Original Item: Only One Available. This is an extremely scarce accessory for the Soviet WW2 DShk heavy machine gun.

An original fitted wood box measuring 13" x 11" x 3" containing both the anti-aircraft front sight and exotic rear sight assembly together with all the mounting brackets ready to be added to the DShK 12.7 MG. Covered in a host of markings and scales the rear sight is dated 1953. In addition is a matching hand held leveling gauge, again with multiple markings and a date of 1964. Both rear sight assembly and leveling gauge have small airplane facsimiles making this a most attractive set and an absolute must for any DShk owner.

The DShK 1938 (ДШК, for Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin Large-Calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped "butterfly" trigger, firing the 12.7×108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armor-plate shield. It took its name from the weapons designers Vasily Degtyaryov, who designed the original weapon, and Georgi Shpagin, who improved the cartridge feed mechanism. It is sometimes nicknamed Dushka (a dear or beloved person) in Russian-speaking countries, from the abbreviation.

The requirement for a heavy machine gun appeared in 1929. The first such gun, the Degtyaryov, Krupnokalibernyi (DK, Degtyaryov, large calibre), was built in 1930, and this gun was produced in small quantities from 1933 to 1935. The gun was fed from a drum magazine of thirty rounds, and had a poor rate of fire. Shpagin developed a belt feed mechanism to fit to the DK giving rise, in 1938, to the adoption of the gun as the DShK 1938. This became the standard Soviet heavy machine gun in World War II.

Like its American equivalent, the M2 Browning, the DShK 1938 was used in several roles. As an anti-aircraft weapon it was mounted on pintle and tripod mounts, and on a triple mount on the GAZ-AA truck. Late in the war, it was mounted on the cupolas of IS-2 tanks and ISU-152 self-propelled guns. As an infantry heavy support weapon it used a two-wheeled trolley which unfolded into a tripod for anti-aircraft use, similar to the mount developed by Vladimirov for the 1910 Maxim gun. It was also mounted in vehicle turrets, for example, in the T-40 light amphibious tank.

In 1946, the DShK 1938/46 or DShKM (M for modernized) version was introduced.

In addition to the Soviet Union and Russia, the DShK has been manufactured under license by a number of countries, including the People's Republic of China (Type 54), Pakistan, and Romania. Currently, it has been mostly replaced in favor of the more modern NSV and Kord designs. Nevertheless, the DShK is still one of the most widely used heavy machine guns.