Is "Degtyar" so much outdated?
It is generally accepted that the MG-34 squad was "steeper" than the DP-27 squad, it seemed to be correct - Hitler's Circular had a rate of fire of 800-900 rds / min, sowing everything in its path, giving another a reason for the pride of lovers of "guys in mouse overcoats", however….
But first, let's start with a general comparison of the subject.
German infantry squad.
Number - 10 people:
1. Squad leader (submachine gun) - 1 person.
2. Deputy squad leader (magazine rifle) - 1 person.
3. First shooter - (MG 34 machine gun + P08 pistol) - 1 person.
4. Second shooter - assistant machine gunner - (P08 pistol) - 1 person.
5. Third shooter - assistant machine gunner - (rifle 98K) - 1 person.
6. Shooters (rifle M 98K) - 5 people.
In service: 7 magazine rifles (Mauser 98k), 2 pistols P08 (Parabellum) or P38 (Walter), 1 assault rifle (MP-38) and 1 light machine gun (MG 34)
The basis of the combat power of the infantry squad was a light machine gun. The Wehrmacht infantry squad was armed with an MG 34 light machine gun.
MG 34 had the following tactical and technical characteristics:
Rate of fire, rds / min.: 800-900 (combat 100).
Weight, kg: 12.
Sighting range: 700 m
Maximum firing range: from a bipod no more than 1200 m (3500 m on the machine).
All tactics of the Wehrmacht infantry squad were built around a single machine gun 7, 92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 (MG 34). It is considered the first unified machine gun, it allowed firing both from a special machine and from a bipod, if necessary, from the shoulder of the second number. However, it is worth noting that at the compartment level, the MG 34 was used in a manual version. The calculation of the light machine gun in the infantry department consisted of a machine gunner and his assistant, they were assigned a shooter - an ammunition carrier. They all owned a machine gun. The machine gun had the ability to quickly change the barrel. It was equipped with a tape with sections of 50 rounds (with the possibility of connecting into tapes of 250 pieces). The duty of the second number is to feed the tape, preventing skewing. In the department, if necessary, any fighter could become a machine gunner. Since 1942, the MG 34 machine gun began to be replaced by the MG 42.
German infantry squad. In the foreground, on the back is the second number with a box of tape for 250 rounds and a tube of spare barrels. On the left, a soldier holds another box for a tape for 250 rounds - Patronenkasten 34
Soviet infantry squad.
The number of the rifle squad was 11 people.
1. Squad leader (SVT self-loading rifle) - 1 person.
2. Machine gunner (pistol / revolver and DP-27 light machine gun) - 1 person.
3. Assistant machine gunner (SVT self-loading rifle) - 1 person.
4. Machine gunners (submachine guns PPSh / PPD) - 2 people.
5. Shooters (self-loading rifles SVT) - 6 people.
In service: 8 self-loading rifles (SVT-38, SVT-40), 1 pistol (TT), 2 assault rifles (PPD / PPSh) and one light machine gun (Degtyarev DP-27 machine gun). The basis of the Soviet rifle squad, just like that of the German infantry squad, was the 7, 62 mm Degtyarev light machine gun, infantry arr., 1927 (DP-27), which remained the main automatic weapon of the rifle squad until 1944, when production and admission began. to the troops of his modernized version of the DPM.
DP-27 had the following characteristics:
Rate of fire, rds / min.: 500-600 (Combat 80)
Weight, kg: 9, 12
Sighting range: 800 m
Maximum firing range: up to 2500
The DP-27 light machine gun, as a rule, is the first to move to a new position when attacking, and when it leaves the battle it leaves the last, under the cover of rifle fire. The light machine gunners go on the attack together with the riflemen of their squad, firing on the move. When repelling enemy tank attacks, the light machine gun fights mainly against infantry following the tanks and on tanks, and at short distances (100-200 m), in case of emergency, it can fire at the most vulnerable places of the tank (viewing slots, sights, etc.). During exercises and hostilities, the machine gun was served by two people: the shooter and his assistant, who carried a box with 3 discs.
Something like this looked like a Soviet infantry squad with a DP-27 machine gun and automatic rifles.
So, before us are two almost equal in number of squads, but with significantly different light machine guns and different infantry weapons. And here's the main question: how can we compare two difficultly comparable objects?
Let's say two opposing attacking squads met on the roads of war. Let's try to determine the power of the squad without machine guns, in a situation - the machine gunner is shell-shocked. It can be seen with the naked eye that the Soviet squad, armed with eight SVTs, is far ahead of the Germans with their 7 Mausers in volley mass (Mauser 98K rifle - 12-15 rounds per minute, SVT-40 rifle - 20-25 rounds per minute). In fact, we have before us a "distributed machine gun". Note that in the event of a German machine gun out of action, the squad dramatically lost firepower, in contrast to the Soviet one.
However, here, two of our machine gunners come to life, and then the advantage instantly goes to the side of the Germans - a "wild" rate of fire of 900 rds / min. and the tape of 250 rounds instead of the DP-27 disk into 49 … it would seem to go … The fact is that in the manual version the MG machine gunner alone could shoot only with a magazine for 50 rounds.
Patronenrommel 34 for 75 rounds, requiring the installation of a modified feeder box cover, was not actively used after 1940 due to problems with the supply of cartridges.
Fight in the village
For shooting with a long tape, the second number was required, and the box or it was held in the hands of the second number. The second number also carried a machine gun on his shoulder. Two or even three people together was a good target even for a light mortar, allowing the most significant target of the German squad to be determined.
For DP-27, the second number is needed as a "carrier of shells" - a person serving discs. The shooting itself did not require an additional assistant. "This is compensated by the rate of fire!" - exclaim the lovers of gray-green overcoats. But how can I say, the fact is that both squads could not take an infinite number of cartridges, so they fired heartily mainly from stationary positions (or from a car) - on the defensive, when "the Asian hordes were walking in waves on the machine gun" and the machine gunner " mind! ". In the offensive, short bursts were used, with a combat rate of fire of 80-100 rounds per minute. At the same time, in the DP, as in the MG, the change of the overheated barrel was provided - I will note how the one who tried to do this operation - the German is easier and faster, but not at times (replacing the barrel with the DP takes half a minute). However, experienced machine gunners tried to prevent overheating, keeping a high and effective rate of fire (although it was difficult on a machine-gun). As for the advantages of DP, except for single use: discs and ease of refueling them with bare hands, the lightness of the machine gun itself, its unpretentiousness, sufficient practical rate of fire. The advantages of the MG 34 can be added: versatility, tape feed, high positional rate of fire. In general, the squad with SVT and DP-27 in mobile combat was not inferior to the squad of the Wehrmacht with 98k and MG 34. And when the forces are equal, the skill and training of personnel comes forward.
In conclusion, a few words should be said about the cost and reliability of these types. Just a few words. As most of our educated readers guess (and our readers are all educated), the MG 34 was seriously technically more difficult to maintain, technologically more powerful in production and more expensive than the DP-27.
Should we consider that DP-27 was "the best and ideal, surpassing everything in the world"? No, but there were factors that were extremely important for the initial period of the war - cheapness, mastery of production, ease of use. In capable hands, with a competent commander, DP-27 could give a worthy rebuff to the enemy, while possessing very modest technical "tabular" data.
In conclusion, a couple of photos of the use of trophies by opponents.
