Yugo M53 Starter Tab

M53 Belt Starter Tab

The first rounds of a belt are the hardest to seat, because there is nothing ahead of them to pull on. This steel starter tab clips to the front of a 50-round belt and gives you a rigid leader to draw across the feed tray of a Yugoslavian M53, MG42 or MG34. It is a small part that M53 and MG owners, belt-fed collectors and reenactors need if they want a complete, working belt setup.

Features

• Steel Construction — The leader, hinged plates and end links are all steel, matching the build of the belts it attaches to.
• Leading Pull-Tab — A flat, grooved strip gives you a firm grip to draw the belt into the gun before any live rounds reach the feed tray.
• Clears The Feed Pawls — The tab carries the first rounds past the feed pawls, the spring-loaded catches that step the belt through the gun, so they seat without binding.
• Hinged Plate Section — A short run of linked plates lets the tab flex through the feed path the same way a loaded belt does.
• Cartridge-Shaped End Links — Shaped links at the tail connect to the first link of a standard 50-round belt.
• 8mm Mauser And 7.62 NATO — Works with belts in 8x57mm Mauser as well as 7.62x51mm NATO, also sold as .308 Winchester.
• Interchangeable With German Tabs — Fits and functions in place of MG42 and MG34 starter tabs.
• Post-War Yugoslavian Manufacture — Made in Yugoslavia for the M53, with manufacturer markings or no markings depending on the production source.

Yugoslav Military Issue

Yugoslavia built the M53 as its own copy of the MG42 and produced belt hardware to suit it, including this starter tab. That shared design is why the tab works across M53, MG42 and MG34 guns. As genuine issue hardware, it is built to the original military pattern, and it completes an authentic belt setup in a way a generic part cannot.