Item Description
Original Items: Only One available. Following the end of WWII in Europe, Germany had been partitioned into 4 occupation zones, Soviet, American, French, and British, with several smaller zones administered by various other European countries. The Capital of Berlin was also split up into zones as well. It was originally planned that the Allies would administer occupied Germany via the Allied Control Council, however the different goals of the four major powers resulted in a total breakdown of this system. France wanted very much to break Germany back into smaller states, as it had been during the 19th century. The Soviet Union wanted it to become a Marxist state and bullwark against Western Europe.
The eventual result of these disagreements was the partitioning of Germany into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). This divide became the frontier of the new Cold War, and as such it became clear that West Germany would need to re-arm, as East Germany was already well into that process. This led to the formation of the West German Bundeswehr in 1955, with branches for the air, land and sea forces.
The Heer (Army) portion of this defense force began with many arms left over in storage from the WWII Era, including many MG42 machine guns. However, with advances in ammunition propellant, the 7.92 Mauser round, in use since the late 19th century, was not obsolete, and was replaced by 7.62 NATO. The existing MG42s were converted to take the new round, and production of the very similar MG3 machine gun was started in 1959. Along with this came a new design of tripod mount, which used elements from both the MG42 Lafette design, as well as the earlier Madsen design.
This Machine Gun tripod was made to work with the MG3, MG1, MG42, or M53 machine guns, as the mounting dimensions are the same. Part of the MG3 Sustained Fire configuration was this rock-steady Ground Tripod as used by infantry troops. Features include:
- Tips the scales at a hefty 48 lbs.
- Fully adjustable 19" legs.
- Horizontal and vertical height adjustments
- Original tripod-mounted HENSOLDT-WETZLAR manufactured periscope sight which made the MG3 accurate out to near 4,000 yards. Optics are very clear and the adjustments work great. The cover for the objective lens is degraded, however the rubber eye cup is still in great shape and supple.
- Allows full 360° gun rotation.
Overall condition is very good, showing wear from use and storage, but it is still fully functional as far as we can tell. The pads are worn but intact, and it still has the original belt strap, though the shoulder straps are missing.
Just what you need for your MG 42 or MG 3 display gun!
- This product is not available for international shipping.
- Not eligible for payment with Paypal or Amazon
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