www.MG42.us

so the wife shut down the idea of cutting a hole in my explorer to get one of these ring mounts, however I'd still like to know how the gun itself attaches to the mount and if it seems feasible to adapt it for use with an MG34 instead

Have you seen the pop up circle half's that Dillon uses when they convert a suv?

http://www.dillonaero.com/tactical_vehicle.html

Your wife might like that system, ok, not. Remember only 50 rounds per second.

Back to the real world and your question. Had fun with the above.
Best place to see a lot of pictures on gun mount and how they work is John's books. I remember several great pics of mounts in his books. Sorry to say that right now I can't remember which ones, so you would need to ask John. Best place to mount one of those rings would be on top of a tank or a duce and a half.
Still I like your ideas. Show the wife the above video.

Later 42rocker

Converting the ring mount for use with an MG34 isn't that difficult. Get the MG34 conversion piece for the AA tripod, build a framework for it with a post on the bottom that matches the tube in the ring.

Below are links to pictures of the part that is inserted into the ring mount tube. The MG42 is attached to it on the middle mount for the bipod. The paddle that sticks out to the left on the bottom (picture mount3.jpg) releases the gun. The curved wing that sticks out to the right (picture mount3.jpg) is a shell deflector.

The gun mount block (with the grease fitting - picture mount3.jpg) is mounted on springs to absorb recoil.

When Germany first surplussed the ring mounts, nobody was selling them in the US. I had maybe 20 mounts for the rings that I sold separately (postage from Germany was a killer). They were very popular, and easy to adapt to any tripod since all they needed was a vertical tube for the post to fit into. They're shown with some detail in the 204 page MG3 manual: ZDv 3/14.

The small wire thing partially visible in picture (mount3.jpg) is a shell bumper. When fired, the brass comes out of the ejection so fast and twirling that the shell mouth is dented when it hits the trigger guard. If you don't believe it, put your fingers there sometime. You'll only do it once. Gloves recommended, but if not worn, be sure to wipe the blood spatter off the gun. It will strip the blue and leave clear spots if you don't.

I removed the ejection port cover and bent a coat hanger to fit the small holes ahead of the trigger grip (FA gun). The wire holds a 2" long piece of 3/4" radiator hose in front of the trigger guard. The shells don't get damaged that way, which makes reloading a lot easier.

Damn 2,000 character limit.

http://www.germanmanuals.com/images/mount.jpg

http://www.germanmanuals.com/images/mount2.jpg

http://www.germanmanuals.com/images/mount3.jpg

http://www.germanmanuals.com/images/mount4.jpg