The design of the gun traces back to the early 1930s when Fedor Tokarev gave up his attempts to design a recoil-operated self-loading rifle, and concentrated on the gas operating principle. Stalin had a great interest in semi-automatic infantry rifles, and in 1935 a design competition was held, which was won by the rifle designed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov, and was accepted into service the next year as the AVS36. However, problems with the AVS quickly manifested, and another competition was held, to which both Tokarev and Simonov submitted their improved designs. This time, Tokarev's rifle was chosen. The rifle was accepted for production under the designation SVT-38, and it was hoped to become the new standard issue rifle of the Red Army. Ambitious production plans were made: the production was planned to be increased to two million rifles per year by 1942. Production began in Tula at 1939.