Shooting the MG-34 and MG-42
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- Опубликовано: 10 май 2014
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The MG-34 and MG-42 machine guns were the mainstay of German infantry (and vehicle) firepower during World War II, and it will take several videos to properly cover them. For now, we are shooting them both, and explaining how to load, unload, and operate them (including changing barrels on the MG42). Enjoy!
My Dad was a platoon commander with the 101st who was nailed by a MG42 in Normandy. He survived but without the use of his right leg. All of this worked out well for me because he met my mother during his years in various hospitals. I literally owe my existence to a MG42.
😁
Dont ou owe your existence to the Serbian person who assasinated crown Prince of Austria Hungary empire...🤔?
@@maverickkanav you’re thinking of ww1 bro, ww2 is usually stated that it started after hitler invaded Poland in September of 1939
@@maverickkanav If you look at it like that, I suppose we all do but by that logic we all owe our existence to Alexander the Great.
Well your family got a great story to tell for the horror of that experience, that's the best possible outcome :)
Nice of him to film this with WWII in the background for historical accuracy.
LMAO
😂😂
I paused the video but the background sounds are still playing
@@thebigfunnycenter that joke is so overused
roflmao
US Army Training film: “Remember, the MG-42’s bark is worse than its bite. Its higher rate of fire means its less accurate especially at range. Our own machine guns like the M1919, though a lower rate of fire, are a lot more accurate.”
20 Year Olds on the Beaches and fields of Normandy: So that was a fucking lie
When your NCO gets dinked by a 3 round burst from an MG 1000 yards away:
“Why the fuck you lyin”
Yeah good ole American propaganda. My Pa served from 39-46 in the Canadian Army in Europe and he stated that "Hitler, s Buzzsaw" or just the "saw" was the most terrifying weapon in the German arsenal. It not only physically chewed up soldiers it had far worse effects on the moral and took a huge emotional and mental toll as well . Dad said that when the first few rounds went out everybody dropped and lot of the times after the weapon had be taken out some troops refused to move dad said you go to their position and they would be curled up shaking , clutching their weapon, s their faces were either white or gray.
The weapon caused panic in all allied armies. The high rate of fire sliced through the bodies. Instructional films were created depreciating the MG42 by the American army at the time so that soldiers would lose their fear of the weapon. Interestingly, this was not made public during the war as it favored the enemy. And the silence continued for decades to come. Although we do not have photos of these mutilations, one can imagine what they were like if we remember the episode of the public execution of hostages in Bohemia and Moravia in reprisal for the deaths of German soldiers by communist partisan guerrillas in that territory. The Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Heydrich invited Himmler, head of the SS, to watch the execution by machine-gun fire. The MG42 ripped off pieces of the hostages' bodies and some remained standing for seconds without arms, and with huge chunks of flesh ripped off. Himmler became ill and had to withdraw from the ceremony. So a mere instructional film would not convince the soldiers of what they were seeing happening before their eyes.
accuracy depends more of the skill of the gunner and less of the gun
The only good weapons the GI had was his M1 Garand and M1 Carbine, anything else was kinda subpar to German equipment as far as machine guns were concerned.
My grandpa (Pionier in a Gebirgsjäger Division) explained me like this: a MG team was 3 Soldiers, the Gunner, the Barrel Handler and the Ammonition Bearer. The Barrel Handler had thick there gloves and changed the barrels. Each MG42 had 3 barrels in the field. in position the BH was right of the gunner. And had to make sure the barrels cool down dry, as get damaged being could too fast in mud or water. The ammo bearer had to takecare that the belts are always. Changing barrels was done in less than 5 sec by a good team.
In other words, the MG can not work in the raining day ?
You wrong buddy, mg schuetze und munitions Traeger, no barrel handler, what you talking about 😁😁
Mg schuetze was barrel changer, less than 5 seconds 😁😁
@@user-mz8dx4ms2m Oh yes it can .
@@GK-oj3vk Yeah, you probably know it better than an actual german WWII vet. Du Pappnase!
The MG42 looks 75 years later still like a weapon developed last year.
75 years later. Still amazing
Absolutely nailed it!
still in use to this day
really, when i first saw it it thougt "man this looks like its from ww1", but it really shoots exceptionel good
Germany still manufacturers a gun similar to the Mg-42 called the Mg-3
Allies: *Exists*
MG34: Prepare For Trouble
MG42: And Make It Double
Lol 😂😂😂
The MG42 somehow got meaner looking. Bless German engineering
@@saintpoli6800 *cough*panzershreck*cough*
Allies: *Exist*
@@Zackislivid are you saying the panzershreck is ugly? Because whilst I agree that its not a looker. I still think it's a damn sight better engineered than the bazooka the americans were using at the time 😂
"This safer bolt reduces the rpm down to 950"
Still sounds terrifying. I would have wanted to hear the original 1500 rpm.
Germany when developing weapons-I like what I see Friedrich, but can it shoot faster/have a bigger cannon?
Basically an A-10 Warthog but in your hands
Put the video x1.25
The original was so fast it sounded like the tearing of cloth as one no longer heard the individual bullets fired hence the yanks called it Hitler's buzz saw. . It had a great effect on moral on the other side as they kept their heads down more often then advancing
It was way too fast. The idea was that engagements was very short (measured in seconds) when you could see your enemy. Hence, you wanted as many bullets on target in those precious seconds. However, as mentioned in many interviews, it chewed through ammo way too fast which was a huge problem especially on the eastern front with more or less non functional supply lines.
It did however lay the foundation for the modern GPMG such as the FN MAG which more or less is a copy with some modifications.
“this things really impressive, goes through ammo fast, goes through barrels fast, and goes through people fast” the slogan for the MG42
Well the US Army did a video for the MG-42 to teach them that the "bark of the MG-42 is worse than it's bite" just to get them confident enough to actually attack MG-42 nests.
The barrel change system on the 42 is incredible.
Tyler Clark You would have to do that anyways
Yes it is. I know because I have one.
SOCOM Gaming that's why it wasn't a one man weapon
How would you not totally burn your hand changing out the barrel? I never understood that. Did they wear a special glove during barrel changing?
It was an asbestic pad with the barrel container.
MG-42 is so impressive and way ahead of its time!
Average Gamer When you consider its successor the almost identical MG3 is still used and in service among several modern military branches😂😂
The MG-42 was up untill 2016 a standard part of the danish military :P It was part of several tours to afghanistan before it got replaced. Stories go that the shooters having to carry this gun around for 6 months straight, became 3 centimeters smaller XD Having shot it myself, I can pretty much say that single fire was near impossible without extensive training !
The improved variant of the MG42 is still being used by the Pakistani military,and in fact even the Germans recommission this weapon
And that’s why it’s still being used
Average Gamer it was also used in the Yugoslavian war which was in the late 80’s
Hi Ian, I was in a German maintenance Bataillon for 3 years. We repaired the MG3, which followed the MG42. By changing the recoil feather and using a ligther bolt, we managed to bring it to 1900 rounds/minute. Once we had to much Ammo left at the shooting range and we used about 10 modified in Schwabo as Lawn mowers. It worked very well, the grass was cut well and we had less paperwork to return unused Ammo. I was there as an Instructor and it still is my preferred weapon.
My guy, there’s no reason to have 2000 rpm machine gun. But I love it.
@@leafgreensniper13 Well, it doesnt apply to the mg42, but there actually is use for guns like that when talking about aircraft^^.
Copy paste much?
Well guys, the German Army MG Gunner has 2 bolts and recoil feathers. The first bolt weights around 450 gramms and the second 300 gramms. The second feathers is stiffer as well. That's all you need, in addition to some more spare barrels.
@@berndhill6564No he doesn't. Heavier bolts do exist, but the German army doesn't use them. In the field they'll only ever have the faster set, including the spare bolt. It's only other armies like Austria for example who use the heavier, slower bolts.
2:51 I just love how he stops when the guy in the background keeps on shooting.
??
😂😂😂
Hey , can’t you keep it down I’m filming.
Gun's loaded AAAAAAAAAAAND it's gone.
Ha ha ha.
Its all gone.. your money is gone.
“Goes through Ammunition fast, Goes through spare barrels fast” *yes and it also goes through a large wave of soviets pretty fast too*
Soviets: When one of you dies, the other picks up the rifle and shoots!
Germans: brrrrrattt
Soviets:
This explains why the casualties are in the millions 🙄😁
ppsh: am i a joke to you?
@@Tacdelio you mean the ppsh of my comrade? I just have a shovel :(
Derek aka Derek *cough* joke *cough*
love that gun, it is still used in active service here in Denmark and it really is a fantastic piece of engineering
Det er så bare en MG3 ikke MG42.
@@nikolajc7617MG3 is basically an MG42 version 2.0.
Excellent presentation of the MG-34 and MG-42. I’ve fired the MG-42, but it was converted to 7.62 NATO and had the “slow” bolt. I was told that the MG-42 team (gunner and barrel changer) could remove and replace the barrel in 4 seconds. The barrel changer wore mitts. To reduce the frequency of barrel changes, only short bursts of full-auto was used - maybe 36 rounds or so. It’s fast! The MG-34, though - that is a thing of beauty!
I love how one propaganda film said "the MG-42 may fire faster than the Browning but it's not as accurate".
Sure pal, when a belt fed machine gun fires 20 rounds per second accuracy is a very big concern.
@@Red-jl7jj I'm sure the american riflemen getting shot at with MG 42s were really relieved to know that in a couple months the germans will eventually run out of ammo...
Nailed it. XD
@@Askorti look at who has the victory not the losses
@@Red-jl7jj While Germany had some extremely critical supply shortages like rubber, oil/fuel and rare minerals, the production of ammunition for anti-personnel weapons was never a problem for the Germans during WWII as the ressources required were abundantly available. So good luck with that one. :D
@@Red-jl7jj Please don´t patronize me that way, I was just stating the production situation. So maybe you learn how to read properly. And you seem to be unaware that most of the bulk handling in supplying the German fronts was done by railway and horse-drawn carriages which was moderately sufficient as Germany was fighting mostly in a defensive stance from 1943 onward. German offensives in the same time on the other hand were primarily hampered by a lack of fuel, not ammunition (not saying that the lack of fuel did not create occasional ammunition shortages).
The MG-42 isn't forgotten! German Bundeswehr is still using it. They just renamed it to MG-3 and lowerd the rate of fire, france can sleep well at night x)
and they use NATO ammunition instead
there are even ones in the Bundeswehr, where 42 is still engraved in he side X-ed out and a 3 engraving next to it
Gračznya Bosákov a little copper wire and a little filing is enough to get faster
Poor Germans will always be under the heel of the United States now
They replaced it now with the MG5 it has now a scope and a 'Sturmgriff' the Sturmgriff is in case u are close to an enemy u can shoot while standing. It also has an adjustable rate of fire. u can choose from 640 RPM, 720 RPM and 800 RPM
Almost 100 years later and the MG42 is still an amazing piece of machinery.
Wrong a 1000 years later
@@sikhombisamakhanya3961you aint doin math youre doing meth lmao
I love how he treats all of these like tutorials for our own machineguns and miniguns
Ian : "German machine gun that brought..."
Random gunfire : Brrrrr!
Ian : "it never..."
Gunfire again : Brrrrrrr!
Lol
Bunch of other people out there shooting youtube videos on machineguns I guess
...
Ian pulls trigger and makes: "Bzzzzzzzz... Bzzzzzzzzz"
Random operators: WTF!!! Mommyyyyyyyy!
Ian: trying to talk about the gun.
Guy in the background: haha machine gun go brrrr
And I thought he would shout "Cease fire! Cease fire!"
I don't think the MG 42 can be called a forgotten weapon :)
If you dont know what forgotten means..
+quineloe The German army still to this day uses the MG42 in its current state
+quineloe Agreed, but do you blame the host for not passing up an opportunity to shoot one?
+quineloe browning machine gun also :)
+TheSchuetzeP I found your comments interesting regarding the MG 42 and the MG 3. Whilst you say the MG 42 is no longer in use (presumably you are referring to the German Army) it would seem the new weapon is really just a major revamp on the original. That says plenty for the genius design of the both the MG 34 and MG 42.
You can really see how having a battle buddy, assistant, or friend to help feed the belt when Ian tries to shoot out of an ammo can, is really important.
As I was trained shooting the mg3 (42) we were told to ram the tripod to the ground and push your weight into it. Also try to shot only short bursts. This improves the accuracy a lot,.
Mg34: "ill have her home by 8 sir"
Mg42 "your daughter calls me fuhrer"
You misspelled the fuck out of that
What the fuck is Furhur
@@axelNodvon2047 Nongermans aren't able to find the "ü" for "Führer" on their inferior keyboards.
@@danielexe6050 You could have atleast spelled it correctly
@@axelNodvon2047 Führer is the correct german word for a person who is leading a group or in Nazideutschland for Adolf Hitler. so what do you think is wrong?
"hold it down!" "it's a machine gun!" "..machine gun!" 😀
Haha OK! :D *Brrrrrrrrrrrr*
ERIKA
Hehe Okeh
Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein
@@butter7240 Und das heiß
@Frank Castle "Nazi Germany music" You make it sound like it's their main theme or something.
What an awesome weapon. Simple to use, looks easy to maintain, and a quick barrel change to boot.
The MG 42 is my favorite German weapon and the ingenuity that went into the weapon is incredible from the easy barrel change to the high cyclic rate.
What annoys me about these guns is that there's never a recording of what they sound like fired from far away, as Allied soldiers would've heard them
No recording will ever really do gunfire justice... Gunfire by it's nature is louder than anything a speaker can reproduce, both mechanically and safely.
It will produce a terrifying sound of 1200 rpm cracking over your head, combined with the *thump* and smacks of bullets hitting dirt / nearby objects... US propaganda about the weapon was a desperate attempt at underplaying the effectiveness of the weapon.
Being a machinegunner myself and having fired the modern version, it is a terrifyingly effective weapon... A stream of lead which is actually easier to control than other MG's with half the firerate. The constant push of the MG3, results in a pretty managable recoil - which would only have made it that more effective.
that is because, if you were on the "receiving" side, you pissed your pants an ran.... I mean, you need to be totally nuts to even try move towards the angle of one of these.... *shivers*
Band of Brothers has one
i lived near a trainign ground of the german army and the noise of the mg 3 is nearly the same - just terrifying
@@Martinlegend woah you live that close that you can hear the gun shots??? I live close to marine base camp pedleton and some times my windows bounce and shake from the bombs they drop.
2:51 that bit had me laughing...
Sound of freedom
Sounded like a 50 cal.?
@@MrTruckerf i wouldnt think so, bit of high fire rate
*PTSD COMMENCES*
i could imagine him saying "anyway, before i was so rudely interrupted"
The amount of intelligence and engineering of these designers is just incredible. Now if only they had used that knowledge for the betterment of humanity.
Something many people might not know, the MG42 is theoretically still in service in the Bundeswehr, but as the NATO 7.62x51 chambered version, called MG3.
While it was "only" produced until '77, they are still being used, albeit not for the long future, as they are slowly replaced by the MG4 and MG5.
Maybe we will see the MG7 or MG8 at the time they are completely out of service, as the replacement is very, VERY slow.
I remember a comment from my father, who fought in the Algeria war (1954-1962) during his military service. The guerillas had some of these and my father told me the noise of these was like a giant zipper being opened or close. One couldn't hear the individual shots at all, one continuous stream.
Hey, if you notice this would you please let me know in which region or Wilaya your father serviced ?
So I think he said this specific one fires about 900 rounds per minute but if you speed the video up by 1.25 you'll get fairly close to 1200 rounds per minutes. Sends a chill down your back to hear it.
@@salahhambli3064 My father mentioned Oran and Palestro. That's all I know. He is deceased now.
They were called hitlers buzzsaw from what I recall for their noise.
At 1200 rpm, the MG42 would be audible as a +180dB 20hz tone, being the lower limit of a human's audible frequency range, the sensation must have been awe inspiring.
in field maneuver we had to change the barrel within 2 seconds and had to carry 5 spare barrels per MG-troop, to let them cool down in long gunfights. It was no problem to shoot right through 20cm thick ferro concrete walls with this puppy. Greetings from a retired Austrian Jäger (Jäger-Regiment II)
How would you know the barrel needed changing please?
@@3vimages471 Very Easy, One Belt 50 Rounds, so after the third Belt, Barrel Change
We only had one spare and pissed on them to cool them faster.... Haha.. Good times at the Fallschirmjäger.
@ well yeah man, as long as the metal gets hot it gets softer and expands. As long as it doesnt get hot enough to damage it, it'll be fine in a bit. Even 60 rounds through my ar 15 in 20 minutes leaves it warm for an hour, but afterwards its good to go. And it could withstand much much more if I ever needed it too.
@ The barrel isnt destroyed unless you leave it in way too long, which is very rare and only happens in dire situations. The barrel is supposed to be changed every 150 rounds, but can do 250. Any longer then that can ruin the barrel
After Stalingrad battle, local kids collected a lot of MGs like this one around the city to recycle metal. I know that, because I live in Volgograd, former Stalingrad.
После Сталинградской битвы местные ребятишки собрали много таких пулеметов на металлолом (переплавку). Знаю, потому что живу здесь, в Волгограде.
Почему на переплавку, а не для использования?
Кстати в дремучих лесах Беларуси по-прежнему хранятся ленты от этих машин
just amazing machine guns both mg-34 & mg 42 crazy fast rate! just a great design. especially with
the barrel replacement from behind!
"Dad why is my sister's name Rosa?"
"Because you mother loves roses"
"Thanks dad"
"No problem Maschinengewehr 42"
stolen from another video
@@reaction9918 This joke is way older than RUclips
@@Favourites669 but what i mean was like not the format but it was about mg42 tho
@@reaction9918 doesnt make sense
@@levelovixor it was literally the same comment but in another video about the MG42
I saw one of the US Army training films for GI's going over to Europe. When the brrrrrrup sound of the MG 42 is heard, the narrator says, "That's the sound of the notorious German MG 42. Sounds bad, right? Don't worry. It's bark is worse than it's bite". LIAR.
Saw that too, my god how wrong they were. That mg42 is absolute beast with that satanic rate of fire. German weapon engineering at its finest.
I've seen that film too, it was more of a way of helping GIs not worry as much about the enemies weaponry. Make you more confident in your own.
Understandable at the time BUT .........Ah!!
Knowing the truth, I, for one, could not have told those young, innocent men such a deadly lie,
+Adrian Larkins meh, I don't think any of them were stupid enough to think that it was safe to approach one, but hopefully it reassured them a little so that they could do their job rather than freeze in panic, which is just as likely to get them killed in the long run.
If you hear the burst it means you're not the one being shot at. It's when the angry swarm of hornets come that you have to get worried.
Used it's 7.62 nato brother the MG3 all throughout my service from 1995 to 2003. That it's still in somewhat use tells you how good it was/is.
Been subscribed for years now way back with 100k subscribers and Ian is so good at what he does. Very historically accurate.
Maxim: dunk dunk dunk dunk dunk dunk
Mg42: DRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
It sounds absolutely terrifying
Chauchat: DUNK. DUNK. DUNK
Maxim dun kdunk dunk dunk dunk dunk
Mg34 br r r r r r r r r r r r r
Mg42 BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
The US troops would be terrified when they heard the 42s in the fields that rate of fire was a chain saw ! They called then Hitlers Buzz saw !
Gun Jesus mowing down the allied troops landing at Normandy (1944 colorized)
Imagineif the tankunits were present as should have been
r/underratedcomments
@@benjermanvanderburg5864 Let's be honest.... Thousands more (maybe even over a million) would have died, but realistically, the navy would have just poured more shells in, and the beachheads would have eventually solidified a front.
The blockade/bubble that Montgomery wanted desperately to push out off would have been tiny at the beginning too. The bridges and keypoints paratroops went to hold, would have mostly been taken back. Brave as they may have been, they weren't going to hold out indefinitely. The front simply wouldn't have go to them in time to reinforce them.
The U-boats heading for the channel would have had more time too.
But Germany didn't have the steel, oil, or allies by then. Italy had capitulated, and try as they did, the synthetic oil they were making was still not good enough to fuel the entire Arme. Engine damage was higher too.
Perhaps, the German scientists involved with the atomic bomb, might have found the answer, dispite the lead scientist delaying as much as he could.
The war would have been far longer, Britain would have been in far bigger financial problems. My Irish government would have sat in denial for longer... (we called it the "crisis"), and I'm realising this has got super long....
Some of the landings would have been a catastrophic failure in relation to costs is the answer. But the Nazi party would have lost none the less.
Yes poor Americans who died there. With 2 barrels this gun wasn't stopping firing the whole time. On both sides died a lot of good men. Thanks to you America and Russia that you took care about the Austrian painter.
@Baxter James .......silly? hardly
I really love how as the bullet exits the barrel and pulls the dirt up with it looks spectacular 😊😊😊
Excellent explanation, this video is very useful for my work, since I have to carry out a mechanical and operational review of the MG45, which we are in charge of, Thank you.
press the MG42 forward against the bipod, it has to be fixed between your forward pressing shoulder and the bipod.
Best regards from a german ex paratrooper.
exactly my thinking when seeing this.
Kamerad, you are NEVER an "ex-paratrooper", you are a retired or an "on standby" paratrooper
There's no "german paratrooper". It's Fallschirmjäger. Any paras will know it, anyone who doesn't is undeserving of explanation. ;)
Away and play with your water pistols,and your 3 years old selves.
@@christiankohlhaas6273 dont be an ass
At the age of 18 I got to fire the MG42 in 1966 in Fulda, Germany during a German American exchange while stationed in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. Glad I keep the B&W photos I took then, they didn't mean much till years later. I still have my Bronze German Armed Forces Badge for Weapon Proficiency. The MG3 is identical in operation to the MG42 and uses the same recoil-operated, roller-locked action. At 23 pounds, the MG3 is slightly lighter than the MG42
Realy?
Haha, thats my hometown. Greetings from Germany :)
And the US persisted with the WWII 0.3 browning then moved to another inferior weapon the M60. Lunacy.
@@pittiplatsch9635 Till recently the MG5 gets adopted as the new multipurpose MG of the Bundeswehr. But before they used the MG3 and its practically the same gun as the MG42. Some soldiers say you can see the part were they scrape of the Reichsadler from converted guns.
There's a range near me that has one. Last I checked it was getting service done, but I really wanna try it.
Always amazes me how such a clumsy, wobbly and bulky feeding system can work so well. Awesome engineering for then and right till now
Even after all these years the MG42 is still terrifying
My grandfather was an infantry company commander in WW2 and still complained to me as a boy how much ammo he had to organize to feed the MG42s of his platoons. A formidable weapon though - I later qualified as Expert with it in my service days (like with G3, Uzi and Pistol) serving as a "Panzergrenadier". 4. PzGrenBtl 73 a fine unit... :-)
Oink Spanie Dran drauf drüber ✌️
Er ist kein Mensch, er ist kein Tier, er ist ein Panzergrenadier. x_x I remember learning to field strip the MG3 about a month into my basic training. We'd had one of the first frosts of the year, so there I was, lying in the hoarfrosted grass at around 6:50 in the morning, fumbling away and being generally cold and miserable. I am small, so reaching the muzzle brake was a bloody stretch, and screwing it on was not easy. The bloody thing kept falling out of my frozen fingers; around the 3rd or 4th time of that happening, I suddenly remembered that it was my birthday. Happy days when you are miserable, cold, and have forgotten your own birthday.
I never managed to get a pass shooting it, as we were supposed to engage 3 targets out of 8, with 10 (?) rounds of ammo, and I always, ALWAYS, was so confuddled that I engaged the first target, then the second, and then had run out of ammo or switched back to the first target or completely missed with my last burst.
2. PzGrenBtl 81 ;) and proud of being one of them! I love the G3, better, more powerful than modern rifles like the G36. :) My grandfather was Fallschirmjäger! 👍
Alex K my great grandfather too! He had to fight in Africa
@@mysteriousx3127 yes, my grandfather was in africa, too!
Imagine going to a casual local gun range and a guy shows up with this lmao
Only on America 😅
Thank you so much for the high quality and illustrative material!
My grandfather knew the sound of the MG-34/42 pretty well. He stormed Juno beach with the North Nova Scotia highlanders on D-Day in June of 1944 supported by the 27th Armoured Regiment. RiP A great man with a great sense of humor.
Some NATO members still use "Hitler's buzzsaw" to this day
Fine German engineering
Many do, though with a slightly modified locking assembly reducing the during rate and of course NATO calibre 7.62 rather than 7.92mm. Many were relabeled, we even had some with pre-1945 proofing markings in our unit in 1996.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3AMG42_zu_MG3_umgelabelt.jpg
The MG42 isn't in use by anyone but the German Army and not in 7.92 X 57, but 7.62 X 51.
@Bob I'm aware. I earned my British and Geman wings in the mid 80's not to mention German weapons qualifification. The cyclic rate has been slowed down as well as the caliber being the 7.62 x 51 Vs. the 7.92 x 57. Certainly a great design and the feed tray the basis for many modern squad type weapons.
@@mustardstain504d6 It's being replaced in the German army right now. The "boring, but sensible" MG5 will be the iron/plastic that'll replace the absolutely wild MG3/MG42. It's like "lawful good" replacing "chaotic good" (if you have ever fired an MG3 and then taken a look at your shoulder, you'll know what I mean). The MG5's RoF is pretty much half of the MG3's - around 640 RPM (adjustable up to 800), which is less than the G36 standard issue rifle.
The MG3 has around 1150 RPM +/- 50. The problem with the MG3 is simply the ammo consumption and the overheating of the barrel as well as it being just outdated. The MG5 has all those fancy Picantinny Rails and is delivered with a 4x optical scope (not entirely sure on the magnification). Oh, and for a reason I haven't been able to fathom yet, they all come in tan color, which is great for missions on desert/steppe terrain, but considering Germany doesn't exactly have that terrain and the Bundeswehr supposedly being a defense-focused military, it seems sub-optimal.
@@hunter_0221 I have fired the majority of nato service weapons. The 240 bravo filling the role of the M60 in U.S. service. I agree that hot barrels quickly become an issue is sustained fire. The metallurgy and barrel linings improving them somewhat don't alleviate the issue. Owning several HK weapons the reliance of polymers concerns me.
Yep. The poor guys on the Normandy beach had to deal with 1200 rounds per minute coming at them.
Dans la MG 42 ilya des versions à 1800 coup à la minute
And there were hundreds of mg42s
Mg 42 have 1500 per Minute 700m range 1800ammo
@@feli_400 vérifié bien je né pas inventé de ma tête quelques versions de la MG42 ont atteints 1800 cpm
@White Working Class Pride What countries are you talking about communism fell last century?
The North Vietnamese used the MG-42 in the Vietnam War. The Soviet Union had a stockpile of MG-42s that had been collected during and after the Second World War, and then gave these to the NVA as part of their support for the Communists. Some older officers who had been in the Second World War and later Vietnam said that they immediately recognized it's sound.
Really great demonstration of the MG34 and the MG42.
I wish someone would make a video of what the MG-42 sounds like from 150 yards away. My grandfather used the MG-42 in WWII and he told me that anyone that came up his way would stay ducked behind cover for Hours simply because you had no idea how far the MG-42 was and the sound was absolutely terrifying so they would wait for night fall and either storm your position or fall back.
***** Shermans were pretty good to have on hand for times like that. All that ammunition from the MG-42 would give a smoke, and if the infantry could spot it, the phone on the back of the M-4 Sherman could be used to direct fire into the MG nest. The 75mm gun of the Sherman fired the same ammunition as the French 75mm howitzer from WWI.
DonMeaker MG42 positions were often accompanied by either a 88MM anti tank gun, a Panzer or a Tiger. My grandfathers unit had both a 88 and a Panzer VI B with them, One of the first off the production lines too. Not to mention Tanks were deployed to meet tanks in WWII and Sherman commanders often said that if they heard anything about a Panzer VI they avoided the area completely. and even if they didn't have an 88 or a panzer with their unit they always had someone with binoculars and a Panzerfaust. My grandfather has told me stories that gave me Nightmares when I was a kid. He was on a MG42 from 1940 to 1944 when he defected. And he only told me about 1 story involving a Sherman. And I remember it because he told me about the men crawling out of it on fire and his troop commander telling him not to shoot them.
*****
The Sherman had TNT rounds which burned when hit. Later wet storage made them more robust, and gave the crew a chance to get out. German and Russian tanks used PETN explosive which detonated when hit. The P-47 would shower the Panther roof with .50 caliber bullets, and Whumpf, the turret would pop off when the rounds exploded. Rockets were also used with success. German soldiers learned to greet each other with the German glance "Der Deutches Blick" scanning the skys for the dreaded US or GB Jabos.
Then we can talk about the US artillery, equipped with air burst variable time fuses, conducting multi battalion time on target missions. After that, there wouldn't be any 88mm gunners left alive. No warning given by adjusting fire. The few wounded Germans left alive were normally evacuated and their wounds treated by the Americans.
DonMeaker Panzer VI B isn't the run of the mill panzer. Panzer VI B was known as the King Tiger. or the Tiger II ive heard of 90MM shells bouncing off of them.
*****
In the Bulge, Peiper took 5000 some odd men through US lines, having to fight their way through because the German infantry hadn't accomplished their mission of opening a hole. He had some of those King Tigers with him. He actually led with Pz IVs, because the Tigers used too much fuel. After murdering some POWs as Malmedy, and hundreds of Belgian civilians along the way, he got blocked when Combat Engineers cut the bridges he needed, and shelled to the point of being combat ineffective. He ran, only bringing 500 of his men got out. His men, wounded, treated by the US medical corps, and captured were only too willing to rat him out.
Although the war crimes trial wouldn't accept their evidence, there was a happy ending when he was shot by persons unknown while living in France. He was too unpopular to live in Germany. (or France, it would seem....)
I cant believe the Nazi's stole this gun from Star Wars.
Good one :D
And the C96
And they used the British SMG
@@peterking2651 they not only used the british smg , they even improved and produced it at the end of the war cause it was very cheap
@@leeroyjenkins2822 He means Star Wars used the SMG, not the Germans!
The MG-42 in slightly revised form is still in use as the MG-3 in Germany today. Most of the spare parts are interchangable and you will still find boxes with MG42 insignia in armouries.
The way the barrel pops out is so interesting. Seems like a simple idea but to make it reality is cool.
I remember an old guy who was telling me that when he was in Flanders, he wasn't scared of much, never had been really scared of anything in his life. But the only thing that ever put fear into his heart, and still did to that day, was the sound of an MG-42 firing.
By all means correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the fighting in Flanders was primarily in WW1. I know that Belgium was liberated by the allies before the end of the war, and at some point there must have been fighting in Flanders, but not to the same extent.
Yea, he was in WWI and WWII, he was saying that for most of the other guys who were in both wars, Flanders was the worst moment. Sorry, should have put it into context.
I'm calling your bluff, Dick Fageroni. Show me the launch codes.
4:44 I think we can all agree that the sound right here is beautiful
WHEN YOU HEAR IT YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD! THAT WEAPON WILL PUT THE FEAR INTO ANY MAN .
I think I need new shorts.
@@stevehenrichs5091 nonsense? ... i'll take the heinie nest out wif me trusty entrenchmint tool!
as long as you are listening from Behind it ;-)
Ive used it.
Not for killing humans obviously.
I used some of Ian’s machine gun shooting techniques in video games actually worked quite well for suppressing fire.
Qué buena explicación y detalle del arma al ser maniobrada. Buen vídeo.
Its amazing how technology progressed in 20 years going from ww1 into ww2.
Sadly enough, war usually is what makes technology development evolve faster.
DreadlockWalrus One of the good parts of war. Think about how far behind we would be technologically without the insane war machines creating all sorts of new developments and technologies.
Creature Plays Games Without all these government project we wouldn't have had PC's, jet planes, mobile radios and wireless connections.
Vadim Kavecsky some of man's greatest discoveries and inventions were discovered and invented because of the wars...
Which shouldn't stay like this. Personally I would like to live in a world where discoveries and research are done because of the thirst for more knowledge.
Oh, and one fun fact. In the Bundeswehr in Germany they still using the barrels of the MG42s for their MG3s. Just crossed the "MG42" out. Done is the new barrel :D
"Went through bullets fast, went through barrels fast and went through people even faster" hahaha
Hahahaha
If you could manage to hit something with it... there's stories where a guy just lays in a field with an mg42 firing at him and only him and not hitting him with a full belt lol
@@mrcroob8563 truth be told a machine gun's job is suppression. Artillery and grenades finish the job.
@@mrcroob8563 there are also stories of mgs being too accurate and therefore useless since ur only shooting at one place at a time, it's meant to rain bullets
@@saftslukare5093 that would be the Bren from memory
Advise: the MG42 bypod is made to so you can push the MG forward with your shoulder before shooting. That allows a more stable shooting. You can fire a 20 ammo burst wihtout missing the center of the target at 400m
One of the best videos for information and demonstration. Great job
"Time to Change the Barrel has to be 4 Seconds" That was told in the Basic Training in the Bundeswehr.
So how many spare barrels did they carry along with them ?
@@059echo you change it after 250 rounds if I remember right. the time you are allowed to change the barrel is 4 seconds. They carry two barrels, one active and one cooling. There are legends that during WW2 they used to piss on the barrel to cool it.
We have 1 spare tube with us and the tube change is carried out after 100 rounds of maneuver or 150 rounds of combat ammunition. And 4 sec. switching is realistic, but we make it work so that it works afterwards. what use 4sec. if the tube exchange flap breaks due to hectic pace. Don't forget the pipe is hot. .we usually cool it down in water, does no harm 👌 if possible we cool it with water, then we save ourselves the change, was no different in the war 🤣
@@SergejScheit thanks for that info Serge and Matthias .It is the first time I have heard the explanation of one cooling while one was being used. I always assumed the barrel was worn out like an artillery tube and was discarded
@@SergejScheit Any info on whether they used to throw water in front of the machinegun so it doesn't throw dust up into the air and reveal the position?
I bet many allied soldiers rightfully pissed their pants when they heard a 42 going off in the distance.
What a beast of a gun... Just terrifying.
FYI: the ammo chain has an approx 15cm latch at the first that you stick through the feeder from the left and pull out from the right, so there is no need to open the feeder to reload.
I'm glad to see this video still up in 2023, plus the old intro was enjoyable!
At 6:53 I think I heard sound like some kind of high speed fragment flew pass around their position. hahaha
PHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEWWWWWWW
Thats remember me CS 1.6 😂
I heard it also!
Listen at 5:18
@@coburna5 sounds like a guy saying wooooo
I wanna go to whatever range you're at. Sounds like there's all kinds of people having full-auto fun haha
The Big Sandy Shoot. Atleast 4 people there have MG42's.
As I served in the German Bundeswehr from 1990-92, I learned to shoot the MG3, a slightly modified version of the MG42. My personal gun was an MG3 with an original WWII MG42 Body with the german eagle stamped in. It was always very special and extremly funny to shoot this gun. As a 1,95 m, 100 kg man, I was also trained to shoot this heavy gun staying upright, using the shoulder strap - not very accurate ... but ;-) If you developed a good feeling for this weapon, you could shoot with it amazingly accurately, even at longer range. But you have to control yourself and always stay focused.
When it comes to shooting, the machine-gun is pushed forward over the bipod, so that the bipod does not point forward at an angle, like you do, but backwards at an angle. As a result, the bipod absorbs a large part of the recoil and the weapon is much easier to control, which is especially important for long bursts and at greater distances. In addition, unlike assault rifles, with the MG, you do not lie kind of diagonally behind the weapon, but straight. In slow motion, you can clearly see the recoil pushing the shoulder and upper body away, thereby losing control of the weapon.
I had to watch this great video again. Outstanding video and presentation.
The MG 42 is so fast even in slow motion it looks like if a Chauchat had a belt-fed system
Hardly, the Chauchat would have jammed after 5 rounds.
Richard Goodwin no
@@Khonsu1373 only if you were using the wrong ammo which the Americans were
@@Khonsu1373 that's if it even fired at
I know you're conserving ammo but I think I speak for alot when I say "HOLD THAT TRIGGER DOWN!"
He was so close. He finished the video out with a full belt of at least 40 rounds. AND THEN HE FIRED A 5 ROUND BURST AND FADED TO BLACK.
no you dont
Harry Schnepp fuck off don’t you wanna see 100 rounds fired non stop
@@Cardboardtruck-vc2qw shit your a punk, love guys like you talk shit from behind a key board, or your so tuff you break mirrors with just one look, i bet you can even fight your way out of 2 wet paper bags, right on tuff guy.
@@harryschnepp5907 you sound pretty unintelligent buddy. You should just stop
You are a true amatuer.
I had that gun for 9 months when I was in the army. Best gun I ever had in my 6 years in the army.
I like the irony of your channels name. I think the MG-42 is in the top 5 of least forgotten weapon in history.
Great video!
It really is amazing to see this stuff now, sitting behind the comfort of my desk at home.
But to think of all the old men(now) who had to run across muddy and bloodied fields, sticky and wet from hundreds of trudging boots in the permanent European drizzle, who had to run across a field facing fire from these killing machines.
It's easy to forget what it feels like firing a gun when you're not right there; but let me remind *some* of the viewers here: a shot from even a light weapon, anything bigger than a .22 is painful to your hearing. Most people blink from the shock of the sound at the least. There is a slight tremor in your feet when you're standing close to a shot being fired. In an open field it clangs through the terrain; as you can see from this video too, the dust is kicked up around wherever a shot is fired.
Now, imagine the thousands of men dying to these in the worst possible conditions. I wouldn't want to move to Europe, let alone trudge a plain-meets-swamp in the dark grey weather while I'm getting shot at by angry Germans.
Respect to both sides of the war. I love firearms, they're fucking cool as hell, but man I wish those guys didn't have to go through what they did.
Well said
Well that was indeed awesome what you said there. These machine guns are fuckin scary
***** Damn right :)
Your words couldn't be anymore true. I was shooting an at-15 without ear protection and I started thinking about how loud war is. If just one gun was loud as hell. Just imagine hundreds of guns combined with artillery explosions and bombs from jets.
+Cobus Greyling If you just dry fire (just letting the bolt snap forwards) this gun it would be loud enough that most civilians would be frightened.
The MG 42 Simply the best medium machine gun ever designed and produced, the designers were bang on point with this weapon
I agree, nothing comes close to beating this system when you look at the modern stuff... What MG lets you swap the barrel behind cover? Pretty much nothing. MG34/42 IS THE BEST
@@tbrowniscool yes I think the design was an idea that worked better than the designer's ever intended it to be , the commen "stubble hoppers" found a weapon that suited their need s perfectly
As a MG3 guy:
Push into that bipod as hard as you can or you hit nothing.
5:51 As I think they actually had a specific tool for this occurrence on the gun attached. It was a small plier to remove the barrel and then shoving the next one in by hand.
These two light machine guns were one of the most feared weapons in World War 2.
DH play nice.
Two great ww2 guns
Definitely not a light machine gun. It's considered a medium machine gun just as the M240B and L are for the US Military. The SAW is a light machine gun as it uses the intermediate rifle cartridge, the light 5.56mm
Ya looks like it could blow over 100 people in a min
It’s a GPMG, NOT LMG
wannabe presenters pause for dramatic effect.
Gun Jesus pauses for salvos of automatic fire.
Heil Gun Jesus
i wanna say "amen" but i think "pull" or something along those lines would be better.
got to love Gun Jesus
That’s really cool!!! Love the mechanics.
we gotta bring this back in service. the sound alone is a great deterrent
Shot that one as a member of the German Bundeswehr back in 1992. At range 300 meters it took me 4 very short bursts to take out four aims. It's not only the frequency, it`s also the accuracy that makes this one a beast.
Yes, from the gun carriage of the M 113 you can shoot out the eye of a fly. I was really perplexed, before I thought an MG was just a scatter gun.
My great-grandfather used one of those, back in ww2, because he was the maschine-gunner in an Austrian unit.
this is dope
@FANTOM x JAGGER that's fuckin awesome
@M95 meiner auch aber bei der waffen ss
My great-grandfather personally knew Rommel and was one of his close friends during the Africa campaign. He even attended his funeral. I still have some of my great-grandfather's pictures with Rommel where they were drink some 40% alchohol drinks.
He was the fucking legend.
My grandfather fight with adolf hitler in ww1 and in ww2 he drop both atom bombs to Japan and after that he won Operation iraqi freedom.
The MG42 is an iconic weapon, even now its a vicious piece of equipment. You guys are so lucky to sample it's capability. 👍
American general:
“The mg42 is inn accurate!”
American soldiers on d-day:
*so that was a fucking lie*
The US Army should have just built the MG-42 instead of the poor copy of the MG-42 in the form of the M-60 MG. The barrel change in the MG-42 can be done from the prone position without lifting yourself up from cover to do it. I think the MG-42 is the finest light machine gun ever used.
The M60 owed as much of its design to the FG42 than to the MG42, and some of it, like the gas system, was an American innovation. The gas system on the M60 is actually superior to either of the German guns. Some of the differences from the MG42 were to make the M60 lighter and more compact (which it is). The MG42 was an excellent machine gun, though.
@@clayp.e30_v86 Are you 12?
@@brucetucker4847 He's not BUT I AM lol xdxdxd :DD
Maxim best machine gun of any weapons xdxd
@@brucetucker4847 all your weapons and rockets ect are German by design anyway, since you only got yourselves into the war to steal the German scientists and designers before the Russians could. The only reason you have NASA is because of the countless German scientists you kidnapped and gave a new life to as a pose to trying them for war crimes. So dont preach to me about how superior you are 🖕
Ant_1nine8two lol you are so salty just because another lmg is superior than your favorite lmg
Because, Remember! "It's Bark is Worse Than its Bite!" Lol cause the sound is what kills you not being made into swiss cheese
The sound gives the allied heart attacks before the bullet hits.
At 700-900 m/s >> 340m/s=speed of sound you may feel lucky to hear the sound of an MG-42 and not just being plain dead. And if you're super lucky you may hide and shelter before the burst round has traveled the way to you and gets you rid of all your problems.
Its really awesone that you always make your homeword and tell all this information about the guns! You really know alot about them! I think you earned anotzer sub.. ^^
A point about the barrel changing on the MG42:
Sure, you can change the hot barrel for a cool barrel in a matter of seconds, *but what happens when you do it on snow?*
The hot barrel will just fall through the snow you are laying on all the way down to the frozen ground. When I served with the German mountain troops we were drilled to ALLWAYS lay the hot barrel *cross wise* on the open spare barrel container. So even when the container got hot in the middle, the ends stayed cool, and didn't melt the snow.
CHOWDA! PASS ME THE MG-42!
Simon Collins ahoy, spongebob me boy, I have been shot 42 times with a Nazi buzzsaw and I am going to die
@@violentbile ARG ARG ARG ARG ARG ARG
*westerwald playing in background*
Oh how I can rejoice in your comment I will cherish your comment for the rest of my Life you dirty fuck you
Boys locker room be like:
This Weapon is unbelievable amazing....
Love the barrel change system on this weapon
that barrel change is amazing