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Despite having early experience with the Madsen LMG prior to World War One, the Soviet military opted to follow the German path of machine gun development after the war. Valuing the sustained firepower of beltfed guns like the MG0815 and MG0818 over the portability of guns like the BAR or Lewis, the Soviet Union formally adopted the MaximTokarev in 1925. However, Degtyarev developed his own simple, light, bisfed design anyway, with support of one M.V. Frunze in the military establishment.

The Army ultimately came around to the benefits of a more portable light machine gun, and the Degtyarev was adopted in 1927, with production beginning in 1928 (hence the references to both DP27 and DP28 as its name). It would continue to undergo iterative development for several years, eventually becoming a very durable and reliable weapon for the Red Army. Service in World War Two showed a few shortcomings however, resulting in an upgrade program to the DPM, adopted in 1944. This involved moving the recoil spring to the back of the gun, adding a pistol grip, and improving the bipod. In 1946 it was adapted to belt feed, and eventually only pushed out of service by the introduction of the PK in the early 1960s.

Degtyarev's gasoperated, flapperlocked system proved to be very successful, and he used the same basic system in the DShK, DS39, and RPD machine guns as well.

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