Original Item: Only One Available. The 7.62 mm Ruchnoy Pulemyot DP (Degtyaryova pakhotnyi) was adopted by the Soviet army in 1928. It is extremely simple, yet remarkably reliable and robust. It remained the standard light gun until the 50's, and large numbers of them were used by the North Korean and Chinese Communists in the Korean war. The secret of the DP was the simple locking device, which makes use of locking flaps on the bolt, pushed out by the firing pin. The DP proved resistant to dust and dirt, and free from any serious vices.

In 1943-1944 during WWII, a modern version of the DP28 was adopted by Soviet forces, called the DPM. This featured a more robust bipod fastened to the cooling jacket and also had the recoil spring housed in a tube projecting from the rear of the receiver. The latter necessitated a pistol grip for this version, as the spring housing interfered with the standard rifle style grip. After WWII and the rise of the "Iron Curtain" Eastern Bloc Soviet Sphere of influence, the DPM was adopted by several countries including Poland and Romania. China also made a version of the weapon called the "Type 53".

This is a fantastic original Polish 7.62 x 54R DPM Display light machine gun, complete with an original pan magazine and bipod! Also, unlike almost all other examples we have, this one was made using an original re-welded display receiver, with the correct 20% replaced with solid steel bar stock per BATF regulations. We left the rear top of the receiver un-welded to avoid destroying the date marking.

This display gun is constructed of all original parts on a totally re-welded display receiver. It is fully approved by the BATF and can be purchased without a license. The receiver is marked with 11 in a Circle behind the rear sight, which is the Polish arsenal marking for Zakłady Metalowe im. gen. "Waltera" (General Walter Metal Works). Located in Radom, Poland, this is a factory with a lot of history, having produced and designed numerous arms. It received the factory code number of 11 to prevent confusion with an earlier Factory #11, the number received a single circle around it to differentiate it. Under the factory number is a faint 1954 date, and on the rear of the trigger group is serial number BR0520.

Condition is excellent, with a very good condition Buttstock, which still has the original oil bottle and intact brush. The butt stock has a lovely color and varnished finish, with just a bit of damage from the recoil assembly. Most of the metalwork still retains the heavy factory bluing, showing a bit of wear from service. The re-welded receiver and the rear sight have been painted gunmetal gray. It comes complete with an original DP28 Pan magazine, which will be deactivated where required. Also included with this display gun are parts left over from the parts set used to built it, which include the recoil spring, firing pin / recoil spring guide, bolt assembly, and a few other components.

We have not had one of these available for some time, and possibly never before with an original re-welded receiver, and these always go quickly. This is a chance to add a hard to find Polish DPM display gun to your WWII collection!

More on the DP 28 Machine Gun

The Degtyaryov machine gun (Russian: Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный Pulemyot Degtyaryova Pekhotny "Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun") or DP is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was used primarily by the Soviet Union starting in 1928. The DP machine gun was supplemented in the 1950s by the more modern RPD machine gun and entirely replaced in Soviet service by the general purpose PK machine gun in the 1960s.

Design:

The DP-28 was an improvement of the earlier DP-26, both designed by Vasily Degtyaryov. The DP-28 was relatively cheap and easy to manufacture - early models had fewer than 80 parts. The DP was especially able to withstand dirt in a reliable fashion. In tests it was buried in sand and mud and was still capable of firing more than 500 rounds. One of the DP's main drawbacks though was its bipod; it could not withstand much abuse and broke easily. Furthermore, the recoil spring was located under the barrel, around the gas piston; this was one of the design problems of the DP, since the spring tended to lose its temper due to overheating. Also, the only magazine option, a pan with 47 rounds that fed in from the top, was relatively small and continuous fire for long periods could not be relied on as much as contemporary belt-fed weapons. The ammunition was troublesome for automatic fire. Degtyarov had to use a flat pan magazine, which could feed those cartridges reliably, but was too heavy itself, uncomfortable to carry and prone to damage. Due to the design of the magazine, reloading an empty magazine with cartridges took a very long time. A redeeming factor was that the DP's lower cyclic rate of fire did however reduce the risk of barrel overheating.

Service History:

Despite its numerous problems the DP had a reputation as a relatively effective light support weapon. It was nicknamed the "Record player" (proigryvatel') by Red Army troops because the disc-shaped pan magazine resembled a gramophone record and its top cover revolved while the weapon was fired. Many were captured by the Finnish army in the Winter War and the Continuation War and partially replaced the Lahti-Saloranta M/26. The DP received the nickname Emma in Finnish service after a popular waltz. In the summer of 1944, the Finnish army had about 3400 Finnish-made Lahti-Salorantas and 9000 captured Soviet-made Degtyarevs on the front.

The Chinese Nationalists received 5,600 DPs from the USSR and used them in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. The Chinese Communists used the DP in the Korean War and copied the DPM as the Type 53.

A number of the RP-46 variant of the DP have been spotted in present day Somalia, in use with militant forces, and also among rebel forces in the 2011 Libyan uprising to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.