DPM
Kovrov Machine Gun Factory (Plant No. 2) · Machine Gun · Out Of Production · 1944
Also known as: Degtyaryov Pekhotny Modernizirovanny, DPM-44, DP-44, Degtyaryov M1944
Overview
The DPM (Degtyaryov Pekhotny Modernizirovanny, model 1944) is the modernized wartime version of Vasily Degtyaryov's 1927 DP light machine gun, chambered in 7.62x54mmR and fed from a distinctive 47-round flat pan magazine mounted atop the receiver. The headline change was relocating the return spring out from under the overheating barrel into a tube in the trigger housing, curing the chronic spring-fatigue stoppages of the original DP. The DPM also added a pistol grip, a manual safety, and a sturdier bipod. It retained the gas-operated long-stroke piston action with flap-type bolt locking, firing from an open bolt at roughly 600 rounds per minute with an 840 m/s muzzle velocity. It served from late WWII into the 1960s, was license-built in China as the Type 53, spawned the DTM vehicle variant and the belt-fed RP-46, and equipped numerous communist and post-colonial militaries.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 9800 g (345.7 oz) |
| Weight (loaded) | 11300 g (398.6 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1270 mm (50.00") |
| Barrel Length | 605 mm (23.82") |
| Action Type | Gas Operated Long Stroke |
| Firing Mechanism | Open Bolt |
| Trigger Type | Full Auto Only |
| Magazine Capacity | 47 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Drum |
| Muzzle Velocity | 840 m/s (2756 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 3380 J (2493 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 800 m (875 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 2500 m (2734 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 600 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Number of Grooves | 4 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 7.62x54mmR · primary — also known as 7.62 Russian, 7.62x54R
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: 47 Round Pan Magazine Top Mounted
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety
- Features: Recoil Spring Relocated To Buttstock Tube, Added Pistol Grip, Sturdier Bipod, Top Mounted Pan Magazine, Integral Bipod, Air Cooled, Tangent Leaf Rear Sight
Variants
- DP-28 (base model) — Predecessor Base Model
- DTM — Tank Vehicle Variant 60rnd Pan
- Type 53 (Chinese) — Chinese Copy
- RP-46 — Belt Fed Derivative
Base model
Service history
Operators
- Soviet Red Army · adopted 1944
- People's Liberation Army (China) · as Type 53
- Korean People's Army
- People's Army of Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Finnish Defence Forces (captured)
Conflicts
- World War II Eastern Front (1944-1945)
- Korean War (1950-1953)
- Vietnam War (1955-1975)
- Chinese Civil War (1945-1949)
Production
Production years: 1944-1950s (USSR); Type 53 in China through the 1950s
Part of the very large DP-family production run (DP series totaled in the hundreds of thousands); discrete DPM total not published in fetched sources.
Origin
Country of origin: Soviet Union
Designer: Vasily Degtyaryov
Discontinued: 1960
Notes
Distinct from the base DP-28: the DPM relocated the recoil spring from under the barrel to a tube extending into the buttstock and added a pistol grip plus a manual safety. Year sometimes cited 1943 vs 1944; 1944 used. Rifling figures are standard-cartridge values, not source-confirmed.
Background
The DPM's whole reason to exist was one nagging flaw: on the original DP the return spring sat coiled around the gas piston directly under the barrel, and sustained fire cooked it until it lost tension and the gun jammed - so the modernization moved the spring into a tube behind the bolt. It was also the first of the line to get a proper pistol grip and a manual safety, things the 1927 DP simply never had. The flat top-mounted 'record player' pan magazine survived because the rimmed 1891-vintage cartridge fed poorly from box magazines.