Rheinmetall MG 3

The MG 3 is a German general-purpose machine gun chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The weapon's design is derived from the World War II era MG 42 universal machine gun that fired the 7.92×57mm Mauser round.

The MG 3 was standardized 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 a 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
At the end of Word War II the original technical drawings and data for the MG 42 were captured by the Soviets. These would eventually find their way to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Rheinmetall had to reverse engineer the first postwar machine guns from an original MG 42 gun.

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 Rheinmetallarms 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 (33.51 oz), compared to 550 g (19.40 oz)), 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 device, bipod and bolt resulted in the MG 1A3.

Simultaneously, wartime 7.92×57mm Mauser chambered MG 42 machine guns that remained in service were converted to the standard 7.62×51mm NATO chambering and designated MG 2.

In 1968, the MG 3 was introduced and entered production. Compared to the MG1A3, the MG 3 features an improved feeding mechanism with a belt retaining pawl to hold the belt up to the gun when the top cover plate is lifted, an added anti-aircraft sight and a new ammunition box. MG 3s were produced for Germany and for export customers by Rheinmetall until 1979. The preceding non-MG 3 variant machine guns in the Bundeswehr inventory were gradually converted to the MG 3 standard. Some additional production of the MG 3 in Germany was carried out by Heckler & Koch. The MG 3 and its variants all share a high level of parts interchangeability with the original MG 42.

Operation
The German military instructs sustained fire must be avoided at all costs. In the bipod mounted light machine gun role MG 3 users are trained to fire short bursts of 3 to 5 rounds and strive to optimize their aim between bursts fired in succession. In the tripod mounted medium machine gun role MG 3 users are trained to fire short bursts and bursts of 20 to 30 rounds and strive to optimize their aim between bursts fired in succession.

Deployment
The MG 3 is still used as the standard secondary weapon of most modern German armoured fighting vehicle designs (e.g. Leopard 2, PzH 2000, Marder), as a primary weapon on light/non-armored vehicles (e.g. LKW 2to, MAN gl-trucks, ATF Dingo) and as an infantry weapon on light bipods as well as different tripods. However, the German Armed Forces will phase out the MG 3 in 2012; they introduced the MG 5 in 2011.

Aquirement
The Rheinmetall MG 3 can be unlocked as part of the Machine Gun Collection in Gun Builder:ELITE