Precision Comparison

In 1948, it was clear that the PPSh has served its time, and a new, more powerful automatic infantry weapon was necessary, using an intermediate 7.62x39 mm mod. 1943 cartridge. Several weapons were designed to Tactical-Technical Specification #3131 and tested along with their submachinegun ancestor and the German Sturmgewehr for comparison.

The columns represent the radii of dispersion for bursts while prone and single fire while prone. R100 gives the full radius, and Ч50 gives the mean radius. The rifles are as follows:

• AS-44 type 7 (with 3 vent openings)
• AS-44 (no changes)
• Kalashnikov assault rifle
• Dementyev assault rifle
• Bulkin assault rifle
• Korobov assault rifle
• Submachinegun model 1941 (PPSh)
• MP-44 (Sturmgewehr)

And the last row is the precision requirement. The summary reads:

"The AS-44 with vent openings (type 7) surpasses all other assault rifles: in Ч50 by 2-4 times, and in R100 by 2.3-7 times. The precision when firing in full auto mode matches requirements."

It is also interesting to note that the famous Kalashnikov made the list. Despite being less precise than the modified AS-44 and failing TTT#3131, the weapon surpasses the Sturmgewehr in all criteria except single fire mode while prone, where the latter has a slight advantage.

Taubin's Grenade Launcher

In the mid 1930s, an automatic grenade launcher made by engineer Taubin was tested in the USSR. There were some good things about it, like a satisfactory shrapnel radius for grenades and a high rate of fire: 436 RPM! However, there were also many problems. It jammed a lot (7.2% of the shots), and the extractor had to be replaced 30 times over 587 shots. The precision, especially on the horizontal axis, was unsatisfactory.

However, Taubin did not give up. He wrote to Molotov, Voroshilov, and Kaganovich, with pleas to produce his mortar, complaining the the Red Army lacks the ability to suppress hardpoints on reverse slopes at a range of 500-1200 meters at the company level. The letters contained such gems as: "The production of an automatic grenade launcher, the value of which was identified by the army in December of 1937, is being held back intentionally... The employees of Design Bureau 16 consider it necessary to create a commission in order to confirm the facts stated in this letter and identification of the parties guilty of artificially delaying the progress of the automatic grenade launcher."

In response to these claims, Division Commander Grendal sent his own letter, remarking that the Red Army possesses company level mortars for such tasks, and "In order to reduce the amount of correspondence between us in the future, it is suggested that your workers ask Artkom in person (available from 14:00 to 17:00) regarding issues they do not understand."

GVG Machinegun

The Red Army started WWII with two infantry machineguns: the light magazine fed handheld DP and heavy belt fed mounted Maxim. Both were quite aged designs by the time, so a replacement was considered.

"Photo #1. Magazine fed GVG machinegun in combat position (bipod with limiters)
Photo #2. View from the right. GVG machinegun in transport position."

"Photo #3. Belt fed GVG machinegun in combat position with rollers.
Photo #4. View from the left. Belt fed GVG machinegun in transport position."

"Conclusions

Based on the results of trials, NIPSVO KA concludes the following:

Positive qualities of the machinegun

1. Simplicity and convenience of use (loading, clearing jams, moving firing positions with rollers, etc).
2. Simplicity and low cost compared to the DP machine gun.
3. Satisfactory shot groups, equivalent to the groups of the DP with the Starovoytov mount.
4. Two feeding mechanisms, belt and magazine (stock).
5. Reliability of the magazine feed, both with brass and steel casings (out of 4594 rounds fired, the machinegun caused jams 0.13% of the time), and the belt feed with steel casings (out of 16717 rounds fired, the machinegun caused jams 0.3% of the time).
6. Satisfactory life span of machinegun parts.

Negative qualities of the machinegun

1. Low reliability when using belt feed with brass casings due to bullets falling out.
2. The rate of fire with magazine feed is high for a hand-held machinegun (660-765 RPM).
3. Unreliable operation of the machinegun with an unevenly loaded belt (when rounds are loaded too deeply).
4. Small design flaws, unsatisfactory magazine latch, backplate pin, barrel retention wedge, etc.

Conclusions

Based on the above, NIPSVO KA decrees that:

1. Due to the sufficient simplicity of manufacture, ease of use, and combat quality of the machinegun (groups, parts lifespan, mechanism reliability), it is reasonable to produce several experimental prototypes for the final solution to the question of mass producing this machine gun.

2. When producing experimental prototypes, resolve the aforementioned defects."CAMD RF 81-12040-29