ALFA M44

The Alfa M44 was a Spanish machine gun developed during World War II. At this time, stocks of machine guns ran low and no outside source was available. Non-combatant nations found that the belligerent nations were unable to supply as they were preoccupied with meeting their own wartime production needs. It complimented the ZB-26 light machine gun, and replaced the aging Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun. Originally chambered in 7.92×57mm Mauser, in 1955 an updated version chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO was introduced, and was subsequently issued to Spanish troops, sometimes referred to as the M55. Along with Spain, the M44 was also prominently used by Egypt, whose army had standardised on the 7.92×57mm Mauser round. Also in the early 1960s, the Congo government bought a batch of weapons from Spain, including Alfa machine guns, to combat the Simba.

ALFA M44 machine gun
Type	Medium machine gun
Place of origin	Spain
Service history
Used by	Spain Egypt Democratic Republic of Congo
Wars	Ifni War Suez Crisis Six-Day War Simba rebellion
Production history
Manufacturer	Fabrica de Armas de Oviedo
Produced	1944–1962
Specifications
Mass	13 kg (28.66 lb)
Length	1,450 mm (57.1 in)
Barrel length	750 mm (29.5 in)
Cartridge	7.62×51mm NATO 7.92×57mm Mauser
Action	Gas-Operated; Automatic Fire Only
Rate of fire	780 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	760 m/s (2,493 ft/s)
Feed system	belt
Sights	rear aperture, front notch

Gallery

• 
  A 1942 prototype in a Spanish museum in Viator, Almeria
• 
  A photo of a tripod-mounted ALFA M44 on display at the Batey ha-Osef Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
• 
  Another photo of a tripod-mounted ALFA, captioned as M55, given that it is chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.

See also

• Breda M37
• ZB-53
• M1919 Browning machine gun
• TADEN gun
• SG-43 Goryunov

External links

• Image of an ALFA M44 mounted on a tripod with a distinctive cylindrical hopper for the belt feed
• ALFA Modelo 44