World War II Database

Country of Origin	Germany
Type	Machine Gun
Caliber	7.920 mm
Capacity	250 rounds
Length	1,219.000 mm
Barrel Length	627.000 mm
Weight	12.100 kg
Rate of Fire	850 rounds/min
Muzzle Velocity	755 m/s

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Maschinengewehr 34 air cooled machine guns, or MG34 for short, were designed by Heinrich Vollmer of Mauser Werke in 1934. Due to their versatility, they were versatile and were an instant favorite with the German Army when they entered service in 1935. They were also often found on tanks (MG34-T) and aircraft (MG81 and MG81Z).

They were first fired in combat in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. They were well-liked as general purpose machine guns, despite complaints of frequent jams when dirty. There were two mountings available for the MG34 machine guns. In the light machine gun role, they were supposed to be mounted on 12.1-kg bipods, while 23.6-kg tripods with sighting and remote firing equipment were manufactured for anti-craft and heavier roles in general; in reality, combat experience showed that most MG34 machine guns were used with bipods regardless of situation due to the lighter weight.

In 1941, after German Army combat experiences in Poland and France, a request was made for an improved design that would have a higher rate of fire while still have minimal dispersion. As a response, a few MG34/41 machine guns were produced; this new design was quickly abandoned in favor of the more effective MG42 machine guns, which were chosen to replace the MG34 models. However, when the new design entered service, MG34 machine guns remained in service due to war demands. In fact, a few of the older MG13 machine guns that MG34 machine guns were supposed to replace were still in use as well.

Between 1934 and 1945, about 350,000 MG34 machine guns were built.

Source: Wikipedia.

ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Jan 2008

Photographs

See all 27 photographs of MG 34 Machine Gun

Did you enjoy this article? Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends:  Facebook  Reddit  Twitter Stay updated with WW2DB:  RSS Feeds

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments

All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
	Your email will not be published
Comment Type	General comment/question Additional information about this page Looking for more information on this topic Looking for information about my relative
Your Comments
Security Code

Note: We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.