Power named DShK. A unique heavy machine gun of the Red Army. Heavy machine gun dshk Dshk machine gun decoding 12.7 1938

12.7 mm heavy machine gun cartridges

Domestic large-caliber machine-gun cartridges originate on October 27, 1925, when the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR proposed to the Artillery Committee of the Red Army Artillery Directorate by May 1, 1927 to develop a machine gun of 12–20 mm caliber.

In the design bureau (PKB) of the First Tula Arms Plants (TOZ), under the leadership of I.A. Pastukhov, a machine gun was created based on the 12.7-mm English Vickers large-caliber cartridge, which received the designation "P-5" - "machine gun 5 -linear "(that is - caliber 0.5 inches). The following year, 1928, the head of the Design Bureau of the Kovrov Plant No. 2, V. A. Degtyarev, also received the task of developing on the basis of his light machine gun DP heavy machine gun for anti-tank and air defense under the English 12.7 mm cartridge. The locking in the first model of his machine gun was similar to the design of the DP machine gun, and the power was supplied from a rigid metal cassette similar to the Hotchkiss M.1914 machine gun. The problems that arose with ammunition for heavy machine guns forced Soviet designers abandon direct copying of English 12.7 mm cartridges and begin work on designing their own cartridges that meet the requirements of the time. Only after the creation of such a cartridge by the specialists of the Cartridge and Pipe Trust in 1930, Degtyarev was able to present two versions of his heavy machine guns to Artkom as soon as possible.

The report of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR of December 1929 stated: “The adopted system of infantry weapons of the Red Army provides for the introduction of semi-automatic weapons in the near future self-loading rifle, a self-loading pistol, a submachine gun, a large-caliber machine gun - for combating armored parts and an air enemy, caliber 18-20 m / m with a working rate of fire up to 500-600 shots ... "In 1930, in the workshop of the Bureau of New Designs and Standardization (as the PKB was renamed ) of Plant No. 2 assembled the first prototype of the Degtyarev heavy machine gun with a flat disk magazine designed by A. S. Kladov with a capacity of 30 rounds. In February 1931, two 12.7-mm machine guns were tested - the “Dreyse system for manufacturing TOZ” and the Degtyarev system. The commission that conducted the tests preferred the Degtyarev large-caliber (DK-32) as lighter and easier to manufacture. The DK was put into service, the production of a small series began at the plant number 2 in Kovrov in 1932, but in 1933 only 12 pieces were assembled, and in 1934 the production of the Degtyarev heavy machine gun was completely suspended.

For the Degtyarev heavy machine gun, a caliber of 12.7 mm was chosen. A new cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet was designed at the Tula Cartridge Plant in 1928-1930. The 12.7-mm large-caliber cartridge consisted of: a bimetallic bottle sleeve 108 mm long without a rim with a groove; charge of smokeless pyroxylin powder brand 4/1 fl and armor-piercing bullet B-30, modeled on the 7.62-mm armor-piercing bullet B-30 mod. 1930 with a steel core and a cylindrical tail. Cartridge weight - 132.2–139.8 g.

A brass bottle wafer sleeve serves to connect all parts of the cartridge, while the method of attaching a bullet is a tight fit and a 2-row segmental crimping of the sleeve mouth. The sleeve has: a body inside which a powder charge is placed; slope to stop in the cone of the chamber; the muzzle into which the bullet is inserted; groove for ejector hook and bottom. The bottom of the case housing has: a socket for the primer; an anvil on which the primer breaks with a striker; two seed holes through which the flame from the primer penetrates to the powder. The capsule serves to ignite the charge. It consists of a brass cap with an impact composition pressed into it, covered with foil. The powder charge consists of smokeless powder. During the combustion of the charge, powder gases are formed, the pressure of which ejects the bullet from the bore and the entire mobile system is activated for the next shot.

Due to the fact that the main task of the DK-32 machine gun, under which this cartridge was developed, was the destruction of lightly armored targets, first of all, cartridges with armor-piercing bullets mod. 1930 and armor-piercing incendiary arr. 1932. In addition, before the Great Patriotic War, under this promising 12.7-mm large-caliber cartridge, aircraft machine guns were also developed by three design teams: V. A. Degtyarev (TsKB-2); Ya. G. Taubina and M. N. Baburina (OKB-16); and M. E. Berezina (TsKB-14), as well as several designs of anti-tank rifles, including Sholokhov, Rukavishnikov, Vladimirov, and others.

Later, in the late 1930s and during the Great Patriotic War 12.7 x108 large-caliber cartridge has been repeatedly upgraded by creating new bullets:

• T-38 - a tracer bullet with a lead core,
• BS-41 - armor-piercing incendiary bullet,
• BZT-44 - armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet,
• MDZ - instantaneous fragmentation incendiary bullet.

Currently, large-caliber cartridges with B-32 armor-piercing incendiary bullets, BZT-44 armor-piercing incendiary tracer and MDZ fragmentation incendiary bullets are mainly used. Cartridges 12.7x108 are used for firing from heavy machine guns DShK / DShKM; NSV and their variants, as well as UB aircraft machine guns; A-12.7 A; YakB-12.7. The production of 12.7-mm large-caliber cartridges was established at cartridge factories No. 3; 17; 46; 188; 335.

Here, speaking of large-caliber machine-gun cartridges, it should be noted that, in general, ordinary in ammunition small arms a bullet is called solid (lead or tompak), or consisting only of a shell and not having an armor-piercing core, i.e. not being special - tracer, armor-piercing, armor-piercing incendiary, sighting, etc. But in relation to heavy machine guns that do not have (with rare exceptions, mostly in the past) of an ordinary bullet proper, due to its inappropriateness for such a caliber, armor-piercing bullets (as bullets of the main purpose) armor-piercing, armor-piercing incendiary, armor-piercing incendiary tracer, etc., having a conventional armor-piercing hardened steel core. Special, in relation to large-caliber machine guns, are called bullets equipped with a special armor-piercing core made of hard, tungsten-containing alloys.

12.7 mm armor-piercing bullet B-30 mod. 1930 weighing 51.1–51.9 g consisted of a steel clad tompak (bimetallic) shell, a lead jacket and a steel hardened pointed core 52.48–52.88 mm long, 19.4–19.9 mm in diameter and weighing 29.25-30.50 g. The core was made of cold-drawn heat-treated tool steel grade U12 A. The lead jacket was designed to ensure the tightness of the bullet mounting, to mitigate the load on the barrel when the bullet cuts into rifling and protect the bore from excessively intense wear. The length of the bullet with a conical rear was 62.6–63.5 mm. 12.7 mm armor-piercing bullet B-30 mod. 1930 had initial speed- 830-850 m / s and at a distance of 500 meters it pierced armor up to 16 mm thick. The muzzle energy was 18,000 J.

Large-caliber cartridges with a B-30 bullet were produced with a brass sleeve. The fixation of a 12.7-mm large-caliber cartridge with a non-protruding rim in the chamber was carried out by the slope of the sleeve into the slope of the chamber, which, in turn, increased the requirements for the manufacture of chambers and sleeves.

The tip of the B-30 bullet was painted black. When hitting an armored barrier, the bullet core destroyed the lead jacket and bullet jacket, and then pierced the barrier, hitting the crew of the armored vehicle, as well as its instruments and equipment. Possessing significant armor penetration, the B-30 bullet had at the same time a big drawback, which consisted in its low armor action. The production of this cartridge was established in the early 1930s. With the start of the production of large-caliber cartridges with a more universal B-32 armor-piercing incendiary bullet, the production of 12.7-mm cartridges with a B-30 bullet was discontinued. During the Great Patriotic War, the DShK heavy machine gun was used as an anti-aircraft weapon, and when firing armor-piercing bullets, the B-30 could shoot down an enemy aircraft, which at that time was flying quite high - more than 2000 m and at a high speed of 500 km / h. At the same time, cartridges with B-30 armor-piercing bullets for it had limited use and were gradually forced out of circulation by cartridges with more versatile B-32 armor-piercing incendiary bullets, equivalent in armor penetration, but additionally providing an incendiary effect due to the presence of an incendiary composition between the warhead core and shell of the bullet.

In 1933, for the Degtyarev DK-32 heavy machine gun, a new machine-gun cartridge of 12.7 x108 mm caliber was adopted with a brass sleeve and an armor-piercing incendiary bullet B-32 mod. 1932 (GRAU index - 57-BZ-542), designed for firing at enemy manpower and equipment, which had high power and armor penetration. The 12.7 mm armor-piercing incendiary bullet with a steel core B-32 was designed similarly to the 7.62 mm B-32 rifle bullet. She had a bimetallic steel shell clad with tombac; a lead shirt, an armor-piercing core (with a bullet length of 62.6-63.5 mm and a bullet weight of 47.4-49.5 mm), and a pyrotechnic (incendiary) composition located in the head part (with a mass of 1.0 g). The cartridge core for the B-32 bullet weighing 29.25-30.5 g was produced from cold-drawn heat-treated tool steel grades U12 A, U12 XA. Initially, the shell of the bullet was made with one belt, but the increased rate of fire from 12.7-mm aircraft machine guns required an increase in the strength of the connection between the bullet and the cartridge case, the use of double rolling of the wall of the muzzle of the sleeve into two belts. When firing cartridges with a conventional B-32 armor-piercing bullet, armor penetration along the normal (that is, at an angle of 900) was 20 mm armor steel at a distance of up to 100 meters and 15 mm at a distance of up to 500 meters. The head of the bullet is painted black with a red belt.

There are two types of large-caliber cartridges with a B-32 bullet - “military production” (preserved from the time of the Great Patriotic War) and “new”, post-war ones. The fact is that in order to reduce the mass of the machine gun, the barrel of the NSV-12.7 machine guns was noticeably lighter compared to the DShKM. The designers abandoned the use of radiators - in addition to reducing weight, the barrel has become much more technologically advanced. But this, in turn, affected its survivability - the first batches of barrels "burned out" after 3,000-4,000 shots. In the infantry version, the machine gun had to be equipped with 3 barrels in order to maintain the guaranteed resource of the entire machine gun - 10,000 rounds. As a result, it was decided to use gunpowder with the so-called phlegmatizing additives of the brand 4/1 fl. in the production of cartridges. Until that time, they were used only in artillery. The survivability of the barrel when using new cartridges has grown to acceptable limits - on periodic tests, with a hard firing mode - 50 shots in one burst and 50 - in three bursts of 15-20 shots, - the barrel has already withstood about 6,000 shots.

In addition, 12.7-mm large-caliber machine-gun cartridges with a sighting and incendiary bullet PZ (index 57-ZP-542) and with an incendiary bullet ZP (index 57-ZP-532), similar to 7.62-mm rifle cartridges, were adopted by the Red Army. cartridges with similar types of incendiary bullets.

In 1941, the ammunition load of DShK machine guns was supplemented with a new 12.7-mm large-caliber cartridge with a special armor-piercing incendiary bullet BS-41 mod. 1941, designed to fight enemy armored vehicles. It differed from the B-32 in a new shorter length (bullet length - 50.5–51.0 mm, weight 53.6–53.8 mm). The armor-piercing core for the BS-41 bullet was made of a hard-alloy metal-ceramic alloy of the RE-6 brand based on tungsten carbide weighing 37.2–39.0 g. The head of the bullet is painted black, and the body of the bullet is red. The cartridge with the BS-41 bullet was two times superior to the cartridge with the conventional B-32 bullet in terms of armor penetration and provided through penetration of the armor plate 20 mm thick when hit at an angle of 200 at a distance of 750 m. They received certain use in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War .

In 1974, the armor-piercing incendiary bullet BS-41 was modernized by the designer V. M. Bobrov and received the designation BS of the 1974 model (index 7-BZ-1). The 12.7 mm BS armor-piercing incendiary bullet of the 1974 model with a bullet weight of 55 g was equipped with a refractory heavy cermet core. It was designed when it became clear that the armor penetration of the B-32 was no longer enough to deal with modern armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. Bullet BS sample 1974 - ogival shape with a rear cone and girdle consists of: a bimetallic shell; incendiary composition in the head and tail parts; pointed core without a back cone made of hard alloy VK-8 in an aluminum jacket. The BS bullet of the 1974 model penetrates armor 20 mm thick at a distance of 765 m at an encounter angle of 200. The head of the bullet is painted black, the body of the bullet is red.

Initially in DShK machine guns and UB used 12.7 mm cartridges with a tracer bullet T-38 (index 57-T-542), soon replaced by more effective 12.7 mm heavy machine gun cartridges with an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet BZT (bullet weight 44 , 32–45, 6 g), which were not only intended for adjusting fire and indicating the target, but also for firing at enemy manpower and equipment. The armor-piercing core had to be shortened somewhat (length 31.5 mm), which led to a decrease in penetration. A bullet fired from a distance of 100 m is capable of penetrating a steel sheet 15 mm thick at an encounter angle of 10°. Bullet BZT had White color tracks, and bullets BZT-44 and BZT-44 M - the red color of the track. Tracing range - 1000 m. The head of the bullet is painted in purple with red belt.

Currently, for the 12.7-mm NSV heavy machine gun and its modifications, which are in service Russian army 12.7 mm heavy machine gun cartridges B-32, BZT-44, MDZ and BS are used.

In addition, in the late 1990s, Russia mastered the production of a special sniper cartridge of caliber 12.7 x108 CH with an armor-piercing bullet SPB under the symbol 7 H34. It is designed to defeat manpower equipped with personal armor protection, ground and low-flying equipment when firing from 12.7-mm sniper rifle 6 B7. The sleeve is bimetallic. The weight of the SPB sniper armor-piercing bullet is 59.2 g. at the same time, the accuracy is R100 at least 8.5 cm at a distance of 300 m. A metal box contains 80 pieces of 12.7 mm SPB sniper cartridges, and a wooden box contains 2 metal boxes of 160 SPB cartridges.

DShK cartridges were also used in 12.7 mm domestic aviation machine guns Berezina UB. But for aviation machine guns, cartridges were produced that had other types of bullets, specially developed taking into account the specifics of their use in aviation weapons.

12.7 mm machine gun cartridge with armor-piercing incendiary bullet BZF-46 mod. 1932 (index 57-B-532) (bullet weight 48 g) were intended for firing at enemy aircraft and balloons from aviation and anti-aircraft machine guns, as well as for adjusting machine-gun fire and targeting.

The armor-piercing incendiary bullet BZF-46 had an ogive shape with a rear cone with two belts and consisted of: a bimetallic shell; an armor-piercing core weighing 17.3–18.2 g from cold-drawn heat-treated tool steel grades U12 A, U12 XA and an increased pyrotechnic incendiary composition based on phosphorus weighing 1.1–1.3 g, located in the bottom part. The head of the bullet was painted black with a yellow belt.

The 12.7-mm machine gun cartridge with an instantaneous incendiary bullet MDZ (instant action, incendiary) was developed by the specialists of the Design Bureau of Plant No. 3 (Ulyanovsk Machine-Building Plant) and adopted for aircraft machine guns under the designation GRAU - 7-Z-2. The cartridge is designed to destroy low-flying air targets from anti-aircraft machine guns and create fires, so the MDZ bullet was equipped with a mixture of explosives. Bullet MDZ - ogival shape with a rear cone and two belts, consisted of a bimetallic shell with a tompak tip; a bimetallic cup in a lead jacket with a mixture of explosive (PETN) and incendiary (No. 7) compositions; percussion mechanism non-cocking instant action, having a chopping tube, a bimetallic bushing and a blasting cap. When a bullet hit the barrier, the tip was deformed and pierced with a chopping tube, the fragments of the tip were activated by a blasting cap detonator, which initiated the detonation of the explosive charge. The flash achieved by the MZD bullet was visible at a distance of up to 1500 m. Subsequently, 12.7-mm machine-gun cartridges with an MDZ instant incendiary bullet were replaced with similar, but with more powerful bullets: with an MDZ bullet designed by Zabegin "MDZ-Z", with a modernized bullet MDZ "MDZ-M" and an instantaneous bullet "MD" with a fuse brand "V-166". The bullets of the MDZ-46 and MDZ-3 variants differed primarily in the design of the warhead. In the MDZ-46 bullet, the brass bushing simultaneously served as a ballistic tip, while in the MDZ-3 bullet, the tip was absent, and the shell covered the body of the detonator cap. Bullet cases MDZ-46 and MDZ-3 differed primarily in the design of the head. In the MDZ-46 bullet, the brass bushing simultaneously served as a ballistic tip, while in the MDZ-3 bullet there was no tip, and the shell covered the body of the detonator cap, which was painted red.

In the period 1959-1964 in the USSR to destroy intelligence balloons of the enemy from the airborne weapons of aircraft and helicopters, a special 12.7-mm cartridge was created with a bullet of incendiary-explosive instantaneous action of high sensitivity ZMDBCH of the 1966 model (abbreviated name - FZ-12.7, full name - 12.7-mm cartridge with high-explosive incendiary bullet ZMDBCH).

In addition, for 12.7-mm YakB-12.7 aircraft machine guns mounted on Mi-24 combat helicopters, special two-bullet cartridges of increased fire density were developed with bullets - armor-piercing incendiary "1 SL" (9-A-4412) and tracer "1 SLT" (index 9-A-4427). These cartridges are produced by the Novosibirsk plant of low-voltage equipment. Cartridges 1 SL are equipped with two armor-piercing incendiary bullets of reduced weight (31 g) type B-32. Each of the bullets of these cartridges consists of a steel shell, clad with tombac, and two cores: steel and lead. The muzzle of the cartridge case for fixing the first bullet has two belts. To fix the second bullet in the case body, three punches are formed by punching on three sides round shape, That is external difference two-bullet large-caliber machine-gun cartridge from an ordinary one. Cartridge 1 SLT is also equipped with two bullets: the first is an armor-piercing incendiary type B-32 (weighing 31 g) and the second is an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet of the BZT type (weighing 27 g), located one after the other. Tracing range - up to 1000 m, tracing time - at least 29 seconds.

In addition, when training in shooting to simulate combat shooting without a bullet, 12.7 mm large-caliber machine-gun blank cartridges (index 7 X1) are used. They have a sleeve closed on top with a textured green cap. In addition, training cartridges are also used for training purposes (index 7 X2).

The 12.7 mm heavy machine gun cartridge is the most widely used in the world, since these cartridges were supplied to many countries (not only the Warsaw Pact, but also third world countries), and also produced under license, for example, in China.

Large-caliber machine gun cartridge 12.7x108 is used in the following types of weapons:

• DShK/DShKM machine guns (USSR);
• aviation machine guns UBT/UBK/UBS (USSR);
• aviation machine gun A-12.7 (USSR);
• ship turret-turret machine-gun installation "Utes-M" (USSR/Russia);
• machine gun NSV "Utes" (USSR/Russia/Kazakhstan);
• NSVT tank machine gun (USSR/Russia/Kazakhstan);
• machine gun 6 P50 "Kord" (Russia);
• sniper rifle KSVK (Russia);
• sniper rifle V-94 (Russia);
• machine gun type 54 (PRC);
• machine gun type 77 (PRC);
• machine gun type 85 (PRC);
• machine gun W85 (PRC);
• sniper rifle "Gepard" (Hungary).

Sergei Monetchikov
Photo by Dmitry Belyakov and from the author's archive
Brother 05-2012

• Articles » Cartridges
• Mercenary 17568 0

In the USSR, many types of weapons were created, which to this day are very popular all over the world. These include the DShK machine gun. It has been removed from service in our country, but dozens of other countries are actively using it. In my time soviet soldiers gave this machine gun the nickname "Darling", transforming its abbreviation into peaceful, good name. But in reality it was a formidable heavy machine gun that terrified enemies.

How it all began

At the end of 1925, it turned out that the Red Army was in dire need of a powerful heavy machine gun. The designers were given the task to develop such a weapon, and the caliber had to be chosen within 12-20 millimeters. On a competitive basis and according to the test results, the 12.7 mm caliber cartridge was chosen as the main one. But the army command was not too satisfied with the presented samples of weapons, and therefore the testing of new prototypes took place constantly.

So, at the beginning of 1931, two machine guns were tested at once: the “Dreyse systems” and the “Degtyarev systems”. The commission considered that the sample from Degtyarev deserves attention, since it was much lighter and easier to manufacture. The first attempt at mass production was made in 1932, but the following year only 12 machine guns were assembled, and in 1934 the production of the DK was completely curtailed. Initially, the DShK machine gun did not cause much enthusiasm among the military.

What happened

And the thing is that the next tests of 1934 of the year revealed one unpleasant feature of the new weapon: it turned out that the machine gun was actually useless to fight even with relatively fast targets (especially air ones), since the rate of fire was extremely low, and the magazines offered by the manufacturer - so heavy and uncomfortable that even experienced fighters experienced many difficulties in handling them. In 1935, a decree was issued on the complete cessation of all production of recreational materials.

By the way, do you know the correct name for the DShK (machine gun)? The decoding is simple: "Degtyareva-Shpagin large-caliber." Wait, how did the famous Shpagin get here? After all, we are talking about Degtyarev? Everything is simple.

The position of a practically rejected gun was saved by the outstanding domestic gunsmith G.S. Shpagin, who in 1937 invented such a tape feed mechanism, the installation of which did not require any serious alteration of old machine guns. In April of the following year, the new design was successfully tested at the factory, in the winter the sample passed the tests with flying colors, and in 1939 the DShK machine gun "officially" appeared.

Information about the technical device

Automation - standard, works by removing exhaust gases. Three holes of different diameters were provided in the gas chamber: with the help of a small regulator, it was possible to flexibly adjust the amount of gases that was transferred directly to the gas piston. On the trunk, along its entire length, "ribs" are made, which serve for a more uniform and intense heat dissipation.

A muzzle active brake is attached to the muzzle. At first, its shape resembled a parachute, but later the designers began to use a flat-shaped brake.

The shutter frame is the basis of all automation. The bore was locked with the help of lugs on the bolt, which were bred in different directions. A return spring is mounted on the gas piston rod. Spring shock absorbers in the butt plate not only significantly soften the recoil, but also prevent rapid wear of the weapon. In addition, it is they who give the bolt carrier the initial speed of the return movement. This ingenious innovation was proposed by Shpagin: this is how the designer increased the rate of fire.

Of course, after the introduction of this device into the design, it was necessary to equip the machine gun with a device that dampens the rebound so that the frame does not “jump” in the extreme forward position.

Reloading and shooting

A handle for reloading weapons is rigidly coupled to the bolt frame. The mechanism of direct reloading of the machine-gun system also interacts with it, but if the machine gunner inserts the cartridge with a cartridge case head, he can do without it. Shooting is carried out with an open shutter.

It should be remembered that the DShK machine gun allows exclusively automatic fire and is equipped with a non-automatic fuse, the principle of operation of which is based on the complete blocking of the trigger.

The bolt, approaching the breech, stops completely, while the bolt carrier itself continues to move forward. The thickened part of the drummer cocks the lugs of the bolt, which go into special recesses made in the wall receiver. Even after the barrel is locked, the bolt carrier continues to move forward, where its striker hits the striker. The shutter is unlocked using the bevels of the same frame when it moves back.

Ammunition mechanism

Power is supplied from the tape. It is metal, link. Served on the left side. The tape is placed in a metal container attached to the machine gun mount. On a machine gun large-caliber DShK a drum tape receiver is mounted, which operates from the handle of the bolt carrier. When she moved back, the feed lever was activated and rotated.

At its other end, a pawl was fixed, which turned the drum 60 degrees in one go. Accordingly, due to this mechanical energy, a cartridge belt was pulled. The cartridge was removed from it in the lateral position.

Note that the domestic ammunition of 12.7 mm caliber has a very wide range of cartridges that can be used to solve various combat missions.

Sights, shooting at different types of targets

For firing at ground-based targets, a relatively simple, folding frame sight is used, marked up to a range of 3.5 thousand meters. Ring sight - anti-aircraft, was adopted in 1938. It allowed firing at flying enemy aircraft at a distance of up to 2400 meters, but the target speed should not exceed 500 km / h. In 1941, a significantly simplified sight was adopted.

In the case of its use, the firing range was reduced to 1800 meters, but the theoretical target could move at a speed of up to 625 km / h. In 1943 appeared new type a sight that made it possible to effectively hit enemy aircraft at any course of their movement, and even in those cases when the pilot performed a dive or nose-up. This made it possible to effectively deal with attack aircraft, which, as a rule, attacked from a small height.

Anti-aircraft variant

How he showed himself anti-aircraft DShK? The machine gun in the role of a weapon for combating air targets was not so good. It's all about the imperfect anti-aircraft machine, which often nullified all the advantages of new types of sights.

In particular, it turned out to be insufficiently stable. A limited series of special anti-aircraft machines with comfortable bipods and additional sights, but they (due to the difficulties of the war years) did not go into the series.

Special, balanced anti-aircraft installations were also developed. For example, the coaxial DShK machine gun was quite popular. Difficulties with their mass production were associated with the power system: without subjecting the weapon to a significant alteration, it was impossible to transfer the tape receiver to the other side. In the case of using built-in installations, all this created serious difficulties for the gun crew.

Production and combat use

In a series of machine guns went in 1939. They began to enter the army and navy starting next year. At first, there was a chronic lag behind the plan from reality: for example, in 1940, the production of 900 units was planned, while the plant was able to produce only 566 units.

In the very first six months of 1941, only 234 DShKs were produced, although in just a year it was necessary to make at least four thousand pieces. It is not surprising that the army and navy constantly, throughout the war, experienced a chronic shortage of heavy machine guns. Since the need for this type of weapon was higher at sea, 1146 DShKs were transferred from the army during the entire war.

However, the condition improved relatively quickly: in 1942, the army already received 7,400 machine guns, and in 1943 and 1944 almost 15,000 DShKs were produced annually.

What were they used for?

Since there were few machine guns, they became the main type of anti-aircraft weapon: in order to combat ground targets, they were not used so often. However, in the first year of the war, the Wehrmacht constantly threw light tanks and tankettes into battle, against which the DShK was a formidable weapon, and therefore machine guns were “requisitioned” from anti-aircraft units.

Later, these weapons began to be transferred to anti-tank units on a regular basis, since the fighters fought off attacks by enemy attack aircraft with their help.

In urban DShK battles turned out to be much more in demand precisely for the fight against enemy manpower. It often happened that it was very problematic to “pick out” the Germans from a simple brick house (for lack of then grenade launchers). But if the assault group was armed with a DShK machine gun, the caliber of which made it possible not to pay special attention to the walls, then the situation changed dramatically for the better.

Armed with tankers

Often the machine gun was mounted on domestic tanks. In addition, they put it on the Soviet armored car BA-64D. A full-fledged DShK turret appeared in 1944, with the adoption of heavy tank IS-2. In addition, self-propelled guns were often equipped with machine guns, and this was often done by the crew itself.

It is important to note that domestic machine guns of this system were sorely lacking during the war years. In the United States, over 400,000 units were produced during the same period alone. It is not surprising that when planning Lend-Lease deliveries, special attention was paid to heavy machine guns.

Basic performance characteristics

What else characterizes the DShK machine gun? Its characteristics were as follows:

• Cartridge - 12.7x108 mm (domestic variation of the same "Browning").
• The body of the machine gun weighed 33.4 kg (without tape and cartridges).
• With the machine (modification without a shield), the weight was 148 kg.
• The total length of the weapon is 1626 mm.
• The barrel length was 1070 mm.
• Theoretical rate of fire is 550-600 rounds per minute.
• The rate of fire in combat conditions is 80-125 rounds per minute.
• Theoretically possible firing range is 3500 meters.
• The real range is 1800-2000 meters.
• The thickness of the pierced armor steel is up to 16 mm at a distance of 500 meters.
• Food - a link belt of 50 rounds in a segment.

These are the characteristics of the DShK (machine gun). Its performance characteristics are such that this weapon is still used in dozens of countries around the world to this day, various modifications are still being produced.

12.7-mm DShK machine guns on the Kolesnikov universal machine tool were used quite effectively to combat enemy aircraft during the Second World War. The experience of combat operations in Vietnam showed that 12.7-mm machine guns can also be successfully used to destroy combat and transport helicopters, which became in the 1950s. new mass medium conduct of hostilities. For this reason, in the spring of 1968, the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate issued a task to the KBP enterprise to develop a light anti-aircraft installation for a 12.7 mm machine gun. The installation should have been developed in two versions: 6U5 for the DShK / DSh - KM machine gun (machine guns of this type were available in huge quantities in mobilization stocks) and 6U6 for the new NSV-12.7 machine gun.
R. Ya. Purtsen was appointed chief designer of the installations. Factory testing of prototypes of the installations began in 1970, and field and military tests began in 1971. In May of the same year, Marshal P. N. Kuleshov, head of the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate, got acquainted with one of the installation options. “Among other installations,” recalls Purzen, “he was shown the installation under the NSV. The marshal carefully
rel it, tested the action of the mechanism! and gave positive feedback about its simplicity and convenience and confirmed the need for such a simple anti-aircraft installation in the army along with complex self-propelled systems.
Ground and subsequent military tests of anti-aircraft machine gun installations of the Purtsen system; confirmed their high combat and operational characteristics. “According to the results of the conducted polygon-military tests, two are universal: installations for the DShKM machine gun and two installations for machine gun NSV-12.7, - elk cancellation in final act, - commission: considers it expedient to adopt these installations Soviet army like pack instead of regular ones anti-aircraft installations with a machine gun DShKM on the Kolesnikov machine arr. 1938".
In accordance with the decision of the commission, in 1973, only the statutes 6U6 entered service with the Soviet Army under the name “Universal: machine designed by Purzen for the NSV (6U6) machine gun”. The 6U5 installation for the DShK/DShKM machine gun was to be put into production only during the "special period". It should be noted here that in connection with the termination of the supply of the NSV-12.7 machine gun from Kazakhstan, a 12.7-mm KORD machine gun can be mounted on the 6U6 installation. The possibility of rapid deployment of the production of 6U5 installations is also preserved.
The 6U6 anti-aircraft machine gun mount is considered as a battalion and regimental air defense weapon. These installations are also attached to anti-aircraft divisions missile systems S-300P for cover from attacking helicopters and to fight a ground enemy (landing troops).
The anti-aircraft machine gun mount bubs consists of a 12.7-mm machine gun NSV-12.7, a light alarm carriage (machine) and sights.
Machine gun automation mechanisms work by using the energy of powder gases vented from the barrel bore.
The rate of fire of the machine gun is 700-800 rds/min, and the practical rate of fire is 80-100 rds/min.
The installation carriage is the lightest of all modern similar designs. Its weight is 55 kg, and the weight of the installation with a machine gun and a cartridge box for 70 rounds does not exceed 92.5 kg. To ensure minimum weight, the stamping and welding parts that make up the main unit are made of steel sheet with a thickness of only 0.8 mm. At the same time, the required strength of the parts was achieved by heat treatment. The peculiarity of the carriage is such that the gunner can fire at ground targets from a prone position, while the seat back is used as a shoulder rest. To improve the accuracy of the arrow
for ground targets, a fine pickup gearbox was introduced into the vertical guidance mechanism.
For shooting at ground targets, the BUB installation is equipped with a PU optical sight (GRAU index 10 P81). Air targets are hit using the VK-4 collimator sight (GRAU index 10P81).

In 1929 designer Vasily Degtyarev received the task of creating the first Soviet heavy machine gun, designed primarily to combat aircraft at altitudes up to 1500 meters.

However, military tests showed that this model did not live up to the expectations of the military, and the machine gun was sent for revision. At the same time, he worked on the design Georgy Shpagin, who invented the original tape power module for DC.

The combined forces of Degtyarev and Shpagin created a version of the machine gun, which in December 1938 passed all field tests.

Armor-piercing incendiary power

On February 26, 1939, the improved machine gun was adopted by the Red Army under the designation "12.7 mm Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine gun of the 1938 model of the year - DShK." The machine gun was mounted on universal machine Kolesnikova model 1938, which was equipped with its own charging handle, had a removable shoulder pad for firing at aircraft, a cartridge box bracket, and a rod-type vertical aiming mechanism.

Ground targets were fired from a wheeled course, while the legs were folded. For firing at air targets, the wheel drive was separated, and the machine was laid out in the form of a tripod.

The 12.7 mm DShK cartridge could have an armor-piercing bullet, armor-piercing incendiary, sighting-incendiary, tracer, sighting. Armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullets were used against flying targets.

Serial production of the DShK began in 1940, and the machine gun immediately began to enter the troops. By the beginning of World War II, the Red Army had about 800 DShK machine guns in service.

Machine gun DShK 12.7 mm model 1938. Photo: RIA Novosti / Khomenko

Nazi aviation nightmare

Almost from the first days of the war, DShKs began to cause serious damage to enemy aircraft, demonstrating their high efficiency. The problem, however, was that with the predominance of the Nazis in the air, several hundred DShK installations on the entire front could not radically change the situation.

Increasing the pace of production made it possible to solve this problem. By the end of the Great Patriotic War, up to 9,000 DShK machine guns were produced, which not only equipped anti-aircraft gunners of the Red Army and the Navy. They began to be installed en masse on the towers of tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts. This allowed tankers not only to fight against air attacks, but to increase their effectiveness in urban combat, when they had to suppress firing points on the upper floors of buildings.

The Wehrmacht did not have a full-time heavy machine gun of this type, which became a serious advantage for the Red Army.

Soldier Syrian army behind the DShK machine gun. Photo: RIA Novosti / Ilya Pitalev

Continuation of the tradition

Upgraded model DShKM machine gun was in service with the armies of at least 40 countries over several post-war decades. The brainchild of Soviet designers is still in service in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Ukraine. In Russia, the DShK and DShKM were replaced by the Utes and Kord heavy machine guns. The name of the latter stands for "Kovrov gunsmiths Degtyarevtsy" - the machine gun was developed at the Kovrov plant named after. Degtyarev, where the history of Soviet heavy machine guns once began.

The DShK machine gun entered the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army back in February 1939, but despite the seven decades that have passed since that time, it is still present among the staff heavy weapons in many armies. In this article, we will briefly outline the history and design features of this outstanding sample domestic design thought.

DShK machine gun. Photo. History of creation

Outgrowth of the First World War. Initially, they were tasked with fighting the then weakly armored tanks, aircraft and infantry in light shelters. It was these opportunities that the Red Army command wanted to get from a new domestic machine gun, giving it a technical task for the designers. The DShK machine gun was born for ten whole years, it can be said that the most perfect and powerful domestic cartridge for its time, 12.7 x 108, was invented, which, by the way, is still actively used in modern shooting systems. However, Degtyarev for a long time failed to create an acceptable for the army. The main drawback of the DK (Degtyarev large-caliber) of the 1930 model was a drum magazine for thirty rounds and a low rate of fire, which did not allow the machine gun to be effectively used as an anti-aircraft gun. Only the involvement of another outstanding designer, G.S. Shpagin, to participate in the development, made it possible to solve the problem. A drum-type chamber for belt ammunition designed by Shpagin was installed on the Degtyarev machine gun, as a result of which the machine gun gained a very decent rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, belt feed and the name "DShK Machine Gun" now known to everyone. Since 1939, he entered the combat units and since then has participated and is participating in all armed conflicts in the world. It is currently in service with forty armies. Produced by China, Iran, Pakistan and some other countries.

Machine gun automation works according to the common principle of the removal of expanding powder gases. The gas chamber is located under the barrel. Locking occurs with the help of two combat larvae, which cling to the recesses, machined in opposite walls of the receiver. The DShK machine gun can only fire automatically, the barrel has a non-removable, air-cooled. The tape with cartridges is fed from the left side to the drum, which has six open chambers. The latter, rotating, feeds the tape and simultaneously removes cartridges from it. In 1946, changes were made to the design that affected the steel grades used, production technology and the cartridge feeder. The “drum” was abandoned and a simpler slider mechanism was used, which made it possible to use new cartridge belts, and on both sides, it was lighter and more technologically advanced. The improved machine gun was named DShKM.

Conclusion

There are only two truly famous 12mm machine guns in the world. This is a DShK and M2 machine gun, and the domestic machine gun is superior to the American counterpart due to a more powerful cartridge and a heavy bullet. Until now, DShK fire is considered highly effective and terrifies the enemy.