A 7.62-mm PPSh-41, USSR.

A 7.62-mm PPSh-41, USSR.

The deployment of new mechanized and tank units in the Red Army in 1940, all of which were designed to be armed with ample quantities of submachine guns became a reason for serious concern at the People's Commissariat of Defense, because the domestic manufacturing complex was unable to produce the required number of weapons in a very short time.

In December 1940, the Red Army adopted for service the simple and cheap submachine gun designed by G. S. Shpagin of Kovrovo, who used what was back then the most advanced technology of pressed and welded structures.

The exceptionally simple design of the PPSh enabled many USSR factories — including those that had never produced weapons — to start manufacturing the submachine gun during the first few months of the war. In the course of the war, the design of the gun was modified based upon battle and manufacturing experience.

Due to its high combat characteristics, the PPSh-41 successfully withstood the severe tests of the Great Patriotic War and won acclaim as one of the most popular Soviet small arms.

During the four years of the war, the Soviet defense industry supplied to the army 5.4 million PPSh-41 guns.

Characteristics:
Caliber, mm — 7.62
Weight, unloaded, kg — 3.5
Length, mm — 840
Muzzle velocity, m/s — 500
Effective firing range, m — 500
Rate of fire, rpm — 1,000
Usable rate of fire, rpm — 100-120
Box magazine capacity, rounds — 71