MG3

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 12:09 Written by Administrator Thursday, 02 July 2009 03:28

The MG3 i.e. the Maschinengewehr 3 is a general purpose machine gun designed in West Germany by Rheinmetall in the 1966. The design of the MG3 is based on the MG42, an earlier universal machine gun. The MG3 continues to be used and manufactured till date in more than 30 different countries such as Italy, Spain, Pakistan, Greece, Sudan, Iran and Turkey.

The MG3 is an air-cooled machine gun that is based on the short-recoil, roller locked mechanism. It is chambered for the NATO 7.62x52 mm round and has a peak firing-rate of 1,150 rounds per minute. It has a maximum range of 800 meters and is a fed by a 50-round non-disintegrating belt. Some versions also use a 100-round belt. The MG 3 weighs 11.5 Kg without the tripod and 27.5 Kg when mounted on the tripod.

The MG3 has its roots in the earlier MG42. After the Second World War, the Bundeswehr requested the Rheinmetall arms factory to design a new machine using the standard NATO cartridges. This led to the design of the MG1. Other variants of the MG1 were also designed. These were designated MG1A1, MG1A2 and MG1A3. The earlier MG 42 machine guns were converted to use 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge and renamed as MG 2. The MG3 was an improvisation of the MG1A3 and featured an improved feed mechanism, an anti-aircraft sight and a new ammo-box. Parts of the MG3 and its variants can be easily interchanged with the MG 42 and vice-versa.

The MG 3 has several variants. These are:

>> MG 3E: The MG 3E is a variant of the MG 3 which has several design variations. It is lighter that the MG 3 by 1.3 Kgs. It entered into service in the late 1970s.

>> MG 3A1: This is a variant of the MG 3 designed for fixed mount armour use.

>> MG 42/59: This is an export version of the MG 3 with a slightly lowered rate of fire. It is being used by other European forces such as Austria.

Like its predecessor—the MG34, the MG3 is an excellent general purpose machine gun. Though the design is more than half-a-century old, the MG3 is still ranked as one of the best general purpose machine gun available even today.

The MG 3 is the standard secondary weapon of the Bundeswehr. It is used on most of the German armoured vehicles and also as an infantry weapon. In addition it is also used by a number of other countries such as Canada, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland and Turkey.

The MG3 is being slowly removed from service by the German Armed Forces. There are plans to completely phase it out of service by the year 2012. A replacement for the MG 3 will be introduced in 2011.

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