The design had several weaknesses that would eventually be addressed in later variants. The pan magazines were prone to damage, while also being difficult and time-consuming to reload. The bipod mechanism was weak and likely to fail if not handled with care. The recoil spring's location near the barrel led to overheating, causing it to lose proper spring temper. Typical of light machine guns of the era, the 47-round magazines made sustained fire impossible. In contrast, the German MG-34/MG-42 were continuous belt-fed general-purpose machine guns and provided a sustained fire capability the DP series could not match.