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Weapons · Germany · 1942-1945

MG 42

general-purpose machine gun

Designed to be cheaper and faster to produce than the MG 34 using stamped sheet metal, its blistering rate of fire earned it the Allied nickname 'Hitler's buzzsaw' for the distinctive ripping-cloth sound of its burst; its design influenced postwar machine guns for decades.

Wikipedia

caliber7.92x57mm Mauser
rate of fire1,200-1,500 rpm
weight11.6 kg
produced~400,000

Western Europe, Eastern Front, Balkans, Mediterranean and North Africa

Maschinengewehr MG 42
Maschinengewehr MG 42Phanatic · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
The MG 42 machine gun mounted on the Lafette 42 tripod with an optical sight mounted to the Zielfernrohrhalter (optical sight mounting bracket) on the tripod. This setup was used to enable the MG 42 for long-range direct
The MG 42 machine gun mounted on the Lafette 42 tripod with an optical sight mounted to the Zielfernrohrhalter (optical sight mounting bracket) on the tripod. This setup was used to enable the MG 42 for long-range directAndrew Bossi · CC BY-SA 2.5 · source
Swiss Army. 7.5mm MG 51 cutaway. Swiss Army Museum.
Swiss Army. 7.5mm MG 51 cutaway. Swiss Army Museum.Wikimedia Commons user TheBernFiles. · Public domain · source