Degtyaryov machine gun

DP machine gun
Type	Light machine gun
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1928 - 1960s
Production history
Designer	Vasily Degtyarev
Designed	1927
No. built	??
Variants	DP, DPT, DPM, DPA, RP-46
Specifications
Mass	9.12 kg
Length	1,270 mm
Barrel length	604.5 mm
Cartridge	7.62 x 54 mm R
Action	Gas-actuated
Rate of fire	500 to 600 round/min
Muzzle velocity	840 m/s
Effective firing range	~800 m
Feed system	49 (47 in practice)
Sights	Front: Post w/ears Back: Tangent leaf

The Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyareva pekhotnyi (Degtyarev hand-held infantry machine gun) was a light machine gun used by the Soviet Union starting in 1928. It fired the 7.62 x 54 mm R cartridge. The DP was a good weapon on the battlefield for the most part: it had great stopping power and had an average rate of fire for weapons of this class. It was also cheap and easy to manufacture - early models had fewer than 80 parts and could be built by unskilled labour. The DP was especially able to withstand dirt. Humorously, it was said to fire better if sand were thrown on it. In tests it was buried in sand and mud and was still capable of firing more than 500 rounds. The DP's main drawback was its bipod; this part could not withstand much abuse and easily broke. Also, the magazine, which was usually a pan with 47 rounds that fed in from the top, was relatively small and continuous fire for long periods could not be relied on as much as could be with other weapons of the time, such as the belt-fed Browning .30-cal. It took some time to load a new pan magazine onto the weapon, and each magazine took a much longer time to load with ammunition. However, the DP's lower cyclic rate of fire meant a reduced risk of the barrel overheating. The DP machine gun was supplemented in the 1950s by the more modern but problematic RPD machine gun and entirely replaced in Soviet service by the general purpose PK machine gun in the 1960s.

Variants:

• DPM, modernized version adopted in 1943-44
• DA, for mounting in aircraft (Дегтярёва авиационный, Degtyaryova Aviatsionny; ДА)
• DT and DTM, for mounting in AFVs (Дегтярёва танковый, Degtyaryova Tankovy; ДТ and ДТМ)
• RP-46, belt fed version adopted in 1946 (manufactured in China as the Type 58)

The original DP is more commonly called the DP-28 (or DP-27), although there is some confusion as to whether these are official designations or not.

In Popular Culture

The Degtyarev was used in the following games:

• Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - mounted in a T-34 tank in the last level in Spearhead
• Call of Duty: United Offensive
• Vietcong: Fist Alpha
• Battlefield 1942
• Battlefield Vietnam - As the Type 53
• Red Orchestra
• Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45
• Battlefield Korea - Battlefield 2 mod

External links

• Korean War Photo-Documentary
• The Battles of the Winter War
• Modern Firearms - Degtyarev DP DPM RP-46