The Foundation of Freedom is the Courage of Ordinary People
History On Line
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DP 7.62 mm
Ruchnoy Pulemyot Light Machine Gun
Automatic fire, 20 lb 8 oz unloaded, 47
round detachable pan magazine, rate of fire about
500-600 rpm, muzzle velocity about 2760 fps, 148 gr
bullet, range about 1000 meters.

Pfc. Julias Van Den Stock of
Company A, 32nd Regimental Combat Team, 7th
Infantry Division with M1 or M2 Carbine, rests on a
Chinese Communist bunker with a Soviet DP light
machine gun, along the slope of Hill 902 north of
Ip-Tong.
Note the carbine mounts a
rifle
grenade launcher, which uses rifle
grenades, but the two handles in front of his
right shoulder are Chinese stick
grenades.

DP 7.62 mm Ruchnoy Pulemyot Light Machine
Gun

Operation: Automatic fire, only
Length: 50.8 in. (1290 mm)
Weight unloaded: 20 lb 8 oz (9.12
kg)
Barrel: 23.8 in. 4 grooves, right hand
twist
Magazine: 47 round detachable pan
Cyclic Rate: 500-600 rpm
Muzzle velocity: 2760 fps, 2900
ft-lb
Ammunition: 148 gr bullet, 48 gr charge,
Russian Light Ball M'08
Effective Range: Probably about 1000
meters
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The 7.62 mm Ruchnoy Pulemyot DP
(Degtyaryova pakhotnyi) was adopted by the Soviet
army in 1928. It is extremely simple, yet
remarkably reliable and robust. It remained the
standard light gun until the 50's, and the
USSR supplied large
numbers of them to the North Korean Communists in
the Korean war. The secret of the DP was the
simple locking device, which made use of locking
flaps on the bolt, pushed out by the firing
pin.
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The DP uses a long stroke gas
piston, located under the barrel, which operates a
bolt with two side-mounted locking flaps. When the
bolt comes into the battery the stud, mounted on
the bolt carrier, pushes the firing pin forward. A
thick part of the firing pin swings the rear parts
of the locking flaps out of bolt and into the
locking recesses in the receiver walls. When the
shot is fired, a bolt carrier on its way back
retracts the flaps out of receiver walls into the
bolt and then opens the bolt. The DP fires from the
open bolt.
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One of the few drawbacks was that
the recoil spring was located under the barrel,
around the gas piston, and the spring tended to
loose its temper due to overheating. Another
drawback was the flat pan magazine, necessary for
the rimmed cartridges available at the time but
too heavy, awkward to carry and easily
damaged.
When the DP was improved as the
model DPM, the main improvements were
relocating the recoil spring to the rear of the
bolt, and an extension added behind the receiver
to contain the spring. This forced redisigning
the stock with a pistol grip.
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Three Marines from Company F, 2nd
Battalion, 5th Marines who participated in the raid
on Hill 15 (Detroit) display captured enemy weapons
and materials. The Marine on the left has a
Moisin
Nagant while the Marine in the center holds a
DP (DP 7.62 mm Ruchnoy Pulemyot Light Machine
Gun).
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Causes of the Korean Tragedy ... Failure of Leadership, Intelligence and Preparation
The Foundations of Freedom are the Courage of Ordinary People and Quality of our Arms
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