January 31st, 2023
5minute read
TheRuchnoi Pulemet Degtyarevlight machine gun first drew breath in 1943.
It was the most advanced light machine gun in the world at the time.
The RPD was actually built around a radical new cartridge.
The RPD is an almost unnaturally sleek belt-fed light machine gun. The gun’s modest weight and trim architecture make it exceptionally maneuverable.
The Combloc 7.62x39mm intermediate round changed the way the world made combat weapons.
The subsequent Soviet M43 7.62x39mm round sported a 122-gr.
bimetal Spitzer bullet atop an abbreviated, tapered case.
An Egyptian marine aims a Soviet-made RPD 7.62mm light machine gun during an amphibious assault in support of the multinational joint service Exercise Bright Star ’85. Image: NARA
The result was compact, lightweight, powerful, and revolutionary for its era.
One of the first operational infantry weapons that fired this new round was the RPD light machine gun.
The more-familiar Kalashnikov assault rifle first saw service a few years later.
The RPD is a streamlined weapon that is easy to control yet still offers a lot of firepower.
The RPD is an elegant, compact and streamlined weapon.
The gas system incorporates three different positions, but adjustments are tedious and require a special tool.
The RPDs reusable non-disintegrating belts are philosophically similar to those used on the WWII-vintageGerman MG34and MG42 machine guns.
These RPD machine guns were captured by U.S. forces in Iraq during the 2003 invasion. Image: DoD
Each link is affixed to its neighbor via a short spiral of stiff wire.
Belts are loaded brass to the grass with the links on the top.
The RPD drums have no internal moving parts and are simply used to keep the belts clean and untangled.
U.S.M.C. SSgt. Timothy Pierce shows Naval Joint Reserve Officer’s students how to assemble and disassemble an RPD light machine gun at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek. Image: DoD/Cpl. Desmond Martin
The first belt in the drum incorporates a starter tab.
The RPD fires from the open bolt and is full-auto-only.
Pressure on the trigger releases the bolt assembly, and the gun runs.
The RPD is easy to control, making it very effective. At close to moderate ranges it will easily chew up a target.
After fifty rounds the first spent belt falls free while the following belt feeds automatically.
The RPD is a superb design, but it isnt perfect.
The gun heats up quickly, particularly when fired in generous bursts.
Roughly 80 years old, the RPD remains an effective weapon. Its influence can be felt in modern squad automatic weapons.
Its lack of a quick-change barrel limits the weapons utility in the sustained fire role.
However, the RPD weighs just over half what theM60 General Purpose Machine Gundoes.
When every important item in your world rides on your back, this makes a huge difference.
The RPD is designed to be loaded from the left side using the starter tab.
Just lock the bolt to the rear, thread the tab through, and give it a sharp tug.
There is also a stop built into the top cover mechanism that limits it at about the 45-degree point.
In my experience, the RPD has been supremely reliable.
LMG Trigger Time
The RPD is an exceptional light machine gun.
The intermediate cartridge keeps recoil in check and ensures that the weapon is controllable.
Reloads are structurally slower than the same chore with amagazine-fed gun like the RPK.
However, 100 rounds on tap can be mighty reassuring in a serious scrap.
The fixed barrel limits operations to two or three drums worth of ammunition fired in rapid succession.
Even then, the forearm becomes intolerably hot.
The modest weight of the gun allows it to be fired in short bursts off the shoulder.
Ruminations
When first introduced, the RPD was well ahead of its time.
Most comparable weapons are heavier and bulkier even today.
The gun has seen action all over the world for three quarters of a century.
Its modest weight, reliability and human engineering have kept it popular.
He obviously survived, but also held the gun in justifiably high regard.
An acquaintance carried a chopped version while serving as a security contractor in Iraq after the 2003 invasion.
Captured RPDs were indeed popular with aviators and special operations forces in Vietnam whenever they could be found.
The RPD is an exceptionally effective SAW that has stood the test of time.
