World War II Guerrilla war in the Baltic states Greek Civil War 1948 Arab–Israeli War Algerian War Bizerte crisis Bangladesh Liberation War[1] Portuguese Colonial War[2] Yugoslav Wars[3] First Congo War Syrian Civil War
Production history
Designer
Werner Gruner
Designed
1942
Manufacturer
Großfuß AG,
Mauser Werke AG
Wilhelm Gustloff Stiftung
Steyr-Daimler-Puch
MAGET (Maschinenbau und Gerätebau GmbH, Berlin-Tegel)
1,200 rounds/min[5] (varied between 900–1,500 rounds/min with different bolts) Practical: 153 rounds/min[6]
Fully-automatic only[5]
Muzzle velocity
740 m/s (2,428 ft/s) (s.S. Patrone)
Effective firing range
200–2,000 m (219–2,187 yd) sight adjustments[5] 3,500 m (3,828 yd) with tripod and telescopic sight
Maximum firing range
4,700 m (5,140 yd)
Feed system
50 or 250-round Patronengurt 33, 34, or 34/41 model belt[5] 50-round belt drum
Sights
Iron sights, antiaircraft sight or telescopic sights
The MG 42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. Entering production in 1942, it was intended to supplement and replace the earlier MG 34, which was more expensive and took much longer to produce, but both weapons were produced until the end of World War II.
Designed to use the standard German fully-powered 7.92×57mm Mauser rifle round, be low-cost and easier to mass-produce, the MG 42 proved to be highly reliable and easy to operate. It is most notable for its very high cyclic rate for a gun using full-power service cartridges, averaging about 1,200 rounds per minute compared to around 850 for the MG 34, and 450 to 600 for other common machine guns like the M1919 Browning, FM 24/29 or Bren gun. This ability made it extremely effective in providing suppressive fire, and its unique sound led to it being nicknamed "Hitler's buzzsaw".[7]
The MG 42 was adopted by several armed organizations after the war, and was both copied and built under licence. The MG 42's lineage continued past Nazi Germany's defeat, forming the basis for the nearly identical MG1 (MG 42/59), chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO, which subsequently evolved into the MG1A3, and later the Bundeswehr's MG 3, Italian MG 42/59 and Austrian MG 74. In Yugoslavia, an unlicensed, near-identical copy was produced as the Zastava M53.
The MG 42 lent many design elements to the Swiss MG 51 and SIG MG 710-3, French AA-52, American M60 and Belgian MAG general-purpose machine guns and the Spanish 5.56×45mm NATO Ameli light machine gun.
^"Arms for freedom". 29 December 2017. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
^Afonso, Aniceto and Gomes, Carlos de Matos, Guerra Colonial (2000), pp. 183–184, ISBN 972-46-1192-2
^McNab 2012, pp. 72–73.
^Folke Myrvang (2003), MG34-MG42: German Universal Machineguns. Collector Grade Publications
^ abcdefGerman Army (Heer) (3 May 1944). H. Dv. 181/7 Untersuchung und Instandsetzung des Infanteriegerätes, Teil 7: Waffentechnisches Handbuch für MG 42 [Army Manual 181/7 Inspection and Maintenance of Infantry Equipment, Part 7: Weapon-technical Handbook for the MG 42] (in German). p. 7.
^""German Views on Use of the MG 42" from Intelligence Bulletin, May 1944". lonesentry.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017. Under battle conditions the MG 42 can fire about 22 bursts per minute—that is, about 154 rounds. Under the same conditions, the MG 34 is capable only of about 15 bursts per minute, at a rate of 7 to 10 rounds per burst, totalling about 150 rounds. Thus the MG 42, used as a light machine gun, requires a slightly higher ammunition expenditure.
^Smith, Joseph E. (1973). Small Arms of the World (10th ed.). Harrisburg, PA, USA: Stackpole Co.
The MG42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively...
(GPMG). Both the MG 34 and MG42 were erroneously nicknamed "Spandau" by Allied troops, a carryover from the World War I nickname for the MG 08, which was...
weapon's design is derived from the World War II era MG 42 that fired the 7.92×57mm Mauser round. The MG 3 was standardized in the late 1950s and adopted into...
The MG 45 (also known as the MG 42V) was a machine gun based on the MG42, which was developed but not fielded in significant numbers by the German Army...
standard German aircraft gun as the MG 15 and MG 17. It is most notable as the design pattern that led to the MG 34 and MG42, and thus is one of the major...
corporation) and boss of MG42 and MG 45 chief designer Werner Gruner had fled to the West after World War II also held all the essential MG42 patents and became...
successful World War II German MG42 and its accessories. The first prototypes emerged in around 1944, and looked much like MG42, although the shape of receiver...
The Maschinengewehr 08, or MG 08, was the German Army's standard machine gun in World War I and is an adaptation of Hiram S. Maxim's original 1884 Maxim...
92×57mm Mauser MG42 machine gun of World War II but has more in common with the MG 45 and its post-war variant, the West German 7.62×51mm NATO MG 3. However...
US Army engineers after the war. These, along with some aspects of the MG42 general-purpose machine gun, are commonly reported to have been incorporated...
better in the tight confines of an aircraft. The MG 30 was also the basis for the famed MG 34 and MG42 designs; variants of the latter are still in service...
bolt with rollers. Notable examples of firearms using this method are the MG42 general-purpose machine gun, and the CZ 52 semi-automatic pistol. It was...
A machine gun (MG) is a fully automatic, rifled auto-loading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms...
1935. It was superseded by the MG 34 and then later the MG42. An unusual feature of the MG 13 was its double-crescent trigger, which provided select...
MG Motor is an automotive brand owned by the Shanghai-based, state-owned carmaker SAIC Motor. It is a continuation of the original MG marque, a British...
armament consists of a 7.62 mm MG42/59 coaxial machine gun operated by the tank gunner or commander and an additional 7.62 mm MG42/59 configured as an anti-aircraft...
with 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° bends, a version for the StG 44 and one for the MG42. Only the 30° "I" version for the StG 44 was produced in any numbers. The...
and Germany. In the Netherlands, he was hit by a bullet from a German MG42 machine gun. The bullet went through his helmet, grazed his forehead, and...
a name that had been used on earlier models such as the MG M-type, MG D-type, MG J-type and MG T-type. The first version, announced at the end of June...
the idea to flip the BAR action upside down and mate it with the proven MG42 belt-feeding mechanism. The work was started in the late 1940s by Dieudonné...
radically different from that of 7.62×51mm NATO machine guns based on the MG42 feed mechanism that typically incorporate a much larger (and therefore much...
The T24 machine gun was a prototype reverse engineered copy of the German MG42 general-purpose machine gun developed during World War II as a possible...
World War II the bulky FG 1250 active infrared unit was paired to some MG42 and MG 34 machine guns on Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Falke half-track armored personnel carriers...