Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Smokin Joe
The MG 34 sounds like it may have been rechambered to .308 because the bolt closed on the round.
|
Has the .308 case been recovered? Because it's much more likely that it was a 7.92mm round. The 7.62x51 conversions are very rare, finnicky and expensive.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Smokin Joe
...The student then puts the weapon back on the table (on its bipod) pulls the bolt to the rear and opens the breach. The bolt automatically closed on the .308 round and slam fired....
I guess the big question is when the bolt is pulled to the rear and the breach is opened is the bolt Supposed to slam shut?
|
No, it does not normally move forward when the cover is raised.
If the weapon was cocked, opening the feed cover wouldn't allow the bolt to move forward. But if, as TR says, the sear wasn't engaged the bolt could hang up (excess grease or
Schmutz?) and then be released when the cover was raised. The gun would then fire.
It is very unwise to open the MG 34 feed cover unless you are certain the gun is cocked. When I was taught to fire it, the stoppage drill called for cocking the gun, making it safe and then opening the feed cover. If the weapon couldn't be made safe (which means it couldn't be cocked) then the cocking handle was to be held to the rear when the cover was raised.
It sounds like this happened exactly as you described -- no trigger pull was necessary. The only thing I'm sceptical about is the 7.62 round. Occam's Razor says it was a 7.92 left in the breech.