Key facts
- Type
- General-purpose machine gun
- Place of origin
- Germany
- In service
- 1942–present
- Used by
- See Users
- Designer
- Werner Gruner
- Manufacturer
- Großfuß AG [ de ] Mauser Werke AG Wilhelm Gustloff Stiftung Steyr-Daimler-Puch MAGET (Maschinenbau und Gerätebau GmbH, Berlin-Tegel)
- Unit cost
- 75 man-hours, 250 ℛ ︁ ℳ ︁ (1944), (equivalent to €52 in 2021)
- Produced
- 1942–1945 (Nazi Germany)
- Number span no built
- 423,600
- Variants
- MG 45/MG 42V MG 1 MG 2 Rheinmetall MG 3 M53 MG 74
- Mass
- 11.6 kg (25.57 lb)
- Length
- 1,220 mm (48 in)
- Barrel length
- 530 mm (20.9 in)
- Cartridge
- 7.92×57mm Mauser
- Action
- Recoil-operated , roller-locked
- Rate of fire
- 1,200 rounds/min (varied between 900–1,500 rounds/min with different bolts) Practical: 153 rounds/min Fully-automatic only
- 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 3,500 m (3,828 yd) with tripod and telescopic sight
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
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 and to be cheaper and easier to manufacture, 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: it averaged 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 made it extremely effective in providing suppressive fire. Its unique sound led to it being nicknamed "Hitler's buzzsaw".