MG42 Compilation in Movies, TV & Animation

Adopted by Germany in 1942, in an effort to reduce the machining time and cost inherent in the production of the MG34, the MG42 (MG standing for Maschinengewehr, literally "Machine Rifle" but usually translated as "machine gun" in this context) is perhaps the deadliest machine gun used during the war. Geared for mass production above all else, it was designed to take full advantage of modern production techniques such as replacing machined components with stamped ones; one of the key figures in the project, Ernst Grunow, had no prior experience in firearm design whatsoever and worked for Großfuß AG, a company that normally made sheet-metal lanterns.

The result was a weapon that took 50% fewer man hours to build than the MG34 and cost 24% less. Light weight and great reliability made it one of the first true modern general purpose machine guns, able to be used in the light machine gun role on a bipod or the medium machine gun role on a tripod. The light weight of operating components make the MG42 one of the fastest-firing single-barrel guns which does not require an external power source; with a cyclic rate of 1200 rounds per minute, individual shots are mostly indiscernible. The rate is so fast that even a trained operator has trouble firing a single shot from the full-auto only gun. The distinctive sound led to nicknames such as "Hitler's buzzsaw." The MG42 also features an extremely fast barrel change system, allowing sustained fire even with the extremely high fire rate.

The weapon was issued in the light machine gun role with an ammo drum containing a 50-round belt (the same one used on the MG34), while in the medium role the MG42 typically used 250-round belts. The gun is chambered in the 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge (also known as 8mm Mauser), the same cartridge used in the well known K98k infantry rifles, and ammunition is interchangeable (though Kar 98 ammunition was not issued in belts, making this of limited use in practical terms). Machine gun ammunition was slightly more powerful in order to avoid jams and run the mechanism more reliably.