The book is an autobiography of the outstanding designer of small arms Vasily Alekseevich Degtyarev. The book of memoirs of the famous Soviet designer-gunsmith. The motherland highly appreciated the work of Vasily Alekseevich. The following fact speaks volumes: the first title of Hero of Socialist Labor was awarded to I.V. Stalin by Decree of December 20, 1939, and V.A. Degtyarev became the second Hero of Socialist Labor on January 2, 1940.