Also known as RPD machine gun, Degtyaryov Hand-held Machine Gun, Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova
Soviet light machine gun
Key facts
- Type
- Light machine gun
- Place of origin
- Soviet Union
- In service
- 1944–1961 (Soviet Union), 1944–present (other nations)
- Used by
- See Users
- Wars
- See Wars
- Designer
- Vasily Degtyaryov
- Designed
- 1943–1944
- Produced
- 1944–1960
- Variants
- See Variants
- Mass
- 7.4 kg (16.31 lb) when empty
- Length
- 1,037 mm (40.8 in)
- Barrel length
- 520 mm (20.5 in)
- Cartridge
- 7.62×39mm , 5.56×45mm NATO (Israeli conversion)
- Action
- Gas operated long stroke piston , flapper locking and fires from the open bolt
- Rate of fire
- 650–750 rounds/min
- Muzzle velocity
- 735 m/s (2,411 ft/s)
- Effective firing range
- 100–1,000 m sight adjustments
- Feed system
- Non-disintegrating 100-round segmented belt stored in a drum container. Custom 125 round belt (MACVSOG version)
via Wikipedia infobox
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The RPD (Russian: Ручной Пулемёт Дегтярёва, РПД, romanized: Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova, RPD, lit. 'Degtyaryov hand-held machine gun, RPD') is a 7.62x39mm light machine gun developed in the Soviet Union by Vasily Degtyaryov for the 7.62×39mm M43 intermediate cartridge.
History
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “RPD” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.