PPD-40

The PPD (Pistolet-Pulemyot Degtyaryova, Russian: Пистоле́т-пулемёт Дегтярёва, Degtyaryov's machine pistol) is a submachine gun originally designed in 1934 by Vasily Degtyaryov. The PPD had a conventional wooden stock, fired from an open bolt, and was capable of selective fire. It was replaced by the PPSh-41.

PPD

PPD-34 & PPD-34/38
TypeSubmachine gun
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In service1935–45
Used bySee Users
WarsSpanish Civil War
Winter War
Second Sino Japanese War
World War II
Korean War
Hukbalahap Rebellion
1958 Lebanon crisis
Lebanese Civil War[1]
Production history
DesignerVasily Degtyaryov
Designed1934
Produced1934–1942;[2] most in 1940
No. builtApprox. 90,000
VariantsPPD-34, PPD-34/38, PPD-40
Specifications
Mass3.2 kg (7.1 lb) empty
Length788 mm (31.0 in)
Barrel length273 mm (10.7 in)
Cartridge7.62×25mm Tokarev
ActionBlowback, open bolt
Rate of fire800–1000 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity490 m/s (1,600 ft/s)
Effective firing range200 m (219 yd)
Feed system25-round detachable box magazine
71-round detachable drum magazine

History
Soviet soldier holding a PPD-40 with two-part wooden stock.

Developed in the Soviet Union by arms designer Vasily Degtyaryov. The PPD was designed to chamber the new Soviet 7.62×25mm Tokarev pistol cartridge, which was based on the 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridge used in the Mauser C96 pistol. The later PPD models utilized a large drum magazine for the ammunition drum.

The PPD officially went into military service with the Red Army in 1935[3] as the PPD-34, although it was not produced in large quantities. Production issues were not solved until 1937; in 1934 only 44 were produced, in 1935 only 23; production picked up in 1937 with 1,291 produced, followed by 1,115 produced in 1938 and 1,700 produced in 1939.[4] It saw use with the NKVD internal forces as well as border guards. The PPD was decommissioned entirely in 1939 and factory orders cancelled following a directive of the People's Commissariat of Defence Industry; the decision was quickly reversed, though, after the personal intervention of Degtyaryov with Stalin, with whom he had a good personal relationship.[4][5] During the Winter War in 1939 with Finland, an acute lack of individual automatic weapons even led to the reintroduction of the stockpiled Fedorov Avtomats into service.[6]

In 1938 and 1940, modifications were designated PPD-34/38 and PPD-40 respectively, and introduced minor changes, mostly aimed at making it easier to manufacture. Mass production began in 1940, a year in which 81,118 PPDs were produced. Nevertheless, the PPD-40 was too labor- and resource-expensive to mass-produce economically, most of its metal components being produced by milling.[4] Although it was used in action in World War II, it was officially replaced by the superior and cheaper PPSh-41 by the end of 1941. Shpagin's great innovation in Soviet automatic weapons manufacturing was the large-scale introduction of stamped metal parts, particularly receivers; the PPSh also had a muzzle climb compensator which significantly improved accuracy over the PPD. In 1941 only 5,868 PPDs were made, compared to 98,644 PPSh and in the following year almost 1.5 million PPSh were produced.[4]

PPDs captured by Finnish forces during the Winter War and Continuation War were issued to coastal and home guard troops and kept in reserve until approximately 1960.[7] PPD-34/38 and PPD-40 submachine guns captured by the Wehrmacht were given the designations MP.715(r) and MP.716(r) respectively.

A number of PPD-like submachine guns were also manufactured in a semi-artisanal way by gunsmiths among the hundreds of thousands of Soviet partisans. These guns, even when made as late as 1944, used milling because metal stamping requires large industrial facilities that were not available to the partisans. There are no firm numbers about how many were made, but there were at least six partisan gunsmiths each making his own model series. One of them is known to have produced 28 such sub-machine guns in approximately two years.[8]

Users
Sailors of the Baltic Fleet armed with PPD-40 (left two) and PPSh-41 (rightmost) in May 1943.

See also

References
  1. "Lebanese Forces : The Weapons: Sub Machine Guns (SMG)". 2016-03-03. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  2. "В декабре 1942 г. из-за сложности конструкции ППД был снят с вооружения РККА и его производство было прекращено"
    КПСС и строительство советских вооруженных сил. (Коллектив авторов). 2е изд. М., Воениздат, 1967; стр.277
  3. Пистолет-пулемет Дегтярева ППД-34 (in Russian), RU, archived from the original on March 11, 2007, retrieved August 25, 2008
  4. Болотин, Давид (1995). История советского стрелкового оружия и патронов (in Russian). Полигон. pp. 105–112. ISBN 5-85503-072-5.; figure for 1936 is not reported
  5. Kalashnikov, Mikhail (2006). The Gun that Changed the World. Polity. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7456-3692-4.
  6. Monetchikov, Sergei (2005). История русского автомата [The History of Russian Assault Rifle] (in Russian). St. Petersburg: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps. pp. 18–19. ISBN 5-98655-006-4.
  7. McNab, Chris (20 May 2014). Soviet Submachine Guns of World War II: PPD-40, PPSh-41 and PPS. Weapon 33. Osprey Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 9781782007944.
  8. Сергей Плотников, "Партизанские Самоделки", Оружие 2000/4, pp. 46-51
  9. Jones, Richard D.; Ness, Leland S, eds. (January 27, 2009). Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010 (35th ed.). Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
  10. "Machinepistols part 2", Finnish Army ARMY 1918–1945, Jaegerplatoon, retrieved 2011-04-26
  11. McNab, Chris (2002). 20th Century Military Uniforms (2nd ed.). Kent: Grange Books. p. 67. ISBN 1-84013-476-3.
  12. "Las armas de la Guerra Civil Española", José María Manrique García, Lucas Molina Franco.
  13. David T. Zabecki, ed. (1998). World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1. Routledge. pp. 1013–1014. ISBN 0824070291.
  14. Бранко Богданович. Югославский ТТ по имени «Тетеjац» // журнал «Оружие», № 10, октябрь 2012. стр.42-56

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