The PPSH41 submachine gun: rude and crude, but way too effective

Guns Magazine, Jan, 2009 by Mike "Duke" Venturino

When telling people I've bought several historical submachine guns, the conversations mostly go like this. Me speaking, "I've bought an American M1 Thompson from 1942, a German MP40 from 1941, and a British STEN gun from 1943." Up to that point the listener nods his head knowingly. Then when I say, "As for a Russian PPsh41, I had to settle for one made by the North Koreans in 1950. I couldn't find a World War II vintage one." With that most peoples' faces go blank and they say, "I'm not familiar with that one."

Of course they are. If they have seen almost any film set on the Eastern Front during World War II or concerning ground combat in Korea, they have seen a PPsh41. If they have read anything concerning fighting in those same areas certainly they have seen references to the Communists' "burp guns." They were said to have gained such a nickname because their extremely high rate of fire resembles some macho man's loud, long, belch. Most people just don't know those Russian/Chinese/North Korean/ Hungarian/Polish and perhaps other commie countries' "burp guns" were the PPsh41. That stands for Pistolet Pulemet Shpagin and introduced in 1941. (Georgy Shpagin was the designer Pistolet Pulemet stands for machine pistol in Russian, or so I'm told.)

Most people also ask, "What cartridge is a PPsh41 chambered for?" I say 7.62x25mm and again they look blank. Then when you tell them it's interchangeable with the .30 Mauser of "Broomhandle" fame, again the lights come on.

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Prolific

Actually it's ironic many gun guys are unfamiliar with the PPsh41 because, to the best of my knowledge, it is the most prolific submachine gun in history. Exact figures are unknown but various books credit the Russians alone in WWII and shortly thereafter with making 5,000,000. For comparison, during WWII, American industry turned out about 1,600,000 Thompson submachine guns of various models, and another 600,000 or so M3 "grease guns." Britain made about 3,000,000 STEN guns from Mk I to Mk V and the Germans made less than a million MP40 subguns.

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I keep emphasizing the words "submachine gun." That's because I don't want readers to confuse them with later full-auto military rifles like the AK-47 or M16. Those were rifles chambered for intermediate size cartridges and are always referred to by the idiot news media as "assault dries." Submachine guns fired pistol cartridges--the .45 ACP in the Thompsons and the 9mm Parabellum in the German MP40 and British STEN, and the above mentioned 7.62mm one for the communist bloc nations.

Distinctive

Most WWII submachine guns of various origins are distinctive in appearance. Nobody will mistake a Thompson of any model or a German MP40 or a STEN gun for one another. With that said, the PPsh41 has to be about the most distinctive subgun ever. It's perforated jacket around the barrel serves to let air circulate and also to keep the firer's hands off it. Then it has a wooden stock and is most often seen with a large, round drum magazine. That magazine can hold 71 cartridges, which is actually a pretty good idea for a submachine gun whose cyclic rate of fire is nominally 900 rounds per minute. However, lesser seen with the PPsh41 are 35-round slightly curved stick magazines. I've got both for mine.

The PPsh41 is a select-fire weapon, with a button in the front of the triggerguard determining whether shooting will be full auto or semi-auto. Back is semi and forward is full. When first developed, the PPsh41 was fitted with an intricate rear sight rated from 50 to 500 meters, the latter distance actually being way too far for the cartridge's 86-grain bullet traveling at a muzzle velocity of about 1,400 fps. With a wartime emergency ongoing the Soviets soon put in a much more practical simple folding sight with leaves for 100 and 200 meters. My North Korean one has the latter sight.

As for the PPsh41's legendary rate of fire, brothers believe it! The day mine arrived I loaded 10 rounds in a stick magazine and stepped outside the door to see if it actually functioned. It did! Those 10 rounds sounded like one blast and I actually wondered for a brief second if the thing had blown up. It hadn't. That's just how fast it shoots. With my other three subguns I never experienced a moment's hesitation. With the PPsh41 I admit to the tiniest bit of intimidation with it in the beginning, although I'm perfectly comfortable with it now.

This may interest quality conscious readers. The American and German submachine guns are beautifully crafted instruments. The British STEN gun has been described as a plumber's nightmare, but it's actually not that bad. This North Korean PPsh41 looks like some untalented high school kid's shop project. It is crude. It also works 100 percent, except for one defective magazine I've encountered. I have no idea how it might compare to a Russian or any other PPsh41, as I've never seen another in person. Let me compare them this way. Keep in mind I'm only talking about appearances. If the American's Thompson subguns were fine Thoroughbred horses, the German's MP40 would be a good quarter horse, the British STEN a fine pack animal, and this North Korean PPsh41 would be a plow mule.