In 1940, the People’s Commissariat of Armament of the USSR ordered a new submachine gun. It was supposed to surpass the existing machine pistol, designed by Degtyaryov and used by the Red Army, both for its advanced technical characteristics and easiness of production.
In the autumn of the same year, designers Georgy Shpagin and Boris Shpitalny submitted their designs to the commission. Both submachine guns successfully passed the field tests, but the Shpagin model had a technological advantage. It consisted of 87 parts compared to Shpitalny’s 95 parts. Most of them required the use of metal stamping for the production and no additional work, so it became five times faster to assemble the gun in the factory.
In the autumn of the same year, designers Georgy Shpagin and Boris Shpitalny submitted their designs to the commission. Both submachine guns successfully passed the field tests, but the Shpagin model had a technological advantage. It consisted of 87 parts compared to Shpitalny’s 95 parts. Most of them required the use of metal stamping for the production and no additional work, so it became five times faster to assemble the gun in the factory.
