Steyr-Solothurn machine gun

Steyr-Solothurn machine gun

Steyr-Solothurn mg 30machine gun

Steyr-Solothurn machine gun

Caliber	7.92x57, 8x56R
Weight	9.5 kg
Length	1162 mm
Barrel length	600 mm
Feed	Magazine, 30 rounds
Rate of fire	550 rounds per minute

During the late 1920s Waffenfabrik Solothurn, a Swiss private business that emerged in the watch-making industry but later turned to the production of small-armsparts, was bought by the German concern Rheinmetall, to serve as a research and development facility away from the watchful eyes of the Allied Control Commission, established in 1918 as a result of Treaties of Versailles. In 1929 Waffenfabrik Solothurn brought out its first practical machine gun, known by the factory as the S2-100, and in export catalogs as the MG 29. Next year Solothurn announced an updated version, the S2-200, also known as theMG 30. It was, in essence, a typical light machine gun – recoil operated and magazine fed, although Solothurn also offered a complicated universal tripod for this gun. The Solothurn MG30 earned its place in history by being adopted by Austria in 1930 and Hungary in 1931 (in both cases chambered for 8x56R ammunition), and it also served as the starting point for several German machine guns, such as the MG 15 (aircraft) and MG 34. It is also must be noted that most of components of the MG30 were produced in Austria at the Steyr factory; Solothurn carried out the final assembly and test-firing.