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 its 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. Oftentimes, 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 (5.56 mm 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, oftentimes 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 and United Offense
The MG42 is a mounted weapon that can be found hanging from various areas in the game, in singleplayer 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 it is best to fire in 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 Call of Duty 1. "Spray and pray" is a common tactic any player will do.

Call of Duty 3
Exactly like in Call of Duty 2, however firing for prolonged periods of time will cause it to overheat. Since there are vehicles in this game because of 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.



Singleplayer
The MG42 is often found mounted on walls, or found with a bipod. It holds more ammo than its multiplayer counterpart and is oftentimes extremely useful due to its ability to fire a large amount of bullets and that it only takes at least 2-3 shots of any weapon to down an enemy in singleplayer.

The bipod allows the weapon to be mounted with better accuracy and less recoil, as such the weapon is usually mounted somewhere on a wall in the Soviet Red Army Campaign missions.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer the MG42 is unlocked at level 33 and has decent damage and a high rate of fire. It is very similar to the M249 SAW from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, as they do the same damage and have almost the exact same rate of fire, with the MG42 firing a bit faster. Like the Browning .30 cal, the MG42 holds a relatively large cylindrical drum magazine containing 50 rounds. It can be used effectively at long range. Recoil is not too much of a problem unless shooting from a distance. As with many machine guns, it is common that one would burst fire when attacked at long range. When fitted with a bipod, it can provide very effective covering fire when mounted on cover.

The MG42 is finished reloading once the drum is reattached to the gun, so double tapping the weapon switch button ("Y" for the Xbox 360 and "Triangle" for the Playstation 3) afterwards effectively cuts the reload time in half, eliminating the need for Sleight of Hand. The concept of Add time applies here.

Trivia

 * The MG42 appears in Call of Duty 4's weapon files, along with its CoD2 textures, but doesn't appear in the game.


 * The MG42 was the fastest firing machine gun in World War 2, and is still is the fastest firing single-barreled machine gun in world history.


 * It would be difficult, but not impossible to fire the MG42 from the shoulder or a standing position. While it was heavy, one man could still carry it and fire it if he used the proper stance. Though not ideal this was taught to gunners as one method of using the weapon. The Bi-pod merely supported the weapons weight and stabilized it (when it was even used, sometimes the gun would simply be laid on top of something)
 * In the games, the mounted MG42's lacks a magazine or an ammo belt, therefore, you're dry firing(but only in a technical sense, as bullets still hit the enemy).