MG 30
title: "MG 30" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["8-mm-machine-guns", "7.92×57mm-mauser-machine-guns", "light-machine-guns", "machine-guns-of-austria", "machine-guns-of-switzerland", "world-war-ii-infantry-weapons-of-germany", "world-war-ii-machine-guns", "military-equipment-introduced-in-the-1930s", "weapons-and-ammunition-introduced-in-1931"] topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_30" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox weapon"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | MG 30 |
| image | 1671 - Salzburg - Festung Hohensalzburg - Österreichisch leichtes Maschinengewehr.JPG |
| image_size | 300 |
| caption | The MG 30 on display in Austria. |
| (Festung Hohensalzburg) | |
| origin | Switzerland |
| Austria | |
| type | Light machine gun |
| is_ranged | yes |
| service | 1930s−1940s |
| used_by | *See * |
| wars | World War II |
| designer | Louis Stange |
| design_date | 1929 |
| manufacturer | *See * |
| production_date | {{ubl |
| number | More than 15000 |
| weight | {{ubl |
| Solothurn S2-200: {{convert | 9.5 |
| Solothurn 31.M: {{convert | 8.4 |
| length | 1162 mm |
| part_length | 600 mm |
| cartridge | 7.92×57mm Mauser |
| 8×56mmR | |
| 7×57mm Mauser | |
| action | Recoil |
| rate | Cyclic: 450-500 Rounds/min |
| Practical: 100 Rounds/min | |
| velocity | 807.92 m/s (2,650 ft/s) |
| range | 800 m |
| feed | {{bulleted list |
| :: |
| name = MG 30 | image = 1671 - Salzburg - Festung Hohensalzburg - Österreichisch leichtes Maschinengewehr.JPG | image_size = 300 | caption = The MG 30 on display in Austria. (Festung Hohensalzburg) | origin = Switzerland Austria | type = Light machine gun | is_ranged = yes | service = 1930s−1940s | used_by = *See * | wars = World War II | designer = Louis Stange | design_date = 1929 | manufacturer = *See * | production_date = {{ubl | Solothurn S2-200: 1931–1940 | Solothurn 31.M: 1938–1944 | number = More than 15000 | variants = | weight = {{ubl | Solothurn S2-200: 9.5 kg | Solothurn 31.M: 8.4 kg | length = 1162 mm | part_length = 600 mm | cartridge = 7.92×57mm Mauser 8×56mmR 7×57mm Mauser | action = Recoil | rate = Cyclic: 450-500 Rounds/min Practical: 100 Rounds/min | velocity = 807.92 m/s (2,650 ft/s) | range = 800 m | max_range = | feed = {{bulleted list | 30-round box magazine (7.92×57mm; 7×57mm) | 25-round box magazine (8×56mmR) | sights =
The Maschinengewehr 30, or MG 30 was a German-designed machine gun that saw some service with various armed forces in the 1930s. It was also modified to become the standard German aircraft gun as the MG 15 and MG 17. It is most notable as the design pattern that led to the MG 34 and MG 42, and thus is one of the major ancestors of many of the weapons in service which would later find widespread use into the 21st century.
History
Development of the MG 30 took place under the direction of Louis Stange at Rheinmetall's Sömmerda office, from where he filed several patent claims in 1928–1929. However actual production of machine guns was prohibited in Germany under the Versailles Treaty. Rheinmetall circumvented the provisions by acquiring the majority shareholding of the Swiss manufacturer Waffenfabrik Solothurn and relocating production there. The goal was to acquire orders for the rearmament of the Reichswehr, which was modernizing its arsenal.
The design was rejected by the German Reichswehr which adopted the MG 13. Rheinmetall then turned to other companies and licensed the design to Solothurn in Switzerland and Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Austria. Production soon followed, entering the armed forces of both countries as the Solothurn S2-200 and Maschinengewehr Solothurn 1930, or MG 30, respectively.
2000–3000 were also purchased by Hungary, where it was known as the '*Solothurn *31.M Golyószóró'''''. The FÉG factory in Budapest undertook licensed production and from 1931 to 1937, a few hundred were produced each year. From 1938 to 1944, 9,000 were produced. A total of more than 12,000 of these guns were acquired by the Hungarian Armed Forces and Székely National Guard of Transylvania. The examples which survived the war were kept in storage until 1956, after which almost all of them were melted down.
Design
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/MG_30_buttstock.jpg" caption="Fire control column and buttstock of the MG 30."] ::
The gun is an air-cooled, recoil-operated design, firing standard 8×56mmR ammunition, fed from a slightly curved 25-round magazine inserted in the left side of the weapon. It uses a locking ring, which is located at the end of the barrel extension, to lock the bolt. Inside the locking ring, there are six sets of locking lugs, arranged as an interrupted thread, which mate with lugs cut at the rear of the bolt. Rotation of the ring, which locks and unlocks the bolt, is controlled in a mount on the outside of the ring. The gun is of relatively simple design, with most parts having a round cross-section. The tubular receiver is an extension of the barrel jacket. The butt hosts a tube which contains the return spring and its guide. Safety is found on the receiver.
The MG 30 fired both in semi-automatic and full automatic mode depending on how far the two-stage trigger is pulled, with a rate of fire between 450 and 500 rounds per minute in full-auto. It included a folding bipod attached two-thirds down the barrel.
Further developments
Germany
Rheinmetall's Borsig office modified the MG 30 design for use as an aircraft gun, producing the Flugzeugmaschinengewehr 15, or MG 15 machine gun. The primary changes were the use of a double-drum magazine holding 75 rounds, and the removal of the stock for use inside the cramped quarters of a bomber.
Further modification in 1936 led to the MG 17, which included provisions for belt-fed ammo in addition to the drums, increased the rate of fire to about 1,200 rpm, and with its design incorporating a closed-bolt firing cycle, was suitable for use on a synchronization gear system-equipped aircraft for shooting through the aircraft's own propeller.
7.92×57mm weapons were no longer considered useful by the Luftwaffe once enough MG 131s were available. The partial armour protection of most new military aircraft had caught up with the 7.92×57mm SmK cartridge by 1940. Many MG 15, MG 17 and more modern 7.92 mm MG 81 were then used by forces on the ground, especially from 1944. Many were modified with a bipod and simple metal stock, and other belt-fed MG 17 and MG 81 were built into dedicated anti-air machine gun twin and quad mounts.
Hungary
Hungarian LMGs were different: there was a free-rotating swivel handle near the machine gun's center of gravity. The bipod was not part of the barrel jacket, the fixing clamp could rotate and the fixing springs of the bipod legs were also different. The tripod for Hungarian machine guns was equipped with an attachment so they could also be used as an anti-aircraft machine gun, which was also used in the mountains (Carpathians) for firing at high angles. The 31.M.s equipped with tripods served as medium machine guns, and those equipped with only bipods served as light machine guns. The bipod was also retained on the medium machine guns. A small number of 31. M. machine guns were converted as flexible machine guns for the Royal Hungarian Air Force. The handle and the bipod were removed from these, and their 75-round magazine was based on the German model. These were used on some light reconnaissance aircraft until they were replaced by Gebauer machine guns after 1940-41. They remained in use as anti-aircraft machine guns on the river patrol boats (River Flotilla).
Manufacturers
Users
- First Austrian Republic
- Bulgaria
- El Salvador − 47 guns made in 7×57mm Mauser.
- Nazi Germany
- Kingdom of Hungary − 3000 2S-200 and 9033 Solothurn 31.M Golyószóró
- Switzerland
Notes
References
Bibliography
References
- McCollum, Ian. (September 23, 2024). "Steyr-Solothurn S2-200: the Austrian MG30 and Hungarian 31M".
- {{US patent. US1753072A. Trigger apparatus for the single and continuous fire of automatic firearms, {{patent. DE. 512025C, {{US patent. 1755034A. Automatic firearm, {{patent. GB. 325159A. Automatic firearms with locked breech and sliding barrel
- (17 October 2022). "A magyar könnyű fegyverzet gyártása 1938 és 1945 között".
- "US1846156A - Automatic firearm - Google Patents".
- "US1755034A - Automatic firearm - Google Patents".
- "US1842847A - Safety device for firearms - Google Patents".
- "US1753072A - Trigger apparatus for the single and continuous fire of automatic firearms - Google Patents".
- "Hungarian Solothurn Machine Guns".
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