PPSh-41 Submachine Gun History

The PPSh-41 submachine gun was one of the most mass produced weapons of its type of World War II.

It was designed by Georgi Shpagin as an inexpensive alternative to the PPD-40.

The PPSh operated with simple blowback action, had 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 gun very low-maintenance in combat environments.

 (Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina; Russian: Пистолет-пулемёт Шпагина; "Shpagin machine pistol")

Some of the PPSh's drawbacks included the difficulty of reloading, the tendency of the drums to jam (solved by the box magazines)

and the high risk of accidental discharge when dropped - the last being a fault common to all open bolt submachine gun designs.

Despite these drawbacks, the PPSh-41 was still admired by Soviet soldiers for its low recoil, reliability, and lethality at close range.

The PPSh fired the standard 7.62x25mm pistol round such as used in the TT-33 pistol.

The captured PPSh was in particular a favorite weapon of the Germans.

Because of the similarities between the 7.62x25mm Tokarev and the 7.63x25mm Mauser cartridge used in the Mauser C96 pistol,

the PPSh was easily supplied with ammunition.

In fact so many were captured that it became the second-most-common submachinegun used by German forces.

Also, attempts were made to convert the weapon to 9mm Parabellum to conform to German logistics.

The Wehrmacht officially adopted the converted PPSh-41 as the MP41(r);

unconverted PPSh-41s were designated MP717(r) and supplied with 7.63x25mm Mauser ammunition

(which is dimensionally identical to 7.62x25mm, but somewhat less powerful).

German-language manuals for the use of captured PPShs were printed and distributed in the Wehrmacht. ^[7]

During the war the PPS, an even more simplified submachine gun, was introduced in Soviet service,

although it did not replace the PPSh-41 during the war.