Degtyaryov machine gun

DP machine gun
DP-27
TypeLight machine gun
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In service1928–present
Used bySee Users
WarsSpanish Civil War
Winter War
World War II
Second Sino-Japanese War
Korean War
Chinese Civil War
First Indochina War
Vietnam War
Hungarian Revolution of 1956[1]
Laotian Civil War
North Yemen Civil War[2]
Cambodian Civil War
Cambodian-Vietnamese War
Rhodesian Bush War
Portuguese Colonial War
Afghan Wars
Sino-Vietnamese War
Sri Lankan Civil War[citation needed]
First Nagorno-Karabakh War[3]
Georgian Civil War[4]
Yugoslav Wars
Somali Civil War
Iraq War[5]
First Libyan Civil War
Northern Mali conflict
Syrian Civil War[6]
Russo-Ukrainian War[5]
Production history
DesignerVasily Degtyaryov
Designed1927
Produced1928–1950s
No. built795,000[7]
VariantsSee Variants
Specifications
Mass9.12 kg (20.11 lb) (unloaded)
11.5 kg (25 lb) (loaded)
Length1,270 mm (50.0 in)
Barrel length604 mm (23.8 in)

Cartridge7.62×54mmR
Caliber7.62 mm
ActionGas-operated, flapper locking
Rate of fire550 rpm
Muzzle velocity840 m/s (2,755 ft/s)
Effective firing range800 m (874.9 yd)
Feed system47-round pan magazine
SightsAdjustable iron sights, front post and rear notch on a scaled tangent

The Degtyaryov machine gun (Russian: Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный, romanizedPulemyot Degtyaryova Pekhotny literally: "Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun") or DP-27/DP-28 is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was primarily used by the Soviet Union, with service trials starting in 1927, followed by general deployment in 1928.[8][9]

Besides being the standard Soviet infantry light machine gun (LMG) 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. It was improved in 1943 producing the DPM, but it was replaced in 1946 with the RP-46 which improved on the basic DP design by converting it to use belt feed. The DP machine gun was supplemented in the 1950s by the more modern RPD machine gun and entirely replaced in Soviet service by the general purpose PK machine gun in the 1960s.[10]

  1. ^ Schmidl, Erwin; Ritter, László (10 November 2006). The Hungarian Revolution 1956. Elite 148. Osprey Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 9781846030796.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Yemen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Armenian RP-46 during Nagorno-Karabakh War". Pinterest. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  4. ^ "DP-28 in action During Georgian Civil War". 20 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b McNab, Chris (2022). Soviet Machine Guns of World War II. Osprey Publishing.
  6. ^ "Syrie: les ISIS Hunters, ces soldats du régime de Damas formés par la Russie". France-Soir (in French). 30 May 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  7. ^ Suciu, Peter (29 June 2020). "Meet the DP-28: The Red Army's "Record Player" (Or Killer Machine Gun)". National Interest. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  8. ^ McCollum, Ian (13 August 2021). "Stalin's Record Player: The DP-27 Light Machine Gun". www.forgottenweapons.com. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  9. ^ "RPD machine gun DP-27 caliber cartridge 7,62 mm | soldat.pro – military experts. Unites the best!".
  10. ^ "Неудачам вопреки: как появился легендарный советский пулемет ДП". Российская газета (in Russian). 21 December 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2024.