The PPSh-41 submachine gun designed by Georgy Shpagin was one of the most popular and recognizable weapons of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War and also one of the symbols of the victorious Red Army soldier.
Compared to its predecessor, Degtyaryov’s PPD-40, the new submachine gun had a much simpler and cheaper build with extensive use of stamped parts. The design made it possible to set production of the weapon with minimal training at a variety of industrial facilities. However, there were a number of problems. Firstly, it weighed more than five kilograms. Secondly, the magazine initially repeated the design of the 71-round drum magazine of the PPD, which was quite unreliable and took a lot of time and effort to reload. A soldier was given one or two magazines. Taking into account the high rate of fire, this also led to rapid depletion of ammunition. Nevertheless, the PPSh was much better than its predecessor in other fields and therefore was adopted by the Red Army. Mass production was established only by the end of 1941. The outbreak of the war forced the new submachine gun to be simplified. For example, in 1942, a simplified rear sight was introduced, and the design itself was made with loose tolerances. The PPSh issued during the war, especially in the initial period, had non-interchangeable magazines. Each submachine gun was bundled with two magazines, fitted exclusively for a specific unit, straight from the factory. The problems with the magazine were largely solved with the introduction of a new 35-round box magazine instead of a 71-round drum magazine. This made the weapon much lighter and also rid the shooter of misaligned rounds and other shooting-related problems. However, the PPSh with both types of magazines was used until the end of the war.
The PPSh was produced in a variety of plants and factories. At plant No. 310 in Kandalaksha, more than 400 submachine guns were produced. However, due to the lack of equipment and materials, the quality of these units was low, although they were put into service with fighter detachments. During the war, the Sudayev PPS submachine gun, developed in besieged Leningrad was also produced in parallel with the PPSh. Even though it had better specifications, it could not replace the PPSh. Shpagin’s design was used even after the war.
