Original Item: Only One Available. This is a non-firing German WWII MG42 display machine gun assembled from original wartime parts around a solid cast aluminum dummy rear receiver. It retains an original barrel jacket, top cover, feed components, trigger group, wooden butt stock, working barrel change assembly, removable bipod, and basket style ammunition belt carrier.

This item was constructed as a permanently non-firing display piece using a solid fabricated aluminum receiver extending from the barrel locking area to the butt stock. It is not represented as a functional firearm and cannot accept or operate as an original MG42 receiver in its present configuration. Firearm and display gun laws vary by jurisdiction, and the purchaser is responsible for confirming that ownership, purchase, transfer, and display are lawful in their location. No export is available without confirming all applicable restrictions.

The original steel barrel jacket and associated components retain substantial blued finish and display an attractive service used appearance. The fabricated aluminum receiver is unmarked and provides the structural support for the original exterior components while preventing the assembly from functioning as a machine gun.

The barrel change system remains operational. Opening the barrel change door causes the barrel to move outward as intended. The barrel must be positioned fully forward before the door is opened, as attempting to operate the system with the barrel out of position may cause it to bind.

The top cover is restamped with serial number:

1459

The number is highlighted in white and corresponds with 1459 scratched into the left side of the feed tray. The original top cover serial number was largely removed before the replacement number was applied, and the earlier number can no longer be read reliably.

A faint inspection Waffenampt marking:

Eagle
WaA147

is visible on the top cover. An additional Eagle / 147 inspection is present on the feed mechanism beneath the cover. These markings are associated with wartime inspection at Johannes Großfuß AG of Döbeln, a major producer of MG42 components. The faint appearance of the top cover inspection stamp may be related to the removal and replacement of its original serial number.

The feed tray is marked:

cof

The cof manufacturer code identifies Carl Eickhorn of Solingen, a producer of MG42 top covers, feed trays, and related components in addition to the firm’s well known edged weapons production.

A second cof marking appears on the left side of the trigger group together with two:

WaA519

inspection stamps. These are consistent with wartime inspection markings associated with production in the Solingen area.

The bipod is an interesting adapted assembly. It is maker coded:

98E

This code indicates production by Ostdeutsche Fahrzeugfabrik of Stolp during 1940 or earlier. It also bears a:

WaA815

inspection marking, with an additional marking visible on the opposite side.

Because this bipod predates the MG42 and has a centrally mounted height adjustment knob with broad fluting more typical of an MG34 pattern, it appears to have been adapted from an early MG34 bipod or assembled using MG34 components. The leg retaining clips are somewhat crudely attached, further supporting later modification rather than original MG42 manufacture.

The bipod remains functional. Its legs extend and are retained by the fitted clips, and the complete bipod can be removed using the push tab on the mounting post.

The wooden butt stock retains the commonly encountered wire wrapping around its forward attachment area, intended to help prevent splitting. It bears markings on the left side and can be removed easily from the display receiver.

Both the front and rear sights remain movable and operate correctly. Additional German wartime markings are present on various components throughout the assembly.

The included basket style ammunition belt carrier has been refinished in a period appropriate Panzergrau, or armor gray, paint. Because the paint is a modern restoration, it should not be regarded as surviving wartime finish.

Some components may also display Yugoslavian or other postwar service markings. MG42 machine guns and their parts remained in use after WWII, and postwar markings can appear alongside original German manufacturer and inspection stamps.

With its original wartime barrel jacket and components, solid aluminum dummy receiver, working barrel change system, removable adapted bipod, wooden butt stock, matching restamped top cover and feed tray number, and basket belt carrier, this is an imposing and highly displayable MG42 assembly. The fabricated receiver, restamped serial number, modified early bipod, restored belt basket finish, possible postwar markings, and mixed component origins are fully disclosed. It would form a commanding centerpiece in a German WWII small arms, MG42, machine gun development, infantry equipment, or military display collection.

The MG 42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or "machine gun 42") is a 7.92×57mm Mauser general purpose machine gun designed in NSDAP Germany and used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. It was intended to replace the earlier MG 34, which was more expensive and took much longer to produce, but in the event, both weapons were produced until the end of the war.

The MG 42 has a proven record of reliability, durability, simplicity, and ease of operation, but is most notable for its ability to produce a high volume of suppressive fire. The MG 42 had one of the highest average cyclic rates of any single-barreled man-portable machine gun: between 1,200 and 1,500 rpm, resulting in a distinctive muzzle report. The only Allied automatic ordnance of any type with a similar calibre that was designed to exceed this rate of fire was the Soviet Union's .30-calibre ShKAS machine gun for aircraft armament, due to its "squirrel-cage" layout, ten-round "pre-feed" mechanism giving it a firing rate of 1,800 rounds per minute.

One of the weapon's most notable features was in its exceptionally high rate of fire of about 1,200 rounds per minute, twice the rate of the Vickers and Browning machine guns, which fired at a rate of about 600 rounds per minute. So effective was the weapon in laying suppressive fire that the United States Army created training films to aid its soldiers in dealing with the psychological trauma of facing the weapon in battle. The MG 42 fired at such a high rate the human ear could not easily discern the sound of individual shots being fired, instead hearing a sound described as like "ripping cloth" or a buzzsaw, giving rise to the nickname "AH's buzzsaw" (and the German soldiers' AHsäge ("AH's saw" or "bonesaw").

The gun was sometimes called "Spandau" by British troops, as was the MG 34, a traditional generic term for all German machine guns, left over from the famous Allied nickname for the MG 08 Maxim-derivative used by German forces during WWI, which was derived from its manufacturer's plates noting the city where some were produced.

The MG 42's high rate of fire resulted from analysis concluding that since a soldier typically only has a short period of time to shoot at an enemy soldier, and muzzle rise quickly throws off initial aim, it was imperative to fire the highest number of bullets possible in the shortest time to increase the likelihood of a hit before the recoil overcame the inertia of the gun and pushed the aiming point upwards. The disadvantage was that the weapon consumed exorbitant amounts of ammunition and quickly overheated its barrel, making sustained fire problematic. Thus, while individual bursts left the weapon as highly concentrated fire at 1,200 rounds per minute, the Handbook of the German Army (1940) forbade the firing of more than 250 rounds in a single burst and indicated a sustained rate of no more than 300-350 rounds per minute to minimize barrel wear and overheating, although the excellent quick-change barrel design helped a great deal. Burst limits are typical on non-water-cooled automatic weapons, and slower-firing Allied guns such as the M1919 also had limits; they fired at a slower rate, but lacked a quick-change barrel, and so the operator had to limit his fire to a few hundred rounds per minute to allow the barrel to cool between bursts. Due to the slower firing rate, this led to a longer period of time spent shooting, but a roughly equivalent total number of rounds fired. Operationally, the MG 42's main drawback was that it could consume ammunition at such a high rate that it was very difficult to keep firing during offensive actions, because ammunition had to be carried forward on a continuous basis. This was also a problem at the end of the war with inexperienced German troops. Good fire discipline was necessary, and the level of training that the German infantry was receiving at that time was poor.

The method of barrel change made the MG 42 unsuitable for secondary or co-axial armament on World War II era German tanks with the exception of the Jagdpanzer IV. Early versions of the Jagdpanzer IV carried two standard (no modification made) MG 42s on both sides of the gun mantlet/glacis, firing through a ball slot which was protected by an armored cover (with the MG 42 retracted) when not in use. Later version Jagdpanzer IVs carried only one MG 42 on the left side.

In the German heavy machine gun (HMG) platoons, each platoon served four MG 34/MG 42 machine guns, used in the sustained fire mode mounted on tripods. In 1944 this was altered to six machine guns in three sections with two seven-man heavy machine gun squads per section as follows:

Squad leader (NCO) MP40

Machine gunner (private) MG 34/MG 42 and pistol

Assistant gunner (private) pistol

Three riflemen (privates) rifles

Horse leader for horse, cart and trailer (private) rifle

The MG-42 incorporated lessons hard-won on the Eastern Front. Both the cocking handle and the catch for the top cover to the working parts were designed so that the gunner could operate them wearing mitts or with a stick or rod. This was vital for winter conditions where contact by bare flesh on cold metal could cause severe injury, such as instant frostbite.

The MG42's effect was so devastating that Allied troops were trained before the D Day landings to distinguish its unique sound when fired, which was like cloth being ripped or the sound of a buzzsaw. Allied troops were trained to charge an MG-42-equipped pill box only at the time of its one weakness, which was when its overheating barrel needed to be changed.