The PPD is a submachine gun originally designed in 1934 by Vasily Degtyaryov. The PPD had a conventional wooden stock, fired from an open bolt, and was capable of selective fire.
History[]
Developed in the Soviet Union by arms designer Vasily Degtyaryov, it was a near direct copy of the German Bergmann MP 28. The PPD was designed to chamber the new Soviet 7.62x25mm Tokarev pistol cartridge, which was base on the similar 7.63x25mm Mauser cartridge used in the Mauser C96 pistol. The PPD utilized a large ammunition drum, a copy of the Finnish M31 Suomi drum magazine as well as a more conventional 25-round box-type magazine.
A Soviet partisan with a PPD-40 (left).
The PPD first went into military service with the Red Army in 1935 as the PPD-34, although it was not produced in large quantities. It saw use with the NKVD internal forces as well as border guards. In 1938 and 1940, modifications were designated PPD-38/40 and PPD-40 respectively, and introduced minor changes. Nevertheless, the PPD-40 was too complicated and expensive to mass-produce, and although it was used in action in the initial stages of WWII, it was officially replaced by the superior and cheaper PPSh-41 by the end of 1941. Approximately 90,000 PPDs were manufactured.
PPDs captured by Finnish forces during the Winter War and Continuation War were issued to coastal and home guard troops and kept them in reserve until approximately 1960. PPD-38/40 and PPD-40 submachine guns captured by the Wehrmacht were given the names MP.715 (r) and MP.716 (r) respectively.