classic Machine Guns

[dennishoddy]

I was just reading about the MG-42 that the Germans used againse the US and others at Normandy. I never knew it had the firepower that it produced.
25 bullets a second at a speed well over 2000 miles per hour, 1500 rounds per minute. I'd hate to face that.......I know our current weapons are much faster, but, back in the day, that was twice what a Browning BMG could spit out. A formidable weapon to say the least.

 

[Scott Hearn]

That thing was a beast. I wish I could point you to some, but try to find those little "training blurbs" that they gave to all our soldiers. Those cartoon sort of things kind of like you would see in a comic book. It was pure propaganda really, they really downplayed that gun and the soldiers firing it at them.
From Wiki:

So distinct and terrifying was the weapon that the United States Army created training films to aid its soldiers in dealing with the psychological trauma of facing the weapon in battle.

I can kind of see the point in the grand scheme of things. They were trying to keep morale up and all. Those Germans over engineered everything, damn near everything was built like a swiss watch.

 

[dennishoddy]

There were only five of the MG 42's on Omaha beach during the invasion.
Of the 1450 soldiers that hit that beach in the first wave, over 1/3 were killed or wounded by the MG42's in the first hour. Then they had a 1000ft killing field in front of them to get across the beach.

 

[aeropb]

they overheat extremely quickly.

 

[Glocktogo]

Nicknamed "Hitler's Zipper" for the sound they made. Very effective in the hands of an expert gunner. A nice bullet waster in the hands of a poor gunner.