TKB-506

Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was born on November 10, 1919 in the village of Kurya. He was the seventeenth child in a large peasant family. From his childhood, he was interested in the design and operation of various mechanisms. At the age of 18, he left his native village and went to Kazakhstan, where he began to work as an accountant at a railway station. In the autumn of 1938 he was conscripted into the Red Army in the Kiev Special Military District. After graduating from a junior commander course, he received the specialty of tank mechanic and served in the 12th Tank Division in Western Ukraine.

During the service, he developed an inertial shot counter for a tank gun, an attachment to the Tokarev pistol to increase the effectiveness of firing through slits in the tank turret, and a tank’s engine life counter, which was recommended for serial production.

Following a face-to-face meeting with Georgy Zhukov, he was sent to the Kiev Tank Military Technical School to manufacture prototype counters.

He started to participate in the Great Patriotic War in August 1941 as a tank commander with the rank of senior sergeant. In October, he was severely wounded during fighting near Bryansk. At a hospital, he got the idea of devising his own model of automatic firearm, began to make sketches and drawings, comparing and analyzing his own impressions of fighting, the opinions of his comrades in arms, and the contents of the books in the hospital library.

After treatment he received a six-month vacation for recovery. Returning to Kazakhstan, three months later he made a submachine gun prototype. He fabricated an improved model in the vocational workshops of the Moscow Aviation Institute evacuated to Alma-Ata and presented it to A.A. Blagonravov, an eminent scientist in the field of small arms and the head of the Military Engineering Academy named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky. The scientist noted the originality of the design and recommended that Kalashnikov be sent for further training.

Since 1942, M.T. Kalashnikov worked at the Central Small Arms and Mortar Research Range. There in 1944 he made a self-loading carbine, which subsequently served as a prototype for an assault rifle, which he began developing in 1945.

In 1948, he was sent to the Izhevsk Motor Plant to participate in developing technical documentation and organizing the production of the first preproduction lot of his assault rifle.

In 1949, the assault rifle was adopted by the Soviet Army and Kalashnikov was awarded the Stalin Prize and the Order of the Red Star.

Later, dozens of prototypes of automatic small arms were developed at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant based on the basis of the Kalashnikov assault rifle.

In 1971, M.T. Kalashnikov was awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences for his design work and inventions. He is the author of 35 inventions.

In 1999 he was promoted to lieutenant general.

He died on December 23, 2013 in Izhevsk and buried in the Pantheon of Heroes of the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery.

Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov((1894–1987) was born into a peasant family in the village of Fedotovo, Vladimir Region. He began his career at the age of 16 as a blacksmith in a locksmith workshop. In 1917, after graduating from vocational courses, he went to work as a fitter-troubleshooter of automatic weapons at the Kovrov machine gun factory.

Among his first teachers were Vladimir Grigoryevich Fedorov, the founder of the Russian school of automatic weapons, and Vasily Alekseevich Degtyarev, head of the experimental workshop at the Kovrov Plant. He began independent inventive activity in the early 1920s by designing and assembling his first weapons: a light machine gun and an automatic rifle.

In 1931, he proposed a version of an automatic rifle, which successfully withstood competition with V.A. Degtyarev and F.V. Tokarev models. In 1936, following improvements made at the Izhevsk Arms Plant, Simonov’s AVS-36 automatic rifle was adopted by the Red Army. Later, a sniper version of this rifle, equipped with the PE optical sight, was produced in small quantities. The AVS-36 rifles were used during the Soviet-Finnish Aar and in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War.

In the summer of 1941, the Soviet Army badly needed an effective, mobile and easy-to-operate close-combat anti-tank weapon. This problem was quickly solved by S.G. Simonov, who designed a 14.5 mm five-shot anti-tank rifle.

In 1949, the Soviet Army adopted the 7.62 mm self-loading carbine of the Simonov’s system (SKS-45 M1945). Its mass production was established at the Tula arms and Izhevsk machine-building plants. Currently, the SKS is mainly used as a ceremonial weapon, and its hunting versions are also very popular.

In the 1950s–70s he worked at the NII-61 Research Institute in the city of Klimovsk, Moscow Region. There he designed more than 150 models of small arms, including several dozens of variants of self-loading and automatic carbines based on the SKS, submachine guns and light machine guns.

Colleagues noted that Sergey Gavrilovich showed thoroughness in everything. Tackling any work new for himself, he tried to fulfill it not just well, but with the originality that only a skilful master of his craft is capable of.

Sergei Simonov is Hero of Socialist Labor, Honored Inventor of the RSFSR, Laureate of the Stalin Prizes First and Second Classes. He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, Order of Kutuzov First Class, Order of Patriotic War First Class, order of Red Star, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor.

Vladimir Ivanovich Volkov was born on May 19, 1921 in the city of Tula. In 1939 he entered the Moscow Engineering Institute named after Nikolai Bauman. However, the war interrupted his studies.

In 1941–1942 he worked at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant as a machine tool worker engaged in machining breech casings for a 37 mm aircraft autocannon. In 1943, together with a group of students specializing in machine guns, he was transferred to the Tula Mechanical Institute, which he graduated in 1945 and was sent to TsKB-14 Central Design Bureau (now KBP). He worked as a design engineer, head of research department, chief engineer at TsKB-14.

Following the reorganization of TsKB-14 in 1960, he was appointed Deputy Head for Research and Development (R&D) at the Central Design Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons (TsKIB SOO). From 1962 to 1990 worked as a chief engineer — first deputy chief at TsKIB SOO, proving himself as a qualified designer, experienced leader, capable organizer.

In 1997-2001, already retired, Vladimir Ivanovich worked as a leading engineer at TsKIB SOO. Under his supervision and with his direct participation, the NSV-12.7 heavy machine gun, YakB aircraft machine gun, 73 mm Grom gun, 30 mm AK-306 and AK-630 six-barreled naval gun mounts, Utyos and Ohra machine gun mounts, 9P-132 Grad-P (TKB-042) portable rocket launcher, a number of anti-hail and flare launchers were developed.

Volkov’s length of service in the defense industry is 60 years.

Volkov is the author of a book devoted to the history of Tula-based TsKIB SOO, an enterprise to which he devoted decades of his life. The publication can be found in the library of the Museum of Arms. Volkov V.I. is Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1968, 1989), Mosin Prize (1964), holder of the Orders of Lenin (1968), October Revolution (1971), Red Banner of Labor (1962, 1976).

Vladimir Volkov died on April 14, 2003.

Evgeny Fedorovich Dragunov (1920–1991) was born in Izhevsk in a family of hereditary gunsmiths. In 1934 he joined the industrial technical school, after which he worked at the Izhevsk Arms Plant as a process engineer in a rifle stock workshop. In 1939, he was conscripted into the Red Army. During the service, he was sent to a junior command school, then to an arms school. During the Great Patriotic War, he served as a senior weapons master at the Far Eastern Artillery School. Repair of a significant number of various small arms, including captured ones, enabled him to gain extensive experience, which was useful to E.F. Dragunov in future design activities.

In 1945 he returned to the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (an arms plant in the past), where he again continued working as a senior weapons master in the chief designer department. One of the first assignments entrusted to him by the chief designer of the plant was to design a bracket for the PU optical sight used on the Model 1891/30 sniper rifle. His design made it possible to load the rifle with five rounds at once from a clip rather than with one round at a time, as it was in the standard model. Soon, Dragunov was transferred to the post of design engineer in the chief designer department, and then — the lead engineer.

He took part in the development of a carbine designed to fire the M1943 cartridge. He is the author of several high-precision sports rifles (standard, free, biathlon ones). The TsV-55 Zenith target rifle, in which the orthopedic form of the stock was first used, was best known among them. However, the designer became world famous for his sniper rifle, which he started developing since 1958. The 7.62 mm Dragunov SVD sniper rifle entered service in 1963.

In 1968, under the supervision of E.F. Dragunov, the TSV small-caliber training sniper rifle was developed for training snipers.

Dragunov’s design list includes also hunting weapons. This is the Medved (Bear) self-loading hunting carbine chambered for the 9x53 cartridge.

In 1971, he designed the PP-71 submachine gun chambered for the 9x18 PM cartridge for the Special Forces units. In the early 1990s, following the modernization carried out by his son, Mikhail Dragunov, this weapon under the name KEDR (designed by Evgeny Dragunov) was launched.

In 1992, the Tiger hunting carbine, based on the legendary Dragunov SVD rifle, was also put into production.

Dragunov is the author of 8 inventions. He was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor and several medals.

Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1964).

Honorary Citizen of Izhevsk (2011).

Leonid Viktorovich Stepanov was born on March 3, 1932. After graduating from Tula Secondary School No. 20, he joined the Aircraft Faculty at the Tula Mechanical Institute (now the Tula State University).

After graduation, he worked as a process engineer in a workshop in a small arms assembly section. From the mid-1950s to the present, he has been working in the Tula Instrument Design Bureau named after Academician A.G. Shipunov (former TsKB-14 Central Design Bureau). He was engaged in mount design for machine guns, grenade launchers, and a gun.

Almost all the mounts invented by Stepanov were introduced. Among them, the 6T5 mount for the PKM Kalashnikov modernized machine gun (1969), the 6T8 mount for the AG-17 automatic grenade launcher, the 6T7 mount for the NSV-12.7 heavy machine gun, the 6U10 and 6P11 mounts for heavy machine guns installed in pillbox firing ports, the 6P16 system (NSV-12.7 machine gun on the 6T7 mount), the 6T17 mount (SAG-30) for the AGS-30 automatic grenade launcher.

Winner of the Mosin Prize, the All-Russian Regional Contest "Engineer of the Year". Best Inventor of the Ministry, Inventor of the USSR, Honored Veteran of Labor of the Instrument Design Bureau.

He was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.

Igor Yakovlevich Stechkin was born on November 15, 1922 in the town of Aleksin, Tula Region.

In 1941, after graduating from high school, he joined the small arms department of the Tula Mechanical Institute. Early in the war, Stechkin moved to Izhevsk, where he studied at the evacuated Moscow Higher Technical School named after N.E. Bauman and worked at a motor plant as a grinder. Late in 1942 he returned to Tula.

In 1948 he graduated from the Tula Mechanical Institute and was sent to work at TsKB-14, where he was tasked to design a 9 mm pistol. In 1951, the Stechkin automatic pistol (APS) was adopted by the army.

In 1955, the designer developed the TKB-506, TKB-506A pistols and a special silent cartridge for them.

In the late 1950s Stechkin made a great contribution to the development of the Fagot and Konkurs ATGM systems.

Since 1971, Igor Yakovlevich, a leading designer at the Central Design Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons (TsKIB SOO), participated in the development of guided anti-tank weapons, assault rifles and machine guns.

In the 1990s, Stechkin developed individual handguns that were adopted by the internal affairs bodies: the 9 mm OTs-01Kobalt revolver, the 5.45 mm OTs-23 Drotik automatic pistol, the 9 mm OTs- 27 Berdysh self-loading pistol, 9 mm OTs-33 Pernach automatic pistol.

The gunsmith’s latest development is the OTs-38 pistol, on which he worked for the FSB Federal Security Service. Igor Yakovlevich was actually bedridden, but continued to work on the drawings. The OTs-38 entered service after his death.

For the successes achieved in designing weapons, Igor Stechkin was awarded the USSR State Prize (1952), the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1971), medals For Distinguished Labor (1962), For Valiant Labor (1970), and the honorary badge of the city of Tula "For Services to the City" ( 2001). He received the title Honored Designer of the Russian Federation (1992).

Igor Yakovlevich Stechkin died on November 28, 2001 and was buried in Tula.