These four stamps were issued by the Russian government in 2009 as part of their Weapons of Victory series.
7.00P - The SVT-40 and AVS-36 battle rifles.
The SVT-40 was a Soviet semi-automatic battle rifle. The SVT-40 saw widespread service during and after World War II. It was intended to be the Soviet Red Army's new service rifle, but its production was disrupted by the German invasion in 1941, resulting in a change back to the Mosin–Nagant rifle for the duration of World War II.
The AVS-36 was a Soviet automatic rifle which saw service in the early years of World War II. It was among the early selective fire infantry rifles (capable of both single and full-automatic fire) formally adopted for military service. It was an unreliable performer and was replaced in many cases by Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifles, or the more common SVT-40.
8.00P - The TT-33 Tokarev pistol and the Nagant M1895 revolver
The TT-30, commonly known simply as the Tokarev, was a Soviet semi-automatic pistol. It was developed in the early 1930s by Fedor Tokarev as a service pistol for the Soviet military to replace the Nagant M1895 revolver that had been in use since the Russian Empire, though it ended up being used in conjunction with, rather than replacing, the M1895. It served until 1952, when it was replaced by the Makarov pistol.
The Nagant M1895 was chambered for a proprietary cartridge, 7.62×38mmR, and featured an unusual "gas-seal" system, in which the cylinder moved forward when the gun was cocked, to close the gap between the cylinder and the barrel, providing a boost to the muzzle velocity of the bullet and allowing the weapon to be suppressed (an unusual characteristic for a revolver). The Nagant served the Soviet Union for more than 50 years.
9.00P - The PPSh-41 and PPS-43 submachine guns.
The PPSh-41 was a Soviet submachine gun designed by Georgy Shpagin as a cheap, reliable, and simplified alternative to the PPD-40. It was sometimes called the "burp gun" because of its high fire-rate. The PPSh-41 is a magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun using an open bolt, blowback action. Made largely of stamped steel, it can be loaded with either a box or drum magazine and fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev pistol round.
The PPSh saw extensive combat use during World War II and the Korean War; in Eastern Bloc countries, monuments celebrating the actions of the Red Army commonly feature a PPSh-41. It became one of the major infantry weapons of the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II, with about six million PPSh-41s manufactured in this period, making it the most-produced submachine gun of the war.
The PPS-43 was a Soviet submachine guns chambered in 7.62×25mm Tokarev, developed by Alexei Sudayev as a low-cost personal defense weapon for reconnaissance units, vehicle crews and support service personnel. The PPS and its variants were used extensively by the Red Army during World War II and were later adopted by the armed forces of several countries of the former Warsaw Pact as well as its many African and Asian allies.
10.00P - The Degtyaryov light machine gun and the Goryunov SG-43 medium machine gun.
The Degtyaryov was the standard Soviet infantry light machine gun during World War II, with various modifications it was used in aircraft as a flexible defensive weapon, and it equipped almost all Soviet tanks in WWII as either a flexible bow machine gun or a co-axial machine gun controlled by the gunner.
The Goryunov was chambered for the 7.62×54mmR cartridge, and was introduced in 1943 as a replacement for the older M1910 Maxim machine guns. It was mounted on wheeled mounts, tripods and armored vehicles.
All stamp sets are shipped in a protective cardboard display card, and include a free Soviet ruble from the KGB Museum in New York City and two free miscellaneous Cold War stamps, while supplies last.
