RPD

The Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyareva (abbreviated RPD) is a light machine gun designed in 1943 in the Soviet Union. It first entered service in 1944, and saw limited service on the eastern front in the second world war; widespread use did not start untill the early '50s. Like most weapons of the early post-war period in Soviet service, the RPD fires a 7.62x39mm cartridge, which is fed into the RPD from 2 separate non-disintegrating 50-round belts in a drum magazine. Although first produced in the Soviet Union, significant numbers were also built in China. It was later replaced in Soviet service with the Ruchnoy Pulemyot Kalashnikov (RPK) as well as the PKM, a light machine gun derivative of the AKM in the late sixties. Although the RPD isn't used by the Russian Army today, it is still used by some national armies, including North Korea, Egypt, and Bolivia as well as paramilitary and insurgent groups.

Single Player
In the single-player campaign of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the RPD is frequently used by the Loyalists, Ultranationalists and OpFor. To this end, it can be more useful than the M249 SAW in some stages, as ammunition is frequently available. A mounted form can also be found in the level Safehouse in two of the houses.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, it is available soon after the start (level 4) and can be modified with a Red Dot Sight, ACOG Scope and grip. It is primarily used for medium to long distances and is particularly liked for its magazine's high capacity as well as high power. It is capable of getting long distance kills as the recoil is less that the AK-47's cosmetic recoil and it has no idle sway. Also, in terms of damage per second, the RPD is better than both the SAW and M60E4 when using Stopping Power. The SAW does significantly less damage per second than the RPD or M60E4, and the RPD and M60E4 take the same number of bullets to kill (except in close quarters or mid-range, where the M60E4 can kill in two shots without Stopping Power). Many players use the Grip to increase the RPD's long range capabilities.

In the hands of a skilled player, the weapon, even without any attachments, can be very powerful. A medium rate of fire of 700 rounds per minute as well as taking 2 shots to kill (with stopping power) make this gun nearly unbeatable, even more, it has rather low recoil, making it a preferred weapon by many. It is possible to earn a helicopter using only a fraction of the magazine. However, it does have some drawbacks, such as having the longest reload time and poor hip-fire accuracy, which can be mitigated somewhat by Sleight of Hand and Steady Aim. At close ranges firing from the hip, some players meet some success by waving the RPD slightly from side to side to compensate for the poor hip fire accuracy by taking advantage of the high rate of fire.

The RPD's iron sights are large and unobstructed, so many players like the RPD's iron sights and prefer to use it with the foregrip or stand-alone rather than the red dot sight or ACOG, as the front sight is not removed when using the red dot sight so it will be more obstructed, and the ACOG adds sway.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
The RPD in Modern Warfare 2 handles very similarly to it's Modern Warfare 1 equivalent. A notable difference is that the ACOG no longer sways and that there is a rail added which is not seen on the Call of Duty 4 RPD and in real life.With the introduction of Bling, the RPD becomes even more powerful as other attachments can be used along with the pretty much mandatory Grip. An interesting option is to use the RPD as a long range sniper rifle by adding two attachments: the Grip and the Thermal Scope or ACOG. Using short bursts or even single shot firing combined with the power and range of the RPD, it works quite well in this function, though short range fights will still rely on the RPD's somewhat inaccurate hip firing.

Weapon Attachments



 * Grip (Marksman I)
 * Red Dot Sight (Marksman II)
 * EOTech Holographic Weapon Sight (60 kills while aiming down the Red Dot Sight)
 * Silencer (Marksman III)
 * Heartbeat Sensor (15 kills with the silencer attached)
 * ACOG Scope (Marksman IV)
 * Thermal Scope (20 kills while aiming down ACOG)
 * FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) (Marksman V)
 * Extended Mags (40 kills with Bullet Penetration while using FMJ)

Trivia

 * In the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare mission Safehouse, a mounted RPD can be used.
 * Strangely, if you run out of ammo or reload it after it finishes its drum magazine, it has some bullets left in its magazine when it is pulled out and changed.
 * Although technically completely outdated and replaced several times in Russia's military history as their squad support weapon, the RPD managed to debut as the main OpFor/Ultranationalist LMG, and again in Modern Warfare 2, outshining it's more modern Soviet/Russian cousins.
 * Even though the RPD fires bullets from non-disintegrating belts, the firing animation shows individual belt links (like those for a SAW or M240 belt) flying out the side above the casings.
 * Using the Extended Magazines attachment on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the RPD has all of the player's starting ammo loaded into one very large magazine, assuming they are not using Scavenger Pro.


 * In Call of Duty 4 the RPD`s Grip seems to be a solid wood grip that is actually part of the weapon, while in Modern Warfare 2 the RPD has a modern synthetic grip and is attached.
 * When using the Heartbeat Sensor, the player closes the Heartbeat Sensor when reloading, this is the same with the M240.