The legendary RPD-44 machine gun was created in the Soviet Union by the weapons designer Degtyarev. His other brainchild - SVD rifle - is used in our time. Its especially intensive use is observed in the special forces and airborne forces, where the SVD is used along with the Vintorez VSS. What the RPD-44 machine gun went through, what are its characteristics and how the history of the creation of this weapon began - we will try to make out all this in this article.
Introduction
According to historical data, this weapon was used during the Great Patriotic War really on a global scale. Again, according to the facts, it firmly took third place. Only the Mosin and PPSh rifles were able to get ahead of the RPD machine gun.
Operating principle
How does an RPD machine gun fire? A light machine gun was intended to defeat enemy enemy forces. Its design was built according to the following principle.
At that moment, when the trigger was pressed, when the lever was released, the bolt frame of the weapon was released. She, therefore, under the action of a reciprocal-fighting spring (which was in a compressed state) began to move forward.
Thus, the thickening acted on the fighting stops that took place on the rear of the drummer mechanism. The shutter moved forward along this. Emphasis moved apart. During the promotion of the shutter from the store to the appropriate part, the cartridge was sent.
At the moment when the cartridge capsule was “meeting” with the hammer, a shot occurred. Powder gases formed, which acted on the gas piston, pushing it in the rear direction. The trunk channel at that moment was unlocked, and the shutter returned to the opposite position, not forgetting to “grab” the frame with it. Shot sleeve in parallel with this process was removed from the chamber. And so the firing cycle ended with one cartridge.
Development background
The fall of the 41st year came. Hitler's troops rushed to Moscow at full speed. The goal of their breakthrough was clear enough to strategists. The troops of the Nazi invaders had to complete the campaign before the cold. The soldiers who fought in the Red Army, showed heroic resistance to the invaders.
Despite this, the motorized rifle divisions and tank divisions of the German army rapidly reduced the distance they had to go to the capital of the Soviet Union. The soldiers of the Soviet Army were ready to take the last blow, sacrifice their lives in a decisive battle with the enemy forces. Yes, they were full of determination, full of courage to carry out this action.
But everyone understood that on the side of the Red Army there was not enough firepower that would allow taking the enemy straight to the spear, and then turning its ranks back.
At the end of October of the same year, a flying vehicle landed at the airport of the city of Kovrov (and this was a military facility). The airport was located, by the way, hundreds of kilometers from the front line. The plane brought with it several very senior engineers.
Their history hides personalities today. But it has long been known where the motorcade with officers went. They went with one request to Vasily Alekseevich Degtyarev. At that time, he was considered perhaps the most important gunsmith of the Soviet Union.
The atmosphere and the details of the negotiations were unknown. But just before the battle for Moscow began, the Red Army was supplied with what they so lacked before - Degtyarev's anti-tank rifle. The RPD machine gun of 1941 once and for all instilled fear in the fascist invaders, who, so to speak, appreciated the power of weapons.
Not everyone knows that earlier, for the invention of the Soviet designer, 150 test test shots were always allocated. It's about DP-27. But the new machine gun proved itself so well that they began to allocate only 5 rounds for it. 2 of them were allocated for checking the automation system. And the remaining 3 are for adjusting weapons, adjusting or adjusting its accuracy. And then only in those cases when it was really necessary.
Production launch
DP-27, invented by the designer before the advent of the RPD, in terms of the principle of operation was a fairly simple device. He was going accordingly. Thanks to the assembly and design, RPD has become a very promising weapon, which was manufactured in a short time, and production costs decreased several times. Is it worth talking about the reliability of a machine gun?
Advantages and disadvantages
The disk, invented for a machine gun, was a well-thought-out solution. It was a working, reliable device in all respects. However, in order to carry discs with cartridges, soldiers needed to create special bags. They were subsequently called container bags.
The disks in question now, everyone knows. Even those people who have never seen RPD in their eyes. Very clearly, the actions of the soldiers when using the RPD are shown in a film called “Two Fighters”. Another drawback of the disk was its spiral spring. Over time, it noticeably weakened, which led to a decrease in the effectiveness of weapons.
In fact, due to this flaw, the drive was often delivered unfilled to the end. The thing is that in equipment he was not so simple. Although, on the other hand, equipping the Maxim machine-gun belt was also not entirely easy.
RPD machine gun: tuning and combat mechanism
Many sources are silent about the possible tuning of weapons. But the mechanism was not built correctly. The problem, in particular, was that the draft of the mainspring occurred relatively quickly. It was located, as you know, under the barrel and almost adjoined it. Thus, if the fire was very intense, the barrel was heated very quickly. Together with him, due to the transfer of thermal energy in the adjacent metal surfaces, the reciprocating spring was also heated. That, by the way, created certain difficulties in the operation of the machine gun.
Modern small arms of the world. RPD
Many experts in the weapons sector agreed that the use of RPDs is possible taking into account the shortcomings (therefore, their eradication) that have been identified over time. It was assumed either the installation of a global cooling system, or the manufacture of spare shafts. The latter option, by the way, required adjustments to the RPD manufacturing process, since until that time the machine gun was manufactured with a fixed barrel.