The 7.62 mm Goryunov machine gun (SG-43) is a Soviet small -arms automatic weapon of the 1943 model. It is mounted on wheeled machines, swivels and armored vehicles.
How to replace "Maxim"?
By the beginning of World War II, the problem of creating infantry support weapons at the battalion level - the machine gun - could not be solved. Armed with the Red Army "Maxim" had a number of significant drawbacks, which it was not possible to overcome. The main one was the impressive weight of the easel machine gun - in running order, that is, filled with water and loaded, its mass was 63 kg. Water cooling of the Maxim did not add convenience either, since it is often difficult, if not impossible, to find water in combat conditions. In addition, fragments and bullets easily damaged the casing, which rendered it unusable.
Initial plans to replace the Maxim machine gun with the DS-39 model were not implemented, because the weapon was difficult to manufacture and operate, unreliable at low temperatures and dust. As a result, the DS-39 was discontinued.
SHG modification
In May 1942, the development of a new machine gun design for a 7.62 mm cartridge began. Here, SHG came in handy, which in 1940 successfully passed tests at the manufacturer.
Goryunov light machine gun was developed at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant by Pyotr Maximovich Goryunov, his nephew Mikhail, as well as the master of the plant Vasily Voronkov. By the first letters of these surnames - SHG - and weapons were named.
But the Red Army demanded an easel version, and Goryunov adapted the machine gun to fulfill new tasks.
Successful test
After completion of factory tests at the end of 1942, the upgraded version was made in the amount of 50 pieces, 45 of which were sent to the troops. The results were also positive. After eliminating the comments and identified shortcomings in late spring 1943, the Goryunov machine gun participated in state trials. The main competitor of the SHG was the modernized DS-43, as well as weapons manufactured in Germany, since the option of remaking the German MG-34 under the cartridge of the Mosin rifle with its subsequent adoption by the Red Army was seriously considered. However, it turned out that the Soviet rifle cartridge could not be used in it due to the presence of a flange. Goryunov's easel machine gun many times surpassed captured models and DS-43 in such important parameters as durability and accuracy of fire.
After reading the test results, Degtyarev personally assured Stalin of the superiority of the Goryunov model and the need for adopting it. In addition, the designer created a new machine for the competitor, which began to be produced along with new weapons.
Production start
On May 14, 433, the State Defense Committee decided to adopt the Goryunov machine gun (photo is given in the article) with a wheeled machine. For its manufacture, a separate workshop was built at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant in two and a half months. In the fall of 1943 the first batch of weapons was produced, and the next year the output was expanded with the capacities of the Zlatoust plant No. 54.
At the same time, the developers Seleznev and Garanin designed a simpler wheeled machine, which had better performance when working in difficult conditions.
In total, before the war ended, more than 80 thousand Goryunov machine guns were produced and transferred to the Red Army.
Principle of operation
The weapon uses the energy of powder gases diverted from the stem channel. The latter is blocked by a right-handed shutter bias.
During the shot, the flow of powder gases is partially redirected through the barrel hole into the gas chamber and presses on the piston, which takes the bolt frame back. Until the bullet exits, the bolt does not move, blocking the barrel and preventing gas breakthrough into the box.
After the bullet flies out of the barrel, the moving parts of the machine gun continue to move backwards, compressing the spring. Then the shutter unlocks the stem channel; a sleeve is removed from the chamber. Ammunition from a metal or canvas tape enters the window of the barrel box. Sleeves are thrown from it. With the help of a slide mechanism, cartridges are fed into the tape receiver with a hinged lid that accelerates reloading.
If the release hook is pressed, the bolt frame rushes forward under the action of the spring, without remaining in the extreme rear position. The bolt pushes the cartridge out of the window of the stem box and sends it to the chamber. The moving parts reach their ultimate position; the shutter blocks the stem channel. The upper protrusion of the bolt frame hits the drummer, firing from the rear sear. The process is then repeated.
The reload handle protrudes from below under the control levers and remains stationary when firing.
Weapon automation is regulated by a three-position gas regulator. Air cooling allows 500 continuous shots. In normal mode, shooting is performed in short bursts of up to 30 shots. The machine gun Goryunova SG-43 has a firing speed of 250-300 rds / min. The replaceable barrel has a flame arrester and a handle, which facilitates its carrying and replacement, the time of which does not exceed 7–8 s.
Ammunition
Shooting is made by bullets mod. 1908 and 1930, which retain the destructive power for the entire duration of the flight at a distance of 3800 m. The energy of the steel bullet of 1908 is 3511 J, and that of 1930 is 3776 J. Power is supplied by metal tapes of 250 rounds (5 x 50 ) type DS-39 or canvas from "Maxim" 200 pcs. with right-hand feed. Although the high feed rate was sometimes accompanied by transverse rupture of the shells, they occurred much less frequently than with the Degtyarev machine gun.
Guidance system
SG-43 sights include a pin fly and a retractable sight. The latter includes a base, a clamp with a whole and a frame with a spring. Two scales are applied to the frame. The left one is intended for cartridges with 1908 bullets and allows you to set a distance of up to 2 thousand meters. It is indicated by the letter "L" and the numbers 0–20. The right scale is for a cartridge with a 1930 bullet and allows you to set a distance of up to 2.3 thousand meters. It is marked with the letter “T” and the numbers 0–23. The whole risk is applied. To install it, the rear part of the clamp on both sides of the main risk is marked with five divisions of lateral amendments. One mark corresponds to a thousandth range.
The machine gun of the Goryunov system is verified by firing at a calibrated target cut along the 4th horizontal line, as well as at a black rectangle measuring 20x30 cm on a 1x1 m white shield. The range is set equal to 100 m, the sight is set to 3 on the left scale and cartridges with a light bullet are used.
Anti-aircraft sight
Targets in the air are monitored using an optional anti-aircraft angular sight, designed for Goryunov, designed for aerial objects at a distance of not more than 1 kilometer, which move at a speed not exceeding 600 km / h. The sight has front and rear sights and a base. The front one is composed of four concentric rings with a radius of 20–80 mm with a pitch of 20 mm, the purpose of which is to select a lead. In addition, the center of the sight has a ring that serves as a setting, as well as a rack. The back is made up of a ball, a locking calibration screw and a stand. A distinctive quality of the sight is the installation of both sights on the frame, connecting them into a single design, which ensures the constancy of its settings: it can be repeatedly removed, folded and installed in place without violating the settings.
Combat use
The Goryunov machine gun entered service in the spring of 1943. Weapons fell into rifle battalions in early summer of that year. It was used to defeat open groups of manpower and means of firing the enemy at distances of up to 1 km.
The success of Goryunov in the battles of the final period of the war is due to its low weight: it is 6.5 kg lighter than the Maxim, and with a wheeled machine - 25 kg.
After World War II, the machine gun was modernized and renamed the SGM ("M" - modernized). The dust protection and barrel cooling system was improved, and a new shutter was installed. A tank version of the SGMT appeared.
Main characteristics
The main parameters of the machine gun are:
- Weight: 13.5 kg.
- Machine weight: 23.4 kg.
- Length: 1140 mm.
- Barrel length: 720 mm.
- Firing Range (L / T): 2000/2300 m.
- Bullet speed (L / T) W 865/800 m / s.
- Rate of fire: 700 rounds / min
- Rate of Fire: Max. 350 rds / min.
SG-43 was widely exported, licenses for its production in several countries were issued. In China, “Goryunov” was produced under the name Type 53, in Czechoslovakia - as Vz 43, in Poland (Wz 43) and in South Africa (SS-77).