NAME (NATIVE) – Pistolet-Pulemyot Degtyareva obraztsa 1934
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1934
CALIBER – 7.62x25mm Type P
OVERALL LENGTH – 78.5 cm (30.9 in)
BARREL LENGTH – 26 cm (10.24 in)
RIFLING (TYPE & TWIST) – 4 groove, Right-hand twist, 1 turn in 24 cm (9.45 in)
BULLET DIAMETER – 7.82 mm (0.308 in)
BULLET WEIGHT – 5.64 g (87 grains)
MUZZLE VELOCITY – 488 m/s (1600 fps)
MUZZLE ENERGY – 671 j (495 ft/lb)
WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 3.12 kg (6 lbs 14 oz)
WEIGHT (LOADED) – 3.62 kg (7 lbs 15.6 oz) with 25 round magazine
SIGHTS – Front – Stepped inverted “V”, Rear – Adjustable tangent type with square notch, graduated from 50 to 500 meters (55 to 547 yards) in 50 meter (55 yard) intervals
EFFECTIVE RANGE – 200 m (219 yds)
OPERATION – Blowback, Advanced primer ignition, fires from open bolt
MANUFACTURER – Sestioretsk Arsenal, Voslov, Soviet Union
STATUS – Obsolete
SERVICE – Soviet military and NKVD Border Guards
A close copy of the Bergmann MP28, the PPD was designed by Vasily A. Degtyarev in the early 1930s. This first model of PPD only used a 25-round magazine for feeding, which, combined with the weapon’s high cyclic rate of fire, emptied the magazine in only 2 seconds. But, the PPD 1934 tested as being more accurate and having a higher muzzle velocity that it’s contemporaries and was ordered into production in 1935. Thus, it was the first submachine gun to be issued to Soviet forces., As copied from the Bergmann design, the PPD-34 uses the advanced primer ignition system. There is a camming lever that drives the firing pin, impacting the primer of the chambered round just before the bolt has come fully forward. Some deficiencies in the design were found during further testing in 1935-1936 and modifications were quickly performed by Degtyarev resulting in the PPD-1934/38. Only slightly more than 1,350 specimens of the original design were produced before modifications resulted in the PPD-1934/38.
