ZB vz. 30

ZB-30
M37, a Yugoslav variant of the ZB vz. 30
Type	Light machine gun
Place of origin	Czechoslovakia Romania (license) Yugoslavia (license)
Service history
In service	1930–2009 [1]
Used by	See Users
Production history
Designed	1930
Manufacturer	Zbrojovka Brno, Cugir Arms Factory, Military Technical Institute Kragujevac [2]
Specifications
Mass	9.10 kg (20.06 lb)
Length	1,180 mm (46.5 in)
Cartridge	7.92×57mm Mauser
Action	Gas-operated, tilting breechblock
Rate of fire	550-650 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	750 m/s (2,461 ft/s)
Effective firing range	1,000 m (1,100 yd)
Feed system	20-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Front blade, rear leaf sight

The ZB-30 and ZB-30J were Czechoslovak light machine guns that saw extensive use during World War II.

History

The Zb 30 and Zb 30J were the later versions of the famous Czechoslovak machine gun, the ZB-26. However, the ZB-30 had some design differences, making it similar to the later ZGB-33, which was an early prototype of the Bren gun. ^[3] Like the ZB-26, the Wehrmacht adopted the ZB-30 after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, renaming it the MG 30(t); it was used in the same role as the MG34, as a light machine gun. In the opening phases of World War II, the ZB-30 in 7.92 mm Mauser caliber was used in large numbers by elements of the German Waffen-SS , who did not initially have full access to standard Wehrmacht supply channels. ^[1]

Comparison of original ZB vz.26 and modifications:

Machine gun	ZB vz.26	ZB vz.30	ZB vz.30J [a]
Caliber (mm)	7.92	7.92	7.92
Length (mm)	1165	1180	1204
Weight (kg)	8.84	9.10	9.58
Magazine (rounds)	20	20	20
Rate (round/min)	500	550-650	500-600
Velocity (m/s)	750	750	750

Users

A license-built Romanian ZB-30 used after the war by the Patriotic Guards.

A Chetnik fighter carrying a M37.

• Kingdom of Afghanistan: 2,000 in 7.92mm Mauser caliber shipped in 1938 ^[5]
• Algeria: used by the National Liberation Army. ^[6]
• Biafra ^[7]
• Bolivia: 3,350 in 7.65mm Mauser between 1932 and 1937, ^[5] used in the Chaco War, ^[8] still in use in the 1960s ^[9]
• Bulgaria: used as aircraft gun on Kaproni Bulgarski KB-11 Fazan ^{[ citation needed ]}
• Czechoslovakia ^[10]
• Republic of China: Imported and produced under license. ^[11]
• Ecuador 750 7.92mm Mauser in 1935-1936 ^[5]
• Ethiopia: 400-450 in 7.92mm Mauser ZB vz.30 bought in 1934, used by the Kebur Zabagna ^{[12] [5]}
• Nazi Germany
• Guatemala: 50 in 7mm Mauser, delivered in 1937 ^{[13] [5]}
• Iran: ^[14] produced under license. Modified to fire the .30 cartridge. ^[15]
• Kingdom of Italy: An unspecified number were captured in Ethiopia and in Yugoslavia. By July 1942, 936 were listed in the Regio Esercito's inventory. Experiments were conducted in converting them to the 8×59mm Rb Breda cartridge. In March 1943, they were issued to territorial units in Lazio, Liguria, and Tuscany. ^[16]
•   Japan : used captured Chinese guns. ^[17]
• Latvia: 11 in 7.92mm Mauser received in 1936 ^[5]
• Manchukuo ^[18]
• Nicaragua: 5 in 7mm Mauser supplied in 1937 ^[5]
• Peru: 1,257 in 7.65mm, delivered from 1932 to 1938 ^[5] Some converted to 7.62 NATO. ^[19]
•   Romania : Produced under license. ^{[1] [20]} 17,131 were imported from Czechoslovakia from 1933 ^{[5] [21]} and 10,000 were license-produced at Cugir, ^[22] with a production rate of 250 pieces per month as of October 1942. ^[23]
• Spain: 20,000 7.92mm Mauser caliber guns ordered ^[1] but only a few hundred actually delivered. Copied as the Fusil ametrallador Oviedo. ^[24]
• Turkey: 9,805 7.92mm Mauser caliber supplied in 1935–1939. ^[5] Produced under license ^[1]
• Uruguay: 80 in 7mm received in 1937 ^[5]
• Venezuela: 110 in 7mm Mauser caliber ZB-30J received in 1937 ^[5]
• Vietnam: Used by the Việt Minh, supplied by both Nationalist and Communist Chinese ^[25]
• Yugoslavia: The ZB Model 30J was produced under license as, Пушкомитраљез 7.9mm модел 1937". ^{[26] [27]} 15,500 were bought in 1936. ^[5]

Conflicts

• Chaco War ^[8]
• Second Italo-Ethiopian War ^[12]
• Spanish Civil War ^[28]
• World War II
• First Indochina War
• Algerian War
• Biafran war
• Yugoslav Wars ^[29]
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) ^[1]

Note

1. The ZB 30J was a late design iteration of the ZB 30 for sale to Yugoslavia (originally spelled with a J) that featured an adjustable gas system so that commonly available light and heavy 7.92mm ball ammunition would cycle the mechanism. ^[4]

References

Citations

1. Grant 2013, p. 65.
2. "1919-1941 | Zastava-arms". Archived from the original on 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
3. "ZB 26". Modern Firearms. October 27, 2010.
4. "Brno Zb-30J – Marstar Canada". marstar.ca. Retrieved 22 Nov 2020.
5. Fencl, Jiří (1991). "Nejprodávanější československá zbraň" (in Czech). Militaria, Elka Press. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
6. "StG-44 in Africa after WWII". wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com. 27 September 2015.
7. Jowett, Philip (2016). Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967-70. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Press. p. 22. ISBN   978-1472816092.
8. Alejandro de Quesada (20 November 2011). The Chaco War 1932-35: South America's greatest modern conflict. Osprey Publishing. p. 24. ISBN   978-1-84908-901-2.
9. Guevara, Che (1994). El diario del Che en Bolivia: noviembre 7, 1966 a octubre 7, 1967. Havana?: Ciencas Sociales. ISBN   978-959-06-0177-4.
10. Grant 2013, p. 10.
11. Jowett, Philip S. (1997). Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49. Men at Arms 306. Osprey Publishing. p. 36. ISBN   1855326655 . Retrieved April 24, 2014.
12. "ZB VZ 30". iwm.org.uk. Imperial War Museum.
13. Perutka, Lukáš (September 2014). Checoslovaquia, Guatemala y México en el Período de la Revolución Guatemalteca: Ibero-Americana Pragensia - Supplementum 32/2013 (in Spanish). Karolinum Press. p. 36. ISBN   978-80-246-2429-7.
14. "Fusils-mitrailleurs Lehky Kulomet ZB vz.26 and vz.30". Encyclopédie des armes : Les forces armées du monde (in French). Vol. II. Atlas. 1984. p. 262.
15. Smith 1969, p. 463.
16. Riccio, Ralph (2013). Italian small arms of the first & second world wars. Schiffer Publishing. p. 161. ISBN   9780764345838.
17. Smith 1969, p. 498.
18. Jowett, Philip S. (2010). Rays of the rising sun : armed forces of Japan's Asian allies, 1931-45, Vol. 1: China & Manchukuo. Helion. p. 15. ISBN   9781906033781.
19. Ezell, Edward (1988). Small Arms Today. Vol. 2nd. Stackpole Books. p. 304. ISBN   0811722805.
20. Smith 1969, p. 535.
21. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 29
22. John Walter, Greenhill Books, 2004, Guns of the Third Reich, p. 86
23. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
24. "Fusil Ametrallador Oviedo (FAO): otro capítulo más de nuestra gloriosa historia armera". arma.es (in Spanish). 24 March 2017.
25. Windrow, Martin (20 Sep 2018). French Foreign Légionnaire vs Viet Minh Insurgent: North Vietnam 1948–52. Combat 36. Osprey Publishing. pp. 24–25. ISBN   9781472828910.
26. "1919-1941 | Zastava-arms". www.zastava-arms.rs. Archived from the original on 2013-06-12.
27. Smith 1969, p. 320.
28. de Quesada, Alejandro (20 Jan 2015). The Spanish Civil War 1936–39 (2): Republican Forces. Men-at-Arms 498. Osprey Publishing. p. 38. ISBN   9781782007852.
29. The Defense Of Bosnia. Studio "FLASH" Sarajevo. April 1999. Event occurs at 45:53. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 22 May 2015.

Main sources

• McNab, Chris: Twentieth-century Small Arms, Grange Books, 2004; ISBN   1-84013-381-3
• Grant, Neil (2013). The Bren Gun. Weapon. Vol. 22. Osprey Publishing. ISBN   978-1782000822.
• Smith, Joseph E. (1969). Small Arms of the World (11th ed.). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Stackpole Company. ISBN   9780811715669.

External links

• Photograph at project-x.org.uk Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
• ZB vz. 30J photogallery