Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian small arms manufacturer which formed from the former Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, as part of an ongoing series looking at rare and interesting Russian firearms have released a video and some great photos showing off a rare example of Vladimir Fedorov’s Avtomat (automatic carbine).
In the early 1900s Vladimir Fedorov (Fyodorov) began developing a semi-automatic infantry rifle, chambered in 7.62x54R with a rotating bolt. The first prototypes were completed in 1906, however, these suffered from failures to extract. Federov joined the Weapons Section of the Main Artillery Commission in 1900, which was responsible for both foreign and domestic weapons testing and inspection. Federov probably encountered a great many designs and a period working with Sergei Mosin no doubt encouraged him to develop his own designs. By 1911, Fedorov had begun work on a new design, with the assistance of Vasily Degtyaryov, it was ready to submit it for testing. Tested against a design by Fedor Tokarev the Imperial Russian government ordered 150 Fedorov's for troop trials.
A disassembled Fedorov (source)
Still chambered in 7.62x54R, the rifle used a short recoil action. Russian service ammunition proved to be too powerful for the rifle’s action and in 1912, he began working on chambering his automatic rifle in a smaller prorietary 6.5mm rimless cartridge. this was intended to make the weapon more controllable and reliable.
In 1916, the decision was made to switch to the readily available Japanese 6.5x50mmSR cartridge. This round was chosen as the Imperial Russian Army at the time was using a substantial number of 6.5 Arisaka rifles to allay war shortages. Additionally, Fedorov made some fundamental changes to the design following a trip to France in 1915, to study French small arms and production techniques. Fedorov decided to make his rifle select fire capable and increase the weapon’s magazine capacity from 5 to 25 rounds to allow his rifle to be used in the ‘walking fire’ role pioneered by the CSRG 1915 Chautchat automatic rifle. Fedorov’s Avtomat was ready by 1916, and a small production run of the new Avtomats were readied,. These were issued to the 189th Izmail’skiy Regiment for troop trials. It is believed these early Avtomats saw action in December 1916
The eruption of the Russian Civil War in 1917, caused massive upheaval and Russia's exit from World War One. Fedorov sided with the revolutionaries who commissioned him to build 9,000 Avtomats.
Production was initially to be established at Sestroretsk in 1918, but was moved to the old Madsen factory at Kovrov. Production proved slow and only 3,200 Avotmat 1916s were made by October 1925. Matters were not helped when Fedorov was imprisoned by the Bolshevik authorities when they felt he was sabotaging production. He was released when Degtyaryov intervened and convinced them otherwise. The lack of tooling and machinists held production back and Fedorov’s production staff were forced to hand finish many parts.
Soviet troops with Fedorov’s during the Winter War (source)
The Avtomat was a complex weapon which was difficult to disassemble. It used a short recoil action with a breech which was locked by a cammed locking block. The rifle fed from a 25-round box magazine with a safety and fire-selector inside the trigger guard.
Fedorov's guns entered service in the early 1920s before being placed in reserve in 1928, due to the 6.5x50 round complicating the supply chain. They again saw action during the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939-40 when they were issued to mobile ski units as the Red Army had very few submachine guns in service. and a light, automatic weapon was desperately needed.
There is little doubt that Fedorov’s weapon was ahead of its time and depending on your chosen definition of what qualifies a weapon to be an ‘assault rifle’ then the Fedorov Avtomat is perhaps the earliest mass produced, formally issued assault rifle. Developed long before the tactical landscape that lead to the creation of the StG-44 and manufactured in extremely difficult circumstances.
Fedorov continued to develop small arms working on automatic rifles and a series of light machine guns with Degtyarov during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Fedorov retired in 1933, as a Lieutenant General, but was recalled when World War Two broke out. He remained on staff at the Artillery Academy until 1953 and died in 1966, aged 92.
The AK-47 Story, E.C. Ezell, (1988)
A Brief History of the Russian Fedorov Avtomat Rifle, TFB, M. Popenker (source)
My thanks to Max for some additional information and corrections.
Further assorted images (source)
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