Part of the fun of firearms for me is pulling them appart to discover what makes them tick. WWII guns are of particular interest to me as it was a time where so many different approaches were tried, some good, others not so good.
What follows below is a series of photos I’ve taken in the past of my own and of friends guns that give a view “under the hood”, I hope you enjoy them.
Lets start with the Thompson 1928A1. This gun is ex-Russian Lend Lease and was probably part of the standard kit that got shipped with all US tanks to the Soviet Union.
Ensure that the gun is unloaded and remove the Magazine
let the bolt forward
Locate and press down the botton for the stock catch
Slide the stock off the back of the receiver
Turn the gun over and press down the trigger group locking stud
Slide the trigger group to the back of the receiver
The group may catch on the bolt, in wich case hold down the trigger to release it further
Receiver and trigger group. Inside of the receiver you can see the bolt, recoil spring and brass H-bar
Receiver, trigger group and stock
Top view of the trigger group
Close-up of inside the receiver
View of the bolt as it recoils back
Locate the recoil spring guide on the back of the receiver
Press the guide in and
Remove from the receiver
Slide the bolt back
And lift out of the receiver
Slide the cocking handle forward again
And remove the H-bar
Slide the cocking handle back so that it is aligned with the hold at the end of its track. Lift it out
Inside view of the receiver
Press in the ends of the felt oilers and remove
Felt oilers
Disassembled
The bolt:
Cocking handle with H-bar in place
Assembled bolt; side view
Assembled bolt; top view
Top view, cocking handled removed with H-bar in place
Side view H-bar removed
Top view.
Front View showing bolt face
Some time in 1944 the Soviet Army fielded a new light machine gun, the DPM (Modernized
Degtyarev Infantry machinegun). Vasiliy Degtyarev was a prolific firearms designer, with several of his designs being accepted for service, the two most noteable being the DP-27 machinegun and the DShK heavy machinegun.
DPM Light machinegun:
The two main difference between the DP-27 and the DPM is that the recoil spring has been re-located to the rear of the receiver and permenantly fixing the bipod to the top of the barrel jacket.
Protruding from the receiver is the recoil spring housing.
Press in the locking lug and rotate the spring housing a quarter turn counter-clockwise.
Keeping a firm grip, remove the spring housing.
Remove the recoil spring by pulling it out.
The recoil spring guide extending out of the receiver. This is useful during reassembly to ensure that the spring is properly around the guide.
On the right side of the receiver is the locking screw.
Unscrew it by rotating counter clockwise.
Hinge the lower receiver down and remove it.
Pull back the cocking handle and remove the bolt and carrier out of the receiver.
Bolt un-locked
Bolt locked.
Lift the bolt up from the carrier.
Remove the firing pin and locking flaps.
All the bits. Unfortunatly on my gun the barrel is so tight its a quite an effort to remove it. But it is removed in the same manner as the DP-27.
The DP-27 is 1944 dated and the DPM 1945
Another great piece of history and one of my favourites, the Russian 1910 Maxim. This one was made in 1943 and retro fitted to accept steel belts post WWII.
Hiram Maxim designed the worlds first machinegun back in the late 1800’s in his home workshop on hand tools and steam powered machinery. This gun is an excellent window into a by-gone era of craftmanship, it also serves as an excellent reminder that gun control will never work at disarming criminals because once a technology is learned, it cannot be un-learned.
Now days people have access to CnC lathes and advanced alloys…
Part one: disassembly of the mount.
Using plyers remove the retaining pin from the rear elevation adjustment.
Un-screw the nut on the bolt that secures the action to the mount.
Pull the retaining pin out
You can now lift the gun straight up and off the mount.
I put the retaining pin back so it does not get lost.
un-screw the bolt that holds the locking ring in place.
Seperate the ring and pull it forward to clear the mount. Note that on the front of the pintel there is a groove to accept the bolt of the locking ring.
The upper mount can now be lifted off the lower half.
The parts.
Lay the gun down in the upright position
At the back of the action above the grips is the lock for the top cover. Press this forward and left the cover up.
Cock the gun by moving the cocking handle, on the right, forward.
Lift the bolt straight up clear of it’s running tracks.
Release the tension on the cocking handle and give the bolt a quarter twist counter-clockwise.
Pull the bolt straight up to remove it from the action.
Complete bolt
Push the T-shaped split pin out of the bolt.
Do the same for the other side
The bolt parts now slide free.
Disassembled bolt (actually it can be disassembled further to remove the firing pin but I try to avoid pushing pins out on spring loaded items)
Lift the feed block straight out of the receiver.
Feed Block.
Release tension on the recoil spring by turning the handle (at end of cover) clockwise. Take care not to release the spring.
Push the spring cover forward to clear it off the locking studds on the receiver.
If you unscrew the spring, it is easy to put it back together when re-assembling. Remove the spring from the cocking handle.
Recoil spring in cover
Remove the T-pin that locks the grip plate in place.
Push the grip plate up. You may need to use a wooden or rubber mallet and tap the bottom of the grips.
Remove the recoil booster from the front of the water jacket.
Unscrew the booster.
Barrel pokes clear from the water jacket.
Remove the left sideplate by sliding it out, again you may need to use a wooden or rubber mallet.
Remove the right side plate.
Pull the barrel and bolt tracks out of the rear of the receiver.
Barrel, bolt tracks and cocking handle.
Lift one track up to free the barrel.
Pull the trigger bar back and lift up to free it from the studds on the receiver.
Empty receiver.
Disassembled.
My gun is an ordinary dot 45 marked gun which saw post war service with the Israeli army.
The MG.34 is a marvel of enginerring and probably my favourite gun because of the complexity of the design. When I got it for the first time I had a lot of fun working out how it ticks.
Unload the weapon:
Located at the back end of the feed cover is the catch that locks it close:
Grip it, push forward and lift the feed cover up:
Take a firm hold of the belt drum and with your thumb press the locking lever down and remove the drum and belt:
With the feed cover still up, locate the stock latch under the receiver at the back:
Press this down:
And give the stock a quarter of a turn to the left. Don’t let go as the stock is under tension from the recoil spring:
On the underside of the stock there is a second latch.
Press this and give the forward piece a quarter turn then pull clear of the stock:
Stock, recoil spring housing and spring:
The spring housing can be used without the stock to save space in tanks and bunkers:
Close up of the receiver showing why the cover must be lifted before removing the stock:
Locate the feed cover hinge at the front of the receiver:
Push in the screw on the right side:
Lift the feed cover slightly so that it you can pull it clear from the retaining pin:
Top side:
Underside, showing the feed claws on the right and the bare steel motion arm:
Pull the plate holding the feed claws forward:
Slide the inner plate out:
Top view:
View showing how the arm moves the feed claws. The bolt has a groove at its end that the track rides in. In this photo the bolt would be locked back:
Bolt forward:
Remove the motion arm:
Other side:
Turn the arm so that it is at a right angle to the main body:
Remove:
On the feed cover hinge remove the screw head:
Lift the feed tray:
And remove:
At the point where the receiver meets the barrel jacket underneath on the right side is a latch that locks the cocking handle forward:
Press this down and pull the cocking handle back (on my gun this is very stiff):
Pull the cocking handle all the way to the back to remove the bolt:
The Bolt will slide out the rear of the receiver:
Underside of the bolt, the firing pin is cocked:
Top view, the grove that the feed arm runs in is at the back of the bolt on the right side of this photo:
Rotate the bolt head to release the firing pin. In this photo the pin is about to fire. You can see behind the wheel on the left a latch. The latch is about to touch an angled section of the bolt body. As the head rotates this section wedges beneath the latch and lifts it and releases the firing pin forward:
View of the bolt in a locked and fired state. The head has completed its rotation (guided by ramps on the barrel) the bolt is locked into the barrel (via the dual grooves on each side of the bolt head forward of the wheel) and the latch has been lifted.
View of the bolt face showing the protruding firing pin. No misfires here!
A the back of the bolt is the firing pin nut:
Push the latch to the right and rotate it forward:
Unscrew the firing pin nut and remove:
Slide the bolt head out of the main body:
The firing pin is retained by a “bayonet mount” and is under tension:
Reverse the bolt main body, notice that the hole is oblong:
Insert the firing pin. Keeping a firm grip push them together and rotate the firing pin to free it:
Let it go forward:
Remove spring and firing pin:
Stripped bolt:
At the back of the receiver, press the stock latch and remove the cocking handle. It slides out the right rather than out the back:
It slides out the right rather than out the back:
On the left side, on the barrel jacket forward of the receiver is the barrel release latch:
Press this:
And rotate the receiver down and to the right:
The barrel will now slide free:
Stripped receiver, jacket and barrel:
On the right side of the barrel jacket is the pin that locks the receiver to the jacket:
Push the pin up and pull the receiver clear:
Stripped receiver right side:
Left side
View inside showing the trigger; the MG.34 fires from an open bolt, but the action is locked to the barrel at time of firing:
View from the rear of the receiver, look at the machining that went into this!
Remove the bi-pod; again this is retained by a latch under the barrel jacket:
Press hold the latch in and rotate the bi-pod 180 degrees up and pull it free.
The flash suppressor / muzzle booster is also secured by a latch:
Lift it and unscrew the booster:
Barrel jacket, muzzle cone and flash suppressor:
All done; one MG.34 in bits:
More on how the bolt operates, bolt head and barrel face.
The bolt engages the barrel face.
The forward movement of the bolts causes the wheels on the bolt head to turn it. As the head turns the ridges on the side of the head meet with groves on the inside of the barrel and the firing pin latch lines up:
The bolt has finished it’s rotation, is locked to the barrel and the firing pin has been released!
Congratulations on a brilliant Thread, Bas. 
My Profound Thanks to you, thoroughly enjoyed the reading and seeing.
Kind Regards, Uyraell.
Nicely photographed, and well thought out sequencing of the photos. Thanks.
Good shots of simple field stripping.
A lot of time went into it.
Every soldier is taught to do this blindfolded in a matter of seconds.
Very important for military pieces to be as rugged and simple as possible.