The German MG42: Was Its Bark Worse Than Its Bite
- Thread starter 1ABNDT
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My late Panzer-Grenadier father-in-law was one of the few to get out of the encirclement of the 6th Armee at Stalingrad, only to be captured later by Partisan and turned over to the Red Army. Came home from Siberia in 1951 with pneumonia and other health issues.
I asked him his favourite weapons of the war. Answer - "Kubelwagon and MG fier und dreisig - (MG34)". "Warum?" says I. Answer - "They worked when you needed them." He wasn't sure what an MG 42 was.
The Kubelwagon ran when all other transport froze by the expedient of placing a helmet of any burning substance under the engine until it thawed. Then you drove off and the helmet was placed under the next vehicle.
I asked him his favourite weapons of the war. Answer - "Kubelwagon and MG fier und dreisig - (MG34)". "Warum?" says I. Answer - "They worked when you needed them." He wasn't sure what an MG 42 was.
The Kubelwagon ran when all other transport froze by the expedient of placing a helmet of any burning substance under the engine until it thawed. Then you drove off and the helmet was placed under the next vehicle.
I did not read the whole thread so excuse if it has been mentioned already.
Apparently one of there biggest downfalls was that they cost way more and took way longer to produce then the browning .
So do you want one mg42 covering your ass or 4 brownings.
Apparently one of there biggest downfalls was that they cost way more and took way longer to produce then the browning .
So do you want one mg42 covering your ass or 4 brownings.
I believe you are getting the MG34 and MG42 confused. The 34 was the pricey of the two (and a thing of beauty of the machinists art, in a time LONG before CNC work) due to the level of machining needed to manufacture. Wartime Germans where true masters at pressing and stamping steel (think Stg44, MG42, even cars like the VW166), far, far easier and less expensive to mass press/produce a large number then the umpteen steps required to produce an item by machine. I believe the Bren receiver had 119 steps in its production from billet to finished product as an example.
I would take the MG42 over 4 brownings anytime!
A great read about an Austrian MG42 gunner on the eastern front: "until the eyes shut"
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1697262341/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's not. The M60 uses the bolt and gas system of the Lewis Gun and the feed tray of the FG42.
The MAG is an M1918 BAR turned upside down with the trigger group and feed tray of the MG42 with a removable barrel, but it's not a direct copy of the Bren barrel.
The British high rpm gun was the Vickers K, which you would see on the SAS LRDG vehicles, but everybody else preferred around 600rpm. I don't know why the Germans felt they needed to double the rate of fire of all squad MGs, maybe something to do with Soviet hordes. Although the MG3 kept the high rate of fire, so the Germans still liked the idea after the war, maybe the hordes again. You would think that running out of ammo twice as quickly would favour the hordes, but the Germans must have been very good at ammo replen midwar.
I used the MG42 version in 7.62x51mm for 6 years in the Danish military called the M62. Now I am a fan of the versatile Carl Gustav weapons system but the M62 was my favorite weapon system. Locked in a tripod with prewritten firing lanes you could set it up and cover approaches by just swinging it between the two locks without ever exposing yourself relying on the commands from your NCO or observer. Great for night fighting. When training conscripts in the M62 system we would remove every 6th round from the 150 round belts so the conscripts would not let loose the whole belt in one go when learning correct trigger pull. When I deployed to Yugoslavia with the Danish army deployed as UN Peacekeepers during the civil war I had two of my professional soldiers setup as an additional LMG M62 Team so my squad now included driver commander for my M113 APC with a 50cal heavy machine gun, 2 M62 LMG teams and a Carl Gustav team and one Corporal all in all an impressive amount of firepower in one squad. Saddest day in my life when I a few years ago learned that the Danish Military switched from the M62 to the M249 (really !!!...come on !. It is even chambered in 5.56 for heavens sake !)... True story that.
GoodDoomguy
CGN Regular
Sometimes, too much rate of fire is just a waste of bullets.Took a while to figure that out.
Grizz
Served in the army years ago. This is false both contemporary and in past wars.
Some of those old sweat's tales were pretty cool. My great uncle, a WW1 vet used to talk about the Germans having a death ray. He was thinking ahead to lasers I guess. Then there was the old WW2 trick of clearing a house by tossing in a STEN and letting it go full chat. In my time we had those edible parka buttons for winter survival broth. Never got hungry enough to try them.
Some of those old sweat's tales were pretty cool. My great uncle, a WW1 vet used to talk about the Germans having a death ray. He was thinking ahead to lasers I guess. Then there was the old WW2 trick of clearing a house by tossing in a STEN and letting it go full chat. In my time we had those edible parka buttons for winter survival broth. Never got hungry enough to try them.
Every time I see field jackets from that time, Mm, wonder if those buttons are edible ?
The STEN thing I take with a grain of salt, You'd have work around the sear and no guarantees you wouldn't catch a round throwing it in, then 32 rounds don't last long either. Grizz
Falconflyer
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Forgotten Weapons says the US Army used the feed mechanism of the MG42 and operating system of the FG42 to make the T44 in 30-06 which gave way to the T52 in 7.62 with a horizontal feed and top cover copied from the MG42. Several variations later they had the M60. There's no mention of the Lewis gun but I'm not going to argue with you.
BattleRife
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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Boy, once the apochryphal nonsense and urban legends came out in this thread, it really got piled on all at once.
