the interview successfully and was enrolled in the department as a research technician. Since then, Yevgeny Fedorovich's whole life was connected with the design department of Izhmash, where he worked until 1991.
Dragunov sniper rifle fully loaded
3
During the war years, Izhmash acted without exaggeration as a smithy of small arms. There, tank guns, aircraft machine guns, rifles and carbines of the Mosin, Simonov and Tokarev systems - more than twenty items in total - were produced in large quantities. However, there were almost no own developments. The company's management was actively looking for talented young gunsmiths-designers. Dragoons are one of them.
4
The first independent development of Dragunov as a gunsmith was the bracket for the telescopic sight of a sniper rifle of the 1891/1930 model. The essence of the invention was as follows. Previously, the shooter loaded the magazine with cartridges, taking them out one at a time from the clip. The new design of the bracket made it possible to equip the magazine with cartridges directly from the clip, which significantly reduced the time of this operation.
5
Simultaneously with the Dragunov bracket, on behalf of the plant management, he began to develop a new sniper rifle. The experimental model was named "MS-74" (which means: "modernized sniper plant number 74" - that was the official name of Izhmash) and successfully passed factory tests. However, the rifle did not go into production at that time. The fact is that just at this time, serial production of the AK-47 assault rifle began at Izhmash. The rifle had to be postponed.
Evgeny Dragunov at the test site
6
The first weapon developed by Dragunov and launched into series was the S-49 sporting rifle. It is the first Soviet target rifle designed for sport shooting at all levels of competition. The S-49 has proven itself very well. Already in September 1950, at international competitions in Bulgaria, our athletes set a world record in prone, kneeling and standing shooting at a distance of 300 m.
7
At the end of the 1950s, the question of the serial production of a sniper rifle for the army and special services came up again. A competition for the best sniper rifle was announced, in which, in addition to Dragunov, Sergei Simonov and a designer from Kovrov, Alexander Konstantinov, took part. At the beginning of 1962, tests took place.
The Dragunov rifle was recognized as the best. After a comprehensive check, the rifle was put into service in the Soviet army in 1963 under the name SVD (Dragunov sniper rifle).
8
In the 1960s-1980s, more than 40 models of hunting and over 50 models and modifications of high-precision sporting weapons were created at Izhmash under the leadership of Evgeny Dragunov or with his participation. Dragunov rifles helped Soviet athletes win over 300 medals at international competitions of the highest level, including one and a half hundred gold.
9
American military experts called the SVD the best sniper rifle of the 20th century. The Swiss have the same high opinion of the Dragunov rifle. According to analysts of the Swiss military magazine Schweizer Waffen Magazin, the SVD confidently covers the most stringent NATO standards. As far as reliability is concerned, the Dragunov rifle has no equal: it can function in the most difficult weather conditions and does not require careful maintenance.
10
Evgeny Fedorovich Dragunov created the largest dynasty of arms designers in Russia. At various times, his sons, grandchildren and two daughters-in-law worked and continue to work at Izhmash in the department of the chief designer.
