FG42 and MG42

Unlock the secrets of the FG42 and MG42 in Call of Duty! Discover their historical significance, in-game stats, and how to dominate with these iconic machine guns.

Alright, let's talk about two seriously iconic machine guns in Call of Duty: the FG42 and the MG42. These aren't just any guns; they've got some serious history and pack a serious punch in-game. Think of the FG42 as your versatile powerhouse – it's deadly on full-auto, but also surprisingly accurate when you tap-fire it, and it even comes with a 4x scope right out of the box. It's great for pretty much any situation, whether you're laying down suppressing fire or picking off enemies at a distance.

Now, the MG42... this thing is a legend. Its historical counterpart was a game-changer for the Germans in WWII because it was simpler, faster to make, and way cheaper than its predecessor, the MG34. While the MG34 was a bit more complex with its round barrel housing, the MG42 sports a more distinctive square housing with cooling slots. It was designed by a guy named Grunow who really knew his stuff when it came to punching and pressing steel, and he even went through machine gunner training to get the design just right.

The whole process of developing the MG42 was about making a reliable, mass-producible weapon. They started with a prototype called the MG 39, refined it into the MG39/41, and after some combat testing with about 1,500 of them, it was officially adopted as the MG42. Companies like Mauser, Gustloff-Werke, and even Steyr-Daimler-Puch were churning these out. In total, over 414,000 were made for the German army during the war.

What made the MG42 so special? It was air-cooled and recoil-operated, using a clever breech system with rollers. It fired from a belt of 7.92mm Mauser ammo, fed from the left. The genius of its design meant it was incredibly rugged and could handle the harsh conditions of the front lines. Plus, it was way more efficient to produce: it only weighed 27.5 kg, took just 75 work hours to build (compared to 150 for the MG34), and cost only 250 RM. Honestly, it's still considered one of the best machine gun designs ever by a lot of experts.

In terms of specs, the MG42 was about 122 cm long with a 53 cm barrel, weighing in at 11.6 kg when kitted out with its bipod. That bipod could be attached either at the front or in the middle. When used as a heavy machine gun, it could be mounted on the specialized Lafette 42 tripod, which added another 20.5 kg. Its nominal rate of fire was a blistering 1500 rounds per minute, though this could vary a bit and even increase during sustained fire. This high rate meant barrels wore out faster than the MG34's, typically lasting between 3,500 to 4,000 rounds. They did chrome-plate some barrels later to extend their life a bit, but barrels still got hot fast and needed frequent changes. The MG42 made this easier with a super-simplified barrel change mechanism.

Because the MG42 was so tough, it was usually given to infantry units. The MG34, while still a great gun, was often preferred for vehicle mounts where it was better protected from dirt and damage. They even experimented with a 'bent barrel' (krummer Lauf) that was angled 30 degrees, intended for firing from cover or around corners, but it wore out too quickly to be practical for a machine gun.

Things got even more streamlined with the MG 45 (also called MG42V) in 1944 due to material shortages. This version tweaked the breech mechanism so it didn't fully lock before firing, pushing the rate of fire even higher. It was lighter, weighing only 9 kg, and crucially, it used lower-quality steel and was simpler to produce. However, development took a while, and only about ten were ever made.