An Israeli LMG, Part II: The 8mm Dror
Israel
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12m
Today we continue the story of the Dror. Shortly after production of the .303 pattern guns began, the directive came down that the gun was to be redesigned for 8mm Mauser ammunition. Israeli supplies of British munitions were quickly being replaced by material from Czechoslovakia, and the Dror production needed to reflect this. The team building the guns used this opportunity to make a number of other improvements as well, most distinctively replacing the awkward Johnson-type magazines with a more traditional double-stack 20-round box magazine inserted in the bottom of the action instead off the side. The sights, bipod, buttplate, and barrel locking system were also improved, and a carry handle added.
This model went into full-scale production before its proper trials were completed, so much was the optimism about its potential. Alas, when tests finally took place (comparing the Dror to the Bren and MG-34), the Dror failed badly. It was found to be inferior to the surplus British and German guns in nearly every way. The guns still in production at that point were completed, but they were used for training and unimportant Navy duties only, and never saw combat use. So ended the biggest single clandestine Israeli arms development project of the 1940s.
Many thanks to the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels for access to this very rare piece!
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