Czechoslovakian ZB 53 / Vz.37 machine gun - Modern/Post-War Photos | Gallery

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#1

Czechoslovakian ZB 53 / Vz.37 machine gun

Here is a modern picture of the ZB 53 / Vz.37 machine gun

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ww2incolor.com/gallery/modern/18693/czechoslovakian-zb-53-vz.37-machine-gun
#2

Nice, and better than any I had found!

#3
#4

Czechoslovakian Kulomet vz. 37. The SS had this MG produced in Brünn (Brno) in 1941/42 and called it MG 37(t). So SS units were issued with this gun exclusively. It had a firing rate of 550 shot per minute.

#5

(guess i should have just included all this with the picture)
The 7.92mm ZB53 was developed in Brno by the Holek brothers. Development of this machine gun commenced in 1930, and it was a private venture by the ZB factory, without any sponsorship from the Army. The goal was to design and produce a belt-fed medium machine gun with dual rates of fire (the lower rate for ground targets and the higher for anti-aircraft work) and good sustained fire capabilities. In 1935 the Czechoslovak army bought 500 ZB53 medium machine guns for extended trials, designating these the Vz.35 (Model of 1935). After extensive use, the Army requested a number of improvements, and finally adopted the new machine gun for service in 1937 as the Vz.37. In the same year the British company Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) Ltd obtained a license for the tank version of the ZB53, to produce these guns for the British Royal Tank Corps under the name of BESA, in the same 7.92x57 caliber. Like its “little brother” ZB26, the ZB53 was also widely exported. Buyers of this weapon included China, Iran, Rumania and Yugoslavia, as well as a number of other European and South American countries. It is worthy of note that about two thirds of the entire production of the ZB53 was exported, as the Czechoslovak army showed little interest in medium machine guns, most probably because of a lack of funds. Production of the ZB53 continued under Germany occupation during 1939-41, and it was incorporated into German small arms nomenclature as the MG 37(t).