Dshk machine gun decoding 12.7 1938. Military history, weapons, old and military maps. What happened
12.7 mm Degtyarev-Shpagin DShK heavy machine gun
| Tactical technical DShK characteristics
Caliber................................................. .......................12.7 mm |
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On February 26, 1939, by a decree of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, a 12.7-mm easel machine gun of the 1938 model DShK (“Degtyareva-Shpagin large-caliber”) of the system of V. A. Degtyarev with a drum receiver of the belt of the G. S. system was adopted. Shpagin. The machine gun was adopted on the universal machine of the I.N. Kolesnikov with a detachable wheel drive and a folding tripod. During the years of the Great Patriotic War DShK machine gun It was used to combat air targets, lightly armored vehicles of the enemy, his manpower at long and medium ranges, as armament of tanks and self-propelled guns. At the end of World War II, designers K. I. Sokolov and A. K. Norov carried out a significant modernization of the heavy machine gun. First of all, the power mechanism was changed - the drum receiver was replaced by a slider one. In addition, manufacturability has been improved, the mount of the machine gun barrel has been changed, and a number of measures have been taken to increase survivability. The reliability of the system has been improved. The first 250 modernized machine guns were produced in February 1945 at a factory in Saratov. In 1946, the machine gun was put into service under the designation “12.7 mm machine gun mod. 1938/46, DShKM. DShKM immediately became a tank anti-aircraft machine gun: it was installed on tanks of the IS series, T-54 / 55, T-62, on the BTR-50PA, modernized ISU-122 and ISU-152, special machines on a tank chassis.
Since the differences are 12.7mm easel machine gun arr. 1938, DShK and modernized machine gun mod. 1938/46 DShKM consists mainly in the device of the feed mechanism, we will consider these machine guns together.
Machine gun automation and operates by removing powder gases through a transverse hole in the barrel wall, with a long stroke gas piston. Gas chamber closed type fixed under the barrel and equipped with a three-hole nozzle regulator. Along the entire length of the barrel, transverse ribbing is made for better cooling; a single-chamber active muzzle brake is mounted on the muzzle of the barrel. The barrel bore is locked when the bolt lugs are pulled apart. The DShK barrel was supplied muzzle brake active type, subsequently replaced by a flat brake also of an active type (such a muzzle brake was also used on the DShK, and became the main one for tank modifications).
The leading link of automation is the bolt carrier. A gas piston rod is screwed into the bolt frame in front, and a drummer is attached to the rack in its rear part. When the bolt approaches the breech breech, the bolt stops, and the bolt carrier continues to move forward, the drummer rigidly connected to it moves forward with its thickened part forward relative to the bolt and spreads the bolt lugs, which are included in the corresponding recesses receiver. The reduction of the lugs and the unlocking of the shutter is carried out by the bevels of the figured seat of the bolt carrier when it moves backward. extraction spent cartridge case provides a bolt ejector, the cartridge case is removed from the weapon down through the bolt frame window, using a spring-loaded rod reflector mounted at the top of the bolt. The reciprocating mainspring is put on the gas piston rod and closed with a tubular casing. In the butt plate there are two spring shock absorbers that soften the impact of the bolt carrier and the bolt at the rearmost point. In addition, shock absorbers give the frame and bolt an initial return speed, thereby increasing the rate of fire. The reloading handle, located at the bottom right, is rigidly connected to the bolt frame and is small in size. The reloading mechanism of the machine gun mount interacts with the reload handle, but the machine gunner can directly use the handle, for example, by inserting a cartridge into it with the bottom of the cartridge case.
The shot is fired with the shutter open. The trigger mechanism allows only automatic fire. It is actuated by a trigger lever pivotally mounted on the butt plate of the machine gun. The trigger mechanism is assembled in a separate housing and is equipped with a lever non-automatic fuse that blocks the trigger lever (the front position of the flag) and prevents spontaneous lowering of the sear.
The impact mechanism is powered by a reciprocating mainspring. After locking the bore, the bolt frame continues to move forward, in the extreme forward position it hits the clutch, and the drummer hits the striker mounted in the bolt. The sequence of operations of rearing the lugs and hitting the striker eliminates the possibility of firing if the barrel bore is not completely locked. To prevent the bolt frame from rebounding after being hit in the extreme forward position, a “delay” is mounted in it, including two springs, a yoke and a roller.
DShKM machine gun in incomplete disassembly: 1 - barrel with gas chamber, front sight and muzzle brake; 2 - bolt carrier with a gas piston; 3 - shutter; 4 - lugs; 5 - drummer; 6 - wedge; 7 - butt pad with buffer; 8 - trigger housing; 9 - cover and base of the receiver and feed drive lever; 10 - receiver.
Cartridge supply - tape, with the left supply of a metal link tape. The tape consists of open links and fits into a metal box attached to the installation bracket. The visor of the box serves as a feed tray for the tape. The drum receiver DShK was actuated from the handle of the bolt carrier moving backward, it bumped into the fork of the swinging feeder lever and turned it. The pawl at the other end of the lever turned the drum 60°, which pulled the tape. Extraction of the cartridge from the link of the tape - in the lateral direction. In the DShKM machine gun, the slide type receiver is mounted on top of the receiver. The slider with feed fingers is driven by a toggle lever rotating in a horizontal plane. The crank arm, in turn, is driven by a swing arm with a fork at the end. The latter, as in the DShK, is driven by the bolt carrier handle.
By flipping the slider crank, you can change the ribbon feed direction from left to right.
The 12.7-mm cartridge has several options: with an armor-piercing bullet, armor-piercing incendiary, sighting-incendiary, sighting, tracer, armor-piercing incendiary tracer (used against air targets). The sleeve does not have a protruding rim, which made it possible to apply a direct feed of the cartridge from the tape.
For shooting at ground targets, a folding frame sight is used, mounted on a base on top of the receiver. The sight has worm gears for installing the rear sight and introducing lateral corrections, the frame is equipped with 35 divisions (up to 3500 m in 100) and is tilted to the left to compensate for bullet derivation. The pin front sight with a fuse is placed on high ground in the muzzle of the barrel. When firing at ground targets, the dispersion diameter at a distance of 100 m was 200 mm. The DShKM machine gun is equipped with a collimator anti-aircraft sight, which facilitates aiming at a high-speed target and allows you to see the aiming mark and the target with equal clarity. DShKM, which was mounted on tanks as an anti-aircraft gun, was supplied with collimator sight K-10T. The optical system of the sight formed an image of the target and a target reticle projected onto it with rings for firing with lead and divisions of the protractor.
The DShK machine gun entered the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army back in February 1939, but despite the seven decades that have passed since that time, it is still present among the staff heavy weapons in many armies. In this article, we will briefly outline the history and design features of this outstanding example of domestic design thought.
DShK machine gun. A photo. History of creation
Outgrowth of the First World War. Initially, they were tasked with combating the then weak armored tanks, aviation and infantry in light shelters. It was these opportunities that the Red Army command wanted to get from a new domestic machine gun, giving it a technical task for the designers. The DShK machine gun was born for ten whole years, it can be said that the most perfect and powerful domestic cartridge for its time, 12.7 x 108, was invented, which, by the way, is still actively used in modern shooting systems. However, Degtyarev for a long time failed to create an acceptable for the army. The main drawback of the DK (Degtyarev large-caliber) of the 1930 model was a drum magazine for thirty rounds and a 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 outstanding designer, G.S. Shpagin, to participate in the development, made it possible to solve the problem. A drum-type chamber for belt ammunition designed by Shpagin was installed on the Degtyarev machine gun, as a result of which the machine gun gained a very decent rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, belt feed and the name "DShK Machine Gun" now known to everyone. Since 1939, he entered the combat units and since then has participated and is participating in all armed conflicts in the world. It is currently in service with forty armies. Produced by China, Iran, Pakistan and some other countries.
Machine gun automation works according to the common principle of the removal of expanding powder gases. The gas chamber is located under the barrel. Locking occurs with the help of two combat larvae, which cling to the recesses, machined in opposite walls of the receiver. The DShK machine gun can only fire automatically, the barrel has a non-removable, air-cooled. The tape with cartridges is fed from the left side to the drum, which has six open chambers. The latter, rotating, feeds the tape and simultaneously removes cartridges from it. In 1946, changes were made to the design that affected the steel grades used, production technology and the cartridge feeder. The “drum” was abandoned and a simpler slider mechanism was used, which made it possible to use new cartridge belts, and on both sides, it was lighter and more technologically advanced. The improved machine gun was named DShKM.
Conclusion
There are only two truly famous 12mm machine guns in the world. This is a DShK and M2 machine gun, and domestic machine gun due to a more powerful cartridge and a heavy bullet, it surpasses the American counterpart. Until now, DShK fire is considered highly effective and terrifies the enemy.
DShK 1938 with armored shield
Well aware of the importance of heavy machine guns for equipping armored personnel carriers, combat boats and ground fortifications in order to destroy armored and air targets, as well as to suppress enemy machine-gun points, the Soviet military command in the late twenties gave the corresponding task to the designer V. A. Degtyarev. On the basis of his light machine gun DP 1928, he designed a model of a heavy machine gun, called DK. In 1930, the test was submitted prototype caliber 12.7 mm.
armor-piercing incendiary bullet B-32 for cartridge 12.7*108
The larger the caliber and muzzle velocity of the bullet, the higher its overall penetration ability. However, the mass of weapons and their rate of fire are also closely related. If it is required to achieve a higher initial velocity of a bullet with a larger caliber, then the mass of the weapon must also increase. This has economic implications. Moreover, since the details larger mass have a large inertia, the rate of fire decreases.
Taking into account all these factors, it was necessary to find the best option. Such a compromise at that time was the caliber
12.7 mm. The US military has gone the same way. Already at the end of the First World War, they adopted a .50 caliber machine gun. In the course of modernization on its basis in 1933, the Browning M2 NV heavy machine gun was created. Eleven years later, a machine gun of the Vladimirov KPV system appeared in the Soviet Union. He also possessed large caliber-14.5 mm.
Cartridges 12.7 for DShK
Degtyarev chose for his machine gun a domestic cartridge for a tank gun M 30, which had dimensions of 12.7x108. In 1930, such cartridges were produced with armor-piercing, and since 1932 with armor-piercing incendiary bullets. Subsequently, they underwent modernization and received the name M 30/38.
The Degtyarev prototype of the 1930 model was equipped with a frame sight designed for shooting up to 3500 m at ground targets, as well as a round sight with crosshairs at a distance of up to 2400 m for air and fast moving ground targets. Ammunition was fed from a 30-round disk magazine. The barrel was threaded to the body and could be replaced. The recoil force was reduced with the help of a muzzle brake. A special machine was created for the machine gun.
Metal one-piece machine-gun belt with a capacity of 50 rounds for a machine gun DShK (Degtyarev-Shpagin large-caliber) arr. 1938
Machine-gun belt with a capacity of 10 rounds each for the DShKM machine gun.
In comparative shooting tests, along with other machine guns, including the predecessor of the later standard american machine gun Browning, the Soviet model showed promising results. The initial velocity of the bullet was 810 m / s, the rate of fire was from 350 to 400 rds / min. At a distance of 300 m, a bullet, when it hit the target at an angle of 90 °, pierced 16 mm steel armor. The testing committee recommended some design changes, such as changing the cartridge feed mechanism from disk to belt. The machine gun was approved for military trials, and in 1931 a trial batch of 50 units was ordered.
How many of these machine guns were made - it was not possible to establish exactly. Information in the Soviet literature about small-scale production concerns not only this sample, but also its second modification, which appeared in the late thirties. According to these data, until June 22, 1941, the troops received a total of about 2,000 heavy machine guns of 12.7 mm caliber. Samples of the DK model, released before 1935, among them were hardly more than a thousand.
DShK 1938 on an anti-aircraft machine
Degtyarev did not manage to eliminate the shortcomings identified during the tests, in particular, the weak maneuverability of the machine gun and the too low rate of fire. It took too long to redirect a ground machine gun to air targets, since the machine gun developed was imperfect. The low rate of fire depended on the work of a bulky and heavy cartridge feed mechanism.
G.S. Shpagin took up the alteration of the feed mechanism from the disk store to the tape, as a result of which the rate of fire increased significantly, and I.N. Kolesnikov improved the machine developed by him, which made it possible to speed up and simplify the redirection of the machine gun from ground to air targets.
The improved model passed all the tests in April 1938 and was accepted into service on February 26, 1939. Starting next year, it began to be delivered to the troops. Weapons of this type proved to be excellent during the Second World War as a means of destroying ground, water and air targets. It not only was not inferior to other machine guns of this class, but also surpassed them.
In 1940, 566 such machine guns were delivered to the army, and in the first half of the next year, another 234. As of January 1, 1942, the troops had 720 serviceable heavy machine guns DShK 1938, and on July 1 - over 1947. By January 1, 1943, this figure had grown to 5218, and a year later - to 8442. These facts allow us to draw conclusions about the growth in production during the war.
At the end of 1944, the machine gun was somewhat modernized, the supply of cartridges was improved, and the wear resistance of some parts and assemblies was increased. The modification received the designation DShK 1938/46.
This modification of the DShK machine gun was used in the Soviet army until the 1980s. Also, the DShK machine gun was used in foreign armies, for example, Egypt, Albania. China, East Germany and Czechoslovakia, Indonesia, Korea, Cuba, Poland, Romania, Hungary and even Vietnam. The modification produced in China and Pakistan was called Model 54. It has a caliber of 12.7 mm or .50.
The DShK 1938 heavy machine gun works on the principle of using the energy of powder gases, has an air-cooled barrel and a rigid bolt-to-barrel grip. Gas pressure can be adjusted. A special device holds the bolt so that when moving forward it does not hit the base of the barrel. The latter is equipped with radial cooling fins almost along its entire length. The flame arrester has a considerable length.
The practical rate of fire is 80 rds/min, and the theoretical rate of fire is 600 rds/min. Cartridges are fed from a metal tape using a special drum device. During rotation, the drum moves the tape, captures cartridges from it and feeds it into the machine gun mechanism, where the bolt sends them into the chamber. The tape is designed for 50 rounds of type M 30/38. Shooting is carried out in bursts.
The sighting device consists of an adjustable sight and a protected front sight. The length of the sight line is 1100 mm. The sight can be installed at a distance of up to 3500 m. There is a special sight for hitting air targets, developed in 1938, and modernized 3 years later. Although the optimal firing range is indicated as 2000 m, the machine gun can successfully hit manpower at a distance of up to 3500 m, air targets up to 2400 m and armored vehicles- up to 500 m. At this distance, the bullet pierces 15 mm armor.
DShK 1938 on an anti-aircraft machine
Used as machines various designs. To combat ground and air targets, the already mentioned special Kolesnikov machine with a circular view was used. When placed on a wheeled machine with or without a protective shield, the machine gun was mainly used to destroy armored vehicles. After removing the wheels, the machine could be transformed into a tripod anti-aircraft.
During the war, machine guns of this type were also installed on self-propelled carriages, on trucks, railway platforms, on heavy tanks, ships and boats. Twin or quadruple installations were often used. Often they were supplied with a searchlight-seeker.
Characteristics: heavy machine gun DShK 1938
Caliber, mm ............................................... ...............................................12.7
Muzzle velocity (Vq), m/s .............................................. .....850
Weapon length, mm .............................................. ......................1626
Rate of fire, rds/min....................................... ..............600
Ammunition supply ................................. metal tape
for 50 rounds
Weight in an unloaded state without a machine, kg ........... 33.30
Mass of the wheeled machine, kg .............................................. .....142.10
Weight full tape, kg ................................................ ..............9.00
Cartridge ..................... 12.7x108
Barrel length, mm ............................................... ......................1000
Grooves/Direction ............................................................... ....................4/n
Sighting range, m ........................................... 3500
Effective firing range, m..................................2000*
* Optimal distance.
DShK 1938 on an anti-aircraft machine
DShKM machine gun in incomplete disassembly: 1 - barrel with gas chamber, front sight and muzzle brake; 2 - bolt carrier with a gas piston; 3 - shutter; 4 - lugs; 5 - drummer; 6 - wedge; 7 - recoil pad with buffer; 8 - trigger housing; 9 - cover and base of the receiver and feed drive lever; 10 - receiver.
Soviet machine gun DShKM in anti-aircraft version
It is difficult to overestimate the role of machine guns in the development of military affairs - cutting off millions of lives, they forever changed the face of war. But even experts did not immediately appreciate them, at first considering them as special weapon with a very narrow range of combat missions - so, on turn of XIX- In the 20th century, machine guns were considered just one of the types of fortress artillery. However, already during Russo-Japanese War automatic fire proved its highest efficiency, and during the First World War, machine guns became one of the most important means of fire destruction of the enemy in close combat, they were installed on tanks, combat aircraft and ships. Automatic weapons made a real revolution in military affairs: heavy machine-gun fire literally swept away the advancing troops, becoming one of the main causes of the “positional crisis”, radically changing not only tactics combat, but also the whole military strategy.
This book is the most complete and detailed encyclopedia of machine gun armament of Russian, Soviet and Russian army With late XIX and until the beginning of the XXI century, both domestic models and foreign - purchased and captured. Author, leading historian small arms, not only leads detailed descriptions devices and work of easel, manual, unified, large-caliber, tank and aviation machine guns, but also talks about them combat use in all the wars that our country waged throughout the turbulent twentieth century.
DShKM is in service with more than 40 armies of the world. In addition to the USSR, it was produced in Czechoslovakia (DSK vz.54), Romania, China ("Type 54" and modernized "Type 59"), Pakistan (Chinese version), Iran, Iraq, Thailand. However, the bulkiness of the DShKM was also embarrassing for the Chinese, and to partially replace it, they created Type 77 and Type 85 machine guns chambered for the same cartridge. In Czechoslovakia, on the basis of the DShKM, a quad was produced anti-aircraft gun M53, also exported - for example, to Cuba.
12.7 mm machine gun Type 59 - Chinese copy DShKM - in position for anti-aircraft fire
DShKM Soviet, and more often Chinese-made, fought in Afghanistan and on the side of the dushmans. Major General A.A. Lyakhovsky recalled that dushmans “used large-caliber machine guns, anti-aircraft mountain installations (ZGU), anti-aircraft guns small caliber "Oerlikon", and since 1981 - portable anti-aircraft missile systems and Chinese-made DShK. 12.7-mm machine guns turned out to be dangerous opponents of the Soviet Mi-8 and Su-25, and were also used to fire at convoys and roadblocks from a long distance. In the report of the Head of the GUBP ground forces dated September 22, 1984, among the weapons seized from the rebels, it was indicated: DShK for May - September 1983 - 98, for May - September 1984 - 146. The troops of the Afghan government from January 1 to June 15, 1987, for example, destroyed 4 ZGU, 56 DShK rebels, captured 10 ZGU, 39 DShK, 33 other machine guns, losing 14 own ZGU, 4 DShK, 15 other machine guns. Soviet troops during the same period, they destroyed 438 DShK and ZGU, captured 142 DShK and ZGU, 3 million 800 thousand pieces of ammunition for them; special forces units destroyed 23 DShK and 74,300 pieces of ammunition for them, captured - respectively 28 and 295,807 pieces.
Homemade installation of a DShKM machine gun on a Mitsubishi pickup truck. Cote d "Ivoire. Africa
Despite repeated attempts to replace them, the Soviet DShKM and the American M2NV Browning have been sharing the championship among themselves for half a century in the family of heavy machine guns (actually not numerous) and are the most widely distributed in the world - in a number of countries they are used together. At the same time, the DShKM, being larger and heavier than the M2NV, noticeably surpasses it in the power of fire.
Order incomplete disassembly DShKM
Disconnect the guide tube from the barrel, to do this, pull it to the muzzle and turn it to the left until the stop of the tube comes out of the groove on the barrel.
Remove the butt plate pin and, striking with a hammer, separate the butt plate down, holding it with your hand.
Separate the trigger mechanism by sliding it back.
Pull back the mobile system by the reloading handle and remove them together with the guide tube, supporting the latter.
Separate the bolt with the striker from the bolt carrier and the lugs from the bolt.
Knock out the ejector axle, reflector and striker pins, then separate the named parts from the shutter.
Knock out the axle of the frame coupling and separate the bolt carrier from the return mechanism.
Put the return mechanism vertically and, pressing on the guide tube, knock out the front axle of the clutch, then slowly release the tube and separate it and the return spring from the rod.
Unpin and unscrew the receiver axle nut, push the latter out of the receiver socket and remove the feed mechanism.
Loosen and unscrew the wedge nut of the barrel, push the wedge to the left and separate the barrel from the receiver.
Reassemble in reverse order.
PERFORMANCE AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS DShK (MOD. 1938)
Cartridge - 12.7x108 DShK.
Weight vtelai machine gun without tape - 33.4 kg.
The mass of a machine gun with a belt on the machine (without a shield) is 148 kg.
The length of the "body" of the machine gun is 1626 mm.
Barrel length - 1070 mm.
Barrel weight - 11.2 kg.
The number of grooves - 8.
Type of rifling - right-handed, rectangular.
The length of the rifled part of the barrel - 890 mm.
The mass of the mobile system is 3.9 kg.
The initial speed of the bullet is 850–870 m / s.
Muzzle energy of a bullet - 18,785 - 19,679 J.
Rate of fire - 550–600 rds / min.
Combat rate of fire - 80 - 125 rds / min.
Sighting line length - 1110 mm.
Sighting range - 3500 m.
Effective firing range - 1800–2000 m.
Firing zone in height - 1800 m.
The thickness of the pierced armor is 15–16 mm at a distance of 500 m.
The power system is a metal tape for 50 rounds.
The weight of the box with tape and cartridges is 11.0 kg.
Machine type - universal wheel-tripod.
Pointing angles: horizontally - ± 60 / 360 ° hail.
vertical - ±27/+85°, –10° deg.
Calculation - 3-4 people.
Transition time from traveling position in combat for anti-aircraft fire - 0.5 min.
With the start in 1925 of work on a machine gun with a caliber of 12-20 millimeters, it was decided to create it on the basis of a magazine-fed light machine gun in order to reduce the mass of the machine gun being created. Work began in the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant on the basis of a 12.7-mm Vickers cartridge and on the basis of the German Dreyse machine gun (P-5). The design bureau of the Kovrov Plant was developing a machine gun based on the Degtyarev light machine gun for more powerful cartridges. New 12.7mm cartridge with armor-piercing bullet, created in 1930, and at the end of the year the first experimental heavy machine gun Degtyarev was assembled with a Kladov disk magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds. In February 1931, after testing, preference was given to the DK ("Large-caliber Degtyarev") as easier to manufacture and lighter. DK was put into service, in 1932 the production of a small series was at the plant. Kirkizha (Kovrov), however, in 1933 they fired only 12 machine guns.
Experimental installation of the DShK machine gun
Troop trials expectations were not met. In 1935, the production of the Degtyarev heavy machine gun was stopped. By this time, a version of the DAK-32 had been created with a Shpagin receiver, but tests of 32-33 showed the need to refine the system. Shpagin in 1937 redid his version. A drum feed mechanism was created that did not require significant changes to the machine gun system. The machine gun, which has a belt feed, passed field tests on December 17, 1938. On February 26 of the following year, by a decision of the Defense Committee, they were adopted under the designation “12.7-mm easel machine gun mod. 1938 DShK (Degtyarev-Shpagin large-caliber) "which was installed on the Kolesnikov universal machine. Work was also underway on the DShK aircraft installation, but it soon became clear that a special heavy-caliber aircraft machine gun was needed.
The work of machine gun automation was carried out due to the removal of powder gases. The closed-type gas chamber was located under the barrel, and was equipped with a pipe regulator. The barrel along the entire length had ribs. The muzzle was equipped with a single-chamber active type muzzle brake. By diluting the lugs of the bolt to the sides, the 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 roll impulse. The reciprocating mainspring, which was put on the gas piston rod, actuated percussion mechanism. The trigger lever was blocked by a safety lever mounted on the butt plate (setting the fuse - forward position).
Heavy machine gun DShK 12.7, machine gun in position for firing at ground targets
Food - tape, supply - on the left side. Loose tape, having semi-closed links, was placed in a special metal box, fixed on the left side of the machine arm. The bolt carrier handle actuated the DShK drum receiver: while moving backward, the handle bumped into the fork of the swinging feeder lever and turned it. The pawl located at the other end of the lever turned the drum 60 degrees, the drum, in turn, pulled the tape. There were four cartridges in the drum at the same time. During the rotation of the drum, the cartridge was gradually squeezed out of the tape link and fed into the receiving window of the receiver. Moving forward shutter picked it up.
The folding frame sight, used for firing at ground targets, had a notch up to 3.5 thousand m in increments of 100 m. The marking of the machine gun included the stigma of the manufacturer, the year of manufacture, the serial number (series designation is two-letter, the serial number of the machine gun) . The stamp was placed in front of the butt plate on top of the receiver.
Heavy machine gun DShK 12.7, machine gun in position for anti-aircraft fire, search wheels removed. Machine gun from the collection of TsMAIVVS in St. Petersburg
During operation with the DShK, three types of anti-aircraft sights were used. The annular remote sight of the 1938 model was intended to destroy air targets flying at speeds 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 decreased to 1.8 thousand meters, but the possible speed of the target being destroyed increased (in the "imaginary" ring it could be 625 kilometers per hour). The sight of the 1943 model of the year was of the foreshortening type and was much easier to use, but allowed firing at various target courses, including pitching or diving.
Heavy machine gun DShKM 12.7 model 1946
The Kolesnikov universal machine of the 1938 model was equipped with its own loading handle, had a removable shoulder pad, a cartridge box bracket, and a rod-type vertical aiming mechanism. Ground targets were fired from a wheeled course, while the legs were folded. For firing at air targets the wheel travel was separated, and the machine was laid out in the form of a tripod.
A 12.7 mm cartridge could have an armor-piercing bullet (B-30) of the 1930 model, an armor-piercing incendiary (B-32) of the 1932 model, sighting and incendiary (PZ), tracer (T), sighting (P), against anti-aircraft targets used an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet (BZT) of the 1941 model. 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, with a tungsten carbide core, was capable of penetrating 20 mm armor plate at an angle of 20 degrees from a range of 750 meters. The dispersion diameter during firing at ground targets was 200 millimeters at a distance of 100 meters.
The machine gun began to enter the troops in the 40th year. In total, in 1940, plant No. 2 in Kovrov produced 566 DShKs. In the first half of the year 41 - 234 machine guns (in total, in 1941, with a plan of 4 thousand DShKs, about 1.6 thousand were received). In total, as of June 22, 1941, the units of the Red Army had about 2.2 thousand heavy machine guns.
From the first days of the Second World War, the DShK machine gun proved to be excellent as an anti-aircraft weapon. So, for example, on July 14, 1941, on the Western Front in the Yartsevo region, a platoon of three machine guns shot down three German bombers, in August, near Leningrad, in the Krasnogvardeisky region, the Second Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun Battalion destroyed 33 enemy aircraft. However, the number of 12.7 mm machine gun mounts was clearly not enough, especially given the significant enemy air superiority. As of September 10, 1941, there were 394 of them: in the Oryol zone air defense- 9, Kharkov - 66, Moscow - 112, on the Southwestern Front - 72, Southern - 58, Northwestern - 37, Western - 27, Karelian - 13.
Crew members of the torpedo boat TK-684 Red Banner Baltic Fleet posing against the background of the aft turret of a 12.7-mm DShK machine gun
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 from February 43, their number increased to 16 pieces. The anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the RVGK (zenad) formed since November 42 had one such company in the regiment of small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery. Since the spring of 1943, the number of DShKs in zenad has decreased to 52 units, and according to the 44th state updated in the spring, zenad had 48 DShKs and 88 guns. In 1943, the cavalry, mechanized and tank corps introduced regiments of small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery(16 DShK and 16 guns).
Usually anti-aircraft DShKs were used by platoon, often introduced into the composition anti-aircraft batteries medium caliber, using them to cover against air attacks from low altitudes. Anti-aircraft machine gun companies, armed with 18 DShKs, were introduced into the state of rifle divisions at the beginning of 1944. During the entire war, the loss of heavy machine guns amounted to about 10 thousand pieces, that is, 21% of the resource. This was the smallest percentage of losses in the entire system of small arms, but it is comparable to losses in anti-aircraft artillery. This already speaks of the role and place of heavy machine guns.
Anti-aircraft installation (three 12.7-mm DShK machine guns) in the center of Moscow, on Sverdlov Square (now Teatralnaya). The Metropol Hotel is visible in the background.
In 1941, with the approach of German troops to Moscow, backup plants were identified in case plant No. 2 stopped producing weapons. The production of DShK was delivered in the city of Kuibyshev, where 555 fixtures and machine tools were transferred from Kovrov. As a result, during the war, the main production was in Kovrov, and in Kuibyshev - "backup".
In addition to easel, self-propelled guns with DShK were used - mainly M-1 pickups or GAZ-AA trucks with a DShK machine gun installed in the body in anti-aircraft position on the machine. Anti-aircraft light tanks on the T-60 and T-70 chassis did not advance further than the 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 supply system, which did not allow changing the direction of the tape feed. But the Red Army successfully used 12.7-mm American quad mounts of the M-17 type based on the M2NV Browning machine gun.
Anti-aircraft gunners of the armored train "Zheleznyakov" (armored train No. 5 of the Coastal Defense of Sevastopol) with 12.7-mm DShK heavy machine guns (machine guns mounted on naval bollards). 76.2-mm guns of 34-K ship turrets are visible in the background
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 one - it was the main armament of the T-40 (amphibious tank), BA-64D (light armored car), in the 44th year, a 12.7-mm turret anti-aircraft gun 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 pedestals (during the war, up to 200 armored trains operated in the air defense forces). 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 to receive DShKs in 1940 (there were 830 of them at the beginning of the Second World War). During the war, the industry transferred 4018 DShKs to the fleet, another 1146 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 a twin single pedestal, tower, turret installations. Pedestrian, rack and tower (paired) installations for DShK machine guns, adopted for service navy, developed by I.S. Leshchinsky, designer of plant No. 2. The pedestal installation allowed for circular firing, vertical guidance angles ranged from -34 to +85 degrees. In 1939 A.I. Ivashutich, another Kovrov designer, developed a twin pedestal mount, and later the DShKM-2, which appeared later, gave a circular fire. The vertical guidance angles ranged from -10 to +85 degrees. In 1945, the twin deck installation 2M-1, which has an annular sight, was adopted. The twin turret mount DShKM-2B, created in TsKB-19 in 1943, and the ShB-K sight made it possible to conduct circular fire at vertical guidance angles from -10 to +82 degrees.
Soviet tankers of the 62nd Guards Heavy Tank Regiment in a street fight in Danzig. The DShK heavy machine gun mounted on the IS-2 tank is used to destroy enemy soldiers armed with anti-tank grenade launchers
For boats of various classes, open twin turrets MSTU, MTU-2 and 2-UK were created with pointing angles from -10 to +85 degrees. The "sea" machine guns themselves differed from the base sample. So, for example, in the turret version, a frame sight was not used (only an annular one with a front sight was used), the bolt carrier handle was lengthened, and the hook was changed for the cartridge box. The differences between machine guns for twin mounts were in 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 full-time heavy machine gun, willingly used the captured DShK, which received the designation 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 power supply system. In 1946, a modernized machine gun under the DShKM brand was put into service. The reliability of the system has increased - if at the DShK according to the specifications 0.8% delays were allowed during firing, then at the DShKM this figure was already 0.36%. The DShKM machine gun has become one of the most widespread in the world.
The Dnieper is being crossed. The calculation of the DShK heavy machine gun supports those crossing with fire. November 1943
Technical characteristics of the DShK heavy machine gun (model 1938):
Cartridge - 12.7x108 DShK;
The mass of the "body" of the machine gun - 33.4 kg (without tape);
The total weight of the machine gun - 181.3 kg (on the machine, without a shield, with a tape);
The length of the "body" of the machine gun - 1626 mm;
Barrel weight - 11.2 kg;
Barrel length - 1070 mm;
Rifling - 8 right-handed;
The length of the rifled part of the barrel - 890 mm;
The initial speed of the bullet - from 850 to 870 m / s;
Muzzle energy of a bullet - from 18785 to 19679 J;
Rate of fire - 600 rounds per minute;
Combat rate of fire - 125 rounds per minute;
Sighting line length - 1110 mm;
Sighting range for ground targets - 3500 m;
Sighting range for air targets - 2400 m;
Reach in height - 2500 m;
Power system - metal tape (50 rounds);
Machine type - universal wheel-tripod;
The height of the line of fire in the ground position - 503 mm;
The height of the line of fire in anti-aircraft position - 1400 mm;
Pointing angles:
- horizontally in the ground position - ± 60 degrees;
- horizontally in the anti-aircraft position - 360 degrees;
- vertically in the ground position - +27 degrees;
- vertically in the anti-aircraft position - from -4 to +85 degrees;
The transition time from traveling to combat for anti-aircraft fire is 30 seconds;
Calculation - 3-4 people.
A Soviet soldier fires at a firing range from a 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft heavy machine gun mounted on an ISU-152 self-propelled gun
Based on the article by Semyon Fedoseev "Machine guns of the Second World War"