The Germans at "Le Visham" or Levisham in October, 2011 _Costumed Soldiers manning MG 42 machine gun, World War Two weapons, World War II, Second World War, WWII, WW2 Re-enactors at the Pickering War and Wartime Weekend, North Yorkshire, UK
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. Entering production in 1942, it was intended to supplement and replace the earlier MG 34, which was more expensive and took much longer to produce, but both weapons were produced until the end of World War II. Designed to use the standard German ×57mm Mauser rifle round, be low-cost and easier to mass-produce, the MG 42 proved to be highly reliable and easy to operate. It is most notable for its very high cyclic rate for a gun using full-power service cartridges, averaging about 1,200 rounds per minute compared to around 850 for the MG 34, and 450 to 600 for other common machine guns like the M1919 Browning, FM 24/29 or Bren gun. This ability made it extremely effective in providing suppressive fire, and its unique sound led to it being nicknamed "Hitler's buzzsaw".
Size: 3500px × 2334px
Location: Levisham and Pickering, North Yorkshire, UK
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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