ShKAS machine gun
Encyclopedia
The ShKAS is a 7.62 mm
machine gun
widely used by Soviet
aircraft in the 1930s and during World War II
. It was designed by Boris Shpitalniy
and Irinarkh Komaritsky and entered production in 1934. ShKAS was used in the majority of Soviet fighters
and bomber
s and served as the basis for the ShVAK cannon.
. The high rate of fire is achieved thanks to the revolving 10-chamber drum fed by metal disintegrating link ammunition belt
and the recoiling portion of the gun weighing only 921 grams (2.07 lb). ShKAS combat effectiveness was markedly improved thanks to N. M. Elizarov's armor-piercing and incendiary ammunition. Initial production consisted of cable-charged wing-mounted and turret-mounted ShKAS with a synchronized version entering service in 1936. In 1939, a small number of Ultra-ShKAS were produced featuring a firing rate of 3,000 rounds per minute but these saw only limited use due to reliability problems. A one-second burst from four ShKAS in Polikarpov I-153
or Polikarpov I-16
placed 120 bullets within 15 angular mil
s at 400 meters (1,312 feet) giving a firing density of 5 bullets per square meter of the sky. This was significantly higher than contemporary aircraft from other nations, especially considering that four guns with 650 rounds of ammunition per gun weighed a total of only 160 kg (350 lb).
7.62 mm caliber
7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the Imperial unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for indicating a class of full power military main battle rifle cartridges...
machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
widely used by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
aircraft in the 1930s and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was designed by Boris Shpitalniy
Boris Shpitalniy
Boris Gavriilovich Shpitalny was a Soviet designer of aircraft guns and cannons, Hero of Socialist Labor , professor ....
and Irinarkh Komaritsky and entered production in 1934. ShKAS was used in the majority of Soviet fighters
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
and bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s and served as the basis for the ShVAK cannon.
Description
ShKAS is a gas-operated revolver-type machine gunMachine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
. The high rate of fire is achieved thanks to the revolving 10-chamber drum fed by metal disintegrating link ammunition belt
Belt (firearm)
A belt or ammunition belt is a device used to retain and feed cartridges into a firearm. Belts and the associated feed systems are typically employed to feed machine guns or other automatic weapons...
and the recoiling portion of the gun weighing only 921 grams (2.07 lb). ShKAS combat effectiveness was markedly improved thanks to N. M. Elizarov's armor-piercing and incendiary ammunition. Initial production consisted of cable-charged wing-mounted and turret-mounted ShKAS with a synchronized version entering service in 1936. In 1939, a small number of Ultra-ShKAS were produced featuring a firing rate of 3,000 rounds per minute but these saw only limited use due to reliability problems. A one-second burst from four ShKAS in Polikarpov I-153
Polikarpov I-153
The Russian Polikarpov I-153 Chaika was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. Developed as an advanced version of the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mongolia and was one of the Soviet's major fighter types in the early years of the Second...
or Polikarpov I-16
Polikarpov I-16
The Polikarpov I-16 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first cantilever-winged monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear. The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of World War II...
placed 120 bullets within 15 angular mil
Angular mil
An angular mil, also mil, is a unit of angle. All versions of the angular mil are approximately the same size as a trigonometric milliradian.-History:The milliradian was first identified in the mid nineteenth Century...
s at 400 meters (1,312 feet) giving a firing density of 5 bullets per square meter of the sky. This was significantly higher than contemporary aircraft from other nations, especially considering that four guns with 650 rounds of ammunition per gun weighed a total of only 160 kg (350 lb).
Defects
But ShKAS had its defects. Soviet machine-gun technician Viktor M. Sinaisky recalled:Gun specifications
- CaliberCaliberIn guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
: 7.62 x 54mmR - Rate of fireRate of fireRate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. It is usually measured in rounds per minute , or per second .-Overview:...
: 1,800 rounds/min wing- or turret-mounted; 1,625 rounds/min synchronized. UltraShKAS: 3,000 rounds. - Muzzle velocityMuzzle velocityMuzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
: 825 m/s - WeightWeightIn science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity. Its magnitude , often denoted by an italic letter W, is the product of the mass m of the object and the magnitude of the local gravitational acceleration g; thus:...
: 10 kg (22 lb) empty; 40 kg (88 lb) with 650 rounds of ammunition.
7.62 mm ammunition specifications
- Bullet weight: 148 grainsGrain (measure)A grain is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definition of units of mass. However, there is no evidence of any country ever...
(9.6 grams) - Round weight: 370 grainsGrain (measure)A grain is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definition of units of mass. However, there is no evidence of any country ever...
(24 grams) - Ballistic coefficientBallistic coefficientIn ballistics, the ballistic coefficient of a body is a measure of its ability to overcome air resistance in flight. It is inversely proportional to the negative acceleration—a high number indicates a low negative acceleration. BC is a function of mass, diameter, and drag coefficient...
: 3.0 lb/in² (2,100 kg/m²) - Tracer ammunitionTracer ammunitionTracer ammunition are bullets that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited by the burning powder, the phosphorus tail burns very brightly, making the projectile visible to the naked eye...
duration: 750 m (2,460 ft) - Armor piercing: 11 mm (0.43 in) at 400 m (1,312 ft)
See also
- Savin-Narov machine gunSavin-Narov machine gunThe SN was an aircraft machine gun manufactured in Russia during WW2. It fired the same 7.62x54mmR round used in the Mosin-Nagant rifle and with a rate of 3600RPM.-Overview:...
- List of firearms
- List of common World War II weapons
