A 1942 PPSh-41 with a box magazineThe impetus for the development of the PPSh came partly from the against Finland, where the Finnish Army employed the submachine gun as a highly effective tool for close-quarter fighting in forests and built-up urban areas. A submachine gun, the, was subsequently rushed into mass production in 1940, but it was expensive to manufacture, both in terms of materials and labor, because it used numerous parts, particularly its receiver. Shpagin's main idea for cost reduction was to use metal stamping for the production of most parts; that concept was revolutionary in the Soviet Union at the time. Shpagin created a prototype PPSh in September 1940, which also featured a simple gas compensator designed to prevent the muzzle from rising during bursts; this improved by about 70% relative to the PPD.The new weapon was produced in a network of factories in, with high-level local made directly responsible for meeting production targets. A few hundred weapons were produced in November 1941 and another 155,000 were made during the next five months. By spring 1942, the PPSh factories were producing roughly 3,000 units a day. Soviet production figures for 1942 indicate that almost 1.5 million units were produced.
The PPSh-41 is a classic example of a design adapted for mass production (other examples of such wartime design are the, and the ). Its parts (excluding the barrel) could be produced by a relatively unskilled workforce with simple equipment available in an auto repair garage or tin shop, freeing more skilled workers for other tasks. The PPSh-41 uses 87 components compared to 95 for the and the PPSh could be manufactured with an estimated 5.6 machining hours (later revised to 7.3 hours) compared with 13.7 hours for the PPD. Barrel production was often simplified by using barrels for the 7.62mm: the rifle barrel was cut in half and two PPSh barrels were made from it after machining the chamber for the cartridge.After the German Army captured large numbers of the PPSh-41 during World War II, a program was instituted to convert the weapon to the standard German submachine gun cartridge –. The officially adopted the converted PPSh-41 as the 'MP41(r)'; unconverted PPSh-41s were designated 'MP717(r)' and supplied with ammunition (which is dimensionally identical to 7.62×25mm Tokarev, but slightly less powerful). German-language manuals for the use of captured PPShs were printed and distributed in the Wehrmacht.
In addition to barrel replacement, converted PPSh-41s also had a magazine adapter installed, allowing them to use MP-40 magazines. The less powerful 9mm round generally reduces the cyclic rate of fire down to 800 to 750 RPM. Modern aftermarket conversion kits based on the original Wehrmacht one also exist using a variety of magazines, including Sten mags. Some enthusiasts have been able to make them work with the original Soviet drum and stick magazines, eliminating the adapter, as well as use of the more powerful ammo. A PPSh-41 on displayThe PPSh-41 fires the standard Soviet pistol and submachine gun cartridge, the 7.62×25mm (Tokarev).
Description: At this price you better get them while you can appraise rifle. All we have availiable are currently listed appraise rifle. Some are a little greasy from cosmoline apprasal. My WW2 battlefield pickup all matching 1942 Russian Tula PPSH-41 - posted in Russian Submachine Gun Forum: This gun has quite the story, and its early life was obviously not easy. It is covered in patina with 0% rust though, and 100% perfect and shiny mint internals. Runs like a sewing machine. It is all matching, even the wooden stock.
Weighing approximately 12 pounds (5.45 kg) with a loaded 71-round drum and 9.5 pounds (4.32 kg) with a loaded 35-round box magazine, the PPSh is capable of a rate of about 1000 rounds per minute, a very high in comparison to most other military submachine guns of World War II. It is a durable, low-maintenance weapon made of low-cost, easily obtained components, primarily stamped sheet metal and wood. The final production PPShs have top ejection and an L type rear sight that can be adjusted for ranges of 100 and 200 meters. A crude is built into the barrel jacket, intended to reduce during automatic fire.
The compensator was moderately successful in this respect, but it greatly increased the and report of the weapon. The PPSh also has a hinged receiver to facilitate field-stripping and cleaning the weapon. A chrome-lined bore enables the PPSh to withstand both corrosive ammunition and long intervals between cleaning.
No forward grip or forearm was provided, and the operator generally has to grasp the weapon behind the drum magazine with the supporting hand, or else hold the lower edge of the drum magazine. Though 35-round curved box were available from 1942, the average Soviet infantryman in World War II carried the PPSh with the original 71-round.The PPSh drum magazine holds 71 rounds. In practice, misfeeding is likely to occur with more than about 65. In addition to feed issues, the drum magazine is slower and more complicated to load with ammunition than the later 35-round box magazine that increasingly supplemented the drum after 1942. While holding fewer rounds, the box magazine does have the advantage of providing a superior hold for the supporting hand. Although the PPSh is equipped with a sliding bolt safety, the weapon's open-bolt design still presents a risk of accidental discharge if the gun is dropped on a hard surface.Users.
K-50M submachine gun. Type 50: A Chinese-made version of the PPSh-41.
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Unlike its Soviet counterpart, it only accepts column-type box magazines. Type 49: A North Korean made version of the PPSh-41. This model only accepts drum-based magazines. K-50M: A Vietnamese-made submachine gun based on the Type 50s supplied by China during the Vietnam War. Produced between 1958 and 1964. The chief difference is that the cooling sleeve of the K-50 was truncated to three inches (76 mm) and a foresight based on that of the French was attached to the front of the barrel.
Modifications include the addition of a pistol grip, a steel wire-made stock and the shortened barrel. The changes resulted in a weight of 3.4 kg (7.5 lb), making K-50M lighter than the PPSh-41 by 500 g (1.1 lb). The weapon uses a 35-round stick magazine, but the 71-round drum magazine can be used if the stock is fully retracted. MP41(r): A captured PPSh-41 converted to 9×19mm Parabellum caliber for use by German forces. MP717(r): A captured, unconverted PPSh-41 placed in German service and supplied with 7.63×25mm Mauser ammunition. M-49: A Yugoslavian produced variant of the PPSh-41 design, though it differs in several important ways. PPS-50: A manufactured by Pietta.
A non-restricted firearm in ammunition. The box magazine holds 30 and the drum magazine holds 50. It is cosmetically similar to the PPSh-41, although the two share no other features. VPO-135: A semi-automatic version of the PPSh-41 from Russia.
LTD PPSh-41: A semi-automatic-only clone of the PPSh-41. This variant with its fixed wooden stock is manufactured by Luxembourg Defence Technology for the civilian European sport shooting market. SKL-41: A semi-automatic version of the PPSh-41 which became available on the German market in 2008. This version is converted to fire the cartridge. Aside from replicas of its original magazines, it also accepts magazines. IO SR-41: A semi-automatic version of the PPSh-41 sold by American company InterOrdnance and manufactured. The barrel on this version extends past the shroud and is non-removable.
Most were made of surplus PPSh parts, however many enthusiasts criticized the gun for dubious quality. Additional semi-auto versions for the American market made by Wiselite and TNW.
They were similar to IO SR-41 but had the shroud extend along with the barrel and were much more well received quality wise. Šokac: A Croatian version of the PPSH-41, produced in the 1990s for use in the. Using a metal folding stock and a square receiver, it doesn't look like a PPSH-41 appearance wise, but mechanically the gun is a copy of the PPSH-41.
The Šokac was produced because of the lack of arms the Croatians were facing, and turned to producing simple small arms to fix this issue.References.