AVS-36: The First Soviet Infantry Battle Rifle

The AVS-36 was the first self-loading rifle adopted by the Soviet Union to be a standard infantry rifle, and it was not just semiautomatic, but also capable of fully automatic fire. Designed by Sergei Simonov over the course of about ten years, it would only last a short time in service before being replaced by the Tokarev SVT-38 and then SVT-40.
The AVS-36 uses a short stroke gas piston system that remains popular to this day, and a quite unusual locking system incorporating two asymmetrical locking flaps and a vertically traveling locking block. It is striker fired, with semi and full auto selector positions and a 15-round detachable magazine (plus stripper clip guide). In total, 65,800 were made between 1934 and 1940, with true mass production beginning in 1937.
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[@djwoody1649]

"Names you've never heard of, like Resnov." Oohhhh we've all heard of him.

[@forrestclark6069]

my name... is VICTOR REZNOV

[@willh.7755]

And I will have my REVENGE

[@alucardvigilatedismas2868]

The numbers Mason, what do they mean!?

[@ImYourIchigo]

@@alucardvigilatedismas2868 that would be Hudson doing Math

[@sumvs5992]

I love how his name translates to "massacre" and we first meet him in the fountain. Just brilliant in my opinion.

[@rad666a]

I would just like to say thank you to the owners of these firearms for allowing Ian to dismantle them for our viewing pleasure.

[@robertkubrick3738]

Me too, but it might add value to the weapon...As seen on Forgotten Weapons.

[@acewolfgang276]

@Mocking goat that's because giving Ian a gun is like giving jesus one of your stuff. It makes it worth 10x more.

[@AllAboutMiims]

The real MVP (apart from Ian) because letting someone take apart your *extremely rare & valuable* gun, is not something you don't worry over.

[@borisdorofeev5602]

It's like letting your hot wife strip in front of a camera.

[@hasanfoyejul5500]

@@acewolfgang276 with all due respect dear "no one should call someone JESUS ! ধন্যবাদ... thanks

[@PhotoshopShopCS6]

If you knocked hard enough at the wood, you could still hear the "Uraaaaaa" in it.

[@seventhsonofaseventhson.6559]

No, you hear the screams of the starving soviet civilians when when you tap this rifle.

[@Mr1234d]

William Randall r/wooosh

[@BigBoiBleu]

@@seventhsonofaseventhson.6559 I hear homeless veterans when I tap an AR15

[@Foolishman1776]

Urod?

[@tristanholland6445]

Why with all the political stuff? Geez this video is about a firearm it's design and operation.

[@karas3248]

You can see the roots of the sks in that rifle

[@charaznable2379]

kazotzky kicks with Samozaryadny Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945.Embracing m59 cross armed while bayonet extended .

[@rifles_up2263]

Definitely!!

[@TheArklyte]

If you forget that SKS is just scaled down PTRS... yes, there some similarities. It also has barrel, trigger and stock for example:P

[@wewd]

@@TheArklyte Simonov made all those rifles, so the similarity is inherent in them as in Kalashnikov's many similar designs.

[@gunnerr8476]

Same designer made the SKS

[@thegoldencaulk2742]

"The Russians just make crude and simple guns" _[shows them AVS-36]_

[@dndboy13]

an-94 b o i s

[@Ray-lf1eo]

Fedorov..

[@wills2140]

How's your Fedorov working?

[@TheArklyte]

@Soul Calibur neither were they simple. Look at Nagant revolver. So much fucking around just to get max power out of short 7.62 ammo. Why? Because they wanted to drill barrels on the same machinery as was used to make Mosins in different 7.62. And yet keep the cartridge short. Mosin itself is notoriously bad for being not any simpler or cheaper then SMLE or Kar98. And definitely much more expensive then MAS-36.

[@abk4202020]

@@dndboy13 an94 is the death of the AK

[@skyflier8955]

Is anyone else amazed by how incredibly clever these mechanisms are?

[@phillgizmo8934]

Yes.

[@ihcfn]

Must have had swiss/german ancestry :-D

[@Irregular_John]

lost and confused your KZbin handle describes you to a T.

[@keithsimpson2685]

@@Irregular_John People like to suck off German/Japanese engineering because it enforces their weird idea that nations have a specific character. Really it's probably just they have better consumer protections lol.

[@gregdaweson4657]

@@Irregular_John lmao

[@den2k885]

This gun is brilliant. It was a select fire full powered battle rifle holding 15 rounds - basically the M14 25 years early. It is surprisingly easy to field strip without tools, better than some modern guns. This is truly amazing.

[@kardsufur2966]

there are some games like Heroes & Generals ww2 where the avs-36 is by far the most powerful and superior gun on the soviet side which all players use :)

[@howdoyouturnthison7827]

@@kardsufur2966 It is equivalent of mkb 42 in Red orchestra 2.

[@mikec8086]

@@howdoyouturnthison7827 thats the avt40 in ro2

[@daniels0376]

@@kardsufur2966 Video games don't portray the downsights of this rifle. You don't see how expensive it was to produce, you don't see how often it would break down, you don't see the higher resources which had to be put into a conscript army to train them for such a system. Besides in video games full auto rifles are great because it takes 2-3 shots to kill an enemy and the full auto delivers that more quickly. IRL it usually was 1 shot one kill with those high calibers and no body armor.

[@josephahner3031]

@@daniels0376 not as much as you'd think, the lethality of rifle fire depends on shot placement just like today. More powerful rounds will do more damage and be more likely to rupture internal organs but it's not a guaranteed kill.

[@user-ys2eq7mg1k]

"Симонов" - "Simonov" - pronounced with long "e" like in "sea". Great presentation as always. I remember article about this rifle in 1946 Blagonravov's book - there was long list of design flaws, including dangerous to the user double feed. Rifle had no good way to check chamber visually, because of it's locking and gas system.

[@andrewp.1873]

This is correct thanks.

[@Woistdeingott]

Yep. Ian, Russians tend to use the letter И in names like that vs the ай sound you made, just for future reference

[@kefeer123]

Adding to that, if it is Russian, then "i" is always "ea" and that other "i" would be "ay". We don't have a separate letter for "ay" (but we have "я" for "ya" and "ю" for "yu"). Also, that's pronounced "S. S. S. eR.", not CCCP.

[@user-yi3jz9un2f]

Американцы говорят о том как произносится фамилия Симонов.Это даже забавно."И" у нас произносится как "И" и никак "ай" там нет.

[@ZekeAxel]

@@kefeer123 I'm pretty sure the See-See-See-Pee was intentional.

[@01ZombieMoses10]

I find it really quite remarkable that even after the complete and total upheaval of the revolution and the following terrifying in-fighting, the brand new Soviet Union did not let grass grow under its feet. Despite whatever you may think about Russian culture and the state of their politics in any given era, you have to admire their ability to get on with pushing the envelope no matter how uncertain and dangerous the present may be.

[@IceWolfLoki]

To be fair though one of the reasons that the revolution was able to take hold was because the failure of the Imperial Army during WW1 because they were poorly equipped and supplied had the Tsar been able to equip and supply his armies adequately it's likely morale would have been better and the situation not devolved into revolution or alternativly the Revoultion would have been easy to put down. I suspect the Soviets didn't want to see a repeat of those situations.

[@Blazo_Djurovic]

Well, one of the benefits of the revolution was that it swept away a lot of limitations due to class on who could do what. It still didn't mean anyone could advance everywhere, if your background was labeled as reactionary you'd have issues, but that applied to a much smaller segment of population. So in turn a LOT of junior engineers who weren't factory owners and like stayed and were studdenly given pretty much free reign to submit designs to central requests. Plus communists were REAAAALY interested in being or appearing modern, and breaking with the old traditions. So if something was something new that was looked at as a newfangled thing in the West, and Soviets could manufacture that (their main issues were manufacturing often not being up to snuff AND having gaping holes in theoretical side given that a lot of academy people fled) they were fiddling with it a LOT during 20s and early 30s.

[@CharlesGaines]

People were pumped to be part of something new and probably pretty exciting.

[@fkboyStalin]

Soviets were not only Russians.

[@KonstaKokC]

1936: Lets put a Bolt hold open to our new gun - ok, cool 2018: AK-12 accepted into service - ooh we don't need that

[@sqeeye3102]

@@quentintin1 It's more than just the quality of life upgrade of pushing a button, a bolt hold-open shows you when you are empty very clearly (instead of dropping the hammer on nothing) and also makes it easier to insert a fully loaded magazine. There are plenty of aftermarket solutions to the problem including AK pattern rifles made from the factory with bolt hold-opens integral to the rifle. It really is a stupid decision to not implement something so simple and useful into your new military rifle.

[@sqike001ton]

@@sqeeye3102 true the bolt hold mags are good Hungarian or yugo ones I believe but you still have to run the bolt as when you drop the mag the bolt slams home

[@konstantinavilov1192]

As I think, the real reason for no bolt hold open in the final military version of AK-12 is that the army wanted full back-compatibility with stock AK-74 mags (which are stored in gazillions by the army). In fact, the final AK-12 is a reworked AK-74, unlike the first iteration of AK-12, which was a truly new and very progressive gun.

[@80m63rM4n]

Still crying over the AK-12 they killed.

[@user-ys2eq7mg1k]

@@sqeeye3102 I believe the reason behind "no bolt hold open device" is backward compatibility with millions of standart AK-74 mags in service. There is no way to replace it in foreseen future, so why bother with hold open? Plus many people don't push button, they just rack the bolt, even on ARs and pistols.

[@MasterOfHelium]

It is curious to know that Simonov was the apprentice of Fedorov. because this gun actually shows it, both from the outside aesthetically and some of the inner shapes and mechanics too!

[@belakkale]

There was one more interesting feature - its bayonet had a position that allowed it to function as monopod. That was canceled on last period of production, as well as 20 round mags

[@danapatelzick594]

These Russian designs are always interesting, the designers must have paid attention in their physics classes. The axis of the barrel on this rifle looks to be just slightly above the point of contact on the shoulder. The Garand's barrel position was in the more classic position where the barrel length provided the most accurate location for iron sights. Pretty cool.

[@user-sp8ew8yk9k]

This is a Russian school, which is unique in that each designer adds something different. There is no task to make a commercial profit from the project, there is a goal, to give the army a cheap, convenient, reliable weapon. In the selection process, the final product gets the best items. When developing the Famous SVD rifle (Dragunov Rifle) Simnonov (ABC) also participated in the competition, it was not the best. As a result, he transferred all his achievements and experience to Dragunov. Dragunov developed only sports weapons (accurate but gentle). Ultimately, the Russian army received the best sample that is accurate and works as a "soldier", in the mud and cold. In its unique approach to the problem.

[@MrMaxStalsky]

Михаил Сабанцев вот вам и сравнения двух экономических систем. Вот только я бы назвал это Советской школой. Именно при советской власти деньги ни значили почти ничего. Сейчас и при царях бабки считали еще как. Особенно это видно по первой мировой и по чеченским войнам.

[@Irregular_John]

Sarmax Полностью поддерживаю. Fully concur my Russian compatriot. The whole algorithm of how the weapons were built in USSR (without concern about profit limiting the end result) clearly demonstrates the difference between socialist/communist and capitalist socio-economic formations.

[@Bialy_1]

"In its unique approach to the problem." yea it is called in the free world "lie to the very end"... even only few years before USSR colapse this crapy system was promoted as the best by propaganda similar to the one that you provided here. Something so simple as bicycle was only a dream for most of the citizens when this country was producing millions of weponds similar to the one that we can see in the video so the Red Army can spread the comunistic revolution to all the countries where people was dreaming about cars as they was able to buy a bike... Golden Age for USSR was after WW2 when stealing from Central Europe started but it could not last forever. Even war reparation from Germany to Poland(the most destroyed country during that war) were stolen by "noble" USSR... that btw started this war hand by hand with Germany. Poland in sep 1939 was attacked by Germany and USSR not to mention that they agreed before the war started that USSR gonna end up with over 51% of the Polish territory!

[@strahinjastevic7480]

@@Bialy_1 stfu

[@vulekv93]

@@Bialy_1 Profits don't exclude patriotism. And that communistic system really failed. State would dictate what kind of shoes you can wear, what kind of food you can eat... It was insane.

[@leojampolsky3226]

The numbers could represent different factories, that produced specific parts. It was a custom in USSR. We had a "Zhiguli" car, that the numbers on the parts were from different factories. You could buy a brand new bicycle, that was made in different republics of the soviet union.

[@bengttolkis8646]

The "extra" flapper locks work as an out battery safety and they also double as an full auto sear, so they are quite essential for this type of locking, striker and sear combo.

[@davidkohler7454]

This is a work of art in gunsmithing.all of the Geometry involved is just crazy. It's obvious that more things were discovered and then simplified. But they really put a lot of good effort into this weapon. All of the metal dovetailing and machinework is amazing. I can really appreciate this one .

[@yurijsmislov2190]

Как мало осталось рабочих образцов это винтовки и в таком хорошем состоянии. Спасибо за обзор.

[@PlanetRibooted]

It’s really cool to see many of the elements carried through to the SKS, in this much earlier rifle.

[@spinosaurusiii7027]

Yeah. From the AVS to the SVT, but then also to the PTRS, and from there to the SKS

[@TacticalUniverse]

I would pay many many moneys for this gun....but... I don't have many many moneys.

[@maximilienrobespierre7927]

It is unfortunate when you only have little little moneys.

[@elwayfan01]

Don't you hate it when you have 3 kids and no money, when you'd rather have no kids and 3 money?

[@goldenislands8142]

Est 18,000$-25,000$, current bid 12,000$. POCKET CHANGE! :P

[@TheGearhead222]

Could have bought an SVT-40 when they came in , but remember that they required a special tool for adjusting the gas system, which at the time was very hard to locate, although people began making repro's later. That plus they were relatively $ to me at the time and I discovered that they had other issues as mentioned. Still , a fascinating gun as a collectable shooter-the Germans thought enough of them that they used any example of this design that they found! Shot a friends SVT-40 and was impressed at how well the gas system dampened the recoil, plus the gun was just as accurate, IMHO, as a Mosin-Nagant 91-30--John in Texas

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

the whole dis and reassembly makes this thing a genius construction.

[@ivanhecimovic5272]

I have a picture of my grandfather with sniper verzion of this rifle

[@nathan655555]

Would love to see it

[@ObsoleteVodka]

You could scan it and upload it somewhere. Please share it with us if you do!

[@Pajdas610]

Paški Sir dobro ime haha.

[@justineallandevelos6491]

But this rifle never went into service you must be referring to the SVT-40 with a scope?

[@Random-os3md]

Justine allan Develos actually this gun went into service into 1940 and replaced by SVT 38 & 40

[@YugoslavGamer]

2:23 Reznov? Chernov! You walk.

[@FL0D0S]

Apparently his design was so bad he got sent to a labour camp! Or maybe his number just came up?

[@codystickler8779]

I was rhinking the same thing hahah

[@FEDsShotMOM]

it blows my mind the interesting lives these designers lived. from being an armory extra hand/custodian, to being taken in my famous designers to eventually designing one of the most common weapons on the planet

[@kyuzotatsuya9641]

I love how the trigger system works, it looks so complex disassembled but once you see it working its beautifully simple

[@0115Heather]

It looks like they took an sks, a mosin, and a tokarev; put them all together and then mixed in a little bit of lhati and a mini14.... Soviet weapons are always such cool looking machines as well. Thank you for the video and the history lesson.

[@samuel88andrews]

From my semester of Russian I believe its pronounced "See-mon-ov". My Russian history teacher, who's Russian also mentioned him in class pronouncing his name like that.

[@Voldombo]

Yes, this is correct pronunciation.

[@galliman123]

Our crypto saviour

[@samuel88andrews]

@@galliman123 crypto?

[@robleyusuf2566]

See-miyo-nov

[@robleyusuf2566]

@@Voldombo no it is see-miyo-nov

[@necrothitude]

These detailed teardowns are absolutely fantastic! Seeing the mechanics and learning how different designs all evolved and were informed by each other is seriously fun.

[@nicksande6880]

Reznov? A name we havent heard of? Cutting the jokes this rifle does look interesting

[@galliman123]

VORKUTA

[@justineallandevelos6491]

Uraaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

[@zanedeklerk]

Ian you are such an angel for making these videos, without you a lot of firearms would go, well, forgotten. Very impressive that you upload everyday. I've been watching your videos for years and I think the way you have kept the quality high is very commendable.

[@somnitek]

Loved that little exposition on the functioning of the trigger. I always had trouble picturing that sorta thing in my head but watching that pretty much cleared up any questions I could have possibly had. That was great! Thank you!

[@belakkale]

and btw, this rifles first time saw action in 1939 in USSR-Japan conflict

[@rodstalwart2659]

Thank you very much Ian for that semi and auto mechanism function you discussed on this firearm. It is so far the best of the video presentation. I could ask for nothing more. Excellent. God keep you brother!

[@craigwarby2188]

What a fantastic rifle. So much history right there. I’m from the UK, don’t own any guns, I love the history and engineering that is featured in every video that you create. Great work 👍🏼

[@Arthurzeiro]

And yet the us took all that time to put a box magazine on the M1.

[@baker90338]

They had to work trying to convert a M1 to use box mags until they flipped the table and re did the action

[@thegoldencaulk2742]

And the Italians did it in a fraction of the time anyway with the BM-59. The M14 is a travesty.

[@kennieminski7080]

A travesty, really? The only mechanical problems I am aware of are the finicky rock and lock magazines and firing 308 in full auto from the shoulder. So what about the rifle would lower it to the level of 'travesty'? You can't really blame it's development time on the rifle itself that squarely lies on the American ordinance board being its usual derpy self.

[@dylanwebb5199]

@@kennieminski7080 until you get a minute amount of dirt/sand/mud in that EXPOSED bolt. But other than that in semi auto it's a fine rifle.

[@kennieminski7080]

@@dylanwebb5199 So the m1 garand is a travesty as well then? Or the sks?

[@Nightwindale]

I've waited for so long for this piece to appear, thanks Ian! Also, although you were already corrected by folks about pronunciation of "Simonov", i clearly remember that you got it right in some early videos (probably PTRS, don't remember for sure now).

[@Mrgunsngear]

great info as always

[@SilverWolfM200LDH]

That's why I love this channel, I always learn something-I thought the Soviet's first infantry rifle was the SKS.

[@Requeium]

Not gonna lie for how early this rifle is some of this firearm is brilliant. I love some of the design directions Simonov took and it has some very slick ways of passing hurdles. From that floating seer bar the elevator locking block i love this firearm. Thanks ian again for a fantastic bit of educational engineering history!

[@markcockerill451]

The small wedges on the side are not locking lugs they hold the striker back till it’s in battery . For full auto fire

[@polduseri909]

Very impressed with your explanation. You did a great job in explaining the whole functionality of the rifle. I wish one day to be able to know just a little bit of hw my own guns works. Thank you!

[@goneutt]

It's always amazing to see the ingenuity that goes into weapons design. And a good amount of this was stamped metal.

[@bigdogbourne]

short video about Stryker fire vs hammer like your short stroke vs long stroke? just an idea. keep up great work.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

when bringing up striker/hammer fired might as well throw in single/double action in the same round.

[@williamjacobs236]

Another great video Ian .

[@workingmansdead44-ug8hl]

Always fascinating, informative and entertaining content,Ian.

[@ThreenaddiesRexMegistus]

That’s a clever but busy locking system. I expect it would give problems with dirt intrusion, but do so safely. The trigger design is also ingenious. There’s a lot going on inside there!

[@fp4592]

СССP on the stock has actualy "SSSR" pronounce: as Soyus Sovyetskih Sotsialisticheskih Respublic (USSR)

[@Jari_Kuusisto]

Try to say that fast with a marshmallow in your mouth...

[@drdnout]

@@Jari_Kuusisto Tikkurilla!

[@blago998]

@@Jari_Kuusisto easy

[@gothia1715]

Such an interesting time of fire arms developement. Especially when it comes to self loading rifles and machine guns. There werent proven best systems yet so the engineers had to try out alot of stuff and had to come up with new ideas. Even tho many things about the AVS arent ideal its still incredible how smart many of the solutions were.

[@Aravzil]

What an incredibly interesting video. You really went into the details with the mechanism.

[@johngz3413]

that is a beautiful piece of hardware and you could have used the front pin edge as your screw driver to remove the triger guard... no tools

[@vii7031]

Are you planning on filming the PTRS rifle?

[@ForgottenWeapons]

When I find a suitable example, definitely

[@AlASokolov]

@@ForgottenWeapons Can this AVS to shoot? Do you plan to shoting range?

[@tristanholland6445]

@@AlASokolov he did show a short clip of himself firing an AVS36 so I assume he has a fourth coming firing video. Posted a very short clip of himself firing an AVS on Facebook maybe a month ago

[@TheGearhead222]

Amazing that MARSTAR in Canada sold the PTRD and PTRS legally to the masses at one time in Canada!: forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?402149-PTRS-anti-tank-rifle Unfortunately, it looks like there are proposed laws to change classification of .50 and larger caliber ammo there-John in Texas

[@nopenopenopenope194]

I love these guns, the AVS-36, SVT-38 and SVT40. I own an SVT40 and it is art. It vertically strings shots but I still love it.

[@aries_9130]

This is so awesome. Thank you very much for the video, Ian!

[@rickyracestrickland8927]

As simplistic as the Russians like their weapons to be,I could never imagine them trying to MASS produce these rifles right smack in the middle of a war!!! Ian is right about it being a good example of early automatic weapons alright. It's unnecessary busy compared to the simpler weapons we see today. Especially Russian weapons. The "3 lock"locking system is unreal!!!! On the other hand....I wish someone with good milling knowledge would produce quality reproductions of weapons like these,or the G43,etc. There's not enough originals to go around for those of us highly interested in these old kind of guns.

[@johnmorgan1629]

So the screws a travel limiter, bit like British Prison Officer!

[@diestormlie]

I appreciate you.

[@user-wx3wc4bo7c]

When I still owned a SVT 40 that was a real commitment to clean after a day of shooting....

[@parrotraiser6541]

Ingeniously intricate. It's a pleasure watching Ian dismantle things.

[@Purpmaster]

My god this thing is complex. Would be a nightmare to disassemble in the field lol. Awesome gun, great video. 👍

[@keenanmcbreen7073]

"OH! And it didnt hurt that Stalin knew Tokarev, and liked Tokarev." Minor detail lol

[@sadwingsraging3044]

Not a chance it had any bearing on the final outcome. Coincidence I'm sure!

[@Chetanoo]

Thank you for you job Yan. That's a lot of history knowledge.

[@McDylanNuggets]

This one was great! With these were in 4K. I hope that's an upgrade coming to this channel soon!

[@teppokuusisto144]

Side-note: Svenska Frivilligkåren (SFK) aka Swedish Volunteer Corps whom held the section in northern Finland during the latter parts of the Winter war captured these from the Soviets in the battles of Märkäjärvi/Salla (Lapland). That is the base for the lineage from Simonov AVS-35 / AVS-36 to Automatgevär m/42 (Ljungman AG-42).

[@CornishMoose]

That’s a pretty nice looking rifle!

[@DanNantz]

Nothing against you Ian, you're exceptional man. Extremely knowledgeable and very well spoken on the subjects of your videos. However, if I have to see the ad for iTarget where the guy pronounces it "ertergert" one more time, I'm going to scream!

[@Connor-dl4hq]

2:20 “Also lots of names you’ve never heard of, Reznov…” We may not know of this one, but we ALL know of Victor Reznov

[@besposhadniyNAFTIZIN]

I can’t imagine how it can be thought up without computers, 3D modelling programs, without LSD ...

[@oscarbaezsoria1650]

Real talent?

[@MrMaxStalsky]

And without calculators. Just blueprints and a endless imagination. Think about the Apollo missions. They had no CAD, no PC as we know it now. No calculators. Just drowning boards, pencils and a tone of imagination. more people struggle, more they are inventive. If you leave your population just partying and relaxing in peace and prosperity they will get dumb and lazy as fuck in a generation. Thats what we see now all around the world. Better living you have, worst result you achieve. In general.

[@besposhadniyNAFTIZIN]

@@oscarbaezsoria1650 it's real magic ;)

[@besposhadniyNAFTIZIN]

@@MrMaxStalsky unfortunately, you are absolutely right! But in Soviet Union all population of the country had approximately the same standard of living, diligence + inborn talents allowed any person to become an engineer - education was free for everyone!

[@benzylmethane157]

Without LSD))) Good joke)

[@ComradeBenedict]

Did KZbin make a new rule about gun prices? I could've sworn that sale prices for auction guns used to be in the description, but I haven't seen a single one lately

[@Redmenace96]

I noticed that, too. We are all interested in prices.

[@TheSuperCanucks]

Just noticed you uploaded this on my birthday last year, thank you

[@warrenwilkinson9689]

thanks Ian! yet another great history piece

[@kurtvanduran7725]

@2:24 Reznov... so he lives.

[@Yuri-gg6nv]

That Rifle is the bane of my whole existence...

[@YeeMacghyee]

If you’re referring to heroes and generals, the germans are way worse, especially the stg 44.

[@Yuri-gg6nv]

@@YeeMacghyee actually yes, i am reffering to H&G, but i am Main on Soviets, so i was actually reffering to the lack of AVS 36 videos on KZbin( the gun itself, not in Games)

[@tianyuanxia6270]

Finally, I have expected this for a long time. Thank you!

[@AnalogWolf]

Fascinating! Thanks for all this cool info.

[@randywatson8347]

I love this example. The tech that went into this in the 30's is just mazing!

[@joshualance6005]

The garand is still the first infantry wepon to be issued to every infantryman. The avs36 and svt38/40 were specialist wepons and never replaced the mosin nagant 1891

[@ScottKenny1978]

The SVT38/40 were intended to replace the Mosin. But then Germany invaded and the Soviets needed all the guns they could get. And they did make 1.5million SVT40s! Not exactly specialist issue, all the Naval Infantry got them.

[@joshualance6005]

@@ScottKenny1978 yes they made 1.5 million but they had 20million men they had to arm by the end of the war. Plus the Russian found out they were kinda finicky. They gave them to specialized troops that would keep them clean and to second line troops in places that didn't have harsh conditions

[@chriske3283]

Have been waiting for this video!

[@Mikesman1000]

Looking on the AVS 36 and SVT 40, the "discovery" of AK was just around the corner, the DS Mg became DShk, and DP 27 later became RPD.

[@EchosTackyTiki]

Me: _I bet this gun was well liked, it was probably really controllable and a great shooter compared to other semiautomatic rifles in the market at the time like the RSC and the Farquhar-Hill._ Ian at 4:25: "This gun is actually select fire." Me: 😦

[@ToriusHeart]

I mean, the A part of the AVS designation should have tipped you off that its a full auto rifle

[@Mongo63a]

Relying on a spring to pull the locking block out of engagement seems like an area that would result in a lot of issues.

[@williamsullivan9401]

I was wondering about that, but I think the gas block pushes it down.

[@vulekv93]

@@williamsullivan9401 No it doesn't, spring is driving it downwards, if that spring fails when it gets hot and fouled locking lug might stick to the bolt.

[@Deliverygirl]

What a beautiful set of innards this weapon has. Absolutely crazy, love it!

[@bwhog]

Interesting mechanism. I don't know nearly as much about the mechanics of these things as I ought to so I always find these demonstrations useful.

[@moehoward01]

I can see why it was quickly replaced. A very expensive rifle to produce.

[@Pheonixco]

"expensive"

[@ScottKenny1978]

Not like the Tokarev rifles were significantly simpler/cheaper...

[@2dollarchickenwings689]

@@ScottKenny1978 They were, though. A lot less complex parts. Also, there isn't the issue of it's main point of interest having very situational use.

[@Jerry-dk8se]

Interesting rifle. But I can see the roots of the SKS in this design. Simonov definitely did a lot of engineering to get that mousetrap to work, and fortunately, designed a more simpler trigger and sear arrangement for the SKS. Thanks for your simplified explanation of this rare piece.

[@zupperm]

I always love when something is brilliantly simple and too complex at the same time.

[@dontimberman5493]

One of the simplest select fire mechanisms. So simple to make, understand and even fix.

[@loquat4440]

I suspect that the locking flaps are more intended to ensure that that the bolt carrier and bolt are all the way forward before the firing pin/striker can actually hit the primer. If everything is not fully forward the bottom locking piece will not be push up into position. I wonder if that gun started out as solely locked by the flaps like on the DP-28 and for some reason they decided an additional locking area was needed.

[@Hagop64]

I was trying to figure out how it functioned on full auto since the sear is completely disengaged. You're right about the flaps being needed. Without the flaps there would be nothing holding back the striker/firing pin essentially turning it into an open bolt/fixed firing pin setup after the first round is fired on full auto.

[@comNartheus]

On stress patterns - they are kinda opposite in English and Russian. I’ve noticed this for both names and adopted words. It is especially noticeable for Latin (a lot of words, especially scientific terms were adopted by both languages from a Latin or “Neolatin”) so when a Russian talks about science in English most of us who are not used to this specific activity are usually mispronouncing Latin terms, slipping into Russian characteristic stress placements. And I know 0 native English speakers who pronounce Russian names correctly at leas half of times and vice versa.

[@nicholaspatton5590]

I have always wondered how "3" ended up in your alphabet. Though it probably is not a three (3).

[@comNartheus]

Nicholas Patton afaik it was derived from Greek letter zeta, as all our alphabet was derived from Greek originally.

[@5roundsrapid263]

Андрей Назариков Yes, from Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius, hence the name Cyrillic.

[@sergeyvasilyev6728]

Ian, he is surely SEE - MO - NOV (Симонов). Thanks for great video!!! (and for appreciating work of Soviet constructors)

[@kbjerke]

That is ELEGANTLY complicated! Reminds me a bit of the C96 Mauser pistol. Thanks for the vid!

[@brucebaxter6923]

Nice design. I wonder if the toggle locks are as much a fire out of battery device as they are a backup locking mechanism.

[@simonmunden5046]

This... My exact thought

[@vice6996]

The smirk after “...even in Soviet Union labor terms...” 22:40

[@superblahblah666]

as a sks bro i loved this one, that trigger is crazy complex but simple performing, thanks

[@cheesenoodles8316]

The secret life of the AVS 36 .... I watch this 3/4 times. Makes you appreciate the MAS 40....er MAS 44. Great video .... a rare rifle....

[@Tekdruid]

The design of that primary locking block is really interesting. I wonder if they used that in any other rifles?

[@wills2140]

They didn't really, but Thompson had the "Blish lock" in his Sub machine gun and some prototype rifles, starting in 1926.

[@alaskanbullworm5500]

The Japanese type 96/99 machine guns had a similar locking block.

[@jubuttib]

@@wills2140 The Blish lock though was more of a delaying system rather than a true lock, at least according to Ian's videos on the Thompson guns.

[@joshualance6005]

Its a flapper locked like on the dp28 mixed with a tilting block like on the sks

[@stevenfrost6441]

The Soviet's have a really rich history in firearms..as a Military History buff I always remembered them by the "Five Kov's:" Fyodorov, Kalashnikov, Siminov, Tokarev and Makarov. I am proud to say I own at least one of each of the last 4 men's designs!

[@user-rj1cc3ku5y]

Do you know about Vasiliy Degtyarev (Василий Дегтярёв)? This man is creator for a lot soviet infantry weapons in WWII. SMG PPD, light machine guns - DP-27, DT (tank version), RPD, RP-46 (belt-feeding conversion of DP), heavy machine gun - DShK and DShKM and anti-tank rifle PTRD. All of those guns was aproved in army service, and some of them still in the russian army reserve in present time

[@TheBucketSkill]

@@user-rj1cc3ku5y Can't forget Degtyarev! I forgot he made DSHk!! I mainly think of the DP-27 believe it or not I seen some Balkan countries still use DP27. I think it is outdated because of PKM, but DSHk still in use heavily all over the middle east. Famously mounted on toyota.

[@Verdunveteran]

Cool! I have been waiting for a video on this one! :D We have a deactivated one, lacking its magazine, in GMHV's collections at Hässleholms Museum in Hässleholm, Sweden. it was most likely brought back as a war trophy from the Finno-Soviet Winter War of 1939-1940 by a Swedish Volunteer Corps soldier from the regiment here in Hässleholm. My grand father did his military service here and served in the Swedish Volunteer Corps during the Winter War aswell.

[@anandanurag]

Thank you for interesting video!

[@srddnrsmn7320]

The West: "Oh yeah, we were the first to do that!" Russia: "Nyet."

This wasn't standard issue for every rifleman like the Garand was I think.

[@user-ch5wg9iy8q]

Thank you for the review rare and in Russia automatic guns! Looking at the disassembly, you understand why the leadership of the red army chose in 1938 SVT-38...

[@chriswarren1618]

You could put the pins and screws loosely back in their locations, directly after part disassembly, to prevent loss and ready to find on reassembly.

[@darthpatricius]

that was really fascinating, thanks