Is that an RPD you have there, tovarish? Da…
As he walks the earth scoping out NFA items to gel with, Machine Gun Mike came across the classic Cold War RPD and gives you the detailed break down.
Soviet firearms wonk Vasily Degtyaryov developed the RPD in the last days of WWII to replace his own DP (Degtyaryov machine gun) which was chambered in 7.62x54R. The new weapon was chambered for the then-novel M43 7.62x39mm round which would go on to be used in the SKS and AK47/AKM series guns.
The RPD was super simple, as Mike shows, but was itself replaced by the Russkis by the follow-on RPK and PK machine guns by the 1960s, but Degtyaryov’s firehose lived on with the armies of Moscow’s allies for decades.
Speaking of which, Mike’s gun is a post-sample Polish RPD made in 1959.
Oof.