Can we talk about how great of a speaker Ian is? He has to talk for almost 30 minutes with minimal cuts in the whole video, but he's able to talk about all the historical aspects of the gun without messing up or stuttering, all the while looking at the camera. That's a big part of why I love these videos, he makes them interesting to and enjoyable to watch because he's a great presenter.
Agreed. I wish I had such a fantastic teacher when I was in Liège gunsmithing school, 17 years ago. Back then, there were no such resources online. Ian should be teaching history of firearms at a uni or in a gunsmithing school :)
As a mechanical engineer, it blows my mind how people developed this level of equipment without calculators or CAD. VERY smart people, and VERY impressive machine design for being 80 years old
@@dr.johnpaladinshow9747 Slide rule useful in calculation, but the most essential tools for this sort of design and drafting are the good old straight edge, caliper, and compass. I still tend to fall back on them (or their line and circle analogues in CAD) when in doubt since that's how I learned the fundamentals in Design and Control of Mechanical Systems.
As a USMC armorer, the fact that a 1930s machinegun allows you to detach the top cover by means of ab easy spring loaded pin, while the M249 forces you to remove the entire pin and then realign a bunch of bs to put it back into place, really grinds my gears.
Andre Krumins it is. Dad served in Afghanistan and one of his men used an M249. He told me, and I quote, "that gunner swore more than the drill sergeants did."
I know right? The attention to detail is exquisite! So complicated a gun for it's time, yet designed so well to be easy to take apart... Just wow. Hats off to the designers. Nazis suck, but this gun is just magnificent.
Josh King don't forget how astonishingly easy (Marine proof?) swapping barrels is! I've used M-240 and -249s, and would rather have my old M-60E2, thank you very much.
The machining on this is insane if you consider how many of them were built. Especially with manual lathes, milling machines and shapers. My hat goes off for the machinists around the world!
Also, the design was done by Germans... even these days, I get pushback when I tell them that the design must follow KISS... they truly believe that a simple design is not sufficiently "sophisticated" to function properly in rough service...
@@Lazyguy22 It's a tool, evidence of human ingenuity and ignorance - our best and worst qualities - at the same time. A gun isn't good or evil, regardless of it's purpose or origin, it's a death machine AND a lifesaver at the same time, and no amount of whining and using magical words like "Nazi" will change that.
1999-2000 I was in the Croatian military. Even then, there were several MG 34 in our armament with eagles and swastikas. We also had even more MG 42 . Top machine guns with so much firing power. Not that we didn't have modern machine guns. But these German ones were so good and powerful
It would take a loooong time for anyone to make a machine gun quite like this. Part of that was most countries hadn't established machine gun doctrine like the Germans had. The other part was that the Germans are _really_ good at gun design...
True, but one also have to think of the need... For a small army, with tight funds, the time to think of and then do the standardizing of equipment is far more easy than for a somewhat big army. Ian mentions the Danes a few times, and that is not a coincidence... I can be wrong on this, but I believe that we (Denmark) adopted the Madsen MG in 1902, and we never really adopted anything else in rifle caliber, meaning that the fundamental idea of an universal gun (using one gun for everything) was implemented early on... However the Danes never went to the next stage, perhaps as a result of being a small army, and made the Madsen (or a successor gun) belt-fed, that (to my mind) is what made the Germans make up the first proper universal gun, their army was small/elite at the time of design, and they had the funds to make the next step on the evolution of guns.
well at the same time, most countries will balk at the cost and time to manufacture something like MG34... even if the country were heavily centered around their light machine guns for their troops... MG34 is not cheap by any stretch of imagination... and likely will be VERY difficult to get traction with most countries military who will not find the price for it justifiable.
I have one (fully de-mil'd unfortunately) that my dad bought a long time ago. The thing that always impresses me about it, is the quality of the machining. It looks like the kind of work you'd expect to see on a high priced civilian firearm, not a military weapon.
I was set up with the MG-3 when I served with the Norwegian army, it has an awesome firepower, it’s made to keep heads down which it does well considering its 1300 rpm so my riflemen can move without taking fire. My platoon of 34 men had three MG-3’s and one M2 every machine gunner carried a MP-5 as a “side” arm. The riflemen were issued G3’s and a Glock 17. I carried 4 G-3 magazines on my vest to keep the two other guys in the MG crew with extra ammo since they both carried 600 rounds for me, I also had 600 rounds with me. It was heavy AF! 15 kg or so of ammo I guess.
@@combatantezoteric2965 Erm no... In fact, german soldiers would use worn barrels because the MG-34 and MG-42 was too much accurate, am quite sure if you mounted a scope ontop of it, it would be the first full auto sniper rifle ooooof
@@combatantezoteric2965 no lol? Mg34s are stupid stable and controllable. Basically a laser beam to a trained soldier, why do you think the Germans almost won the war? They were better shooters with better gear
@@weavercs4014 The Germans lost any hope for winning the war once the Soviets started their counterattack in 1942. They were better shooters with much better equipment, but attrition wins all wars, not quality. The Germans also made the bad decision to continue developing overweight tanks instead of focusing on a perfect generalist tank (more resources should have been sent perfecting and manufacturing the panther).
I'm losing my mind at the precision of the machining on this thing! The Germans were, as they are to this day, absolute masters of The Black Arts of shaping steel to perfection!
For me as an engineer, the machinery of this is simply outstanding! considering its made nearly 80 years ago! A beautiful piece of engineering! Also, Ian is an amazing speaker! keep on great work, we love your videos!
Never understood how anyone could dislike ANY forgotten weapons videos. Ian does an awesome job! Thank you for the history, engineering, and safety lesson. I tip my hat to you sir!
Only just discovered this channel. Not a gun guy (I am in the UK so not really an option) but I have been reading a lot of WW2 history over the past 18 months and I have to say that the Forgotten Weapons videos on WW2 weapons are simply some of the best content I have found on youtube that feeds into a WW2 interest. Fascinating stuff, superbly presented. Absolute class!
The MG 34 was also used by the "Krad Schützen". *K* stood for *Kraft* (power) and *Rad* means in this context (cycle). They were motorcyclist who oftentimes counted as infantry and surprized the enemies, who didn't expect the fast bikers. The MG34 was commonly mounted on the bike. Another weapon they used was the Kar 98 which was used if they had to walk instead of driving.
One thing Ian has that makes me enjoy his discussion of guns is the way he explains how the gun works when disassembled - it makes it easier for me to picture how the weapon cycles and does its work, and I haven't seen anyone else do that. And that's why I'm subbed
26:57 : Every year, thousands of MG34s are abandoned on the street by bad owners, we, the MG34 Care Organization, take them to our depot and give them to a new owner that compromises to give a new and lovely life to this machineguns. Adopt an MG34 now, it wouldn't abandon you! PS.: Apart from jokes, nice video!
funny, because I've found the barrel for the MG34 in a forest with a metal detector (Czech Republic), hopefully one day I'll find the whole gun (or any other gun, especially the luger :D), even though I was VERY lucky finding that barrel. I've never seen someone find that in the CR. I've also find the Mauser action. www.lovecpokladu.cz/artefakty/nalez/hlaven-mg34-160462/
I have my MG 34 in my life and she's a keeper. A nice 1943 example. Unfortunately ravaged by the UK's deactivation laws, but at least the working parts still move.
Ian; One interesting fact about both the MG-34, and 42, was that once West Germany was permitted to, and then adopted 7.62 x 51mm NATO, they could convert all of the surplus 34, and 42 GPMGs to 7.62 just by replacing the barrels, until Mauser (H&K) got MG-3 production up to speed. SFC Bruce R. Gadbois
Really a marvel of gun design. Light years ahead of anything at the time and I bet still today it would be very effective in the field. (yes Im aware of the 7.62 Nato MG3. Would love a video on that one too.)
Engineers post WWII: "We like the 42s so much, how about we don't change anything on the system and just change the barrel to accommodate and fire standard NATO 7.62mm?" German Army:"K, what do you want to call it?" Engineers:"MG3, to confuse the guys, so they thinks it's a whole new gun"
I note that FN copied the bipod verbatim in the MAG 58. Even down to the ribs to brace the legs and the height adjusting knob. WHY NOT? Copy with pride.
While the MG-42 is more famous and maybe a more practical gun use and logistically wise, the MG-34 is just so much cooler in how exquisite it's in terms engineering and quality and cleverness; a fine piece of craftsmanship. I specially like the rotary bolt and barrel change mechanism (the MG-42 is better, but the MG-34 is so much cooler.)
The double drum mag was never removed from service, turret gunners on german aircraft used them throughout the war because belts were sometimes too long and cumbersome to use in their crampt positions.
joetca the Patronentrommel 34 (for the MG 34) is NOT the same as the Patronentrommel 15 (from the aircraft MG 15). From www.bergflak.com/PT34.htm : " A D-T 15 will not fit on a MG34, but a PT34 can be used on a MG15."
After reading the comments of numerous viewers this gun seems to be a much better gun than some now in use by the U.S. military. Not every new gun is an improvement over an older design by a long shot.
Absolutely fantastic video! I’ve been shooting the MG3 (MG42) during my military service at the Bundeswehr 30 years ago quite often and was kind of familiar with it. But I did not know many details about the MG34 until now. Great explanation and very satisfying to listen to it.
Truly and engineering and machining marvel, done long before Computer Assisted Machining and Design. One can't but admire the skill and craftsmanship that produced it.
4:27 This is very important. Anyone who has fired machineguns _knows_ how important a low rate of Fire is. This is neglected in _most_ firearms people reference when they say full auto isn’t practical. What is also neglected, are recoil systems that do not impact the receiver _(as is the case in a constant recoil firearm)_ Then there’s the cartridge. The 7.62x39 M43 was designed for the SKS. The 8mm Kurz _is_ a lower recoiling round, in a 10 LB gun, with a firing rate of about 500 rpm.
As you said, in 1939-1940 the Germans didn't have enough MG34 for all their units.Even worse: in May-June 1940 the French Army had more Machnine Gun / Light Machine Gun than the Werhmacht. The German army was not fully prepared for a long war until summer 1941.
I'm not sure which gun I prefer, the MG42 or MG34. The 42 is cooler in certain ways; it's insane rate of fire being a huge factor as well as it's bulkiness and large vents in the barrel shroud giving it that industrial appearance. There are many elements which I think make the 34 more attractive as well, though they don't necessarily jump out at you like they do with the 42. The grip and trigger on the 34 are much nicer, for example. The 42 has a simple, stamped steel trigger almost akin to something you would find on a liberator pistol or some of the later war German guns. The 34 has a beautiful double trigger that is machined from high quality steel with color-coded markings. The entire feel of the gun is also really high quality; it's heavy in all the right places, has finely blued and polished barrel shroud and flash hider, has a textured charging handle/safety and has all these tightly fitting, overly-complicated parts and buttons that fulfill different functions from removing the buttstock to swinging the entire receiver off to the side so you can remove the barrel. It also has the benefit of being the last in a long lineup of German automatic firearms that shared the same aesthetic beginning with the MP18, though the MG42 is undoubtedly more iconic and recognizable at this point. I would summarize my feelings about these two guns that while the MG42 is more practical, better to shoot and cool looking (to most people) at a distance, the MG34 is definitely more of a pleasure to hold and look at up close.
What amazes me is how streamlined the design of this thing is: it's just a barrel and a slim mechanism attached to it. In almost any other machine gun design a mechanism box is much bulkier and visually busier.
After looking at the MG 34 in such details, it simply outclass the BAR and the Bren in all aspect (except that the german lose the war bla bla bala)... Superb German engineering!!
The MG34 (Machine Gun 34) initially used a special double drum, known as the Patronentrommel 34. This double drum actually contained ammunition-each drum held 50 rounds, so a total of 100 rounds. It wasn't just part of a belt system; each drum individually fed the machine gun. They operated in sync to supply the rounds. Later in the war, this system was considered too complex and heavy, so they switched to a simpler solution-a single drum on the left or a belt feed that went directly into the gun. The double drum was soon replaced due to cost, weight, and practical issues.
*I have given many tear-down demonstrations of the MG-34 over the years... you did an excellent job... couldn't have done it any better myself, good work.*
Germany was rather short of small arms across the board, they used anything they could get their hands on, including pistols they other wise regarded as obsolete.
"[I]n order to negotiate the patent rights ... they had to have an independent arbiter sit down ... and they had to negotiate the relative value of all of the patents as they applied to the gun itself and come up with payment royalties for each company." Such a German solution.
You said you would cover the MG42 in another video, but will you ever do one on the MG3? I think there are some noteable differences that would be interesting to cover.
MG3 might be hard to find. There has been no war against MG3 armed foe and US Army. Only chance is if Pakistani Army has lost some weapons stolen by mudzahedin, and gone to Afghanistan. The sample guns that Germany with all propability sent decades a go are army property and stashed somewhere. Anyway, it is almost exactly MG 42. Different chambering. Feed cover has spring to push pawl to right position automatically. 2 heavier bolt options (675g for around 1100rpm and 950g for around 950rpm depending user service wishes, with corresponding spring and recoil buffer changes. Thats about it.
Tbh, no big differenc between 42s and 3s. As MG3 operating procedure is pretty much the same, the only difference is the caliber 42s fire 7.92mm mauser whilst 3s fire standard NATO 7.62mm.
A friend of mine once told me that they found a MG34 (based on his description, he doesn´t know much about weapons) on a tripod, while cleaning up his boss´ cellar. They threw it away... My heart bleeds everytime I hear that story
Now, as i'm working in a weapons plant that makes AK-s and PKM-s - i'm heavily biased. But in all honesty - i just can't speak ill of this baby! A classic - through and through!
Excellent video, this is the best walkthrough of the MG34 I’ve ever seen, including any documentaries, again much thanks Ian we appreciate the hell out of your work!
6:08 The German military used a 3-man crew for its mg34 and later mg42 machine guns. A gunner (mg1) that would carry and fire the gun, an assistant gunner (mg2) that would carry ammo and assist in loading and barrel changes, and an ammo carrier (mg3) who just carried extra ammo. Mg1 and mg2 were armed only with a pistol (p08 or p38) for self-defence, mg3 was armed as a standard rifleman with a kar98. The gun crew would support a squad of 5 riflemen, a submachine gunner, and a group leader (Gruppenführer).
They dropped that idea with the pistols during the war, also the two MG Gunners carried a Rifle, often enough an MP if they could get the hand on it. But yes that was not in the official manual.
I think it's more a case of: there's enough of these around that he doesn't need to make a video on it when he sees one. As long as there's other, more exotic stuff at the auction house at the same time, why would you make a video on a gun a) that's going to show up again sooner or later anyway? And b) most people will have heard of and seen already. Still, great to see it in detail here, the old video on the 34 and 42 on the channel was shot with far worse video equipment.
@ 24:50 - An invaluable insight. One doesn't ordinarily think of industrial metallurgical constraints in a historical context when thinking of WWII, and this distills it down to the elemental aspects. Great job!
I will forever be amazed by the technological Achievements during WW2, sad that we only get such insane leaps in tech when so many peoples lives have to be lost :(
Beautiful weapon! Such a perfect example of German precision engineering & workmanship. Got to carry and fire them a lot in WW2 reenacting, also live fire.
So? If you can make this weapon system even quicker and obviously more precise then who cares? Btw don't you try the whole "people can always machine better than a machine" ... no... they can't, that's literally the reasoning behind CAD and CNC.
Also automated Screw Machines, it's the 21st century... is it cool to think people used to make weapons manually like that? Yeah... but I'd rather take a fully machined M4 than an M4 made manually. Fuck that noise
Love Forgotten Weapons, great to see these weapons, hear their history, how and why they were developed, to see them stripped down and have their actions explained and demonstrated. I find it very interesting and thoroughly enjoyed this and other vids put up by these guys. Thanks a lot for doing it.
it's amazing how good the Germans were at machining that long ago. I can only imagine all the specialized jigs, fixtures and gauges that would be required for a part as complex as that receiver. just to look at it as a machined part, to me its a work of art.
I just read "Blood red snow" I German machine gunners memoirs of the Eastern Front. If you want to lean more about the MG-34 in use it's a great source
I have seen all of the"forgotten weapons" video content, it is just so good.. how you get a good idea on the mechanics, the politics and also the performance of the weapons in the same video, and it makes sense! The best channel ever!❤
CORRECTION It seems that locking mechanism works differently. The bolt have 2 pairs of rollers. The inner rollers interact with the sloped surfaces on the barrel, they guide the bolt into **locking*. The outer rollers interact with the slopes on the receiver, which *unlock** the bolt. ADDITION One of the coolest things about the gun is that it has *primary extraction* with rotating bolt! The locking lugs are cut at an angle, so while bolt is rotating, case is starting to move back a little with lots of force. FN CAL have similar angled lugs with primary extraction. I wonder if angled lugs create any chance of self-unlocking or some other problem... Here you can see animation of the mechanism (its a little crooked but helpful) - th-cam.com/video/rEICt7fw_CU/w-d-xo.html UPD: Here you can see part that prevents the bolt from unlocking because of angled lugs, also prevents bolt bounce, i guess - th-cam.com/video/MO02u-7PEiQ/w-d-xo.html
The Danish Army used the Madsen as a universal machine gun throughout the twenties and thirties, not because they wanted to, but because they couldn't afford heavy machine guns
Don't wanna ruin the fun of this great video, but it's immediate predecessor the MG-15 is a truly forgotten weapon. An aircraft machine gun adapted to ground use with a weird 2 piece padded buttstock. Very much worth looking up.
If you tried to engineer something like this in soviet Russia, you would be beaten hard by your comrades. It is crazy complex and hard to manufacture. Just, compare it to the DP 28.
i had a deactivated Mg 34 and i also had a Mg 42 in my collection so i had the oportunity to compare the two guns (not shooting but the pure handling and the features of the guns) 1. the mg 34 is much heavier - even when the system is a little bit smaller than the 42 (because of the milled receiver and stuff) 2. the cocking handle of the 34 is much more uncomfortable because of the horizontal grip - thats why the earlier mg 42 had these two but were later changed to the iconic one 3. the pistol grip is wider and not so much round than the 42 4. the lower feed part is easily to come off like you can see in the Video 5. the Top cover doesnt stand up when its in upper position (it only lays against the sights that can be folded down so the cover also drops forward) 6. the belt cant be locked on the lower feed tray - the 42 got a little notch were you can hang the belt when you lay it into the system 7. the barrel change is awkward - flipping the whole system is pretty strange in prone position thats why i changed it in for a second mg 42 - and i regret it a little bit now :/
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Can we talk about how great of a speaker Ian is? He has to talk for almost 30 minutes with minimal cuts in the whole video, but he's able to talk about all the historical aspects of the gun without messing up or stuttering, all the while looking at the camera. That's a big part of why I love these videos, he makes them interesting to and enjoyable to watch because he's a great presenter.
Agreed. I wish I had such a fantastic teacher when I was in Liège gunsmithing school, 17 years ago. Back then, there were no such resources online.
Ian should be teaching history of firearms at a uni or in a gunsmithing school :)
And all while beign so darned photogenic. Check out his lesser known channel Misunderstood Shading for some fantastic makeup tips.
Yeah he is very professional
Yes... Very much so...
Superb.
As a mechanical engineer, it blows my mind how people developed this level of equipment without calculators or CAD. VERY smart people, and VERY impressive machine design for being 80 years old
Double this
Ever use a slide rule? Ah... the good ol' dsays.
They did Apollo and SR-71 with similar tools my friend!
@@dr.johnpaladinshow9747 Slide rule useful in calculation, but the most essential tools for this sort of design and drafting are the good old straight edge, caliper, and compass. I still tend to fall back on them (or their line and circle analogues in CAD) when in doubt since that's how I learned the fundamentals in Design and Control of Mechanical Systems.
Look at the Antikythera mechanism
As a USMC armorer, the fact that a 1930s machinegun allows you to detach the top cover by means of ab easy spring loaded pin, while the M249 forces you to remove the entire pin and then realign a bunch of bs to put it back into place, really grinds my gears.
Josh King the m249 seems like a pain in the ass
Andre Krumins it is. Dad served in Afghanistan and one of his men used an M249. He told me, and I quote, "that gunner swore more than the drill sergeants did."
I know right? The attention to detail is exquisite! So complicated a gun for it's time, yet designed so well to be easy to take apart... Just wow. Hats off to the designers. Nazis suck, but this gun is just magnificent.
Literally...
Josh King don't forget how astonishingly easy (Marine proof?) swapping barrels is!
I've used M-240 and -249s, and would rather have my old M-60E2, thank you very much.
The machining on this is insane if you consider how many of them were built. Especially with manual lathes, milling machines and shapers. My hat goes off for the machinists around the world!
Many of those cuts had to be done on slow reciprocal passes with broaches on shaper machines. Clean and smooth, but definitely not fast.
"You can make anything with a shaper... except a profit..."
chemach That's a great saying. Ain't that the truth.
Also, the design was done by Germans... even these days, I get pushback when I tell them that the design must follow KISS... they truly believe that a simple design is not sufficiently "sophisticated" to function properly in rough service...
Hence why it was replaced with the MG42, which was a simpler design and didn't have nearly as many machined parts.
Ian- "if you would like to own an MG34" lol who on this channel wouldn't.
I know right? The only reason I do not have an MG34 is I also kind of like having a house.
Gun haters on this channel?
hm, with one of these, you could conquer a lot of houses... i actually think, thats what they made for
Eh. I'm not really into Nazi stuff.
@@Lazyguy22 It's a tool, evidence of human ingenuity and ignorance - our best and worst qualities - at the same time. A gun isn't good or evil, regardless of it's purpose or origin, it's a death machine AND a lifesaver at the same time, and no amount of whining and using magical words like "Nazi" will change that.
1999-2000 I was in the Croatian military. Even then, there were several MG 34 in our armament with eagles and swastikas. We also had even more MG 42 . Top machine guns with so much firing power. Not that we didn't have modern machine guns. But these German ones were so good and powerful
No zastava m53?
Damn, must’ve still been there from Croatia as a Nazi puppet state then? Wild that those would still be in service but it makes sense
Least nazi croat military experience
James D Julia never fails to deliver bankruptcy inducing firearms
only to plebs like us
I watch the auctions live on site from time to time. some of the shit they sell is crazy. perks of living in maine i guess.
most (if not almost all) of the people bidding at J D. J are not mainers, heh.
i know. i meant that i can go see the live auctions.
Slaughter Round Sounds like you're in need of a beautiful MG-34! Every grammar Nazi should have one for sustained and long-range grammar corrections.
Hot damn! You could conquer half of Europe with that puppy!
Salokin. Sadly, they did.
they did!
Salokin , , I like how your comment went over everybody's had so far LOL
Salokin q
Doesn't do much for Russian winters though...
Hey, it's Ian McKenobi here from Forgotten Blasters, with the DLT 19 heavy repeating blaster
Agent Bill Wilson that should happen
Somebody needs to get this Starwarsposter outta here!
very funny how the villians of star wars are based on the nazis and they even use nazi weapons/.
How uncivilized
@@ausintune9014 Except for that the standard Stormtrooper blaster is actually a Sterling SMG
The most beautiful MG ever build. And as an former Army armourer, metal worker and engineer, I love the design. What a beauty!
@@kenwaltson7113 no lol
@@kenwaltson7113 How....the fuck? Please, explain how anything Dutchman 2 said, is in any possible way, antisemetic.
I prefer the design of the mg42. Looks more techno/spacy.
It would take a loooong time for anyone to make a machine gun quite like this. Part of that was most countries hadn't established machine gun doctrine like the Germans had. The other part was that the Germans are _really_ good at gun design...
True, but one also have to think of the need... For a small army, with tight funds, the time to think of and then do the standardizing of equipment is far more easy than for a somewhat big army.
Ian mentions the Danes a few times, and that is not a coincidence... I can be wrong on this, but I believe that we (Denmark) adopted the Madsen MG in 1902, and we never really adopted anything else in rifle caliber, meaning that the fundamental idea of an universal gun (using one gun for everything) was implemented early on... However the Danes never went to the next stage, perhaps as a result of being a small army, and made the Madsen (or a successor gun) belt-fed, that (to my mind) is what made the Germans make up the first proper universal gun, their army was small/elite at the time of design, and they had the funds to make the next step on the evolution of guns.
well at the same time, most countries will balk at the cost and time to manufacture something like MG34...
even if the country were heavily centered around their light machine guns for their troops... MG34 is not cheap by any stretch of imagination... and likely will be VERY difficult to get traction with most countries military who will not find the price for it justifiable.
> the Germans are really good at gun design..
you are joking, right?
Вячеслав Скопюк Why else would Kalashnikov get a statue with a StGw44?
+Failer95
yes, it was a joke
I have one (fully de-mil'd unfortunately) that my dad bought a long time ago. The thing that always impresses me about it, is the quality of the machining. It looks like the kind of work you'd expect to see on a high priced civilian firearm, not a military weapon.
@President Joe Biden Well it was early in the war.... by late '44 everything they produced looked like caca.
I was set up with the MG-3 when I served with the Norwegian army, it has an awesome firepower, it’s made to keep heads down which it does well considering its 1300 rpm so my riflemen can move without taking fire. My platoon of 34 men had three MG-3’s and one M2 every machine gunner carried a MP-5 as a “side” arm. The riflemen were issued G3’s and a Glock 17. I carried 4 G-3 magazines on my vest to keep the two other guys in the MG crew with extra ammo since they both carried 600 rounds for me, I also had 600 rounds with me. It was heavy AF! 15 kg or so of ammo I guess.
"This thing could run circles around the BAR"
Wise words from Ian
@Haribo 73 Lol. I thought that the joke is actually literally, so the gun is so unstable that it moves around when you try to shot on auto.
@@combatantezoteric2965 Erm no... In fact, german soldiers would use worn barrels because the MG-34 and MG-42 was too much accurate, am quite sure if you mounted a scope ontop of it, it would be the first full auto sniper rifle ooooof
@@combatantezoteric2965 no lol? Mg34s are stupid stable and controllable. Basically a laser beam to a trained soldier, why do you think the Germans almost won the war? They were better shooters with better gear
At least equal to the more modern M 60 I would have a good think first before I made a final selection.
@@weavercs4014 The Germans lost any hope for winning the war once the Soviets started their counterattack in 1942. They were better shooters with much better equipment, but attrition wins all wars, not quality. The Germans also made the bad decision to continue developing overweight tanks instead of focusing on a perfect generalist tank (more resources should have been sent perfecting and manufacturing the panther).
I'm losing my mind at the precision of the machining on this thing! The Germans were, as they are to this day, absolute masters of The Black Arts of shaping steel to perfection!
For me as an engineer, the machinery of this is simply outstanding! considering its made nearly 80 years ago! A beautiful piece of engineering! Also, Ian is an amazing speaker! keep on great work, we love your videos!
Never understood how anyone could dislike ANY forgotten weapons videos. Ian does an awesome job! Thank you for the history, engineering, and safety lesson. I tip my hat to you sir!
This gun comes with 3 barrels, 6 drums, and 3 drum carriers!!
Oh to be wealthy!
Or to be once wealthy with a bad ass gun!
26:57 "If you really have to have an MG34 in your own life..."
Hell yes! That's like saying "If you really need oxygen in your life..."
20:22 Ian invented a new Star Wars blaster pistol
Only just discovered this channel. Not a gun guy (I am in the UK so not really an option) but I have been reading a lot of WW2 history over the past 18 months and I have to say that the Forgotten Weapons videos on WW2 weapons are simply some of the best content I have found on youtube that feeds into a WW2 interest. Fascinating stuff, superbly presented. Absolute class!
The MG 34 was also used by the "Krad Schützen".
*K* stood for *Kraft* (power) and *Rad* means in this context (cycle). They were motorcyclist who oftentimes counted as infantry and surprized the enemies, who didn't expect the fast bikers.
The MG34 was commonly mounted on the bike. Another weapon they used was the Kar 98 which was used if they had to walk instead of driving.
One thing Ian has that makes me enjoy his discussion of guns is the way he explains how the gun works when disassembled - it makes it easier for me to picture how the weapon cycles and does its work, and I haven't seen anyone else do that. And that's why I'm subbed
D = Dauer(-feuer) (Automatic)
E = Einzel(-schuss) (Single)
Maybe :)
Dachte ich mir auch
@@justme6094 It is ok. You can be whatever you want. Even gay.
Ultra Marina
it is not maybe but for sure
D = Dauerfeuer ( automatic )
E = Einzelschuss ( single shot )
Danke schon!
26:57 : Every year, thousands of MG34s are abandoned on the street by bad owners, we, the MG34 Care Organization, take them to our depot and give them to a new owner that compromises to give a new and lovely life to this machineguns.
Adopt an MG34 now, it wouldn't abandon you!
PS.: Apart from jokes, nice video!
While In the Arms of an Angel plays in the background.
HYPERNOVA3 good one
Where do I sign up?
funny, because I've found the barrel for the MG34 in a forest with a metal detector (Czech Republic), hopefully one day I'll find the whole gun (or any other gun, especially the luger :D), even though I was VERY lucky finding that barrel. I've never seen someone find that in the CR. I've also find the Mauser action. www.lovecpokladu.cz/artefakty/nalez/hlaven-mg34-160462/
It’s also a total shame that the spayed and neuter folks are so strong these days.
I have my MG 34 in my life and she's a keeper. A nice 1943 example. Unfortunately ravaged by the UK's deactivation laws, but at least the working parts still move.
Ian;
One interesting fact about both the MG-34, and 42, was that once West Germany was permitted to, and then adopted 7.62 x 51mm NATO, they could convert all of the surplus 34, and 42 GPMGs to 7.62 just by replacing the barrels, until Mauser (H&K) got MG-3 production up to speed.
SFC Bruce R. Gadbois
Also, what a beautiful machine! The workmanship is so high, even the flash hider is perfectly machined.
This gun makes me wetter than the Volga River
NVDKFurryAssassin it makes me wetter than the Niagara Falls.
I find this comment extremely Volga.
Not as crude as the MG-42. A more elegant weapon for civilised times.
NVDKFurryAssassin more like the Rhine! Am I right!?
Too bad it never made it over...
Coolest looking machine gun ever.
The engineering and machining skills and knowledge just in the bolt alone are truly amazing to me, especially for the time.
NASA agrees with you
Heyyyy I see what you did there
Really a marvel of gun design. Light years ahead of anything at the time and I bet still today it would be very effective in the field. (yes Im aware of the 7.62 Nato MG3. Would love a video on that one too.)
Probably find there are some in use still. Many weapons in the middle East and Africa are reconditioned ww2 weapons.
Engineers post WWII: "We like the 42s so much, how about we don't change anything on the system and just change the barrel to accommodate and fire standard NATO 7.62mm?"
German Army:"K, what do you want to call it?"
Engineers:"MG3, to confuse the guys, so they thinks it's a whole new gun"
Excellent for home defense?
Sam Greenberg yes I would use one
In cqc with a bulky long range weapon that would shoot through several walls and kill even bystanders... I don't think so. Get a smg.
I note that FN copied the bipod verbatim in the MAG 58. Even down to the ribs to brace the legs and the height adjusting knob. WHY NOT? Copy with pride.
Aganst skinwalkers? I wouldn't worry about it
Excellent for home defence, exellent for conquering europe, exellent for everything...😅
While the MG-42 is more famous and maybe a more practical gun use and logistically wise, the MG-34 is just so much cooler in how exquisite it's in terms engineering and quality and cleverness; a fine piece of craftsmanship. I specially like the rotary bolt and barrel change mechanism (the MG-42 is better, but the MG-34 is so much cooler.)
@Mumpel Tier there were MG-42 used in tanks, but only in a few examples
"D" stands for "Dauerfeuer" :D limitless fire
"E" stands for "Einzelfeuer" single fire
Damn just surprised about how well design this gun was. Its so universal as hell .The way he took out the barrel stock and topcover was impressive.
Fantastically well engineered. Those spring loaded buttons covering the weapon make me all kinds of jealous.
The double drum mag was never removed from service, turret gunners on german aircraft used them throughout the war because belts were sometimes too long and cumbersome to use in their crampt positions.
joetca the Patronentrommel 34 (for the MG 34) is NOT the same as the Patronentrommel 15 (from the aircraft MG 15). From www.bergflak.com/PT34.htm : " A D-T 15 will not fit on a MG34, but a PT34 can be used on a MG15."
The MG-15 aircraft used a different saddle drum magazine. It was not compatible with the MG-34.
D - Dauerfeuer
E - Einzelfeuer
After reading the comments of numerous viewers this gun seems to be a much better gun than some now in use by the U.S. military. Not every new gun is an improvement over an older design by a long shot.
like the Browning M2. We use it too instead of the good old Schwarzlose and call it üsMG.
Absolutely fantastic video! I’ve been shooting the MG3 (MG42) during my military service at the Bundeswehr 30 years ago quite often and was kind of familiar with it. But I did not know many details about the MG34 until now. Great explanation and very satisfying to listen to it.
Truly and engineering and machining marvel, done long before Computer Assisted Machining and Design. One can't but admire the skill and craftsmanship that produced it.
4:27 This is very important. Anyone who has fired machineguns _knows_ how important a low rate of Fire is.
This is neglected in _most_ firearms people reference when they say full auto isn’t practical.
What is also neglected, are recoil systems that do not impact the receiver _(as is the case in a constant recoil firearm)_
Then there’s the cartridge. The 7.62x39 M43 was designed for the SKS. The 8mm Kurz _is_ a lower recoiling round, in a 10 LB gun, with a firing rate of about 500 rpm.
I'd have a talk with Ian anytime, dude just emits knowledge and consideration. Plus his facial hair game is on-point
American army: will it run in all conditions after 70000+ rounds?
Germany: vill it shoot mein bullets fast?
Wird das meine Kugeln schnell feuer?
Im pretty sure 42s saw 20-40k rounds shot on d day,im willing to be the 34s would work just as well
@@jonmeray713 it would literally be impossible to shoot that many rounds on dday
Weasle wrong. Its documented
@@weasle2904 Why do you think so? There is absolutely no reason, why it would.
As you said, in 1939-1940 the Germans didn't have enough MG34 for all their units.Even worse: in May-June 1940 the French Army had more Machnine Gun / Light Machine Gun than the Werhmacht. The German army was not fully prepared for a long war until summer 1941.
Dalle Smalhals yeah and I wonder why
+Dalle Smalhals
because you don't win the war with machineguns, no matter how good they were
Because French generals fucked up, among other reasons.
I'm not sure which gun I prefer, the MG42 or MG34. The 42 is cooler in certain ways; it's insane rate of fire being a huge factor as well as it's bulkiness and large vents in the barrel shroud giving it that industrial appearance. There are many elements which I think make the 34 more attractive as well, though they don't necessarily jump out at you like they do with the 42. The grip and trigger on the 34 are much nicer, for example. The 42 has a simple, stamped steel trigger almost akin to something you would find on a liberator pistol or some of the later war German guns. The 34 has a beautiful double trigger that is machined from high quality steel with color-coded markings. The entire feel of the gun is also really high quality; it's heavy in all the right places, has finely blued and polished barrel shroud and flash hider, has a textured charging handle/safety and has all these tightly fitting, overly-complicated parts and buttons that fulfill different functions from removing the buttstock to swinging the entire receiver off to the side so you can remove the barrel. It also has the benefit of being the last in a long lineup of German automatic firearms that shared the same aesthetic beginning with the MP18, though the MG42 is undoubtedly more iconic and recognizable at this point. I would summarize my feelings about these two guns that while the MG42 is more practical, better to shoot and cool looking (to most people) at a distance, the MG34 is definitely more of a pleasure to hold and look at up close.
What amazes me is how streamlined the design of this thing is: it's just a barrel and a slim mechanism attached to it. In almost any other machine gun design a mechanism box is much bulkier and visually busier.
After looking at the MG 34 in such details, it simply outclass the BAR and the Bren in all aspect (except that the german lose the war bla bla bala)... Superb German engineering!!
The BAR is not a universal mg as this is. Not a good comparison.
@@TheNcube Yeah its more of an Assault Rifle
@@badgermcbadger1968 Battle Rifle yes LMG no.
@@badgermcbadger1968 fair that's why it wasn't that good tbh they used it wrong
The MG34 (Machine Gun 34) initially used a special double drum, known as the Patronentrommel 34. This double drum actually contained ammunition-each drum held 50 rounds, so a total of 100 rounds. It wasn't just part of a belt system; each drum individually fed the machine gun. They operated in sync to supply the rounds.
Later in the war, this system was considered too complex and heavy, so they switched to a simpler solution-a single drum on the left or a belt feed that went directly into the gun. The double drum was soon replaced due to cost, weight, and practical issues.
*I have given many tear-down demonstrations of the MG-34 over the years... you did an excellent job... couldn't have done it any better myself, good work.*
Where did you work making those presentations 🤔
@@alexm566 neo Nazi he is
Last time I was this early, the Luger was still standard issue.
Deadpool Thug Life I thought German officers in WW2 mostly used the Walther P38?
Germany was rather short of small arms across the board, they used anything they could get their hands on, including pistols they other wise regarded as obsolete.
The P38 was actually the standard issue pistol of the german army well into the 1990s.
Hans, get the Luger!
"[I]n order to negotiate the patent rights ... they had to have an independent arbiter sit down ... and they had to negotiate the relative value of all of the patents as they applied to the gun itself and come up with payment royalties for each company." Such a German solution.
'The bolt' *Clang* 'And the barrel...' I don't know why i lost it there, but i did. Kudos.
You said you would cover the MG42 in another video, but will you ever do one on the MG3? I think there are some noteable differences that would be interesting to cover.
Iceidice yeah that would be nice
MG3 might be hard to find. There has been no war against MG3 armed foe and US Army. Only chance is if Pakistani Army has lost some weapons stolen by mudzahedin, and gone to Afghanistan. The sample guns that Germany with all propability sent decades a go are army property and stashed somewhere. Anyway, it is almost exactly MG 42. Different chambering. Feed cover has spring to push pawl to right position automatically. 2 heavier bolt options (675g for around 1100rpm and 950g for around 950rpm depending user service wishes, with corresponding spring and recoil buffer changes. Thats about it.
@@kimmoj2570 Some were sold to European countries, I believe Yugoslavia had some that were surplussed a decade ago.
Tbh, no big differenc between 42s and 3s. As MG3 operating procedure is pretty much the same, the only difference is the caliber 42s fire 7.92mm mauser whilst 3s fire standard NATO 7.62mm.
@@ramal5708
Recoilbooster is different too.
Also the Lamellenbremse.
Does quite a lot to keep your fingers safe.
If you listen carefully you can hear the gun singing ERIKA !
Waited for too long for a video on this ❤
Auf der Heide...
AUF DER HEIDE BLÜHT EIN KLEINES BLÜMELEIN UND DAS HEISST ERIKAAAAA
@@melodrama9098 BOOM BOOM BOOM
OHHH DU SCHONER WESTERWALD (EUKALYPTUS BON BON)
Guess my mothers name. XD
A friend of mine once told me that they found a MG34 (based on his description, he doesn´t know much about weapons) on a tripod, while cleaning up his boss´ cellar. They threw it away... My heart bleeds everytime I hear that story
Someone at the dump made out like a bandit.
Now, as i'm working in a weapons plant that makes AK-s and PKM-s - i'm heavily biased. But in all honesty - i just can't speak ill of this baby! A classic - through and through!
BrainStormKZ Kalashnikov Concern?
Excellent video, this is the best walkthrough of the MG34 I’ve ever seen, including any documentaries, again much thanks Ian we appreciate the hell out of your work!
One of the definitive machineguns, and one that doesn´t get all the credit it deserves. Thank you for the fantastic dissertation.
Silly American, Österreich wasn't occupied, it was anschlussed™.
No, it was "angeschlossen".The word "anschlussed" does not exist.
Ah ok, i´ve never heard about that. So "angeschlüssed" would be an option, too. lol
Niemand mag Klugscheißer, Bernd. Besonders, wenn sie den Witz nicht verstehen.
“ANSCHLUSS!“
“KUUURWAAA!“
well, german whermacht soldiers "occupying" austria while getting roses thrown at them...its called the "Rosenkrieg"
6:08 The German military used a 3-man crew for its mg34 and later mg42 machine guns. A gunner (mg1) that would carry and fire the gun, an assistant gunner (mg2) that would carry ammo and assist in loading and barrel changes, and an ammo carrier (mg3) who just carried extra ammo. Mg1 and mg2 were armed only with a pistol (p08 or p38) for self-defence, mg3 was armed as a standard rifleman with a kar98. The gun crew would support a squad of 5 riflemen, a submachine gunner, and a group leader (Gruppenführer).
They dropped that idea with the pistols during the war, also the two MG Gunners carried a Rifle, often enough an MP if they could get the hand on it. But yes that was not in the official manual.
I'm surprised it took this long to get an MG34!! Thanks for making such a wonderful channel for us gun nerds
I think it's more a case of: there's enough of these around that he doesn't need to make a video on it when he sees one. As long as there's other, more exotic stuff at the auction house at the same time, why would you make a video on a gun a) that's going to show up again sooner or later anyway? And b) most people will have heard of and seen already. Still, great to see it in detail here, the old video on the 34 and 42 on the channel was shot with far worse video equipment.
Ian needs to do audio books or something. I swear, this dude is super articulate and he has a very relaxing tone.
Thank you for educating people om guns and not just being another Gun nut on youtube
GrantLee _ TRIGGERED
GrantLee _ Nothing wrong, actually. Most "gun nuts" on youtube don't go as in depth as Ian does, and are not nearly as entertaining.
GrantLee _ No problem! Being a gun nut is awesome anyway.
That’s because he is not just another gun nut. He is Gun Jesus.
GrantLee _ Because gun nuts are just fanatics that enjoy violence not history or engineering
Does anybody else find disassembly videos satisfying & therapeutic?
I'd love to see videos on the MG-13, MG-15, and especially the MG-30
I met Ian at the 2019 SAR show in Phoenix - and of course I had a selfie made with him! Great guy!
A weapon so good they even used it in a galaxy far far away...
Not only that, I think this must have been the Bruce Lee gun, rather the (Mr Han's) desk-mounted MG in Enter the Dragon. With double drums iirc.
@ 24:50 - An invaluable insight. One doesn't ordinarily think of industrial metallurgical constraints in a historical context when thinking of WWII, and this distills it down to the elemental aspects. Great job!
I will forever be amazed by the technological Achievements during WW2, sad that we only get such insane leaps in tech when so many peoples lives have to be lost :(
About the trigger:
D means Dauerfeuer (continuous fire)
E means Einzelschuss (single shot)
@Boonamai
Ganz genau ! 🙌👍
Beautiful weapon! Such a perfect example of German precision engineering & workmanship. Got to carry and fire them a lot in WW2 reenacting, also live fire.
and thanks ian @ forgotten weapons
i always i thought i knew allot about weapons butt i learn a lot from watching youre videos..
greets out of holland
I wonder how many people could manufacture that receiver today without the use of CNC.. not many i suspect. Great vid Ian!
Dan Sneyd I would be willing to do so if I had the tooling make them
But they are out there... Can't be done without a mill of some sort, but not necessarily a CNC.
So? If you can make this weapon system even quicker and obviously more precise then who cares? Btw don't you try the whole "people can always machine better than a machine" ... no... they can't, that's literally the reasoning behind CAD and CNC.
Also automated Screw Machines, it's the 21st century... is it cool to think people used to make weapons manually like that? Yeah... but I'd rather take a fully machined M4 than an M4 made manually. Fuck that noise
MG-34 is best looking machine gun ever made!
Love Forgotten Weapons, great to see these weapons, hear their history, how and why they were developed, to see them stripped down and have their actions explained and demonstrated. I find it very interesting and thoroughly enjoyed this and other vids put up by these guys. Thanks a lot for doing it.
The fact that Ian could disassemble any gun and assemble it back impress me
it's amazing how good the Germans were at machining that long ago. I can only imagine all the specialized jigs, fixtures and gauges that would be required for a part as complex as that receiver. just to look at it as a machined part, to me its a work of art.
I read the swaging mills were three stories tall.
Not a lot of TH-cam channels can keep me so hooked through a 30 minutes video but you certanly can good job Ian
Ian----thanks for the eduction.........you are a wonder
Man oh man, if I could only have one belt fed machine gun...
I'd go with the FightLite MCRØ6Ø (the new name for the Shrike 556), but ya, I see it... I see it.
This is very cool but I prefer the MG42
Gun Jesus Delivers MG-34 knowledge.
Praise Gun Jesus!!
Awesome video Ian, thank you for your time & effort,
All Hail Gun Jesus!
I wonder if he would do a gay with me .
I'm an H&K( and related )kinda guy,but can't get enough of the MG34 stuff.
Thanks for the video, keep it coming.
I just read "Blood red snow" I German machine gunners memoirs of the Eastern Front. If you want to lean more about the MG-34 in use it's a great source
the MG34 has to be a contender for the best of the Wehrmacht's 'small arms'. Nice video.
That barrel change blew my mind
First time I saw the barrel change mechanism of the MG-34
Awesome!
wow i cant believe they stole the design from star wars smh
Star wars have lots of ww2 and ww1 guns such as lewis gun, mg42, stg44...
@@berkayer3060 r/whooooosh
Han shot first!
*Han, get ze blaster!*
@@Dennell_Mount_and_Blade I don't think he was disagreeing. I think he didn't get the joke that's all.
I have seen all of the"forgotten weapons" video content, it is just so good.. how you get a good idea on the mechanics, the politics and also the performance of the weapons in the same video, and it makes sense! The best channel ever!❤
21:00 - that "oh shit" moment when you remember you slept through the reassembly class.
CORRECTION
It seems that locking mechanism works differently. The bolt have 2 pairs of rollers. The inner rollers interact with the sloped surfaces on the barrel, they guide the bolt into **locking*. The outer rollers interact with the slopes on the receiver, which *unlock** the bolt.
ADDITION
One of the coolest things about the gun is that it has *primary extraction* with rotating bolt! The locking lugs are cut at an angle, so while bolt is rotating, case is starting to move back a little with lots of force. FN CAL have similar angled lugs with primary extraction.
I wonder if angled lugs create any chance of self-unlocking or some other problem...
Here you can see animation of the mechanism (its a little crooked but helpful) - th-cam.com/video/rEICt7fw_CU/w-d-xo.html
UPD:
Here you can see part that prevents the bolt from unlocking because of angled lugs, also prevents bolt bounce, i guess - th-cam.com/video/MO02u-7PEiQ/w-d-xo.html
Austria was not occupied by Germany. It was a deliberate annexation by public demand, not a single shot was fired.
Anschluss
The Danish Army used the Madsen as a universal machine gun throughout the twenties and thirties, not because they wanted to, but because they couldn't afford heavy machine guns
Yet we could afford the best planes at this time and invent and make the first light machine gun, your comment makes no sense.
@@ChrisWellejus Maybe the political authorities said no to HMGs.
"E" - Einzelfeuer (single fire/semi auto)
"D" - Dauerfeuer (enduring fire/full auto)
Don't wanna ruin the fun of this great video, but it's immediate predecessor the MG-15 is a truly forgotten weapon. An aircraft machine gun adapted to ground use with a weird 2 piece padded buttstock. Very much worth looking up.
20:00 when Ian pulled the bolt out; "Holy shit, that thing's - Jesus christ!"
If you tried to engineer something like this in soviet Russia, you would be beaten hard by your comrades. It is crazy complex and hard to manufacture. Just, compare it to the DP 28.
I just hear Eddie Izzard in my head "eins, zwei, eins, zwei..."
Classic German Over-Engineering.
+Dalle Smalhals the MG3 bolt looks significantly different, most of all because it is extremely simplified compared to anything on the MG 34.
Then why did you write, that it looked like the one from the MG3 you started on? That don't make no sense, mate.
my favorite machin guns..MG-34 and..MG-42...very nice presentation.and analysis..
Amazing how much engineering and technology went into making another human unable to fight back
i had a deactivated Mg 34 and i also had a Mg 42 in my collection
so i had the oportunity to compare the two guns (not shooting but the pure handling and the features of the guns)
1. the mg 34 is much heavier - even when the system is a little bit smaller than the 42 (because of the milled receiver and stuff)
2. the cocking handle of the 34 is much more uncomfortable because of the horizontal grip - thats why the earlier mg 42 had these two but were later changed to the iconic one
3. the pistol grip is wider and not so much round than the 42
4. the lower feed part is easily to come off like you can see in the Video
5. the Top cover doesnt stand up when its in upper position (it only lays against the sights that can be folded down so the cover also drops forward)
6. the belt cant be locked on the lower feed tray - the 42 got a little notch were you can hang the belt when you lay it into the system
7. the barrel change is awkward - flipping the whole system is pretty strange in prone position
thats why i changed it in for a second mg 42 - and i regret it a little bit now :/