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 large numbers of them were used
by the North Korean and Chinese Communists in the
Korean war. The secret of the DP was the simple
locking device,
which makes use of locking flaps on the bolt,
pushed out by the firing pin. The DP proved
resistant to dust and dirt, and free from any
serious vices.
However, the DP did have some
distinct faults. The return spring weakened with
heat from the hot barrel, and the bipod legs bent
and broke from rough handling. The DPM, shown
above, moved the return spring to the rear of the
bolt and protruded over the small of the butt in a
cylindrical housing, where it prevented the gunner
from grasping the gun in the usual way, and so
induced the fitting of a pistol grip.
The bipod was replaced by a
stronger version, attached to the barrel casing,
which raised the roll center of the gun and made it
easier to hold upright.
Still, the heavy, awkward flat pan
magazine was easily damaged, and a continuous
operational problem. The RP46 is a belt-fed version of the
DPM, and yet can accept the pan magazine if the
belt feed mechanism is removed. The RP46 has a
higher rate of fire (650 rpm) but is two pounds
heavier than the DPM, and has a distinctive
carrying handle.
