Fedorov Avtomat

Fedorov Avtomat - 6.5x50mmSR

The Fedorov Avtomat was a Russian short recoil operated, magazine-fed select-fire carbine, and arguably one of the first examples of the assault rifle concept. It was designed by Colonel Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov. The first Fedorov automatic rifle was a semi-automatic design presented to the Rifle Commission in 1911, but this did not enter service. In 1915 Fyodorov redesigned his gun into a full auto weapon using the Japanese 6.5mm cartridge (this cartridge was produced in Russia for imported Arisaka rifles, while the standard Russian 7.62x54R rifle cartridge was too powerful for Fyodorov's gun). In Summer 1916, the Fedorov auto rifle was put into service under the name "Avtomat" ("automatic"), but production ended with the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917 with only about 100 weapons produced at the Sestroretsk weapon factory. The design was "rediscovered" in 1920 and manufactured in small numbers from 1920-1924 at the Kovrov weapon factory. About 3,200 were manufactured before production ceased in 1925, after the Soviet Union decided to abandon all weapons that used foreign ammunition. In 1928 the Fedorov Avtomat was officially removed from service. In 1940, during the Winter War, it was briefly used by the Red Army.

Much as it resembles an assault rifle, it was never issued as one: rather than the assault rifle concept of an individual weapon which offers a compromise between a submachine gun and a battle rifle, it was instead employed as a mobile support weapon in a similar manner to a light machine gun, issued to a two-man team of a gunner and an ammo carrier who was issued an Arisaka rifle for ammunition compatibility. Fydorov dubbed it a "handheld light machine gun" ("ручное ружьё-пулемет"). Fydorov's superior General N.M. Filatov is credited with dubbing the weapon the "Avtomat."

While this interesting weapon is largely overlooked and sometimes argued to be outside of the definition of an assault rifle due to firing an existing rifle cartridge, albeit one chosen specifically for being weak, or because it was never issued as an individual weapon (the title often going to the MP44, the first such weapon to be mass-produced and the one that coined the term "assault rifle," or alternatively pushed even further back to the Cei-Rigotti, though the latter usually involves people thinking the Cei-Rigotti had a detachable magazine) it is worth noting the accidental foresight of its inventor. While the weapon had its fair share of problems, such as rapid overheating and complicated manufacturing procedures, tests indicated that the rifle could accurately and consistently hit man sized targets at a range of 200m (about the range most modern firefights take place) and was effective to around 500m.

Specifications

(1915-1917, 1920-1928, re-issued in 1940)

• Type: Light machine gun (role issued), sometimes regarded as an assault rifle
• Caliber: 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka
• Weight: 4.4 kg (Loaded; 5.2 kg)
• Length: 1,045 mm
• Barrel length: 20.5 in (52 cm)
• Feed System: 25-round detachable box magazine
• Fire Modes: Semi / Full-Auto (350-400 rpm)

Video Games

Game Title	Appears as	Mods	Notation	Release Date
Battlefield: 1918				2004
Deadfall Adventures	"Fedorov"			2013
Battlefield 1	"Fedorov Avtomat"		Introduced in "In the Name of the Tsar" DLC (2017)	2016