The Garanin machine guns (Пулемёт Гаранина) were a series of

general-purpose machine gun A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for v ...

prototypes developed by Soviet designer Georgy Semenovich Garanin at OKB-575 in

Kovrov Kovrov (russian: Ковро́в) is a city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Klyazma River, a tributary of the Oka. Kovrov's population as of the 2021 Census was 132,417, down from 145,214 recorded in the 2010 Census, ...

. These guns were developed in the context of a contest, started in December 1955, for replacing the company-level

RP-46 The Degtyaryov machine gun (russian: Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный, Pulemyot Degtyaryova Pekhotny literally: "Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun") or DP-27/DP-28 is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was ...

light machine gun and the battalion-level "

heavy Heavy may refer to: Measures * Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight * Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight * Heavy, ...

" (in the old sense of the term) machine gun

SGM SGM, or sgm, may refer to: Science * Second Generation Multiplex DNA profiling system - also see SGM+ * Scanning gate microscopy * Spherical Grating Monochromator beamline of Canadian Light Source * Semi-global matching algorithm in stereo ima ...

with a single new machine gun that could fulfill both roles using different mounts. Garanin's first prototype for this competition operated on the principle of

lever-delayed blowback Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gas created by the ignition of the propellant charge. Several blowback systems exist wit ...

. This prototype was rejected in 1957 for failing to meet several of the technical requirements for accuracy and reliability. A later prototype of Garanin relied on

gas operation Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent ...

; this one was rejected in 1960, because it was considered inferior to the front-runner designs of Nikitin and Kalashnikov.Сергей МОНЕТЧИКОВ
РУССКИЕ ОРУЖЕЙНИКИ: Создатель единого пулемета
, ''Bratishka'' issue of July–August 2003 (in Russian) Ultimately, Kalashnikov's

PK machine gun The PK (russian: Пулемёт Калашникова, transliterated as ''Pulemyot Kalashnikova'', or "Kalashnikov's machine gun"), is a belt-fed general-purpose machine gun, chambered for the 7.62×54mmR rimmed cartridge. Designed in the Sov ...

won the competition.

Overview (first variant)

The weapon was unusual among contemporary machine guns by its use of a lever-delayed blowback operation. When firing, the pressure pushing the case head rearward initiated an impulse on a cam that sent the bolt carrier rearward. After a certain distance, a link (in this case the firing pin) pulled the bolt head, hence extracting the spent case. Since there was no

primary extraction In breechloading firearms, primary extraction is the initial phase (the first few millimeters) of the extraction of a spent casing from the firearm chamber. After the primary extraction comes the secondary extraction where the bolt is moved furt ...

, the chamber was fluted to allow powder gases to flow back, unsticking the case from the wall chamber like on

Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK; ) is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also ...

type roller-delayed blowback weapons. The machine gun could be used as a LMG with a bipod or as a medium machine gun with a tripod. When used with a tripod for continuous fire, the gun was fitted with a heavier barrel. In the LMG configuration, the machine gun was a relatively light weapon to carry. The lower receiver of the weapon came from an

RPD RPD may refer to: People * Robert Prentiss Daniel, American psychologist * Rahul Peter Das, German professor * Rajendra Prasad Das, Indian archaeologist * Royal Page Davidson, American scholar * Richard Paul Davies, English priest * Richard Pe ...

with a modified stock.

References

External images

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2B-P-45
__NOTOC__ 7.62×54mmR machine guns Delayed blowback firearms General-purpose machine guns Trial and research firearms of the Soviet Union Machine guns of the Soviet Union {{Machinegun-stub

Overview (first variant)

See also

References

External images