MG 42 - Wehrmacht machine gun with a rate of fire up to 1500 rounds per minute

In 1942, a new single machine gun appeared in service with the German army. This is a gunshot weapon received the designation MG 42.

The need to create a new machine gun in Nazi Germany arose due to the fact that its predecessor, the MG 34, was increasingly criticized by the German military. And not only, by the way, by them.

Firstly, it had a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, which did not always allow the machine gunner to perform the assigned tasks. Secondly, the design of the MG 34 was such that for effective shooting it was necessary to use only high-quality ammunition and have a wide range of skills.

The rate of fire of the MG 42 machine gun has already reached 1,5 thousand rounds per minute. For such parameters of the rate of fire, the MG 42 received the corresponding names. One of them is Hitler's circular.

An important aspect of replacing MG 34 with MG 42 was the aspect of saving money, which was quite understandable for wartime. As a result, the MG 42 became about a third cheaper in production than its predecessor machine gun. At the same time, the metal consumption of this weapon for the Wehrmacht was halved.

About the German single machine gun of the second half of World War II is told on the channel "Truth of Life".

Comments

[mark1]

And why would an infantry machine gun have such a rate of fire? The little people did not run faster, the stability of the position is ensured by the machine / bipod.
The DS-39 had the same two rates of fire - but 1200 rpm exclusively for air defense and -600 for infantry

[Shurik70]

Quote: mark1

Why would an infantry machine gun have such a rate of fire?

Probably for shooting at extreme distances.
The dispersion is large. And with a high rate of fire, the effect of buckshot is obtained, striking a large area at once.
He took a burst with the barrel approximately in the direction of the target, and hit exactly.
But I doubt the fighters were happy with such a replacement. Carry all these cartridges on yourself.

[voyaka uh]

"I turned my barrel around in the direction of the target, and just hit" ///
------
At extreme distances, targets are practically invisible from a machine gun.
To hit, you need a rangefinder (which appeared only recently)
or pre-zeroing in the area.
Or the constant adjustment of fire by someone with binoculars next to a machine gunner.

In recent decades, machine guns have been fitted with wide-angle 4
multiple sights. Now it is possible to hit 700-1000 m.

But in the days of MG-42, none of this happened.
Only correction with binoculars.

[Shurik70]

Quote: voyaka uh

in the days of MG-42, none of this was

In the days of MG-42, they did not shoot for a kilometer. This machine gun has an official maximum range of 400 meters. You can't see the faces, but the running target is quite

[voyaka uh]

At 400 meters, all the more, 1500 rounds per minute are not required.
700 is sufficient for effective defensive fire.
1500 rounds per minute - this tape disappears in seconds and the barrel
red-hot (and need a break).

[Shurik70]

Quote: voyaka uh

At 400 m, all the more, 1500 rounds per minute are not required

Two seconds - standard tape 50 rounds
I did not find any information about dispersion.
So it is completely incomprehensible why this was necessary. But the Germans are pedantic people, they just won't do it. Unless the Fuehrer gave a personal order to "increase the rate of fire." Then yes, they could have been promoted for no reason.

[Niko]

Quote: voyaka uh

At 400 meters, all the more, 1500 rounds per minute are not required.
700 is sufficient for effective defensive fire.
1500 rounds per minute - this tape disappears in seconds and the barrel
red-hot (and need a break).

Did you read something about THIS machine gun? About changing the barrel in a few seconds, for example? This is truly a masterpiece of its kind

[Shurik70]

Quote: Niko

Did you read something about THIS machine gun? About changing the barrel in a few seconds, for example? This is truly a masterpiece of its kind

No, we're talking about why such a rate of fire is needed.
Indeed, with a lower rate of fire, it would be no less effective, but the consumption of cartridges and wear of parts would be less.
However, I found the answer on the Internet. It turns out that by simply replacing the shutter, the rate of fire could be adjusted. That is, the fighter himself decided on the spot what rate of fire he needed. You cannot change it in battle, but before the battle it is quite possible.

[Niko]

Quote: Shurik70

Quote: Niko

Did you read something about THIS machine gun? About changing the barrel in a few seconds, for example? This is truly a masterpiece of its kind

No, we're talking about why such a rate of fire is needed.
Indeed, with a lower rate of fire, it would be no less effective, but the consumption of cartridges and wear of parts would be less.
However, I found the answer on the Internet. It turns out that by simply replacing the shutter, the rate of fire could be adjusted. That is, the fighter himself decided on the spot what rate of fire he needed. You cannot change it in battle, but before the battle it is quite possible.

In German, even on Wikipedia, the range differs markedly from "in Russian", and if you look for another two minutes, there are a bunch of tables with calculations of the probability of hitting a target depending on various factors (rate of fire, including). It also explains where 400 meters came from, and why this distance was considered standard for firing. And just the "combat range" for the easel costs up to 3500

[Niko]

Quote: Shurik70

Quote: Niko

Did you read something about THIS machine gun? About changing the barrel in a few seconds, for example? This is truly a masterpiece of its kind

No, we're talking about why such a rate of fire is needed.
Indeed, with a lower rate of fire, it would be no less effective, but the consumption of cartridges and wear of parts would be less.
However, I found the answer on the Internet. It turns out that by simply replacing the shutter, the rate of fire could be adjusted. That is, the fighter himself decided on the spot what rate of fire he needed. You cannot change it in battle, but before the battle it is quite possible.

By the way, the firing rate changed without replacing the bolt, for this the position of the muzzle was simply changed.

[voyaka uh]

"About changing the barrel in a few seconds, for example" ///
----
It took me at least a minute to change the barrel to the MAG.
When the barrel is hot, the barrel must be removed carefully.
And it is not thrown on the ground, but put into a special casing.
And then you have to insert a new barrel. And all this is reclining.

But the Wehrmacht had a whole machine gun group engaged in a machine gun.
of 5 people, no less. And there was a reasonable distribution of responsibilities.
Another thing is that in a battle in open terrain, the entire group of circumstances (enemy fire) is scattered over a fair amount of territory.
And when you need help replacing the barrel, it may turn out
that no one is around.
The MG-42 is ideal for a bunker when assistants are nearby and there are a lot of ribbons.
In the field, a less voracious machine gun is preferable.

Machine gun group of the Wehrmacht

Please note: there are two machine guns. And they will fire in turns

[John22]

I agree. The rate of fire of the MG-42 is indicated differently in different literature. In the German manual for MG-42 and MG-34, the rate is 1200, in other literature 1200, 1350, 1500 rounds per minute. At MG-34, by the way, the rate of fire is 800-900 rpm, not 600. The barrel of the MG-42 heats up faster and the resource is reduced from 6000 thousand rounds to 4000 thousand.

[Vovk]

Quote: Shurik70

At the time of MG-42 and did not shoot for a kilometer

And there was no "disturbing" and "barrage" fire of the Germans at such a distance? Yes, it always happened.

[Shurik70]

Quote: Vovk

And there was no "disturbing" and "barrage" fire of the Germans at such a distance?

This is not aimed fire. And here the rate of fire is only a plus. I noticed a movement - there is a chance to get there even at such a distance

[Niko]

About range and "barrage"

[Niko]

A little bit more

[Vovk]

Quote: voyaka uh

In recent decades, 4x wide-angle sights have been mounted on machine guns. Now it is possible to hit 700-1000 m.
But in the days of MG-42, none of this happened.

Oh, well, there were no telescopic sights on the MG-42?
"The first telescopic sight for the MG Lafette was the MG Z, released around 1937. Before the MG Z appeared in sufficient quantities, the old telescopic sights from the MG 08 machine gun were used. Later, the MG Z 40 and MG Z 44 appeared (only for direct fire, had an increased increase). "

[voyaka uh]

Thank you, I didn't know about it.
And never seen mounted scopes
on German machine guns in their documentaries.

[Bad_gr]

There was information here that this machine was used with MG-42.

If I am mistaken, correct.

[dgonni]

An optical sight was mounted on the mg-34/42 when firing from the machine!

[Nikolaevich I]

With "vidos" S. Shumakov more than once "met" on YouTube ... Not all "vidos" left a "feeling of deep satisfaction"! It was noticed sometimes that Shumakov could give controversial facts as true ... But the video "about MG machine guns" is very good, although many of the machine guns mentioned in it may differ from those that, perhaps, were more often found in various Internet articles! What are we "accustomed to" for a long time? 1. That the MG-34 has a technical rate of fire of 800-900 rpm; 2. MG-42> at 1000-1200 w / m ... sometimes, at 1200-1300 w / m ... 3. MG-45> at 1500 w / m ... But in recent years, more "detailed" articles in which the data may slightly differ from the "usual"! Machine guns of the first MG-34 batches were equipped with rate-of-fire regulators, depending on which version (manual or easel) the machine gun was used ... A lower rate of fire started from 600 rpm .... The MG-42 machine gun also "says" different things. ..: and 1000-1200 w / m ... and 1200-1300 w / m ... and from 1200 to 1500 w / m ... (the latest data are much less common and recently ...) But about the MG-45 machine gun it began to "emerge" that its rate of fire was much less than 1500 w / m! So ... now everyone can choose those performance characteristics that he likes best!

[Vovk]

"The need to create a new machine gun in Hitlerite Germany arose due to the fact that its predecessor - MG 34 - was increasingly criticized by German servicemen. And not only, by the way, by them."
Where did you get this opinion ???
On the contrary, the soldiers of the Wehrmacht cursed for the quality of the MG-42 and praised the MG-34.
MG-42 is an attempt to create a cheaper copy of MG-34, this is the only reason why this ersatz appeared.

[Black Colonel]

The MG-34 was expensive and sensitive to contamination in combat. I think it was no mere chance that a replica of the MG-42, and not the MG-34 in the form of MG-3 under 7,62x51 mm, was adopted by NATO and is still in service with many countries.

[voyaka uh]

The MG-3 has a rate of fire of 1200 rounds per minute.
But even this is redundant.
We at the Belgian MAG have always reduced the rate of fire with the regulator
gases up to 700.

[NF68]

The machine gun has become simpler and cheaper. But now the second or third number needed a trolley, or even better a supply, to carry a large supply of cartridges.

[Sancho_SP]

I would like to read, but here again a video advertisement. Hmm.

[restless]

Also, the trunk on the MG could be replaced when it overheated, specially asbestos mittens were included in the kit so that you could grab the red-hot barrel to pull it out and change it to a new one, we didn't have that ...

[vl903]

on dp27, the trunk also changes. true crap. but overheating the barrel during an enemy attack is probably not the best solution. probably in the trench they set a rate of fire of 600 and fired in short bursts, except at very critical moments. and changing the barrel during a lull or in extreme cases. and not for nothing in the post above, machine gunners work in pairs.

[Troll]

"Hitlerssäge" as stated in the film and on the German internet does not translate to "Hitler's circular". But it translates as "Hitler's saw." More precisely, you need to be with translations.
In the film, incidentally, it is also said about the saw.

[agond]

A high rate of fire is needed to create a high density of fire, this somehow compensates for dispersion, and in general it would be interesting to compare the effectiveness of MG 42 not with Degtyarev, but, say, with our 45mm cannon, which the Germans seem to have done in their time, and then carry tapes with a single cartridge could the entire infantry squad

[meandr51]

Have compared. In a combat situation. Are the results of the hostilities known?

[DBB4247]

1. In the Wehrmacht, the machine gun was "the main one" in the subunit, everything revolved around it, and therefore adjusting the fire was not a problem. In many pictures of that, a sergeant major with binoculars sticks out with a machine gunner.
2.Mg-34 and Mg-42 were a single machine gun of the Wehrmacht. And they showed themselves perfectly.
In the Red Army, a single machine gun never appeared. But what was the whole war? Yes DP and Maxim, that's the whole story, well, all sorts of things. And our glorious gunsmiths, even having gorgeous trophy samples, could not create anything worthwhile.
3. There are a lot of strange things in the creation of weapons in our country at that time. Having excellent "Katyushas", and therefore experience in creating rockets, gunsmiths could not at least copy German hand-held anti-tank systems. So the soldier fought against tanks with a hand grenade and PTR (the Fritzes also had the latter). As well as with communications in aviation and in tank forces, problems until the age of 43!

[Luty]

K; which is still a sharp criticism of the rate of fire. If not, why is it still in service? And in how many countries and where are our peers during the Second World War?

[agond]

During the Second World War, in order to suppress the Mg-42, sometimes it was necessary to use the forty-five, but for this it had to be rolled to the position, which was not an easy task, while in a duel situation there was uncertainty who would be more fortunate, and, unlike a cannon, a machine gun is easy could change position, and if, say, a soldier in those years was in the hands of the RPK-74, he had a chance to suppress the Mg-42 with just one horn due to the high density of fire,

[Luty]

Comparing an AK with a long barrel with an MG 42 is, in my opinion, a little optimistic and not very correct, and changing the barrel on it is just a couple of trifles if you have a spare and a special glove available.

[agond]

MG-42 can create a certain density of fire in a certain area due to the high rate of fire and tape feed, and RPK-74 can create a high density of fire in the area of ​​one point target, and if there is MG at this point, then there is a real chance to suppress it

[Luty]

There is always a chance, but there is a very different weight category and density of fire. I respect your opinion, but let me be quiet.

[agond]

The density of fire is determined by the number of hits per unit of area per unit of time, for example, a sniper at some distance hits the target the first time, and a machine gun at this distance only after two dozen, which means the rifle turns out to be, as it were, "denser", but this does not mean that it is better or worse

[Luty]

I don’t mind that. I even assume that having a good command of the PKK you can compete with MG 42. But these are slightly different samples. But the PKK 74 versus MG 3 - it looks a little differently, although the difference is greater in the generation.

[agond]

Quote: Luty

I even assume that having a good command of the PKK, you can compete with MG 42

This was one of the reasons for its creation, and in general it makes sense to continue working in the direction of light "high-density machine guns", chambered for 5.45x39, try the option with a short barrel stroke and the option with a free breechblock.

[Luty]

Or maybe reanimate RPD at 7.62x39? Something to disbelieve that now they can create something revolutionary)))))

[agond]

7.62x39 is an increase in power, as a result of an increase in dispersion, and the task must be solved due to the density of fire, which can and should be achieved through a low-impulse cartridge, in this regard, 5.45x39 has more possibilities than any other.

[Luty]

In theory, everything is like that. But in life, the RPK was replaced by Pecheneg, at least in the MP

[agond]

If we accept for granted that the cartridge is primary, and the weapon is secondary, the cartridge is the nail on which everything hangs, and 5.45x39 it was, is, and we must think it will not be the last
,

[Luty]

What, then, do the "dear partners" want to increase the caliber of the infantry assault cartridge? No funds. So only 7.62x39 will save.

[agond]

Are they stupid or want to provoke us into stupidity, so that we would be led .... the very phrase "assault cartridge" is stupid, it means that there must be some other, obviously "non-assault", such as "defensive"

[Luty]

I can’t agree with you that this is nonsense. Rather, these are other possibilities. (We have no "means" and we still live with a 7.62x51 with a cartridge that is outdated after the Second World War). It was stupid to switch to 5.45. Well, whoever has what opportunities.

[agond]

Quote: Luty

The stupidity was to switch to 5.45.

5.45 cannot be called stupid, and then, for example, in hunting since the days of flintlock rifles, fishers have always respected small calibers, and in the Caucasus they respected light checkers up to 450g and in the ancient instructions on archery they strongly recommended not to chase after tight bows, arguing at the same time, that it is better to hit the target from the weak than not to hit the strong, and this is true. as long as a low-impulse cartridge has a high probability of being hit in automatic mode, it will be better than any more powerful one.,

[Luty]

You and I have several different points of view. For me, automatic fire is possible either on a group target or when it is necessary to break contact and crush the enemy for this (suppress) Ie, in exceptional cases .. And so this is money down the drain. (bullets)))))

[agond]

Of course, automatic fire is possible for different purposes, but the main reason for its use is to increase the likelihood of hitting a point target, for example, a hunter cannot hit from a small ball and shoots a shot at one duck, and an anti-aircraft gunner cannot hit the plane with one shot and shoots from an awl bursts of four barrels at once, one aircraft at a time, and creating high densities of fire in squares is an unusual task for hand-held weapons

[Luty]

We compensate for the shortcomings of accuracy by density. This may be the case therefore +. But this is not my method)))