Volksmaschinengewehr VMG-27
Encyclopedia
The Volksmaschinengewehr VMG-27 (German
"People's Machine Gun 27") is an incorrect interpretation of the term 'VMG 27'. At the end of WW 2 several weapons were developed which would be easy to produce in large quantities. These were very simple even crude designs which would be produced in local factories and to arm the new Volksgrenadiers and Volkssturm
militia during the latter days of the Third Reich.
In 1916 Heinrich Vollmer began working on a design of a light machine gun. The design took time, resulted in a limited amount of prototypes but none reached a full development stadium. At the end the weapon was known as a MG Vollmer, later also as VMG 1927. It consisted of only 78 parts while the standard MG of those days, the MG 08/15 consisted of 383 parts. It was recoil operated and fed from a small drum magazine
underneath the receiver. In 1927 Vollmer also obtained a patent covering the breech mechanism of the weapon. Even later on, Vollmer offered his design in cooperation with Mauser
Werke as a MV 31 (MauserVollmer 1931) to German ordnance board - Inspektion für Waffen und Gerät - IWG. This machine gun was of a quite simple design, it had a quickly changeable barrel, drum magazine and German armed forces tested it quite thoroughly. The MV 31 was not a bad weapon at all but at the end failed to be adopted. This was possibly because it was a light MG
incapable of being used as a heavy one
. For such a multifunctional weapon the German armed forces had to wait until the arrival of the legendary MG 34
.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
"People's Machine Gun 27") is an incorrect interpretation of the term 'VMG 27'. At the end of WW 2 several weapons were developed which would be easy to produce in large quantities. These were very simple even crude designs which would be produced in local factories and to arm the new Volksgrenadiers and Volkssturm
Volkssturm
The Volkssturm was a German national militia of the last months of World War II. It was founded on Adolf Hitler's orders on October 18, 1944 and conscripted males between the ages of 16 to 60 years who were not already serving in some military unit as part of a German Home Guard.-Origins and...
militia during the latter days of the Third Reich.
In 1916 Heinrich Vollmer began working on a design of a light machine gun. The design took time, resulted in a limited amount of prototypes but none reached a full development stadium. At the end the weapon was known as a MG Vollmer, later also as VMG 1927. It consisted of only 78 parts while the standard MG of those days, the MG 08/15 consisted of 383 parts. It was recoil operated and fed from a small drum magazine
Drum magazine
A drum magazine is a type of firearms magazine that is cylindrical in shape, similar to a drum. Instead of rounds being stored flat, as in a more common box magazine, rounds in a drum magazine are stored in a spiral around the center of the magazine, facing the direction of the barrel.There are...
underneath the receiver. In 1927 Vollmer also obtained a patent covering the breech mechanism of the weapon. Even later on, Vollmer offered his design in cooperation with Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
Werke as a MV 31 (MauserVollmer 1931) to German ordnance board - Inspektion für Waffen und Gerät - IWG. This machine gun was of a quite simple design, it had a quickly changeable barrel, drum magazine and German armed forces tested it quite thoroughly. The MV 31 was not a bad weapon at all but at the end failed to be adopted. This was possibly because it was a light MG
Light machine gun
A light machine gun is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.-Characteristics:...
incapable of being used as a heavy one
Heavy machine gun
The heavy machine gun or HMG is a larger class of machine gun generally recognized to refer to two separate stages of machine gun development. The term was originally used to refer to the early generation of machine guns which came into widespread use in World War I...
. For such a multifunctional weapon the German armed forces had to wait until the arrival of the legendary MG 34
MG 34
The Maschinengewehr 34, or MG 34, is a German air-cooled machine gun that was first produced and accepted into service in 1934, and first issued to units in 1935. It accepts the 8x57mm IS cartridge....
.