ZB vz. 30

The ZB-30 and ZB-30J were Czechoslovakian light machine guns that saw extensive use during World War II.

Vz. 30
Yugoslav-made ZB vz. 30
Type	Light machine gun
Place of origin	Czechoslovakia
Service history
In service	1930–2009[1]
Used by	See Users
Wars	Chaco War[2] Second Italo-Ethiopian War[3] Spanish Civil War[4] World War II First Indochina War Algerian War Biafran war War in Afghanistan (2001–present)[1]
Production history
Designed	1930
Manufacturer	Zbrojovka Brno, Military Technical Institute Kragujevac[5]
Specifications
Mass	9.10 kg (20.06 lb)
Length	1,180 mm (46.5 in)
Cartridge	7.92×57mm Mauser
Action	Gas-operated, tilting breechblock
Rate of fire	550-650 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	750 m/s (2,461 ft/s)
Effective firing range	1,000 m (1,100 yd)
Feed system	20-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Front blade, rear leaf sight

History

The Zb 30 and Zb 30J were the later versions of the famous Czechoslovak machine gun, the ZB-26. However, the ZB-30 had some design differences, making it similar to the later ZGB-33, which was an early prototype of the Bren gun.[6] Like the ZB-26, the Wehrmacht adopted the ZB-30 after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, renaming it the MG30(t); it was used in the same role as the MG34, as a light machine gun. In the opening phases of World War II, the ZB-30 in 7.92 mm Mauser caliber was used in large numbers by elements of the German Waffen-SS, who did not initially have full access to standard Wehrmacht supply channels.[1]

Comparison of original ZB vz.26 and modifications:

Machine gun	ZB vz.26	ZB vz.30	ZB vz.30J (note)
Caliber (mm)	7.92	7.92	7.92
Length (mm)	1165	1180	1204
Weight (kg)	8.84	9.10	9.58
Magazine (rounds)	20	20	20
Rate (round/min)	500	550-650	500-600
Velocity (m/s)	750	750	750

Note - The ZB 30J was a late design iteration of the ZB 30 for sale to Yugoslavia (originally spelled with a J) that featured an adjustable gas system so commonly available light and heavy 7.92mm ball ammunition would cycle the mechanism.[7]

Users

A licensed-built Romanian ZB Model 30 used after the war by the Patriotic Guards.

•  Afghanistan: 2,000 shipped in 1938[8]
•  Algeria: used by the National Liberation Army.[9]
•  Biafra[10]
•  Bolivia: 3,350 in 7.65mm Mauser between 1932 and 1937,[8] used in the Chaco War[2]
•  Bulgaria: used as aircraft gun on Kaproni Bulgarski KB-11 Fazan
•  Czechoslovakia[11]
• Republic of China: Imported and produced under license.[12]
•  Ecuador 750 in 1935-1936[8]
•  Ethiopia: 400-450 ZB vz.30 bought in 1934, used by the Kebur Zabagna[3][8]
•  Nazi Germany
•  Guatemala: 50 in 7mm Mauser, delivered in 1937[13][8]
•  Iran:[14] produced under license. Modified to fire the .30 cardridge.[15]
•  Japan: used captured Chinese guns.[16]
•  Latvia: 11 received in 1936[8]
•  Manchukuo[17]
•  Nicaragua: 5 supplied in 1937[8]
•  Peru: 1,257 in 7.65mm, delivered from 1932 to 1938[8]
•  Romania: Produced under license.[1][18] 17,131 were imported from Czechoslovakia from 1933[8][19] and 10,000 were licence-produced at Cugir,[20] with a production rate of 250 pieces per month as of October 1942.[21]
•  Spain: 20,000 guns ordered[1] but only a few hundred actually delivered. Copied as the Fusil ametrallador Oviedo.[22]
•  Turkey: 9,805 supplied in 1935–1939.[8] Produced under license[1]
•  Uruguay: 80 in 7mm received in 1937[8]
•  Venezuela: 110 ZB-30J received in 1937[8]
•  Vietnam: Used by the Việt Minh, supplied by both Nationalist and Communist Chinese[23]
• Yugoslavia: The ZB Model 30J was produced under license as, Пушкомитраљез 7.9mm модел 1937".[24][25] 15,500 were bought in 1936.[8]

References

1. Grant 2013, p. 65.
2. Alejandro de Quesada (20 November 2011). The Chaco War 1932-35: South America's greatest modern conflict. Osprey Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-84908-901-2.
3. "ZB VZ 30". iwm.org.uk. Imperial War Museum.
4. de Quesada, Alejandro (20 Jan 2015). The Spanish Civil War 1936–39 (2): Republican Forces. Men-at-Arms 498. Osprey Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 9781782007852.
5. http://www.zastava-arms.rs/sr/imagetext/1919-1941
6. Modern Firearms - ZB 26
7. https://marstar.ca/product/brno-zb-30j/ accessed 22 Nov 2020
8. Fencl, Jiří (1991). "Nejprodávanější československá zbraň" (in Czech). Militaria, Elka Press. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
9. "StG-44 in Africa after WWII". wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com. 27 September 2015.
10. Jowett, Philip (2016). Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967-70. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-1472816092.
11. Grant 2013, p. 10.
12. Jowett, Philip S. (1997). Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49. Men at Arms 306. Osprey Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 1855326655. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
13. Perutka, Lukáš (September 2014). Checoslovaquia, Guatemala y México en el Período de la Revolución Guatemalteca: Ibero-Americana Pragensia - Supplementum 32/2013 (in Spanish). Karolinum Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-80-246-2429-7.
14. "Fusils-mitrailleurs Lehky Kulomet ZB vz.26 and vz.30". Encyclopédie des armes : Les forces armées du monde (in French). II. Atlas. 1984. p. 262.
15. Smith 1969, p. 463.
16. Smith 1969, p. 498.
17. Jowett, Philip S. (2010). Rays of the rising sun : armed forces of Japan's Asian allies, 1931-45. 1, China & Manchukuo. Helion. p. 15. ISBN 9781906033781.
18. Smith 1969, p. 535.
19. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 29
20. John Walter, Greenhill Books, 2004, Guns of the Third Reich, p. 86
21. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
22. "Fusil Ametrallador Oviedo (FAO): otro capítulo más de nuestra gloriosa historia armera". arma.es (in Spanish). 24 March 2017.
23. Windrow, Martin (20 Sep 2018). French Foreign Légionnaire vs Viet Minh Insurgent: North Vietnam 1948–52. Combat 36. Osprey Publishing. pp. 24–25. ISBN 9781472828910.
24. http://www.zastava-arms.rs/en/imagetext/1919-1941
25. Smith 1969, p. 320.

• McNab, Chris: Twentieth-century Small Arms, Grange Books, 2004; ISBN 1-84013-381-3
• Grant, Neil (2013). The Bren Gun. Weapon 22. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1782000822.
• Smith, Joseph E. (1969). Small Arms of the World (11 ed.). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Stackpole Company.

See also

• Photograph at project-x.org.uk
• ZB vz. 30J photogallery