Iran’s MG42 Copy: the MG 3 with firearms expert Jonathan Ferguson
Royal Armouries
Apr 15, 2026 15:15
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Chapters
In this week's episode, Jonathan examines an Iranian licensed copy of the 'iconic' MG42 machine gun.
Often referred to as an “MG A3” or “MG3 A3”, the designation itself is often unclear... so What is this
Weapon?"
Object No. PR.6991
https://royalarmouries.org/collection/object/object-277242
Sources/Reading:
Iranian DIO/MoD pages for nomenclature;
https://web.archive.org/web/20150511212208/http://www.mod.ir/content/%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%85-%DA%983 (MGA3)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140606210409/http://diomil.ir/pdf/Section1.pdf (MG3A3)
https://web.archive.org/web/20150511212208/http://www.mod.ir/content/%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%85-%DA%983 (M-G3)
US government report;
RECENT TRENDS IN IRANIAN ARMS PROCUREMENT Domestic Defense Production, Intelligence Memorandum ER IM 72–791 2, Washington, May 1972
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve04/d181
ODIN database entry (US Army)
https://odin.tradoc.army.mil/WEG/Asset/3cf53d016e6dcf63c672186c8f15a58c
For background history see Bettina Weissgerber, ‘Tanks for the Shah Iran, the Leopard II, and Arms Exports in the Era of Oil Shocks’ German Yearbook of Contemporary History Volume 6, 2022 (University of Nebraska Press)
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/article/863653
For details on the family of weapons see Folke Myrvang, 'German Universal Machineguns 2 (From the MG08 to the MG3)' (Collector Grade Publications, 2012).
For a good introduction see Chris McNab. ‘MG 34 and MG 42 Machine Guns’ (Osprey Publishing, 2012).
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