life long dream!!

[rmcc]

I know a little off topic, but.... On Saturday I was able to work on and then FIRE!!!! (2) MG 42's!!! What an incredible experience. I know it has nothing to do with our casting but what an awesome weapon system!!!

Rich

[MtGun44]

Sounds like fun!
Bill

[Moonie]

That is awesome, cast or not!

[Hamish]

:2gunsfiring_v1::2gunsfiring_v1::2gunsfiring_v1::2 gunsfiring_v1::2gunsfiring_v1::2gunsfiring_v1::2gu nsfiring_v1::2gunsfiring_v1::2gunsfiring_v1::2guns firing_v1::happy dance:

Lucky dog.

[mstarling]

Belt guns are all awesome. Some more so than others. Biut none is more awesome than an MG42 with an antiaircraft buffer system (1500 rpm)! Sounds like a VERY loud chain saw runnin' flat out.

[Plate plinker]

Did you feel the need to smoke a cigar after firing the mg42? What a thrill!!

:drinks:

[Combat Diver]

Never got to fire an orginal MG42, only dozens of its younger son the MG3. (7.92x57 vs 7.62x51) They are diffenitly fun to shoot. Just hate being the ammo bearer.

Turkish MKE made MG3
http://www.hunt101.com/data/548/9809050727-A-5603C-127_MGs_249-240-3.JPG

This MG3 was captured in Iraq, don't remember if this one was made in Iran or Pakistan (had one from each country). To the right is a Signaw Steering Corp (Dept of GM) M1919A6 minus buttstock.

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/9809RPK_PKM_PPSh41_MG3_and_M1919A6_minus_stock.JPG


The MG42/MG3 is still a great machine gun.



CD

[Artful]

I remember a machine gun match long ago in Oregon in which some of the local nation guard from Washington state came down to compete. And they brought their M60's, other competitor's had 1919's and one guy had HK's 21 beltfed and someone had brought a MG42 in lafette tripod mount and just cleaned all other's competitor's clocks. A truly awesome weapon system - they were shooting from 100 to 500 yards and he made it look effortless. Made you wonder how we ever faced such a great weapon.

To bad we now have gun laws keeping us from bringing some of those into the US from overseas. In the past servicemen could bring home weapons of the enemy to enjoy in peace time.

[Plate plinker]

Yep another government screwing to the servicemen. They ought to be able and bring for sale as a pay bump.

[WILCO]

Turkish MKE made MG3
http://www.hunt101.com/data/548/9809050727-A-5603C-127_MGs_249-240-3.JPG



What did you do with all that brass? :holysheep

[WILCO]

That is awesome, cast or not!

I agree with Moonie!

[Multigunner]

Cast Boolits have been used with the MG34 and possibly with the MG42.
I read an article long ago (mid 60's?) which detailed the methods for getting these LMGs and other full auto weapons to function reliably with cast boolit loads.

Grooves were turned in the muzzle end of a spare barrel where it fit into the gas assist cylinder.
Leading and lube was scraped off into the grooves allowing longer firing strings without bogging down the recoil operation.
The gentleman who wrote the article was an MG dealer and used reloads for firing demonstrations to give prospective buyers an opportunity to see the guns in action.

PS
This particular forum is more interested in the weapons than in the loads, while another forum on this board is more interested in the loads suited to various types of military rifles.

IIRC the G in MG42 stands for the German word used for rifles rather than for Gun as we would use it. So the MG34 and MG42 are in a sense military rifles.
Also MG34 converted to use as single shot target rifles are occasionally to be found in Europe. Apparently the MG34 is very accurate when fired in semi auto mode by using one half of the center pivoted trigger.

[Multigunner]

Belt guns are all awesome. Some more so than others. Biut none is more awesome than an MG42 with an antiaircraft buffer system (1500 rpm)! Sounds like a VERY loud chain saw runnin' flat out.

Only a very few contemporay MGs or LMGs had a higher cylic rate of fire.
A Polish flexible mount aerial gun based on the BAR operation system and adapted to belt feed was said to fire 2000+ RPM.
Some late war Luftwaffe flexible gun designs were adapted for ground use in the final days of the war, these had a rate of fire of around 1800 RPM, and used disintegrating link belts.

A special short barreled paratrooper version of the MG34 weighing less than 20 lb was tested, but the lightened aircraft alloy components were deemed not durable enough for extended use in combat conditions.
It would be nice to have one of these.

[BruceB]

What did you do with all that brass? :holysheep

My wife and I owned both an MG42 and a .303 Bren until we left Canada to move here.

MG42 mangled the brass so badly it was unusable, and besides most of the ammo we could find or afford was Berdan -primed military stuff. The case rims were bent to the rear by extraction, deeply notched by the ejector, case bodies heavily dented by the ejection opening, and then had the mouth smashed shut against the trigger guard on the way out. Even at reduced-load levels, it was a no go! Never did try cast in this gun.

I tried cast bullets in the Bren.... two 30-round mags on full auto gave me several hours of work, getting the lead out of the guts.

At one time there was a photo on Castpics showing my wife with the MG42 "in a remote location" in the NWT. The pic seems to have disappeared now.

[Combat Diver]

Brass was turned in. Most of that 7.62mm linked that I acquired that year was 26,000 rds of British 1+1 (ball/tracer mix). Most of it didn't go thru the M240 or MG3s. Our Mk 44 7.62mm minigun has a awful appietate even when set at 3000 rpm (down from 6000).


CD

[quasi]

Germany still uses the MG design. Canada has leased Leopard 2's in Afganistan. The MG3 is part of the lease package on the Leopards. According to Canadian vets the MG3 is not as reliable as the regular issued FN MAG's.