RPD in WWII?

[Trendkill]

Does anyone know: would the Russian RPD machinegun have seen any action during the last stages of World War II?

 

[LemoN]

highly doubt it

 

[User Name]

The RPD was developed for the Russian military in 1944 for use as a squad automatic weapon, and entered service during the 1950s

 

[Reddog]

Interstingly though the SKS did see action in WW2, it was field tested with a certain unit and enjoyed great success.

 

[Gunfan9x19]

Interstingly though the SKS did see action in WW2, it was field tested with a certain unit and enjoyed great success.

Although, IIRC, it did get shipped out for testing until March or April '45, so it didn't really see a whole lot of combat.

I'd love to get my hands on one of those "field-test" SKSs, though. Wouldn't mind a PTRS, either, as long we're talking Simonov .

 

[Boogerhead]

The RPD was developed for the Russian military in 1944 for use as a squad automatic weapon, and entered service during the 1950s

An unsourced quote off Wikipedia, from a page that says it was in service from 1945 to current (see sidebar). So it's contradicting itself ...

 

[User Name]

An unsourced quote off Wikipedia, from a page that says it was in service from 1945 to current (see sidebar). So it's contradicting itself ...

If you clicked on any of the links on there it would have taken you to a wiki page. Why put a source when it's that obvious.

 

[Boogerhead]

If you clicked on any of the links on there it would have taken you to a wiki page. Why put a source when it's that obvious.

Nonono -- I wasn't disparaging you, but rather a stub-level Wikipedia entry.

Wikipedia can be great, but this isn't one of those times. The entry's self-contradictory, and offers no sources for its claims, so there's no way to research whether the RPD entered service in the 1950s or 1945 or somewhere in-between.

 

[Seth_Soldier]

An unsourced quote off Wikipedia, from a page that says it was in service from 1945 to current (see sidebar). So it's contradicting itself ...

Because there is a difference between a field-test and the official adoption by the army ?

 

[Boogerhead]

Because there is a difference between a field-test and the official adoption by the army ?

Umm.

The RPD was developed for the Russian military in 1944 for use as a squad automatic weapon, and entered service during the 1950s.

Service history In service 1945

 

[Bolt]

It was developed circa 1944 and was a standard squad automatic weapon of Soviet army since early 1950s and until 1960s

http://world.guns.ru/machine/mg14-e.htm

 

[brucevilla]

So where has been the RPD put now?

 

[waregim]

The RPD is a light machine gun that was produced and probably practiced in inadequate numbers by the Soviet Union during World War II.