PPSh-41
| PPSh-41 | |
|---|---|
PPSh-41 with drum magazine
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| Type | Submachine gun |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1941–1960s (USSR) 1941–present (Other countries) |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Georgy Shpagin |
| Designed | 1941 |
| Manufacturer | Numerous |
| Produced | 1941–1947 |
| No. built | Approx. 6,000,000 |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3.63 kg (8.0 lb) (without magazine) |
| Length | 843 mm (33.2 in) |
| Barrel length | 269 mm (10.6 in) |
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| Cartridge | 7.62×25mm Tokarev |
| Action | Blowback, open bolt |
| Rate of fire | 900 to over 1000 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 488 m/s (1,600.6 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 125 - 150 m |
| Maximum firing range | 200m - 250m |
| Feed system | 35-round box magazine or 71-round drum magazine |
| Sights | Iron sights |
The PPSh-41 (pistolet-pulemyot Shpagina; Russian: Пистолет-пулемёт Шпагина; "Shpagin machine pistol"); is a Soviet submachine gun designed by Georgi Shpagin as a cheap, reliable, and simplified alternative to the PPD-40. Common nicknames are "pe-pe-sha" from its three-letter prefix and "papasha" (Russian: папаша), meaning "daddy".
The PPSh is a magazine-fed selective fire submachine gun using an open-bolt, blowback action. Made largely of stamped steel, it can be loaded with either a box or drum magazine, and fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev pistol round.
The PPSh saw extensive combat use during World War II and the Korean War. It was one of the major infantry weapons of the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II. Around six million PPSh-41s were manufactured. In the form of the Chinese Type 50 (a licensed copy), it was still being used by Vietnamese Viet Cong as late as 1970. According to the 2002 edition of the Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II the PPSh was still in use with irregular military forces.
The impetus for the development of the PPSh came partly from the Winter War against Finland, where the Finnish Army employed the Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun as a highly effective tool for close-quarter fighting in forests and built-up urban areas. A submachine gun, the PPD-40, was subsequently rushed into mass production in 1940, but it was expensive to manufacture, both in terms of materials and labor, because it used numerous milled metal parts, particularly its receiver. Shpagin's main idea for cost reduction was to use metal stamping for the production of most parts; that concept was revolutionary in the Soviet Union at the time. Shpagin created a prototype PPSh in September 1940, which also featured a simple gas compensator designed to prevent the muzzle from rising during bursts; this improved shot grouping by about 70% relative to the PPD.
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Wikipedia