DShK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| DShK | |
|---|---|
 DShK 1938 in Batey ha-Osef museum, Israel. |
|
| Type | Heavy machine gun |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Soviet Union |
| Wars | WW2 |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1938 |
| Variants | DShKM |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 34 kg (gun only) 157 kg on wheeled mounting |
| Length | 1625 mm |
| Barrel length | 1070 mm |
|
|
|
| Cartridge | 12.7 x 107 mm |
| Caliber | 12.7 |
| Action | gas |
| Rate of fire | 600 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 850 m/s |
| Feed system | belt 50 rounds |
The DShK 1938 (ДШК, for Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberniy, 'Degtyaryov-Shpagin Large-Calibre') is a Soviet heavy anti-aircraft machine gun firing 12.7×107 mm Soviet cartridges, also used at some times as a heavy machine gun for infantry use, in which case it was frequently seen on a two-wheeled mounting with a single-sheet armour-plate gun shield.
It took its name from the weapons designers Vasily Degtyaryov, who designed the original weapon, and Georgi Shpagin, who improved the feed mechanism. It is sometimes nicknamed Dushka (lit. Sweetie, Dear), from the abbreviation.
[edit] History
The requirement for a heavy AA machine gun appeared in 1929. The first such gun, the Degtyaryov, Krupnokalibernyi (DK, Degtyaryov, Large calibre), was built in 1930 and this gun was produced in small quantities from 1933 to 1935.
The gun was fed from a drum magazine of only thirty rounds, and had a poor rate of fire. Shpagin developed a belt feed mechanism to fit to the DK giving rise, in 1938, to the adoption of the gun as the DShK 1938. This became the standard Soviet heavy machine gun in World War II.
The DShK 1938 was used in several roles. As an anti-aircraft weapon it was mounted on pintle and tripod mounts, and on a triple mount on the GAZ-AA truck. Late in the war, it was mounted on the cupolas of IS-2 tanks and ISU-152 self-propelled guns. As an Infantry heavy support weapon it used a two-wheeled trolley, similar to that developed by Sokolov for the 1910 Maxim gun. It was also mounted in vehicle turrets, for example, in the T-40 light amphibious tank.
In 1946, the DShK 1938/46 or DShKM (M for modernised) version was introduced.
In addition to the Soviet Union and Russia, the DShK has been manufactured under license by a number of countries, including China, Pakistan and Romania. Today, it has largely been phased out in favour of the more modern "NSV" and "Kord" designs.
[edit] See also
- The M2 Browning machine gun is the American counterpart of the DShK.
[edit] External links
- DShK and DShKM at guns.ru.
| Soviet infantry weapons of World War II |
|---|
| Side-arms |
| TT-33 | Nagant M1895 |
| Rifles & carbines |
| AVS36 | SVT40 | Mosin-Nagant |
| Submachine guns |
| PPD-40 | PPSh-41 | PPS-43 |
| Grenades |
| F1 | RGD-33 | RG-41 | RG-42 | RPG-43 |
| Machine guns & other larger weapons |
| M1910 Maxim | DS-39 | DP | SG-43 Goryunov | DShK | PTRD | PTRS ROKS-2/ROKS-3 |
| Cartridges used by the USSR during WWII |
| 7.62 x 25 mm TT | 7.62 x 38 R | 7.62 x 54 mm R | 14.5 x 114 mm |
