Soviet designer of small arms, Hero of Socialist Labor (1945). Member of the CPSU since 1944. Born into a peasant family. Since 1916 in the army, ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1897 1952), weapons designer, Hero of Socialist Labor (1945). He created a heavy machine gun (DShK, together with V. A. Degtyarev, 1938), a submachine gun (PPSh, 1941), and others. USSR State Prize (1941). * * * SHPAGIN Georgy… … encyclopedic Dictionary

Shpagin Georgy Semyonovich- (1897 1952), owls. shooter constructor. weapons, Hero of the Social. Labor (1945). Since 1920, he has been a mechanic at the experimental workshop of the Kovrov Arms Factory. Since 1922, he participated in the design of new models ... ... Encyclopedia of the Strategic Missile Forces

- ... Wikipedia

Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin (April 29, 1897, Klyushnikovo village, now Kovrovsky district of the Vladimir region February 6, 1952, Moscow) Soviet designer of small arms, Hero of Socialist Labor (1945). Biography Future designer ... ... Wikipedia

Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin (April 29, 1897, Klyushnikovo village, now Kovrovsky district of the Vladimir region February 6, 1952, Moscow) Soviet designer of small arms, Hero of Socialist Labor (1945). Biography Future designer ... ... Wikipedia

Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin (April 29, 1897, Klyushnikovo village, now Kovrovsky district of the Vladimir region February 6, 1952, Moscow) Soviet designer of small arms, Hero of Socialist Labor (1945). Biography Future designer ... ... Wikipedia

Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin(1897-1952) - Soviet designer of small arms. The creator of the weapon of Victory - the legendary PPSh. Hero of Socialist Labor (1945). Cavalier of 3 Orders of Lenin.

Biography

The future designer was born on April 17 (29), 1897 in the village of Klyushnikovo (now Kovrov district, Vladimir region) into a peasant family.

Graduated from a three-year school. After graduating from the 3rd grade of a parochial school, he was forced to help his family, earn a living: he was a boy with a merchant, a shepherd, and a carrier of sand and fuel at a glass factory. In 1916, Georgy Shpagin was drafted into the tsarist army, into the 14th Grenadier Regiment. Due to an injury to the index finger of his right hand, he did not get into the active army, but was sent to weapons workshops. Here, under the guidance of an experienced Tula master Ya. V. Dedilov, Shpagin not only mastered various samples of domestic and foreign weapons, but also fell in love with weapons forever. During the Civil War, he served in the Red Army as a gunsmith in one of the regiments of the Vladimir garrison. After the October Revolution, he worked as a gunsmith in one of the rifle regiments of the Red Army.

In 1920, after demobilization from the army, Georgy Shpagin entered the experimental workshop of the Kovrov weapons and machine gun factory, where V. G. Fedorov and V. A. Degtyarev worked at that time. Since 1922, he actively participated in the creation of new types of weapons.

One of the significant works of the designer is the modernization of the 12.7-mm Degtyarev heavy machine gun (DK), which was discontinued due to identified shortcomings. After Shpagin developed a belt feed module for the recreation center, in 1939 the improved machine gun was adopted by the Red Army under the designation "12.7 mm Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine gun of the 1938 model of the year - DShK." The mass production of DShK was started in 1940-41, and during the years of World War II, about 8 thousand machine guns were produced. In 1924, he simplified the 6.5 mm tank machine gun of the Ivanov system. Removed 42 details, radically changing it. This work brought Georgy Semenovich the first author's certificate, put his name among the best gunsmiths. Since 1931, Shpagin, together with Degtyarev, has been developing a heavy machine gun and improving other types of automatic weapons, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star in 1933.

The creation of the submachine gun of the 1941 model of the year (PPSh) brought the greatest fame to the designer. Developed as a replacement for the more expensive and difficult to manufacture PPSh, the PPSh became the most massive automatic weapon of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War (in total, approximately 6,141,000 units were produced during the war years) and was in service until 1951.

Shpagin proposed something new, exactly what had never happened before. He was the first to create a sample of small arms, in which almost all metal parts were made by stamping, and wooden ones had a simple configuration. In wartime conditions, such advantages of the new weapon as simplicity and reliability, availability for mass production by low-skilled workers were of paramount importance.

On April 26, 1940, a government decision was made to make the hardware plant in the city of Zagorsk, Moscow Region, the head plant for the production of PCA. G.S. Shpagin headed the design bureau for the development of new submachine guns. In 1941, a more advanced PPSh model was adopted by the Red Army. For the invention and design of the PPSh of the 1941 model, Shpagin was awarded the title of laureate of the Stalin Prize. This "machine gun", as it was usually called, is one of the symbols of the Victory over Nazi aggression and is repeatedly immortalized in works of art - sculptures, paintings, etc.

During the war, Shpagin worked on organizing the mass production of submachine guns of his system at the Vyatka-Polyansky machine-building plant in the Kirov region, where he was transferred at the beginning of 1941, improving their design and production technology. During the war years, more than 2.5 million PPSh were manufactured at the Vyatka-Polyansky Machine-Building Plant. In the dust and in the snow, in the cold and in the heat, Shpagin's submachine guns served the soldiers flawlessly. For selfless work, for increasing the production of PPSh assault rifles in February 1942, G.S. Shpagin was awarded the Order of Lenin. In addition, in 1943, Georgy Semyonovich developed the SPSh signal pistol. In August 1944, G.S. Shpagin was awarded the second Order of Lenin, and in November of the same year, the Order of Suvorov, second degree.

He joined the CPSU(b) in 1944, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the II convocation (1946-1950).

He died February 6, 1952 from stomach cancer. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (site No. 4).

Awards and prizes

• Stalin Prize of the second degree (1941) - for the creation of new types of weapons
• Hero of Socialist Labor (1945)
• three orders of Lenin
• Order of Suvorov II degree (11/18/1944)
• Order of the Red Star
• medals.

Memory

• In the city of Vyatskiye Polyany, a memorial house-museum of G.S. Shpagin was opened; a street in this city bears his name.
• A memorial plaque was installed on the building of the Molot machine-building plant in the city of Vyatskiye Polyany in honor of the designer.
• Monuments to G.S. Shpagin are installed in two centers of arms production in Russia - the city of Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Region, and the city of Kovrov, Vladimir Region.
• The name of G. S. Shpagin in the city of Vyatskiye Polyany is "Lyceum with cadet classes named after G. S. Shpagin"

Shpagin submachine guns, along with the famous Grabin ZIS-3 cannons, the famous Koshkin T-34 tanks and the legendary Katyushas, ​​were the most popular and beloved weapons of Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War.

Georgy Semenovich Shpagin was born April 29 in 1897 in with. Klyuchnikovo, Kovrovsky district, Vladimir province in a peasant family. At the age of 12, Yegorka Shpagin, after graduating from a three-year parochial school, left with his father for work in Kovrov. Here he acquired a carpentry profession, but damaged the tendon of the index finger of his right hand with a chisel. Therefore, when Shpagin was drafted into the army in 1916, he did not end up in combat units, but was assigned as a gunsmith to an infantry regiment. Being inquisitive, Shpagin quickly studied the Nagant revolver, the Mosin three-line rifle, the Maxim easel machine gun, and foreign light machine guns. Skillful hands, ingenuity and initiative of the young gunsmith contributed to the fact that a year later he was transferred to army artillery workshops.

During the Civil War, Shpagin served in the Red Army as a gunsmith in the Vladimir garrison.

In 1920, after demobilization, Georgy Semenovich went to work as a mechanic in the exemplary workshop of the Kovrov machine-gun plant. The first thing Shpagin started working in the workshop with was the assembly of magazines for Fedorov assault rifles arr. 1916. Soon, he proposes to simplify the assembly of the magazine by reducing the number of rivets and placing them so that the strength of the magazine box has not decreased, but the weight has decreased.

Creativity in work, ingenuity of Georgy Semenovich attracted the close attention of the director of the plant, engineer Fedorov, and the head of the experimental workshop, Degtyarev. He was allowed to work on the machines himself, and then attached young workers for training.

Success inspired the young designer, strengthened his faith in his own strength. His first developments include the design of a ball installation for coaxial 6.5 mm Fedorov-Ivanov tank machine gun. This work served as the basis for the creation by Shpagin of a ball mount for mounting a 7.62-mm DT tank machine gun in tanks, armored vehicles, and armored platforms. In 1924 - 1926 Shpagin actively worked together with Degtyarev on the creation of a light machine gun. Since that time, Shpagin has been entrusted with the development of critical components and new systems of automatic small arms.

In 1931, Degtyarev attracted Shpagin to work on the design of his DK-32 heavy machine gun. This work has become one of the most important stages in the development of Georgy Semenovich as a gunsmith designer. He acted not only as an assistant to his teacher, but also as a co-author. For the 12.7-mm Degtyarev heavy machine gun, Shpagin proposed an original power supply system, which consisted of a drum-type receiver and a metal cartridge non-loose feed belt. In 1938, the Red Army and the Navy received into service a truly effective and very effective means of military air defense under the name “12.7 mm heavy machine gun Degtyarev-Shpagin model 1938” The new machine gun immediately received an excellent rating in the troops. Georgy Semenovich was awarded the first state award, the Order of the Red Star, for his success in creating new models of weapons and military equipment.

After that, Shpagin decided to switch to independent creative work. Soon he created the famous PPSh submachine gun, which became a symbol of Soviet weapons during the Great Patriotic War. Shpagin subsequently wrote about his decision as follows: “From the very beginning, I set myself the goal that the new automatic weapon be extremely simple and uncomplicated in production ... So, I came to the idea of ​​a stamp-welded design. I must tell the truth, even connoisseurs of weapons production did not believe in the possibility of creating a stamp welding machine. However, Georgy Semenovich was not afraid to go a new way, taking advantage of the latest achievements in the engineering industry.

In September 1940, Shpagin presented an original submachine gun to the GAU Artkom, striking with the simplicity and elementary design. In this submachine gun, new design solutions were applied, which largely improved its performance. Along with this, Shpagin managed to achieve exceptionally high production and economic indicators of the new weapon. First of all, this concerned a significant reduction in labor costs for its production. The manufacture of the Shpagin submachine gun consumed 13.9 kg of metal and from 5.6 to 7.3-7.8 (depending on production capacity) machine hours.

And only the barrel, in particular its channel, was subjected to careful finishing on metalworking machines, the rest of the metal parts were made by cold stamping from a steel sheet 2-5 mm thick, using spot and arc electric welding. In the design of the Shpagin submachine gun, exact press fits were almost completely absent and there were much fewer threaded connections. The progressive technology of its manufacture gave significant savings in metal, reducing labor intensity, and the use of cheap and non-deficient materials made it possible to reduce the cost by several times. In general, the weapon turned out to be so simple that its production could be mastered at any, including non-specialized machine-building plants with press-forging equipment with a capacity of no more than 70-80 tons.

The high reliability of this submachine gun in any, including the most difficult conditions, is achieved by the simplicity of its design. He was not afraid of frost, snow, rain, sand, or dust. On tests, the PPSh showed a record survivability - 70,000 shots were fired from it without any breakdowns. The Shpagin submachine gun was disassembled into only five parts, which ensured its rapid study and development by the Red Army. To a large extent, this explains the good service and operational qualities of the submachine gun, which included: the convenience of loading and unloading weapons, eliminating delays, etc. “The experienced Shpagin submachine gun submitted for testing,” the commission noted in its decision, “with a large number of parts made by stamping, showed good results both with single and continuous fire.” It was a colossal success for the Kovrov designer-gunsmith. The unpretentious weapon of the Shpagin system, having won a convincing victory over its competitors in the competition held in the fall of 1940, was adopted by the Red Army on December 21 of the same year under the name "7.62 mm Shpagin submachine gun model 1941 (PPSh-41)".

So, on the very eve of the Great Patriotic War, the famous PPSh was created, which became a powerful weapon in the hands of the soldiers of the Red Army. Subsequently, Shpagin himself admitted: “I wanted the fighter to love my machine gun and believe in it. It was my dream, I achieved this ... ”The exceptional simplicity of the design of his submachine gun made it possible in the very first months of the war to connect many factories, including those that had never been engaged in the manufacture of weapons, to production. The first release of PPSh in July 1941 was mastered by the NKV plant of the USSR in the city of Zagorsk, Moscow Region, which was originally intended for the manufacture of PPDs. The first batch of Shpagin submachine guns was tested at the front directly in battle. The results exceeded all expectations. Enthusiastic reviews came from the headquarters of units and formations, the commanders asked to establish mass production of PPSh.

In October of the same year, in connection with the rapid advance of the German troops to the capital, the weapons factory was evacuated to the city of Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Region, where a new production was organized on the basis of an unfinished bobbin factory. Another plant that produced drum magazines for PPSh was also evacuated here from the village of Lopasnya near Moscow. Shpagin was appointed chief designer of this plant, which became the head plant for the production of PPSh for the Red Army. The Vyatka-Polyansky machine-building plant worked very closely in cooperation with the Izhevsk metallurgical and machine-building plants, which provided it with metal, barrel blanks, a significant amount of the necessary tools, equipment, etc. During the war years, gunsmiths from Vyatskiye Polyany produced more than two million PPSh.

The significant needs of the Red Army for this powerful weapon were the main reason that many non-specialized machine-building plants began its mass production, including those in Voroshilovgrad, Zlatoust, Kovrov, and Tbilisi. However, Moscow became the second main center for the manufacture of PPSh during the war years. If in November the working people of the capital gave the front the first 400 PPSh, then in December, at the height of the battle for Moscow, Soviet soldiers received 14,000 Shpagin submachine guns. During the war, Muscovites produced more than 3.5 million submachine guns designed by Shpagin. In total, over the four years of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet defense industry produced 5.4 million PPSh arr. 1941.

It is impossible not to mention the international cooperation in the production of small arms for the Red Army. We are talking about the Tehran Machine Gun Plant. In 1942, after the signing of an intergovernmental agreement, the Iranians were given all the technical documentation, necessary equipment and tooling for the manufacture of PPSh submachine guns under a Soviet license. During the war years, our soldiers received several tens of thousands of Iranian-made PPSh.

Shpagin submachine guns deprived the fascist invaders of the advantage over the Red Army in automatic small arms. Georgy Semenovich for the creation of a submachine gun is awarded the Stalin Prize of the first degree, he is awarded the Order of Lenin.

Already during the war, the design of the PPSh underwent some changes, due to both the accumulated combat experience and the modernization of mass production in-line. As a result, it was possible not only to reduce the cost of PPSh from 500 rubles. in 1941 to 142 rubles. in 1943, i.e. 3.5 times, and simplify its production, but also improve the functioning of the automation system in the most difficult operating conditions.

Thousands of Red Army soldiers and commanders thanked the designer for his excellent weapons. For example, in 1945, Georgy Semenovich received a letter from the active army: “Dear comrade Shpagin! I sincerely thank you for the excellent weapon - the PPSh submachine gun. I have been fighting with him for the fourth year, and he has never refused me a fight. I went with him from Moscow to Silesia and I think to reach Berlin. With soldier's greetings, Private Ivan Petrov".

The state appreciated the colossal work done by the designer to modernize his weapons. Shpagin was awarded one of the highest military awards - the Order of Suvorov of the second degree.

Along with the creation of submachine guns, Shpagin during the war years was also engaged in the design of signal pistols (rocket launchers) of simplified designs, created using the latest technologies of that time - stamping and welding. In 1943, the Red Army was adopted 26-mm signal (lighting) gun Shpagin (OPSH-1), designed to start lighting and signal cartridges. In the same year, its design was significantly modernized, and the Red Army received a new, more effective 26-mm Shpagin signal pistol (SPSH-2). Later, an aviation version of a 40-mm rocket launcher was created on its basis, which served to send signals from an aircraft in order to recognize “friend or foe”. SPSh flare pistols of surprisingly simple and reliable design, and to this day, 58 years after being put into service, still continue to faithfully serve, not only in the Russian Armed Forces and the armies of the CIS member states, but also in the armies of former countries - members of the Warsaw Pact, as well as many third world countries. For the creation of the signal pistol, Shpagin was awarded the second Order of Lenin.

Weapons created by G.S. Shpagin, was successfully used by Soviet soldiers on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War. The DShK heavy machine gun has proved to be a reliable fire weapon for air defense and combating mechanized units of the enemy.

The Shpagin submachine gun became the most widespread automatic infantry weapon, with which Soviet submachine gunners fought through many countries of Europe and Asia. The Shpagin design rocket launcher is still used in our army. The merits of Georgy Semenovich were highly appreciated by the state - in 1945 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

After the war, the seriously ill Shpagin retired from active design work. The famous Soviet gunsmith died in 1952 at the age of fifty-six. His ashes rest at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. In the memory of millions of Soviet soldiers, he remained as the creator of the most popular domestic submachine gun of the Great Patriotic War, and in the history of weapons business - as a designer who was the first to widely use stamped and welded parts and assemblies in his model of automatic weapons.

A source: "Bratishka" magazine, Sergey Monetchikov.

Vyatskiye Polyany honors the memory of the legendary designer of small arms. In 1982, machine builders opened a memorial house-museum. It is an ordinary wooden hut, standing on a high cliff in the old part of the city. In the same city, one of the streets is named after him.

A memorial plaque was installed on the building of the Molot machine-building plant in honor of the designer. Monuments to G.S. Shpagin are installed in two centers of arms production in Russia - the city of Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Region, and the city of Kovrov, Vladimir Region.

Georgy Semenovich entered the history of Russian domestic weapons as the creator of the famous PPSh. He belongs to the category of people who continue to live after their death. His name is associated with the history of our plant, born in the harsh war years as the main supplier of PPSh. Georgy Semenovich Shpagin is a special pride of the factory workers and residents of our city.

The creator of the PPSh came to Vyatskiye Polyany together with a factory team near Moscow. Shpagin gave all his strength and knowledge to the second birth of the enterprise in a new place and therefore deserves special attention.

Georgy Semenovich Shpagin was born on April 29, 1897 in the village of KLYUSHNIKOVO, KOVROV DISTRICT, VLADIMIR PROVINCE, into a peasant family. Spring was already rampant in the yard: the willow was blooming beyond the river, the delicate foliage of birch and poplar was lavishing a delicate aroma, and spring chores were already beginning in the fields and gardens and for the first time cattle were driven out to pastures. They named the newborn in honor of the holy warrior-great martyr, fearless people's intercessor George the Victorious. And for sure there was a sign of God in this, for Georgy Semenovich Shpagin put his whole future life on the altar of Victory, for the sake of protecting the Fatherland from an uninvited enemy.

Both parents are from the village of Klyushnikovo: father, retired Semyon Venediktovich Shpagin (died December 30, 1933) and his legal wife Akulina Ivanovna (died May 17, 1950 in Kovrov). There were four children in the family: Fedor, Anna, Georgy and Elena.

For eight years, George was sent to a rural parochial school, three classes of which he graduated with a commendable sheet. Semyon Venediktovich looked through the commendation sheet, and carefully folding it into a tube, put it behind the icon, saying: “Well, Yegorka, well done! Finished science now, let's think about business. Yegor Shpagin, as a teenager, had to master the skills of a variety of works - for metal, for wood, he laid stoves with his grandfather, carpentry with his father, shepherd. Smart and inquisitive Georgy strove to know everything, to learn everything, to make something on his own. Once, a sharp chisel broke off and cut the tendons of the index finger of the right hand, which remained inactive for the rest of his life.

In 1910, his father gave George to the "boys" in Andreev's store in the city of Rylsk, Kursk province.The owner sent Yegor to his farm for agricultural work. From back-breaking work on a farm for agricultural work, Georgy escaped from the owner. He worked in the countryside in agricultural work for hire from stronger peasants as a worker, and in winter at glass factories for the delivery of fuel and sand.

In May 1916, Georgy Shpagin was drafted ahead of schedule into the tsarist army, served at the front (western front) in the 14th Georgian Grenadier Regiment in a weapons workshop, where he qualified as a gunsmith. Due to a damaged index finger, he did not get into the active army, because. the finger did not bend and therefore he could not shoot. The experienced Tula master Yakov Vasilievich Dedilov supervised the weapons workshop.

Later, recalling this period of his life, Shpagin says: “I ended up in an environment that I could only dream of. In the workshop, I spent hours getting acquainted with various models of domestic and foreign weapons. An interesting section of artillery equipment opened before me, at the sight of which I felt about the same as dying of thirst in front of a spring of spring water.

At first Georgy Shpagin worked as an assistant. Gradually, he learned one operation after another, learned how to repair rifles, but he was not allowed to machine guns. Now his dream was to learn the machine gun...

Having made acquaintance with the artisans of the machine gun shop, Yegor soon became well versed in easel machine guns. Soon he was transferred from henchmen to artisans to the machine.Yakov Vasilyevich Dedilov, who became his first teacher, convinced Shpagin of his ability and argued that he should become a master gunsmith.

You also have a weapon surname - Shpagin, Shpaga, you need to understand this, - he told Georgy Semenovich more than once and intensively invited him to Tula after the war.

Staying in the weapons workshop had a beneficial effect on the future of the designer. He was easily oriented in small arms, learned to correct them, and most importantly fell in love with gunsmithing.

The year 1918 was approaching. The disintegration of the tsarist army began. Georgy Semenovich was demobilized and left for his native village. Here he married his fellow villager Evdokia Pavlovna. He began to establish his economy, but was drafted into the Red Army. The civil war began. He was appointed gunsmith of the 8th Infantry Regiment in the city of Vladimir. With great enthusiasm, he took up the establishment of the regimental economy of the Vladimir garrison and received gratitude from the command for his work.

In 1920, he was demobilized and entered as a mechanic in the experimental workshop of the Kovrov plant, the technical director of which was the creator of the world's first machine gun (sample 1916) V.G. Fedorov. Vladimir Grigoryevich, designer and scientist, became the founder of the national school of automatic small arms. The design bureau created by him at the Kovrov plant for the development of automatic weapons was headed by the outstanding Russian gunsmith Degtyarev Vasily Alekseevich. Fedorov and Degtyarev brought up a whole galaxy of gunsmiths. Among them, G.S. Shpagin, S.G. Simonov, P.M. Goryunov.

The time of Georgy Semenovich's work in the workshop is the period of growth of his knowledge and skill as a gunsmith, the period of the formation of Shpagin the designer. The young worker introduced elements of creativity even into the most ordinary work. When Shpagin was instructed to assemble magazines for Fedorov's assault rifles, he suggested making fewer rivets and positioning them in such a way that this did not affect the strength of the structure and accelerated the production of magazines.

In 1922 V.G. Fedorov together with G.S. Shpagin created a 6.5 mm coaxial light machine gun, consisting of two Fedorov machine guns, mounted with bolts down.

Two years later, designer D.D. Ivanov, on the basis of a 6.5 mm coaxial light machine gun of the Fedorov-Shpagin system, developed a project for installing twin machine guns in a tank. It was made in the form of a frame with a ball turret. But the model turned out to be very complex and cumbersome. G.S. undertook to simplify it. Shpagin. Georgy Semenovich exceeded all the expectations of his fellow designers. He removed 42 parts and radically changed the entire ball system and socket device.

In 1929, Shpagin, together with Degtyarev, created a ball mount for the DT infantry machine gun of the Degtyarev system in a tank.

Later G.S. Shpagin developed an original drum-type receiver with belt feed for the DK machine gun. Without resorting to significant alterations of the machine gun itself, he managed to get a trouble-free cartridge supply system and increase its rate of fire. This decision was considered so significant that the new machine gun was given the name of both designers and named DShK - "DEGTYAREV and SHPAGIN LARGE-CALIBER". In 1938, this truly effective and very effective means of military air defense was adopted by the Red Army and Navy.

The machine gun has good armor penetration (at a distance of 500 meters at an angle of 90 ° it penetrates armor 15 mm thick). At the end of the war, the DShK was modernized and turned out to be a long-lived model - it still remains in service. Along with this, under the leadership of V.A. Degtyarev, he created several designs of tripod machines for experimental DS machine guns, worked out various components and mechanisms of these weapons. The pinnacle of the design activity of G.S. Shpagin is rightly considered the submachine gun (PPSh) created by him in 1940. He was the first to create a sample of small arms, in which almost all metal parts were made by cold stamping, and wooden ones had a simple configuration.

On December 21, 1940, by a resolution of the Defense Committee, the designed 7.62 mm submachine gun of the Shpagin system of the 1941 model - PPSh-41 was adopted by the Red Army.

In the Shpagin submachine gun, new design solutions were applied, which largely improved its operational characteristics, and along with this, the designer managed to achieve exceptionally high production and economic indicators of the new weapon. First of all, this concerned a significant reduction in labor costs for its production. From the very beginning, G.S. Shpagin set himself the goal of making the new automatic weapon extremely simple and easy to manufacture. If you really arm the Red Army with machine guns, thought Georgy Semenovich, and try to do this on the basis of the previously adopted complex and labor-intensive technology, then what an incredible fleet of machine tools you need to load, what a huge mass of people you need to put on the machines. So he came up with the idea of ​​a stamp-welded design. PPSh became the first type of small arms in which for the first time stamping, arc and spot welding were used, which significantly reduced the machining time. Only the barrel, in particular its channel, was carefully processed on metalworking machines, the rest of the metal parts were made by cold stamping from a steel sheet using spot and arc electric welding, the wooden parts had a very simple configuration. The replacement of castings and forgings for the production of the most labor-intensive parts of weapons with stamp-welded structures made of sheet metal 2-5 mm thick gave a particularly large savings in metal. Perhaps one of the most expensive and complex units in the design of a submachine gun was a drum magazine with a capacity of 71 rounds, taken without any changes from the PPD-40. The design of the submachine gun almost completely lacked precise press fits and there were far fewer threaded connections. Since the PPSh did not have threaded connections, no tools were required during its disassembly and assembly. The production of PPSh took three times less time than the Degtyarev machine gun. The trigger mechanism allowed both single and automatic fire. The German MP-40 could only fire in bursts, which led to an overrun of ammunition, the firing range was 200 m, the magazine was double, with a capacity of 64 rounds, the most common 32 rounds. PPSh - convenient, lighter than other machines. He gave 1000 rounds per minute, when during the same time only 3 aimed shots can be fired from a rifle. PPSh fire range - 500 m.

To protect the hands of the shooter from heating when firing, a casing with oval windows was put on the barrel for better ventilation and cooling. Improving the performance of the Shpagin submachine gun was also facilitated by the simple design of the receiver cover, which leans upwards, in contrast to the PPD, where the receiver had a butt plate on a threaded connection. The high reliability of this submachine gun in any conditions, including the most difficult ones, is achieved by the simplicity of its design. It was disassembled into only 5 parts, which ensured its rapid study and development by the Red Army. To a large extent, this explains the good service and operational qualities of the submachine gun, which included: the convenience of loading and unloading weapons, eliminating delays, and so on.

I must say that even connoisseurs of weapons production did not believe in the possibility of creating a stamping-welded machine.So, on the very eve of the Great Patriotic War, the famous PPSh was created, which became an indispensable weapon in the hands of the soldiers of the Red Army.

In March 1941, the Stalin Prizes were awarded for the first time, and among the first laureates were V.A. Degtyarev (for the creation of a complex of small arms) and Shpagin (for the PPSh-41). In the same month, Shpagin was transferred to plant number 367 in the Moscow region as head of the design bureau.Simplicity of designPCA, no need for alloy steels and special toolsmade it possible to establish its production at many, including non-specialized, machine-building plants.

Shpagin, together with his family and with the factory staff evacuated from the Moscow region, arrived in Vyatskiye Polyany in November 1941. People were placed in Vyatskiye Polyany and nearby villages - Toyma, Ershovka, Matveevo, etc., the Shpagin family settled in a house on Lenin Street No. 1 and lived in it for almost 10 years.

Already during the war, the design of the Shpagin submachine gun underwent some changes, which were made as a result of both the accumulated combat experience and the modernization of mass production in-line. So, the drum magazine, which was heavy and uncomfortable to wear, equip and change on weapons, caused the most complaints among the troops, especially since, with the simplified workmanship typical for the production of wartime weapons, these stores required an individual fit to each PPSh. The labor intensity of their production at some stages (in the winter of 1941) delayed the overall production of PPSh. In addition, there were often complaints from the troops about a not entirely successful fuse. Numerous cases of spontaneous shots were noted when the butt hit the ground or other solid objects. The designer quickly eliminated these shortcomings. Already in February 1942, Shpagin submachine guns were equipped with a sector magazine for 35 rounds, made of 0.5 mm thick steel sheet. However, their combat use showed that, with all the positive qualities, the new stores are not strong enough and were often deformed. In 1943, stores began to be produced more durable - from a steel sheet 1 mm thick, which ensured their reliability under any operating conditions. In 1942, the PPSh design was once again subjected to a complete revision in order to simplify and reduce the cost of production. Instead of a sector sight, the PPSh received a simplified flip-over sight for 100 and 200 m, which made it possible to abandon the manufacture of 7 parts at once. The spring fuse of the front sight was replaced with a welded fuse design, the clip of the bolt box was strengthened, and a more reliable magazine lock was installed. Chrome plating of the barrel bore increased its survivability and facilitated the operation of the weapon.

In 1943-45, Soviet designers continued to work on improving submachine guns, including G.S. Shpagin, who created a new model on the basis of PPSh-41 and PPSh-42 in 1945.

The Shpagin submachine gun of the 1945 model of the year was an all-metal version with a detachable compound buttstock. The receiver had an easy-to-make rectangular shape. Unlike the previous ones, the new PPSh had a more thoughtful fuse design. For safer handling of weapons, along with a fuse located in the reloading handle, there was now another one in the form of a lever fixed under the longitudinal groove in the receiver for the reloading handle. This lever, when raised, securely fixed the bolt in the stowed position. Food was supplied from a sector magazine with a capacity of 35 rounds. PPSh 1945 again received a sector sight, designed for a distance of up to 500 meters.

In the same year, Shpagin developed another original version of his PPSh-41 - with a curved bore. This weapon was a response to the German machine guns with a "crooked barrel", which were created specifically for tank crews in order to fight enemy infantrymen and grenade launchers in "dead" zones that could not be fired from tanks at a distance of up to 15-20 meters. However, the curvature of the barrel led, in addition to a significant decrease in the initial speed of the bullets, to a very high dispersion when firing - at a distance of 50 meters, a target measuring 1x2 meters remained practically unaffected.

These samples of Shpagin's weapons, however, like many submachine guns of other gunsmith designers, remained only in prototypes. The creation in 1943 of the 7.62 mm intermediate cartridge of the 1943 model made it possible to start designing a new type of individual automatic weapon - automatic weapons (in the West - more appropriate for the class of automatic carbines or assault rifles). Along with other Soviet gunsmiths G.S. Shpagin began in early 1944 to develop an assault rifle chambered for an intermediate cartridge. In the first design of his model of a new weapon, Shpagin used the principle of free shutter recoil, which had proven itself in submachine guns, for the operation of automation. In general, in terms of layout, disassembly and assembly methods, the Shpagin assault rifle of the 1944 model was similar to the PPSh-41: the same swivel of the barrel casing, which is at the same time the guide of the movable system with the trigger box. The trigger mechanism is striker, which allowed single and continuous types of fire. The return mechanism is also similar to the PPSh-41. Food from a sector magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds. However, Shpagin's attempt to use the old design scheme of submachine guns with inertial locking of the shutter in an automatic machine designed for an intermediate cartridge failed due to the fact that the components and mechanisms of the weapon did not correspond to the significantly higher power of the new cartridge. The payoff for this was the mass of weapons with an empty magazine - 5.4 kg, with a mass of the shutter - 1.23 kg.

Along with the creation of submachine guns, G.S. Shpagin during the war years was engaged in the design of signal pistols (rocket launchers) of simplified designs, created using the latest technologies of that time, stamping and welding. Already in 1943, the 25 mm Shpagin signal pistol was adopted by the Red Army. In the same year, its design was significantly modernized and the Red Army received a new 26 mm Shpagin signal pistol (SPSH-2). Signal pistols SPSh had a surprisingly simple and reliable design. For the creation of the signal pistol, Shpagin was awarded the second Order of Lenin.

Soldiers of various units were armed with Shpagin submachine guns. For non-failure operation in any conditions, PPSh enjoyed great love of Soviet soldiers and officers. Songs and ditties were composed about PPSh:

“How to aim with PPSh,

So out of Fritz - out the soul!

"I found a friend at the front,

His name is simply PPSh.

I walk with him in snowstorms and blizzards,

And the soul freely lives with him.

Georgy Semenovich was keenly interested in the fate of his offspring. Despite being tired from sleepless nights, he corresponded with many front-line soldiers. Sergeant Grigory Shukhov, assessing the merits of the PPSh, wrote to Shpagin from the front: “Dear Georgy Semenovich, your machine guns are working perfectly. We have already beaten off several fascist attacks with our company, And although they are vile, all stick and stick - soon they will have a grave! We stood to death at the walls of Moscow.

In 1946, Georgy Semenovich was nominated as a candidate for deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.Fulfilling his deputy duties, he considered thousands of applications and requests from workers and helped to satisfy many of them.As a person, Shpagin was modest and sociable. Not only plant managers, shop managers, foremen, engineers, but also workers knew and loved him. Yes, and he himself knew almost everyone, managed to talk with people not only about production matters, but also about their families and children. Georgy Semenovich wore a semi-military cut tunic made of thick woolen "diagonal", in the same breeches and chrome boots, a leather coat.

Had a hobby - hunting. Shpagin was a typical Central Russian city hunter: hares with hounds in winter, ducks in spring and autumn. A friendly company of hunters has formed at the plant. We went most often on duck flights. Georgy Semenovich, when he went hunting, stood out in general speech with his Kovrov - Vladimir pressure on "o". On the hunt, Shpagin became lively, took on the functions of the main person responsible for cooking the hunting duck stew, and after dinner he conducted the singing around the fire, they sang simple Russian: “Walks along the Don” or “I will cover your sleigh with carpets ...”

Selfless work brought Shpagin well-deserved honor and respect. For the invention of the PPSh, Shpagin was awarded the title of Stalin Prize Laureate in 1941, was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Suvorov 2nd degree, medals, and was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. Member of the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945.

Georgy Semenovich loved our city, our nature, considered Vyatskiye Polyany his second homeland and thought to stay here forever. But fate decreed otherwise. On February 6, 1952, at 7:30 am, G.S. Shpagin passed away.He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. A delegation was sent from our city to participate in the funeral ceremony. The coffin with the body of the late Georgy Semenovich was installed in the Marble Hall of the Ministry of Defense for parting. The funeral of Shpagin was organized with great honors. There was a sea of ​​flowers, according to Maria Filimonicheva, a plant veteran. We are proud that such a wonderful person lived and worked in our city. His memory is immortalized in our Vyatka land.

And here stands a bust cast in bronze

Soldier of war and rear private,

Worthy of both poetry and prose -

Georgy Shpagin is the son of his native land.

A. Agalakova

One of the streetssince March 28, 1958, it has been named after Shpagin.A bronze bust of the inventor of the PPSh was installed in the Komsomolsky square of the city (August 6, 1982).By the decision of the Vyatskopolyansk City Duma No. 20 dated April 3, 2012, in order to perpetuate the memory of the Hero of Socialist Labor, the legendary designer Georgy Semenovich Shpagin, Komsomolsky Square, located in the city of Vyatskiye Polyany on Lenin Street, was given the name - G.S. Shpagin.

In 1967, a commemorative plaque was installed on the house: “I have lived in this house since 1941. to 1952 outstanding weapons designer, Hero of Socialist Labor Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin”, the plate was replaced in 2012.

The Shpagin Memorial House-Museum was opened (August 7, 1982) by the factory film studio"Eureka" an amateur film "And I go further" was created. A factory award and scholarship named after G.S. Shpagin in the year of the 100th anniversary of the designer-inventor (April 1997)

On May 5, 2015, a monument to the weapon of Victory, the Shpagin submachine gun, was unveiled. The ceremony was also attended by Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Aleksey Maksimovich Ivonin, Metropolitan Mark of Vyatka and Sloboda, Mufti of Vyatka Zufar-Khazrat Galiullin, military commissar of the region Yuri Alexandrovich Meshavkin, leaders of the city of Vyatskiye Polyany and the Vyatskopolyansky district, the Molot machine-building plant, veterans, schoolchildren.

The idea of ​​creating a monument to PPSh in Vyatskiye Polyany belongs to the Governor of the Kirov region N.Yu. Belykh, it was supported by the Kirov regional branch of the Russianmilitary historical society. The monument is a black stone slab with the famous machine leaning against it. Above it is the inscription "PPSh weapons of Victory", and next to it lies a hammer. The PPSh monument is a tribute to the memory of a huge number of heroes of the front and rear who are selflessly devoted to their Motherland, courageous, persistent, purposeful. Funds for the construction of the monument were allocated by the Hammer Arms company.

Sung in verse and song ... (from the work of factory poets)

Alexander Nikolaevich Tepin "Shpaginsky house"

I want to talk about the man

Who now not everyone already knows

He has a house in the Vyatskiye Polyany,

In which, however, he does not live.

Yes, and the house is old, rotten

Almost fell into the river from the coastal slopes,

The designer of the famous automata.

Here is his room, simple life,

And sometimes it seems incomprehensible -

After all, he was then terribly famous,

And he lived like everyone else - modestly and obsessively.

I want to talk about the man

About whom, it seemed, a lot has been said,

From the factory he came to this house

And wearily smoked tobacco by the window.

And peering into the mirror of the river,

Thinking about something that short night

Perhaps they worried about trifles,

Perhaps his daughters worried.

Perhaps he thought about the plant,

Perhaps, about the military hard times ...

The postman will throw in the mailbox

My poems on the eve of his centenary.

I want to talk about the man

Who sadly looks from the pedestal.

Here, a year later he came

In the tight grip of granite and cement.

And Komsomolsky Square littered with foliage,

Like letters from the fronts now forgotten:

"Comrade Shpagin, because I'm alive,

Owed to your fiery machine",

"Comrade Shpagin, you saved our platoon",

"Comrade Shpagin. You are the blacksmith of Victory "...

And he lives on Novodevichy

And there he talks with the soldiers.

I want to talk about the man

Who did not know and he does not know me,

His old house stands in Polyany,

In which the spirit of the era lives!

M. Tritenko "We are gunsmiths"

That was a long time ago

When the harsh year stood.

Factory over the Vyatka River

Tula took over the glory.

Fighters from our machine guns

Enemies were smashed on the spot.

Founded their production.

I came to the shop as a teenager,

No wonder our production

Goes number one.

We are all one in our destiny

We have a weapon soul

We collect carbines

Descendants of the glorious PPSh.

I don't want another fate

I can't change for anything

That factory entrance

What brought me to the people.

G. Teptin "Shpagin's House"

I went to the coast

To the old poplars.

I see a quiet house

At the edge of the meadows.

He is no higher than others

He is simple like that.

Pigeons on the roof

Windows over the river.

Soldiers went to the front

With a black pack to fight

With a Russian machine gun

Blue from Vyatka.

We walked in the fire of crimson

Front roads.

House in Polyany

I bow to the threshold.

JUBILEE (excerpt)

It behooves us, friends, to be proud,

Remembering the names

Those whose deeds, but less often faces

And now the whole country knows

Those whose last names are simple

The fire of victories is brought

For a century in the history of Russia,

Georgy Semenovich Shpagin - the famous Soviet designer, inventor of small arms. Starting as a mechanic in the experimental workshop of the Kovrov Arms and Machine Gun Plant, where such weapons designers as Vladimir Fedorov and Vasily Degtyarev worked, the self-taught gunsmith soon became the creator of the most common weapon of the Great Patriotic War - the famous PPSh submachine gun.

BALL ASSEMBLY FOR TANK MACHINE GUN

The ball mount for the coaxial 6.5-mm Fedorov-Ivanov tank machine gun was one of Shpagin's first developments; with the help of this design, the coaxial machine gun was attached to the tank. The mechanism provided reliable fixation during firing, free movement of the weapon in the horizontal and vertical planes, and quick aiming at the target.
The installation also served as the basis for the creation of a ball mount for attaching a 7.62-mm Degtyarev tank machine gun (DT) to tanks, armored vehicles, and armored platforms. It was a ball socket in the armor of the tank and a ball apple holding the machine gun itself. The device turned out to be compact and trouble-free. The massive parts of the ball mount protected the shooter from bullets and shrapnel during the battle. The retractable metal butt, with which Shpagin equipped the machine gun, significantly reduced the size of the gun. Instead of the usual sight on a tank machine gun, a diopter was installed, with adjustment in the horizontal and vertical planes.

By 1935, the existing machine guns became unsuitable for fighting fast moving targets due to the low rate of fire. In 1937, for the Degtyarev machine gun, Shpagin created a drum feed mechanism for a metal tape, which did not require a significant alteration of the machine gun itself. The designer managed to create a trouble-free system due to a swinging lever that converts the translational movement of the bolt carrier into the rotational movement of the drum. The new machine gun was successfully tested, and the mass production of the Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine gun of the 1938 model, nicknamed "Dushka" by the soldiers for the abbreviation, was launched in 1940-41.
Due to its high combat qualities, the machine gun was used in almost all branches of the armed forces: as an infantry support weapon, and was also installed on armored vehicles and small ships, including torpedo boats. A large-caliber machine gun often turned out to be more effective than a normal-caliber machine gun - due to the greater penetrating effect of the bullet. This, for example, led to their use to support the actions of assault groups. At the end of the war, the DShK was massively installed as an anti-aircraft gun on the towers of Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns for the self-defense of vehicles in case of attacks from the air and from the upper floors in urban battles. The German army, which did not have full-time heavy machine guns, willingly used captured DShKs, which were assigned the designation MG.286 (r) by the Wehrmacht Ground Forces Ordnance Department.
The DShK and its modernized versions were or are in service with over 40 armies of the world, produced in China, Pakistan, Iran and some other countries.

PPSh

The creation of the 1941 model submachine gun, the famous PPSh, which the soldiers affectionately called "Papasha", brought the greatest fame to the designer. Shpagin began working on it in 1939, and already in December 1940, the submachine gun was put into service. The design of the submachine gun was extremely simple and had good performance characteristics. The oblique cut of the PPSh casing simultaneously performed the role of a muzzle brake, which reduces recoil, and the role of a compensator that prevents the weapon from being thrown up during firing. This improved the stability of the weapon when firing, and increased the accuracy and accuracy of fire. The weapon allowed both continuous fire and single shots. In addition, there were no scarce materials in the design of the PPSh submachine gun, there were not a large number of parts requiring complex processing, seamless pipes were not used. Its production could be carried out not only at military factories, but also at any enterprises with simple press and stamping equipment. PPSh could be made in 5.6 hours, respectively, labor costs for its production were significantly reduced. Already in October 1941, the production of parts for PPSh was launched at the State Bearing Plant, the Moscow Tool Plant, the S. Ordzhonikidze Machine-Tool Plant, and at 11 other small enterprises of local industry management. The assembly was carried out at the Moscow Automobile Plant. Only during 1941, 92,776 PPShs were produced, and already in 1942, the production volumes of submachine guns amounted to 1,499,269 pieces. In total, during the war, about 6 million pieces of PPSh-41 were produced. The submachine gun has become a kind of symbol of the Soviet soldier; it appears in almost all Soviet and foreign films about the Great Patriotic War. On all the monuments erected in the USSR and in the countries of Eastern Europe, a Soviet soldier always holds a PPSh in his hands.


Submachine gun (PPSh) model 1941 designed by Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin from the funds of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Photo: RIA Novosti

OPSh-1

Even during the First World War, the Russian army used 26-mm pistols of the Rdultovsky system for light signaling, on the basis of which Shpagin created a signal pistol of his own design in 1943. It was a smooth-bore hand weapon designed to fire signal and lighting cartridges of various burning colors. In the same year, it was adopted by the Red Army under the name Shpagin signal (lighting) pistol or OPSh-1. The gun had the simplest design. The process of loading it was practically no different from loading a hunting rifle. The gun did not have any special sighting devices. The practical rate of fire of the pistol reached 10-12 rounds per minute. The height of the signal rise is 120 meters.

SPSh-44

Modified version of OPSh-1. In 1944, the Shpagin signal pistol was adopted under the name SPSh-44. The new version of the signal pistol had a modified opening mechanism: the lever was located at the bottom of the trigger. The pistol had a simple device and did not require any special training of personnel. At the same time, its design was quite reliable and trouble-free in operation. For firing from SPSh-44, night and daytime cartridges were used. These cartridges had the same design: a paper sleeve with a brass cap, an igniter primer and an expelling powder charge. The difference was that in the daytime signal cartridge, a bag with a smoke composition was used as a working substance. At the same time, the created cloud of smoke was visible from a distance of up to 2 km for 10 seconds in windy weather and 30 seconds in calm weather. In order to recognize the type of signal by the appearance of the cartridge, the upper wad was painted in the appropriate color. In addition to lighting and signal cartridges, the SPSh-44 pistol could fire a 26-mm incendiary cartridge at a distance of up to 150 m. The Shpagin signal pistol was widely used in various branches of the Soviet Union. So, for example, the LA-7 fighter was equipped with the SPSh-44 flare gun. The standard ammunition of the fighter included five spare 26 mm caliber signal cartridges.