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My MG34 Fortess Mount

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    My MG34 Fortess Mount

    I am not sure if this is the correct forum so please forgive me if it should be posted somewhere else. Here is my MG34 fortress mount that I tried to restore as it was a big mess when I acquired it. It is still missing some parts that will be difficult, if not next to impossible, to find. There are bunkers in Norway with these mounts in them that are rusting away to nothing, but that is the way things go.

    This is definitely one of those items that, depending on the eye of the beholding, is either a fascinating piece of history, or a big piece of crap taking up a bunch of space.

    Please forgive my poor photography skills

    Here is an overall view of the mount. You can see the rack for holding spare barrels.


    Closer view of the left side of the mount




    Here is the mount retracted. The base would be flush with the bunker wall and the top would move up to fire through a port in the bunker wall or be retracted for safety, etc.




    The optic scope for the mount, code is dpw (Zeiss Ikon) Pz Zf 1





    Scope mounted, from the right side. Notice also that the 250 rd fortess ammo can is mounted on the right side of the mount. This means the MG34 had to be set up for right hand feed for use in these mounts. This only requires a different feed arm and feed tray to do this, but it could not be done for the MG42. This was one of the reason MG34's remained in production after the 42 was introduced.





    The front: the big hole was for the MG34 and the little hole on top is where the sight looks through






    The little handle is used to retract the traversing gear from the mount so the mount can be elevated/depressed without having to turn the wheel

    gear in




    gear out




    Here is what I think is an example of a little overengineering. The headrest was designed such that it could be adjusted for shooting right eyed or left eyed. The head rest has two slots in the mounting post and a flap that can be moved to cover one eye or the other. That seems to be a lot of manufacturing for this thing. I suspect the Russians would have just asked the gunner what eye he used and then poked the other one out with a stick, but not the Germans.







    The best I could do on looking through the sight




    Here is a old picture of the mount with a 34 mounted on it. In reality, the germans did not use armoured barrel jackets, but just regular jackets with the AA bracket removed. Two spaces were placed between the barrel jacket and the hole in the big round ball of the mount, but I don't have those.




    So anyway, that is my boring tale the the MG34 armoured loop hole mount for the bunker. If anyone has any parts laying around, please let me know.

    Thanks for looking

    #2
    I found it fascinating

    Cheers, Ade.

    Comment


      #3
      That's very cool! I've never seen one before. Do you know where it was originally installed? As far as the missing parts, have you considered hitting up some people in Europe who might have access, or even fabricating them?

      Comment


        #4
        This is definatly a fascinating piece of history

        Comment


          #5
          Nice

          Comment


            #6
            Fortress Mount

            Looks great Ed! I have several dozen good detailed photos of several different examples if you need them for further restoration. Just send me an email if you do.

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              #7
              So did you find this at a garage sale? How much does it weigh? I would love to get one for my 34.

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                #8
                Well, it sounded boring to start with, but it ended up being extremely interesting. I just learned some things that I had never heard about before.
                Maybe you can ask Simon Orchard for help getting the rusting ones in Norway?

                JL

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Arran View Post
                  That's very cool! I've never seen one before. Do you know where it was originally installed? As far as the missing parts, have you considered hitting up some people in Europe who might have access, or even fabricating them?

                  Rumor has it that it came from a bunker in Belgium, but I will probably never know for sure. It is marked "cnx 44".

                  A collector from Europe owned it but it was stored in a wooden Swiss shipping crate in Ohio for years. The collector always had intentions of shipping it back to Europe but he never did. I don't think he ever set eyes on it so he did not know what it really looked like or the condition it was in. I made a deal and bought it and the rest is history (or so the old cliche goes).

                  I am thinking about going to the Ordnance Museum in Aberdeen to see if they have one of these so I can try to copy the missing parts. The main part I need is one of the most critical: it is the soft mount attachment that holds the mg34 to the mount.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Madboat.

                    As a MG-34 owner, I found it very interesting as well !!!
                    Thanks for posting and educating us about something that is rarely covered.
                    Yes, I think the Aberdeen Museum is a good place to go; hell, they may even have blueprints of all the parts that you could beg them for copies of !!!
                    Way cool item, way cool !!!
                    Welcome to the Forum as well.

                    -Andrew

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Yes, very cool item and thanks for posting. Please keep us updated on the progress of your restoration efforts.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Thanks for posting the fortress mount pics. Very interesting to see. I have a set of identical optics and was not sure whether it was for a vehicle or something else. Nice to confirm they are fortress mount optics. Now all I need is a fortress mount!

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                          #13
                          That's way cool.

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                            #14
                            This is definately the place for that! Very cool and you have doen a great job on it!


                            Gary

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Hardly boring! You've done an amazing job. Once completed, I'm sure someone will share their spot at the Creek.

                              Comment

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