The Fedorov Avtomat M1916

[Sgt. Rock]

Some have said it was the first modern assault rifle of it's time..pretty rare even back then.

Fedorov Avtomat M1916 - Automatic Rifle - History, Specs and Pictures - Military, Security and Civilian Guns and Equipment

 

[armoredman]

Interesting.

 

[kwo51]

Its a wounder we are not speaking German or Russian now. Well there is still time.

 

[MrMarty51]

Its a wounder we are not speaking German or Russian now. Well there is still time.

A good part of the country is already speaking socialist, that is getting close, yes ???

 

[Sgt. Rock]

Interesting.

I thought so too in that most countries during WWI had the standard single bolt action rifles for their foot sloggers. Certainly looked promising but that thing called the Russian Revolution over shadowed it's full development. But still I'd like one for my collection.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPy5hvs4XlI&feature=player_detailpage[/ame]

 

[kwo51]

What kind of operating system did it use? Was it the big brother to the AK?

 

[armoredman]

If all Russian troops had been issued that instead of Mosins during WWII, had it had the design perfected, that might have made some differences. It certainly would have spurred development of other countries intermediate caliber battle rifles much faster!

 

[Jo6pak]

I've seen reference to this rifle in a few books, notably "Military Small Arms of the 20th Century; 7th Ed. By Ian Hogg.
But that is the first photos I have seen.

The only mention of the operating system is "...using a short recoil of the barrel to operate the mechanism."
This makes me think it must have been similar to the Browning A-5 shotgun, but that is just a guess.
If that is in fact the case, I suspect it would have suffered some of the same problems as the M1941 Johnson rifle, although the smaller cartridge may have helped remedy some of those issues.