INTRODUCTION
Hi! I see more and more people from Ru Forum here, how am I worse? I’m pretty well versed in small arms, I’m familiar with a lot of books, and especially with Soviet weapons, the thing is that I live in Moscow and I have access to the Russian state library! Of course I could tell you about German or English weapons, but you probably know about them as well as I do, so I want to tell you about something unique that you can’t read about on the Internet. One of such topics is the USSR assault rifles of 1944-1945.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
World War II showed the very different nature of warfare. The infantry solved the main tasks, not the artillery and armored vehicles, which were now designed to support the infantry. The infantry often fought alone if the terrain did not permit the use of heavy weapons. In turn, the infantry had a choice between rifles not effective for short range and submachine guns not effective for long range. This required a completely new type of weapon - the automatic rifle! So on August 12, 1943, the MAD (Main Artillery Department) approved tactical specifications for the new type of weapon. Next, a competition was announced for April 7, 1944.
THE FIRST ROUND OF THE COMPETITION:
APRIL-MAY 1944
KB P 315:
The KB P 315 was a DP machine gun modified by Degtyarev for the intermediate cartridge. The KB P 315 did not prove itself at the trials and showed average performance:
KB P 315 №1.
KB P 315 №2, can be visually distinguished by the absence of a front handle.
KB P 315 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - 625 rounds/min
|Weight - 6.774 kg/14.9 Ib
|Feed system - 50 round pan magazine
КB P 280 №1:
KB P 280 №1 was designed by KB 2 (Design Bureau №2), namely designers Ivanov and Alexandrovich. It is noteworthy that the KB P 280 had the option of bayonet attachment, but there is no photo with bayonet attached. The rifle showed poor reliability results in tests:
KB P 280 №1. Note the bolt, which looks very similar to the bolt from a Degtyarev machine gun.
KB P 280 №1 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - 580 rounds/min
|Weight - 6 kg/13.2 Ib
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
RPS 2 P43:
The RPS 2 P43 was the creation of Simonov, who based it on his 1941 semi-automatic rifle. The weapon performed very poorly in reliability tests:
RPS 2 P43.
RPS 2 P43 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - (500-550?) rounds/min
|Weight - 6.2 kg/13.6 Ib
|Feed system - 30/45 round box magazine
RPS 3 P44:
The RPS 3 P44 made by Simonov was a rework of the experimental RPS 6 machine gun for the intermediate cartridge. The same weapon showed good reliability results in tests, and was more promising than the RPS 2 P43:
PRS 6.
RPS 3 P44.
RPS 3 P44 drawing.
RPS 2 P43 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - 535 rounds/min
|Weight - 5.8 kg/12.78 Ib
|Feed system - 30/45 round box magazine
TKB 345 №1/№2:
TKB 345 was designed by Korovin. The weapon showed average results in the tests:
TKB 345 №1.
TKB 345 №2.
TKB 345 №1 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - 620 rounds/min
|Weight - 6.85 kg/15 Ib
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
AS 44 №1:
The AS 44 №1 is an early design of the Sudayev assault rifle. As it was a very early model, it had a number of shortcomings, but it seemed to be a promising design, despite poor reliability results in tests:
AS 44 №1.
AS 44 №1 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - (500-550?) rounds/min
|Weight - 5.2 kg/11.46 Ib
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
AS 44 №2:
AS 44 №2 was similar in principle to AS 44 №1, but had a difference, the main one being a different pod mechanism. Due to the new design, the machine could not fire single shots, and model №1 was more promising:
AS 44 №2.
AS 44 №2 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - 420 rounds/min
|Weight - 5.1 kg/11.2 Ib
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
AK 44 №1:
The AK 44 №1 was designed by the designer Kuzmischev. It is worth noting that it was one of the first made rifles of that competition, so together with the AS 44 they were subjected to additional tests before the competition. Unfortunately we have very little information about the early model:
Unfortunately this is the only photo I have.
AK 44 №1 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - N/A
|Weight - N/A
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
AT 44:
The AT 44 is already in the game, of course, it was created by Tokarev, taking the AVT 40 as a basis. However, we would like to note that the actual rate of fire on the tests amounted to 690 rounds per minute. Also, the test report mentions the presence of a 35-round magazine. I guess it would be logical to increase the rate of fire and increase the recoil. I would also like to see the bipods unfolded.
КB P 310:
The latest entrant in this contest is KB P 310 (RD 44). It’s pretty funny to see him in a contest like this, but I can’t add any new information about him.
Contest Results:
More than one weapon did not fit the tactical specifications, weapons often had high mass, poor reliability and accuracy problems. In spite of this, designers gained experience with the intermediate cartridge. MAD paid special attention to the KB P 310 and RPS M3. A separate competition is needed for these models - machine guns with intermediate cartridge.
THE SECOND ROUND OF THE COMPETITION:
JULY-AUGUST 1944
AS 4 P44/AKSM 5 P44:
The AS 5 P44 was a modification of the Simonov semi-automatic carbine with a larger capacity magazine and original stock. In turn, the AS 4 P44 was the same redesign, but with the receiver from the RPS 6 and other minor changes. The AS 4 P44 never made it to the final trials due to private malfunctions.:
AS 4 P44.
AKSM 5 P44.
AKSM 5 P44 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - 500 rounds/min
|Weight - 5.1 kg/11.2 Ib
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
AS 44:
The AS 44 is already in ours, however there are some nuances that I would like to correct. For example, the premium version has bipods, and the version from the research branch has a bayonet. It would be great to see bayonet and bipod on both models:
AS 44 with bayonet and bipods unfolded.
I also want to pay attention to the weird weapon model, it’s not right:
One last thing. In the game, the AS 44’s rate of fire is not true, it should be 520 rounds per minute, but at this rate of fire it will be of little use, so let’s consider it a game convention.
AK 44 №2:
The AK 44 was a refinement of a past model, unfortunately there is very little information here as well. During testing, parts of the rifle broke after firing 1616 rounds and further testing of the weapon was stopped:
AK 44 №2.
AK 44 №2 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - N/A
|Weight - N/A
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
TKB 356:
The TKB 356 was a completely new machine gun developed by Bulkin. Despite its original design, it performed very poorly in reliability tests and was withdrawn from competition:
TKB 356.
TKB 356 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - N/A
|Weight - 6 kg/ 13.2 Ib
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
KB P 280 №2
KB P 280 №2 had a wooden forend, shortened barrel and buttstock, unlike the first model. The muzzle brake was abandoned due to its ineffectiveness:
KB P 280 №2.
KB P 280 №2 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - 580 rounds/min
|Weight - (6 kg/13.2 Ib?)
|Feed system - 30 round box magazine
ASh 44:
The ASh 44 represented a new design from Shpagin. Unusually for submachine guns of that competition, the ASh 44 operated on the principle of free bolt operation:
ASh 44.
ASh 44 Characteristics:
|Rate of fire - 466 rounds/min
|Weight - 5.48 kg/12 Ib
|Feed system - 35 round box magazine
Contest Results:
Sudayev’s automatic rifle was the most promising weapon. It showed the best results in comparison with its competitors. But it was still far from serial production, the AS 44 was heavy and unreliable. Sudaev himself was engaged in the development of the AS 44 after the trials, and it continued after the war, but due to the unexpected death of the designer, the development was stopped. Nevertheless, this did not mean that the competition for a new type of weapon was over!
P.S.
Your 
contribute to the release of new topics, share your opinion in the comments, I’ll be happy to respond!
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