The SG-43 Goryunov was an air-cooled, gas-operated, heavy machine gun that was used by the Soviet Union during World War II.
Description[]
It fired the 7.62x54mmR Cartridge and was fed by 200 to 250 round belts inserted through the side of the weapon. The muzzle velocity of the SG-43 was around 800 meters per second while the general rate of fire was around 600 rounds per minute.[1] The SG-43 was developed as a replacement of the PM M1910 Machine Gun and was certainly very reliable but the fact remains that for infantry use, it was relegated to the very cumbersome wheeled mount.
This plus the additional weight of the shield and the 13.8 kg gun itself created around 41 kg of weight for the standard Soviet machine gun team to carry. The total length of the weapon was 115 centimeters and around 72 centimeters of that was just the barrel alone. The barrel though is meant to be able to swap out quickly should a replacement be needed and thus could be carried separately for transport if need be. Also importantly, the SG-43 was capable like many other machine guns of firing modified ammunition for certain combat situations such as incendiary rounds.
Variants[]
The SG-43 had only one infantry variant produced in its service life and this variant was designated the SG-43M. This version included new and improved air cooling systems and was more reliable. Furthermore, it had lost several original features to make the gun more mobile and less heavy.[2] The next two variants were actually regular SG-43s and SG-43Ms but were instead modified so that they could be used in vehicles. These were the SGMB version which was used in armored cars and light vehicles and the SGMT which was a tank mounted weapon.
History[]
The SG-43 was first developed in 1942 when the need for a new standard machine gun to replace the Soviet infantry's old M1910s with newer, more advanced weapons. The development team, led by P.M. Goryunov created the weapon in less than a year and by 1943, field versions were already trickiling to infantry on the frontlines. It was used from then on until the end of the war and was finally replaced later in the 1960s by weapons such as the PK machine gun. The SG-43 was praised for its reliability and continued to serve in other armies for years later.
References[]
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