5 popular misconceptions about the MG-42 "best" machine gun of WWII

  • Aug 25, 2021
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The famous " Hitler Saw" is considered, if not the best, then at least one of the best machine guns of the Second World War. This kind of statement makes sense. Nevertheless, many misconceptions, exaggerations and outright myths have formed around the legendary 42nd. It should be noted right away that the MG-42 is a really extremely successful weapon and is used in the form of modifications to this day. However, not everything in it is perceived correctly.
The famous "Hitler Saw" is considered, if not the best, then at least one of the best machine guns of the Second World War. This kind of statement makes sense. Nevertheless, many misconceptions, exaggerations and outright myths have formed around the legendary 42nd. It should be noted right away that the MG-42 is a really extremely successful weapon and is used in the form of modifications to this day. However, not everything in it is perceived correctly.
The famous "Hitler Saw" is considered, if not the best, then at least one of the best machine guns of the Second World War. This kind of statement makes sense. Nevertheless, many misconceptions, exaggerations and outright myths have formed around the legendary 42nd. It should be noted right away that the MG-42 is a really extremely successful weapon and is used in the form of modifications to this day. However, not everything in it is perceived correctly.

1. Replaceable barrels are a blessing

The weapon is by no means as cool as it seems. / Photo: w-dog.ru.
The weapon is by no means as cool as it seems. / Photo: w-dog.ru.
The weapon is by no means as cool as it seems. / Photo: w-dog.ru.
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Nothing like this. Replaceable barrels are an extremely necessary measure, since due to the high rate of fire, the metal simply loses its quality and begins to interfere with effective shooting. However, the Germans must be given credit for coming up with such a decision. The technology of interchangeable barrels for machine guns is used to this day.

2. High rate of fire is always good

The machine gun was not easy to maintain. / Photo: sulleormedeinostripadri.it.
The machine gun was not easy to maintain. / Photo: sulleormedeinostripadri.it.

The MG-42 machine gun can fire from 1000 to 1200 rounds per minute. It is extremely difficult to suppress such a weapon with the help of another machine gun. On the Eastern Front, to suppress such German machine-gun nests, it was ordered to use... artillery. However, for the prohibitive effectiveness of fire, you have to pay with the expense of ammunition, the frequency of reloading and the need to change the barrels of the machine gun directly in battle.

3. High reliability

Not nearly as reliable. / Photo: w-dog.ru.
Not nearly as reliable. / Photo: w-dog.ru.

That the MG-42 is exceptionally successful is by no means synonymous with being reliable. In fact, the German machine gun turned out to be quite capricious and difficult to maintain. Due to the large number of small parts, the 42nd required much more man-hours to produce compared to other machine guns, including German ones. Finally, Hitler's Saw had an extremely unreliable shutter. So much so that the spare parts even had to be included in the spare parts for operational replacement in battle. The Germans were able to solve most of the problems of the legendary machine gun only after the war in the MG-3 modification.

4. Produced by stamping

The Wehrmacht lacked machine guns. / Photo: reibert.info.
The Wehrmacht lacked machine guns. / Photo: reibert.info.

This is not entirely true. Many of the parts in the MG-42 design were actually manufactured at factories using the stamping method. However, there were many that had to be turned on machines literally by hand. Thus, the 42nd was one of the most "labor-intensive" in the production of machine guns during the Second World War. The Wehrmacht command on the eastern front constantly complained that the names of the 42nd modification machine guns were sorely lacking.

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5. Is one

From the very beginning it was conceived as an easel. / Photo: fineartamerica.com.
From the very beginning it was conceived as an easel. / Photo: fineartamerica.com.

The MG-42 machine gun was never conceived as a manual one, and even more so as a single one. Both he and his predecessor, the MG-34, were designed as heavy machine guns. Suffice it to say that the weight of the unloaded "saw" is 11.6 kg. This is a lot for hand weapons. At first, the designers generally thought to use the MG-42 and 34 only on Wehrmacht tanks. A modification on the machine for firing points appeared after the outbreak of World War II.

Continuing the topic, read about
machine gun Berezin: famous and unknown at the same time.

Write in the comments what do you think about this?

A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/100321/58139/

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