RPD machine gun
RPD | |
---|---|
Type | |
Place of origin | Soviet Union |
Service history | |
In service | 1944–1961 (Soviet Union) 1944–present (other states) |
Used by | See Users |
Wars | See Wars |
Production history | |
Designer | Vasily Degtyaryov |
Designed | 1943–44 |
Produced | 1944–1960 |
Variants | RPDM, Type 56, Type 56-1, Type 62 |
Specifications | |
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 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) |
Sights | Open-type sights with rear sliding notch and semi-hooded front post, 596.6 mm (23.5 in) sight radius |
The RPD (
History
Work on the weapon commenced in 1943. Three prominent
Although the RPD was ready for mass production during the final stages of World War II, it was adopted in 1948 and large scale delivery of the weapon did not begin until 1953.[1]
During the Vietnam War, the RPD and its Chinese copy (Type 56) served the Viet Cong and the People's Army of Vietnam as their standard light machine gun.[3]
After the introduction of the Kalashnikov-pattern support weapons, such as the RPK and PK machine guns in the 1960s, the RPD was withdrawn from most first-tier units of the former Warsaw Pact. However, the RPD remains in active service in many African and Asian nations.[4]
Apart from the former Soviet Union, the weapon was manufactured in China (as the Type 56 LMG[5]), Egypt (Maadi RPD[6]), North Korea (Type 62[7]) and, since 1956, Poland.[citation needed]
Design details
Operating mechanism
The RPD is an
The movement of these flaps and the resulting locking and unlocking action is controlled by carefully angled surfaces on the bolt carrier assembly[citation needed]. The weapon fires from an open bolt.[2]
Features
The RPD is hammer fired from an open bolt. The hammer forms part of the rear of the bolt carrier (which is connected to the gas piston), which continues moving forward for a short distance after the round is chambered and the bolt locked, the hammer face then striking the rear of the free floating firing pin which passes through the length of the bolt.
Locking occurs by means of lateral flaps located along the sides of the bolt, which are forced outwards (by the angled sides of the hammer) into recesses cut into the receiver body, after which firing occurs when the face of the hammer strikes the rear of the firing pin. The mechanism is simple, rugged and reliable.
It features a trigger mechanism that is limited to fully automatic fire only. The bolt is equipped with a spring-loaded casing extraction system, and a fixed insert inside the receiver housing which passes between the feed horns of the bolt serves as the ejector.
Spent cartridge casings are ejected downward through an opening in the bolt carrier and receiver. The RPD has a manually operated lever-type
Like many other Russian-made
The weapon has a non-removable
Feeding
The RPD fires from an open bolt in full auto only. There is no provision for
The Russian RPD belts held the rounds in place using the extractor groove. The Hungarians designed a simpler belt that held the cartridges in place using an L-shaped tab at the rear of the belt. The Chinese copied the Hungarian design for their belts, albeit in 25-round lengths instead of 50. RPD belt segments are connected using a round of ammunition that holds the last link of the first belt and the first link of the next belt together. When the last round in a belt segment is fired, that belt segment disconnects and falls away, reducing the chances of the empty belt snagging or becoming entangled. Regardless of the style of belt used, the RPD was typically fed using 100 rounds of linked ammunition.
The Russian, Hungarian, and Chinese RPD belts are all interchangeable, and can be linked together without affecting the feeding of the RPD.[9]
The combined belt segments are stored in a metal drum that is attached to a mount on the receiver, for a total of 100 rounds. The RPD can also feed belts that are not contained in a drum if, for example, there is a need for more than 100 rounds of linked ammunition at a time. The feed system is operated by a roller connected to the reciprocating bolt carrier assembly. The belt is pulled into the gun during the rearward motion of the bolt carrier. The noteworthy flaw in the drum's design is its unreliability in dirty conditions; it can become clogged with filth and other natural elements.[citation needed]
Sights
The RPD is equipped with a set of open-type iron sights. These consist of a front post and a notched rear sight mounted on a tangent. Both the front and rear sights on the RPD are adjustable for windage and elevation. The front sight is adjusted up or down for elevation using a tool included in the issued cleaning kit. To adjust the front sight for windage, the smaller of the two wrenches on the multi-tool included in the issued cleaning kit is used to loosen the retaining bolt on the front sight clamp. The front sight can then be adjusted left or right for the correct windage, after which the retaining bolt is reinstalled to lock the sight into place. The rear sight is adjusted for elevation using a slider.
The rear sight is marked in 100 meter increments from 100 to 1,000 meters. The rear sight is adjusted for windage using a knob on the left side of the rear sight. Because the front sight of the RPD must be partially disassembled in order to adjust windage, in practice the front sight would have been zeroed for windage and then locked in place. Adjustment for windage in the field would have been accomplished using the knob on the rear sight.[citation needed]
A number of RPDs were fitted with a side
Accessories
Standard accessories issued with the weapon include a sling, extra ammunition drums and belts (with either belt or shoulder pouches for same), oil bottle, cleaning rod (carried in a slot on the left side of the receiver),[10] (stowed in a compartment inside the stock), and drop case.[citation needed]
The cleaning kit consists of a rectangular metal clam-shell case that typically contains the following tools and spare parts: pin punch (used for disassembling the bolt), cleaning jag, multi-tool (includes screwdriver, small and large wrenches used for adjusting the front sight and gas system, respectively, and a notch for installing and removing the cleaning jag on the cleaning rod), broken case extractor, front sight adjustment tool, gas tube scraping tool, gas port reamer, spare extractor, spare extractor spring, spare firing pin.[11]
There are a number of spring steel "fingers" on the lid of the clam-shell case which press on the contents of the cleaning kit when closed to prevent rattling. One end of the clam-shell case has a notch from which the screwdriver end of the multi-tool can protrude.[citation needed]
Variants
During its service life, the weapon was modernized several times. Initially, the gas block was modified as was the rear sight, where the windage adjustment knob for the rear sight was moved to the left side of the notch. Later, the RPD was modified with a non-reciprocating cocking mechanism with a folding
A further modified variant (sometimes referred to as the RPDM) includes an extended gas cylinder and a recoil buffer mechanism in the stock. Late production RPD variants also had the fixed drum attachment removed (instead, the ammunition container was "hung" from the feed port cover) and feature a folding cleaning rod, that is stored in the weapon's butt (in the Chinese Type 56-1 variant).[1]
DS Arms RPD
American firearm manufacturer DS Arms makes a semi-auto variant for civil market and a full-auto variant for export, both in the original design and also in a modernized version called RPD Carbine. The RPD Carbine has a
Civilian variants
Because semi-auto RPD variants are manufactured using de-
Semi-auto RPD variants must also fire from a closed bolt, which requires the addition of a striker mechanism and other fire control group parts that are not found on full-auto RPD machine guns.[14]
Users
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2021) |
- Afghanistan[15]
- Albania[15]
- Algeria[15]
- Angola[15]
- Azerbaijan[15]
- Bangladesh[15]
- Benin[15]
- Bolivia[16]
- Burundi: Burundian rebels[17]
- Cambodia,[15] including Type 56s[18]
- Cape Verde[15]
- Central African Republic[15]
- Chad[15]
- Comoros[15]
- Congo-Brazzaville[19]
- Congo-Kinshasa[15]
- Djibouti[15]
- Egypt[15]
- Equatorial Guinea[15]
- Eritrea[15]
- Ethiopia[15]
- Ghana[citation needed]
- Guinea[citation needed]
- Hungary[20]
- Indonesia[21]
- Iraq[15]
- Ivory Coast[22]
- Laos[15]
- Lesotho[23]
- Libya[15]
- Malta[15]
- Mongolia[citation needed]
- Morocco[15]
- Nicaragua[15]
- Nigeria[15]
- Niger[24]
- North Korea[15] Type 62[25]
- Pakistan[15]
- Peru
- Romania[15]
- Rwanda
- Land Rovers[26]
- Seychelles[15]
- Sierra Leone[15]
- Somalia[15]
- Sudan[15]
- Syria[15]
- Tanzania[15]
- Togo[15]
- Uganda[15]
- Ukraine[27]
- MACVSOG, with shortened barrel and 125 round belt[28]
- Vietnam[15]
- Yemen[15]
- Zimbabwe[15]
Former users
- QBB-95 LSW in service, formerly produced by Norinco.
- East Germany (former user). Locally designated lMG D or leichtes Maschinengewehr Degtjarjow (lit. light machine gun Degtyaryov).[30]
- Finland[15] (no longer in use) locally designated name 7.62 kk 54 RPD
- Georgia: Used by different armed groups in 1990s, out of service.[31]
- Israel[32]
- Rhodesia[33]
- Soviet Union
Non-state users
Wars
- Vietnam War
- Portuguese Colonial War[35]
- Laotian Civil War
- Suez Crisis[36]
- Sino-Indian War
- Cambodian Civil War
- Six-Day War[37]
- Indonesian invasion of East Timor
- Yom Kippur War[38]
- Rhodesian Bush War
- South African Border War
- Nathu La and Cho La clashes
- Bangladesh Liberation War[39]
- Western Sahara War[26]
- Lebanese Civil War[40]
- Ethiopian Civil War
- Shaba II[41]
- Cambodian–Vietnamese War
- Sino-Vietnamese War
- Soviet–Afghan War[42]
- Salvadoran Civil War
- Somali Civil War[43]
- Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995)
- Iran-Iraq War
- Sri Lankan civil war
- Gulf War
- Yugoslav Wars
- Rwandan Civil War
- Burundian Civil War
- Congo Civil War
- War in Afghanistan
- Iraq War
- Ivorian Civil Wars
- Thai–Laotian Border War
- War in North-West Pakistan
- Cambodian–Thai border stand-off
- Libyan Civil War
- Syrian Civil War
- Russo-Ukrainian War
- Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- OLA insurgency
- Tigray War
- War in Amhara
See also
- Degtyarev-Garanin KB-P 790
- FN Minimi
- IWI Negev
- HK MG4
- PKP Pecheneg machine gun
- RPL-20
- Daewoo Precision Industries K3
- Ultimax 100
- IP-2
- List of modern Russian small arms and light weapons
Notes
- ^ a b c Woźniak, Ryszard: Encyklopedia najnowszej broni palnej—tom 4 R–Z, page 32. Bellona, 2002.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-429-76553-7.
- ISBN 9781472808998.
- ^ Soldiers. Department of the Army. 1982.
- ^ Dye, Dale A. (2018-08-19). Small Arms of the Vietnam War: A Photographic Study. Warriors Publishing Group.
- ISBN 978-0-7535-4774-8.
- ISBN 978-1-4728-4176-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-78274-274-6.
- ^ "RPD Belt Loader". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
- ^ "cleaning kit".
- ^ "CLEANING – TOOL – SPARE PARTS KIT – RPD". RTG Parts, LLC. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- ^ Johnston, Gary Paul (December 2012). "The 21st Century RPD". Soldier of Fortune. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
- ^ Chevraux, Jacob (February 26, 2013). "Gun Review: DS Arms RPD Carbine: An affordable belt-fed rifle". Guns.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
- ^ "Semiautomatic RPD Build". www.smallarmsreview.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
- ^ "wiw_sa_bolivia worldinventory". 2016-11-24. Archived from the original on 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- ISBN 978-0-521-88039-8. Archivedfrom the original on 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ISBN 9780850458510.
- ISBN 0199251754. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ISBN 978-963-327-461-3.
- ^ "RPD: Eksistensi Senapan Mesin Regu Legendaris TNI/Polri". Indomiliter.com (in Indonesian). 2017-01-25. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
- ^ de Tessières, Savannah (April 2012). Enquête nationale sur les armes légères et de petit calibre en Côte d'Ivoire: les défis du contrôle des armes et de la lutte contre la violence armée avant la crise post-électorale (PDF) (Report). Special Report No. 14 (in French). UNDP, Commission Nationale de Lutte contre la Prolifération et la Circulation Illicite des Armes Légères et de Petit Calibre and Small Arms Survey. p. 74. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
- ^ Berman, Eric G. (March 2019). Beyond Blue Helmets: Promoting Weapons and Ammunition Management in Non-UN Peace Operations (PDF). Small Arms Survey/MPOME. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2019.
- ^ "Nigér special forces fielding Bulgarian made AR-M52T assault rifles". 30 March 2023. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023.
The country's special forces contingent were seen during the Flintlock 2023 joint exercise with the Bulgarian firearm. The country's military forces typically uses the various variants of the Soviet-built AKMs assault rifle, RPD and RPK squad automatic weapons, as well as the Chinese Type 56 assault rifle.
- ^ "North Korean Small Arms (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)". Small Arms Review. Vol. 16, no. 2. June 2012. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
- ^ ISBN 9781472822512. Archivedfrom the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- ^ Noir, War. "Weaponry of the Georgian Combatants in Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces Following the Invasion". www.militantwire.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
- ^ Association, National Rifle. "An Official Journal Of The NRA | Behind Enemy Lines: Guns of Vietnam's SOG Warriors". An Official Journal Of The NRA. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ISBN 1-84065-245-4.
- ^ "Bewaffnung". fallschirmjaeger-nva.de (in German). Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ Small Arms Survey (1998). Politics From The Barrel of a Gun (PDF). Cambridge University Press. p. 40. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
- ^ "מתנות מהאויב: ההיסטוריה המפותלת של נשק השלל". Mako. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-61200-345-0.
- ISBN 978-0-19-928085-8. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ^ "Portuguese Military Procurement During the Colonial War (1961-1974)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 9, 2022.
- ^ "Soviet RPD light-machine gun". iwm.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
- ISBN 9780850454512.
- ISBN 9780850458008.
- ^ "Arms for freedom". 29 December 2017. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
- ISBN 9780850456028.
- ^ Sicard, Jacques (November 1982). "Les armes de Kolwezi". La Gazette des armes (in French). No. 111. pp. 25–30. Archived from the original on 2018-10-19. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
- ISBN 978-9623610094.
- ISBN 978-0-521-19714-4. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
References
- Gander, Terry; Charles Q. Cutshaw (February 2002). Jane's Infantry Weapons, 2002–2003. Surrey, United Kingdom: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2434-5.
- Woźniak, Ryszard (2002). Encyklopedia najnowszej broni palnej—tom 4 R-Z. Warsaw, Poland: Bellona. ISBN 83-11-09312-1.