Shpagin system submachine gun: Drum roll of the Red Army. Military history, weapons, old and military maps PPD weapons

Submachine gun PPD-40 (USSR)

PPD-40 submachine gun Photo (c) Jakes

On February 15, 1940, Degtyarev presented a modernized version of his submachine gun, designed with the participation of designers from the Kovrov plant P.E. Ivanova, S.N. Kalygina, E.K. Alexandrovich, N.N. Lopukhovsky and V.A. Vvedensky. The new weapon had a split stock made of two parts, located before and after the store. These parts were equipped with metal guide stops intended for mounting the magazine, which made it possible to use a drum magazine without a protruding neck. The capacity of such a magazine was reduced to 71 rounds. However, the reliability of cartridge supply has increased significantly. The use of sector box magazines, also called “horns”, in the new submachine gun became impossible in the 1934 model submachine gun. Box-shaped “horns” were returned only during the Second World War, thanks to combat experience operation in the troops of the PPSh-41, which showed the excess capacity of the drum magazine and its too large mass. A new version of the Degtyarev submachine gun was approved by the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars for production on February 21, 1940 and put into service as the “submachine gun of the 1940 model of the Degtyarev system” - PPD-40. Production of PPD-40 began in March of the same year.

A total of 81,118 PPD-40 submachine guns were produced throughout 1940. As a result, the 1940 model is the most widespread in terms of the number of copies produced. In addition, the armed forces received a fairly significant amount of countermeasures. The PPD-40 submachine gun was used at the very beginning of the war, but this type of weapon was still greatly lacking in the troops, and compared to the enemy, the Red Army was significantly inferior to the Wehrmacht in the number of available submachine guns. Already at the end of 1941, the PPD-40 was replaced by the much more technologically advanced and cheaper to produce, more reliable Shpagin PPSh-41 submachine gun, designed in 1940. The huge advantage of the PPSh-41 was that this weapon was originally developed taking into account mass production at any industrial enterprise with low-power pressing equipment. This circumstance turned out to be extremely important during the war.

But at first, while the production of PPSh-41 had not yet acquired the proper scale, initial period war, production of PPD-40 was temporarily restored at the Sestroretsk Tool Plant named after S.P. Voskov in Leningrad. Since December 1941, PPD-40 began to be manufactured at the plant named after. A.A. Kulakova. At the Kovrov plant, about 5,000 PPD-40 submachine guns were assembled from available parts. In total, for 1941-1942. In Leningrad, 42,870 PPD-40s were produced, which entered service with the troops of the Leningrad and Karelian fronts. Many Leningrad-made PPD-40s, instead of a sector sight, were equipped with a simplified folding sight, as well as a simplified fuse configuration. Later, using the same production facilities, the production of a much more technologically advanced Sudaev submachine gun was carried out. The PPD-40 fire was considered effective up to 300 m when firing single shots, up to 200 m when firing in short bursts, and up to 100 m in a continuous burst. The destructive power of the bullet was maintained at distances of up to 800 m. The main type of fire was short burst fire. At distances less than 100 m, continuous fire was allowed at a critical moment, but in order to avoid overheating of no more than 4 magazines in a row.

Specifications

Caliber: 7.62×25

Weapon length: 788 mm

Barrel length: 267 mm

Weight without cartridges: 3.6 kg.

Rate of fire: 800 rounds/min

Magazine capacity: 71 rounds

Submachine guns

• Austria

Don’t be confused by the “PPD machine gun” - this is a fairly common “folk” name for the Degtyarev submachine gun. Experts do not accept it (and rightly so), but it has taken root among the people and is very often used in search queries.

I won’t use it anymore, but you must understand that when I talk about the PPD submachine gun, we're talking about and about the PPD automatic machine (sorry about the oil).

Before going directly to the PPD, I would like to suggest you short excursion into the history of the creation of automatic weapons in Russia, and subsequently in the USSR. The fact is that the PPD became the first serial submachine gun adopted by the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (that is what the Soviet Army was called until 1946). This weapon is criticized quite a lot and actively, for this reason I would like to talk about the reasons for the adoption of the PPD by the army, and remove a number of far-fetched accusations from a quite decent (in my opinion) submachine gun.

History of the creation of PPD

I will not remember the automatic and semi-automatic rifles developed in the pre-Soviet period, since these are slightly different small arms. Here you need to understand that the main hallmark a submachine gun is the use of a pistol (revolver) cartridge or a cartridge similar in its performance characteristics to a pistol cartridge.

The length of the barrel and the principles of operation of the automation (as a rule, this is the use of blowback recoil) are important characteristics, but, nevertheless, secondary.

Based on the principle we have adopted, the first truly Soviet submachine gun can be called a submachine gun, created in 1927 by Tokarev.

Tokarev submachine gun 1927

This PPT had quite decent characteristics for its time, and passed competitive tests well with the Volmer submachine gun, which was developed in Germany. However, the present and complete success it was not for the simple reason that Tokarev developed his submachine gun for the Nagan revolver cartridge (the shape of the cartridge case was changed for better chambering). The cartridge, frankly, is not at all suitable for automatic weapons.

In 1929, designer V.A. Degtyarev offered the state commission his submachine gun, which was designed on the basis of the previously created light machine gun the same designer. The Degtyarev submachine gun of 1929 had the same semi-free bolt as the machine gun with lugs extending to the sides, and the receiver design was similar. Accordingly, the “machine-gun” disk magazine for 22 rounds of the Mauser system has also been preserved.

Degtyarev submachine gun 1929

It must be said that since the early thirties, designers in the USSR developed their submachine guns exclusively for the Mauser pistol cartridge. This is due to the fact that the TT pistol (Tula-Tokarev) was adopted by the army; accordingly, mass production of cartridges for this pistol was established. In case you don’t know, the TT cartridge, before becoming the TT cartridge, was called the Mauser cartridge.

So, it was for this cartridge that the designers Korovin, Shpitalny, Degterev, Prilutsky and Kolesnikov developed their submachine guns.

Degtyarev submachine gun model 1934

In 1935, the Degtyarev submachine gun model of 1934 was adopted by the Red Army.

What can you say about PPD-34? A submachine gun with a blowback bolt, a sector magazine for 25 rounds, with a round receiver, which in the front part turned into a casing with ventilation cutouts, and in the rear part the receiver was closed with a screw cap. The fire switch flag was located in front of the trigger. The safety is located directly on the charging handle and allows you to lock the bolt in the forward and rear positions.

The submachine gun was equipped with a sector sight for firing at a range of 500 meters.

Many authors talk about large quantities fatal flaws of the PPD-34, which led to the removal of this submachine gun from army service. It must be said that such statements are based more on guesswork than on real and objective facts. Yes, the PPD-34 had a number of technical shortcomings that were not typical of a conventional rifle. But that’s why it’s automatic, i.e. a more complex mechanism that requires constant fine-tuning and modernization even in production samples.

And such work was carried out. Soon, as a result of the modernization of the PPD-34, the PPD-34/38 submachine gun appeared.

Degtyarev submachine gun - 34/38

In my opinion, the main reason for the lukewarm reception of the new submachine gun in the army was not the technical shortcomings of the weapon (they actually existed), but rather political reasons. Military leadership wanted to get a weapon that could conduct effective automatic fire at rifle distances (at least 500 meters). Those. it was supposed to simply replace the rifle with a kind of machine gun that every soldier would be armed with.

The emergence of new automatic weapons with “different” characteristics required the development of appropriate tactics for their use. Those. it was necessary to reconsider the ideas about the conduct of combat by ground forces that had been established since the Civil War.

And this is after mass repressions in the army and navy, accusations of espionage and anti-state activities. At that time, it took great personal courage to turn to the military-political leadership of the country with such proposals. Moreover, by that time the general line of the party had already been firmly formed, which assumed that the submachine gun would be for regular army only "auxiliary weapons".

Everything is put in its place Winter War with Finland. Small detachments of Finnish skiers, armed with Suomi submachine guns, infiltrated the front line of Soviet troops and launched sabotage raids on individual units. This is where submachine guns showed their high efficiency– sudden high-density dagger fire from short distances.

As a result, “by popular demand,” submachine guns were not only returned to the army, but they were actually mass produced. And very soon Degtyarev proposed an improved model of his submachine gun - PPD-40.

Degtyarev submachine gun - 40

All the talk about the high cost of producing PPD is talk “in favor of the poor.” The production of one PPD machine gun cost 900 rubles. Some authors claim that it was very expensive. And the production of one Tokarev automatic rifle, which was adopted as the main weapon, cost 880 rubles. Is 20 rubles incredibly expensive? I do not think so.

The Degtyarev submachine gun model 1934 (PPD-34) is the first weapon of this type adopted by the Red Army. His journey from the creation of the first prototype before serial production dragged on for several years. Total The number of PPD-34s produced is small, and, according to all estimates, only about 5,000 units. Only a few copies of this rare weapon have survived to this day. It is all the more interesting to find documents about the various paths that the designer tried to take when developing his brainchild.

Thus, one of the PPD-34 variants involved the abandonment of the barrel casing, which resulted in a slight reduction in the weight of the structure. If this option had been approved, all submachine guns developed in the USSR later could have had a different appearance. The famous weapon of Victory - the Shpagin PPSh-41 submachine gun - would also most likely have had a different, less recognizable appearance.

In the fall of 1934, from September 9 to November 15, comparative tests of two variants of mass-produced submachine guns of the Degtyarev system were carried out at the Research Weapon and Machine Gun Test Site of the Red Army (NIOP) in Shchurovo, near Moscow. One of them had a light barrel casing, the other had a finned barrel without a casing.

The serial batch of PPD, manufactured in 1934, consisted of only 44 pieces. The submachine guns of this batch were intended for various tests, development of design and manufacturing technology. PPD No. 17 (with a casing) and PPD No. 28 (with a ribbed barrel) arrived at the test site.

PPD-34 with a barrel casing (from the collection of the Museum of Russian Military History in Padikovo, Istrinsky district of the Moscow region)

It was necessary to identify the accuracy of the battle, the practical rate of fire, the reliability and reliability of the weapon mechanisms. Upon successful completion of these stages of testing, it was intended to determine which of the barrel and casing options would be mass-produced in the future. Comparisons during testing were carried out with a sample tested at NIOP earlier, in 1932.

Significant changes have been made to the new samples. Thus, the receiver guide tray was welded (on earlier and later samples, it was apparently secured with pins). On the sighting bar, divisions were marked with the numbers 5, 10, 15, ..., 45, 50, which corresponded to firing distances of 50 m, 100 m, 150 m, ..., 450 m, 500 m. A latch was made on the rear stop screw, which eliminated the problem with the screw unscrewing itself.

For submachine gun No. 28 with a ribbed outer surface of the barrel and without a casing, the base of the front sight was put on the barrel. The weight of the submachine gun No. 17 in relation to earlier models was reduced by 65 grams, which was achieved mainly due to the lighter bolt by 40 grams. The weight of submachine gun No. 28 has been reduced by 110 grams.

Degtyarev submachine gun with a ribbed barrel (RGVA)

Shooting to determine the initial speed of submachine guns was carried out with 7.63x25 mm Mauser cartridges of foreign production manufactured in 1934. The average initial speed was 513 m/s, which was higher than previously tested (477 m/s).

The rate of fire was determined by the Tokarev device. The firing results showed that PPD No. 17 and No. 28 have a rate of fire equal to 900 rounds per minute, while in the summer of 1932 an experienced PPD showed a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute. The increase in the rate of fire for the tested PPDs occurred due to a decrease in the weight of the bolt and an increase in the muzzle velocity.

An increase in the rate of fire led to a deterioration in the accuracy of combat during automatic fire, especially when shooting from a prone position, from the hand. To determine the accuracy of the battle, shooting was carried out at a distance of 100 meters: single fire, groups of 2–4 shots and continuous fire, three bursts for each type of shooting and 20 rounds in each burst. The firing results showed that the combat accuracy of the tested PPDs was somewhat better than the accuracy of previously tested samples.

The improvement in the accuracy of combat when firing from the test samples was attributed to the improvement in the quality of the cartridges (in 1932, the PPD was fired with domestically produced cartridges, which had a number of shortcomings), as well as to the qualities of the shooter, who had better mastered the shooting technique.

Head target No. 11, 1930s, USSR

The determination of the practical rate of fire was carried out by targeted shooting at targets with single, group and continuous fire, taking into account all elements of shooting and changes in dispersion radii. Shooting was carried out at a distance of 100 meters from a shooting bench by shooters of various training levels.

A shooter with little training showed a rate of 18–19 rounds per minute with single fire, 25–26 in groups, and 65 continuous fire. A well-trained shooter was able to achieve a rate of 31 rounds per minute with single fire, 69 in groups, and 104 rounds per minute with continuous fire.

The small group training shooter showed an increase in the practical rate of fire by 1.4 times, while the accuracy deteriorated by 1.65 times. When firing with continuous fire, the practical rate of fire turned out to be 3.5 times higher, and the accuracy was 3.2 times worse. The comparison was made with a single fire. Under similar shooting conditions, in comparison with single fire, a well-trained shooter when shooting in groups showed a practical rate of fire 2.2 times higher, accuracy 1.4 times worse. When firing with continuous fire, the practical rate of fire increased by 3.4 times, and the accuracy was 2.2 times worse.

From this the conclusion was drawn: for a shooter with little training, fire in groups is less powerful compared to single fire; for a shooter with good training, fire in groups gives only a slight deterioration in accuracy compared to single fire, but the rate of fire increases significantly.

The following probabilities of hitting the head target at 100 meters were obtained (for a trained shooter):

• with a single fire P=0.75 (practical rate of fire 31 rounds per minute);
• when firing in groups P=0.60 (practical rate of fire 69 rounds per minute);
• with continuous fire P=0.33 (practical rate of fire 104 rounds per minute).

Neck of a PPD-34 magazine (from the collection of the Museum of Russian Military History in Padikovo, Istra district, Moscow region)

Shooting for the serviceability and reliability of the automation was carried out a large number shots - 5000 from PPD No. 17 and 1000 from PPD No. 28. The barrel was cooled with water after every 100 shots. In addition, after every 1000 shots, the gun was shot for accuracy from a distance of 100 meters in three bursts and the barrel was measured with calipers.

As a result, after testing PPD No. 17 after 5000 shots, the barrel remained almost unchanged, there were no parts broken. For the entire series of 5000 shots there were 90 delays, which is 1.8%.

A regular PPD-34 magazine (below) and modified at NIOP (above)

The majority of the delays were attributed to poor fit of the magazine, which allowed for movement in the socket. To test this assumption, the design of one of the stores was modified and another 2000 rounds were fired. The version turned out to be correct: only two cases of distortion were recorded. After this, the conclusion was made: if we exclude delays caused by poor fit of the magazine, then for 5000 shots there will be a total of 44 delays, or 0.88%, which entirely depend on the design of the submachine gun itself.

PPD No. 28 had 15 delays per 1000 shots, or 1.5%. As a result, the conclusion was made: in terms of structural strength and operational reliability, the tested PPDs are satisfactory.

Magazine PPD-34 (from the collection of the Museum of Russian Military History in Padikovo, Istra district, Moscow region)

The PPDs were tested by fire to determine the reliability of the automation when dusty, at elevation angles of 80–90°, and with thick grease. The shooting results showed that when dusty and at angles of 80–90°, submachine guns work normally, but in the presence of thick lubrication they do not work at all due to the slow movement of the bolt forward, due to which the firing pin receives very little energy and misfires.

In the conclusions, it was noted that both with thick lubrication and with carbon deposits on the bolt, the speed of the latter when approaching the barrel stump quickly drops, and consequently, the energy of the firing pin decreases to an even greater extent, i.e. With this design of the impact mechanism, the automation is very sensitive to contamination.

With regard to the ease of use of the new PPD, no changes were noted in comparison with previously tested samples, but for convenience and the possibility of shooting prone in a PPD without a casing, it was necessary to make a small clip in front of the magazine from below, protecting left hand from burns, because on the butt in this area there was too little room for the fingers of the left hand, and therefore the thumb and forefinger rested on the barrel casing.

Serial PPD-34 produced in 1936, the fuse is visible (from the collection of the Museum of Russian Military History in Padikovo, Istrinsky district of the Moscow region)

In addition, when handling the PPD, cases of random firing were possible when inserting a magazine with cartridges into the socket due to the fact that the bolt is in closed position nothing holds it back. When a submachine gun with a magazine (not in a case) was behind the back, it was possible for the bolt handle to get caught on foreign objects and, accordingly, the bolt was cocked and fired. For example, a cavalryman, when mounting a horse, could hook the bolt handle behind a nearby rider or horse. To prevent such cases, it was necessary to provide a shutter delay that would hold the shutter in the closed state.

In conclusion, a point was indicated that determined the further type of submachine guns in the USSR:

“Of the two tested PPDs (with a casing and without a casing), NIOP Polygon considers it more appropriate to focus on the sample with a casing as it represents the greatest ease of use (carrying over the shoulders, better protects the shooter from accidental burns). Moreover, from a production point of view, the absence of a casing does not provide any particular advantages.”

The article was written based on documents from the Russian State Archive of State Archives

PPD-40

Degtyarev submachine gun

On July 7, 1928, the Artillery Committee proposed to accept the 7.63x25 mm Mauser cartridge for pistols and submachine guns, which was used in the Mauser K-96 pistol, popular in the USSR.
In 1929 Vasily Alekseevich Degtyarev I made a sample for this cartridge. In fact, it was a smaller version of his own DP-27 light machine gun. Ammunition was placed in a 44-round disc magazine mounted on top of the receiver; the breech was locked by a bolt with sliding combat cylinders. Degtyarev’s model was rejected, including due to heavy weight and too high a rate of fire.
In 1931, the next version of the Degtyarev submachine gun appeared, also with a semi-blowback, but of a different type, in which slowing down the bolt's retreat was achieved not by redistributing energy between its two parts, but due to increased friction arising between the cocking handle of the bolt and the bevel in the front part of the cutout for it in the receiver, into which the handle fell after the bolt came to the extreme forward position, while the bolt itself rotated to the right at a small angle. This sample had a round receiver, more technologically advanced, and a barrel almost completely covered with wooden linings.

The submachine gun of V. A. Degtyarev, created in 1929 on the basis of the DP-27 machine gun of his own design, had a semi-free bolt with lugs diverging to the sides, a receiver and disk magazine design very similar to the DP.

Finally, by 1932, an even more simplified version appeared, this time with a blowback shutter. It was on July 9, 1935 that it was accepted for arming the command staff of the Red Army under the symbol PPD-34 .

PPD-34

PPD-34 belongs to the type of automatic weapon operating on the principle of recoil of a free bolt with a stationary barrel. The reliability of locking the barrel bore by the bolt at the moment of firing is ensured by the large mass of the bolt and the force of the recoil spring. The pressure of the powder gases at the bottom of the cartridge case provides the bolt with the energy necessary to remove the spent cartridge case from the chamber, move the bolt to its rearmost position, and compress the recoil spring. The movement of the bolt to the forward position, the removal of the cartridge from the magazine and its insertion into the chamber are carried out by the action of a recoil spring. Firing from a submachine gun can be done either with single shots or with automatic shots, which is achieved by installing a translator in the trigger mechanism.

The receiver, called simply a box in those days, was a hollow cylinder that served to connect the parts of a submachine gun. It had a stump screwed on the front for connection to the casing.

A screw-on hole for a locking screw was cut into the hemp perpendicular to the axis of the box. The internal channel of the hemp is also cut for attaching the barrel.

The casing had 55 short slotted holes.

In the front bottom of the casing, six (on early samples - seven) round holes were made: one large central one for the passage of the barrel and five small ones in a circle around the central hole - for cleaning the casing and the outer walls of the barrel. On the top front of the casing there was a boss cut into a dovetail. The tide served as the basis for attaching the front sight.

Two windows were selected in the cylindrical part of the box: one for discarding spent cartridges, the other for placing the magazine. On the left side of the front cylindrical part of the box there is a square window for the firing pin to exit. On the left side, behind the store window, the box had a longitudinal window through which a reflector was passed radially into the box.
On the right side of the box, a through longitudinal groove was selected for the passage of the bolt handle; the groove had two local rectangular widenings for attaching the bolt to the safety in the forward position and in the cocked position. At the bottom of the back of the box there was a longitudinal window for the passage of the trigger lever.

A butt plate was screwed onto the box from behind, which served as the bottom of the box and the stop of the return mainspring.

Protection against accidental shots was carried out by a fuse on the charging handle and cutouts in the bolt box, where the fuse tooth entered.

PPD-34 with a drum magazine, often mistakenly passed off as PPD-34/38

PPD-34/38 magazine: Drum magazines for the PPD-34/38 had a protruding neck that was inserted into a magazine receiver hidden in the stock. Magazines for PPD-40 did not have a protruding neck.

However, the high cost of production did not allow PPD-34 become a mass model, and until 1939 only 5084 copies were produced: 1934 - 44 copies, 1935 - only 23, 1936 - 911, 1937 - 1,291, 1938 - 1,115 , in 1939 - 1,700. And in February 1939, submachine guns were not only removed from service with the Red Army, but even removed from the troops.

The command considered that the advent of self-loading rifles eliminated the need for submachine guns. In addition, it was even cheaper to produce PPD– 880 rubles versus 900.

13-year-old scout Vova Egorov with his PPD. My son has a regiment of grenades in his belt. April 1942.

It took a bitter lesson from the Soviet-Finnish war, when enemy soldiers with Suomi submachine guns of the A. Lahti system of the 1931 model with magazines for 20 and 71 rounds caused a lot of trouble to our soldiers. It was then that we had to urgently deliver to the front both the ABC-36s that had been removed from service, the Fedorov assault rifles remaining in warehouses, and even those very light Tokarev carbines. Degtyarev’s “machine guns” were also returned to the troops. And they not only returned them, but also launched their mass production. In a few days, Degtyarev, I. Komaritsky, E. Chernenko and V. Shchelkov created a capacious disk magazine for 73 rounds. And already on February 15, 1940, Degtyarev presented a modernized PPD with a split stock and a disc magazine without a neck, which received the designation Pravda, but it became impossible to use sector “horns” from PPD-34. In addition to the split stock, PPD-40 different from

PPD-34 shape and number of holes in the casing: 15 long instead of 55 short.

Red commander with PPD during a blockade breakout. The photo was taken by TASS photojournalist Vsevolod Tarasevich.

At the beginning of the blockade, production PPD temporarily restored in Leningrad at the Sestroretsk Tool Plant named after S.P. Voskov, and in December 1941, the plant named after A.A. Kulakov joined Sestroretsky. In addition, at the Kovrov plant in the pilot workshop, about 5,000 more were manually assembled from existing parts. PPD. A total of 42,870 were produced in Leningrad in 1941-1942. PPD. “Blockade survivors” entered service with the troops of the Leningrad and Karelian fronts. Many PPD made in Leningrad, instead of a sector sight, they had a simplified folding, simplified fuse and a number of other minor differences.

Degtyarev submachine gun - 80 years old. Part 2

Above: ski battalion fighters in camouflage suits and with PPD-34/38 submachine guns (with a drum magazine) and PPSh.

New discussions

At this time, the first submachine gunner units were created in the army, including ski units. This experience was very useful already in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. By the way, in the Red Army at that time a shorter name was assigned to the submachine gun - “machine gun” (it lasted until the end of the 1940s, when an assault rifle chambered for an intermediate cartridge came into service), and the soldiers armed with it began to be called “machine gunners.” .

A remarkable discussion took place on April 26, 1940 at a meeting of the commission of the Main Military Council of the Red Army to summarize the experience of the Finnish campaign, dedicated to the system small arms. People's Commissar of Defense K.E. Voroshilov pointed out: “I must tell you that we shot at 22° below zero from the Suomi, and it shot well, but our PPD did not fire... This means that there is some kind of defect here and the matter here is not only in lubrication, but maybe be a cartridge or some other thing. Since we are now switching to it, all these shortcomings would need to be eliminated. This is a massive weapon, and we arm the department with it.” People's Commissar of Armaments B.L. Vannikov objected: “I think that this pistol [submachine gun] that we are now producing will meet our requirements. I have another fact: when [I] was in the 13th Army and when several Suomi machine guns were taken from the Finns, we tried to shoot from the Suomi, and it did not fire.”

One could consider this an ordinary dispute between the customer and the industry, but Vannikov was supported by combatant division commander M.P. Kirponos: “I think that our machine gun is excellent, we should not abandon it, but only abandon the tide” (apparently, the neck of the drum magazine was meant). Voroshilov drew the line: “We can write: leave it in service. To ask Comrade Vannikov and his people to take all measures to ensure that all the reasons that affect its operation in winter conditions are eliminated and to ensure that the PPD works flawlessly in different meteorological conditions, up to a temperature of +/-40°

The lubricant must be special and be given a description. The PPD should be interchangeable both in magazines and in parts.” An entry appeared in the decision of the meeting: “...To instruct the Small Arms Directorate, together with the NKV, to eliminate all defects of the PPD adopted for service, ensuring its operation at temperatures of minus 50° and plus 70°.”

In the memoirs of P. Shilov, who was a scout of the 17th separate ski battalion during the Finnish campaign, an episode of one battle is described: “Our SVTs did not fire... After the first shots, the scouts no longer fired, but the machine guns of the platoon commander and the platoon commander were in order, and they shot at the Finns to the last bullet.”

A pouch with a drum (“disc”) magazine with a capacity of 71 rounds.

PPD 1940

Speaking about the submachine gun, “which we are now releasing,” People’s Commissar Vannikov was referring to a new modification of the PPD. February 15, 1940 V.A. Degtyarev presented a modernized model, created with the participation of designers S.N. Kalygina, P.E. Ivanova, N.N. Lopukhovsky, E.K. Alexandrovich and V.A. Vvedensky. This sample had the following main differences:

– the receiving neck of the weapon was replaced by a receiver, accordingly, the neck of the magazine was eliminated, and its capacity was reduced to 71 rounds: the design of the magazine returned, in fact, to the “Finnish” one. The operation of the magazine feeder has become more reliable. The weight of the empty magazine was 1.1 kg, fully loaded - 1.8 kg;[ 2 The “dead weight” of the drum magazine was really too big.] - accordingly, front and rear magazine stops were installed on the receiver (the rear stop is combined with the magazine latch), the stock was made split, with a separate forend - a “stock extension” in front of the magazine;

– the shutter was equipped with a fixed striker.

On February 21, 1940, the Defense Committee approved these changes, and in early March they were introduced into production. This is how the “7.62-mm submachine gun of the Degtyarev system model 1940 (PPD-40)” appeared. It could have an open front sight or with a muzzle safety. The translator's flag received new designations: “1” for single fire and “71” for automatic fire. A leather shock absorber ring was inserted into the buttplate of the receiver.

Meanwhile, during the first quarter of 1940, the production of PPD was concentrated in the indicated separate workshop of plant No. 2, and the production of the main parts was carried out on production lines. They also organized an assembly and testing shop, in which submachine guns were assembled on four conveyors with a given rhythm of movement - one of the results of the introduction of mass production technologies into weapons production and domestic mechanical engineering in general, which was carried out in the second half of the 1930s.

Tests of a submachine gun with a fixed bolt striker showed a large percentage of delays or accidents due to misfires or premature shots. Specialists from the Red Army Small Arms Directorate insisted on returning to the previous firing pin design, and on April 1, 1940, the PPD-40 version with the same separate firing pin and firing pin went into production. In total, 81,118 submachine guns were produced in 1940, so the PPD-40 became the fourth and most popular serial modification Degtyarev submachine gun. The PPD-40 showed generally good reliability, was well-balanced and easy for fighters to master.

7.62 mm submachine gun model 1940 (PPD-40), manufactured in 1940. Sight - sector, front sight - without safety.

Gate.

A submachine gun with a detached magazine.

Barrel casing, front sight (without safety) and forend (extension).

Receiver and sight. The mark of INZ No. 2 is clearly visible.

Incomplete disassembly of the PPD-40 submachine gun.

About one legend

The massive appearance of PPD in the army at the end of the Soviet-Finnish War and the adoption of the PPD-40 with a magazine for 71 rounds contributed to the formation of another legend, as if the PPD was copied from Suomi. The legend turned out to be persistent and is found even in modern literature. Not to mention the previously described history of the creation of PPD, let us consider the design of these samples. Both had automatic action based on the recoil of the free shutter, were arranged according to a “carbine” design, with a wooden stock and a cylindrical barrel casing, and were equipped impact mechanism striker type with a shot from the rear sear, sector sights. Individual parts were made using lathes.

The similarity was clearly determined by the prototype - the German MP.18, which served as the basis for many submachine guns of the interwar period. Meanwhile, the PPD had a separate translator and fuse, while the Suomi had a combined one. The reloading handle of the PPD was rigidly connected to the bolt, while that of the Suomi was separate and remained motionless during firing. The barrel of the Suomi is quickly replaceable. Finally, the PPD had neither a compensator, like the Suomi, nor, especially, a pneumatic fire rate retarder. So PPD and Suomi were “distant relatives”. But the PPD drum magazine was actually copied from the drum magazine of I. Koskinen’s system for the Suomi submachine gun [ 3 It is worth mentioning that the Suomi also included box magazines with a capacity of 20 and 50 rounds and a drum magazine with 40 rounds. The relatively large magazine capacity and the ability to have large portable ammunition were among the main advantages of submachine guns.]

As for the captured Suomi, they were used later, and not only in the army: sometimes they “played a role”... PPD in Soviet films (“The Guy from Our Town” 1942, “Actress” 1943, “Invasion” "1945).

Soldiers with PPD-40 submachine guns at the parade on May 1, 1941 in Moscow. pay attention to original way holding submachine guns.

On one of postage stamps the last pre-war series, dedicated to the Red Army and the Red Army and the Red Army and released in February 1941, depicts soldiers with PPD-40 marching in parade formation (artist - F. Kozlov).

Captured Suomis were also used during the Great Patriotic War. In the photo - captain B.M. Garanin with submachine gun t/1931 "Suomi".

To replace PPD

In 1940, a change in attitude towards the submachine gun appeared. This can also be seen in the weapons literature of that time[ 4 Suffice it to recall a thorough analysis of the design features and combat use submachine guns in the works of such prominent specialists as V.G. Fedorov (“Evolution of Small Arms,” 1939) and A. A. Blagonravov (“Material Part of Small Arms,” “Basics for the Design of Automatic Weapons,” 1940). At the same time, V.G. Fedorov called the submachine gun an “underestimated weapon.”], and according to decisions made by the military leadership. On the same day, April 26, 1940, when the commission of the Main Military Council considered the small arms system of the Red Army, the Main Military Council decided to approve “organizations and staffs rifle division wartime 17,000 personnel,” providing for 1,436 submachine guns in the division. The commission headed by the head of the ABTU, commander of the 2nd rank D.G. Pavlov on April 25 suggested: “For every combat vehicle have PPD and 15 hand grenades... Drivers of armored vehicles, communication vehicles, staff and passenger vehicles should be armed with PPD.”

The submachine gun was still considered an auxiliary weapon, but the degree of saturation of troops with it increased. Characteristic is the indication in the speech of the Inspector General of Infantry, Lieutenant General A.K. Smirnov at a meeting of the top leadership of the Red Army in December 1940 that “if our [infantry] department was divided into two units,” they would include “both automatic rifles and submachine guns.” At the same famous meeting, the head of the Combat Training Directorate of the Red Army, Lieutenant General V.N. Kurdyumov was counting on an offensive battle (assuming an attack by the Soviet rifle corps on the defense of the German infantry division): “Our advancing corps will have in the first attacking echelon: 72 platoons, 2880 bayonets, 288 light machine guns, 576 PPD... On average, on 1 km of the front there will be 2888 attacking people versus 78 defensive people; machine guns and submachine guns -100 versus 26..."

On May 1, 1940, the Red Army had 6,075,000 rifles, 25,000 submachine guns and 948,000 pistols and revolvers in its reserves. At a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on June 4, 1940, the issue “On organizing the production of PPD submachine guns” was specifically considered. Plans to increase the number of submachine guns required a more reliable and, most importantly, more technologically advanced and cheaper design. Then one could count on the submachine gun being military weapons will play its main role - a cheap and quick solution to the problem of “increasing the power of infantry fire” in close-range combat and replacing some carbines and pistols in special forces.

Reducing processing time, metal consumption and cost could be achieved through the widespread use of the same mass production technologies - replacing metal cutting with pressure processing (hot stamping, cold pressing without subsequent mechanical processing), the introduction of precision casting, and electric welding.

A new sample was created in Kovrov G.S. Shpagin and presented for factory testing on August 20, 1940. Based on the results of field tests, it was indicated that Shpagin’s submachine gun “has advantages over PPD in terms of reliability of automatic operation in different conditions operation, simplicity of design and slight improvement in shooting accuracy.” By a resolution of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated December 21, 1940, the “7.62-mm submachine gun mod. 1941, PPSh (Shpagin submachine gun).”

The PPSh drum magazine was “inherited” from the PPD-40. It provided certain advantages, but a weapon with such a magazine was bulky and inconvenient when crawling. The equipment of a drum magazine turned out to be much more complicated than a box magazine, the feeder spring quickly weakened, the magazine had to be equipped with fewer cartridges; carrying spare drum magazines was less convenient than box magazines. In addition, the drum magazine was much more difficult to manufacture. Already in 1942, for submachine guns, in addition to the drum one, a box magazine with 35 rounds was adopted.

PPD-40 with a fighter-anti-tank artillery crew member.

A sample of the PPD-40 found in Belarus without a stock, bolt, receiver butt plate, or sight.

SS soldiers inspect captured PPD-40 and PPSh.

PPD in the Great Patriotic War

About the place of submachine guns in new system small arms of the Red Army, formed in 1939-1941, can be judged by the plan of military orders of the People's Commissariat of Defense, navy and Internal Affairs for 1941 (Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of February 7, 1941): “... For land weapons... Rifles in total - 1,800,000 Including self-loading mod. 40 - 1,100,000...7.62mm Shpagin submachine guns - 200,000...".

At the last pre-war May Day parade in 1941, a unit of fighters armed with PPD-40 marched across Red Square. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, two types of submachine guns (“machine guns”) were in service with the Red Army - PPSh and PPD, and the latter was already being withdrawn from production.

According to state number 04/400, introduced on April 5, 1941, a rifle division for 14,500 people personnel was supposed to have 10,240 rifles and 1,204 submachine guns. The rifle company had 27 submachine guns, 104 SVT rifles, 11 magazine rifles mod. 1891/30 and 9 repeating carbines model 1938; each rifle squad should have had two PPD.

In reality, at first it was not possible to maintain such standards of saturating rifle troops with individual automatic weapons. Thus, in the 5th and 6th armies of the Kyiv Special Military District in June 1941, rifle divisions consisted of submachine guns from 20% to 55% of the staff. This coupled with big losses during the retreat in the first months of the war, it forced a review of the states. Thus, state No. 04/600 dated July 29, 1941 already provided for 10,859 personnel, 8,341 rifles and 171 submachine guns.

The problem, apparently, lay not only in the number of submachine guns, but also in their distribution. In any case, on October 21, 1941, the head of the Main Armored Directorate, Lieutenant General Ya.N. Fedorenko wrote to I.V. To Stalin as People's Commissar of Defense: “I report that automatic weapons PPD and PPSh, intended for troops, in practice in most cases are not in the troops conducting direct combat, but in the rear of divisions, armies and fronts. Moreover, in institutions such as the tribunal, the prosecutor’s office, special departments and political departments, the majority of command personnel are armed with these automatic weapons.” If previously submachine guns were considered as weapons for command personnel and part of the auxiliary specialties, now their role has changed. New principles for using groups of machine gunners in combat were emerging. Also in October 1941, they found organizational basis: on staff rifle regiment They brought in a company of machine gunners.

The most popular submachine gun during the war was destined to become the more technologically advanced PPSh. A typical example. The draft order of the Supreme High Command Headquarters on the formation of the 1st and 2nd Guards Rifle Corps (signed on December 31, 1941) indicated that each guards rifle division was to have a “PPD - 875”, and each regiment had a company of machine gunners (“ 100 PPD per company"), I.V. Stalin personally replaced the PPD with the PPSh, the production of which was expanding at that time.

Political instructor of the Moscow Komsomol militia detachment B.F. Sukhov with a PPD-40 submachine gun.

Soldiers of the ski battalion, armed with PPD-40 (in the foreground) and SVT rifles, near Moscow. Winter 1942

An interesting combination of weapons. In the hands of the Marines is a PPD-40 submachine gun, sniper rifle model 1891/30 and a self-loading rifle SVT-40.

Fighters special company Lieutenant P.N. Muratikov regiment of the NKVD of Moscow, operating in April-May 1942 in the Kirov direction. The group is armed with carbines, PPSh, PPD-34/38 and PPD-40 submachine guns (in the background).

Guerrilla ambush. In the foreground is a fighter with hand grenade and a PPD-34/38 submachine gun with a drum magazine.

Commander of the Pinsk partisan brigade M.I. Gerasimov with his staff. In the photo you can see submachine guns PPSh (at the commander), PPD-40, as well as captured German MP.40 and Austrian MP.34(o) "Steyr-Solothurn".

A scout in a mask suit with a PPD-40 (version with a sector sight). The period of fighting near Moscow, December 1941.

Scouts of the 181st special reconnaissance and sabotage detachment Northern Fleet Sergeant V.E. Kashutin and V.N. Leonov, armed with a SVT-40 self-loading rifle and a PPD-34/38 submachine gun.

In this photo, both the scouts and the soldier accompanying them are armed with PPD-40.

Young reconnaissance fighter Vova Egorov armed himself with a standard set - a submachine gun and a hand grenade.

PPD continued to be actively used both by troops at the front and in partisan and sabotage detachments. Here, for example, is an excerpt from the diary of the commissar of the reconnaissance and sabotage detachment, state security lieutenant V.N. Babakina: “6.X1.41...On the Makarovo-Vysokinichi road they discovered a large horse-drawn convoy...They attacked two lagging carts. Kuzmichev threw a grenade onto the road, killing the horse and driver, two of them fired back. With a shot from the PPD, Kuzmin and Verchenko killed two more, and threw bottles of fuel into one cart...” The certificate on the work of the special school of the NKVD Directorate for Moscow and the Moscow region for the period from September 1941 to September 1942 stated: “In light of the changed tasks performed by partisan sabotage and extermination detachments behind enemy lines, the report card of their weapons has also changed. The number of PPSh and PPD machine guns-pistols in the detachments’ arsenal has been increased (from 3 to 8 pieces per detachment).”

Soviet submachine guns were also appreciated by the enemy. Trophy PPD arr. 1934/38 were adopted by the Wehrmacht as “weapons of a limited standard” under the designation MR.716(g), model 1940 - MR.715(g), but the PPSh - MR.717(g) turned out to be more popular .

In the initial period of the war, the production of PPD was restored, but not in Kovrov, but in Leningrad. Based on the equipment of the Sestroretsk Tool Plant named after. S.P. Voskov launched the production of PPD-40, which was carried out almost manually. In December 1941, when the city was already surrounded, the electromechanical plant named after. A.A. Kulakov No. 209: the troops defending the city needed automatic weapons, and their delivery from outside was difficult. They also did PPD at the remaining part of the production of the evacuated artillery plant No. 7 in Leningrad.

At the end of December 1941, all three factories produced 10,813 pieces of PPD (according to a certificate from the 5th Department of the Artillery Committee of the Main artillery control). Of these, the Leningrad section of the plant named after S.P. Voskova handed over 4,150 submachine guns by December 25. According to a note by a member of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front A.A. Zhdanov to the Chairman of the State Defense Committee I.V. To Stalin on January 7, 1942, “...in six months, the industry of Leningrad produced and delivered to the Red Army... 10,600 PPD machine guns.” In total in 1941-1942. Leningraders, under the most severe conditions, produced 42,870 PPD-40s, which were used by the troops of the Leningrad and Karelian fronts.

Young female workers of the branch of the Sestroretsk Tool Plant named after. Voskova Nina Nikolaeva and Valya Volkova at the assembly of PPD submachine guns (with a folding sight).

Control foreman of the branch of the Sestroretsk Tool Plant named after. Voskova S.V. Brewers inspects the assembled PPD submachine gun.

There is a grenade ahead, followed by a soldier with a machine gun. Submachine gunners Arkhipov, Tolvinsky and Kumirov of D. Bednikov’s unit, armed with PPD-40, during the battle in locality. Leningrad Front.

Scout Marine Corps Red Navy man P.I. Kuzmenko with a standard set of weapons - a submachine gun (PPD-40) and a hand grenade (here - model 1933). Leningrad Front, November 1941

Tactical and technical characteristics of submachine guns
Model	PPD-34	PPD-34/38	PPD-40	PPSh-41	"Suomi" m/1931
Caliber, mm	7,62	7,62	7,62	7,62	9.0
Cartridge	7.62x25 (TT)	7.62x25 (TT)	7.62x25 (TT)	7.62x25 (TT)	9x19"parabellum"
Weapon length, mm	778	778	778	840	870
Barrel length, mm	278	278	278	274	314
Weapon weight without magazine, kg	3,23	3,2	3,6	3,5	4,6
Weight of weapon with loaded magazine, kg	3,66	5,19	5,4	5,44	7,09
Rate of fire, rds/min	750-900	750-900	900-1100	700-900	700-900
Combat rate of fire, od./auto., rds./min	30/100	30/100	30/100-120	30/90	70/120
Initial bullet speed, m/s	500	500	480-500	500	350
Range aimed shooting(according to sight settings), m	500	500	500	500	500
Magazine capacity, cartridges	25	73	71	71	71

One of these PPD-40 is stored at VIMA-IViVS. On its butt there is a sign: “Made in Leningrad during the enemy blockade. 1942" Another PPD carries a plate on the butt with the inscription: “To the commander of the 54th Army, Comrade Fedyuninsky, from the Voskov plant.” This submachine gun was handed to I.I. Fedyuninsky, as a participant in the defense of the city, in 1942 on the 24th anniversary of the Red Army. This specimen, like many Leningrad-made PPDs, has a folding rear sight - similar to the PPSh modification of 1942. In Kovrov, in the experimental workshop of the Chief Designer's department in 1941, about 5000 PPDs were assembled from the remaining backlog of parts.

V.A. After the PPSh was adopted and put into production, Degtyarev continued to work on new designs of submachine guns, but they remained experimental. Already at the beginning of 1942, a competition was announced for a new, lightweight 7.62-mm submachine gun, which could replace the PPD and PPSh in service with reconnaissance officers, skiers, paratroopers, gun crews, crews of combat vehicles, drivers, etc. Among the many participants in this competition were V.A. Degtyarev, and G.S. Shpagin. However, the A.I. sample won. Sudaev, later recognized as the best submachine gun of the Second World War. Moreover, a good basis for organizing mass production PPS steel produced by plants named after. Voskov and them. Kulakov (production organization was directly led by A.I. Sudaev).

A shortened submachine gun made during the defense of Leningrad in military workshops using PPD and PPSh parts.

A submachine gun made by partisans and found in the Molodechno region of the Belarusian SSR.

Carbine-style submachine guns with a large magazine capacity have attracted attention for a long time. An example of this is the experimental American 5.6-mm model “Bingham” PPS-50 chambered for a small-caliber, low-power cartridge of the .22LR type, designed either for police services or for collectors.

In military and partisan workshops

The VIMAIiVS collection contains shortened (small-sized) submachine guns, the design of which uses PPD parts. Such samples were produced in small quantities in 1942-1943. in the workshops of the 265th Infantry Division, which participated in the defense of Leningrad. In addition to shortening the barrel to 110 mm, changing the casing, the absence of a butt and installing a pistol grip, they are distinguished by moving the bolt handle to the left side, a safety switch borrowed from the PPSh, a simple sighting device, and a box magazine with a capacity of 15 rounds.

A homemade submachine gun based on the PPD-40, but without a stock and with a pistol grip and a homemade bolt, is in the collection of the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War. It was found in 1957 in the Molodechno region, but the manufacturer of this partisan weapon is unknown. The same museum houses, for example, the PPD-40, repaired and slightly modified (with the sight replaced by a homemade folding one) by partisan master I.V. Vlasik in the detachment named after M.I. Kutuzova.

On the PPD-40, converted in 1944 in the partisan detachment “Groza” (operated in the Vitebsk region) by craftsmen N.V. Polivenokom, P.T. Izrailev and P.I. Goldfinch installed a folding sight from the PPSh and a new stock. Handicraft branding includes not only the names of the craftsmen, but also the indication: “1944 Br. Marchuk, 2nd detachment, 1st partisan plant." On other PPD-40s, converted by partisan craftsmen, you can see homemade receivers, casings, or casings and sights taken with minor alterations, for example, from captured German MP.34 or MP.35 submachine guns.

Literature and sources

1. Bakhirev V.V., Kirillov I.I. Designer V.A. Degtyarev-M.: Voenizdat, 1979.

2. Bolotin D. N. Soviet small arms for 50 years. – L.: VIMAIViVS, 1967.

3. Vannikov B.L. Notes of the People's Commissar // Banner. – 1988, No. 1,2.

4. Bulletin of the Archive of the President of the Russian Federation. The Red Army in the 1920s - M., 2007.

5. Bulletin of the Archive of the President of the Russian Federation. War: 1941-1945. – M., 2010.

6. “Winter War”: working on mistakes ( April May 1940). Materials of the commissions of the Main Military Council of the Red Army to summarize the experience of the Finnish campaign. – M.-SPb.: Summer Garden, 2004.

7. From the history of the Great Patriotic War. On the eve of the war. Documents // News of the CPSU Central Committee. – 1990, No. 1,2.

8. Material part of small arms. Book 1 / Ed. A.A. Blagonravova. – M.: Oborongiz NKAP, 1945.

9. Malimon A.A. Domestic machine guns (notes of a gunsmith tester). – M.:MORPH, 1999.

10. Monetchikov S.B. PPD - from Finnish to Great Patriotic War // World of weapons. – 2004, No. 3; 2005, No. 1.

11. Weapon of Victory. Collection of small arms of the V.A. system Degtyarev in the museum collection. – L.: VIMAIViVS, 1987.

12. Okhotnikov N. Small arms Soviet army in the Great Patriotic War // Military History Journal. – 1969, No. 1.

13. Guerrilla weapons: collection catalogue. Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War. – Minsk: Zvezda, 2014.

14. Popenker M.R., Milchev M.N. World War II: The Gunsmiths' War. – M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008.

15. Russian archive. The Great Patriotic War. T. 12(1). – M.: TERRA, 1993.

16. Soviet military-industrial production (1918-1926). Sat. doc. – M.: New Chronograph, 2005.

17. Formation of the military-industrial complex of the USSR (1927-1937). T.3, 4.2. Sat. doc.-M.: TERRA,.2011.

18. Security officers defending the capital: Documents and materials. – M.: Moscow worker, 1982.

19. Shilov P. There was no fashion to award awards then // Rodina. – 1995, No. 12.

20. Touches of history. Famous and unknown pages history of the Kovrov plant named after. V.A. Degtyarev from 1917 to 2002 - Vladimir: 2002.

21. Hogg I., Weeks J. Military Small Arms of the 20th Century. – Northbrook, DBI Books, 1996.

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