Sau sweden archer comparison place. Anti-tank self-propelled artillery installation Archer. Comparison with similar self-propelled guns on a wheeled chassis

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 carved in opposite walls 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.

12.7 mm DShK machine guns on universal machine Kolesnikov 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 prototypes installations were started in 1970, and ground 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, - canceling elk in final act, - commission: considers it expedient to adopt these installations Soviet army as pack instead of standard 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 divisions of S-300P anti-aircraft missile systems to provide cover from attacking helicopters and to fight a ground enemy (landing forces).
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).

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. Problems 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, self-loading pistol, a submachine gun, a heavy 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 aviation machine guns UB; 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, a bullet in small arms ammunition is called a solid bullet (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 large-caliber machine guns that do not have (with rare exceptions, mainly in the past) an actual ordinary bullet due to its inappropriateness for such a caliber, armor-piercing bullets (as bullets of the main purpose) are usually called 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 an initial speed of 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 production of large-caliber cartridges with a more versatile 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 arr. 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 from a RE-6 hard-alloy cermet alloy 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. The metal box contains 80 pieces of 12.7 mm SPB sniper cartridges, and in a wooden box 2 metal boxes each contain 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 tombac-clad steel jacket 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

It is difficult to overestimate the role of machine guns in the development of military affairs - cutting off millions of lives, they forever changed the face of war. But even experts did not immediately appreciate them, at first considering them as special weapons with a very narrow range of combat missions - for example, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, machine guns were considered just one of the types of fortress artillery. However, already during Russo-Japanese War automatic fire proved its highest efficiency, and during the First World War machine guns became one of the most important means of fire destruction of the enemy in close combat, they were installed on tanks, combat aircraft and ships. Automatic weapons made a real revolution in military affairs: heavy machine-gun fire literally swept away the advancing troops, becoming one of the main causes of the “positional crisis”, radically changing not only tactics combat, but also the whole military strategy.

This book is the most complete and detailed encyclopedia of machine-gun weapons of the Russian, Soviet and Russian armies to date from the end of the 19th century to early XXI century, both domestic models and foreign - purchased and captured. The author, a leading specialist in the history of small arms, not only cites detailed descriptions device and operation of easel, manual, uniform, large-caliber, tank and aircraft machine guns, but also talks about their combat use in all the wars that our country waged throughout the turbulent twentieth century.

DShKM is in service with more than 40 armies of the world. In addition to the USSR, it was produced in Czechoslovakia (DSK vz.54), Romania, China ("Type 54" and modernized "Type 59"), Pakistan (Chinese version), Iran, Iraq, Thailand. However, the bulkiness of the DShKM was also embarrassing for the Chinese, and to partially replace it, they created Type 77 and Type 85 machine guns chambered for the same cartridge. In Czechoslovakia, on the basis of the DShKM, a quad was produced anti-aircraft gun M53, also exported - for example, to Cuba.

12.7 mm Type 59 machine gun - Chinese copy of DShKM - in AA position

DShKM Soviet, and more often Chinese-made, fought in Afghanistan and on the side of the dushmans. Major General A.A. Lyakhovsky recalled that dushmans “used large-caliber machine guns, anti-aircraft mountain installations (ZGU), anti-aircraft guns small caliber "Oerlikon", and since 1981 - portable anti-aircraft missile systems and Chinese-made DShK. 12.7-mm machine guns turned out to be dangerous opponents of the Soviet Mi-8 and Su-25, and were also used to fire at convoys and roadblocks from a long distance. In the report of the Head of the GUBP ground forces dated September 22, 1984, among the weapons seized from the rebels, it was indicated: DShK for May - September 1983 - 98, for May - September 1984 - 146. The troops of the Afghan government from January 1 to June 15, 1987, for example, destroyed 4 ZGU, 56 DShK rebels, captured 10 ZGU, 39 DShK, 33 other machine guns, losing 14 own ZGU, 4 DShK, 15 other machine guns. During the same period, Soviet troops destroyed 438 DShK and ZGU, captured 142 DShK and ZGU, 3 million 800 thousand pieces of ammunition for them; divisions special purpose destroyed 23 DShK and 74,300 units of ammunition for them, captured - respectively 28 and 295,807 units.

Homemade installation DShKM machine gun in a Mitsubishi pickup truck. Cote d "Ivoire. Africa

Despite repeated attempts to replace them, the Soviet DShKM and the American M2NV Browning have been sharing the championship among themselves for half a century in the family of heavy machine guns (actually not numerous) and are the most widely distributed in the world - in a number of countries they are used together. At the same time, the DShKM, being larger and heavier than the M2NV, noticeably surpasses it in the power of fire.

Order incomplete disassembly DShKM

Disconnect the guide tube from the barrel, to do this, pull it to the muzzle and turn it to the left until the stop of the tube comes out of the groove on the barrel.

Remove the butt plate pin and, striking with a hammer, separate the butt plate down, holding it with your hand.

Separate the trigger mechanism by sliding it back.

Pull back the mobile system by the reloading handle and remove them together with the guide tube, supporting the latter.

Separate the bolt with the striker from the bolt carrier and the lugs from the bolt.

Knock out the ejector axle, reflector and striker pins, then separate the named parts from the shutter.

Knock out the axle of the frame coupling and separate the bolt carrier from the return mechanism.

Put the return mechanism vertically and, pressing on the guide tube, knock out the front axle of the clutch, then slowly release the tube and separate it and the return spring from the rod.

Unpin and unscrew the receiver axle nut, push the latter out of the receiver socket and remove the feed mechanism.

Loosen and unscrew the wedge nut of the barrel, push the wedge to the left and separate the barrel from the receiver.

Reassemble in reverse order.

TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DShK (MOD. 1938)

Cartridge - 12.7x108 DShK.

Weight vtelai machine gun without tape - 33.4 kg.

The mass of a machine gun with a belt on the machine (without a shield) is 148 kg.

The length of the "body" of the machine gun is 1626 mm.

Barrel length - 1070 mm.

Barrel weight - 11.2 kg.

The number of grooves - 8.

Type of rifling - right-handed, rectangular.

The length of the rifled part of the barrel - 890 mm.

The mass of the mobile system is 3.9 kg.

starting speed bullets - 850–870 m / s.

Muzzle energy of a bullet - 18,785 - 19,679 J.

Rate of fire - 550–600 rds / min.

Combat rate of fire - 80 - 125 rds / min.

Sighting line length - 1110 mm.

Sighting range- 3500 m.

Effective firing range - 1800–2000 m.

Firing zone in height - 1800 m.

The thickness of the pierced armor is 15–16 mm at a distance of 500 m.

The power system is a metal tape for 50 rounds.

The weight of the box with tape and cartridges is 11.0 kg.

Machine type - universal wheel-tripod.

Pointing angles: horizontally - ± 60 / 360 ° hail.

vertical - ±27/+85°, –10° deg.

Calculation - 3-4 people.

Transition time from traveling position in combat for anti-aircraft fire - 0.5 min.