FG42

The Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, abbreviated "FG42", is an assault rifle used in Call of Duty, Call of Duty: United Offensive, Call of Duty 3, and Call of Duty: World at War. In Call of Duty and Call of Duty: United Offensive, the weapon is only available when scoped. In Call of Duty 3, scoped and non-scoped variants are available. In Call of Duty: World at War, the FG-42 is available unscoped in Single player, and can attach a Telescopic Sight in Multiplayer.

History
The Fallschirmjägergewehr '42 was a predecessor to the assault rifle. It fired at a jaw-dropping 900 rpm and 600 rpm depending on the variant. It was a remarkable weapon, being fully automatic, yet barely any larger than a standard bolt action rifle. The FG42 was designed for the Luftwaffe Fallschirmjägers (paratroopers) and was first used by German paratroopers, officially called the "Fallschirmjäger Korps", during the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Soviet counterattack battles in the Soviet Union. Although it was a sound enough weapon, it had its flaws. Unlike the later Sturmgewehr 44, which fired a short cartridge specifically designed for automatic fire, the FG42 fired the same cartridge as the Kar98k and the Gewehr43, the recoil of which made fully automatic fire only marginally effective at best. Furthermore, the side magazine made the weapon unbalanced, and the rifle's overall complexity greatly impeded manufacturing; by the war's end, a mere 7,000 had been produced.

Of note is that part of the FG42's mechanism was used to create the M60 machine gun.

Call of Duty and United Offense
The FG42 can fire in fully automatic mode or semiautomatic. Unlike how the FG42 handles in real life, the Call of Duty one has very manageable recoil. Just fire three round bursts, and recoil is then fine. This weapon packs a major punch, and usually destroys enemies within three or so shots. Its high rate of fire means that you'll be putting a ton of lead into the air within a few seconds. Its only limiting factor is its 20-round magazine, but reloading often can compensate for that.

The FG42 also has a built-in scope. In CoD1, the scope is identical to the Scoped K98k and Scoped Mosin-Nagant. However, in UO, the scope is revised, similar to the Springfield crosshair scope. Once again, burst fire is the key to effectively using this weapon, this time as a sniper rifle.

In Call of Duty Single Player, this weapon can only be found in the first four maps, mostly to help new players. In the first three, enemies will have it, while in the fourth, it'll be laying around in a bunker.

In Multiplayer, the FG42 can be found lying around if the server enables it. It comes with no extra magazines. Many clans have banned it because of how overpowered it is.

Call of Duty 3
Unlike in Call of Duty, there are both scoped and non-scoped variants in the game. The FG42 has a tremendous amount of recoil, making it hard to control without firing in short bursts while scoped. However, it's still very deadly, and especially deadly when non-scoped, as the weapon's iron sights are quite manageable and the rate of fire means it can act as a substitute submachine gun while in close quarters. Also, the gun is very effective if fired from the hip. The scope increases accuracy and range, but accuracy is decreased if the user fires it fully automatic, rather, it is often more recommended to fire in burst of two or three while scoped. Simply two or three shots are required to kill an enemy while scoped or non-scoped. Unfortunately, the low ammo capacity of its 20-round magazine means frequent reloading. It can be found in the second chapter in both scoped and non-scoped variants, the sixth chapter in an unscoped variant, and the thirteenth chapter in a scoped variant. However, in the second chapter, you can pick up ammo for the scoped version if you keep the unscoped version with you at hand as well. Strangely, for the PS2 in the sixth chapter, there is no FG42.

Singleplayer
In Call of Duty: World at War, the FG42 is found only during the Soviet Red Army campaign missions. The weapon is rarely found, and ammo is too scarce meaning the player is forced to trade in the weapon for another. There are also multiple hidden FG42s in the mission, Their Land, Their Blood. One is first found at the beginning of the level, inside the starting house. It is near the newly made "exit", laying on the wall to the right. There are several others found throughout the level. There are some that can be picked up in the bunkers in the trench area, and hidden behind crates later on. Ammo is still oftentimes too scarce for the weapon to be carried with the player throughout the mission without depleting the ammo supply. It is a regular spawn from the weapons box in Nazi Zombies. This weapon is extraordinarily damaging, ripping limbs off and blowing apart heads with a single shot. Strangely the fg42 has a 32 round magazine in the game although there is no record of a 32 round magazine ever made for it only 10, 20, and 30 round magazines.

Multiplayer
The FG42 is a German light machine gun unlocked at level 45. It has the same rate of fire as the MG42 in which both are quite high, but sacrifices a small amount of fire power for lower recoil, higher movement speed, and higher hip fire accuracy. The FG42 is the only machine gun that can be equipped with a Telescopic Sight, however it does have high sway, and is not used often due to the "pinpoint" iron sights. As with the iron sights, the iron sights are best aimed by pointing at the blade in the middle of the ring. Its primary defect is its extremely small magazine, which means frequent reloading with this weapon. In Hardcore, when Stopping Power is equipped, it is always a one hit kill. In Core modes, Stopping Power and Bandolier are frequently used in order to conserve ammo. Sleight of Hand is popular as well. Some daring players put Double Tap on the FG42. While Double tap DOES kill faster than stopping power, it depletes the whole magazine within 1 second. In other words, you will be reloading after every kill, and draining your ammo after only a few bursts. Even if you don't have double tap, it is recommended to reload after every shot or kill; the reloading is not that bad either. The recoil of the FG42 in multiplayer is very unrealistic as the real fg42 had massive recoil firing full power rifle rounds at a amazing 900rpm

With the FG42 players move just as fast as they would with an SMG or Shotgun. In the Limited Edition version, there is a code to unlock the FG42 early.

Trivia

 * In the level, Their Land, Their Blood, there is a FG42 in the little house you start in. Once Reznov saves the day, you can pick it up by the window.
 * The Barracks incorrectly state that the FG-42 will be able to unlock a Sniper Scope instead of a Telescopic Sight after achieving 75 kills.