Sergey Gavrilovich Simonov (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Сергей Гаврилович Симонов; 9 April 1894 – 6 May 1986) was a soviet weapons designer; he is considered 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 Fyodorov and

Fedor Tokarev Fedor Vasilievich Tokarev (russian: Фёдор Васи́льевич То́карев; 2 June 1871 4 June in old Russian calendarref name=rFedor Tokarev – Brief History Tokarev.com. Retrieved on 2014-02-16. – 6 March 1968) was a Russian we ...

. His early work preceded both the

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World War ...

(of 1933), and the later

M1 Carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...

, and

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

series. Born in 1894 in

Fedotovo Fedotovo (russian: Федотово) is the name of several types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural localities in Russia. Ivanovo Oblast As of 2010, two rural localities in Ivanovo Oblast bear this name: *Fedotovo, Puchezhsky District, Iv ...

, Simonov began work in a foundry immediately after completing his elementary school studies. By the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, after completing a basic technician's course of instruction, he began working on a pioneering

automatic rifle An automatic rifle is a type of autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally select-fire weapons capable of firing in semi-automatic and automatic firing modes (some automatic rifles are capable of ...

Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov (russian: Владимир Григорьевич Фёдоров) (3 (15) May, 1874, Saint Petersburg – 19 September 1966, Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet scientist, weapons designer, professor, lieutenant general ...

, the

Federov Avtomat The Fedorov Avtomat (also anglicized as Federov, ) or FA is a selective fire, select-fire infantry rifle and also one of the world's first operational automatic rifles, designed by Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov in 1915 and produced in the Russia ...

. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, Simonov continued further at the

Moscow Polytechnic Institute Moscow ( , American English, US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia. The city stands on t ...

, graduating in 1924 to work at Russia's giant

Tula Arsenal Imperial Tula Arms Plant (russian: Императорский Тульский оружейный завод, Imperatorskiy Tulsky Oruzheiny Zavod) is a Russian weapons manufacturer founded by Tsar Peter I of Russia in 1712 in Tula, Tula Oblast as ...

. By 1926 he had become a quality-control inspector at

Tula Tula may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Tula Mountains *Tula Point India *Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar Iran * Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province Italy * Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the pr ...

, and by 1927, had been promoted into the

Soviet Design and Development Department The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

where he worked directly under Fyodorov. The Simonov AVS-36, which entered service in the 1930s would see service in the early part of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, up to about 1940 or so where it was replaced by other semi-automatic designs. During

, Simonov designed some firearms of his own; a

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

which did not enter production, and a self-loading

anti-tank rifle An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the vehicle armor, armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that c ...

, the

14.5×114mm The 14.5×114mm (.57 calibre) is a heavy machine gun and anti-materiel rifle cartridge used by the Soviet Union, the former Warsaw Pact, modern Russia, and other countries. It was originally developed for the PTRS and PTRD anti-tank rifles, ...

PTRS The PTRS-41 or Simonov anti-tank rifle (russian: ПротивоТанковое Ружьё Симонова) is a World War II-era semi-automatic anti-tank rifle firing the 14.5×114mm cartridge. Design The PTRS-41 was produced and used by the ...

, which went on to form the basis — in scaled-down form - of the SKS. An earlier semi-automatic rifle, the

AVS-36 The AVS-36 (from ''Avtomaticheskaya Vintovka Simonova 1936 model''; russian: Автоматическая винтовка Симонова образца 1936 года (АВС-36)) was a Soviet automatic rifle which saw service in the early year ...

, was hindered by official insistence on using the powerful

7.62×54mmR The 7.62×54mmR is a rimmed rifle cartridge developed by the Russian Empire and introduced as a service cartridge in 1891. Originally designed for the bolt-action Mosin–Nagant rifle, it was used during the late tsarist era and throughout th ...

, which was at that point standard amongst

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

s. Unfortunately, as had been demonstrated with the

SVT-40 The SVT-40 (Samozaryadnaya Vintovka Tokareva, Obrazets 1940 goda, "Tokarev self-loading rifle, model of 1940", Russian: Самозарядная винтовка Токарева, образец 1940 года, often nicknamed "'' Sveta''") is a S ...

, the rim of the

was detrimental to the rapid, reliable function of a

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-act ...

. By 1943, advances in thinking - and confirmed data showed engagements took place between 100 meters to 300 meters — led to the adoption of a shorter, less powerful round, the 7.62×39mm 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 the SKS went to the

Belorussian Offensive Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

for battlefield trials. After some tweaking, it was officially adopted and designated the ''7.62 Samozaryadnyi Karabin Sistemy Simonova Obrazets 1945 g.'' (translated, "7.62 Self-loading Carbine System Simonov model year 1945") or SKS-45, and chosen as the ideal replacement for the

Projects

AG-043 AG-043 (АГ-043) was a Soviet compact fully automatic assault rifle or carbine chambered for the 5.45×39mm round, developed in 1975. The weapon is a derivative of the earlier and similar AO-31 which also is Simonov's adaption of the AK-47. T ...

* AKS-53 * AKS-91 *

AO-35 assault rifle The AO-35 is a prototype assault rifle of Soviet origin. The weapon is an AK-47 derivative using a laminated wood stock to decrease its weight. A 5.45×39mm version existed; it entered the 1968 trials for the new 5.45×39mm assault rifle, but it wa ...

AO-63 assault rifle The AO-63 () is a Soviet two-barrel AK derived assault rifle chambered for the 5.45×39mm round. It was designed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov, Sergei Simonov and Peter Andreevich Tkachev, Peter Tkachev, and manufactured by TsNIITochMash. It uses ...

Honours and awards

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

(1954) * Three

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...

, 2nd class *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

, 1st class *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

, twice * Honoured Inventor of the RSFSR (1964) * Medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" *

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

, twice (1942 and 1949)

References

External links

Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonov, Sergei 1894 births 1986 deaths People from Vladimir Oblast Firearm designers Soviet inventors Soviet engineers Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Stalin Prize winners