Keeping those 72 round drums working....

[Rekraps]

I had a few more delivered to me today and ran into a situation that might be of interest to you guys. 

The PPSH 41 drums, besides having to be hand fit to each gun may also need maintenance as you degrease (cosmoline) them and put them into  action. For mine, the degrease part was easy, I just soaked them in turpentine for a few hours then, using a tooth brush and daubs, cleaned any and all visible residue. 

The issue this time however, was that the units refused to wind more than three clicks, which was not sufficient to load the full complement of ammo. 

The solution, and what I did for all 10 of my drums:

Remove the front cover by depressing the back spine and rotating the cover lock off the front spline. Rotate the spring assembly one click, which moves the hinged follower about 1/8 of a turn and releases all pressure on it. There is a small set screw which is easily taken out. Remove the follower. Now, while holding onto the spring assembly tightly, depress the rear spine and allow the assembly to unwind once click at a time until it is fully unwound. 

At this point, start rewinding the assembly once click at a time until the follower mount point is about the same location as when  you removed it. This should be three or four clicks. Make sure the bullet guide is fully rotated clockwise until the stop tab rests against the magazine stop. Reattach the follower, insert and tighten the holding set screw. Now the magazine is fully ready to wind (up to 8 clicks) and load and will function great. 

[APEXgunparts]

I have had to adjust PPsH-41 drums, as well as knock the dents out of them (they sometimes don't latch well when fully loaded and can fall out while firing if you don't support them)  Being lugged back from Vietnam and Korea doesn't help with dents either!
The one that came back from Vietnam also suffered with a broken "clock" drive spring.
I was able to just shorten it, get it reattached and running again.
I had another broken too far back to just shorten and it had to find another mangled drum to cannibalize a spring from. 

I have some really nice drums, but those "battlefield" returns are worth the time to save!

Richard

[Rekraps]

12 hours ago, APEXgunparts said:

I have had to adjust PPsH-41 drums, as well as knock the dents out of them (they sometimes don't latch well when fully loaded and can fall out while firing if you don't support them)  Being lugged back from Vietnam and Korea doesn't help with dents either!
The one that came back from Vietnam also suffered with a broken "clock" drive spring.
I was able to just shorten it, get it reattached and running again.
I had another broken too far back to just shorten and it had to find another mangled drum to cannibalize a spring from. 

I have some really nice drums, but those "battlefield" returns are worth the time to save!

Richard

Hey Richard, you are spot on. I was on GB the other day and it seems that with each passing moment, spare parts (to include magazines/drums) for all types of vintage guns are soaring! There is a fellow (Chris) on GB who is selling PPSH drums for $72 each, and they are all but new. The rest that I saw were priced from $399 and up! 

So, beat out those dents, rewind the springs and make the old ones work!

[Rekraps]

Having thought about this a bit, I decided to fully disassemble, clean and reassemble my PPSH drums. For those of you interested, here is the process:

PPSH 41 Drum Components:

• Front Face Plate w/hinged locking tab
• Main Body
• Follower & follower set screw
• Main Spring Assembly (sealed at factory)
• Clutch Spline, spring and nut
• Ammunition Carousel

Disassembly:

1. After removing the front face plate, rotate the MSA one click counter-clockwise. Remove set screw and follower, set aside.
2. Holding the drum in your left hand, and applying slight counter clockwise pressure on the MSA, depress the clutch pin from the back of the main body and allow it to rotate clockwise, one click at a time. After 7 or 8 clicks, all spring tension in the MSA will be gone.
3. Remove the Clutch nut and spring from the back of the MSA, then remove the clutch spline. Set aside.
4. Rotate the MSA clockwise about 1/4 turn (this will disengage the inner spring from the main body post spring catch), and gently pull upward. The MSA will come off. Set aside.
5. From the bottom of the Main body, lift the ammunition carousel at a 35 degree angle and remove it. Set aside. 
6. The unit is now fully disassembled. The MSA is sealed at the factory, so it cannot be disassembled.

Clean all parts of excess packing grease (but leave the packing grease in the MSA). 

Reassembly:

1. Replace the ammunition carousel, making sure the stop tab is to the left (12 oclock position) of the stop tab barrier.
2. Reinstall the MSA, with the small follower hole in the 12 oclock position. Make sure the MSA is fully seated past the tabs on the main body post.
3. Insert the clutch spline until seated in the MSA. 
4. Holding the clutch spline in place, insert the clutch spring and nut from the back of the Main body. Hand tighten.
5. Holding the drum in your left hand, wind the MSA 7 or 8 clicks until the small follower hole is back in the 12 oclock position.
6. Rotate the MSA one more click counter clockwise and reinstall the follower and set screw. 
7. The Drum is now ready to load, rotate the MSA counter clockwise until it stops, load ammo. Tension can be set by striking the clutch nut on a hard surface, or by gently turning the MSA just a tad, and depressing the clutch nut by hand. Either way works.