12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun DShK in the Navy. Dshk heavy machine gun. Information about the technical device

DShK is a large-caliber heavy machine gun, created on the basis of the DK machine gun and using a 12.7x108 mm cartridge. The DShK machine gun is one of the most common heavy machine guns. He played a significant role in the Great Patriotic War, as well as in subsequent military conflicts.

It was a formidable means of fighting the enemy on land, at sea and in the air. DShK had a unique nickname “Dushka”. Currently, in the Russian armed forces, the DShK and DShKM are completely replaced by the Utes and Kord machine guns as more modern and advanced.

Story

In 1929, the experienced and famous gunsmith Degtyarev was tasked with developing the first Soviet heavy machine gun, designed primarily to combat aircraft at altitudes of up to 1.5 km. About a year later, the gunsmith presented his 12.7 mm machine gun for testing. Since 1932, this machine gun under the designation DK was put into small-scale production.

However, the DK machine gun had certain disadvantages:

• low practical rate of fire;
• heavy weight of stores;
• bulkiness and heavy weight.

Therefore, in 1935, production of the DK machine gun was discontinued, and the developers began improving it. By 1938, designer Shpagin designed a DC tape power module. As a result, the improved machine gun was adopted by the Red Army on February 26, 1939 under the designation DShK - Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine gun.

Mass release DShK started in 1940-1941. DShK machine guns were used:

• as an infantry support weapon;
• as anti-aircraft guns;
• installed on armored vehicles (T-40);
• installed on small ships, including torpedo boats.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Kovrov Mechanical Plant produced approximately 2 thousand DShKs. By 1944, more than 8,400 machine guns had already been produced. And by the end of the war - 9 thousand DShKs; production of machine guns of this system continued in the post-war period.

Based on the experience of the war, the DShK was modernized, and in 1946 a machine gun called the DShKM entered service. The DShKM was installed as an anti-aircraft machine gun on T-62, T-54, T-55 tanks. The tank version of the machine gun was called DShKMT.

Design Features

The DShK heavy machine gun (12.7 mm caliber) is an automatic weapon that uses the principle of removing powder gases. DShK fire mode - automatic only, fixed barrel equipped muzzle brake and has special fins for better cooling. The barrel is locked by two combat cylinders, which are hinged on the bolt.

The feed is made from a metal non-scattered tape; the tape is fed from the left side of the DShK. The tape feeder is made in the form of a drum. As the drum rotated, it simultaneously fed the belt and also removed cartridges from it (the belt had open links). After the chamber of the drum with the cartridge came to the lower position, the bolt fed the cartridge into the chamber.

The tape was fed using a lever located on the right side and swinging in a vertical plane during the action of the loading handle, rigidly connected to bolt carrier.

The drum mechanism of the DShKM was replaced with a compact slider mechanism, which worked on a similar principle. The cartridge was removed from the tape downwards, after which it was fed directly into the chamber. Spring buffers for the bolt frame and bolt are installed in the buttplate of the receiver. The fire is fired from the rear sear. To control the fire, two handles are used on the butt plate, as well as twin triggers. A frame sight was installed for aiming, and special mounts were installed for the anti-aircraft foreshortening sight.

The machine gun was mounted on a universal machine of the Kolesnikov system, which was equipped with a steel shield and removable wheels. When using a machine gun as anti-aircraft gun the rear support was raised into a tripod, and the wheels and shield were removed. The main disadvantage of this machine was its weight, which limited the mobility of the machine gun. The machine gun was installed:

• on ship pedestal installations;
• in tower installations;
• on remote controlled anti-aircraft installations.

Technical characteristics of the DShK model 1938

• Cartridge – 12.7×108.
• The total weight of the machine gun (on the machine, with a belt and without a shield) is 181.3 kg.
• The mass of the DShK “body” without tape is 33.4 kg.
• Barrel weight – 11.2 kg.
• The length of the DShK “body” is 1626 mm.
• Barrel length - 1070 mm.
• Rifling - 8 right-hand.
• The length of the rifled part of the barrel is 890 mm.
• The initial bullet speed is 850-870 m/s.
• The muzzle energy of the bullet is on average 19,000 J.
• The rate of fire is 600 rounds per minute.
• Combat rate of fire is 125 rounds per minute.
• The length of the aiming line is 1110 mm.
• Sighting range for ground targets - 3500 m.
• Sighting range air targets— 2400 m.
• Height reach - 2500 m.
• Type of machine: wheeled tripod.
• The height of the firing line in a ground position is 503 mm.
• The height of the firing line at anti-aircraft position is 1400 mm.
• For anti-aircraft shooting, the time to transition to a combat position from a traveling position is 30 seconds.
• Calculation: 3-4 people.

Modifications

1. DSHKT- tank machine gun, first installed on IS-2 tanks as an anti-aircraft gun
2. DShKM-2B– a twin installation for armored boats, where two machine guns were installed in a closed turret, with bulletproof armor
3. MTU-2— twin turret unit weighing 160 kg, designed for installation on ships
4. DShKM-4— experimental quad installation
5. P-2K- a mine installation created for submarines (during the trip it was removed inside the boat)

Video about the DShK machine gun

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The USSR created many types of weapons, which to this day are very popular all over the world. These include the DShK machine gun. It has been removed from service in our country, but dozens of other countries are actively using it. In my time soviet soldiers They gave this machine gun the nickname “Dushka”, transforming its abbreviation into a peaceful, good name. But in reality it was a formidable large-caliber machine gun that terrified enemies.

How it all began

At the end of 1925, it turned out that the Red Army was in dire need of a powerful heavy machine gun. The designers were given the task of developing such a weapon, and the caliber had to be chosen within the range of 12-20 millimeters. On a competitive basis and based on test results, the 12.7 mm caliber cartridge was chosen as the main one. But the army command was not too satisfied with the presented weapons, and therefore new prototypes were constantly tested.

So, at the beginning of 1931, two machine guns were tested at once: the “Dreyse system” and the “Degtyarev system”. The commission considered that the sample from Degtyarev deserved attention, since it was much lighter and easier to manufacture. The first attempt at serial production was made in 1932, but the following year only 12 machine guns could be assembled, and in 1934 the production of the DK was completely curtailed. Initially, the DShK machine gun did not cause much enthusiasm among the military.

What happened

But the thing is that the next tests in 1934 revealed one unpleasant feature of the new gun: it turned out that the machine gun was virtually useless to fight even relatively fast targets (especially airborne ones), since the rate of fire was extremely low, and the magazines offered by the manufacturer were so heavy and uncomfortable that even experienced fighters experienced many difficulties when handling them. In 1935, a decree was issued to completely stop all production of DC.

By the way, do you know what the DShK (machine gun) is called correctly? The decoding is simple: “Degtyarev-Shpagina large-caliber.” Wait, how did the famous Shpagin get here? After all, we are talking about Degtyarev? It's simple.

The situation of the practically rejected gun was saved by the outstanding domestic gunsmith G.S. Shpagin, who in 1937 invented a belt feed mechanism, the installation of which did not require any serious alteration of old machine guns. In April of the following year, the new design was successfully tested at the factory, in the winter the sample passed tests with flying colors with honor, and in 1939 the DShK machine gun “officially” appeared.

Information about the technical device

Automation is standard, it works by removing waste powder gases. The gas chamber had three holes of different diameters: using a small regulator, it was possible to flexibly regulate the amount of gases that was transferred directly to the gas piston. On the barrel, along its entire length, there are “ribs” that serve for more uniform and intense heat dissipation.

An active muzzle brake is attached to the muzzle. At first its shape resembled a parachute, but later designers began to use a flat-shaped brake.

The bolt frame is the basis of all automation. The barrel bore was locked using lugs on the bolt, which were moved in different directions. Mounted on the gas piston rod return spring. Spring shock absorbers in the butt plate not only significantly soften recoil, but also prevent rapid wear of the weapon. In addition, it is they who give the bolt frame the initial return velocity. This ingenious innovation was proposed by Shpagin: this way the designer increased the rate of fire.

Of course, after introducing this device into the design, it was necessary to equip the machine gun with a rebound damping device so that the frame would not “jump” in the extreme forward position.

Reloading and shooting

A handle for reloading the weapon is rigidly coupled to the bolt frame. The direct recharging mechanism also interacts with it. machine gun system, but if the machine gunner inserts the cartridge with the head of the case, he can do without it. Shooting is done from an open bolt.

It should be remembered that the DShK machine gun allows only automatic fire and is equipped with a non-automatic safety lever, the principle of operation of which is based on complete blocking of the trigger.

The bolt, approaching the breech of the barrel, stops completely, while the bolt frame itself continues to move forward. The thickened part of the firing pin cocks the bolt lugs, which fit into special recesses made in the wall of the receiver. Even after the barrel is locked, the bolt carrier continues to move forward, where its firing pin hits the firing pin. The shutter is unlocked using the bevels of the same frame when it moves backwards.

Ammunition supply mechanism

Power is supplied from the tape. It is metal, link. Served from the left side. The tape is placed in a metal container attached to the machine gun mount. A large-caliber DShK machine gun is equipped with a drum-type belt receiver, which operates from the bolt frame handle. As it moved backwards, the feed lever was activated and rotated.

A pawl was attached to its other end, which rotated the drum 60 degrees in one step. Accordingly, due to this mechanical energy, the cartridge strip was pulled. The cartridge was removed from it in a side position.

notice, that domestic ammunition 12.7 mm caliber has a very wide range of cartridge types that can be used to solve various combat missions.

Sights, shooting at different types of targets

For shooting at ground-based targets, a relatively simple, folding frame sight is used, marked up to a range of 3.5 thousand meters. The anti-aircraft ring sight was adopted for service in 1938. It allowed firing at flying enemy aircraft at a distance of up to 2400 meters, but the target speed should not exceed 500 km/h. In 1941, a significantly simplified sight was adopted.

If it was used, the firing range was reduced to 1800 meters, but the theoretical target could move at speeds of up to 625 km/h. In 1943 appeared new type a sight that made it possible to effectively hit enemy aircraft at any course of their movement, even in cases where the pilot performed a dive or pitch-up. This made it possible to effectively fight attack aircraft, who, as a rule, attacked from a low altitude.

Anti-aircraft variant

How did the anti-aircraft DShK perform? The machine gun turned out to be not so good as a weapon for combating air targets. It's all about an imperfect anti-aircraft machine, which often negated all the advantages of new types of sights.

In particular, it turned out to be insufficiently stable. A limited series of special anti-aircraft machines with comfortable bipods and additional sighting devices were developed and made, but they never went into production (due to the difficulties of the war years).

Special, balanced anti-aircraft installations were also developed. For example, the DShK coaxial machine gun was quite popular. Difficulties with their serial production were associated with the power supply system: without subjecting the weapon to significant alterations, it was impossible to move the tape receiver to the other side. In the case of using built-in installations, all this created serious difficulties for the gun crew.

Production and combat use

The machine guns went into production in 1939. They began to enter the army and navy starting next year. At first, there was a chronic lag between the plan and reality: for example, in 1940, the production of 900 units was planned, while the plant was only able to produce 566 units.

In the first six months of 1941, only 234 DShKs were produced, although at least four thousand units had to be made in just a year. It is not surprising that the army and navy constantly, throughout the war, experienced a chronic shortage of heavy machine guns. Since the need for this type of weapon was greater at sea, 1,146 DShKs were transferred from the army to sailors throughout the war.

However, the situation improved relatively quickly: in 1942 the army already received 7,400 machine guns, and in 1943 and 1944 almost 15 thousand DShKs were produced annually.

What were they used for?

Since there were few machine guns, they became the main type anti-aircraft weapons: for the purpose of combating ground targets they were not used so often. However, in the first year of the war, the Wehrmacht constantly threw light tanks and wedges into battle, against which the DShK was a formidable weapon, and therefore machine guns were “requisitioned” from anti-aircraft units.

Later, these weapons began to be transferred to anti-tank units as a matter of routine, since the soldiers used them to fight off attacks attack aircraft enemy.

In urban battles, the DShK turned out to be much more in demand specifically for combating enemy personnel. It often happened that it was very difficult to “pick out” Germans from a simple brick house (due to the lack of grenade launchers at that time). But if the assault group was armed with a DShK machine gun, the caliber of which made it possible not to pay special attention to the walls, then the situation changed dramatically for the better.

In service with tankers

Often the machine gun was mounted on domestic tanks. In addition, they installed it on the Soviet armored car BA-64D. A full-fledged turret with a DShK appeared in 1944, with the adoption of the IS-2 heavy tank. In addition, self-propelled guns were often equipped with machine guns, and this was often done by the crew themselves.

It's important to note that domestic machine guns this system was sorely lacking during the war years. In the United States, over the same period, more than 400 thousand units of Browning M2HB alone were produced. It is not surprising that when planning deliveries under Lend-Lease Special attention was given specifically to heavy machine guns.

Basic performance characteristics

What else characterizes the DShK machine gun? Its characteristics were as follows:

• Cartridge - 12.7x108 mm (domestic variation of the same "Browning").
• The body of the machine gun weighed 33.4 kg (without tape and cartridges).
• With the machine (modification without a shield) the weight was 148 kg.
• The total length of the weapon is 1626 mm.
• The barrel length was 1070 mm.
• Theoretical rate of fire is 550-600 rounds per minute.
• The rate of fire in combat conditions is 80-125 rounds per minute.
• The theoretically possible firing range is 3500 meters.
• The actual range is 1800-2000 meters.
• The thickness of the armor steel to be penetrated is up to 16 mm at a distance of 500 meters.
• Food - link belt, 50 rounds per piece.

These are the characteristics of the DShK (machine gun). Its performance characteristics are such that this weapon and is still used in dozens of countries around the world; various modifications are still produced.

12.7 mm heavy machine gun cartridges

Domestic large-caliber machine gun cartridges originate on October 27, 1925, when the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR proposed to the Artillery Committee Artillery Directorate By May 1, 1927, the Red Army had developed a 12–20 mm machine gun.

In the design bureau (PKB) of the First Tula Arms Factories (TOZ), under the leadership of I. A. Pastukhov, a machine gun was created based on the 12.7 mm English Vickers large-caliber cartridge, which received the designation “P-5” - “machine gun 5” -linear” (that is, 0.5-inch caliber). The following year, 1928, the head of the Design Bureau of the Kovrov Plant No. 2, V. A. Degtyarev, also received the task of developing, on the basis of his DP light machine gun, a heavy machine gun for anti-tank and air defense chambered for the English 12.7 mm cartridge. Locking in the first model of his machine gun was similar to the design of the DP machine gun, and power was supplied from a rigid metal cassette similar to the Hotchkiss M.1914 machine gun. Problems that arose with ammunition for heavy machine guns forced Soviet designers to abandon direct copying of English 12.7 mm cartridges and begin work on designing their own cartridges that would meet the requirements of the time. Only after the creation of such a cartridge by specialists from the Cartridge-Tube Trust in 1930, Degtyarev was able to present two versions of his heavy machine guns to Artkom as quickly as possible.

The report of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR dated December 1929 stated: “The adopted system infantry weapons The Red Army envisages in the near future the introduction into service of a semi-automatic self-loading rifle, a self-loading pistol, a submachine gun, a heavy machine gun - to combat armored units and airborne enemies, caliber 18–20 m/m with a working rate of fire of up to 500–600 rounds...” In 1930 in the workshop of the Bureau of New Designs and Standardization (as the design bureau was renamed) of plant No. 2, the first prototype Degtyarev heavy machine gun with a flat disc magazine designed by A. S. Kladov with a capacity of 30 rounds. In February 1931, two 12.7-mm machine guns were tested - the “Dreyse TOZ manufacturing system” and the Degtyarev system. The commission that conducted the tests gave preference to the Degtyarev large-caliber (DK-32) as lighter and easier to manufacture. The DK was adopted, production of a small series began at plant No. 2 in Kovrov in 1932, but in 1933 only 12 pieces were assembled, and in 1934 the production of the Degtyarev heavy machine gun was completely suspended.

For the Degtyarev heavy machine gun, the caliber chosen was 12.7 mm. A new cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet was designed at the Tula Cartridge Plant in 1928–1930. The 12.7 mm large-caliber cartridge consisted of: a bimetallic bottle sleeve 108 mm long without a rim with a groove; a charge of smokeless pyroxylin powder 4/1 fl and an armor-piercing B-30 bullet, modeled after the 7.62-mm armor-piercing bullet B-30 mod. 1930 with a steel core and a cylindrical tail. Cartridge weight - 132.2–139.8 g.

A brass bottle wafer sleeve serves to connect all parts of the cartridge, while the method of fastening the bullet is a tight fit and a 2-row segmental crimp of the cartridge case neck. The cartridge case has: a body, inside of which a powder charge is placed; a ramp for resting on the chamber cone; the barrel into which the bullet is inserted; a recess for the ejector hook and a bottom. The bottom of the case body has: a socket for the primer; an anvil on which the primer is broken by the striker; two priming holes through which the flame from the primer penetrates to the gunpowder. The capsule serves to ignite the charge. It consists of a brass cap with a shock compound pressed into it, covered with foil. The powder charge consists of smokeless powder. When the charge burns, powder gases are formed, the pressure of which ejects the bullet from the barrel and the entire moving system is activated to fire the next shot.

Due to the fact that the main task of the DK-32 machine gun, for which this cartridge was developed, was the destruction of lightly armored targets, cartridges with armor-piercing bullets mod. 1930 and armor-piercing incendiary mod. 1932. In addition, before the Great Patriotic War, aircraft machine guns were also developed for this promising 12.7-mm large-caliber cartridge by three design teams: V. A. Degtyareva (TsKB-2); Ya. G. Taubina and M. N. Baburina (OKB-16); and M. E. Berezina (TsKB-14), as well as several designs of anti-tank rifles, including Sholokhov, Rukavishnikov, Vladimirov and others.

Later, in the late 1930s and during the Great Patriotic War The 12.7 x108 large-caliber cartridge has been repeatedly modernized by creating new bullets:

• T-38 - tracer bullet with a lead core,
• BS-41 - armor-piercing incendiary bullet,
• BZT-44 - armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet,
• MDZ - instantaneous incendiary fragmentation bullet.

Currently, large-caliber cartridges with armor-piercing incendiary bullets B-32, armor-piercing incendiary tracer BZT-44 and fragmentation incendiary bullets MDZ are mainly used. 12.7x108 cartridges are used for firing from DShK/DShKM heavy machine guns; NSV and their variants, as well as aviation machine guns UB; A-12.7 A; YakB-12.7. The production of 12.7 mm large-caliber cartridges was established at cartridge factories No. 3; 17; 46; 188; 335.

Here, speaking about large-caliber machine-gun cartridges, it should be noted that, in general, small arms called a solid bullet (lead or tombak), or consisting only of a shell and not having an armor-piercing core, i.e., not being special - tracer, armor-piercing, armor-piercing incendiary, sighting, etc. But in relation to large-caliber machine guns that do not have (with rare exceptions, mainly in the past) the ordinary bullet itself, due to its inappropriateness for such a caliber, is called ordinary armor-piercing bullets (as bullets for the main purpose) armor-piercing, armor-piercing incendiary, armor-piercing incendiary tracer, etc., having an ordinary armor-piercing hardened steel core. Special, in relation to large-caliber machine guns, are bullets equipped with a special armor-piercing core made of hard, tungsten-containing alloys.

12.7 mm armor-piercing bullet B-30 mod. 1930, weighing 51.1–51.9 g, consisted of a steel, tombac-clad (bimetallic) shell, a lead jacket and a steel hardened pointed core with a length of 52.48–52.88 mm, a diameter of 19.4–19.9 mm and a mass 29.25–30.50 g. The core was made of cold-drawn heat-treated tool steel of grade U12 A. The lead jacket was intended to ensure tight mounting of the bullet, soften the load on the barrel when the bullet cuts into the rifling and protect the bore from excessive wear. The length of the bullet with a conical rear part was 62.6–63.5 mm. 12.7 mm armor-piercing bullet B-30 mod. 1930 had an initial speed of 830–850 m/s and at a distance of 500 meters penetrated armor up to 16 mm thick. The muzzle energy was 18,000 J.

Large-caliber cartridges with the B-30 bullet were produced with a brass sleeve. The fixation of a 12.7 mm large-caliber cartridge with a non-protruding rim in the chamber was carried out by sloping the cartridge case into the chamber slope, which, in turn, increased the requirements for the manufacture of chambers and sleeves.

The tip of the B-30 bullet was painted black. When hitting an armored barrier, the bullet core destroyed the lead jacket and the bullet casing, and then pierced the barrier, hitting the crew of the armored vehicle, as well as its instruments and equipment. Possessing significant armor penetration, the B-30 bullet at the same time had a major drawback, which was its low armor protection. Production of this cartridge began in the early 1930s. With the start of production of large-caliber cartridges with the more universal armor-piercing incendiary bullet B-32, the production of 12.7 mm cartridges with the B-30 bullet was discontinued. During the Great Patriotic War, the DShK heavy machine gun was used as an anti-aircraft weapon, and when firing armor-piercing bullets, the B-30 could shoot down an enemy aircraft, which at that time was flying quite high - more than 2000 m and at a high speed of 500 km/h. At the same time, cartridges with armor-piercing B-30 bullets for it had limited use and were gradually replaced from circulation by cartridges with more universal armor-piercing incendiary bullets B-32, equivalent in armor penetration, but additionally providing an incendiary effect due to the presence of an incendiary composition between the warhead core and jacket of the bullet.

In 1933, a new machine gun cartridge of 12.7 x108 mm caliber with a brass sleeve and an armor-piercing incendiary bullet B-32 arr. was adopted for the Degtyarev DK-32 heavy machine gun. 1932 (GRAU index - 57-BZ-542), intended for firing at enemy personnel and equipment, which had high power action and armor penetration. The 12.7 mm armor-piercing incendiary bullet with a steel core B-32 was designed similarly to the 7.62 mm B-32 rifle bullet. It had a bimetallic steel shell clad with tombac; a lead jacket, an armor-piercing core (with a bullet length of 62.6–63.5 mm and a bullet weight of 47.4–49.5 mm), and a pyrotechnic (incendiary) composition located in the head part (with a mass of 1.0 g). The core of the cartridge for the B-32 bullet weighing 29.25–30.5 g was produced from cold-drawn heat-treated tool steel of the U12 A, U12 XA grade. Initially, the bullet shell was made with one belt, but the increased rate of fire from 12.7 mm aircraft machine guns required increasing the strength of the connection between the bullet and the cartridge case, and the use of double rolling of the wall of the cartridge case neck into two zones. When firing cartridges with a conventional B-32 armor-piercing bullet, armor penetration along the normal (i.e., at an angle of 900) was 20 mm of armor steel at a distance of up to 100 meters and 15 mm at a distance of up to 500 meters. The head of the bullet is painted black with a red belt.

There are two types of large-caliber cartridges with the B-32 bullet - “military production” (preserved from the Great Patriotic War) and “new”, post-war. The fact is that in order to reduce the weight of the machine gun, the barrel of the NSV-12.7 machine guns was noticeably lighter compared to the DShKM. The designers abandoned the use of radiators - in addition to reducing weight, the barrel became much more technologically advanced. But this, in turn, affected its survivability - the first batches of barrels “burned out” after 3,000–4,000 shots. In the infantry version, the machine gun had to be equipped with 3 barrels in order to maintain the guaranteed service life of the entire machine gun - 10,000 rounds. As a result, it was decided to use gunpowder with so-called phlegmatizing additives of the 4/1 fl grade in the production of cartridges. Until this time they were used only in artillery. The survivability of the barrel when using new cartridges increased to acceptable limits - in periodic tests, under harsh firing conditions - 50 shots in one burst and 50 in three bursts of 15-20 shots each - the barrel could withstand about 6,000 shots.

In addition, the Red Army adopted 12.7 mm large-caliber machine gun cartridges with a PZ sighting and incendiary bullet (index 57-ZP-542) and with a ZP incendiary bullet (index 57-ZP-532), similar to 7.62 mm rifle cartridges with similar types of incendiary bullets.

In 1941, the ammunition load of the DShK machine guns was supplemented with a new 12.7 mm large-caliber cartridge with a special armor-piercing incendiary bullet BS-41 mod. 1941, designed to fight enemy armored vehicles. It differed from the B-32 in its new shorter length (bullet length - 50.5–51.0 mm, weight 53.6–53.8 mm). The armor-piercing core for the BS-41 bullet was made from a carbide metal-ceramic alloy of the RE-6 brand based on tungsten carbide weighing 37.2–39.0 g. The head of the bullet was painted black, and the body of the bullet was painted red. The cartridge with the BS-41 bullet was twice as strong as the cartridge with the conventional B-32 bullet in terms of armor penetration and provided through penetration of 20 mm thick armor plate when hit at an angle of 200 at a distance of 750 m. They received some use in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War .

In 1974, the BS-41 armor-piercing incendiary bullet was modernized by designer V. M. Bobrov and received the designation BS model 1974 (index 7-BZ-1). The 12.7-mm armor-piercing incendiary bullet BS, model 1974, with a bullet weight of 55 g, was equipped with a refractory heavy metal-ceramic core. It was designed when it became clear that the armor penetration of the B-32 was no longer enough to combat modern armored personnel carriers and BMP. The BS bullet, model 1974, is an ogival shape with a rear cone and a belt and consists of: a bimetallic shell; incendiary composition in the head and tail parts; pointed core without a rear cone made of VK-8 hard alloy in an aluminum jacket. The BS bullet of the 1974 model penetrates armor 20 mm thick at a distance of 765 m at an impact angle of 200. The head of the bullet is painted black, the body of the bullet is red.

Initially, the DShK and UB machine guns used 12.7 mm cartridges with a T-38 tracer bullet (index 57-T-542), which were soon replaced by more effective 12.7 mm large-caliber machine gun cartridges with an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet BZT (bullet weight 44.32–45.6 g), which were not only intended for adjusting fire and indicating the target, but also for shooting at enemy personnel and equipment. The armor-piercing core had to be shortened somewhat (length 31.5 mm), which led to a decrease in penetration ability. A bullet fired from a distance of 100 m is capable of penetrating a steel sheet 15 mm thick at an impact angle of 10°. The BZT bullet had White color routes, and the BZT-44 and BZT-44 M bullets are the red color of the route. Tracing range - 1000 m. The head of the bullet is painted purple with a red belt.

Currently, for the 12.7 mm NSV heavy machine gun and its modifications in service with the Russian Army, 12.7 mm heavy machine gun cartridges B-32, BZT-44, MDZ and BS are used.

In addition, at the end of the 1990s, Russia mastered the production of a special sniper cartridge of 12.7 x108 SN caliber with an armor-piercing SPB bullet under the index 7 N34. It is designed to destroy manpower equipped with personal armor protection, ground and low-flying equipment when firing from 12.7 mm sniper rifle 6 B7. Bimetallic sleeve. The mass of the SPB sniper armor-piercing bullet is 59.2 g. The armor-piercing effect of bullets on armor plate of grade 2 P with a thickness of 10 mm at a distance of 800 m is at least 80%; in this case, the accuracy is R100 of at least 8.5 cm at a distance of 300 m. A metal box contains 80 pieces of 12.7 mm SPB sniper cartridges, and a wooden box contains 2 metal boxes - 160 SPB cartridges.

DShK cartridges were also used in the 12.7-mm domestic Berezin UB aircraft machine guns. But for aircraft machine guns, cartridges were produced that had other types of bullets, specially developed taking into account the specifics of use in aircraft weapons.

12.7 mm machine gun cartridge with armor-piercing incendiary bullet BZF-46 mod. 1932 (index 57-B-532) (bullet weight 48 g) were intended for firing at enemy aircraft and balloons from aviation and anti-aircraft machine guns, as well as for adjusting machine gun fire and indicating the target.

The armor-piercing incendiary bullet BZF-46 had an ogival shape with a rear cone with two belts and consisted of: a bimetallic shell; armor-piercing core weighing 17.3–18.2 g from cold-drawn heat-treated tool steel grades U12 A, U12 XA and increased pyrotechnic incendiary composition based on phosphorus weighing 1.1–1.3 g, located in the bottom part. The head of the bullet was painted black with a yellow belt.

A 12.7-mm machine gun cartridge with an instantaneous incendiary bullet, MDZ (instant action, incendiary) was developed by specialists from design bureau of plant No. 3 (Ulyanovsk Machine-Building Plant) and adopted for service with aircraft machine guns under the designation GRAU - 7-Z-2. The cartridge is designed to destroy low-flying air targets from anti-aircraft machine guns and create fires, so the MDZ bullet was loaded with a mixture of explosives. The MDZ bullet was an ogival shape with a rear cone and two belts, consisting of a bimetallic shell with a tombac tip; a bimetallic cup in a lead jacket with a mixture of explosive (TEN) and incendiary (No. 7) compositions; percussion mechanism of non-cocking instantaneous action, having a chopping tube, a bimetallic sleeve and a captive detonator cap. When a bullet hits an obstacle, the tip is deformed and breaks through with a chopping tube; fragments of the tip are activated by a detonator cap, which initiates the detonation of the charge explosive. The flash achieved by the MZD bullet was visible at a distance of up to 1500 m. Subsequently, 12.7-mm machine gun cartridges with an instant-action incendiary bullet MZD were replaced with similar ones, but with more powerful bullets: with the MDZ bullet designed by Zabegin “MDZ-Z”, with a modernized MDZ "MDZ-M" bullet and an "MD" instant action bullet with a "V-166" fuse. The bullets of the MDZ-46 and MDZ-3 variants differed primarily in the design of the warhead. In the MDZ-46 bullet, the brass bushing simultaneously served as a ballistic tip, while in the MDZ-3 bullet there was no tip, and the shell covered the body of the detonator capsule. The bodies of the MDZ-46 and MDZ-3 bullets differed primarily in the design of the head part. In the MDZ-46 bullet, the brass bushing simultaneously served as a ballistic tip, while in the MDZ-3 bullet there was no tip, and the shell covered the body of the detonator capsule, which was painted red.

In the period 1959–1964 in the USSR to destroy intelligence balloons enemy from the on-board weapons of aircraft and helicopters, a special 12.7-mm cartridge was created with an incendiary-explosive instantaneous high-sensitivity bullet ZMDBCH model 1966 (abbreviated name - FZ-12.7, full - 12.7-mm cartridge with high-explosive incendiary bullet ZMDBCH).

In addition, for the 12.7 mm YakB-12.7 aircraft machine guns mounted on Mi-24 combat helicopters, special two-bullet cartridges of increased fire density with armor-piercing incendiary bullets “1 SL” (9-A-4412) were developed. and tracer “1 SLT” (index 9-A-4427). These cartridges are produced by the Novosibirsk Low-Voltage Equipment Plant. The 1 SL cartridges are equipped with two armor-piercing incendiary bullets of reduced weight (31 g) of the B-32 type. Each of the bullets of these cartridges consists of a steel shell, clad with tombac, and two cores: steel and lead. The case muzzle for fixing the first bullet has two belts. To fix the second bullet in the case body, three round punchings are formed by punching on three sides, which is the external difference between a two-bullet large-caliber machine gun cartridge and an ordinary one. Cartridge 1 SLT is also equipped with two bullets: the first is an armor-piercing incendiary bullet of the B-32 type (weighing 31 g) and the second is an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet of the BZT type (weighing 27 g), located one after the other. Tracing range is up to 1000 m, tracing time is at least 29 seconds.

In addition, when training in shooting to simulate combat shooting without a bullet, 12.7 mm large-caliber machine gun blank cartridges (index 7 X1) are used. They have a sleeve closed on top with a textured green cap. In addition, training cartridges (index 7 X2) are also used for training purposes.

The 12.7 mm heavy machine gun cartridge was the most widely used in the world, since these cartridges were supplied to many countries (not only the Warsaw Pact Organization, but also third world countries), and were also produced under license, for example in China.

The 12.7x108 heavy machine gun cartridge is used in the following types of weapons:

• DShK/DShKM machine guns (USSR);
• aviation machine guns UBT/UBK/UBS (USSR);
• aviation machine gun A-12.7 (USSR);
• ship turret-turret machine gun mount "Utes-M" (USSR/Russia);
• machine gun NSV "Utes" (USSR/Russia/Kazakhstan);
• NSVT tank machine gun (USSR/Russia/Kazakhstan);
• machine gun 6 P50 “Kord” (Russia);
• sniper rifle KSVK (Russia);
• sniper rifle V-94 (Russia);
• machine gun type 54 (PRC);
• machine gun type 77 (PRC);
• machine gun type 85 (PRC);
• W85 machine gun (PRC);
• sniper rifle "Gepard" (Hungary).

Sergey Monetchikov
Photo by Dmitry Belyakov and from the author’s archive
Brother 05-2012

• Articles » Cartridges
• Mercenary 17568 0

DShK (GRAU Index - 56-P-542) - heavy-caliber machine gun chambered for 12.7×108 mm. Developed based on the design of the large-caliber heavy machine gun DK. In February 1939, the DShK was adopted by the Red Army under the designation “12.7 mm Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine gun, model 1938.”

DShK machine gun - video

With the start of work on a machine gun with a caliber of 12-20 millimeters in 1925, it was decided to create it on the basis of a magazine-fed light machine gun in order to reduce the weight of the machine gun being created. Work began at the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant on the basis of the 12.7-mm Vickers cartridge and on the basis of the German Dreyse (P-5) machine gun. The design bureau of the Kovrov plant was developing a machine gun based on the Degtyarev light machine gun for more powerful cartridges. A new 12.7 mm cartridge with armor-piercing bullet, were created in 1930, and at the end of the year the first experimental large-caliber Degtyarev machine gun with a Kladov disc magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds was assembled. In February 1931, after testing, preference was given to the DK (“Degtyarev large-caliber”) as easier to manufacture and lighter. The recreation center was put into service; in 1932, a small series was produced at the plant named after. Kirkizha (Kovrov), however, in 1933 only 12 machine guns were produced.

Military tests did not live up to expectations. In 1935, production of the Degtyarev heavy machine gun was stopped. By this time, a version of the DAK-32 had been created that had a Shpagin receiver, but tests in 1932-1933 showed the need to refine the system. Shpagin remade his version in 1937. A drum feed mechanism was created that did not require significant changes to the machine gun system. The belt-fed machine gun passed field tests on December 17, 1938. On February 26 of the following year, by resolution of the Defense Committee, they adopted the designation “12.7-mm heavy machine gun mod. 1938 DShK (Degtyarev-Shpagina large-caliber)” which was installed on the Kolesnikov universal machine. Work was also carried out on the DShK aircraft installation, but it soon became clear that a special large-caliber aircraft machine gun was needed.

The automatic operation of the machine gun was carried out due to the removal of powder gases. Gas chamber closed type was located under the barrel and was equipped with a pipe regulator. The barrel had fins along its entire length. The muzzle was equipped with a single-chamber active-type muzzle brake. By moving the bolt lugs to the sides, the barrel bore was locked. The ejector and reflector were assembled in the gate. A pair of spring shock absorbers of the butt plate served to soften the impact of the moving system and give it an initial rolling impulse. The return spring, which was placed on the gas piston rod, activated impact mechanism. The trigger lever was blocked by a safety lever mounted on the buttplate (setting the safety to the front position).

Feeding – belt, feeding – from the left side. The loose tape, which has semi-closed links, was placed in a special metal box attached to the left side of the machine bracket. The bolt carrier handle activated the DShK drum receiver: while moving backward, the handle bumped into the fork of the swinging feed lever and turned it. A pawl located at the other end of the lever rotated the drum 60 degrees, and the drum, in turn, pulled the tape. There were four cartridges in the drum at a time. As the drum rotated, the cartridge was gradually squeezed out of the belt link and fed into the receiving window of the receiver. The shutter moving forward caught it.

The folding frame sight, used for firing at ground targets, had a notch up to 3.5 thousand meters in increments of 100 m. The machine gun markings included the manufacturer's mark, year of manufacture, serial number (series designation - two-letter, serial number machine gun). The mark was placed in front of the butt plate on top of the receiver.

During operation with the DShK, three types of anti-aircraft sights were used. The ring remote sight of the 1938 model was intended to destroy air targets flying at speeds of up to 500 km/h and at a distance of up to 2.4 thousand meters. The sight of the 1941 model was simplified, the range was reduced to 1.8 thousand meters, but the possible speed of the destroyed target increased (along the “imaginary” ring it could be 625 kilometers per hour). The sight of the 1943 model was of the foreshortening type and was much easier to use, but allowed firing at various target courses, including pitching or diving.

The universal Kolesnikov machine of the 1938 model was equipped with its own charging handle, had a removable shoulder pad, a cartridge box bracket, and a rod-type vertical aiming mechanism. Fire at ground targets was carried out from a wheeled vehicle, with the legs folded. To fire at air targets, the wheel drive was separated, and the machine was laid out in the form of a tripod.

The 12.7 mm cartridge could have an armor-piercing bullet (B-30) of the 1930 model, an armor-piercing incendiary bullet (B-32) of the 1932 model, sighting and incendiary (PZ), tracer (T), sighting (P), against anti-aircraft guns targets, an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet (BZT) of the 1941 model was used. The armor penetration of the B-32 bullet was 20 millimeters normal from 100 meters and 15 millimeters from 500 meters. The BS-41 bullet, whose core was made of tungsten carbide, was capable of penetrating 20 mm armor plate at an angle of 20 degrees from a range of 750 meters. The dispersion diameter when firing at ground targets was 200 millimeters at a distance of 100 meters.

The machine gun began to enter service with the troops in 1940. In total, in 1940, plant No. 2 in Kovrov produced 566 DShKs. In the first half of 1941 - 234 machine guns (in total, in 1941, with a plan of 4 thousand DShK, about 1.6 thousand were received). In total, as of June 22, 1941, the Red Army units had about 2.2 thousand heavy machine guns.

From the first days of the Second World War, the DShK machine gun proved itself to be an excellent anti-aircraft weapon. So, for example, on July 14, 1941, on the Western Front in the Yartsevo area, a platoon of three machine guns shot down three German bombers; in August, near Leningrad, in the Krasnogvardeisky Second anti-aircraft machine gun The battalion destroyed 33 enemy aircraft. However, the number of 12.7-mm machine gun mounts was clearly not enough, especially considering the enemy's significant air superiority. As of September 10, 1941, there were 394 of them: in the Orel air defense zone - 9, Kharkov - 66, Moscow - 112, on the Southwestern Front - 72, Southern - 58, Northwestern - 37, Western - 27, Karelian - 13.

Since June 1942, the staff of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment of the army included a DShK company, which was armed with 8 machine guns, and since February 1943 their number increased to 16 units. The anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the RVGK (Zenad), formed since November 42, included one such company per anti-aircraft small-caliber artillery regiment. Since the spring of 1943, the number of DShKs in Zenad decreased to 52 units, and according to the updated state of the 44th in the spring, Zenad had 48 DShKs and 88 guns. In 1943, small-caliber regiments were introduced into the cavalry, mechanized and tank corps anti-aircraft artillery(16 DShK and 16 guns).

American infantrymen fire from a DShKM on a Romanian URO VAMTAC during joint US-Romanian maneuvers, 2009

Usually anti-aircraft DShK used by platoons, often included in medium-caliber anti-aircraft batteries, using them to provide cover from air attacks from low altitudes. Anti-aircraft machine gun companies armed with 18 DShKs were brought into service at the beginning of 1944 rifle divisions. Throughout the war, losses of heavy machine guns amounted to about 10 thousand units, that is, 21% of the resource. This was the smallest percentage of losses of the entire small arms system, but it is comparable to losses in anti-aircraft artillery. This already speaks about the role and place of heavy machine guns.

In 1941, as German troops approached Moscow, backup factories were identified in case Factory No. 2 stopped producing weapons. The production of DShK was carried out in the city of Kuibyshev, where 555 devices and machines were transferred from Kovrov. As a result, during the war, the main production took place in Kovrov, and “duplicate” production took place in Kuibyshev.

In addition to easel ones, they used self-propelled units with DShK - mainly M-1 pickups or GAZ-AA trucks with a DShK machine gun installed in the body in the anti-aircraft position on the machine. “Anti-aircraft” light tanks on the T-60 and T-70 chassis did not advance further than prototypes. The same fate befell the integrated installations (although it should be noted that the built-in 12.7-mm anti-aircraft installations were used to a limited extent - for example, they served in the air defense of Moscow). The failures of the installations were associated, first of all, with the power system, which did not allow changing the direction of feed of the tape. But the Red Army successfully used 12.7-mm American quad mounts of the M-17 type based on the M2NV Browning machine gun.

The “anti-tank” role of the DShK machine gun, which received the nickname “Dushka,” was insignificant. The machine gun was used to a limited extent against light armored vehicles. But the DShK became a tank weapon - it was the main armament of the T-40 (amphibious tank), BA-64D (light armored car), in 1944 a 12.7-mm anti-aircraft turret was installed on heavy tank IS-2, and later on heavy self-propelled guns. Anti-aircraft armored trains were armed with DShK machine guns on tripods or stands (during the war, up to 200 armored trains operated in the air defense forces). A DShK with a shield and a folded machine could be dropped to partisans or landing forces in a UPD-MM parachute bag.

The fleet began receiving DShKs in 1940 (at the beginning of the Second World War there were 830 of them). During the war, industry transferred 4,018 DShKs to the fleet, and another 1,146 were transferred from the army. In the navy, anti-aircraft DShKs were installed on all types of ships, including mobilized fishing and transport ships. They were used on twin single pedestals, turrets, and turrets. Pedestal, rack and turret (coaxial) installations for DShK machine guns, adopted for service navy, developed by I.S. Leshchinsky, designer of plant No. 2. The pedestal installation allowed for all-round firing, vertical guidance angles ranged from -34 to +85 degrees. In 1939 A.I. Ivashutich, another Kovrov designer, developed a twin pedestal installation, and the later appeared DShKM-2 gave all-round fire. Vertical guidance angles ranged from -10 to +85 degrees. In 1945, the 2M-1 twin deck-mounted installation, which had a ring sight, was put into service. The DShKM-2B twin turret installation, created at TsKB-19 in 1943, and the ShB-K sight made it possible to conduct all-round fire at vertical guidance angles from -10 to +82 degrees.

For boats of various classes, open turret twin installations MSTU, MTU-2 and 2-UK were created with pointing angles from -10 to +85 degrees. The “naval” machine guns themselves differed from the base model. For example, in the turret version, a frame sight was not used (only a ring sight with a weather vane front sight was used), the bolt handle was lengthened, and the hook for the cartridge box was changed. The differences between machine guns for coaxial installations were the design of the butt plate with the frame handle and trigger lever, the absence of sights, and fire control.

The German army, which did not have a standard heavy machine gun, willingly used captured DShKs, which were designated MG.286(r).

At the end of the Second World War, Sokolov and Korov carried out a significant modernization of the DShK. The changes primarily affected the food system. In 1946, a modernized machine gun under the DShKM brand was put into service. The reliability of the system has increased - if on the DShK according to the specifications 0.8% of delays during firing were allowed, then on the DShKM this figure was already 0.36%. The DShKM machine gun has become one of the most widely used in the world.

Caliber: 12.7×108 mm
Weight: 34 kg machine gun body, 157 kg on a wheeled machine
Length: 1625 mm
Barrel length: 1070 mm
Nutrition: 50 round belt
Rate of fire: 600 rounds/min

The task to create the first Soviet heavy machine gun, intended primarily to combat aircraft at altitudes of up to 1500 meters, was issued by that time to the already very experienced and well-known gunsmith Degtyarev in 1929. Less than a year later, Degtyarev presented his 12.7mm machine gun for testing, and in 1932, small-scale production of the machine gun began under the designation DK (Degtyarev, Large-caliber). In general, the DK was similar in design to the DP-27 light machine gun, and was powered by detachable drum magazines for 30 rounds, mounted on top of the machine gun. The disadvantages of such a power supply (bulky and heavy magazines, low practical rate of fire) forced the production of the recreational weapon to cease in 1935 and to begin its improvement. By 1938, designer Shpagin developed a belt feed module for the recreation center, and in 1939 the improved machine gun was adopted by the Red Army under the designation “12.7mm heavy machine gun Degtyarev-Shpagin model 1938 - DShK.” Mass production of DShK began in 1940-41. They were used as anti-aircraft weapons, as infantry support weapons, and installed on armored vehicles and small ships (including torpedo boats). Based on the experience of the war, in 1946 the machine gun was modernized (the design of the belt feed unit and barrel mount were changed), and the machine gun was adopted under the designation DShKM.
The DShKM has been or is in service with over 40 armies around the world and is produced in China (“type 54”), Pakistan, Iran and some other countries. The DShKM machine gun was used as an anti-aircraft gun on Soviet tanks of the post-war period (T-55, T-62) and on armored vehicles (BTR-155). Currently, in the Russian Armed Forces, the DShK and DShKM machine guns have been almost completely replaced by the Utes and Kord large-caliber machine guns, which are more advanced and modern.

The DShK heavy machine gun is an automatic weapon built on the gas exhaust principle. The barrel is locked by two combat larvae, hinged on the bolt, through recesses in the side walls of the receiver. The fire mode is automatic only, the barrel is non-removable, finned for better cooling, and equipped with a muzzle brake. The feed is carried out from a non-scattered metal tape; the tape is fed from the left side of the machine gun. In DShK, the tape feeder was made in the form of a drum with six open chambers. As the drum rotated, it fed the tape and at the same time removed the cartridges from it (the tape had open links). After the chamber of the drum with the cartridge arrived in the lower position, the cartridge was fed into the chamber by the bolt. The tape feeder was driven using a lever located on the right side, which swung in a vertical plane when its lower part was acted upon by the loading handle, rigidly connected to the bolt frame. In the DShKM machine gun, the drum mechanism has been replaced with a more compact slider mechanism, also driven by a similar lever connected to the charging handle. The cartridge was removed from the belt downwards and then fed directly into the chamber.
Spring buffers of the bolt and bolt frame are mounted in the buttplate of the receiver. The fire was fired from the rear sear (from the open bolt), two handles on the butt plate and evaporated triggers were used to control the fire. The sight was framed; the machine also had mounts for an anti-aircraft foreshortening sight.

The machine gun was used from a universal machine gun of the Kolesnikov system. The machine was equipped with removable wheels and a steel shield, and when using the machine gun as an anti-aircraft wheel, the shield was removed and the rear support was spread apart to form a tripod. In addition, the anti-aircraft machine gun was equipped with special shoulder rests. The main disadvantage of this machine was its high weight, which limited the mobility of the machine gun. In addition to the machine gun, the machine gun was used in turret installations, on remote-controlled anti-aircraft installations, and on ship pedestal installations.