MAC 1934
Encyclopedia
In 1934 the Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault (Châtellerault
weapons manufacturing company, often shortened to MAC) completed the development of the MAC 1934 machine gun to replace the Darne mod. 1933 machine gun
aboard aircraft of the Armée de l'Air. Essentially a faster-firing variant of the mitrailleuse mle 1931
, and using the same 7.5 mm MAS ammunition, the MAC 34 worked by gas operation and was fed from drum magazines. Two main variants, sharing common parts, were introduced:
The MAC 34 could not be fitted with synchronization gear, and was more expensive to manufacture than comparable weapons, but it was compact and had excellent reliability.
Originally the Armée de l'Air favoured magazine-fed weapons, but it eventually accepted that the feeding system of the MAC 34 would require too frequent reloadings for dorsal gunners, and was impractical for wing mountings, so it required the development of a belt-fed variant. The resulting weapon was introduced in 1939, and designated as MAC 1934 M39. The MAC 1934 machine gun equipped French aircraft from 1935 until the later 1940s. Like other rifle-calibre machine guns, the MAC 34 proved to be too light for combat in World War II
. A weakness of the MAC 34 was its operation at high altitudes. It was found that at altitudes past 20,000ft the guns had a tendency to freeze up. Heaters were added to the guns on the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406
to allow high altitude use. The Armée de l'Air had plans to use several types of heavy aircraft machine guns, including an 11 mm variant of the MAC 34, but none could be completed before the Armistice
.
Châtellerault
Châtellerault is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in France.It is located to the north of Poitou, and the residents are called Châtelleraudais.-Geography:...
weapons manufacturing company, often shortened to MAC) completed the development of the MAC 1934 machine gun to replace the Darne mod. 1933 machine gun
Darne
The Darne machine gun is a machine gun of French origin..The French gun-making company Darne, which became famous for its innovative shotguns, entered the world of military weapons in 1915, when it was contracted by French government to manufacture Lewis machine guns. In 1916 this same company...
aboard aircraft of the Armée de l'Air. Essentially a faster-firing variant of the mitrailleuse mle 1931
Mitrailleuse mle 1931
The Reibel machine gun , was a machine gun used on French tanks of the World War II era as well as in fortifications such as the Maginot line. It used the 7.5 mm MAS cartridge and was loaded with 150-round drum magazines...
, and using the same 7.5 mm MAS ammunition, the MAC 34 worked by gas operation and was fed from drum magazines. Two main variants, sharing common parts, were introduced:
- the type tourelle (turret model), fed from 100-round replaceable magazines, was used in flexible mountings, where it was generally fitted with an Alkan 1935 reflector gunsightReflector sightA reflector or reflex sight is a generally non-magnifying optical device that allows the user to look through a partially reflecting glass element and see an illuminated projection of an aiming point or some other image superimposed on the field of view...
. - the type aile (wing model) fed from a 300- or 500-round drum magazine, was used for fixed mountings.
The MAC 34 could not be fitted with synchronization gear, and was more expensive to manufacture than comparable weapons, but it was compact and had excellent reliability.
Originally the Armée de l'Air favoured magazine-fed weapons, but it eventually accepted that the feeding system of the MAC 34 would require too frequent reloadings for dorsal gunners, and was impractical for wing mountings, so it required the development of a belt-fed variant. The resulting weapon was introduced in 1939, and designated as MAC 1934 M39. The MAC 1934 machine gun equipped French aircraft from 1935 until the later 1940s. Like other rifle-calibre machine guns, the MAC 34 proved to be too light for combat in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A weakness of the MAC 34 was its operation at high altitudes. It was found that at altitudes past 20,000ft the guns had a tendency to freeze up. Heaters were added to the guns on the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406
Morane-Saulnier M.S.406
The M.S.406 was a French Armée de l'Air fighter aircraft built by Morane-Saulnier starting in 1938. Numerically it was France's most important fighter during the opening stages of World War II....
to allow high altitude use. The Armée de l'Air had plans to use several types of heavy aircraft machine guns, including an 11 mm variant of the MAC 34, but none could be completed before the Armistice
Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)
The Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed at 18:50 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, in the department of Oise, between Nazi Germany and France...
.
See also
Sources
- Danel, Raymond and Cuny, Jean. L'aviation française de bombardement et de renseignement 1918-1940 Docavia n°12, Editions Larivière
- Pelletier, Alain. French Fighters of World War II. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 2002. ISBN 0-89747-440-6.