Just a few relatively simple pieces. Nothing to it, right? … Er, wrong. Click on through to the video to get an idea of the thorny details of realizing these parts. Image: Forgotten Weapons.com
Ian has a great video post at GunLab on how what looked like a simple project to make a simple add-on, one that has already been proven and manufactured in large quantities in at least two countries, can be hard to do. What looks like a simple piece can be a challenge for CNC machining, when it was designed for the machine tools and manufacturing processes of another day.
The RP-46 Company Machine Gun (Russian, transliterated: Rotny Pulemyot) is essentially a DPM light machine gun with a belt feed grafted on, which gave the 1920s design another thirty years of life.
With the proliferation of semi-auto DPs and DPMs, it seemed like a conversion kit would be easy enough to do. The parts illustrated here are from an original RP-46 examined in a post at Ian’s other website, Forgotten Weapons.
As is common with his posts (and increasingly, ours, for which we are most grateful) one can learn a lot from the comments, also.
Kevin was a former Special Forces weapons man (MOS 18B, before the 18 series, 11B with Skill Qualification Indicator of S). His focus was on weapons: their history, effects and employment. He started WeaponsMan.com in 2011 and operated it until he passed away in 2017. His work is being preserved here at the request of his family.
