PPSh

Russian sub-machine gun PPSh-1941G of the Red Army in WW2.
History, development, service, specifications, pictures and 3D model.

PPsH sub-machine gun

PPSh-1941G
Type: Sub-machine gun.

The PPSh-41 (Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina, or Shpagin’s Machine Pistol) was a Soviet submachine gun designed by Georgy Shpagin. It was extensively used during World War II and became one of the most recognizable weapons of the Soviet Army.

Overview

Design and Production:
– Introduced in 1941 as a replacement for the more complex PPD-40
– Simple design allowed for mass production
– Over 6 million units produced during World War II

Technical Specifications:
– Caliber: 7.62×25mm Tokarev
– Weight: 3.63 kg (8 lbs)
– Length: 843 mm (33.2 in)
– Barrel length: 269 mm (10.6 in)
– Rate of fire: 900 rounds per minute
– Effective range: 150-200 meters

Features:
– Blowback-operated, selective fire (full-auto and semi-auto)
– Distinctive drum magazine holding 71 rounds (later models used 35-round box magazines)
– Compensator on the muzzle to reduce muzzle climb during automatic fire

Performance:
– High rate of fire made it effective in close-quarters combat
– Reliable in harsh conditions, including extreme cold
– Relatively accurate for a submachine gun of its era

Historical Significance:
– Widely used by Soviet forces on the Eastern Front
– Captured examples were prized by German soldiers
– Used by various communist and Soviet-allied forces after WWII

Variants and Derivatives:
– Type 50 (Chinese copy)
– K-50M (North Vietnamese modification)
– PPS-43 (simplified version for easier production)

The PPSh-41 played a crucial role in Soviet infantry tactics during World War II and remained in service with various armed forces well into the Cold War era.

History

The Russians collected their first experiences with sub-machine guns during the Spanish Civil War.
Since the mid-twenties of the last century, various designs of sub-machine guns have been tested in Russia. The first Russian sub-machine gun was then introduced to the Red Army in 1935, which was developed by Degtyarev and was designated PPD.
It was successfully used by ‘volunteers’ of the communist forces in Spain, and so mass production was decided in Moscow. The first model was designated as PPD-34/38 and several thousand copies were produced therefrom.

Soviet PPD-1934 (Pistolet-Pulemyot Degtyaryova 1934)

The PPD-1934 is a Soviet submachine gun (often called a machine pistol) designed by Vasily Degtyaryov in the early 1930s. It was one of the USSR’s first mass-produced submachine guns and played a significant role in arming Soviet forces before and during the early stages of World War II.

Background
In the early 1930s, the Soviet military sought to equip its troops with a reliable automatic weapon for close-quarters combat. Vasily Degtyaryov, a prominent Soviet weapons designer, developed the PPD series to meet this requirement. The PPD-1934 was an improved version of the earlier PPD-1928.

Design and Features
– Caliber: 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridge
– Rate of Fire: Approximately 800 rounds per minute
– Magazine: Detachable box magazines, typically 35 or 71 rounds
– Operation: Blowback, open bolt
– Weight: Around 4.3 kg (9.5 lbs) unloaded
– Effective Range: About 100–200 meters
– Sights: Fixed iron sights suitable for close-range engagements

The PPD-1934 featured a wooden stock and a relatively simple, robust design that made it reliable and easy to manufacture. It was capable of fully automatic fire, making it effective in urban combat, raids, and close infantry engagements.

Service History
– The PPD-1934 saw extensive use in the early years of World War II, especially during the Winter War against Finland and the initial phase of the German invasion in 1941.
– It was gradually replaced by the more advanced and easier-to-produce PPSh-41, which became the iconic Soviet submachine gun of the war.
– Despite being phased out, the PPD-1934 remained in limited use throughout the war and in some post-war conflicts.

Legacy
The PPD-1934 helped establish the Soviet doctrine of equipping infantry with automatic weapons for close combat. Its design influenced later Soviet submachine guns, and it remains a notable example of early Soviet small arms development.

After the appearance of the Finnish Suomi sub-machine gun, the PPD-40 gun was reworked, which resulted in an improved magazine construction with a large drum magazine. Here the 71-shot drum magazine began to appear, which should become so unpleasant for the German soldiers in the Russian campaign.
The mechanism was made by simple rebound and the weapon is easily recognizable by its wooden shaft and the perforated cooling jacket around the barrel.

The production of the PPD-40 began as early as March 1940. However, the PPD-40 was not easy to manufacture since it was made of hand-made steel and inside the barrel of chrome. Thus, in 1940 only 81,118 pieces were built and in 1941 another 5,868 pieces were built. The production ended for the simple reason that the weapons factories in which the PPD-34/38 and PPD-40 were built were quickly overrun by the German troops, and the extensive machines needed for their manufacture were not found anywhere else.
The majority of these machine guns were lost during the first months of Operation Barbarossa, but single specimens of these well-processed weapons were in use throughout the war.

The Pistolet Pulyemet Shpagin PPSh was developed in 1940 as a replacement for the PPD­40 model, since although the PPD was good it was not entirely suited to fast production in huge quantities.
The first PPSh-41 were issued to the Red Army on December 21, 1940. However, it was only under the pressure of the German invasion that the weapon was issued from 1942 onward to Russian units in quantities.
Even though the PPD was good, it was not suitable for being produced quickly in huge quantities by unskilled laborers in primitive weapons factories. However, this was the most important Russian concern in 1941-42.

CONTINUE HERE TO PART II of PPSh-1914G (or PPS-41): Production, service, pictures, 3D model and video

Specifications for PPSh-1941G

Specifications:

Service statistics:

CONTINUE HERE TO PART II of PPSh-1914G (or PPS-41): Production, service, pictures, 3D model and video

References and literature

The Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of World War II (Ian V.Hogg)
Infanterie im 2. Weltkrieg (J.B.King, John Batchelor)
Illustriertes Lexikon der Waffen im 1. und 2. Weltkrieg (V. Dolinek, V. Francev, J. Sach)
The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II (Chris Bishop)