By the end of the First World War, the machine gun had developed in two distinct directions: the tripod-mounted, water-cooled Maxim/Vickers series, and the air-cooled light machine guns like the Lewis gun and the Chaut Chaut. Such a dichotomy suggested that further development would proceed along these two lines, each line to fulfill different tactical functions.
The development reached an important turn in the early 1930s when Germany began to rearm. Designers of small arms were tasked to come up with a weapon that combined both best qualities in these categories. Thus born was the Einheits MaschinenGewehr, or the Universal Machine Gun. Out of the prototypes, one indeed stood out: that of Heinrich Vollmer’s MaschinenGewehr 34, also more famously known as the MG 34. With its long perforated cooling jacket, milled receiver, and wooden stock, the MG 34 quickly garnered a reputation as being maneuverable, accurate, and relatively light at 26.6 pounds.
It was a short recoil-operated machine gun, firing the 7.92 mm x 57 mm – 8mm Mauser rounds at a cyclic rate of 800-900 r/m. Fitted with a double crescent trigger that allowed either semi or full auto fire, it could be fed either by a 75-round drum or 250-round belts. One of the most innovative features was its quick-change barrel. Operators could change barrels in under 10 seconds, which would prove to be an advantage in combat.
Even though this gun was quite successful in its beginning, soon the MG 34 had some problems concerning production costs and reliability. It was expensive-327 Reichsmarks-and its manufacture required 150 man-hours. In response, a new design by Grossfus, AG – a company without prior experience with firearms manufacturing – was adopted. The design became the MG 42, the very high cyclic rate thereof making its ripping sound and earning it nicknames such as “Hitler’s Zipper” and “Hitler’s Buzz Saw.”
The MG 42 was formidably effective, particularly in those early hours of June 6, 1944, along Omaha Beach. In bluffs overlooking the beach, about 85 machine gun nests-mostly MG 42s-were placed to give the landing Allied forces a withering crossfire that inflicted heavy casualties. The MG 42 continued service until the end of World War II, and its design influenced postwar machine guns.
During the post-war period, the MG 42 was re-chambered for the 7.62 x 51 mm NATO round and otherwise altered to become the MG-3. Manufactured by Rheinmetall, the MG-3 has seen service in more than 35 countries and combat on nearly every continent; it remains a stalwart in democratic armies.
Meanwhile, America also developed a 7.62×51mm NATO with a six-barrel rotary machine gun with high sustained fire for 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute, the M134 Minigun. Developed from General Electric, this Minigun was developed for use in the Vietnam War to give helicopters an even more reliable weapon system with a better rate of fire against small arms fire and RPG attacks. Powered by its electric motor, the Minigun’s rotating barrel assembly allowed the gun to fire upwards of 6,000 rounds in a minute without overheating.
The Minigun has flown on a variety of helicopters and aircraft, such as the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse, Bell OH-58 Kiowa, Bell AH-1 Cobra, and Bell UH-1 Iroquois. It has also been installed on larger aircraft, in gun pods, for close air support, such as the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, Douglas A-1 Skyraider, Douglas AC-47 Spooky, Fairchild AC-119, and Lockheed AC-130.
Both the MG-3 and Minigun have come to represent massive leaps in machine gun design and technological advancement in the hunt for modern warfare. While the MG-3 remained a stalwart infantry weapon, the Minigun became an unparalleled firepower asset on aerial platforms demonstrating innovation leading to the war’s enduring role in changing military technology.