Although the multipurpose MG34 machine gun of 1936 became very good, the German authorities were painfully aware that the weapon was too good for the continued demands of wartime production. Combining this demand with wartime wear and tear, which the German factories could not meet, resulted in a more reasonable solution.
This work resulted in the equally classic 1942 German MG42 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) - a design that far exceeded its intended historical window and has since been produced in various camouflages into the Cold War years. In addition to its effectiveness on the battlefield, the MG42 is also known for its distinctive muzzle sound when fired.
This quality was quickly recognized by Allied forces, allowing weapons to be identified.
Engineers at Mauserwerke began developing the new MG34 as early as 1940. By this time the Germans were waging a full-scale war with their neighbors and in far-flung places like North Africa, so all their war services (land, sea and air) required the MG34, but even five full factories dedicated to producing the MG34 Can you eliminate the bottleneck of excellent machine guns. The experience of building the MP40 submachine gun (a streamlined production version of the MP38 SMG) showed Mauser what to do with a simplified production model, and this small window of opportunity also gave engineers time to make some design changes to the inner workings of the new weapon.
Ideas were borrowed from Czech and Polish originals, and Mauser employees presented their own. The result was the MG39/41, which ended up in the final form of the MG42 - known by its long-form name "Machine Gun Type 42". As the name suggests, it officially entered service in 1942.
The design of the weapon is attributed to German engineer Werner Gruner (1904-1995).
In practice, the weapon could achieve a rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute - an unheard of rate of fire for a light machine gun at the time. A high rate of fire naturally has a detrimental effect on accuracy - like the MG34 - and some design solutions were introduced to address this. However, the problem of excessive vibration was never really addressed by the end of the war. Like the MG34 before it, the MG42 quickly became the weapon of choice for German soldiers, but was equally vulnerable to German logistical constraints.
It's less prone to collecting debris on the battlefield, so stalls/disconnections are less of an issue than the MG34. The baptism of gun fire in Ghazala, May 1942, during the North African campaign.
That year, during the campaign on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, a large supply of weapons spread rapidly westward to France and elsewhere, where they provided the required excellence in service.
Like the MG34, the MG42 was used in other battlefield roles without changes to the underlying system - including being mounted on German armored vehicles and used as an anti-aircraft (AA) machine gun (its inherently high rate of fire - fire was useful here). The heavy tripod "Lafette 42" transforms the MG42 into a heavy machine gun role that requires suppressive firepower. This arrangement reduces recoil and creates a more stable firing platform. In the class LMG role, a foldable bipod is placed under the front of the gun, while all other functions remain the same.
However, the high rate of fire reduces the weapon's accuracy when such short bursts or single shots are recommended for bipedal form. Unlike the MG34, the MG42 is not used as a coaxial tank gun (except for the Jagdpanzer IV).
A typical rifle squad can have 2 to 4 or 5 men, while a full German heavy artillery squad has about 7 members. At least one operator is required to actually fire the weapon and bring it into battle, but ammunition handlers are used to carry the necessary ammunition supplies and manage the conveyor belt. Also, there is always help when trying to clear deadlocks.
It is possible to involve other personnel - additional personnel with extra ammo, spare barrels and tripods. A squad leader armed with submachine guns led the group, with up to three riflemen providing cover fire. The gun weighs 25.5 pounds, is 44 inches long, and has a 21-inch barrel.
While always intended to replace the previous MG34 design, wartime demands and production scope meant that the MG42 complemented the same role of earlier machine guns. The war situation in Germany meant that the two machine guns were often used side by side on the active front, and production was managed until the last days of the war.
Engineers continued to develop the MG42, which spawned the short-lived MG45 model, but the entire effort failed as Germany crumbled in all directions.
The Americans tried to make a copy of the MG42 as a developmental T24, but the expected .30-06 cartridge was never suitable for the restrictive German design. The MG42 instead influenced the Americans' Vietnam War-era M60 GPMG, which has a long history.
The M53 is a native Yugoslav reverse-engineered version of the M42 that Zastava focused on, using the same German cartridge. These were front-line weapons that did not enter service until the late 1990s.
The Rheinmetall MG3 is a post-war West German model, largely based on the original wartime MG42, but with the new standard 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. The MG74 is the local variant of the Austrian army, adopted during the Cold War.
The Spanish CETME Amerli LMG shares some obvious similarities with the German MG42/MG3 and joins several other famous guns of Spanish origin that had German influences during the Cold War.
- Air Defense/Airspace Denial
- Fire Support/Suppression/Defense
- Vehicle Assembly
1,120 mm (44.09 in)
533 mm (20.98 in)
11.60 kg
Iron; optional optics
Belt shutter mechanism
2,475 ft/s (754 m/s)
1,200 rounds per minute
1,999 m (6,560 ft)
MG42 - Base Series Name
"Machine Gun Type 42" - long name
MG42V (MG45) - late war development; delayed recoil action; about 1,350 rpm in trials.
T24 - American experimental development. Room 30-06; no funding.
M53 - Replica of the post-war Yugoslav MG42, caliber 7.92 mm.
MG3 - West German post-war MG42 in 7.62x51mm NATO with improved interior.
MG74 - Austrian Army designation in 7.62x51mm NATO with new internals.