Degtyaryov machine gun
The Degtyaryov machine gun (Russian: Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный, romanized: Pulemyot 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.
| DP machine gun | |
|---|---|
DP-27 | |
| Type | Light machine gun |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1928–present |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | Spanish 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 Laotian Civil War North Yemen Civil War Cambodian Civil War Cambodian-Vietnamese War Rhodesian Bush War Portuguese Colonial War Afghan Wars Sino-Vietnamese War Sri Lankan Civil War First Nagorno-Karabakh War Georgian Civil War Yugoslav Wars Somali Civil War Iraq War First Libyan Civil War Northern Mali conflict Syrian Civil War Russo-Ukrainian War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Vasily Degtyaryov |
| Designed | 1927 |
| Produced | 1928–1950s |
| No. built | 795,000 |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 9.12 kg (20.11 lb) (unloaded) 11.5 kg (25 lb) (loaded) |
| Length | 1,270 mm (50.0 in) |
| Barrel length | 604 mm (23.8 in) |
| Cartridge | 7.62×54mmR |
| Caliber | 7.62 mm |
| Action | Gas-operated, flapper locking |
| Rate of fire | 550 rpm |
| Muzzle velocity | 840 m/s (2,755 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 800 m (874.9 yd) |
| Feed system | 47-round pan magazine |
| Sights | Adjustable iron sights, front post and rear notch on a scaled tangent |
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.