World War II Database

Country of Origin	Germany
Type	Machine Gun
Caliber	7.920 mm
Capacity	250 rounds
Length	1.219 m
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

MG 34 Machine Gun Interactive Map

Photographs

See all 32 photographs of MG 34 Machine Gun

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