Reply #54: Pretty much [View All]

[one-eyed fat man]

The Russians issued more submachineguns than any of the other combatants during WW2 sometimes equipping whole regiments or divisions with them. The PPSh-41 (Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina)had a simple blowback action, a box or drum magazine, and fired the 7.62x25mm pistol round. It was made with metal stampings to ease production, and its chrome-lined chamber and bore helped to make the weapon very low-maintenance in combat environments.

Russian infantry tactics, particularly in urban fighting like Stalingrad, were based on the "high volume bullet hose." From a submachinegun, the 7.62x25 cartridge was not very much behind the US M1 carbine in performance.

The PPSh-41 was a classic example of a design adapted for mass production Its parts (excluding the barrel) could be produced by a relatively unskilled workforce with simple equipment available in an auto repair garage or sheet metal shop, freeing up more skilled workers for other tasks. By the spring of 1942 the Russians were building 3000 a day, 6 million by wars end.

The follow on PPS-43 could be produced in even less time. Both it and its Chicom copy Type 54 were common in Viet Nam.

PPSh-41 firing