C&R · IV · 090
MG 34 light machinegun
Section IV: still an NFA firearm, also a curio or relic
Official wording
ATF P 5300.11 · APRIL 2025 EDITION · SECTION IV · VERBATIM · PDF P. 84 ↗
German, MG 34 light machinegun, cal. 7.92mm.
What this entry requires
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1935–1945.
- INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).
Editorial facts · Our research
- Country
GermanyBasis: the ATF wording - Manufacturer
- Mauser-Werke & othersBasis: outside reference ¹
- Type
- MachinegunBasis: the ATF wording
- Action
- Select-fire / autoBasis: the ATF wording
- Caliber
- 7.92×57mmBasis: the ATF wording
- Made
- 1935–1945production; ATF states no dateBasis: outside reference ²
- Service
- Military
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IV · PDF p. 84 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: High · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. Wikipedia, “MG 34” ↗, maker: infobox manufacturer Rheinmetall-Borsig AG Soemmerda, Mauserwerke AG and others
- 2. Wikipedia, “MG 34” ↗, years: infobox production date 1935–1945 (introduced 1934); MG 34 and MG 42 'remained in service and production until the end of the war'
- Fact tags
- ATF the ATF wording states it.
- REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
- ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
- NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
- Source checked
- 20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
- Corrections
- 1 change · see below
Correction history
- Evidence passYears: 1934–1945 → 1935–1945. Wikipedia infobox production 1935–1945 (1934 = introduction)
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “Digital Museum MG 34 Right noBG.png” by Armémuseum (The Swedish Army Museum), CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “MG 34”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The MG 34 is a German recoil-operated, air-cooled machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced an entirely new concept in automatic firepower – the Einheitsmaschinengewehr – and is generally considered the world's first general-purpose machine gun (GPMG). Both the MG 34 and MG 42 were erroneously nicknamed "Spandau" by Allied troops, a carryover from the World War I nickname for the MG 08, which was produced at the Spandau Arsenal.