The MG 42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II.

In spite of its tendency to overheat, the MG-42 was an excellent weapon that was light-years of ahead of the US counterpart, the Browning M-1919A4 machine gun. Germany produced roughly 400,000 MG-42s during the war, some of which are still in active service.

The MG 42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or "machine gun 42") was a general-purpose machine gun. It was created in Nazi Germany . It began being used by the Wehrmacht in 1942.

2022年10月3日 · With the need for a cheaper machine gun, the Germans developed the MG-42. Learn about its use during WWII and the weapons it inspired.

2025年2月6日 · The Maschinengewehr 42, more commonly called the MG42, was Germany’s final development in its longstanding “universal machine gun” concept. It was also the beginning of a GI nightmare and a...

MG42, German general-purpose machine gun, used as a standard weapon by many armies around the world. The MG42 was designed in Germany in 1938, and it was placed in action on all fronts by mid-1942.

The MG 42 was the Third Reich’s preferred general purpose machine gun in the second half of World War II. The MG 42 could also be used with a heavyduty tripod, the Lafette 42, to create a powerful sustained firing platform.