RPD: The 80-year-old light machine gun that can clear trenches seen in Ukraine

So glad bfbs featured the foremost expert on firearms Jonathan Ferguson, the Keeper of the Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, Which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history.

Good to see Jonathan Ferguson, the keeper of the Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, which houses thousands of iconic weapons throughout history in todays video

Rapid People Destroyer— The RPD

Modern does not always mean better

I used the yugoslavian RPK , or kalashnikov PM as they called it , during the croation war and found it to be an ideal weapon in all combat situations ... The longer barrel meant it had a bit more range and accuracy than a normal AK'47 and once slung from the sling it gave good fire rates for covering fire . All in all i liked this gat and would carry into combat again without hesitation...

It wasnt the Navy SEALs who adopted the RPD it was the Green Berets of the Army SF. The SEALs had their own new Stoners. The Army SF never saw any Stoners but they wanted something like it. So they lopped the barrel down on the RPD and then they added an off cut of linoleum to the belt box to dampen the noise the belt makes on the move. The Army SF were specifically tasked with interception of arms from the Ho Chi-min trail and finding arms caches so they didnt have a shortage of Chi-Com and Russian weapons. The SEALs being tasked with raiding along the Mekong Delta never really hung around long enough to do that on the same scale. They were in and out. The SF guys tended to call in engineers and support if they found something.

The VC/NVA used these to great effect on US & SVN forces during the Vietnam War, especially from ambushes and fortified positions like bunkers.

This is literally one of the coolest machine guns I’ve seen. I loved using it in COD games and I’m surprised that the Russians haven’t tried to modernize it for their military. Fun fact: special forces in Vietnam always wanted the RPD over the M60 because of its weight.

RPD doesn't seem too bad considering they've also been seen using 100 years old Maxims

Recieved a few good squirts from this MG in the Rhodesian Army, was used by our SAS in external ops in Mozambique and Zambia

So RPD was produced in 1953, only 69 years before war in Ukraine.

never realised this thing dates back to 1943, crazy to think they had this but were stuck with the less than ideal DP28 all the way to berlin

If it ain't broke.....

Many thanks for a very interesting story.

So glad to see Jonathan Ferguson here. Cutting off this barrel would make for an absolute atrocity LMG. My understanding of short case 7.62 is only when you can push the projectile for a bit longer in the barrel. If it makes sense. Many don't see the sense of RPK with a 40-round mag. I do. This trench warfare is a hell on the wheels.

Man that thing looks like it's in top notch condition smh that's sick af... one of the best LMGs ever created other then the PKM

Our Bangladesh army still produced this LMG. (Chinise copy variant)

The original 7.62x39 weapons family was meant to replace the WW 2 era of weapons in the Red Army. The RPD was meant to replace the DP-28 and Maxim machine guns. The Mosin Nagant 92/30 and later M-44 rifles were meant to be replaced by the SKS-45. And the PPsH family of SMG where replaced by the AK-47. However production problems and budget issues in the 1950s the Reds never fully adopted this family of weapons for the whole Red Army. In 1959 the ease and success of AKM made the Soviets replace the milled receiver AK and SKS with the AKM. The RPD was then replaced by the RPK and PK families of weapons.

Wait til they find out the basic design of the AR is almost 70 years old

This was the preferred LMG of the Golani Brigade Recce Coy. up to around 1990, even though the rest of the IDF had the FN MAG (GPMG).