The RPD Light Machine Gun: A Belt Fed in an Intermediate Cartridge

The RPD was the culmination of Soviet light machine gun designs that began with the DP28 of preWorld War Two days, and ending with the RPD, orRuchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova. It was a lightweight, beltfedfrom a drum, gas operated machine gun chambered in the Soviet M43 7. 62x39mm cartridge. Some call it one of the first true squad automatic weapons, being introduced at least a decade before the Minimi ever came on the scene. It was produced by the Soviet Union, Poland, Egypt, China, and North Korea under v