MG42

The MG42 (Maschinengewehr 42 ) is a medium machine gun featured in all World War II era Call of Duty installments, as well as making an appearance in Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops III. In most games it is only mounted, but in Call of Duty: Finest Hour and Call of Duty: World at War (as well as Call of Duty: Zombies) it is available as a portable weapon as well.

Call of Duty and Call of Duty: United Offensive
The MG42 is a mounted weapon that can be found hanging from various areas in the game, in singleplayer and multiplayer. It doesn't overheat, so one can just hold down the fire button. It doesn't have great accuracy, but the sheer amount of bullets it fires easily compensates for that, deterring even the most hardened attacker. It should also be noted that in the singleplayer campaign being hit with the MG42 will cause the players aim to be thrown off. Being hit with a tank's MG42 will cause the player to take serious damage and go into shellshock mode. As a result of these two factors, the best tactic is to flank the gunner or eliminate him with grenades.

In Call of Duty: United Offensive, the MG42 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 would be a waste of ammo, since the tank-user's machine-gunner could take the enemy down just as fast without having to use such firepower.

In Call of Duty and Call of Duty: Classic the American troops and the Soviet corporal Filatov are using captured MG42s.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
"The MG42 is a relatively light, very reliable machine gun capable of providing devastating firepower. Because of its high rate of fire, very short burts are required to increase accuracy. It is most effectively used with its bipod deployed."

- Manual description

The MG42 can be found as a portable weapon, first in the campaign mission "The Flag Must Fall", and is also available in mounted-only form. However, the portable version has a horrid amount of recoil if the player doesn't fire it prone and with a bipod. In a pinch it is best to be used in crouch, as the recoil is reduced slightly. The bipod has to be used in order to aim down the sights, otherwise it can only be fired from the hip.

Call of Duty 2
It is exactly the same as in Call of Duty, except with a new appearance and higher rate of fire. "Spray and pray" is a common tactic that any player will use. Due to the aggressive Germans' counter-attacks, an MG42 is the safest option that the player could have. Sometimes, they are transported by enemies, before being fixed on a certain position.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
MG42s are found only in mounted form throughout the game and automatically are aimed through a rear V-notch sight without a visible front post. By holding down the aim button, the player can zoom in their view, though they still look through the V-notch sight in the same manner. Firing the MG42 for prolonged periods will cause it to overheat.

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
"The German MG-42 had the highest rate of fire of any World War II light machine gun."

- In-game description

In Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, the MG42 frequently appears in all three campaigns. It is only found in deployed position, and doesn't appear to overheat or have an ammo limit. They can lose the player's accuracy when fired a lot. It's handy to destroy tanks and killing a wave of enemies. This machine gun is located inside the Sd. Kfz. 251 with a shield to protect the gunner, Panzer IV and the Tiger I. The Wehrmacht donated this machine gun to the United States Army and placed inside their M4 Shermans instead of the M2 Browning Machine Gun.

Call of Duty 3
"Made from stamped steel and famous for its distinctive 1200 round per minute rate of fire, the MG42 was designed as a replacement for the MG34. Belt fed and recoil operated."

- In-game description

Campaign
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, the player can eliminate MG42 gunners with a cannon blast. It is aimed purely with the rear V-notch sight in the same manner that Call of Duty 2: Big Red One has MG42's aim. Also, the MG42 is in almost every level. However, in single player, the MG42 is rarely useful. The only levels that the character has to use the MG's are: "The Crossroads" and "The Corridor of Death". The MG42 has an extremely high rate of fire.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, they are equipped on Axis vehicles (i.e.: Kubelwagens and Panzer IVs). Other than this, they are not obtainable in multiplayer.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The MG42 appears in Call of Duty 4's weapon files, along with its Call of Duty 2 textures. It appears on the levels "The Bog", "Heat", "Sins of the Father" and can be found outside "Charlie Don't Surf".

Campaign
The MG42 is often found mounted on walls, but also found with a bipod, a version that the player can carry and use like a handheld weapon. It holds more ammo than its multiplayer counterpart and is often extremely useful due to its ability to fire a large amount of bullets and that it only takes two-three shots of any weapon to down an enemy in singleplayer. Many of these can be found in the level "Their Land, Their Blood", which is helpful when navigating trenches. Picking up the FG42 in the beginning of the level and then picking up the MG42 makes the level a whole lot easier. In singleplayer, mounted MG42s can be found in "Vendetta", "Their Land, Their Blood", "Heart of the Reich", and "Downfall". Deployable ones can only be found in "Their Land, Their Blood", and "Ring of Steel".

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.

Since the MG42 has high penetration, in the level "Their Land, Their Blood", the player can destroy a German truck in approximately three shots.

Multiplayer
The MG42 is unlocked at level 33. It 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 exactly the same rate of fire, with the MG42 firing a bit faster. Unlike the Browning M1919, the MG42 holds a relatively large cylindrical drum magazine containing 50 rounds although its high rate of fire quickly drains ammunition, which can be a problem. It has a reasonably slow reload time as well. It can be used effectively at long range, and 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.

This weapon is often compared to the Browning M1919, with the MG42's advantages being a higher ROF and a quicker reload time, but the Browning's strengths being higher damage and higher movement speed. Overall, the MG42 will do more damage per second but the Browning M1919 will last much longer.

The MG42 is finished reloading once the drum is reattached to the gun, so double tapping the weapon switch button, or the melee button afterwards effectively cuts the reload time in half, eliminating the need for Sleight of Hand. This tactic is known as reload cancelling.

Combining Stopping Power with the MG42 will give the player a weapon that kills any target in three shots, as long as they are not using Juggernaut or Second Chance perks (four if the enemies are using one the perks) and isn't behind cover. Double Tap has an interesting effect as this raises the rounds per minute to just undert that of the PPSh-41. In this scenario, the player will very quickly run out of ammunition due to the extremely high rate of fire. Bandolier is recommended to mitigate this, but the player can very quickly take out groups of enemies due to the rate of fire and damage of each bullet, with each enemy needing very few bullets to kill.

The MG42 is a fantastic weapon to use in Hardcore game modes, where it yields one hit kills at an incredibly high rate of fire except on Juggernaut users and through any cover, allowing almost any 2nd tier perk to be used except Stopping Power as it has no effect apart from cancelling Juggernaut.

It can also be found mounted on German Panzer tanks on certain maps.

Zombies
The MG42 appears in all Zombies maps. It can only be obtained in the Mystery Box. It is widely considered to be one of the best weapons available, due to its high ROF and damage, large ammo reserve, and large magazine. Because of its high ROF, however, after a few rounds, the player will need to get a new gun or obtain a Max Ammo. The MG42 can tear apart entire lines of Zombies before having to reload, and the MG42 can easily be reload canceled. It's also very effective against Hellhounds. It should be noted that on the maps Nacht der Untoten and Verrückt, the MG42's recoil is higher compared the recoil on the maps Shi No Numa and Der Riese, making it less effective at longer ranges.

When Pack-a-Punched, it becomes the Barracuda FU-A11. The player's reserve ammo will become much larger, at 750 rounds, and the ROF will increase to a monstrous 1363 RPM which is only slightly behind the Pack-a-Punched PPSh-41s 1578 RPM. The MG42 could be regarded as a questionable weapon to Pack-a-Punch, as it will burn through valuable ammunition much quicker, and that no damage increase is received. If the player can work with a smaller supply of ammunition and a lower ROF, they can find less of a need to Pack-a-Punch the MG42. But players who are able to control their trigger pulls may find the Pack-a-Punched MG42 useful due to the extra ammo.

Weapon Attachments

 * Bipod

Call of Duty: World at War (DS)
The MG42 is different from its console counterparts, as it is more accurate and has a slower rate of fire. It also uses an ammo box like the M249 SAW. It is absent from multiplayer and can be found in the British and Russian Campaigns.

Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts
The MG42 appears in all European missions, but in some levels, it is only found mounted. It is a good weapon to use to take out multiple waves of enemies and for providing covering fire, as it's extremely high rate of fire and very low recoil can take out a large group of enemies at once.

Call of Duty: Zombies
The MG42 is available through the Mystery Box in all maps. It has a massive ammo capacity and is very powerful. It can kill a zombie with a single shot on low levels on Recruit, and it only takes a few more to kill on Regular. The MG42 in this game has a much faster reload than the World at War version.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
The weapon can be found in the level "Of Their Own Accord", to the right side of the White House, behind the barriers, thus needing the use of the Console command, "noclip", for it to be reached and used. It is disguised as a searchlight next to a Humvee, but when approached, the words "Press F to use" and the Call of Duty 2 pick-up icon is shown. The weapon uses the searchlight as its first person model but can still be fired.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The MG42 appears as a mounted machine gun, used by the Germans against Reznov and his accomplices during "Project Nova". The graphics are mostly recycled from Call of Duty: World at War other than the fact the gun is iced over.

Campaign
The MG42 returns as a mounted weapon in the level "Demon Within". It is used by German soldiers during the World War II simulation part of the level, and can be used by the player as well.

Zombies
In Gorod Krovi, there are several mounted MG42s in the Hatchery that can be used by paying 1000 points. Unusable MG42s can also be seen in a room through a barrier in Der Eisendrache and on top of the fountain in the Verrückt section of Revelations.

Call of Duty: WWII
The MG 42 returns in Call of Duty: WWII.

The MG 42 appears solely in mounted form. It is set up in MG nests on certain maps, such as Pointe du Hoc and Gibraltar. As well, it appears in the War gamemode, where it can be built by the defending Axis forces.

The weapon's rate of fire is significantly lower than in past games. As well, it overheats rather quickly, so players must make each shot count in order to remain effective with this weapon. However, the weapon does boast much higher damage and lower recoil than in previous installments, allowing it to remain effective at range.

Call of Duty

 * There is a MG42 in the American training camp. The Russians are also using MG42's to shoot "cowards" in the first part of the Red Square mission, and MG42's are found on all the various tanks in the game, including the Russian T-34's. Infinity Ward didn't put any other stationary machineguns in-game, so the MG42 was the stand-in of choice for Allied weapons.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One

 * Interestingly, in Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, every usable mounted MG42 has a unique serial number on the top of the barrel.

Call of Duty 3

 * The MG42 in Call of Duty 3 appears to have a serial number as well as a Nazi Swastika printed on it.

Call of Duty: World at War

 * Like the Browning M1919, the MG42 has no magazine in third person perspective.
 * The MG42 with the Bipod can overheat while it is deployed, like the mounted ones.
 * In the Wii version, the MG42's bipod is unfolded when attached in multiplayer. This also applies to the Browning M1919 and the DP-28.
 * Edward Richtofen uses the Pack-a-Punched version of the MG42 (the Barracuda FU-A11) before becoming overwhelmed by the zombies in the Der Riese trailer.
 * The name "FU-A11" is leet for "Fuck you all".

Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts

 * The gun has no visible magazine.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

 * It is possible to kill several teammates with the weapon and gib them, but the friendly fire warning will come up after a few kills.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III

 * The MG42 uses the same texture from World at War
 * During the Campaign, after using the MG42 and dismounting it, it will remain pointed at wherever it was last aimed, rather than returning to its idle position.