Power named DShK. A unique heavy machine gun of the Red Army. DShK machine gun: characteristics. DShK large-caliber machine gun Sights, shooting at different types of targets

21.09.2019

Caliber: 12.7×108 mm
The weight: 34 kg machine gun body, 157 kg on a wheeled machine
Length: 1625 mm
Barrel length: 1070 mm
Nutrition: tape 50 rounds
Rate of fire: 600 shots/min

The task to create the first Soviet heavy machine gun, designed primarily to fight aircraft at altitudes up to 1500 meters, was issued by that time to the already very experienced and well-known gunsmith Degtyarev in 1929. Less than a year later, Degtyarev presented his 12.7mm machine gun for testing, and since 1932, small-scale production of a machine gun under the designation DK (Degtyarev, Large-caliber) began. In general, the DK repeated the design of the DP-27 light machine gun, and was powered by detachable drum magazines for 30 rounds, mounted on top of the machine gun. The disadvantages of such a power scheme (bulky and big weight shops, low practical rate of fire) forced to stop the release of the DC in 1935 and start improving it. By 1938, the designer Shpagin developed a belt feed module for the recreation center, and in 1939 the improved machine gun was adopted by the Red Army with the subdesignation "12.7mm Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine gun model 1938 - DShK". The mass production of the DShK was launched in 1940-41. They were used as anti-aircraft weapons, as infantry support weapons, mounted on armored vehicles and small ships (including torpedo boats). According to the experience of the war in 1946, the machine gun was modernized (the design of the tape feed unit and the barrel mount were changed), and the machine gun was adopted under the designation DShKM.
DShKM was or is in service with more than 40 armies of the world, is produced in China ("type 54"), Pakistan, Iran and some other countries. The DShKM machine gun was used as an anti-aircraft gun on Soviet tanks post-war period (T-55, T-62) and on armored vehicles (BTR-155). At present, in the Russian Armed Forces, the DShK and DShKM machine guns have almost completely been replaced by the Utes and Kord heavy machine guns, which are more advanced and modern.

The DShK large-caliber machine gun is an automatic weapon built on the gas principle. The barrel is locked by two combat larvae, hinged on the bolt, for recesses in the side walls receiver. The fire mode is only automatic, the barrel is fixed, ribbed for better cooling, equipped with a muzzle brake. Power is supplied from a non-loose metal tape, the tape is fed from the left side of the machine gun. At DShK, the tape feeder was made in the form of a drum with six open chambers. The drum, during its rotation, fed the tape and at the same time removed cartridges from it (the tape had open links). After the drum chamber with the cartridge arrived in the lower position, the cartridge was fed into the chamber by a bolt. The drive of the tape feeder was carried out using a lever located on the right side, swinging in a vertical plane when on its lower part the loading handle, rigidly connected to the bolt carrier, acted. At DShKM machine gun the drum mechanism has been replaced by a more compact slide mechanism, also driven by a similar lever connected to the charging handle. The cartridge was removed from the tape down and then directly fed into the chamber.
In the butt plate of the receiver, spring-loaded buffers of the shutter and the shutter frame are mounted. The fire was fired from the rear sear (from the open bolt), to control the fire, two handles on the back of the vaporized triggers were used. The sight is frame, the machine also had mounts for an anti-aircraft foreshortening sight.

The machine gun was used from the universal machine of the Kolesnikov system. The machine was equipped with removable wheels and a steel shield, and when using a machine gun as an anti-aircraft wheel, the shield was removed, and the rear support was bred, forming a tripod. In addition, the machine gun in the anti-aircraft gun was equipped with special shoulder rests. The main disadvantage of this machine was its high weight, which limited the mobility of the machine gun. In addition to the machine gun, the machine gun was used in tower installations, on remotely controlled anti-aircraft installations, on ship pedestal installations.

DShK(Dektyarev-Shpagin Large-caliber) - soviet machine gun caliber 12.7 mm developed by designers Degtyarev and Shpagin. In February 1939, the DShK was adopted by the Red Army under the designation "12.7 mm heavy machine gun DShK model 1938". The mass production of the DShK was launched in 1940-41. The cartridge used is 12.7x108 mm DShK. Ammunition was carried out from a box with a tape for 50 rounds, the feed was on the left. The machine gun has a fairly high rate of fire, which determines the effectiveness of fire on fast-moving targets.

According to the experience of the war, the machine gun was modernized (the design of the tape feed unit, the barrel mount were changed), and in 1946 it was adopted by the Soviet Army under the designation DShKM. Various sights could be attached to the machine gun: frame, ring, collimator, as well as various flame arresters, muzzle brakes. The machine gun was or is in service with over 40 armies of the world, and is still used in many conflicts around the world. At present, the DShK and DShKM machine guns have been almost completely replaced in the Russian army. heavy machine guns"Cliff" and "Kord", more advanced and modern.

Cartridge 12.7X108 in comparison with other cartridges (from left to right: 5.45X39, 7.62X39, 7.62X54)

Cartridge 12.7X108 in comparison with other large-caliber cartridges

DShK model 1938

Vehicles equipped with these weapons

IS-2 (1944), IS-3, IS-4M
ISU-122, ISU-122S, ISU-152
T-54 (1947) , T-54 (1951) , T-55A , T-44-100 , Type 62 (USSR)

Main characteristics

The composition of the tapes

Cartridges used in DShK: BZ - armor-piercing incendiary, T - tracer, MDZ - instantaneous incendiary, BZT - armor-piercing incendiary tracer, BZ (MKS) - armor-piercing incendiary with a ceramic-metal core.

Purpose and features different types bullets in the game: Aviation ammunition

Ribbons for ZSU GAZ DShK

Ribbon	Compound
Standard	BZ-T-MDZ
BZ	BZ(MKS)-BZT-BZ(MKS)-BZT
B	BZ(MKS)-BZ(MKS)-BZT
BZT	BZT-BZT-BZ(MKS)

Ribbon Standard (for turret and coaxial machine guns DShK on tanks and self-propelled guns) - composition: BZT-MDZ-BZT-BZ (MKS)

DShKM model 1945

Anti-aircraft installation in the back of a truck (three 12.7 mm DShK machine guns) in the center of Moscow, on Sverdlov Square (now Teatralnaya). The Metropol Hotel is visible in the background.

Comparison with analogues

The widely used American machine gun Browning M2 (12.7 mm) can be compared with the DShK machine gun. M2 is inferior in penetration (because it does not have cartridges with a ceramic-metal core, like the DShK), in rate of fire, muzzle energy bullets. However, the M2 is superior in the number of rounds in the box (minimum 100, maximum 200 for ZSU), longer barrel, penetration by BZ and BZT cartridges is a couple of millimeters higher. In terms of reload speed, they are the same.
The French machine gun Hotchkiss Mle.1930 is inferior to the DShK in rate of fire (450 rpm), penetration, number of loaded cartridges (30 in a box magazine). But Hotchkiss is superior to the DShK in reload speed, caliber (13.2 mm).

Use in combat

The DShK machine gun perfectly penetrates with BZ (MKS) cartridges, but you should remember about the quickly running out of 50 rounds of ammunition. Lightly armored vehicles are vulnerable to DShK cartridges (ZSU, light-medium tanks and self-propelled guns), but it is advisable to study them as well weak spots(for example, sides, stern, trunk). Machine gun bullets can also point at the enemy to allies, and prevent the enemy from seeing. Against aircraft, it makes sense to use the MDZ cartridge (explosive, with explosives inside).

Advantages and disadvantages

The DShK machine gun (12.7 mm) is quite good in the game, it allows you to fight both lightly armored vehicles and aircraft. It has good armor penetration and rate of fire. Although the machine gun is not without its shortcomings compared to other counterparts.

Advantages:

Good rate of fire.
The 12.7 mm machine gun is capable of fighting not only unarmored vehicles and aircraft, but also lightly armored vehicles.
An excellent penetrating and at the same time incendiary cartridge with a ceramic-metal core BZ (MKS).
Explosive cartridges MDZ.

Disadvantages:

Long cooldown (10.4 sec).
Small applied belt (50 rounds)

History reference

ShVAK 12.7 mm

12.7 mm ShVAK machine gun on an anti-aircraft rack of Ershov, Ivanov, Chernyshev in the back of a GAZ-AA truck

Aviation DNA: Synchronized Wing

Winged DShKA 1938

Vasily Alekseevich Degtyarev (1879/1880 - 1949) - Russian and Soviet designer of small arms. Hero of Socialist Labor. Laureate of four Stalin Prizes.

Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin (1897-1952) - Soviet designer of small arms. Hero of Socialist Labor (1945). Cavalier of 3 Orders of Lenin.

The task to create the first Soviet heavy machine gun was issued to an experienced and well-known gunsmith Degtyarev in 1929. Less than a year later, he presented his 12.7 mm machine gun for testing, and since 1932, small-scale production of a machine gun under the designation DK began. Troop tests of the DK and additional field tests in 1934 showed that the machine gun was of little use for fighting fast-moving targets due to the low rate of fire. Although the rate of fire reached quite acceptable 360-400 rds / min, the practical rate of fire did not exceed 200 rds / min, which was associated with heavy and bulky magazines. Experimented with different machines and different box magazines, but they had even less capacity. The DAK-32, which was intended for both fixed wing installations and turrets, repeated the "land" version of the DK with all its shortcomings, the main of which was the rate of fire of only 300 rounds per minute, which was absolutely insufficient for aviation, and a decent weight of 35.5 kg.

In 1934, the production of DC was suspended, and in 1935 it was stopped. To a large extent, B.G. contributed to stopping work on improving the Degtyarev heavy machine gun. Shpitalny, who promised I.V. Stalin machine gun with the best performance based on the aviation ShKAS - 12.7-mm machine gun ShVAK. However, the fate of the 12.7-mm ShVAK did not work out. Partly due to the complexity of the design inherited from ShKAS, partly due to the impossibility of using a standard 12.7x108 cartridge in ShVAK automatics. As a result, in parallel with the Degtyarev cartridge, a ballistically identical cartridge for ShVAK 12.7x108R with a protruding rim was put into production. Apparently, “at the top” nevertheless considered it inexpedient to issue two types of cartridges in parallel, preferring the more versatile and convenient in automatics, without rims, and the release of 12.7-mm ShVAKs in 1936 was turned in favor of the 20-mm air gun.

Meanwhile, the need for a universal heavy machine gun was still very relevant. Fortunately, V.A. Degtyarev for 1935 - 1936 managed to bring his offspring to acceptable characteristics. To increase the survivability of parts and the rate of fire, a spring buffer of the bolt frame was introduced into the machine gun, which increased the speed of rolling of the mobile system, which required the introduction of an anti-bounce device to prevent the frame from rebounding after being hit in the extreme forward position. A serious problem remained the development of the power supply system of the machine gun. In 1937, Georgy Shpagin significantly improved his version of the tape receiver, creating a drum feed mechanism for a metal one-piece tape in sections of 50 cartridges of the original design. In April 1938, the belt-fed machine gun was successfully tested; on December 17, it passed field tests. And on February 26, 1939, the sample was put into service under the designation "12.7-mm easel machine gun sample 1938 DShK "(Degtyarev - Shpagin large-caliber)". The machine gun was considered as a means of combating air targets, light armored vehicles, as well as enemy manpower and firing points in shelters. The machine gun began to enter the troops in 1940.

In the same 1938, they were developed on the basis of the "land" DShK - the aviation TsKB-2-3835 in versions of the wing-mounted DShKA and the synchronous-wing DNA with tape power, as well as the turret DShTA (DShAT) for the 30-round Kladov drum magazine. Work on aviation versions in addition to V.A. Degtyarev and G.S. Shpagin was led by K.F. Vasiliev, G.F. Kubynov, S.S. Bryntsev, S.A. Smirnov. Structurally identical to each other, aircraft machine guns were made with a high degree unification with the DShK machine gun. The difference was a higher rate of fire - 750-800 rounds / min, which was achieved by using a loose metal tape with a smaller pitch between the links - 34 mm instead of 39 mm for the DShK one-piece tape. Characteristically, Degtyarev also insured himself by developing versions both for the regular cartridge 12.7x108 and for the ShVAK-ovsky 12.7x108R cartridge.

Unlike the DShK machine gun, it aviation versions had the ability to quickly change the barrel. The feed of the tape on the winged DShKA and synchronous DNA versions of the machine gun was carried out on the left side, although in serial versions a change in the direction of feed of the tape would certainly have been provided. By the end of 1938, the DNA synchronous machine gun, and apparently this version was given the highest priority, successfully passed field tests, with little to no remarks. But here in the fate of this interesting weapons chance intervened. Just in the fall of 1938, a series of factory and field tests passed aviation machine gun UB, a young and practically unknown designer M.E. Berezina, showing exclusively high performance, good survivability and reliability of its automation. Using the same loose belt of "DK" cartridges, it fired faster, was lighter and technologically simpler. There is a legend that at the beginning of 1939, at a meeting with Stalin, where promising types of weapons were considered, the question of a new aviation heavy machine gun came up. Stalin, puffing on his pipe, looking into the eyes of V.A. Degtyarev, asked: "So which machine gun is better, yours or Comrade Berezin?" To which Degtyarev, without hesitation, replied that "comrade Berezin's machine gun is better."

The result is known. Our aviation received, perhaps, the best aviation machine gun in the world in its class. Well, Degtyarev got a "land" niche. The large-caliber DShK in various modifications was in service in the USSR for many decades, and after its collapse in the armed forces of the newly formed states. And even now it is often found all over the world.

The DShK was used by the USSR from the very beginning of World War II in all directions and went through the entire war. It was used as an infantry, from different machines, massively put on trucks - for air defense. The DShK was the main armament of the T-40 (amphibious tank), LB-62 and BA-64D (light armored vehicles), experimental ZSU T-60, T-70, T-90. In the 44th year, a 12.7 mm turret anti-aircraft gun with DShK was installed on heavy tank IS-2, and later on heavy self-propelled guns for self-defense of vehicles in case of attacks from the air and from the upper floors in urban battles. DShK machine guns anti-aircraft armored trains were armed on tripods or pedestals (during the war, up to 200 armored trains operated in the air defense forces). DShK with a shield and a folded machine could be dropped to partisans or landing forces in a UPD-MM parachute bag.

The fleet began to receive DShKs in 1940 (there were 830 of them at the beginning of the Second World War). During the war, the industry transferred 4018 DShKs to the fleet, another 1146 were transferred from the army. In the navy, anti-aircraft DShKs were installed on all types of ships, including mobilized fishing and transport ships. They were used on a twin single pedestal, tower, turret installations. Pedestrian, rack and tower (paired) installations for DShK machine guns, adopted for service navy, developed by I.S. Leshchinsky, designer of plant No. 2. The pedestal installation allowed for circular firing, vertical guidance angles ranged from -34 to +85 degrees. In 1939 A.I. Ivashutich, another Kovrov designer, developed a twin pedestal mount, and later the DShKM-2, which appeared later, gave a circular fire. The vertical guidance angles ranged from -10 to +85 degrees. In 1945, the twin deck installation 2M-1, which has an annular sight, was adopted. The twin turret mount DShKM-2B, created in TsKB-19 in 1943, and the ShB-K sight made it possible to conduct circular fire at vertical guidance angles from -10 to +82 degrees.

In 1945-46, the troops were armed with the already modernized DShKM. As an anti-aircraft machine gun, the DShKM was installed on T-10, T-54, T-55, T-62 tanks and other combat vehicles. And in the IS-4M and T-10 tanks, it was paired with the main gun. In the version for installation on armored vehicles, the machine gun has the name DShKMT or briefly DShKT. After the end of the Second World War, the DShK machine gun was used in almost all local conflicts.

unofficial, affectionate nicknames in the troops - "Dushka", "Dashka", "Degtyar".
Work was underway on the DShK aircraft installation, but it soon became clear that the Berezin (UB) machine gun was better suited for aviation application according to some characteristics.
The German army did not have a full-time heavy machine gun, so captured DShKs were used with pleasure, which received the designation MG.286 (r).

Media

Anti-aircraft turret with two DShKs on a Soviet Project 1124 armored boat in the game

Gas-AAA with DShK in the game

ISU-152 with anti-aircraft DShKM in the game

The drum mechanism for feeding cartridges at the DShK of the 1938 model

Anti-aircraft DShKM on a tank with a gunner

ZSU T-90 (based on the T-70 tank) with two DShK machine guns, in the museum of the UMMC Verkhnyaya Pyshma

Anti-aircraft and twin DShK of the IS-4 tank (Kubinka Museum)

With the start in 1925 of work on a machine gun with a caliber of 12-20 millimeters, it was decided to create it on the basis of light machine gun magazine-fed to reduce the mass of the created machine gun. Work began in the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant on the basis of a 12.7-mm Vickers cartridge and on the basis of the German Dreyse machine gun (P-5). The design bureau of the Kovrov Plant was developing a machine gun based on the Degtyarev light machine gun for more powerful cartridges. A new 12.7-mm cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet was created in 1930, and at the end of the year the first experimental heavy machine gun Degtyarev with a Kladov disk magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds was assembled. In February 1931, after testing, preference was given to the DK ("Large-caliber Degtyarev") as easier to manufacture and lighter. DK was put into service, in 1932 the production of a small series was at the plant. Kirkizha (Kovrov), however, in 1933 they fired only 12 machine guns.

Experimental installation of the DShK machine gun

Military tests did not live up to expectations. In 1935, the production of the Degtyarev heavy machine gun was stopped. By this time, a version of the DAK-32 had been created with a Shpagin receiver, but tests of 32-33 showed the need to refine the system. Shpagin in 1937 redid his version. A drum feed mechanism was created that did not require significant changes to the machine gun system. The machine gun, which has a belt feed, passed field tests on December 17, 1938. February 26 next year By the decision of the Committee of Defense, they were adopted under the designation "12.7-mm easel machine gun mod. 1938 DShK (Degtyarev-Shpagin large-caliber) "which was installed on the Kolesnikov universal machine. Work was also underway on the DShK aircraft installation, but it soon became clear that a special heavy-caliber aircraft machine gun was needed.

The work of machine gun automation was carried out due to the removal of powder gases. Gas chamber closed type was placed under the barrel, and was equipped with a pipe regulator. The barrel along the entire length had ribs. The muzzle was equipped with a single-chamber active type muzzle brake. By diluting the lugs of the bolt to the sides, the bore was locked. The ejector and reflector were assembled in the shutter. A pair of spring shock absorbers of the butt plate served to soften the impact of the moving system and give it an initial roll impulse. Reciprocating mainspring, worn on the rod gas piston, actuated the percussion mechanism. The trigger lever was blocked by a safety lever mounted on the butt plate (setting the fuse - forward position).

Heavy machine gun DShK 12.7, machine gun in position for firing at ground targets

Food - tape, supply - on the left side. Loose tape, having semi-closed links, was placed in a special metal box, fixed on the left side of the machine arm. The bolt carrier handle actuated the DShK drum receiver: while moving backward, the handle bumped into the fork of the swinging feeder lever and turned it. The pawl located at the other end of the lever turned the drum 60 degrees, the drum, in turn, pulled the tape. There were four cartridges in the drum at the same time. During the rotation of the drum, the cartridge was gradually squeezed out of the tape link and fed into the receiving window of the receiver. Moving forward shutter picked it up.

The folding frame sight, used for firing at ground targets, had a notch up to 3.5 thousand m in increments of 100 m. The marking of the machine gun included the brand of the manufacturer, the year of manufacture, the serial number (the designation of the series is two-letter, the serial number of the machine gun) . The stamp was placed in front of the butt plate on top of the receiver.

Heavy machine gun DShK 12.7, machine in position for anti-aircraft fire, the wheels are looking for removed. Machine gun from the collection of TsMAIVVS in St. Petersburg

During operation with the DShK, three types of anti-aircraft sights were used. The annular remote sight of the 1938 model was intended to destroy air targets flying at speeds up to 500 km / h and at a distance of up to 2.4 thousand meters. The sight of the 1941 model was simplified, the range decreased to 1.8 thousand meters, but the possible speed of the target being destroyed increased (in the "imaginary" ring it could be 625 kilometers per hour). The sight of the 1943 model of the year was of the foreshortening type and was much easier to use, but allowed firing at various target courses, including pitching or diving.

Heavy machine gun DShKM 12.7 model 1946

The Kolesnikov universal machine of the 1938 model was equipped with its own loading handle, had a removable shoulder pad, a cartridge box bracket, and a rod-type vertical aiming mechanism. Ground targets were fired from a wheeled course, while the legs were folded. For firing at air targets, the wheel drive was separated, and the machine was laid out in the form of a tripod.

A 12.7 mm cartridge could have an armor-piercing bullet (B-30) of the 1930 model, an armor-piercing incendiary (B-32) of the 1932 model, sighting and incendiary (PZ), tracer (T), sighting (P), against anti-aircraft targets used an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet (BZT) of the 1941 model. The armor penetration of the B-32 bullet was 20 millimeters normal from 100 meters and 15 millimeters from 500 meters. The BS-41 bullet, with a tungsten carbide core, was capable of penetrating 20 mm armor plate at an angle of 20 degrees from a range of 750 meters. The dispersion diameter during firing at ground targets was 200 millimeters at a distance of 100 meters.

The machine gun began to enter the troops in the 40th year. In total, in 1940, plant No. 2 in Kovrov produced 566 DShKs. In the first half of the year 41 - 234 machine guns (in total, in 1941, with a plan of 4 thousand DShKs, about 1.6 thousand were received). In total, as of June 22, 1941, the units of the Red Army had about 2.2 thousand heavy machine guns.

The DShK machine gun from the first days of the Second World War proved to be excellent as anti-aircraft weapon. So, for example, on July 14, 1941 on Western front in the Yartsevo region, a platoon of three machine guns shot down three German bombers; in August, near Leningrad, in the Krasnogvardeisky region, the Second Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun Battalion destroyed 33 enemy aircraft. However, the number of 12.7 mm machine gun mounts was clearly not enough, especially given the significant enemy air superiority. As of September 10, 1941, there were 394 of them: in the Oryol air defense zone - 9, Kharkov - 66, Moscow - 112, on the Southwestern Front - 72, Southern - 58, Northwestern - 37, Western - 27, Karelian - thirteen.

Crew members torpedo boat TK-684 of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet posing against the background of the aft turret of a 12.7-mm DShK machine gun

Since June 1942, the staff of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment of the army included a DShK company, which was armed with 8 machine guns, and from February 43, their number increased to 16 pieces. The anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the RVGK (zenad), formed from November 42, included one such company in an anti-aircraft regiment small-caliber artillery. Since the spring of 1943, the number of DShKs in zenad has decreased to 52 units, and according to the 44th state updated in the spring, zenad had 48 DShKs and 88 guns. In 1943, regiments of small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery (16 DShK and 16 guns) were introduced into the cavalry, mechanized and tank corps.

Typically, anti-aircraft DShKs were used in platoons, often introduced into medium-caliber anti-aircraft batteries, using them to cover against air attacks from low altitudes. Anti-aircraft machine gun companies, armed with 18 DShKs, were introduced into the state of rifle divisions at the beginning of 1944. During the entire war, the loss of heavy machine guns amounted to about 10 thousand pieces, that is, 21% of the resource. It was the smallest percentage of losses in the entire system. small arms, however, it is comparable to the losses in anti-aircraft artillery. This already speaks of the role and place of heavy machine guns.

Anti-aircraft installation (three 12.7-mm DShK machine guns) in the center of Moscow, on Sverdlov Square (now Teatralnaya). The Metropol Hotel is visible in the background.

In 1941, with the approach of German troops to Moscow, backup plants were identified in case plant No. 2 stopped producing weapons. The production of DShK was delivered in the city of Kuibyshev, where 555 fixtures and machine tools were transferred from Kovrov. As a result, during the war, the main production was in Kovrov, and in Kuibyshev - "backup".

In addition to easel, used self-propelled units with DShK - mainly M-1 pickups or GAZ-AA trucks with a DShK machine gun installed in the back in anti-aircraft position on the machine. Anti-aircraft light tanks on the T-60 and T-70 chassis did not advance further than the prototypes. The same fate befell the integrated installations (although it should be noted that the built-in 12.7-mm anti-aircraft installations were used to a limited extent - for example, they served in the air defense of Moscow). The failures of the installations were associated, first of all, with the power supply system, which did not allow changing the direction of the tape feed. But the Red Army successfully used 12.7-mm American quad mounts of the M-17 type based on the M2NV Browning machine gun.

Anti-aircraft gunners of the Zheleznyakov armored train (armored train No. 5 of the Coastal Defense of Sevastopol) at 12.7-mm DShK heavy machine guns (machine guns mounted on marine bollards). 76.2-mm guns of 34-K ship turrets are visible in the background

The "anti-tank" role of the DShK machine gun, which received the nickname "Dushka", was insignificant. The machine gun was used to a limited extent against light armored vehicles. But the DShK became a tank one - it was the main armament of the T-40 (amphibious tank), BA-64D (light armored car), in the 44th year, a 12.7-mm turret anti-aircraft gun was installed on a heavy IS-2 tank, and later on heavy ACS. Anti-aircraft armored trains were armed with DShK machine guns on tripods or pedestals (during the war, up to 200 armored trains operated in the air defense forces). DShK with a shield and a folded machine could be dropped to partisans or landing forces in a UPD-MM parachute bag.

The fleet began to receive DShKs in 1940 (there were 830 of them at the beginning of the Second World War). During the war, the industry transferred 4018 DShKs to the fleet, another 1146 were transferred from the army. In the navy, anti-aircraft DShKs were installed on all types of ships, including mobilized fishing and transport ships. They were used on a twin single pedestal, tower, turret installations. The pedestal, rack and tower (paired) installations for DShK machine guns, adopted by the Navy, were developed by I.S. Leshchinsky, designer of plant No. 2. The pedestal installation allowed for circular firing, vertical guidance angles ranged from -34 to +85 degrees. In 1939 A.I. Ivashutich, another Kovrov designer, developed a twin pedestal mount, and later the DShKM-2, which appeared later, gave a circular fire. The vertical guidance angles ranged from -10 to +85 degrees. In 1945, the twin deck installation 2M-1, which has an annular sight, was adopted. The twin turret mount DShKM-2B, created in TsKB-19 in 1943, and the ShB-K sight made it possible to conduct circular fire at vertical guidance angles from -10 to +82 degrees.

Soviet tankers of the 62nd Guards Heavy tank regiment in a street fight in Danzig. The DShK heavy machine gun mounted on the IS-2 tank is used to destroy enemy soldiers armed with anti-tank grenade launchers

For boats of various classes, open twin turrets MSTU, MTU-2 and 2-UK were created with pointing angles from -10 to +85 degrees. The "sea" machine guns themselves differed from the base sample. So, for example, in the turret version, a frame sight was not used (only an annular one with a weather vane-front sight was used), the bolt carrier handle was lengthened, and the hook was changed for the cartridge box. The differences between machine guns for twin mounts were in the design of the butt plate with the frame handle and trigger lever, the absence of sights, and fire control.

The German army, which did not have a full-time heavy machine gun, willingly used the captured DShK, which received the designation MG.286 (r).

At the end of the Second World War, Sokolov and Korov carried out a significant modernization of the DShK. The changes primarily affected the power supply system. In 1946, a modernized machine gun under the DShKM brand was put into service. The reliability of the system has increased - if at the DShK according to the specifications 0.8% delays were allowed during firing, then at the DShKM this figure was already 0.36%. The DShKM machine gun has become one of the most widespread in the world.

The Dnieper is being crossed. The calculation of the DShK heavy machine gun supports those crossing with fire. November 1943

Technical characteristics of the DShK heavy machine gun (model 1938):
Cartridge - 12.7x108 DShK;
The mass of the "body" of the machine gun - 33.4 kg (without tape);
The total weight of the machine gun - 181.3 kg (on the machine, without a shield, with a tape);
The length of the "body" of the machine gun - 1626 mm;
Barrel weight - 11.2 kg;
Barrel length - 1070 mm;
Rifling - 8 right-handed;
The length of the rifled part of the barrel - 890 mm;
The initial speed of the bullet - from 850 to 870 m / s;
Muzzle energy of a bullet - from 18785 to 19679 J;
Rate of fire - 600 rounds per minute;
Combat rate of fire - 125 rounds per minute;
Sighting line length - 1110 mm;
Sighting range for ground targets - 3500 m;
Sighting range for air targets - 2400 m;
Reach in height - 2500 m;
Power system - metal tape (50 rounds);
Machine type - universal wheel-tripod;
The height of the line of fire in the ground position - 503 mm;
The height of the line of fire in anti-aircraft position - 1400 mm;
Pointing angles:
- horizontally in the ground position - ± 60 degrees;
- horizontally in the anti-aircraft position - 360 degrees;
- vertically in the ground position - +27 degrees;
- vertically in the anti-aircraft position - from -4 to +85 degrees;
Transition time from traveling position in combat for anti-aircraft fire - 30 seconds;
Calculation - 3-4 people.

A Soviet soldier fires at a firing range from a 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft heavy machine gun mounted on an ISU-152 self-propelled gun

Based on the article by Semyon Fedoseev "Machine guns of the Second World War"

In 1929 designer Vasily Degtyarev received the task of creating the first Soviet heavy machine gun, designed primarily to combat aircraft at altitudes up to 1500 meters.

The large-caliber heavy machine gun DK was put into service in 1931 and was used for installation on armored vehicles and ships of river fleets.

However military trials showed that this model did not live up to the expectations of the military, and the machine gun was sent for revision. At the same time, he worked on the design Georgy Shpagin, who invented the original tape power module for DC.

The combined forces of Degtyarev and Shpagin created a version of the machine gun, which in December 1938 passed all field tests.

Armor-piercing incendiary power

On February 26, 1939, an improved machine gun was adopted by the Red Army under the designation "12.7 mm heavy machine gun Degtyarev - Shpagin model 1938 - DShK". The machine gun was mounted on a universal machine Kolesnikova model 1938, which was equipped with its own loading handle, had a removable shoulder pad for firing at aircraft, a cartridge box bracket, and a rod-type vertical aiming mechanism.

Ground targets were fired from a wheeled course, while the legs were folded. For firing at air targets, the wheel drive was separated, and the machine was laid out in the form of a tripod.

The 12.7 mm DShK cartridge could have an armor-piercing bullet, armor-piercing incendiary, sighting-incendiary, tracer, sighting. Armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullets were used against flying targets.

Serial production of the DShK began in 1940, and the machine gun immediately began to enter the troops. To the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in the Red Army, about 800 DShK machine guns were in service.

Machine gun DShK 12.7 mm model 1938. Photo: RIA Novosti / Khomenko

Nazi aviation nightmare

Almost from the first days of the war, DShKs began to cause serious damage to enemy aircraft, demonstrating their high efficiency. The problem, however, was that with the predominance of the Nazis in the air, several hundred DShK installations on the entire front could not radically change the situation.

Increasing the pace of production made it possible to solve this problem. By the end of the Great Patriotic War, up to 9,000 DShK machine guns were produced, which not only equipped anti-aircraft gunners of the Red Army and the Navy. They began to be installed en masse on the turrets of tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts. This allowed tankers not only to fight against air attacks, but to increase their effectiveness in urban combat, when they had to suppress firing points on upper floors buildings.

The Wehrmacht did not have a full-time heavy machine gun of this type, which became a serious advantage for the Red Army.

A Syrian army soldier behind a DShK machine gun. Photo: RIA Novosti / Ilya Pitalev

Continuation of the tradition

The modernized model of the DShKM machine gun was in service with the armies of at least 40 countries over several post-war decades. The brainchild of Soviet designers is still in service in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Ukraine. In Russia, the DShK and DShKM were replaced by the Utes and Kord heavy machine guns. The name of the latter stands for "Kovrov gunsmiths Degtyarevtsy" - the machine gun was developed at the Kovrov plant named after. Degtyarev, where the history of Soviet heavy machine guns once began.

The DShK machine gun entered the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army back in February 1939, but despite the seven decades that have passed since that time, it is still present among the regular heavy weapons in many armies. In this article, we will briefly outline the history and design features of this outstanding example of domestic design thought.

DShK machine gun. A photo. History of creation

Outgrowth of the First World War. Initially, they were tasked with combating the then weak armored tanks, aviation and infantry in light shelters. It was these opportunities that the Red Army command wanted to get from a new domestic machine gun, giving it a technical task for the designers. The DShK machine gun was born for ten whole years, it can be said that the most perfect and powerful domestic cartridge for its time, 12.7 x 108, was invented, which, by the way, is still actively used in modern rifle systems. However, Degtyarev for a long time failed to create an acceptable for the army. The main drawback of the DK (Degtyarev large-caliber) of the 1930 model was a drum magazine for thirty rounds and a low rate of fire, which did not allow the machine gun to be effectively used as an anti-aircraft gun. Only the involvement of another outstanding designer, G.S. Shpagin, to participate in the development, made it possible to solve the problem. A drum-type chamber for belt ammunition designed by Shpagin was installed on the Degtyarev machine gun, as a result of which the machine gun gained a very decent rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, belt feed and the name "DShK Machine Gun" now known to everyone. Since 1939, he entered the combat units and since then has participated and is participating in all armed conflicts in the world. It is currently in service with forty armies. Produced by China, Iran, Pakistan and some other countries.

Heavy machine gun DShK: design and modifications

Machine gun automation works according to the common principle of the removal of expanding powder gases. The gas chamber is located under the barrel. Locking occurs with the help of two combat larvae, which cling to the recesses, machined in opposite walls of the receiver. The DShK machine gun can only fire automatically, the barrel has a non-removable, air-cooled. The tape with cartridges is fed from the left side to the drum, which has six open chambers. The latter, rotating, feeds the tape and simultaneously removes cartridges from it. In 1946, changes were made to the design that affected the steel grades used, production technology and the cartridge feeder. The “drum” was abandoned and a simpler slider mechanism was used, which made it possible to use new cartridge belts, and on both sides, it was lighter and more technologically advanced. The improved machine gun was named DShKM.

Conclusion

There are only two truly famous 12mm machine guns in the world. This is a DShK and M2 machine gun, and the domestic machine gun is superior to the American counterpart due to a more powerful cartridge and a heavy bullet. Until now, DShK fire is considered highly effective and terrifies the enemy.