MAC 1934 (7.5 mm)

This page is about the French machine gun MAC 1934 (7.5 mm). For the other version, see MAC 1934T (7.5 mm).

Description

The MAC 1934 is the main machine gun used on French WW2-era aircraft, and the machine-gun example of quantity over quality. The stopping power of a single bullet is lower than even most other rifle-caliber machine guns, however it makes up for that by having a shredding fire rate of 1,450 RPM and being equipped with large amounts of ammo. The gun is mostly mounted in 2 pairs, making the planes fitted with it a force to be reckoned with in the skies.

General info

As mentioned previously, the MAC gun comes up very short regarding raw per-bullet damage, even compared to other rifle calibre machine guns. This is primarily due to its small cartridge of 7.5 mm, slightly smaller than the tier's common 7.62, 7.7, 7.92 and 8 mm rounds of other nations. While this difference may seem minor and trivial to some, it's big enough to create a very noticeable deficiency, especially due to the particularly unimpressive belts. However, what the MAC lacks in stopping power, it makes up for in its good accuracy, solid muzzle velocity, and blistering rate of fire of 1,450 rounds-per-minute. Although players are often gifted with a very large ammunition capacity, they may find themselves running dry quicker than expected due to this fire rate, requiring an emphasis on accuracy in sustained bursts in order to make the most out of the guns.

Available ammunition

• Default: T · Ball · Ball · Ball · I · AP
• Universal: T · AP · AP · I · I
• Tracers: I-T · I-T · I-T · I-T
• Stealth: AP · AP · I

Comparison with analogues

Comparable machine guns to MAC 1934 (7.5 mm)
	Name	Year of Creation	Mass	Rounds Per Minute	Ammunition	Feed Type
▃	Browning (7.62 mm)	1919	14 kg	600 RPM	7.62 x 63 mm	Belt
▅	Type 92 navy (7.7 mm)	1932	8 kg	600 RPM	7.7 x 56 mm R	Drum
▄	Darne 1933 (7.5 mm)	1916	8.4 kg	1,100 RPM	7.5 x 54 mm MAS	Belt
▄	Breda-SAFAT (7.7 mm)	1935	12.5 kg	850 RPM	7.7 x 56 mm R	Belt
▀	MG 17 (7.92 mm)	1934	10.2 kg	1,150 RPM	7.92 x 57 mm	Belt
▂	ShKAS (7.62 mm)	1932	10.5 kg	1,800 RPM	7.62 x 54 mm R	Belt
▄	MAC 1934 (7.5 mm)	1934	10.7 kg	1,450 RPM	7.5 x 54 mm MAS	Belt/Magazine

Usage in battles

The MAC 1934 fares well in the early BRs. As a fast-firing machine gun, on fighters always mounted in 2 pairs, it has a damage output that slightly exceeds most other guns at its BR (a notable exception being the Italian Breda SAFAT 12.7mm). The fire rate enables it to kill enemies in medium bursts of fire, assuming most bullets hit the target. The relatively quick overheating requires the pilot to have some restraint, as nearing the overheating limit jams out some of the guns. This will not completely take your firepower out, but it will be severely limited when 2 or more guns get jammed.

The fight against bombers and fighters with this gun usually require different strategies. Bombers usually take a long time to take down through brute destruction (especially considering they may return fire from rear-turrets), however taking out the crew is rather easy if you get the right angle. Against fighters you will rarely rip off a wing, but in this case the ignition of engines and again the pilot are the best target to go for. Hitting these parts is quite effective, and medium bursts with short intervals will usually only improve the ability to take down single-engine planes.

A pilot using the MAC will however need to consider that the ammo, although not low (especially on the earlier users of this MG) is pretty limited due to its fire rate, and - although not as bad as the early nose-mounted Hispano 404 - will require some tactical knowledge regarding ammo expenditure. The reload time is pretty quick however, so in Arcade Battles reloading between fights is recommended.

Though not blessed with the Air-targets belt of the .50-cals, the MAC still has some valuable belts, with the Stealth and Tracer belts performing quite well.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast firing rifle-caliber gun of its era
• Incredibly high ammunition capacity
• Very solid terminal ballistics; solid accuracy and muzzle velocity
• Large ammo capacity and amazing fire rate results in a nigh-unmatched ability to saturate an area
• Relatively harder to jam compared to contemporaries

Cons:

• Lackluster damage, even for a rifle-caliber gun
• No Air Targets ammunition belt
• Despite the impressive ammo capacity, the guns can quickly run out of ammo due to its high fire rate

History

In 1934, the Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault (Châtellerault weapons manufacturing company, often shortened to MAC) completed the development of the MAC 1934 machine gun to replace the Darne mod. 1933 machine gun aboard aircraft of the Armée de l'Air. Essentially a faster-firing variant of the mitrailleuse mle 1931, and using the same 7.5 mm MAS ammunition, the MAC 34 worked by gas operation and was fed from drum magazines. Because it used an open bolt action, the MAC 34 could not be fitted with synchronization gear, and was more expensive to manufacture than comparable weapons; but it was compact and had excellent reliability. Originally the Armée de l'Air favoured magazine-fed weapons, but it eventually accepted that the feeding system of the MAC 34 would require too frequent reloading for dorsal gunners, and was impractical for wing mountings, so it required the development of a belt-fed variant. The resulting weapon was introduced in 1939, and designated as MAC 1934 M39.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Aircraft machine guns
USA
7.62 mm	Browning · M134 Minigun
12.7 mm	GAU-19 · M2 Browning · M3 Browning
Germany
7.62 mm	MG3
7.92 mm	MG 15 · MG 17 · MG 81
12.7 mm	FN M3P
13 mm	MG 131
USSR
7.62 mm	DA · GShG-7.62 · PKT · PV-1 · ShKAS
12.7 mm	A-12.7 · Berezin UB · TKB-481 · YaK-B
Britain
7.62 mm	FN 60.30 · L8A1
7.7 mm	Browning · Lewis · Vickers E · Vickers K
Japan
7.7 mm	Te-1 · Type 89 · Type 89 'special' · Type 92 · Type 97 navy
7.92 mm	Type 1 · Type 98
12.7 mm	Ho-103 · Ho-104
13 mm	Type 2
13.2 mm	Type 3
China
12.7 mm	QJK99-12.7-1
Italy
7.7 mm	Breda-SAFAT · Lewis
7.92 mm	FN Browning
12.7 mm	Breda-SAFAT · FN M3M · Scotti
France
7.5 mm	Darne 1933 · Fabrique Nationale Mle 38 · FN Browning · MAC 1934 · MAC 1934T · Mle 33 · Mle 1923
7.62 mm	PKA
7.92 mm	FN-Browning M.36 No.3 · FN-Browning M.36 No.4
Sweden
7.7 mm	FN-Browning M.36 No.3
8 mm	Ksp m/22 · Ksp m/22 Fh · Ksp m/22 Fv · Ksp m/22-37 R
12.7 mm	Akan m/39A · Akan m/40 · Akan m/45 · LKk/42
13.2 mm	Akan m/39 · Akan m/39A