PPS submachine gun

PPS
PPS-43 with stock extended
Type	Submachine gun
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1942–1960s (USSR) 1942–present (other countries)
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War II Korean War Vietnam War Namibian War of Independence War in Donbass Portuguese Colonial War
Production history
Designer	I.K. Bezruchko-Vysotsky and A. I. Sudayev
Designed	1942
Produced	1942–1946 (USSR)
No. built	~2 million (USSR)
Variants	PPS-42, PPS-43, M/44, PPS wz. 1943/1952, Type 43
Specifications
Weight	PPS-42: 2.95 kg (6.50 lb) PPS-43: 3.04 kg (6.7 lb)
Length	PPS-42: 907 mm (35.7 in) stock extended / 641 mm (25.2 in) stock folded PPS-43: 820 mm (32.3 in) stock extended / 615 mm (24.2 in) stock folded
Barrel length	PPS-42: 273 mm (10.7 in) PPS-43: 243 mm (9.6 in)
Cartridge	7.62×25mm Tokarev
Action	Blowback, open bolt
Rate of fire	600-700 rounds/min (cyclic rate) 100 rounds/min (effective rate)[3]
Muzzle velocity	Approx. 500 m/s (1,640 ft/s)
Effective firing range	100 m - 150 m [4] [5]
Maximum firing range	200 m
Feed system	35-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Flip rear sight, fixed blade front sight

The PPS (Russian: ППС - "Пистолет-пулемёт Судаева" or "Pistolet-pulemyot Sudayeva", in English: "Sudayev's submachine-gun") is a family of Soviet submachine guns chambered in 7.62×25mm Tokarev, developed by Alexei Sudayev as a low-cost personal defense weapon for reconnaissance units, vehicle crews and support service personnel.

The PPS and its variants were used extensively by the Red Army during World War II and were later adopted by the armed forces of several countries of the former Warsaw Pact as well as its many African and Asian allies.

The PPS was created in response to a Red Army requirement for a compact and lightweight weapon with similar accuracy and projectile energy to the Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun widely deployed at the time, with reduced rate of fire, produced at lower cost and requiring less manpower, particularly skilled manpower.

Sudaev was ordered by the State Commission for Armaments to perfect for large-scale production the sub-machine gun design of Lieutenant I.K. Bezruchko-Vysotsky from the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy, who had created two prototypes in 1942; the second of these was the basis of Sudaev's gun.

During design, emphasis was placed on simplifying production and eliminating most machining operations; most of the weapon's parts were sheet-steel stamped. These measures reduced the number of machined components to a bare minimum, cutting down machining time by more than half, to 2.7 hours of machining instead of 7.3 hours for the PPSh-41. There were also savings of over 50% in raw steel usage, down to 6.2 kg instead of 13.9 kg, and fewer workers were required to manufacture and assemble the parts. Thanks to the improvements in production efficiency, the Soviet planners estimated that the new gun would have allowed an increase in monthly submachine gun output from 135,000 units to 350,000 weapons.