The DShK machine gun entered the workers 'and peasants' Red Army in February 1939, but, despite the seven decades that have passed since then, it is still present among regular heavy weapons in many armies. In this article, we briefly outline the history and design features of this outstanding example of domestic design thought.
DShK machine gun. Photo. History of creation
Heavy machine guns - a product of the First World War. Initially, they were tasked with combating the then lightly armored tanks, aircraft and infantry in light shelters. It was these opportunities that the Red Army command wanted to receive from the new domestic machine gun, giving it the technical task for the designers. The DShK machine gun was born for ten whole years, one might say, in the
throes of creativity. The most perfect and powerful domestic cartridge of 12.7 x 108 was invented for its time, which, by the way, is still actively used in modern rifle systems. However, Degtyarev for a long time failed to create a
large-caliber machine gun acceptable to the army
. The main disadvantage of a recreation center (Degtyarev large-caliber) model of 1930 was a thirty-round drum magazine and low rate of fire, which did not allow the machine gun to be effectively used as an anti-aircraft gun. Only the involvement of another prominent designer, G. S. Shpagin, to solve the problem. On the Degtyarev machine gun, a drum-type chamber was installed for Shpagin’s tape ammunition, as a result of which the machine gun gained a very decent rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, tape power and the name "DShK Machine Gun", now known to everyone. Since 1939, he entered combat units and has since participated and is participating in all armed conflicts of the world. It is currently in service with forty armies. It is produced by China, Iran, Pakistan and some other countries.
Large-caliber machine gun DShK: design and modificationsMachine gun automation works according to the common principle of expelling expanding powder gases. The gas chamber is located under the barrel. Locking occurs with the help of two combat larvae that cling to the recesses, carved in the opposite walls of the receiver. The DShK machine gun can only fire automatically, the barrel has a fixed, air cooling. The cartridge belt is fed from the left side to a drum having six open chambers. The latter, rotating, feeds the tape and at the same time removes cartridges from it. In 1946, changes were made to the design that affected the steel grades used, production technology and the cartridge feeding device. The “drum” was abandoned and a simpler slide mechanism was used, which allowed the use of new cartridge belts, and on both sides it was easier and more technologically advanced. The advanced machine gun was called DShKM.
Conclusion
In the world there are only two truly famous machine guns of 12 mm caliber. This is the DShK machine gun and the M2 Browning machine gun , and the domestic machine gun surpasses the American counterpart due to the more powerful cartridge and heavy bullet. To date, the DShK fire is considered highly effective and terrifies the enemy.