Paratrooper rifle 42

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Paratrooper rifle 42
Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 noBG.png
general information
Military designation: FG 42
Country of operation: Germany
Developer / Manufacturer: Rheinmetall , Krieghoff
Development year: 1941
Manufacturer country: Germany
Production time: 1943 to 1945
Furnishing
Overall length: Model 1 & 2: 945 mm
Model 3: 975 mm
Total height: 220 mm
Total width: 58 mm
Weight: (unloaded) Model 1 & 2: 4.2 kg
Model 3: 4.95 kg
Barrel length : 500 mm
Technical specifications
Caliber : 7.92 x 57 mm
Possible magazine fillings : 10, 20 cartridges
Ammunition supply : Bar magazine
Cadence : 750-800 rounds / min
Visor : Diopter , telescopic sight
Closure : Turret lock
Charging principle: Gas pressure charger
Lists on the subject

The Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 or Fallschirmjäger-Gewehr 42 (FG 42) is a multi - purpose self-loading rifle and was developed for the German paratroopers in World War II .

history

Paratroopers with FG 42

When German paratroopers landed on Crete in the company Merkur in May 1941 in order to be able to use Crete as a base of operations in the eastern Mediterranean, the low firepower of the five-shot carbine 98k , the standard weapon of the Wehrmacht's infantry , quickly became apparent . For safety reasons it was not possible for the soldiers to jump with their weapons, which had to be dropped in separate containers. Therefore, after the jump, they only had pistols and hand grenades. The fact that the paratroopers first had to gather their equipment after landing turned out to be fatal, especially in Crete.

The Luftwaffe , to which the Fallschirmjäger Division belonged, demanded a weapon that was to be equipped as a self-loading rifle , as a sniper rifle with the ZF 42 telescopic sight, and as a light machine gun with a bipod front support and could carry a bayonet for close combat. In addition, it was requested that a shooting cup with a grenade sight for firing the 30 mm rifle grenade could be attached.

The first use of the rifle was held in 1943, as part of the company's Oak , a paratrooper company the deposed Italian dictator Mussolini freed from captivity. During this action - probably by agreement - not a single shot was fired.

In addition to the MG 42 (belt feed), the FG 42 (bolt) served as a technical template for the development of the American M60 machine gun .

technology

The FG 42 is a gas pressure loader with gas piston (control piece), screw cap and magazine on the side, in the ordinance caliber 7.92 × 57 mm . The weapon was set up for single and continuous fire. For single fire that FG 42 works aufschießend to achieve a greater hit accuracy. In continuous firing the gun is zuschießend to a self-ignition of the cartridge in a hot firing chamber submissions. The shoulder rest attached to the barrel extension prevents the rifle from climbing during continuous fire , which also enables faster firing of shots with single fire . The visor enables distance adjustments from 100 to 1500 m.

Since the manufacture of the paratrooper rifle 42 was complicated and changes were made again and again during ongoing production, only about 7,500 units were produced by the end of the war. In addition, the FG 42 was not accepted by the leadership, because towards the end of the war it pushed the development of the cheap assault rifle 44 , which fired the 7.92 × 33 mm short cartridge .

The FG 42 was available in three versions. Models 1 and 2 hardly differed. In Model 3, the bipod was reinforced and moved further towards the muzzle in order to make the rifle more stable, so that the shooting behavior improved. In addition, the metal butt was replaced by a wooden butt and the angle of the pistol grip was changed.

literature

  • Dieter Handrich: Paratrooper Rifle 42 . dwj Verlags-GmbH, Blaufelden 2016, ISBN 978-3-936632-86-6 .
  • Vladimír Dolínek, Vladimír Francev, Jan Šach: Illustrated lexicon of weapons in the 1st and 2nd World War. (German by Günter Brehmer, German arrangement by Harald Fritsch), Edition Dörfler in Nebel-Verlag, Utting 2000, ISBN 978-3-89555-223-6 .
  • Chris Bishop: The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII. Sterling Publishing Company, New York 2002, ISBN 978-1-58663-762-0 ( Book Preview ), p. 217.
  • Chris McNab : GERMAN AUTOMATIC RIFLES 1941–45 . Osprey Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-1-78096-385-3 . 83 pages (online PDF)
  • Günter Wollert, Reiner Lidschun: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world: Infantry weapons yesterday . 2nd edition, Volume 1, 1996, ISBN 3-89488-036-8 .

Web links

Commons : FG42  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Günter Wollert, Reiner Lidschun: infantry weapons yesterday . (1918-1945). In: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world . 3. Edition. tape 1 . Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-89488-036-8 , weapons, p. 166 .
  2. Günter Wollert, Reiner Lidschun, Wilfried Copenhagen: small arms . (1945-1985). In: Illustrated encyclopedia of rifles from around the world . 5th edition. tape 1 + 2 . Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 , weapons, p. 470 .