RPD machine gun

For other uses, see RPD (disambiguation).

RPD
A right-side view of the RPD
Type	Light machine gun Squad automatic weapon
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 (Russian: ручной пулемёт Дегтярёва, romanized: Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova, English: Degtyaryov hand-held machine gun) is a 7.62x39mm light machine gun developed in the Soviet Union by Vasily Degtyaryov for the 7.62×39mm M43 intermediate cartridge. It was created as a replacement for the DP machine gun chambered for the 7.62×54mmR round. It is a precursor of most squad automatic weapons.^[1] It was succeeded in Soviet service by the RPK.

History

RPD light machine gun at the Mikkeli Infantry museum

Feeding system of RPD machine gun

A captured Fedayeen weapons cache of RPD machine guns, outside of Jaman Al Juburi, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom

RPD from Polish Army depot

RPD converted to 5.56×45mm NATO by IMI at the Israel Defense Forces History Museum

RPD at the Israel Defense Forces History Museum

A Central African soldier in a patrol armed with a RPD machine gun during a joint military operation in the streets of Birao, 2007

An Egyptian marine aiming a RPD during the combined and joint training exercise Operation Bright Star '85

A U.S. Marine sighting in with the RPD, 2005

Bangladesh Army personnel on BTR-80 during Bangladesh Rifles Mutiny, 2009. Note the left one holding a RPD.

Work on the weapon commenced in 1943. Three prominent Soviet engineers were asked to submit their own designs: Vasily Degtyaryov, Sergei Simonov and Alexei Sudayev. Among the completed prototypes prepared for evaluation, the Degtyaryov design proved superior and was accepted into service with the Soviet armed forces as the 7.62 mm Ручной Пулемёт Дегтярёва, PПД (RPD, Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova or "Degtyaryov light machine gun") model 1944.^[2]

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 automatic weapon using a gas-operated long-stroke piston system^[8] and a locking system recycled from previous Degtyaryov small arms^{[citation needed]}, consisting of a pair of hinged flaps set in recesses on each side of the receiver.^[8]

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 safety mechanism that secures the weapon against accidental firing by blocking the bolt catch when engaged. Unlike Degtyarov's earlier firearm patents, the RPD's return spring is located inside the butt.

Like many other Russian-made firearms, the chamber and bore are chrome-lined, greatly decreasing the risk of corrosion and jamming.^{[citation needed]}

The weapon has a non-removable barrel with a three-position gas adjustment valve used to control the performance of the gas system. It is also equipped with a folding integral bipod, wooden shoulder stock, foregrip and pistol grip. The firearm strips down into the following major groups: the receiver and barrel, bolt, bolt carrier, feed tray and feed cover, the recoil mechanism and the trigger group and stock.^{[citation needed]}

Feeding

The RPD fires from an open bolt in full auto only. There is no provision for semi-auto fire, although RPD gunners were trained to fire in short bursts to prolong the life of the non-quick-change barrels. The RPD feeds ammunition from the left side using a metallic, open-link, non-disintegrating belt typically holding 100 rounds of 7.62x39 ammunition. Unlike many other belt-fed automatic weapons, where the rounds must be pulled out the rear of the belt and then pushed forward into the chamber, the RPD uses a simpler "push through" design where the rounds are pushed out the front of the belt and into the chamber. At least three variants of the RPD belt were produced. The Russians and Hungarians both produced 50-round belt segments, while the Chinese produced 25-round belt segments.

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 quickly become clogged from debris. ^{[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 rail (attached to the left side of the receiver) to accept an NSP-2 night vision sight.^{[citation needed]}

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 charging handle (replacing the fixed charging handle connected to the bolt carrier) that does not move during firing. The feed port received a dust cover, which when open, serves as a feeding ramp for the ammunition belt. This version of the light machine gun was produced mainly in China and Poland.

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 fluted 17.5-inch barrel, modern front sight, alloy handguard with rails, M249-type pistol grip and M4 recoil spring tube and buttstock.^[12][13]

Civilian variants

Because semi-auto RPD variants are manufactured using de-milled parts kits from full-auto RPD machine guns, in order to comply with ATF regulations the full-auto parts must be modified such that the resulting semi-auto rifle cannot be readily converted into a machine gun. Numerous machining operations are necessary to modify the de-milled full-auto RPD parts for use in a semi-auto RPD receiver. For example, the side rails on the bolt carrier must be machined to fit into the slots of the semi-auto receiver, which are purposefully made too narrow to accept an unmodified full-auto RPD bolt carrier. Additional portions of the bolt carrier that are necessary for full-auto firing, such as the sear engagement surface, must be machined off during the semi-auto conversion process.

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

A map with RPD users in blue and former users in red

•  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
•  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic: used on Land Rovers^[26]
•  Seychelles^[15]
•  Sierra Leone^[15]
•  Somalia^[15]
•  Sudan^[15]
•  Syria^[15]
•  Tanzania^[15]
•  Togo^[15]
•  Uganda^[15]
•  Ukraine^[27]
•  United States: Modified version issued to MACVSOG, with shortened barrel and 125 round belt^[28]
•  Vietnam^[15]
•  Yemen^[15]
•  Zimbabwe^[15]

Former users

•  China: Type 56 and Type 56-1.^[29] Superseded by the Type 81 LMG and 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

• People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad^[34]

Wars

• Vietnam War
• Portuguese Colonial War^[35]
• Laotian Civil War
• Suez Crisis^[36]
• Sino-Indian War
• Cambodian Civil War
• Six-Day War^[37]
• Battle of Karameh
• Black September
• Indonesian invasion of East Timor
• Yom Kippur War^[38]
• Rhodesian Bush War
• South African Border War
• Angolan Civil War
• Mozambican Civil 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 (2001–2021)
• Iraq War
• Ivorian Civil Wars
• Thai–Laotian Border War
• War in North-West Pakistan
• Cambodian–Thai border stand-off
• First Libyan Civil War
• Syrian Civil War
• Russo-Ukrainian War
• Yemeni Civil War (2014–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

1. Woźniak, Ryszard: Encyklopedia najnowszej broni palnej—tom 4 R–Z, page 32. Bellona, 2002.
2. Mikko, Don; Bailey, William (2019-05-13). Battlefield Forensics for Persian Gulf States: Regional and U.S. Military Weapons, Ammunition, and Headstamp Markings. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-429-76553-7.
3. Higgins, David R. (20 Aug 2015). US Marine vs NVA Soldier: Vietnam 1967–68. Combat 13. Osprey Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 9781472808998.
4. Soldiers. Department of the Army. 1982.
5. Dye, Dale A. (2018-08-19). Small Arms of the Vietnam War: A Photographic Study. Warriors Publishing Group.
6. Ashcroft, James (2011-07-31). Making A Killing: The Explosive Story of a Hired Gun in Iraq. Random House. ISBN 978-0-7535-4774-8.
7. McNab, Chris (2020-09-17). US Air Cavalry Trooper vs North Vietnamese Soldier: Vietnam 1965–68. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-4176-6.
8. McNab, Chris (2015-12-22). The World's Greatest Small Arms: An Illustrated History. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78274-274-6.
9. "RPD Belt Loader". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
10. "cleaning kit".
11. "CLEANING – TOOL – SPARE PARTS KIT – RPD". RTG Parts, LLC. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
12. Johnston, Gary Paul (December 2012). "The 21st Century RPD". Soldier of Fortune. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
13. 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.
14. "Semiautomatic RPD Build". www.smallarmsreview.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
15. Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
16. "wiw_sa_bolivia worldinventory". 2016-11-24. Archived from the original on 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
17. Small Arms Survey (2007). "Armed Violence in Burundi: Conflict and Post-Conflict Bujumbura" (PDF). The Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City. Cambridge University Press. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-521-88039-8. Archived from the original on 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
18. Conboy, Kenneth; Bowra, Ken (15 June 1989). The War in Cambodia 1970–75. Men-at-Arms 209. Osprey Publishing. p. 41. ISBN 9780850458510.
19. Small Arms Survey (2003). "Making the Difference?: Weapon Collection and Small Arms Availability in the Republic of Congo". Small Arms Survey 2003: Development Denied. Oxford University Press. p. 267. ISBN 0199251754. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
20. Lugosi, József (2008). "Gyalogsági fegyverek 1868–2008". In Lugosi, József; Markó, György (eds.). Hazánk dicsőségére: 160 éves a Magyar Honvédség. Budapest: Zrínyi Kiadó. p. 384. ISBN 978-963-327-461-3.
21. "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.
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.
23. 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.
24. "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.
25. "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.
26. Neville, Leigh (19 Apr 2018). Technicals: Non-Standard Tactical Vehicles from the Great Toyota War to modern Special Forces. New Vanguard 257. Osprey Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 9781472822512. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. Miller, David (2001). The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns. Salamander Books Ltd. ISBN 1-84065-245-4.
30. "Bewaffnung". fallschirmjaeger-nva.de (in German). Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
31. 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.
32. "מתנות מהאויב: ההיסטוריה המפותלת של נשק השלל". Mako. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
33. Wessels, Hannes (October 19, 2015). A Handful of Hard Men: The SAS and the Battle for Rhodesia (illustrated ed.). South Africa: Casemate. ISBN 978-1-61200-345-0.
34. Small Arms Survey (2005). "Sourcing the Tools of War: Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones". Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War. Oxford University Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-19-928085-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
35. "Portuguese Military Procurement During the Colonial War (1961-1974)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 9, 2022.
36. "Soviet RPD light-machine gun". iwm.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
37. Laffin, John (15 Jun 1982). Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars 1948–73. Men-at-Arms 128. Osprey Publishing. pp. 30–31. ISBN 9780850454512.
38. Katz, Sam (24 Mar 1988). Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars (2). Men-at-Arms 128. Osprey Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 9780850458008.
39. "Arms for freedom". 29 December 2017. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
40. Katz, Sam; Russell, Lee E (25 Jul 1985). Armies in Lebanon 1982–84. Men-at-Arms 165. Osprey Publishing. p. 44. ISBN 9780850456028.
41. 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.
42. Isby, David C. (1990). The War in Afghanistan 1979–1989: The Soviet Empire at High Tide. Concord Publications. p. 14. ISBN 978-9623610094.
43. Small Arms Survey (2012). "Surveying the Battlefield: Illicit Arms In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia". Small Arms Survey 2012: Moving Targets. Cambridge University Press. p. 339. 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.

External links

• Soviet RPD Manual Covering Operation and Repair
• Modern Firearms