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Title:	GUN, MACHINE -  U.S. MACHINE GUN T24 .30 SN# 2
Maker/Manufacturer:	SAGINAW STEERING OF GM
Date of Manufacture:	1943
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 922
Measurements:	OL:118.3CM 46 3/4" BL: 53.3CM 21"

Object Description:

U.S. MACHINE GUN T24 .30 SN# 2
Manufactured by Saginaw Steering Gear of GM, Saginaw, Mi. in 1943 - Unsuccessful attempt by United States in World War II to copy German MG42. Built with both American and German parts. One of only two which were built and both are in the Springfield Armory collection. BAR bipod, metal buttstock, counterweighted trigger group. See description below.

Markings:
Receiver: 2.
Bolt: WaA11.
Triggerguard: Y-3028.
Charging lever and feedblock: WaA 147.

Weapon listed as overage found on post in Museum area and accessioned into Army collection. Weapon transferred to the Museum on 27 April 1960. At that time weapon was appraised at $3,000.

Notes: "True to German military tradition, they sought to build tomorrow's weapons today. In contrast, it has always been our custom to build yesterday's weapons soon....
After the United States entered the war against Germany, the Ordnance Department sought to copy a captured German MG-42. The Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors was given the assignment. Drawings were completed in June 1943 and the first guns producted were test fired on 1 October 1943. Serious malfunctions were found to result and the components were then reworked. When it was thought to be ready, it was again put on trial in February, 1944. The results were so discouraging that the discharge of a hundred rounds had to be done in bursts of two and three shots. Again the parts were modified and 'beefed up' until it was thought to be capable of the basic 10,000 round endurance test required by the Army before being considered even for limited use. After 1,483 rounds had been expanded, the test was stopped, there having been over 50 serious stoppages.
An intensive study was ordered on the failure of American engineers to copy successfully this German machine gun which had been stamped out of the most ordinary of materials. The investigation revealed that inadequate compensation for the difference between the cartridge length of our caliber .30 M2 and the German 7.92-mm cartridge case had been made and that the receiver on the American version was too long. The rear lugs on the bolt body also had not been placed far enough back to allow the bolt face to recoil behind the ejection slot in the bottom of the receiver. As a result the receiver yoke interfered with the cartridge guide plate by as much as a quarter of an inch.
It was concluded that extensive redesign would be necessary to correct these serious defects in both receiver and bolt mechanisms and further expenditures or developments were ordered stopped. Two models of this American made failure, known officially as the Machine Gun Cal..30T24, were shipped to the Springfield Armory and placed in its museum for reference and historical purposes."- Chinn

T24 LIGHT MACHINE GUN - In 1943 specimens of the German MG42 light machine gun were obtained by the Ordnance Department. Though operating at a high cyclic rate - 1,050 rounds a minute - it had several desirable features. To study the possibilities of this design, a contract was given to the Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors at Saginaw, Mich., for conversion of two of the MG42 guns to use the United States .30 cartridge. To expedite completion of the guns, the Saginaw contract was terminated in December 1943, parts and materials involved being shipped to Springfield Armory. The guns, designated type T24, were assembled and shipped to Aberdeen Proving Ground, where they were tested during the period January 24 to February 12, 1944.
A number of defects were at once apparent due to use of dimensions applying to the German 7.9mm cartridge. Necessary changes were made, and the firing characteristics of the gun were determined. The T24 weighed 27 pounds and had an overall length of 46.875 inches. The rate of fire was variable - 500 to 600, or 250 -300 rounds a minute. The stock was found uncomfortable, and the action was susceptible to dirt.
The trigger and feed mechanisms were very good, and the quick-change barrel feature both desirable. But since d
"After specimens of the MG42 had been captured and shipped back to the USA, they were tested; the army was so impressed that it gave the Saginaw Gear division of General Motors a contract to manufacture a few copies. Not satisfied with merely making a copy, Saginaw, who had never made a gun in their lives, decided on a few improvements so as to produce the T24 machine gun. In doing so they overlooked the fact that the German 7.92mm cartridge was 80.5mm long while the US 30-06 round was 84.8mm long. The result was that the bolt did not recoil far enough to permit clean ejection of the spent case, and the gun would fire three or four rounds and then stop. Much time and energy was expended on trying to cure the defect before the cause was found, whereupon two prototypes were dispatched to a museum and the project was closed." - Hogg

"An interesting sidelight to the MG42 story occurred soon after the first World War II action involving American and German forces, following the Allied invasion of North Africa. According to the record of the U.S. Army Ordnance Research and Development in World War II: 'A specimen of the MG42 was fired at Aberdeen Proving Ground (Maryland) in February 1943. A report of its general characteristics was forwarded to the Ordnance office with the opinion that it offered opportunities for study with a general view to improving manufacture of American guns.
Although the weapon possessed many characteristics not viewed with favor by our using arms or by the Ordnance Department, it was believed to have many desirable features. It represented a great departure from the manufacturing processes required in the production of the MG34....
It was thought that if certain pieces of mechanism were altered the weapon could be easily produced by American methods of manufacture. This development would proceed concurrently with that of the T23 machine guns; and would provide an alternate approach to the light machine gun problem.
A search was made for a facility to undertake the development, and in July 1943 a contract was placed with the Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors Corporation for the development of two models of the T24 light machine gun and complete drawings of the models. The contract price for this work was $25,400.00.
A captured German MG42, belts, and ammunition were made available for study, function firing, and metallurgical examination by the facility. Considerable difficulty was experienced in firing the captured weapon. The gun was taken to Aberdeen Proving Ground where study showed the difficulty had been caused by excessive head space in that particular weapon.
Saginaw Steering Gear Division sublet the contract for drawings, and many of the parts. The drawings were completed in June 1943. Serious defects were found in some of the parts and these required considerable reworking, but the gun was first fired on 1 October 1943. It was unsatisfactory, and difficulties continued until February 1944, when the gun was fired at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
A 10,000-round endurance test was started (at Aberdeen) but numerous malfunctions were encountered. Various combinations of components from both guns as well as from a German MG42 were tried in an effort to improve operation, but all attempts failed. After 1,483 rounds had been fired, the test was suspended. A total of 50 malfunctions, principally failures to eject, were reported during this testing. An intensive study on the cause of malfunctions experienced with the two models of the gun was made by the Machine Gun Branch of the Small Arms Development Division. The study disclosed that the primary reason for the failuhe receiver yoke was found to interfere with the cartridge guide plate by nearly 1/4 inch....
The cocking handle had been made too short and caused interference with the bolt during the recoil stroke.
Changes in some of the parts by careful hand filing and fitting, and substitution of German parts in minor instances improved the action of the guns to a great extent....
It was concluded that extensive redesign of the guns would be necessary to overcome the inherent defects in the receiver and bolt mechanism and that since the weapon did not meet many of the required characteristics (at the time U.S. requirements called for both semi-and full-automatic fire, low 300-350 r.p.m. cyclic rate, 22-pound maximum weight, etc.), further development should not be made. Both models of the guns were sent to Springfield Armory where they were placed in the museum for reference and historical purposes.'
But for a quarter-inch miscalculation by an American engineer, the MG 42 could have been adopted by the United States Army during World War II." - Johnson & Lockhoven

"After the United States entered the war against Germany, the Ordnance Department sought to copy a captured German MG-42. The Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors was given the assignment. Drawings were completed in June 1943 and the first guns produced were test fired on 1 October 1943. Serious malfunctions were found to result that the components were then reworked. When it was thought to be ready, it was again put on trial in February 1944. The results were so discouraging that the discharge of a hundred rounds had to be done in bursts of two and three shots. Again the parts were modified and "beefed up" until it was thought to be capable of the basic 10,000 round endurance test required by the Army before being considered even for limited use. After 1,483 rounds had been expended, the test was stopped, there having been over 50 serious stoppages.
An intensive study was ordered on the failure of American engineers to copy successfully this German machine gun which had been stamped out of the most ordinary of materials. The investigation revealed that inadequate compensation for the difference between the cartridge length of our caliber .30 M2 and the German 7.92mm cartridge case had been made and that the receiver on the American version was too long. The rear lugs on the bolt also had not been placed far enough back to allow the bolt face to recoil behind the ejection slot in the bottom of the receiver. As a result the receiver yoke interfered with the cartridge guide plate by as much as a quarter of an inch.
It was concluded that extensive redesign would be necessary to correct these serious defects in both receiver and bolt mechanisms and further expenditures or developments were ordered stopped. Two models of this American-made failure, known officially as Machine Gun Cal..30 T24, were shipped to the Springfield Armory and placed in its museum for reference and historical purposes." - Chinn

"In one of the great ironies of the war, the Ordnance Department discovered that it couldn't copy even a good idea, for when it tried to reproduce the German MG42, a mistake in converting metrics to inches produced an American duplicate that wouldn't fire properly. The error was discovered only after the war. For the curious, the American copy sits behind a glass case in the Springfield Armory Museum." - Hallahan

References:
Chinn, George M. THE MACHINE GUN. Vol. I. Department of the Navy. Washington, D.C. 1951.
Hallahan, William H. MISFIRE: THE HISTORY OF HOW AMERICA'S SMALL ARMS HAVE FAILED OUR MILITARY. Charles Scribner's Sons. N.Y., N.Y. 1994.
Hogg, Ian V. MACHINE GUNS: A DETAILIannamico, Frank. HARD RAIN: HISTORY OF THE BROWNING MACHINE GUNS. Moose Lake Publishing LLC. Harmony, Me. 2002.
Johnson, George B. & Hans Bert Lockhoven. INTERNATIONAL ARMAMENT. Vol. II. International Small Arms Publishers. Cologne, Germany. 1965.