FG 42

poses with his early model FG 42 (Ausführung'' "C") in France, 1944. . At the time of the Battle of Crete (Operation Mercury), German Fallschirmjäger (parachute infantry) were equipped with the same assortment of small arms as the Heer, carrying only 9×19mm Parabellum chambered pistols and hand grenades on them during parachute jumps, with 9×19mm Parabellum submachine guns, 7.92×57mm Mauser chambered rifles, and crew-served weapons stored separately in containers that were dropped from the wing of the exit craft. The German RZ parachute harness, with one single riser and two straps attached to the body, making the paratrooper land on his hands and knees in a forward roll, did not allow heavier equipment such as rifles and machine guns to be safely carried during airborne jumps. At Crete, long-range rifle and machine gun fire from dug-in Commonwealth defenders inflicted heavy casualties on the outgunned German paratroopers in the early stages of battle as they attempted to retrieve their support weapons from containers scattered all over the battlefield. These combat experiences demonstrated the need for a rifle that could be carried by the paratrooper during a drop. The classifications of the development and production Ausführungen (types) are as follows: • Type A - First design • Type B - Revised model prototype • Type C - "LC-6" prototype • Type D - First Fallschirmjägergewehr; acceptance trials • Type E - First production Fallschirmjägergewehr (sometimes called the Modell I ("Type I") • Type F - First stamped receiver Fallschirmjägergewehr • Type G - Final production model Fallschirmjägergewehr (sometimes called the Modell II ("Type II") Development In 1941, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) requested a selective-fire hand-held weapon for the paratroopers; Senior Staff Air Secretary Ossenbach at the GL/C Erprobungsstelle-6 (GL/C E-6—the Luftwaffe Weapons Development Branch at Tarnewitz near Wismar) was approached informally to develop this special new weapon. However, due to the high casualties sustained by the paratroopers during Operation Mercury, Hitler changed his mind about the usefulness of airborne assaults and the plans were terminated. Prototypes Six manufacturers were solicited for prototype designs: Gustloff-Werke, Mauser, Johannes Großfuß Metall- und Lackierwarenfabrik, C.G. Hänel, Rheinmetall-Borsig and Heinrich Krieghoff Waffenfabrik. while Krieghoff presented a rising-block prototype, which too was quickly dropped. A design credited to Rheinmetall-Borsig's Louis Stange of Sömmerda who had previously worked on the MG 34 proved satisfactory and underwent military trials conducted by the GL/C E-6 test station at Tarnewitz in mid-1942. The type "A" was never produced beyond model form, but the basic design layout was retained for further development. With the basic characteristics of the LC-6 accepted, a series of modifications followed. The revised '''Ausführung "B"''' replaced the sheet metal handguard with a resin-impregnated fiber type that provided protection against heat and a better grip when wet. First operational use The weapon saw first operational use during the Gran Sasso raid (Unternehmen Eiche) in September 1943 when German paratroopers and Waffen-SS commandos rescued Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from his captors – 200 well-equipped Carabinieri guards. However, during the whole airborne operation (which was personally ordered by Hitler) not a single shot was fired. Deployment After approximately 2,000 FG 42s had been produced by Krieghoff, supplies of the manganese steel from which the receivers were forged were diverted to other needs; this meant a redesign was required to use stamped sheet metal in its place. Field reports that the lightweight rifle was not sturdy enough to handle full-power rifle ammunition in cyclic mode made Krieghoff engineers design the Type G. Improvements were: relocating the bipod from the front of the handguard to the muzzle to reduce shot dispersion; changing the pistol grip angle to near vertical; enlarging the handguard and changing the stock from stamped steel to wood to minimize overheating, adding weight to the bolt and lengthen its travel to reduce the cyclic rate of fire. Also a four position gas regulator was fitted, the bolt and recoil spring were changed to wound wire, a case deflector was fitted and the muzzle brake and the bayonet mount was changed. These changes, particularly the pistol grip change and the bipod relocation, are clearly visible on late-model FG 42s. Production models also had a simple flip-out spike bayonet under the barrel hidden by the bipod. In the later version the bayonet was shortened from around to around . There were never enough FG 42s to arm most Fallschirmjäger as originally intended, however most were employed in the western front following the events of D-Day, with the particular use of FG 42 during the Battle of Carentan and the Falaise Pocket (nearly a quarter of all FG 42 produced were in the hands of the 2nd Parachute Division). ==Design details==

placement (hinged to the barrel collar in front of the handguard), forged receiver, ribbed buttstock, and the sharply angled pistol grip. General configuration/layout The FG 42 was a select-fire air-cooled weapon and one of the first to incorporate the "straight-line" recoil configuration. This layout, combined with the side magazine, placed both the center of gravity and the position of the shoulder stock nearly in line with the longitudinal axis of the bore, a feature increasing controllability during burst or automatic fire. The top of the receiver of the FG 42 was specifically machined with a long dovetail type base designed to accept telescopic sight mounts. The scope mount featured locking lever(s) that allowed quick installation and removal of a telescopic sight depending on the specific combat scenario; general combat or in a limited sniping role. The telescopic sights used on the FG 42 were the ZFG42 or ZF4. The empty weight of the long 10-round magazine is and of the long 20-round magazine . Firing The FG 42 fired in semi-automatic mode from a closed bolt, accomplished by delaying the release of the firing pin (mounted on the bolt carrier and released by the front sear notch) until after the trigger had been pressed; the short lock time, and little movement in the action during firing translated into greater single-shot accuracy. When operating in the automatic mode, the sear mechanism was designed to fire from an open bolt by simultaneously releasing both the bolt and bolt carrier; and with this mode selected, the bolt would remain open between bursts to provide maximum cooling. This had the advantage of preventing a phenomenon known as "cook off" where the heat of repeated rounds being fired caused a chambered round to overheat and prematurely ignite the powder or primer. The rotating fire selector switch was situated in the trigger group, above the pistol grip on the right side. The charge lever also served as the safety, disabling the sear mechanism when engaged. Testing The FG 42 was intended to fill a niche in Nazi Germany's arsenal and was produced only in small numbers. It was somewhat well received by paratroopers when tested, but it did have its drawbacks. The FG 42 had a 20-round, or sometimes 10 round, magazine that was mounted on the left side of the rifle. Though a side-mounted magazine was common in submachine guns of the time, the larger magazine with heavier ammunition of a full-powered rifle tended to unbalance the weapon. In addition controllable bursts were difficult. This made full-automatic fire only marginally useful. The FG 42 used a fairly sophisticated muzzle device that did help with recoil and muzzle flash, but made blast and noise much greater than on other similar weapons. The US M14 rifle had similar problems, and attempts were made to upgrade that rifle the same way with an in-line stock and muzzle device. ==Influences/derivatives==

The American M41 Johnson LMG has many parallels with the contemporary FG 42. Both had in-line stocks, fed from the left side, and both fired from the open bolt in automatic mode and closed bolt in semi-automatic mode. Despite these similarities, there is no evidence that either weapon had any effect on the design of the other. As they were both seeking to solve similar problems, it is reasonable to expect that each weapon's respective engineers approached these problems similarly but independently, unaware of the developments of their counterparts. It is not easy to determine the significance of the FG 42 in terms of weapons history. With a slightly longer barrel and belt-feeding the weapon would have been an excellent light machine gun. Its designer Louis Stange knew that, he also built a prototype with belt feed. Some features, such as the details of the gas-operated bolt selection process, were studied by US Army engineers after the war. These, along with some aspects of the MG 42 general-purpose machine gun, are commonly reported to have been incorporated in the similarly troubled M60 general-purpose machine gun. The last known derivatives of the FG 42 were the Swiss Sturmgewehr 52 and M60 machine gun. The scarcity and prohibitive cost of genuine FG 42s in contemporary firearms collecting circles has brought about an industry of reproduction FG 42 style rifles by manufacturers in US and Germany. ==Users==

• : Used during World War II. Intended for use by all German airborne troops, but was never produced in sufficient numbers for standardized use. ==See also==