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| Two german soldiers cleaning a rifle and a Mpi in the field. |
Each German soldier carrying a weapon should have a Rg 34 within his equipment and it was used by all branches of the Wehrmacht on all fronts. It appears that the Rg 34 carried out his function perfectly and there was no intention to switch to other model or type of cleaning kit, and except for the simplification of some of its components with the aim of reduce costs and increase production, remained unchanged until war's end.
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| The place for to store the Rg 34 (letter b) inside the Panzerkampfwagen I (M.G.) armed normally with two Mg 13. |
There was another version of the Rg 34 for use only in the rifles with Einsteckläufen of 5,6 mm caliber and by extension with others training rifles of this caliber, its official name was Reinigungsgerät 34 für Kal. 5,6. There existed also a bigger version of the cleaning kit for use with the Panzerbusche: the Reinigungsgerät 34 Lg ("Lang").
The Reinigungsgerät 34 was comprised of:
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| Tafel 1 from german manual H.Dv.256 of 1936. |
- Behälter (case)
- Reinigungskette (cleaning chain)
- Reinigungsdocht (cleaning strings)
The Rg 34 was primarily used just for cleaning the barrel and not for an overall cleaning of the weapon The exception of this is the takedown tool, that was for use only with the k98 receiver. The instructions necessary to accomplish the general cleaning as well as information about assembly and dissasembly, care, lubrication, etc always were included within the specific manual to each model of weapon.
The Rg 34 was primarily used just for cleaning the barrel and not for an overall cleaning of the weapon The exception of this is the takedown tool, that was for use only with the k98 receiver. The instructions necessary to accomplish the general cleaning as well as information about assembly and dissasembly, care, lubrication, etc always were included within the specific manual to each model of weapon.
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| A weapons cleaning session of the crew of an armored vehicle. Can not see any Rg34, which suggests that these weapons have not been fired. |
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| Luftwaffe personnel at a cleaning sesion with a P-38 pistol and a disassembled Mg15 machine gun, note the Rg34 onto the table. |
Sometimes for cleaning a particular model of weapon, a special tool or cleaning equipment were provided with the weapon, for exemple the Reinigungsgbürste zum Gaszylinder für Stg44 or cleaning brush for the gas tube of the StG44, for to use with the cleaning chain.
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| The cleaning brush for the gas tube and the Lösedorn for to remove the handguard of the StG44 shown in their manual. |
The Rg 34 was designed for a regular use both in the barracks like in field but when a special cleaning was need, for example due an extreme fouling, have to send the weapon to the unit's armourer.
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| A Waffenmeister examining the bore of a K98k. |
The Gustav Appel firm from Berlin, designed and manufactured the Rg 34 from the beginning to the end of war in 1945. It produced and sold comercially kits (for to export also) and was the only manufacturer of the Rg 34 für Kal. 5,4 and Rg 34 Lg. Other companies were involved in the production of complete kits.
The list of known manufacturers of complete Rg 34 would be:
- Gustav Appel, Maschinenfabrik (Berlin-Spandau).
- Mundlos AG, Nähmaschinenfabrik (Magdeburg).
- "Hawig" Hauswirtschaftsmaschinen-Gesellschaft mbH (Berlin-Tiergarten).
- Braunschweigische Blechwarenfabrik GmbH (Braunschweig).
- Peter Schlesinger, Metallwarenfabrik (Offenbach).
- (not confirmed) Aktien-Maschinenfabrik Kyffhäuserhütte (vorm. Paul Reuß) (Artern).
A map with the knows firms involved in the manufacture of the Reinigungsgerät 34:
