The German MG42: Was Its Bark Worse Than Its Bite

[bearhunter]

Il simply say this about an mg42. I'd rather not get shot by it.

You'd rather not get shot by anything, if you take my advice.

It usually doesn't hurt right away but give it an hour and you definitely know something isn't right. Unless that bullet penetrates something vital, like a lung or a large muscle it can pass through unnoticed.

When I got my first wound on the front of my lower leg, I didn't really feel it. I though I had run into a stick. It was about an hour later that my leg felt like someone was hammering on it.

Belly wounds??? Depends on where it passed and how close to the diaphragm it was, or how much bleeding is involved. Get a bullet passing through a major artery and bleeding out is just about guaranteed, before anyone can stop it effectively.

Don't believe the movies, where they manage to get a tourniquet in place and the bleeding stops. Maybe in the very odd case.

One thing about bleeding out, no pain is usually felt. Shock saves that at least.

Getting shot is not a pleasant experience under any circumstances and the repercussions can be horrendous.

 

[Dirtiestharold]

I have not been a member of any military and have never been in combat. I guess I can't really comment on how it is or was, but I'm pretty sure that facing any machine gun would be a great reason to empty your bowels in a hurry. I always think about the men getting off the landing craft on D Day. Walking into any kind of Machine Gun fire, with no protection? Those men must of had balls that should come on a flatcar. Surely hard to debate if one gun was worse than another. Just consider walking into any type of machine gun fire. And I know there are members of this forum that have. You have my respect forever.

 

[ALFREDS]

Just to be clear, I am far from being an “armchair commando”, but did serve many years in the military and trained with various forces around the world. As luck would have it, I was a bigger fellow, so guess who got the MG all the time. I did get quite proficient with the theoretical and practical aspects of MG’s and their deployment.

Also your statements again, do not acknowledge the real reasons why militaries round the world have the MG’s they do. I am sure you are a smart guy. Stick with what you know and don’t throw bs statements around on things you have no idea on. Anyone of us can comment on all sorts of things without the proper context, which is exactly what you have done here.

Thank you Commander. I will henceforth cease talking BS, for instance by referring readily available and incontrovertible facts, such as that no major military power uses a GPMG machine gun with a rate of fire of 1300 RPM in ground combat.

Nor will I reference the fact that Germany sought to reduce the rate of fire of the MG-42. Rather, I will leave the issue to others who have served in multiple military forces across the world.

The last thing I would want is to likened to an Internet screwball flaunting a fake military resume, or claiming combat experience that actually comes from watching war movies. Indeed, I never want to be accused of spreading nonsense about military weapons that can be disproved by ten minutes of research on Wikipedia.

 

[XRCD011]

What an interesting thread and very insightful. Just to clear up a few misconceptions and statements.

1. Gas regulators on a MG is there to give the gun a power reserve as the gun fouls from dirt and firing, regulators are NOT to "increase the rate of fire", just keep the gun in action and firing (Why do you think they call it the ADVERSE setting for the C9 ??). This is a big advantage over recoil driven actions that do not have adjustable gas regulators

2. Please stop this whole "area weapon" baloney folks, they put sights atop a MG to aim and hit targets, not spray a belt or two worth of ammunition across the country side in the hope something is hit. When a section is fighting through the objective and the MG shift fire to cut down escaping EN or prevent EN moving to support the (soon to be) overrun position the LAST thing needed is a MG spraying fire hither and yon as a "Area Weapon" . Even a MG can provide controlled, aimed, and accurate fire.