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Calibre: 7.92 mm
Length: 122 cm
Weight: 21.1 kg
Rate Of Fire: 800-900 rounds/minute
Maximum Range: 3000 meters

The design of the MG 24 began at the Mauser Factory at Obendorf in 1934, but had it's origins in an earlier design known as the Solothurn MG 30. This gun was manufactured by the Swiss firm Solothurn who were being used to manufacture guns as the Treaty of Versailles did not allow the production of machine guns in Germany. The MG 30 was box magazine fed air cooled machine gun which was built to an extremely high standard and remained in production until 1935. Mauser used this model as a starting point for the MG 34 and incorporated many of its features such as the in-line mechanism, trigger arrangement and rapid barrel change. When it was actually produced the germans had successfully invented the first general purpose machine gun. fitted with a bipod it could be used as a light machine gun and mounted on a tripod (MG Laffate) it could it could be used as a heavy machine gun in the sustained fire role. This tripod allowed the recoil to move the gun on the mount so that it automatically swept a beaten zone with fire. The tripod was designed so as to allow the gunner to fire the weapon below the parapet of a trench-either by using a grip handle or which had a mechanical linkage or by the trigger-or by simply pulling a cord fixed to the grip. Other mountings were manufactured which allowed twin and triple mounting for AA use and also a heavier barrel and ball mounting allowed the gun to be installed in tanks and tank crews were issued with special conversion kits which enabled them to use the gun outside the tank.

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Germany was the only country to enter the war with a standard machinegun that could be used as either a light or a heavy machinegun.

By using the heavy mantelet the MG34 could fire for longer periods, without going off target, and could fire farther.

The light version could only fire for short bursts and was basically an assault weapon for advancing troops.

The MG34 also had the ability to be aimed indirectly as well. In this method, telescopic sights would be used from concealed positions to not only protect the gun crew, but also to lob bullets over ones own troops and to hit the enemy. At a range of 2000 meters the bullets would reach a zenith of 42 meters in the middle of its trajectory.

This adaptation was not used in the west because of the extremely fast defeat of the French.

The MG34 was sensitive to dust, dirt and poor conditions such as the Russian winter and the African climate, but if maintained properly it was reliable.

The light MG34 used 50 round belts, while the heavy version linked many 50 round belts together.

Source: Elite Forces of the Third Reich 1933-1945
           Germany's World War Two Weapons