WWII MG 34 LIGHT MACHINE GUN GERMAN, 1938

MG-34 was designed in the early 1930s by the team lead by Louis Stange at Rheinmetall, leading German arms manufacturer at that time. Final design, adopted for service in 1934, incorporated numerous features from experimental prototypes built by Rheinmetall, Mauser-werke, and others. As was requested by German army, it was a truly universal machine gun, capable of different roles. It was put into production circa 1935, and remained an official MG of the Wehrmacht until 1942, when it was officially replaced my more reliable and cheap MG-42. But, despite this, MG-34 continued to serve until the end of WW2, mostly as a tank gun, because it was better suited for this role than the MG-42.
In general, MG-34 was an outstanding weapon, with very fine finish and made to tight tolerances, but this become also its biggest drawback - being too expensive and too slow to manufacture, MG-34 was less than suitable for mass wartime production. It also was somewhat sensitive to dirt and fouling, a standard attribute of the western front battles. But the most major advantage of the MG-34 was its versatility, and it set the trend for numerous latter designs.
This one made at Otto Goessel u. Co., Glashuette in Sachsen. South of Dresden.

References WWW.ModernFirearms.net

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