Weapons I

DP-28 Light Machine Gun: This was the main light machine gun used by Soviet infantry. Nicknamed the ‘record player’ because of its large round magazine. The magazine held 47 bullets. Another version, the DT with a taller magazine was used for vehicles.

Maxim Heavy Machine Gun: In use from WW1, and despite it’s weight, the maxim remained the main Red Army heavy machine gun throughout the war. The ‘Sokolov’ trolley mount allowed the gun to be moved quickly and the shield offered protection for the crew, other mounts included ‘panji’ horse drawn carts and sledges in winter. This model has a large ‘snow’ cap allowing snow to be used to cool the barrel in winter.

PPSh 41 Sub Machine Gun: The iconic Red Army sub-machinegun which could be fitted either with a round (holding 71 rounds) or with a stick magazine. With a longer effective range than other SMGs, and a rate of fire of 100 rounds a minute (similar to the German MG42), it was a formidable weapon especially in close quarter fighting. Over 5 million were produced.

 

All Soviet small arms fired a 7.62 mm bullet with a long round for rifles and machine guns and a short one for pistols, revolvers and sub machine guns. This standardisation allowed factories to mass produce effective weapons.

SVT 40 Self Loading Rifle: The Red Army was one of the first to experiment with small arms and produced a number of semi-automatic rifles of which the SVT 40, produced by the Tokarev company, was the most successful. The magazine held 10 rounds.

 

The weapon was issued to specialist units such as snipers, combat engineers and naval infantry only, the reason being that it was believed the ordinary Red Army soldier wouldn’t give the weapon the care and attention needed to maintain this complex rifle.

PTRD/PTRS Anti-Tank Rifle: The single shot PTRD and semi-automatic PTRS fired a 14.5 mm round. The Red Army continued to use anti-tank rifles even though the other nations in the war had discarded them as obsolete.

 

By 1942 the rifle was incapable of penetrating the front armour of tanks, it could however still damage lightly armoured vehicles such as armoured cars and personnel carriers, hit enemy infantry hiding behind light cover and on one occasion, in Stalingrad, shoot down a ‘Stuka’ dive bomber.

Mosin Nagant 1891 Rifle/Carbine: The main weapon used by the Soviet infantryman during the war.  A simple bolt action rifle, It Fired a 7.62 bullet from a magazine box holding 5 rounds. The carbine version was used by tank and artillery crew and cavalry. The bayonet was kept permanently attached to the rifle. The 1944 model carbine had a bayonet that folded along the side of the barrel (top right). Rugged and reliable, the rifle would continue to fire in temperatures of –40 degrees where more delicately machined German weapons would seized up.