The Military Gun Supply DP28 Semi Auto

Gunboards.com Field Review

Tested By: Brent Snodgrass, Wayne Fox, Craig Fox, and Bill Trent

Report By: Brent Snodgrass

Brief Historic Overview Of The DP:

The DP 28 (or DP27 as it is also known) is one of the most historic light machine guns the world has ever known. The first workings on what was to become the Degtyarev Pechotnyi (Degtyarev Infantry) began at the end of WW1, as it was clear to the Soviet-Russians that there was a dire need to develop a lighter machine gun that would serve their nation in the wars of the future.  One of the first developments were two short lived machine guns, one from Tokarev and other by the designer Kolesnikov, which were based on the older Maxim 1910 design.  While interesting weapons it was decided that neither would meet the requirements set forth by the Soviet arms committee.  As such the search went on and began to focus on arms designer V.A. Degtyarev, who had benefited from past workings with the famous and forward thinking arms maker Federov. Degtyarev designed a gas operated LMG with a long locking piston which is located under the barrel.  While approved in 1927 it was not until 1931 that full production began, as there were minor design changes implemented before total production could begin.

Along with the tanker version of the Degtyarev, known as the DT, the DP28 saw its first battle testing in Spain , and while serving in the Spanish Civil War it was noted the return spring located under the barrel was likely to damage due to overheating.  This flaw was corrected by adding cooling vents to the jacket that encases the barrel.  The DP and DT performed very well in Spain proving that the weapon was sound and reliable.  This was further shown in the Winter War against Finland (1939-1940) as the Degtyarev LMG’s were popular with the Soviet troops and equality popular with the Finnish troops that captured versions of the guns turning them against their former owners.  During the USSR ’s Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) the DP was the main LMG of the Red Army, serving the Soviets well in battlefields across Europe . 

Military Gun Supply

When Eric Robb of Military Gun Supply announced that he was going to produce a semi auto version of the DP28, I was one of the first collectors/shooters that contacted him with interest.  As a Finnish-Soviet arms collector the DP has always held a special place in my heart, as the historic background of the LMG is quite appealing.  Since the full auto versions in the United States can fetch close to $30,000, I knew that owning a real version of the DP was outside of my reach.  This is why I was so excited to hear that MGS was going to offer a semi auto version for the buying public.  While in the past semi autos such as the 1919, MG34, and MG42 had been offered to me, in my mind none had the allure of the DP28. The DP28 semi auto being sold by MGS was designed by Dennis Ricke of Midwest Metal Creations, LLC and are built by Wise Lite Arms.

Stock cartouches - Still in place and the wood in outstanding shape.

Markings from the receiver upper.

The DP28 from MGS is based on a Polish made parts kit.  Polish production of the DP28 run into the 1950’s, and the example sent to me still shows the original production date of 1953.  I was quite impressed with the overall condition of the semi auto, as the parts kits used had to be like new based on the bore condition and lack of wear on the parts.  The MGS team had clearly taken time in the details of reworking these into an appealing arm to the eye, as the blue and polishing of the weapon was outstanding.  The DP came with two Polish 47 round magazines and was well packed in a hard back case. The DP was shipped in two pieces for easy packing and within a few minutes the DP was put into its completed form.  Immediately I noticed the fitting of the DP was quite tight, this included the bolt being tight, so I knew that once I took the DP to the range – there would be a need to let the DP break in a bit after use.  As this is normal for any new gun, and these are a new gun in every since of the word, this was not a negative just standard work to be done on the range.

Photo of production DP from MGS

The example sent for testing.

The MGS DP showing condition and pan magazine.

The Range Test

Setup:

The Gunboards.com testing team was very excited to take the MGS DP28 to the range, as each member was curious as if the DP would function as good as it looked.  The testers were – Brent Snodgrass, Bill Trent, Wayne Fox, and Craig Fox.  Since this testing was mainly for function it was decided the range would only be 50 yards, as later testing would deal with accuracy.  As the weapon is a new production the testing would center mainly on basic performance.  There were three pans types used in the testing – Two polish as supplied by MGS, one Soviet magazine, and two Finnish magazines made by VKT.  The Soviet and two Finnish mags were provided by the testers and not from MGS.  As the testing was done in East Tennessee in the summer, it was a very hot and humid day of shooting.  Outside temps were in the 90 degree range with a slight breeze from time to time.

Showing the Gunboards.com testing center and 50 yard shooting range.  The magazines on the right and used in testing are Polish, Finnish, and Soviet.

Ammo :

Polish - The first round of testing was done using 1980 production Polish ammo, with this ammo being picked as it was the ammo also used by MGS in their testing.  Three pans were loaded and set aside for testing. The first 20 or so shots from the initial pan ran very well then there was a misfire.  After clearing the unfired round the DP fired 3 more times then once again misfired.  Of the remaining rounds in the pan 1 in every 7 rounds failed to fire.  In checking the cases it was noticed that the primers had been hit very hard, with in fact many of the primers being crushed very well.  We were unsure of the cause but began to believe that it was possible that sections of the Polish ammo had very tough primers in place.  The next two pans of Polish ammo repeated the experience seen in the first, as 1 in every 7 to 10 rounds would not fire.  In all cases the primers were well dented and all the testers were surprised the rounds failed to go off.  This confirmed to us that indeed some of the Polish primers are just very tough so it was more of a case of the ammo being the problem not the DP’s failure.  Magazine pans used – One Polish and one VKT Finnish magazine.

Hungarian – The Hungarian steel core LPS 147gr ammo was the next example tested.  There were two pans of this ammo loaded and fired.  All the rounds fired and fired well, even when being shot in rapid fire mode.  There were no misfires, no misfeeds, and no issues of any sort encountered with the Hungarian ammo. Magazine pans used – Two Polish MGS supplied.

Romanian – 1979 dated Romanian LPS rounds were the next to be tested.  As we only had a small supply of this ammo on hand only one magazine was fired for testing.  The Romanian ammo also performed well with only one round not feeding correctly.  The feeling of the tester is the round did not feed more due to the magazine as the Soviet magazine used in this testing was much looser than the other pans used in the testing.   Magazine pan used – Soviet production

Chinese – The Chinese 147gr copy of the Soviet L bullet has long been a great performer in the Mosin Nagant line of rifles and a small lot of 20 rounds were used for testing in the DP.  As was the case with the Hungarian the ammo performed very well as all rounds fired and feed without issue.  The Chinese ammo used in the testing was 1954 dated.

Samples of ammo used - Romanian - Chinese - Hungarian

Craig Fox - The Polish ammo used seemed to have hard primers and did not perform as well as some of the other ammo types.

Craig Fox fires downrange using Polish ammo.

Testing Results And Thoughts

On the last pan fired there was a stoppage created as the DP created an issue that forced us to end the testing earlier than planned.  On the trigger assembly and sear area a pin had worked its way loose.  This problem had been mentioned before on posters at Gunboards so it was an issue we were watching out for.  As other shooters mentioned the problem was minor and is already in the process of being corrected as per a statement by the owner of MGS Eric Robb:

“We are recalling the lowers on our DP-28 to fix the sear holder that is breaking loose. These will be fixed by drilling and press fitting some Duchmans Pins as well as enlarging the Allen screws that hold it in place. We have also noticed some slight warpage on the firing pins so we have lightened up on the heat treat so new firing pins will also be provided. This could possibly reduce some light strikes as well.  I only have one report of a problem with anything but the lower (and one firing pin). If you have issue with anything else do not hesitate to let us know and we will bring the entire gun in. However, in the interest of reducing paperwork, freight, and the potential for UPS to maul the gun we would like to have the lowers only sent in. Please email me at Eric@militarygunsupply.com and I will issue RMA # and Call Tag. Turn around time will be less than one week.”

As this problem was minor, note in our testing we did not encounter an issue with the firing pin, and is being corrected this does not in our minds detract from the weapon.  These are newly produced arms and are also much more complicated than the original full auto version, it was to be expected that some issues might arise in the first batch made.  Such is life with a new production such as this.

UPDATED SHOOTING INFO

After receiving my lower from MGS I should note the pin that came loose in our testing was not the same pin that came loose that was noted by others.  The pin that came loose on the example in testing was not even added by MGS but was a part of the DP design.  MGS still did the corrections on my lower as a “just in case” to ensure no issues would arise.

In this test run batches of the following ammo was used –

Hungarian – Steel core LPS 147gr ammo

Soviet – Heavy ball ammo 1950’s dated

Polish – 1980’s dated ammo

As was the case in the first testing the Polish ammo just does not seem to agree with this gun. It is odd as I know the Polish ammo is what MGS used in all their testing but for whatever the reason this ammo and my DP do not mix that well. One in about every 7 to 10 rounds would not fire. The primers seemed to be hit rather well so I am still not sure if it is the ammo having hard primers or if the DP’s pin strike is not enough to set the ammo off. Whatever the case I think Polish ammo and my DP are just not the best mix.

The Hungarian and Soviet ammo on the other hand ran very well, in fact I would overall call the performance outstanding.  A mix of these ammo types in 18 pans proved to be a great combination and the DP performed well.  This further leads me to believe that the Polish ammo from the 1980’s does have harder primers so it is more the ammo than the DP that is the issue.  As such it might be that the owner of a new DP from MGS will have to try different ammo type to find the one(s) that are a good fit to their semi-auto.

The design of the DP is quite good and it is felt that MGS has been able to solve the issues the first test batches of their semi-auto’s were experiencing. As such the DP sent for testing gets a high testing grade. These are one of the more interesting semi autos on the market and a lot of fun at the range.  MGS gets high marks for correcting the issues with the DP and producing a fine item for the collector, shooter, or re-enactor.

The pin that came loose is located just above the trigger and will be an easy fix.

All the testers that took part in the shoot felt the MGS DP28 was a fine weapon.  The issue with the pin coming loose needs to be corrected but other than that the weapon performed well.  It will be interesting to see what future testing shows in regards to ammo type as certainly there is a great range of surplus ammo on the market that could be used in the DP.  Although we did not test for accuracy one could see we were hitting very close to point of aim at 50 yards, so it would seem that a little bit of fine tuning on the sights would create an accurate weapon.  All the testers in the end were pleased with the DP and can recommend it to others.

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