MG - 34 The MG - 34 is a German machinegun created , as the name implies , in 1934 . Was used as the German primary machinegun during the 30s , the MG - 34 is considered the first General Purpose Machine Gun ( GPMG ) , in the 40s there were plans to replace the MG - 34 by the most modern MG - 42 , but the MG - 34 served until the end of the World War II . Description . Maschinengewehr - 34 ( Machine gun , model of 1934 ) , or MG - 34 , is known as a main infantry support weapon of the Wehrmacht ( Nazi German Army ) through first half of the World War II and main vehicle ( tank ) machine gun of the same during the whole war . MG - 34 also is nototious for being the first ever true Universal machine gun , that could be used as a light machine gun from bipod , as a sustained fire , medium machine gun on tripod , as a tank or AA gun . MG - 34 was designed in the early 1930s by the team lead by Louis Stange at Rheinmetall , leading German arms manufacturer at that time . Final design , adopted for service in 1934 , incorporated numerous features from experimental prototypes built by Rheinmetall , Mauser - werke , and others . As was requested by German army , it was a truly universal machine gun , capable of different roles . It was put into production circa 1935 , and remained an official MG of the Wehrmacht until 1942 , when it was officially replaced my more reliable and cheap MG - 42 . But , despite this , MG - 34 continued to serve until the end of WWII . mostly as a tank gun , because it was better suited for this role than the MG - 42 . MG - 34 is a recoil - operated , selective fire weapon . It uses short recoiling barrel with muzzle recoil booster which also serves as a flash hider . Barrel locking is achieved by the rotating bolt head , with interrupted threads locking lugs , that lock into the barrel extension . Bolt head has a set of rollers , located just behind the lugs . These rollers are used to rotate bolt heads to lock and unlock , when riding inside the curved grooves , cut on the inner walls of the receiver . Rollers also act as a bolt accelerator , when bolt unlocks , due to inter operation with the barrel extension . Tubular receiver is linked to the tubular barrel sleeve by the swinging stud , set at the right side of the receiver , so receiver can be turned up and to the right relatively tho the barrel sleeve , thus exposing the barrel rear end . When receiver is opened , barrel can be simply withdrawn from its sleeve to the back , but when barrel is hot , this requires some sort of the heat protection , so MG - 34 operator had to use asbestos glove which was a standard accessory to the gun . MG - 34 usually was issued with belt feed , which was operated by the stud on the top of the bolt body . Belt feed could be easily set up to take the belt from the left or from the right side of the gun . With special replacement feed cover , a double - drum , saddle - type 75 rounds magazines can be used . MG - 34 was a selective fire weapon , with mode of fire being controlled by dual trigger . A pull on the upper part of the trigger produced single shots , while a pull on the lower part produced full auto bursts . Being a universal MG , MG - 34 could be used in different configurations . As a light MG , it was used from light , folding bipods , which could be set up either under the muzzle or under the guns ' center of gravity , allowing for better stability or better field of fire , respectively . In this mode MG - 34 was usually fed from 50 - rounds truncated - cone belt boxes , made of tin . Belt boxes were cillped to the receiver and allowed the gun to be carried loaded without dangers of belt being jammed . In sustained fire role , MG - 34 was mounted on the special tripod of very complicated and expensive design , called Lafette - 34 . This tripod allowed for direct or indirect fire missions , and was equipped with recoil dampers , special fire control unit and an optical scope mount . With the use of the special adapter , this tripod also can be used for antiaircraft role . For dedicated air - defence missions a special , lightweight AA tripod was also available . As a tank gun , MG - 34 was equipped with heavier barrel and armoured barrel jacket without the vent holes . In general , MG - 34 was an outstanding weapon , with wery fine finish and made to tight tolerances , but this become also its biggest drawback - being too expensive and too slow to manufacture , MG - 34 was less than suitable for mass wartime production . It also was somewhat sensitive to dirt and fouling , a standard atrribute of the western front battles . But the most major advantage of the MG - 34 was its versatility , and it set the trend for numerous latter designs .