A 1938 DShK at the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps in St. Petersburg
Type
Heavy machine gun
Place of origin
Soviet Union
Service history
In service
1938–present
Used by
See Users
Wars
Second World War
Winter War
Chinese Civil War
First Indochina War
Korean War
Vietnam War
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Operation Trikora
First Sudanese Civil War
Laotian Civil War
Dhofar Rebellion
Portuguese Colonial War
South African Border War
Cambodian Civil War
Six Day War
Yom Kippur War
Rhodesian Bush War
Ethiopian Civil War
Lebanese Civil War[1]
Angolan Civil War[2]
Cambodian-Vietnamese War
Western Sahara War[3]
Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)
Sino-Vietnamese War
Chadian–Libyan War[4]
Iran–Iraq War
Second Sudanese Civil War
Sri Lankan Civil War
The Troubles
First and Second Liberian Civil Wars
Somali Civil War[5]
Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995)[6]
Gulf War
Yugoslav Wars
Rwandan Civil War[7]
First and Second Chechen Wars [5]
Kargil War
Operation Enduring Freedom
Iraq War[8]
Cambodian–Thai border dispute
First Libyan Civil War[9]
Syrian Civil War[10]
Operation Linda Nchi
Northern Mali conflict[11]
War in Iraq (2013–2017)[12]
Second Libyan Civil War
2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)[13]
Conflict in Najran, Jizan and Asir
Tigray War
Russian invasion of Ukraine
Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)
Production history
Designer
Vasily Degtyaryov Georgi Shpagin
Designed
1938
Manufacturer
Tula Arms Plant
Unit cost
US$2,250 (2012)
Produced
1938–1980 (Soviet Union)
No. built
1,000,000
Variants
DShK 38/46 Type 54
Specifications
Mass
34 kg (74 lb 15 oz) (gun only) 157 kg (346 lb 2 oz) on wheeled mounting
Length
1,625 mm (5 ft 4.0 in)
Barrel length
1,070 mm (42.1 in)
Cartridge
12.7×108mm 12.7×99mm (Romania)[14]
Action
Gas-operated, flapper locking
Rate of fire
600 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity
850 m/s (2,800 ft/s)
Effective firing range
2,000 m (2,200 yd)
Maximum firing range
2,500 m (2,700 yd)
Feed system
50 round belt
Sights
Iron/optical
The DShK 1938 (Cyrillic: ДШК, for Russian: Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, romanized: Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin large-calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun. The weapon may be vehicle mounted or used on a tripod or wheeled carriage as a heavy infantry machine gun. The DShK's name is derived from its original designer, Vasily Degtyaryov, and Georgi Shpagin, who later improved the cartridge feed mechanism. It is sometimes nicknamed Dushka (a dear or beloved person) in Russian-speaking countries, from the abbreviation.[15]
^Neville, Leigh (19 Apr 2018). Technicals: Non-Standard Tactical Vehicles from the Great Toyota War to modern Special Forces. New Vanguard 257. Osprey Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 9781472822512. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
^Fitzsimmons, Scott (November 2012). "Executive Outcomes Defeats UNITA". Mercenaries in Asymmetric Conflicts. Cambridge University Press. p. 217. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139208727.006. ISBN 9781107026919.
^Francesco Palmas (2012). "Il contenzioso del sahara occidentale fra passato e presente" (PDF). Informazioni della Difesa (in Italian). No. 4. pp. 50–59. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
^Neville 2018, p. 16.
^ abNeville 2018, p. 24.
^Small Arms Survey (2005). "Sourcing the Tools of War: Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones". Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War. Oxford University Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-19-928085-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
^"Rwandan government soldiers fire 12 June 1994 heavy artillery at".
^Neville 2018, p. 30.
^Neville 2018, p. 35.
^Neville 2018, p. 37.
^Cite error: The named reference BFA-Mali was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Vining, Miles (May 7, 2018). "ISOF Arms & Equipment Part 3 – Machine Guns". armamentresearch.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
^Neville 2018, p. 38.
^"Cal.12.7 x 99 mm Machine Gun" (PDF). Cugir Arms Factory.
^Green, Michael (2022). Red Army Weapons of the Second World War. Pen and Sword. p. 25.
established position and were manning a DShK HMG on the peak where they planned to set up an observation post. If the DShK was not disabled before then, it could...
gun about 10 years later and selected in 1969 as the successor to the DShK and DShKM machine guns. It was accepted in service by the Soviet Army in 1971...
from a supposedly abandoned DShK position). The Chinook set down at a slight depression, shielding the pilots from the DShK's fire. The pilot, Chief Warrant...
capacity was later fielded by the Soviets in the form of Vasily Degtyaryov's DShK in 12.7×108mm. The ubiquitous German MG42 general-purpose machine gun, though...
transport up to 8 infantry soldiers. Boragh's main armament consists of the DShK 1938/46 12.7 mm heavy machine gun on a rotatable mount. Some vehicles have...
ground around the valley. The insurgents used their ZPU-1 antiaircraft guns, DSHK, and small arms fire against the attack helicopters supporting the Rakkasans...
also worked with fellow Soviet weapons designer Vasily Degtyaryov on the DShK, a heavy machine gun, shortly before the start of World War II. Shpagin was...
develop a lighter 12.7 mm machine gun to replace the Type 54 (indigenous DShK) that was more suited for mobile anti-aircraft applications. The weapon was...
full effectiveness; or heavy machine guns (such as the M2 Browning or the DShK) which fire more powerful cartridges but are also crew-served and typically...
Rwanda: Unamir 1994/1995. Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921941-48-1. "12.7mm DShK heavy machinegun". Retrieved 23 July 2023. IISS 2019, pp. 297 Oerlikon Contraves...
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