MG42

The MG42 (Maschinengewehr 42: Machine gun 42) was a machine gun used by the Wehrmacht against the Allies during World War II.

Design and History
The MG42 is a belt-fed air-cooled General Purpose Machine-Gun used by both Wehrmacht and Schutzstaffel (SS) forces. First developed in 1942, the weapon was intended as a replacement for the MG34 at the squad level, though by the end of the war it had yet to be completely implemented. The MG42 was cheaper to make and less sensitive to dust and mud. It had several advantages over it's Allied counterparts, most notable were it's high rate of fire (1500 RPM, compared to 600 for the Vickers and Browning Machine guns, used by the British and Americans respectively) and it's ability to quickly replace the barrel if it overheats. The MG42 was most commonly used with a portable bipod or tripod and a 75 round drum magazine.

The German Army (Heer) doctrine called for the weapon to be the center of any infantry squad, used and supported by five men, but frequently reduced to three (The gunner, loader and spotter).

Due to the high rate of fire and the ability to quickly change the air-cooled barrel, the MG42 was capable of tying up large numbers of Allied troops with a nearly non-stop rate of fire. The weapon was, like many weapons of the Nazi military a potent psychological warfare tool. So frightening was the sound of the weapon (which sounded rather like a buzz-saw) and it's rate of fire that the U.S Army made an instructional video specifically dealing with teaching troops to combat fear of the weapon.

However, the MG42 was not without its limitations. The weapon was vulnerable from the sides and rear and was nearly uncontrollable unless mounted with a bipod or tripod. Often times, Allied forces would attack the weapons position as the soldiers manning the weapon were reloading or changing the hot barrel.

After the war, the MG42 continued to see service in West Germany as the MG3 and is still used by the now unified Germany. There have been several improvements and changes to the original design, including a heavier bolt (reducing the rate of fire from 1500 to still impressive 1200 rounds per minute), a new friction ring buffer, muzzle device and finally being re-chambered to 7.62x51mm NATO round as opposed to the 7.92x57mm Mauser round.

The German army uses the weapon as a GPMG with it being complemented by the newly developed Heckler & Koch MG4 (5.56mm NATO) from the "Infanterist der Zukunft" (Infantryman of the future) program. Though the MG4 uses a similar system as the FN Minimi, it is not based on it and also has a higher muzzle velocity than it's rival. The MG3 is also in use with many nations including the Spanish and Greek Armies.

The Yugoslavian and later Serbian army used the weapon virtually unchanged as the M53.

To the Allies it was sometimes known as "Hitler's zipper" or "Hitler's Saw" (Russian troops called it 'linoleum ripper') due to the sound the weapon made when firing, often times comparable to cloth tearing or linoleum tiles being smashed. British troops called it the "Spandau" after the district in Berlin where they were manufactured. German troops sometimes called the weapon Hitlersäge because of the firing sound (Hitler saw).

Call of Duty 1 and United Offense
The MG42 is a mounted weapon that can be found hanging from various areas in the game, in single player and multiplayer. It can't overheat, so just hold down the fire button and it'll do the rest! It doesn't have great accuracy, but the sheer amount of bullets it puts in the air easily compensates for that.

If you're under attack by a MG42, throw a smoke grenade in front of it, then run past it. While the user may still be firing, he'll have much less accuracy than before. If your marksmanship is good enough, you can blow the firer away before he has a chance to notice you.

In United Offense, it can be found mounted on Axis vehicles. Be careful, these can overheat, so fire it short bursts!

Tanks can dispose of MG42 gunners with their cannon. However, that's really over-the-top and a waste of ammo, since your machine-gunner could take him down just as fast without having to use the cannon

Call of Duty 2
Exactly like how they are in CoD1. Spray and pray!

Call of Duty 3
Exactly like in CoD2, however firing for prolonged periods of time will cause it to overheat. Since there are vehicles in this game ala United Offense, you can blow away MG42 firers with a cannon blast.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
The MG42 can be used as a regular weapon in this game. However, it has horrid recoil if you don't fire it prone and with a bipod.



Call of Duty: World at War
The MG42 is unlocked at level 33.

Trivia
The MG42 appears in Call of Duty 4's weapon files, along with it's CoD2 textures, but doesn't appear in the game. The MG24 had the fastest rate of fire of any light machine gun in World War 2.