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The MG 42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or "machine gun 42") is a 7.9mm universal machine gun that was developed in Nazi Germany and entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1942. It supplemented, and, in some instances, replaced the MG 34 general-purpose machine gun in all branches of the German Armed Forces, though both weapons were manufactured and used until the end of the war.
The MG 42 has a proven record of reliability, durability, simplicity, and ease of operation, and is most notable for being able to produce a stunning volume of suppressive fire. The MG 42 has one of the highest average rates of fire of any single-barreled man-portable machine gun, between 1,200 and 1,500 rpm, resulting in a distinctive muzzle report. There were other automatic weapon designs with similar firepower, such as the French Darne, the Hungarian-Gebauer single-barreled tank MGs, the Russian 7.62mm ShKAS aircraft gun and the British Vickers K machine gun. However, the MG 42's belt-feed and quick-change barrel system allowed for more prolonged firing in comparison to these weapons.
The MG 42's lineage continued past Nazi Germany's defeat, forming the basis for the nearly identical MG1 (MG 42/59), and subsequently evolved into the MG1A3, which was in turn followed by the MG 3. It also spawned the Swiss MG 51, SIG MG 710-3, Austrian MG 74, and the Spanish 5.56mm Ameli light machine gun, and lent many design elements to the American M60 and Belgian MAG. The MG 42 was adopted by a number of armed organizations after the war, and was copied or license-built as well.
One of the weapon's most notable features was its comparatively high rate of fire of about 1,200 rounds per minute, twice the rate of the British Vickers machine gun and American Browning at 600 round/min. So distinct and terrifying was the weapon that the United States Army created training films to aid its soldiers in dealing with the psychological trauma of facing the weapon in battle.[4] At such a high rate the human ear cannot easily discern the sound of individual bullets being fired, and in use the gun makes a sound described as like "ripping cloth" and giving rise to the nickname "Hitler's buzzsaw", or, more coarsely, "Hitler's zipper" (Soviet soldiers called it the "linoleum ripper"). German soldiers called it Hitlersäge ("Hitler's saw") or "Bonesaw". The gun was sometimes called "Spandau" by British troops from the manufacturer's plates noting the district of Berlin where some were produced, much like the Germans' own World War I MG 08 had been nicknamed. Notwithstanding the MG 42's high rate of fire, the Handbook of the German Army (1940) forbade the firing of more than 250 rounds in a single burst and indicated a sustained rate of no more than 300–350 rounds per minute to minimize barrel wear and over-heating.
The MG 42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or "machine gun 42") is a 7.9mm universal machine gun that was developed in Nazi Germany and entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1942. It supplemented, and, in some instances, replaced the MG 34 general-purpose machine gun in all branches of the German Armed Forces, though both weapons were manufactured and used until the end of the war.
The MG 42 has a proven record of reliability, durability, simplicity, and ease of operation, and is most notable for being able to produce a stunning volume of suppressive fire. The MG 42 has one of the highest average rates of fire of any single-barreled man-portable machine gun, between 1,200 and 1,500 rpm, resulting in a distinctive muzzle report. There were other automatic weapon designs with similar firepower, such as the French Darne, the Hungarian-Gebauer single-barreled tank MGs, the Russian 7.62mm ShKAS aircraft gun and the British Vickers K machine gun. However, the MG 42's belt-feed and quick-change barrel system allowed for more prolonged firing in comparison to these weapons.
The MG 42's lineage continued past Nazi Germany's defeat, forming the basis for the nearly identical MG1 (MG 42/59), and subsequently evolved into the MG1A3, which was in turn followed by the MG 3. It also spawned the Swiss MG 51, SIG MG 710-3, Austrian MG 74, and the Spanish 5.56mm Ameli light machine gun, and lent many design elements to the American M60 and Belgian MAG. The MG 42 was adopted by a number of armed organizations after the war, and was copied or license-built as well.
One of the weapon's most notable features was its comparatively high rate of fire of about 1,200 rounds per minute, twice the rate of the British Vickers machine gun and American Browning at 600 round/min. So distinct and terrifying was the weapon that the United States Army created training films to aid its soldiers in dealing with the psychological trauma of facing the weapon in battle.[4] At such a high rate the human ear cannot easily discern the sound of individual bullets being fired, and in use the gun makes a sound described as like "ripping cloth" and giving rise to the nickname "Hitler's buzzsaw", or, more coarsely, "Hitler's zipper" (Soviet soldiers called it the "linoleum ripper"). German soldiers called it Hitlersäge ("Hitler's saw") or "Bonesaw". The gun was sometimes called "Spandau" by British troops from the manufacturer's plates noting the district of Berlin where some were produced, much like the Germans' own World War I MG 08 had been nicknamed. Notwithstanding the MG 42's high rate of fire, the Handbook of the German Army (1940) forbade the firing of more than 250 rounds in a single burst and indicated a sustained rate of no more than 300–350 rounds per minute to minimize barrel wear and over-heating.
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Comments10
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First off ... a heads up so it doesn't come as a surprise one day - DA doesn't allow screen caps. I had one from Planetside and they deleted it. You probably don't have to worry though unless you piss someone off (that's what happened with me) and they report you. DA has to many files to check themselves.
As far as high volume of fire weapons go - it seems to me that the real determinant in their rate of fire isn't so much design as tactical philosophy. For example - the M60 - as you note - is a variation on the MG42 - and yet it has a much lower rate of fire. The manufacturers of the gun - already had an MG42 design to work off of so surely they could have given the weapon a higher rate of fire if they'd wanted to - but the American Army - didn't want a gun that fired that fast as it would use up a lot of ammo. Another example of this - is the way they gimped all the M-16's - taking away their full auto mode and replacing it with a 3 round burst mode.
Mostly I think this is bull shit - but - there is something to it. This is exemplified by the M1919 Browning machine gun. There was the infantry support version of this weapon with a low rate of fire - and then there was the aircraft mounted version with a ROF equal to the MG42. In the case of the infantry support weapon, someone was going to have to carry all that ammo around but with the aircraft version - the plane carried it. Also - in the case of the aircraft version - a very high rate of fire is extremely important - as you only get split seconds to act and you want to put all the firepower you can on the target if you're to get a hit. This last bit was also reflected in the retention of Browning .50 calibers for such as the F-86 Sabre in comparison to the cannon carried by the MiG 15. Of course the reason for the mixed cannons on the MiG was that it was planned on using it to shoot down bombers.
The same ROF vs. Hitting Power issue was seen in the armament of the US & German Fighters. The US Fighters were all intent on shooting down German Fighters as the German Bombers, what few still operated, mostly flew at night (where they were engaged by night fighters with cannon). The German fighters on the other hand tended to be broken down into two groups - those with heavy cannon designed to engage bombers and those with better rates of fire designed to engage the bombers escort.
As to the MG42, there was a thing on the History Channel where they interviewed an MG42 gunner and he said that the basic idea of the MG42 was to use it as a long range shot gun. You'd aim at a target, squeeze off a burst and send a little cluster of rounds down range. As part of this - the MG42 was less accurate than say ... the MG34 ... as the intent was to spread the rounds out a little - like a shot gun. Now here - a properly trained gunner - isn't going to expend excessive rounds - as he's going to fire in those short little bursts.
The American Army has historically, always tended to assume that the average soldier was an idiot - and trained them to merely be cogs in a system with weapons designed to MAKE them fight the way the army thought they should. The problem there - is that the American Army has often had a lot of stupid ideas which it's soldiers had to find ways to over come. Examples of this would be - learning how to modify the selector (possibly by filing the sear) on such as the M1 Carbine (before it was given a fully automatic mode), adjusting the ROF of the M-60 and the acquisition of whatever they came across that would add to their fire power. I've got a buddy who spent his last days in Vietnam commanding an M-48 tank they'd stolen and upgraded to an M-48A5 by pulling the 105mm out of a burned out Army M-60. They got the 105 rounds by trading NVA pith helmets and belt buckles to the cooks for steaks and swapping the steaks for the 105 rounds with the army ordinance guys.
Of course - an exception to that - is the M-1 Garrand.
The BAR was also an excellent weapon when created in 1918 but didn't see much use in that war. Later - the Army tried to use it as a squad's Light Machine gun - a role for which it was unsuited - though in the Marines it eventually became the center of a 4 man fire team of which there were 3 in each squad. Here - the weapon was used as an Automatic Rifle - the role it was designed to play - and did well. This leads up to a discussion of the 10 man squad using it's machine gun as it's base of fire and a fire team based squad of 13 men that was better suited to maneuver and the variable deployment of it's weapons ... which I won't get into as this is long enough ...
*shrug*
.
As far as high volume of fire weapons go - it seems to me that the real determinant in their rate of fire isn't so much design as tactical philosophy. For example - the M60 - as you note - is a variation on the MG42 - and yet it has a much lower rate of fire. The manufacturers of the gun - already had an MG42 design to work off of so surely they could have given the weapon a higher rate of fire if they'd wanted to - but the American Army - didn't want a gun that fired that fast as it would use up a lot of ammo. Another example of this - is the way they gimped all the M-16's - taking away their full auto mode and replacing it with a 3 round burst mode.
Mostly I think this is bull shit - but - there is something to it. This is exemplified by the M1919 Browning machine gun. There was the infantry support version of this weapon with a low rate of fire - and then there was the aircraft mounted version with a ROF equal to the MG42. In the case of the infantry support weapon, someone was going to have to carry all that ammo around but with the aircraft version - the plane carried it. Also - in the case of the aircraft version - a very high rate of fire is extremely important - as you only get split seconds to act and you want to put all the firepower you can on the target if you're to get a hit. This last bit was also reflected in the retention of Browning .50 calibers for such as the F-86 Sabre in comparison to the cannon carried by the MiG 15. Of course the reason for the mixed cannons on the MiG was that it was planned on using it to shoot down bombers.
The same ROF vs. Hitting Power issue was seen in the armament of the US & German Fighters. The US Fighters were all intent on shooting down German Fighters as the German Bombers, what few still operated, mostly flew at night (where they were engaged by night fighters with cannon). The German fighters on the other hand tended to be broken down into two groups - those with heavy cannon designed to engage bombers and those with better rates of fire designed to engage the bombers escort.
As to the MG42, there was a thing on the History Channel where they interviewed an MG42 gunner and he said that the basic idea of the MG42 was to use it as a long range shot gun. You'd aim at a target, squeeze off a burst and send a little cluster of rounds down range. As part of this - the MG42 was less accurate than say ... the MG34 ... as the intent was to spread the rounds out a little - like a shot gun. Now here - a properly trained gunner - isn't going to expend excessive rounds - as he's going to fire in those short little bursts.
The American Army has historically, always tended to assume that the average soldier was an idiot - and trained them to merely be cogs in a system with weapons designed to MAKE them fight the way the army thought they should. The problem there - is that the American Army has often had a lot of stupid ideas which it's soldiers had to find ways to over come. Examples of this would be - learning how to modify the selector (possibly by filing the sear) on such as the M1 Carbine (before it was given a fully automatic mode), adjusting the ROF of the M-60 and the acquisition of whatever they came across that would add to their fire power. I've got a buddy who spent his last days in Vietnam commanding an M-48 tank they'd stolen and upgraded to an M-48A5 by pulling the 105mm out of a burned out Army M-60. They got the 105 rounds by trading NVA pith helmets and belt buckles to the cooks for steaks and swapping the steaks for the 105 rounds with the army ordinance guys.
Of course - an exception to that - is the M-1 Garrand.
The BAR was also an excellent weapon when created in 1918 but didn't see much use in that war. Later - the Army tried to use it as a squad's Light Machine gun - a role for which it was unsuited - though in the Marines it eventually became the center of a 4 man fire team of which there were 3 in each squad. Here - the weapon was used as an Automatic Rifle - the role it was designed to play - and did well. This leads up to a discussion of the 10 man squad using it's machine gun as it's base of fire and a fire team based squad of 13 men that was better suited to maneuver and the variable deployment of it's weapons ... which I won't get into as this is long enough ...
*shrug*
.