This machine gun was the terror of the Allied soldiers. The MG 42 combined low weight with tremendous firepower. A blast of fire could saw a man in half.
The MG 42 is considered the best machine gun of the Second World War, the further development MG 3 is still used by the Bundeswehr today. No other portable machine gun had the firepower of the MG 42. It was given the nickname “saw” because the noise of the individual shots merged into a loud whirring sound.
The MG 42 was an atypical development for the Wehrmacht. It was simple in structure, easy to manufacture and reliable in use. Most of the components of the MG 42 were not milled from steel. A work that was laboriously carried out by skilled workers at the time. No, they were formed from sheet metal in presses. A technology that later became established, for example in the German Sturmwehr 44 and the Soviet AK 47. The MG 42 required around half the man-hours of the MG 34. Simple steel could be used for this.
And the weapon tolerated tolerances better than the MG 34 – it was therefore less sensitive to temperatures and dirt. The standard 7.92 × 57 mm rifle cartridge was used as ammunition. The ammunition supply was based on the principle of a recoil loader with gas pressure support. The MG 42 weighed around ten kilograms, so it could be carried by the shooter.