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The MG-34’s Insane Engineering. | Unbelievable true stories | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: The MG-34’s Insane Engineering.
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Core Theme
The MG34 was a revolutionary, secretively developed German machine gun that pioneered the concept of a true general-purpose weapon, excelling in various roles and significantly influencing future firearm design despite its eventual replacement in infantry roles by the MG42 due to production and reliability concerns.
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today you'll see why the mg34 was
developed in complete secrecy and how it
was far ahead of its time when it
appeared on the battlefield we've all
heard of the legendary German machine
guns of World War II but what really
made them so effective were the many
little known details around everything
from the weapon to ammo CS in this video
we are looking at the mg34 from a
slightly different angle to show you why
it remained in service despite being
overshadowed by its younger brother the
mg42 let's begin after World War I the
German military wanted to develop a new
modern and Universal machine gun even
though the versailes treaty strictly
forbade Germany from developing and
producing weapons like artillery and
machine guns behind closed doors they
were secretly preparing revolutionary
weapons for the next global conflict one
of these would become the world's first
true general-purpose machine gun the
German military wanted to replace the
bulky hardto maneuver watercooled
machine guns of World War I and make one
adaptable for all roles they wanted
something to be used by infantry in both
offensive and Def defensive roles
mounted on tanks Vehicles aircraft and
even used as an anti-aircraft weapon it
needed to be capable of both light and
heavy machine gun roles or within a
single weapon the US military for
example had the m250 caliber heavy
machine gun the m1919 medium machine gun
and light machine guns like the Browning
automatic rifle the Germans on the other
hand had all of that and more in just
one weapon and you'll now see how a
carefully selected team of German
experts working in complete secrecy
finalized the design of the new machine
machine gun in 1934 and 2 years later it
entered production by the time the world
became aware of it around 50,000 units
had already been produced just as War
erupted and the mg34 became a key
component of the blitz Creek tactics of
a highly mobile mechanized Army Combat
the mg34 saw action for the first time
in the Spanish Civil War where a few
early models were sent to German backed
nationalist forces as part of a secret
weapons testing program it quickly
proved to be the most advanced machine
gun of its time far superior to the
outdated or even water cooled models
still in service with other nations it
was mounted on tanks half tracks and
aircraft and of course widely used by
infantry in numerous configurations
however the mg34 made up only about 13
of the German machine guns until 1941
when it was fully standardized
throughout its service nearly 600,000
units were built making it the second
most produced machine gun of the war
although officially replaced by the mg42
the mg34 remained in production until
the very end of the war largely due to
its use in tanks but more on that in a
moment the mg34 was the backbone of
Firepower for German rifle squads as
most infantry carried car 98k rifles
that fired the same powerful 8 mm mous
round the Germans were the first to
build their squads around the machine
gun using it as efficiently as possible
in both offensive and defensive roles a
standard infantry Squad consisted of 10
soldiers each with a specific role the
squad leader coordinated five fire and
movement and was armed with an MP 40
submachine gun the machine gunner
carried and fired the mg34 supported by
an assistant Gunner who helped with
reloading Barrel changes and gun setup
both carried pistols as sidearms the
rest of the squad consisted of ammo
bearers and Riflemen responsible for
protecting the team or advancing under
the cover of machine gun fire the same
system was later applied to the mg42 as
well squads often had a horse or donkey
with a cart to transport ammunition
every 250 rounds the barrel had to be
changed and experienced crews could do
this in just a few seconds in
emergencies they could fire up to 400
rounds with a single barrel before the
weapon reached a critical point of
overheating and damage the mg34 had a
drum style ammunition carrier mounted on
the left side holding a 50 round belt
this allowed the Gunner to have the
weapon ready to fire with the ammunition
neatly stored in a container that
protected it from dust and debris the US
Army for example never had anything like
this forcing their machine Gunners to
carry belts of ammunition draped over
their shoulders another example of
German engineering Excellence was the
design of their ammo boxes they had
handles with leather grips for more
comfortable carrying and were positioned
so a soldier could hold two boxes in one
hand when folded they could be stacked
on top of one another saving valuable
space in armored vehicles or bunkers
thanks to this design a single soldier
could quickly carry four boxes of 300
rounds when needed bringing 1,200 rounds
in one trip these ammo boxes were also
watertight with additional small
features for easier carrying and
mounting on a tripod the Germans thought
about every small detail like no other
Army in the war they even had a winter
adaptation for the bipod preventing it
from slipping on snow and ice especially
for use on the Eastern Front the mount
for the mg34 which was later also used
for the mg42 was just as ingenious as
the gun itself at first glance it might
not seem like anything special the
Allies also had tripods for their
machine guns however this Mount was a
major reason why German machine guns
gained their deadly reputation
transforming the mg34 into a heavy
machine gun this was the lefet mount a
complex and highly Advanced tripod
instead of a simple solid tripod like
the Allies used which had to be firmly
secured into the ground the lefet mount
had a spring-loaded recoil mechanism
making it far more accurate especially
at long ranges a second key feature was
the trigger system the Gunner operated
the mg34 using a separate trigger built
into the tripod which was connected to
the gun's own trigger this allowed the
gun and Gunner to stay lower to the
ground and better protected making it
difficult for Allied troops to locate
the source of the fire in fact the
Gunner could even fire the weapon
without being near it the mount had a
special system allowing the Gunner to
set a firing area in a specific
Direction and elevation once set the
Gunner could tie a string to the trigger
move to a safe position and fire the
weapon remotely the machine gun would
automatically sweep across the
designated Field of Fire covering a
selected area while keeping the crew
safe from Return fire in addition to
this the mount could be fitted with an
optical sight making it effective up to
2,000 M acting as a light artillery
piece piece the mg34 also had a mount
for a spiderweb site for engaging
low-flying aircraft despite weighing
around 40 and being highly complex the
lefet mount was incredibly effective
giving the mg34 and later the mg42 a
major Battlefield Advantage tanks the
mg34 was the only machine gun the
Germans used in their tanks throughout
the entire War as a coaxial and a bow
gun it could be used without a stock
unlike the mg42 which had its recoil
spring inside it the m G 34's Quick
Change barrel system also made it ideal
for tanks while the mg42's barrel change
system was faster and more efficient for
infantry use where the barrel was
removed from the side it couldn't be
used inside tanks without major
modifications to the gun or turret the
mg 34's barrrel was removed from the
rear making it far more suitable for
armored vehicles the mg34 had a unique
fire selector system which was actually
a dual trigger mechanism pulling the
upper portion of the trigger fired
single shots while pulling the lower
portion engaged fully automatic fire
early versions even had an adjustable
rate of fire with a device allowing the
Gunner to switch between 600 and 900
rounds per minute however this feature
was quickly removed as it was too
complicated and impractical in combat so
if the mg34 was so good why was it
replaced by the mg42 at least for
infantry use there were two main reasons
the first was production difficulty the
mg34 was not designed for wartime mass
production it required high quality
material materials and extreme Precision
Machining which was difficult to
maintain once the war was at its peak it
is said that 1 mg34 took 150 man hours
to produce while the mg42 took only half
of that the second problem was its tight
Machining tolerances while this made it
an exceptionally well-made weapon it
also made it more sensitive to dust dirt
and extreme temperatures it had serious
reliability issues on the Eastern front
and in North Africa where operators had
to be extremely diligent with
maintenance to keep the gun running the
mg42 on the other hand was cheaper and
faster to produce made from stamped
steel instead of milled Parts it was
also far more reliable in the field with
less maintenance on top of that it had
an even higher rate of fire and a
simpler faster barrel change system
making it easier to use in combat
however the mg34 continued to be
produced throughout the war as mentioned
earlier it was still used on armored
vehicles and tanks some factories were
also not easily convertible to mg42
production so they kept making 34s to
avoid disruption and to produce spare
parts for the hundreds of thousands of
units already in service despite being
overshadowed by its younger brother the
mg34 remained in service long after
World War II many countries continued
using or modifying captured stockpiles
and it saw combat again in later
conflicts when it was introduced the
mg34 completely revolutionized machine
gun design it became the first true
general purpose machine gun and set the
standard for modern weapons that nearly
a century later still follow the same concept
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