The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
German MG34 light machine gun. Receiver top stamped dfb 42 and the serial number 7385k. All steel construction apart from the brown bakelite butt and black plastic pistol grip. The air cooled barrel has a perforated jacket and a cone flash suppressor. It is complete with a pressed steel folding bipod and a brown leather double sling with steel clips.
The MG34 was designed by Mauser-Werke at Oberndorf and was intended as a dual purpose squad, vehicle and anti-aircraft machine gun. Later it was employed with even greater flexibility and was used as a light machine gun with a bipod and as a sustained fire machine gun using a sturdy buffered tripod and a dial sight. A total of over 350,000 units are believed to have been produced.
The costly and complex production process and the weapon’s sensitivity to mud and dust, saw the German army seek to replace the weapon with a simpler, more robust gun, using many stamped sheet metal components. This was the MG42. Nonetheless, production of the MG34 continued throughout the course of the war, with 61,396 guns manufactured in 1944, and 20,297 in 1945.
In sustained fire use, the barrel would be removed and replaced with a cool replacement barrel after firing 250 rounds. The spare barrel was carried in the barrel carry case.
German MG34 light machine gun. Breech top marked BSW 1939 and the serial number. All blued steel construction apart from the brown bakelite butt and black plastic ribbed pistol grip that has a double
German MG34 light machine gun. Breech top marked dot, 1944 and the serial number 5180. All blued steel construction apart from the brown bakelite butt and black plastic ribbed pistol grip that has a d
German MG34 light machine gun. Breech top marked S/243 over 1939 and the serial number 9041. All blued steel construction apart from the brown bakelite butt and black plastic ribbed pistol grip that h
German MG34 light machine gun. Breech top marked dot, 1944 and the serial number 4285. All blued steel construction apart from the brown bakelite butt and ribbed wood pistol grip that has a double fin
MG34 light machine gun. Gas operated, belt fed, equipped with a bipod and a perforated barrel shroud. Fires a 7.92mm Mauser round. Serial number 2054, Flash suppressor and recoil booster welded in pl
German MG 34 light machine gun. The weapon is air cooled, recoil operated gas assisted, and belt fed by a flexible metallic link containing 50 rounds. Receiver top marked dfb 41 and the serial number
