ZB-53

ZB-53, Vz.37
Type Medium machine gun
Place of origin Czechoslovakia
Service history
In service 1935-1960s (Czechoslovakia)
Used by Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Chile, Nazi Germany, Iran, Republic of China, Israel, United Kingdom, Romania, SFR Yugoslavia
Wars Second World War
Second Sino-Japanese War
Vietnam War
Israeli War of Independence
Production history
Designer Václav Holek
Designed 1930
Manufacturer Zbrojovka Brno
Produced 1935-early 1950s
Specifications
Weight 21 kg (46 lb) empty
Length 1.105 m (43.5 in)
Barrel length 0.736 m (29.0 in)

Cartridge 7.92×57mm Mauser
Calibre 7.9 mm
Action Gas-operated
Rate of fire 500–800 round/min
Feed system 225-round metal link belt

The ZB-53 was a Czechoslovak machine gun. A versatile weapon, it was used both as a squad support weapon, as a mounted machine gun for tanks and other armoured vehicles, and on fixed positions inside Czechoslovak border fortifications. Adopted before the World War II by the armies of Czechoslovakia (as TK vz. 37) and Romania, it was also license-built in the United Kingdom as the Besa machine gun. Following the Munich Agreement the German Wehrmacht captured large quantities of the weapon and used it during the war under the designation of MG 37(t).

The ZB-53 was designed by Václav Holek and Miroslav Rolčík of the Zbrojovka Brno works as a replacement for the Schwarzlose machine gun of World War I origin. Based on the earlier vz. 35 machine gun, the prototype was tested in 1936 and the following year the new machine gun was adopted by the Czechoslovak Army with the designation TK vz. 37 ("Heavy Machine Gun Mark 1937").[1] It was introduced as the standard machine gun of Czechoslovak LT-35 and LT-38 tanks. Czechoslovakia exported the gun to Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina, Afghanistan, Iran and China (roughly 850 pieces used during the Second Sino-Japanese War), while UK bought a license and started to produce its own version, known as the BESA (over 60,000 pieces made).

The weapon was a gas-operated, belt-fed, air-cooled machine gun that served both the infantry support and vehicle weapons roles. The machine gun was delivered in three variants: infantry machine gun (on heavy tripod), heavy bunker machine gun (with heavier barrel, marked "O") and for armoured vehicles (marked "ÚV"). It was designed to withstand five minutes of constant fire, after which time the barrel had to be changed due to wear. Although modern, the weapon was prone to jamming due to complicated rate of fire selection mechanism.

Czechoslovak Zbrojovka Brno and then Zbrojovka Vsetín produced the gun in large quantities until the 1950s.

Czechoslovakian soldiers with ZB vz. 37

See also

References

  1. "TK" stands for "těžký kulomet", heavy machine gun, while "vz" means "vzor", Model
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