Firearms / Machine guns / SG-43
SG-43
General Facts
- TYPE
Machine gun - ORIGIN
USSR - NICKNAMES
Type 53 (Chinese production SG-43)
Type 57 (Chinese production SGM)
Type 59T (Chinese production SGMT)
Asswan (Egyptian production SMGB) - DESIGNED
1942 - 1943 - DESIGNER
Petr M Goryunov - PRODUCTION
1943 - 1961 (Soviet production) - PRODUCERS
China - NORINCO
Egypt - Maadi
USSR - QUANTITY
Unknown - UNIT COST
Unknown - CHARACTERISTICS
Large volume of fire
Heavy quick change barrel
Very heavy
Introduction
The Goryunov SG-43 is a Soviet World War 2 era medium machine gun. It was developed to replace the old Maxim M1910 machineguns in Soviet service. After World War 2 most tanks and armored personnel carriers were fitted with variants of the SG-43.
Design
The SG-43 is a gas operated weapon using a long stroke gas piston. It uses 250 round non-desintegrating belts that feed from right to left. The SG-43 uses spade grips and is always mounted on a two wheel mount or vehicle as it is very heavy. A heavy quick change barrel is fitted to allow for continuous fire. The improved SGM uses a fluted barrel.
Firepower
The SG-43 fires the 7.62x54mm round from 250 round belts. The only fire mode is fully automatic. The cyclic rate of fire is 650 rounds per minute. The long and heavy barrel allows it to be used against area targets out to 1.000 meters.
Users
The SG-43 was used by Soviet forces from the later stages of World War 2 until the mid 1960's. It was used by infantry and mounted on many combat vehicles as a pintle mounted or coaxial weapon. Most Soviet allies received the SG-43 and it has been produced under license. The SG-43 was replaced by the PK machinegun in Soviet service. Most users replaced the SG-43, but it can still be found in third world countries.
SG-43
The SG-43 is the original model of the SG-43 family of medium machine guns. The SG-43 fires the 7.62x54mm round from 250 round belts and is operated by the spade grip. It was mounted on a metal two wheel carriage and was often fitted with a gun shield. The SG-43B has a dust cover over the feed and ejection openings. The Chinese Type 53 is a direct copy of the SG-43.
- Specifications:
- SG-43
Type | Machine gun |
---|---|
Caliber | 7.62x54mm Russian |
Magazine | Belt fed, 250 round |
Operation | Gas operated, long stroke gas piston |
Fire selector | 0-F |
Rate of fire | 650 rpm |
Barrel length | 719 mm |
---|---|
Rifling | 4 grooves, right hand twist |
Muzzle velocity | 800 m/s |
Stock | - |
Length | 1.120 mm |
Width | ? |
Height | ? |
---|---|
Weight | 13.6 kg empty without mount |
Sights | Iron sights, post front and U-notch on tangent leaf rear, 856 mm sight radius |
Remarks | - |
SGM
The SGM is a modernized version of the SG-43B. The SGM has a fluted barrel and the charging handle is moved to the right side of the receiver. It was mounted on the same two wheel mount as the SG-43, but later on also on more modern tripods. The Chinese Type 57 is a direct copy of the SGM. The SGMB has a dust cover over the feed and ejection openings.