Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin was a Soviet weapons designer. He is best-known as the creator of the PPSh-41, a submachine gun that saw widespread use by the Red Army on the Eastern Front. He also worked with fellow Soviet weapons designer Vasily Degtyaryov on the DShK, a heavy machine gun, shortly before the start of World War II.
Shpagin in February 1945
The PPSh-41 is a selective-fire, open-bolt, blowback submachine gun that fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev round. It was designed by Georgy Shpagin of the Soviet Union to be a cheaper and simplified alternative to the PPD-40.
PPSh-41 with a 71-round drum magazine
A 1942 PPSh-41 with a 35-round box magazine
PPSh (left) compared to PPS (right) box magazine
Soviet PPSH-41 submachine gun, Fort Lewis Military Museum, Fort Lewis, Washington, U.S. - part of a display of the weapons of the Korean War