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27-541: The Soviets were not fully satisfied with the Carden Loyd design and made a number of changes before putting it into mass production under the designation of T-27. Compared with the British original, the hull was larger, the running gear was improved and the weapon mount was modified to take a Soviet 7.62 mm DT machine gun . A number of other changes were made by Chief Engineer N. Kozyrev and Lead Engineer K. Sirken to improve

54-501: A monument was erected in Kovrov for Degtyaryov, and a bust and several plaques were installed on the territory of the weapons factory bearing his name . At the memorial for gunsmiths and designers, a bas-relief was made in his likeness. A museum was opened in Degtyaryov's house on January 6, 1978. In addition, a technical school, a secondary school, a kindergarten, a recreation park,

81-590: A bipod for firing from prone positions, and the previously mentioned pan magazine. In total, the first versions contained only 80 parts, indicating both the simplicity and ease of manufacture of the design. Early versions had 26 transverse cooling fins machined into the barrel, but it was found that these had little cooling effect and so were deleted in 1938, further easing manufacture. The design had weaknesses that would eventually be addressed in later variants. The pan magazines were prone to damage, while also being difficult and time-consuming to reload. The bipod mechanism

108-540: A few of the backline Ukrainian forces were issued surplus DPMs. Vasily Degtyaryov Vasily Alekseyevich Degtyaryov ( Russian : Васи́лий Алексе́евич Дегтярёв ; 2 January 1880, Tula – 16 January 1949, Moscow ) was a Soviet and Russian engineer who specialized in weapons design. He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labour in 1940. He was a factory worker at the Tula Arms Plant . He became married in 1905. Starting in 1918, Vasily Degtyaryov headed

135-551: A flexible bow machine gun or a co-axial machine gun controlled by the gunner. It was improved in 1943 producing the DPM, but it was replaced in 1946 with the RP-46 which improved on the basic DP design by converting it to use belt feed. 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

162-523: Is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was primarily used by the Soviet Union , with service trials starting in 1927, followed by general deployment in 1928. Besides being the standard Soviet infantry light machine gun (LMG) during World War II , with various modifications it was used in aircraft as a flexible defensive weapon, and it equipped almost all Soviet tanks in WWII as either

189-755: The Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1941. During the Axis invasion of the USSR in summer 1941 he created the PTRD-41 14.5mm anti-tank rifle . In 1944 he became Major General of the Engineering and Artillery Service of the Soviet Union. He designed a belt-fed light machine gun, the RPD , chambered for the 7.62×39mm intermediate cartridge. Vasily Degtyaryov was awarded

216-703: The Finnish army in the Winter War and the Continuation War and partially replaced the Lahti-Saloranta M/26 . The DP received the nickname Emma in Finnish service after a popular waltz , again due to the magazine's resemblance to a record player. In the summer of 1944, the Finnish army had about 3400 Finnish-made Lahti-Salorantas and 9,000 captured Soviet-made Degtyarevs on the front. Captured examples were operated by

243-561: The Stalin Prize in 1941, 1942, 1944, and 1949 (posthumously). He died on January 16th of 1949 and was later buried in a cemetery in Kovrov . Degtyaryov developed a total 82 types of machine guns , submachine guns and anti-tank rifles , 19 of them were officially adopted. On the day of the designer’s death, by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, monthly scholarships were established in his name: On October 17, 1954,

270-850: The Volkssturm , the late-war German militia, and in German service the Degtyarev received the designation Leichtes Maschinengewehr 120( r ) . 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 North Korean and Chinese Communists used the DP in the Korean War and copied the DPM as the Type 53. Examples of all variants of

297-696: The 1960s. The DP-27 is a light machine gun designed for the Soviet Red Army in the 1920s under the leadership of Vasily Degtyaryov (1880–1949), the first test model being the DP-26. Two test guns were manufactured and fired 5,000 rounds each from September 27–29, 1926, during which weaknesses were discovered in the extractor and firing pin mechanisms. After design improvements, two more guns were made and tested in December 1926, firing 40,000 rounds under adverse conditions, resulting in only .6% stoppages. However, changes to

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324-813: The DP machine gun were given or sold to the Viet Minh in the First Indochina War by the USSR and Chinese Communists . Similarly, in the Vietnam War to the NVA and Vietcong . DPMs have also been recovered from Taliban fighters during the War in Afghanistan while DPs or DPMs have been spotted in 2014 in the Northern Mali conflict . During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine ,

351-767: The DP-27 in war where with the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War . On 25 October 1936 the SS Kursk docked at Cartegena, delivering 150 Degtaryov machine guns along with 9,000 Winchester Model 1895 rifles. The Cabo Palos delivered 3 DT tank machine guns on 7 May 1937. On 7 February 1938 the SS Bonafacio arrived in Bassens and included numerous weapons in its cargo delivery, including DP & DT machine guns. Many were captured by

378-477: The German MG 34 / MG 42 series, firing at a rate of 550rpm as compared to the 800–1,500rpm of the German general-purpose machine guns. The operating mechanism of the DP-27 is gas-operated , using a Kjellmann-Friberg flap locking design to lock the bolt against the chamber until the round had left the barrel, aided by a recoil spring. Ammunition came in the form of a 47-round circular pan magazine that attached to

405-592: The House of Culture of Metal Workers and the former Komsomolskaya Street in Kovrov were named after him. A pioneer camp near the village of Sukhanikha was named after Degtyaryov. In many cities of the former USSR ( Kharkiv , Novosibirsk , Lomonosov , Saint Petersburg ) streets carry the name of Degtyaryov. On November 6, 1979, on the occasion of the centennial of the designer's birth, the USSR Ministry of Communications issued

432-449: The Soviet republics of Central Asia during the 1930s, where the tankettes were used in campaigns against basmachis . However, they fairly quickly became obsolete due to the introduction of more advanced tanks. The Red Army found them reliable and simple to operate, but the T-27 coped poorly with swampy and snowy terrain due to the narrowness of its tracks. It was also difficult to find crews, as

459-532: The T-27 during its service life was as a reconnaissance vehicle. Initially, 65 tankette battalions were formed by the Red Army , with each having about 50 tankettes. This figure was later reduced to 23 per battalion. The tankette was also intended to be air-mobile. In 1935, the Soviets experimented with transporting T-27s by air, by suspending them under the fuselages of Tupolev TB-3 bombers. The T-27 saw active service in

486-419: The bolt carrier and the chamber locking mechanism were still required. After this redesign the improved gun, now called the DP-27, was tested by the Red Army at the Kovrov plant on January 17–21 of 1927, passing all tests and being approved for manufacture. A full year of service testing followed, after which the primary requested change was the addition of the large flash suppressor that is now considered one of

513-521: The first Soviet firearms design bureau at Kovrov Arms Factory . In 1927, the Red Army was equipped with his 7.62 mm light machine gun DP-27 . This design led to the development of the DT tank machine gun (1927) and two aircraft machine guns: DA and DA-2 (1928). In 1940 he became a Doctor of Technical Sciences, and Hero of Socialist Labour (he received the second such award in its history just two weeks after Joseph Stalin ). He joined

540-507: The recognition features of the design. With further refinements, the DP was to be the primary light machine gun of the Red Army during WWII. The DP-27 was designed to fire the same 7.62×54mmR ( R indicating rimmed ) ammunition as the main Soviet infantry rifle, the Mosin-Nagant , much simplifying ammunition logistics for Soviet infantry units. Of typical Russian design philosophy, the DP-27

567-691: The tankette's ability to cope with the Russian climate and terrain. It lacked any communication devices, as communication between vehicles was intended to be carried out using signal flags . The tankette was accepted into service on February 13, 1931. It was manufactured in two factories simultaneously, the Bolshevik factory in Leningrad and what would later become the GAZ factory in Nizhni Novgorod . The principal use of

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594-787: The tankettes were so small that it was difficult to find crews of sufficiently diminutive stature. By the end of the 1930s the T-27 was relegated primarily to training use, with some being used as tractors to tow field guns. Ten T-27s were captured by Hungarian forces during the fighting on the Eastern Front . Five T-27s were ordered by Turkey in 1935, alongside 60 T-26s . Two T-27 tankettes were captured by Romanian forces as of 1 November 1942. Some experiments were also made to equip T-27s with more advanced weapons, such as flamethrowers and recoilless guns , but these did not prove successful. A few T-27s were pressurized and provided with special equipment to enable them to cross rivers underwater. It

621-407: The top of the receiver. Because of the shape of its magazine, the DP-27 was nicknamed the "record player". Its main parts were a removable barrel with an integrated flash suppressor and gas cylinder, a receiver with the rear sight, a perforated barrel shroud/guide with the front sight, the bolt and locking flaps, the bolt carrier and gas piston rod, a recoil spring, stock and trigger mechanism group,

648-460: Was a sturdy and simple gun that was easy and cheap to manufacture, and could be relied upon to perform even in the most adverse conditions; it was capable of withstanding being buried in dirt, mud, or sand and still operating consistently. However, being magazine fed, it had a rate of fire similar to other light machine guns, like the Bren light machine gun , but low when compared to its main wartime rivals,

675-537: Was accepted for Red Army service in 1927 with the official designation 7,62-мм ручной пулемет обр. 1927 г (7.62mm Hand-Held Machine Gun Model 1927). It was called the ДП-27 (DP-27), although some western sources refer to it as the DP-28. Despite its numerous problems, the DP had a reputation as a relatively effective light support weapon. It was nicknamed the "Record player" (proigryvatel') by Red Army troops because of its rotating disc-shaped pan magazine. The first uses of

702-494: Was also the first Soviet tracked vehicle transported by plane (a single tankette could be mounted below the fuselage of the TB-3 bomber). Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , interwar period Degtyaryov machine gun The Degtyaryov machine gun ( Russian : Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный , romanized :  Pulemyot Degtyaryova Pekhotny literally: "Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun") or DP-27/DP-28

729-483: Was weak and likely to fail if not handled with care. Replacing the barrel was not a quick operation due to a lack of handle and the amount of disassembly needed, though a well trained crew could do so in 30 seconds under ideal conditions. The open gas chamber and bolt frame could accumulate dust in sandy conditions, clogging the gas piston. The recoil spring's location near the barrel led to overheating, causing it to lose proper spring temper . The Degtyaryov machine gun

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