Vollmer M35
The Vollmer M 35 (also known as Vollmer-Maschinenkarabiner or MKb 35) consisted of a series of experimental automatic rifles developed by Heinrich Vollmer in the 1930s. The Vollmer rifles were chambered in an intermediate cartridge that was co-developed with Gustav Genschow and Co. (GECO) starting in 1934, under a Heereswaffenamt contract.
Vollmer M35
- Field
- automatic rifle
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wikidata · Q16255729 · wikipedia · Vollmer M35
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Design
The M 35 was a gas-operated design, reminiscent of an earlier semi-automatic design of Vollmer—the 7.92×57mm Selbstladegewehr 29 (SG 29). Trials with Vollmer's Maschinenkarabine were conducted as early as 1935 at Biberach and later at Kummersdorf. The early version had a 20-round detachable box magazine and could fire at a rate of about 1,000 rpm. Development continued with the improved versions M 35A, M 35/II (1937) and M 35/III through 1938. The later versions had intentionally reduced rate of fire to only about 300–400rpm. It weighed about 9.5 lb and was about 38 in long. About 25 prototypes were manufactured for testing. The gun was apparently very expensive to manufacture, costing 4000 Reichsmarks, although this was the unit cost for the prototype series. The cartridge developed also had several variants including 7.75×40.5 mm, 7.75×39.5mm, and possibly a 7.62mm version as well, and had a total length of approximately 55 mm. (The actual calibre was apparently 7.9mm, with a bullet 8.05mm in diameter.) Muzzle velocity was about 700 m/s (2,280 feet per second). The boat-tailed bullet weighted 140 grains (9 grams). Ultimately, Nazi Germany would adopt a different intermediate cartridge and service assault rifle: the MKB 42 series leading to the Sturmgewehr 44. The later Soviet 7.62×39mm M43 cartridge bore more dimensional similarity to the GECO M 35 cartridge than it did to the German 7.92×33mm Kurz that was used in the Sturmgewehr.
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Vollmer M35, revision 1343992305 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Chris McNab. German Automatic Rifles 1941-45: Gew 41, Gew 43, FG 42 and StG 44. Osprey Publishing. 10–11. 2013. 978-1-78096-387-7.
- 2.C. J. Chivers. The Gun. Simon & Schuster. 162–163 and 166. 2010. 978-1-4391-9653-3.
- 3.MBI Publishing Company. The AK-47. 14–15. 2001. 978-0-7603-1025-0.
- 4.O. Janson, "Utvecklingen av stormkarbinen och de moderna automatkarbinerna", 2005-10-12, retrieved 2013-7-19
- 5.Anthony G Williams, ASSAULT RIFLES AND THEIR AMMUNITION: HISTORY AND PROSPECTS , retrieved 2013-7-19
- 6.P. Labbett, German Assault Rifle Ammunition Developments 1935–45 , Guns Review, Volume 24, No. 4, April 1984.
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