The Maschinengewehr 34, or MG 34, was a German machine gun that was first produced and accepted for service in 1934, and first issued to units in 1935. It was an air-cooled machine gun firing 7.92 mm Mauser rounds and had similar performance to other medium machine guns. Image File history File links German-infantry-marching-MG34-poland-1939. ... The MG 34 - the first Universelles Maschinengewehr forerunner of the modern GPMG, shown here in two different mountings. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Mauser is the common name of a German arms manufacturer, maker of a line of bolt-action rifles from the 1870s to present. ... Heinrich Vollmer was one of the most well-known weapon technical designers of Europe. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The 7x57 Mauser, also known as the 7 mm Mauser, 7 mm Spanish Mauser, and . ... In firearms terminology, an action is the system of operation that the firearm employs to seal the breech (in a breech-loading firearm), and to load consecutive rounds. ... In a recoil operated handgun, the barrel and slide are locked together during firing. ... Rate of fire is the speed at which a specific firearm or artillery piece can ]] per minute (RPM or round/min), or rounds per second Note that heat and ammunition concerns mean that most automatic weapons are unlikely ever to sustain their cyclic rate of fire for a full minute... A guns muzzle velocity is the speed at which the projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun. ... Looking down the iron sight of an M15A4 Carbine (a civilian copy of the M4 carbine) The term iron sights refers to the open, unmagnified aiming system used to assist the aiming of a variety of devices, usually those intended to launch projectiles, such as firearms, airguns, and crossbows; they... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... The 7x57 Mauser, also known as the 7 mm Mauser, 7 mm Spanish Mauser, and . ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ...

However, it was also designed to perform both as a light squad machine gun and also in heavier roles, in an early example of a general-purpose machine gun. In the light role, it was intended to be equipped with a bipod and 50-round belt contained in a drum-shaped ammo basket, which attached to the receiver. In the heavier role it was mounted on a larger tripod and was belt-fed. In practice the infantry usually just belt-fed the bipod version, resulting in it functioning as a classic medium support weapon. A squad automatic weapon (SAW) is a light or general-purpose machine gun, usually equipped with a bipod and firing a 7. ... The MG 34 - the first Universelles Maschinengewehr forerunner of the modern GPMG, shown here in two different mountings. ... A bipod is a support device that is similar to a tripod or monopod, but with only two legs. ... Look up tripod in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A belt feeding into an M249 machine gun, from an Army training manual A belt feeding into a M1919A4 from a wooden ammo box A belt is an ammunition feeding device for a firearm. ...

History

The MG 34 was used as the primary infantry machine gun during the 1930s, and remained as the primary tank and aircraft defensive weapon. It was intended that it would be replaced in infantry service by the related MG42, but there were never enough of the new design to go around, and MG 34s soldiered on in all roles until the end of World War II. It was intended that it would replace the MG-13 and other older machine guns, but these ended up still being used in WWII as demand was never met. The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... The MG42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or Machine rifle 42) was a machine gun that was developed for and entered service with Germany in 1942, during World War II. The 7. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The MG-13 (shortened from German Maschinengewehr 13) was a German general purpose machine gun obtained by rebuilding a World War 1 water-cooled machine gun into an air-cooled version. ...

It was designed primarily by Heinrich Vollmer from the Mauser Werke, based on the recently introduced Rheinmetall-designed Solothurn 1930 (MG30) that was starting to enter service in Switzerland. The principal changes were to move the feed mechanism to a more convenient location on the left of the breech, and the addition of a shroud around the barrel. Changes to the operating mechanism improved the rate of fire to between 800 and 900 rpm. Heinrich Vollmer was one of the most well-known weapon technical designers of Europe. ... Mauser is the common name of a German arms manufacturer, maker of a line of bolt-action rifles from the 1870s to present. ... Rheinmetall is a German defense company with factories in Düsseldorf and Unterlüß. It has a long tradition of making guns and artillery pieces. ... The Maschinengewehr 30, or MG30 was a German-designed machine gun that saw some service with various armed forces in the 1930s. ...

The new gun was accepted for service almost immediately and was generally liked by the troops. It was used to great effect by German soldiers assisting the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. At the time it was introduced it had a number of advanced features and the GPMG concept that it aspired to was an influential one. However the MG 34 was also expensive, both in terms of construction and the raw materials needed (49 kg of steel) and its manufacture was too time-consuming to be built in the numbers required for the ever expanding German army. It also proved to be rather temperamental, jamming easily when dirty. Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... This article is about the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. ... The MG 34 - the first Universelles Maschinengewehr forerunner of the modern GPMG, shown here in two different mountings. ...

Characteristics

MG34

The MG 34 could use both magazine-fed and belt-fed 7.92 mm ammunition. Belts were supplied in 50-round single strips or 250-round boxes. The assault drums held a 50 rounds belt, or a 75-round "double drum" magazine could be fitted to the top of the receiver. A gun configured to use the 75-round magazine could not be returned to belt-feed mode without modification. WW2 Germany machine gun Source link http://www. ... WW2 Germany machine gun Source link http://www. ...

Like most machine guns, the barrel is designed to be easily replaced to avoid overheating during sustained fire.

In the light machine gun role it was used with a bipod and weighed only 12.1 kg. In the medium machine gun role it could be mounted on one of two tripods, a smaller one weighing 6.75 kg, the larger 23.6 kg. The larger tripod, the MG-34 Laffette, included a number of features such as a scope and special sighting equipment for indirect fire. The legs could be extended to allow it to be used in the anti-aircraft role (and many were), and when lowered it could be placed to allow the gun to be fired "remotely" while it swept an arc in front of the mounting with fire, or aimed through a periscope attached to the tripod. View through a 4x rifle scope A telescopic sight, commonly referred to as a scope, is a device used to give an accurate point of aim for a firearm. ...

Variants

MG 34/41

The MG 34/41 was requested as the first war experiences in the beginning of the World War II proved that a higher fire rate generates more dispersion of the bullets. The MG 34/41 could cope with a fire rate of 1200 rpm (MG 34 could cope with 800-900 rpm). The weight of the MG 34/41 was 14 kg, slightly more than the original MG34 version (12,1 kg). A limited number of MG 34/41 was produced (300 pcs send to the Eastern Front). Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

MG 34-T

Tanks normally use the MG 34-T model, whose main difference was that it had a different barrel sheath that was heavier and that it did not have the normal ventilation holes like the MG 34 has.

MG81

The MG 34 was also used as the basis of a new aircraft-mounted machine-gun the MG81. For this role the breech was slightly modified to allow feeds from either side, and in one version two guns were bolted together on a single trigger to form a weapon known as the MG81Z (for zwilling, German for "twin" as in twin-mounted). Production of the MG 34 was never enough to satisfy any of its users, and while the MG81 was a huge improvement over the earlier MG30-based MG15 and MG17 guns, these guns were used until the end of the war. It should be noted that as the Luftwaffe lost the battle for air superiority and declined in priority in the German war effort, MG 15s and MG 81s, which were designed as flexibly-mounted aircraft machine-guns, were modified and adapted for ground use by infantry, with varying degrees of success. The MG 15 was a 7. ... The MG 17 was a 7. ...

MG42

Main article: MG42

The MG 42 retained the dual-purpose tactical concept of the MG 34 and some of its outward appearance and design features; however it was mechanically different to all models of the MG 34. The MG42 was designed in the very late 1930s in an effort to eventually replace the expensively forged and machined MG 34 with a gun which was much easier and cheaper to manufacture with a view to keeping milled forgings to a minimum, and so replacing with stamped or pressed parts many of the larger parts or sections that had been forged and milled on the MG 34, most notably the receiver. The MG42's square-section barrel jacket, however, made it unsuitable to mount in cupolas in armored vehicles as secondary armament so the MG 34 remained in production until the end of the war in this role. The MG42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or Machine rifle 42) was a machine gun that was developed for and entered service with Germany in 1942, during World War II. The 7. ... The Maschinengewehr 1942, or MG42, is a German machine gun, first manufactured in 1942 as the successor to the MG34. ... The MG42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or Machine rifle 42) was a machine gun that was developed for and entered service with Germany in 1942, during World War II. The 7. ... Cutters for a milling machine. ...

After WWII some MG42s were in turn rechambered for the new (at the time) 7.62 x 51 mm NATO cartridge and classified as MG2 while a slight redesign was called the MG1. The seventh and final design iteration of the MG1 was called the MG3 and it currently (as of 2006) still in service around the world. NATO 7. ... The German MG3 is one of the most popular universal machine guns in the World. ...

See also

• List of World War II firearms of Germany
• MG30, predecessor
• MG42, derivative successor
• MG 710, Also known as MG55.

Browning Hi-Power The Browning Hi-Power is based on a semi-automatic 9 mm pistol conceived and patented in the United States in 1922 by American firearms inventor John Browning, who eventually took his ideas to Belgium and the arms manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal. ... Vis (Polish designation , German designation 9 mm Pistole 35(p), often simply called the Radom in English sources) is a 9 mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistol. ... The vz. ... The ZB vz. ... The karabin przeciwpancerny wzór 35 (kb ppanc wz. ... The 7. ... .303 in. ... 7. ... The 7. ... Ball and hollowpoint 9mm Luger rounds The 9 mm Luger pistol cartridge (9 x 19 mm Parabellum, 9 x 19 mm NATO) was designed by firearms designer Georg Luger. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

MG34 (machinegun)

• Nazarian's Gun's Recognition Guide
• Guns.ru page with photos and information
• 1943 U.S. Intelligence Report