Rheinmetall MG 3

The MG 3 is a German general purpose machine gun chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. The weapon's design is derived from the World War II era MG 42 universal machine gun that fired the 7.92x57mm Mauser round.Woźniak, Ryszard: Encyklopedia najnowszej broni palnej—tom 3 M-P, page 106. Bellona, 2001.

The MG 3 was developed in the late 1950s and adopted into service with the newly formed Bundeswehr, where it continues to serve to this day as a squad support weapon and vehicle-mounted machine gun. The weapon and its derivatives have also been acquired by the armed forces of over 30 countries. Production rights to the machine gun were purchased by Italy (MG 42/59), Spain, Pakistan (MG 1A3), Greece, Iran, Sudan and Turkey.

History

Production of the first postwar variant of the MG 42 chambered in a standard NATO caliber (designated the MG 1) was launched in 1958 at the Rheinmetall arms factory as requested by the Bundeswehr. Shortly thereafter, the machine gun was modified, receiving a chrome-lined barrel and sights properly calibrated for the new round; this model would be named the MG 1A1 (known also as the MG 42/58).

A further development of the MG 1A1 was the MG 1A2 (MG 42/59), which had a heavier bolt (950 g, compared to 550 g), a new friction ring buffer and was adapted to use both the standard German continuous DM1 ammunition belt and the American M13 disintegrating belt. Further improvements to the weapon's muzzle...
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