Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice original Russian 7.62 x 54R DP 28 Display light machine gun, complete with an original pan magazine, bipod, and sturdy original canvas and leather sling!

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.

This display gun is constructed of all original parts on a totally inert solid aluminum dummy receiver. It is fully approved by the BATF and can be purchased without a license. Condition is very nice, with a very good condition Buttstock, which still has the original oil bottle, though the end of the brush is missing. The pistol grip is in equally excellent condition, with little wear and great ribbing. The Metal finish is good, making this a choice example.

Attached to the gun is a very nice leather and canvas issue sling, which even still has issue markings on it! The sling is in great shape, attached firmly to the sling swivels.

We have not had one of these available for some time, especially with original slings, and these always go quickly. This is a chance to add a hard to find DP 28 style 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.