Rheinmetall MG3
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| MG3 | |
|---|---|
 MG3 with integral bipod and plastic box magazine (120-round belt |
|
| Type | General Purpose Machine Gun |
| Place of origin | Germany |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1968 – |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1966 |
| Manufacturer | Rheinmetall |
| Specifications | |
| Weight |
|
| Length | 1225 mm |
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| Cartridge | 7.62 × 51 mm NATO |
| Action | Recoil operated, roller locked |
| Rate of fire | 1150 rounds/minute (+/- 150) |
| Muzzle velocity | 820 m/s |
| Effective range |
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| Maximum range | 3750 m |
| Feed system | 50-round non-disintegrating belts (can be combined in drum), 120-round disintregrating belt (in plastic box). |
| Sights | Iron sights |
The MG3 is an air-cooled, belt-fed general purpose machine gun manufactured by the German firm Rheinmetall. It is also produced under license in a few other places, and used in many other countries.
The MG3 is a 7.62 mm NATO machine gun and one of the most popular general purpose machine guns. The gun is an improved version of the MG1, re-designed in 1968 to use more types of feed systems; it traces back to the MG42, a German WW2 era machine gun, but has some small improvements, can use NATO links, is somewhat lighter, and is adapted to fire 7.62 x 51 mm NATO standard rounds instead of the 7.92 x 57 mm Mauser.
The MG3 will partially be replaced in its light machine gun role by the Heckler & Koch MG4.
Contents |
[edit] History
The MG3 was an improvement on the MG1. The MG1 was the first attempt at converting a MG42 to fire 7.62 mm NATO during the 1950s. The MG1 was built by Rheinmetall and was first called the MG42/59. They made several improvements to the original design, which led to six different versions of the MG1 (last was MG1 A6). The seventh and last version, introduced June 1966, was then called MG3 (because the designation MG2 was already taken). The MG2 were existing (WW2 era) MG42s modified to fire 7.62mm NATO.
The original MG42 was a development of the MG34, itself developed from the MG 30. The MG34 was intended to be a Universelles Maschinengewehr (general purpose machine gun), designed for use an infantry support machine gun on bipods or as heavy machine gun on a tripod, anti-aircraft swivel mount, or as a tank coaxial gun. Earlier medium machine guns had been used in all these roles (on bipods as a support weapon, on tripods, and in various vehicles), since WWI. The MG34 was just more aggressive in taking on more roles at either end of the spectrum (taking roles from very light and very heavy machine guns of the same caliber. The concept did not quite work out to the extent desired, as it was expensive to make. Various improvements to the MG34 were worked on in the late 30s and early 40s, eventually leading to the MG42.
The internals of the MG42 were a bit different to the 34, using a roller locking system patented by a Polish man, Johannes Stecke, in the 1930s. It was designed for a higher rate of fire and was less sensitive to dust. The biggest improvement was that it was much cheaper to make in terms of both man-hours and materials used than the 34.
After WW2 the German army was disbanded, leaving hundreds of thousands of MG42's left. By the 1950s however, the German Army was re-forming and there was a need for machine guns. The result was the MG1 and the MG2, which were the MG42 adapted to fire then new 7.62 mm NATO round. This was further improved in 1966, and adopted as the MG3. The MG42/59 was adopted in 1959, and was mass-produced as the MG3 since 1968.
[edit] Design
As noted above, the MG3 is a belt-fed, air-cooled machine gun. It has a short moving barrel with the bolt locking into the barrel extension via two rollers (note that MG3 uses roller locking, unlike the HK G3, which use roller-delayed blowback). The MG3 has a quick-change-barrel that an experienced operator can change out in less than ten seconds, a practice first introduced with its famous World War II ancestor. Recommended practice is to replace it after every 150 rounds of sustained firing (this is required because the unusually high rate of fire can deform the barrel) fired with practical rate of fire of 200 to 250 rounds per minute. Like most machine guns, the weapon fires from an open bolt. It has one of the highest rates of fire in its class and is rated as extremely reliable: it has been combat tested in one form or another since the 1940's and is generally liked by the troops who use it.
The basic design of the belt-feed mechanism from the MG42 was modified and used in the M60 machine gun and also in the M240s. The original MG42 (as well as the MG1 and MG2) belt feed does not work with standard NATO belts. The ability to use NATO belts when firing linked 7.62 mm was added only on the MG3 in 1968 (e.g. DM 13 / M13 Link)
[edit] Variants
- MG1
- MG1A1 - experimental
- MG1A2 - experimental
- MG1A3 - Anti-Aircraft gun
- MG1A4 - for fixed mount
- MG1A5 - MG1A3 converted to MG1A4
- MG2
- MG3
- MG3A1 - for fixed mount
- MG3 E - reduced weight model (roughly 1.3 kg lighter)
[edit] Current deployment
The MG3 is still used as the standard secondary weapon of most modern German armoured fighting vehicle designs (e.g. Leopard 2, PzH 2000, Marder (IFV)), as a primary weapon on light/non armored vehicles (e.g. LKW 2to, ATF Dingo) and as an infantry weapon on light bipods as well as different tripods.
[edit] Users
NATO:
Denmark
Estonia
Germany
Greece (license production by EAS)
Italy (license production by Beretta)
Lithuania
Norway
Portugal (as M960)
Spain
Poland
Turkey (license production, by MKE in Kirikkale since 1974).
Non-NATO:
Australia (used in the Leopard tank)
Austria (derivative MG74 developed by Steyr and Beretta in 1974)
Chile
Finland
Iran (license production by DIO)
Pakistan (license production by Pakistan Ordnance Factories)
Saudi Arabia
Sweden (as Ksp 94, used as a tank MG)
Switzerland
Yugoslavia (clone)
The MG3 competed in U.S. Army trials in the 1970s for a tank machine gun (along with several other entries); the FN MAG won this program to become the M240.
[edit] See also
- General Purpose Machine Gun
- MG42, predecessor of MG1 and MG2.
- Rheinmetall
