PPSh-41 or PPSh wz.41 (colloquially: pepesh or pepecha) is a Soviet submachine gun cal. 7.62 mm from the period of World War II and the Cold War. The first prototypes of this weapon were made in 1940, and serial production continued in 1941-1948. In its course, over 5.5 million pieces of this weapon were created. The initial velocity of the projectile fired from this submachine gun was up to 550 m / s, and the theoretical rate of fire - up to 900 rounds per minute. The length of the weapon was about 83 centimeters, and the weight with a full drum magazine reached 5.4 kilograms. It is assumed that the effective shot range was around 125-150 meters. The PPSh-41 was developed for the needs of the Red Army by Georgy Shpagin, one of the best Soviet designers of small arms in the 20th century. The new weapon was to replace the too complicated PPD-40 submachine gun in the line. Compared to its predecessor, the new weapon had a very similar size and weight, but a slightly better theoretical rate of fire. On the other hand, it definitely dominated the ease of use, reliability and much lower production costs, which made it very suitable for mass production. Due to its advantages, the PPSh-41 quickly became the basic machine gun of the Red Army, used throughout the war with the Third Reich (1941-1945). It also entered the service of the Polish Army formed in the USSR. The presented submachine gun was also (after 1945) produced or exported in many countries around the world, including: Poland, Yugoslavia and Hungary.
In the front units of the Red Army, during the German-Soviet war of 1941-1945, there were reconnaissance units called Razwiedczikami (in Russian, written in Latin script are Voyennaya Razvyedka). These units were assigned primarily to infantry units in the strength of the battalion per division, company per brigade and platoon per regiment. The organizational structure of the Razwiedczik units did not differ significantly from that of the regular infantry. However, their role on the battlefield was radically different. These formations were treated as specific "eyes and ears" of the commander of the formation to which they were subject. It is worth adding that their soldiers were much better trained than regular infantry units, and their tasks were to collect information from the enemy's rear or observe his movements and marches. It is worth adding that after 1943, the Razwiedcziki used uniforms covered with camouflage stains, and their equipment was dominated by light machine guns, such as the PPsZ submachine gun and the 7.62 mm Diegtarev light machine gun. Often, however, they also fought with captured equipment.