Degtyarov 1949 RP46 Manual (in Russian)

CONTENTS INCLUDE:

The Degtyaryov machine gun (Russian: Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный Pulemyot Degtyaryova Pekhotny Degtyaryov’s infantry machine gun”) or DP is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was used primarily by the Soviet Union starting in 1928. The DP machine gun was supplemented in the 1950s by the more modern RPD machine gun and entirely replaced in Soviet service by the general purpose PK machine gun in the 1960s.

The DP-28 was an improvement from the earlier DP-26, both designed by Vasily Degtyaryov. The DP-28 was relatively cheap and easy to manufacture – early models had fewer than 80 parts. The DP was especially able to withstand dirt. In tests it was buried in sand and mud and was still capable of firing more than 500 rounds. The DP’s main drawback was its bipod; it could not withstand much abuse and broke easily. Also, the magazine, a pan with 47 rounds that fed in from the top, was relatively small and continuous fire for long periods could not be relied on as much as contemporary belt-fed weapons. Due to the design of the magazine, reloading each one with ammunition took a very long time. The DP’s lower cyclic rate of fire did however mean a reduced risk of the barrel overheating.

The DP had a reputation as an effective light support weapon. It was nicknamed the “Record player” by Red Army troops because the disk-shaped pan magazine resembled a gramophone record and its top cover revolved while the weapon was fired. Captured by the Finnish army in the Winter War and the Continuation War to partially replace the Lahti-Saloranta M/26, the weapon received the nickname Emma in the service after a popular waltz. In the summer of 1944, the Finnish army had about 3400 Finnish-made Lahti-Salorantas and 9000 captured Soviet-made Degtyarevs on the front.

The Chinese Nationalists received 5,600 DPs from the USSR and used them in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. The Chinese Communists used the DP in the Korean War and copied the DPM as the Type 53.

A number of the RP-46 variant of the DP have been spotted in present day Somalia, in use with militant forces, and also among rebel forces in the 2011 Libyan uprising to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.

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