An m2 and mg42 walk into a bar: "Hey brother" "Hallo" "Theyre never going to let us retire are they?" "Nein."

The MG3 (basically an MG-42 in 7.62 NATO) is still in use, so that says something.

Oh how I wish Ian was a college professor. I would love to take a class taught by him.

I served 20 years ago in the german army as an support soldier. We had an MG 3 on which you could see the rather crued "overstamped" or x-out "MG 42". Not talking about the proofmarc .

other mg's: can you stop acting superior? mg42: but i am superior

I think Springfield Armory might have an MG42 in .30-06 in their advanced collection. Really get in contact with them. But I do know for a fact that the armory also has a belt fed BAR that was made post WWII.

The story about the royalties is hilarious.

I was in the U.S.Army back in 1981-1982. My MOS was 45KILO, tank turret repair, but I also was allowed to work in small arms repair. I repaired a few U.S. M60s and they were worn out crap back then. They were Jam-O-Matics. In 1982, I was re stationed in Germany and was able on several occasions to fire German MG3, and on one occasion disassemble one. Compared to the M60, the MG3 was flawless in operation, and very easy to disassemble for repair. IMO, the U.S.Army should had adopted the 7.62 NATO version of the MG3, and dumped the M60.

The mg42 when converted to 308 or 7.62 Nato is amazing. Way easier to control, just as fast, fewer parts need to be convert, and makes it easier to find ammo for

Former Yugoslavia kept MG-42( known as M-53 "Garonja" in 8mm Mauser).It was in active military service until early '80.

1:20 when you capture an MG-42, which to my memory has a fine bipod, and you outfit it with that abomination they also put on the BAR...

"This dog barks worse than it bites" - apparently everyone wanted this dog.

Imagine if this was used during the Korean War. We'd already have a *BRRRRRT* before the A-10 was cool.

In the 1980's I was still using Saginaw produced 1919 machine guns in the Canadian army, converted to 7.62 NATO.

If there are 51 malfunctions in 1500 rounds fired, that does achieve a slower rate of fire...doesn't it? 😜

That was about seven and half times more interesting than I ever thought it would be... No joke...Thank you Ian. I love this kinda stuff.

"Well the Wehrmacht paid you!" "You mean the Bundeswehr, I assume?" "Of course!" "So the Bundeswehr is the successor to the Wehrmacht? "..." "Well?" "...how much did we owe you again?"

The rate of fire was too high? HOW DARE YOU!?

Fun fact I worked in the Saginaw plant until very recently and to this day we are still proud of the company's involvement in 1919 production. Some of the equipment in the plants are circa 1940s still in 2019!

Back in late 1980s and early 1990s I shot 4 position small bore competitively with a gentlemen who was a member of the NRA technical staff and a engineer for Saginaw Steering Gear. He worked on the M1 carbine, the MG 42 program and even got loaned to Bay City's Presto Lite plant to help work out details on the Grease Gun. What he told me of the project took place 30 years ago but as I recall this was a short budget for money and time so it was approaches as a proof of concept exercise. The Saginaw team told Army exactly what problems they would encounter in testing which was exactly what they found and reported. The Saginaw team had plans to fix everything in a next stage of development with a bigger budget and more man hours. That next stage never occurred as Ian said. The high rate of fire was considered very advantageous for shooting at aircraft but wasteful on soldiers. Shooting a 800 rounds per minute means you're going to shot each soldier 3 or 4 times. Shooting half that speed would mean shooting each soldier 1 or 2 times. That is enough to take a wounded soldier out of the fight. GM really did not want to get into weapons manufacturing post war so there was no lobbying by GM to pursue it any further. BTW when the project was first brought to Saginaw the team thought they might tool up to build 8mm MG42 for the Chinese. Many Chinese units were armed with 8mm Mauser rifles.

The MG42 fires so ludicrously fast, when i first heard it i thought sky was tearing in half... i don’t know how you could possibly go faster with a mechanical system other than a gatling style gun... but i’d love to see someone try.

The "little bit rambly" stuff is usually exceptionally interesting.

The MG-42 machine gun eventually evolved into the M56 Smartgun.

My father served in France and Germany in an armored cavalry unit. He served on an M8 armored car, and was a weapons sergeant. He had a collection of German MG’s on his armored car, including MG42 and 34. He used them to train other troops how to utilize them if needed.

"Let's not talk about that." German history in brief

The malfunction rate averages out to 3.4 malfunctions per 100 round belt of ammunition. That is entirely, and totally unacceptable. Saginaw clearly did a rather poor job of reverse/re-engineering the original.

I suspect adopting your enemy's GPMG, no matter how advanced, immediately after a bitter conflict would come with some poor optics. But eventually we got the M60, so we sorta kinda did 'adopt' the MG42 in spirit.

An entire book on the Browning machine gun? That's actually pretty awesome. Must go into all of the most interesting historical details of it

The MG-42 was so ahead of its time that even in this modern day and age, they are still widely used and well regarded... And people thought the AK had a long life!

I used the (MG3) MG42 in calibre 30 06 (7,62) in my service in the Norwegian Cavalry in 1999 to 2000. I remember that some of the parts on them had ww2 markings. The MG42 are stil in use in the HV (National Guard).

Not gonna lie that belt driven BAR is pretty rad.

...still remember my dad recalling the numerous times he was pinned down by a 42

The 'What Ifs' of history are just pure fascinating. This was a great video. Continue to keep up the good work.

MG 42 and MG3, I've heard stories about some Bundeswehr soldiers finding MG42 receivers on their MG3s even in in this millenium, probably just rumors.

US Government/Contractors: "The MG42 shoots too fast." US Soldiers: *Whole squad pinned in cover by a single MG42 gunner and his assistant hidden in a bush after they kill two GIs in one burp.* Yeah. It shoots too fast.

In the austrian Bundeheer we used MG42 in 7,62x51 with blanks to simulate Flak. There was a adapter to mount the MG42 in the place the drum magazine of the 20mm Canon was used und a wire construction to fire the MG instead the canon. He used 3 of this modified MG42. With the blue Plastic Blanks, one run very wenll, one jammed from time to time and one jammed permanently. With Ball Ammo we use only 2 of the 3 MG42 and they worked mostly. The 7,62 conversion have not the high firing rate of the 8mm.

You think those royalty claims as silly, look at Vickers paying Krupp for artillery time fuses manufactured by vickers under license from Krupp during WW1!

I really enjoy this even though there isn't a gun for us to look at or for you to shoot. Do not be afraid to do more of these in the future! This is where I wish some of the Q&A questions would end up with a deeper dive

Ian thank you! hearing your analysis of the history of MG development after WWII was illuminating. I enjoyed this format and hope you do more like this. Your knowledge of this subject is outstanding.

Well this video is a great little slice of the MG world. Thanks! I remember being drunk asking my MG question when you had your interview with John Keene. It's great to see the topic expanded! Thanks Ian!

Also worth noting that the FN MAG uses the MG34/MG42 feed system, and that it was ultimately adopted by the US as the M240

My Dad fought in Patton's Third Army from the breakout in France until he ended up in Czechoslovakia. I remember him telling a guy at one of their Knights Of Columbus get togethers that the MG42 gave soldiers the pucker effect. Years later, one of the older members told me what that meant - trying to suck your ass all the way into your body while trying to get so small, you could hide behind a pack of cigarettes... crazy stuff the Greatest Generation went through...

This level of discussion would make an awesome podcast. Well researched, informative, and well presented.

Absolutely love this informational videos. I hope you get some more videos that are general history of some of these guns. It's nice to hear these kind of stories and to get all this background information.

The Bundeswehr is replacing the MG3 with the MG5. The main advantage of the new design is mounting optics for a greater effective range.

No love for the Swiss MG51? Wanted to know how the story of that gun fits into this picture

I really enjoyed this presentation. Please consider doing more like this.

This is the kind of content why Im following you. Well done.

The MG-42 lives on as the MG-3 in the German Army - (at least) - and IIRC in other armies in a different designation...I got to shoot one while I was stationed in Germany from 8 Nov '71 - 18 Jul ;74)...I got lucky enough to put the required amount of holes in the target to get the bronze (3rd class) German shooting cord (Schutzenschnur) I also shot the G-3 but was seriously disappointed that I didn't get to shoot the P-1 (post War version of the P-38)...thanx, Ian

While serving with NATO in the 80's I got to play with the M60, MG-3 (42) and FN M240. I can tell you, most dependable M240, most fun MG-3 and mostly bad news M60.

You tell interesting stories! Well narrated. Well researched. Thanks!

Awesome episode sir! That was some really cool info.

What a lovely start to the day 🤘🏻

I was really hoping Ian would mention the 5.56 CETME Ameli. Just where did that thing come from and what would it feel like with the lighter cartridge?

I have always wondered about alot of the information you shared today, great video thanks! 🎃

Thanks Ian I've always enjoyed the videos and your informational knowledge.

A lot of times in the US & other countries NIH is a big factor ( Not Invented Here ) in decisions companies and governments make. No matter how good & effective something is the host country tries to make it it's own a lot of time with disastrous results just like the T24 which if had been done properly with new manufactured receivers that were scaled up for the 30-06 cartridge and not messing with the rate of fire it might have worked. The rule in testing & development of anything is change one thing at a time to verify results because if change more than one thing it causes a combination effect that does not show how the individual changes worked.

I used to work with a guy who's father had a complete U.S. government set of technical manual's on infratry weapons in WW2. In one of the books it has a section on the T24. The major problem was the fact that the receiver was to short by 1/8 to 2/8ths of an inch which caused the problems!!!.

Thank you again Ian for an excellent video.

Outstanding video and presentation.

"Are you saying that the Bundeswehr is the modern incarnation of the Wehrmacht?" "Here's the money"

"Obviously, I haven't shot an actual T24" Says, Gun Jesus...the guy who has shot more obscure guns than probably anyone on the planet...yeah...

Pretty cool you hosted the link for the t24 report

IIRC, years ago when I had a private tour at Springfield Armory we were told that there was some issues of converting dimensions from metric measurements. They had one in inventory.

_"Hi guys! Thanks for tuning in to another video at forgottenweapons dot com"_ I wonder how many viewers of these videos have only seen them on KZfaq and never even visited forgottenweapons.com.

I remember playing with an MG-3, and comparing it to an M-60 (which I had carried for a few years at this point). Higher ups were talking about phasing out the pig, and most of us were suggesting the MG-3, if they really were going to get rid of the 60. So, what did they do...went with the FN, the worst of the three.

Fascinating information. It's interesting to see just how how difficult it was to change calibers on the gun.

Love the history videos. Great job Ian!

Yay, my country (norway) got mentioned, would be interesting to hear more about our wierd conversion of the MGs

Hey Ian ever heard of the Peiper Volley Rifle?

Love the history as much as the firearms. Thank you for sharing your knowledge

As an Infantryman in the Army in 1974-1975 I learned about other countries weapons like the FN Minimi, FAL and MAG. On subsequent tours of active duty (1978-1980, 1983-1992) I would learn more about their successes elsewhere until I was fortunate enough to have some of them available during my turn in the sandbox. My experience with the M 249 and the M240C confirmed my expectations of these fine weapons. I also enjoyed my opportunities to qualify with the Bundeswehr’s small arms such as the MG 3 during my three tours of West Germany. Your posts are both educational and interesting. Thank you for doing what you do.

Many countires use mg 3:s (mg-42 in 7,62 nato) because they got them when they bought German cold war surplus Leopard 2 tanks.

"Hopefuly there is some interesing information for you guys..." Oh yes, it is! I absolutley love this historical videos.

EdM240B hit the nail on the head. The Springfield Armory Museum attic is the place to go for 'why'. The MG42 into the M60 was a sore spot till the last worker - or his mind- died. Many years ago I spoke to a friend of my father who worked there towards the end, "we all felt 'blackballed' by being required to redesign... things that didn't need improvement. In 30-06, problems. In 7,62 NATO, not so much. The quick swap barrel was a really good idea, shooting slower with like a dimmer switch? We coulda done that. When you are all done and proud of your work, they army comes in and say they don't like it. Why didn't they say that earlier? Then be accused of wasting money on the MG42 project, while being ordered to design Gatling and chain guns that weren't even an idea in someone's head yet- you know what 'depleted uranium' is? People died just touching the $!!t. We are suppose to dog it in a lathe and put your nose next to the cutting tool?? B@## $%^t !" At the same time, an hour down the road, Electric Boat was drowning in billions and billions- at a time an Armory machinist made 80 bucks a week? And you can bet no one got in EB's face over ANYTHING". So the resentment ran deep. The same old man when I asked about the M14, "Oh b@## $%^t ! The army said it couldn't hit anything. If you removed the goofy flash suppressor, any one of em could hit anything at any range! They said it couldn't hit nothin' in full auto. Hey NOTHING hits NOTHING in full auto! We had holes in the roof to prove it! They were trying to close the doors on us, and the rotten SOB's did!!" Boy the bitterness did not end till they did..

Great video, as always, Ian!:)-John in Texas

Ian sez: "Small arms development takes ten years..." (pauses to think. Remembers STEn took

Ah, the AA 52, a french gun not even Ian can like.

Hi, Ian. Your expertise is always well received. So, when I start development on my rotary barreled SMG, I will budget about 10 years to get it right. Thanks for the heads up. ;-D Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!

The Italian Army never adopted the MG 42 proper, what they adopted in 1959 was the MG 42/59 which was a reworked version by Beretta of the MG-3. SMAL in Terni also tried a 5,56mm version of the MG 42/59, but it was never adopted as it was much heavier or the FN MINIMI.

The ultimate weapon for suppressive fire.

Dude talking about historical facts KZfaq: DEMONETIZE !

Thank you , Ian .

AA52 Machine Gun - I hope you get your hands on one for a video mate. Thanks for posting - enjoyed the deep dive into post ware MG development.

Great video, however you forget that the United States did eventually adopt the FN MAG as the M240.

And in 1977, the US Army finally saw the light, and adopted the FN MAG as well!

amazing as always

I work at an FFL and hear lot of stories from gun folk especially collectors. today an older man in his mid 80s told me about a shotgun he has from the second world war, he described it as a 12 gauge Browning automatic rifle (not made by Browning) that was issued for training purposes only. The way he explained it, they would mount it to a vehicle to train aircrew men on operating a similar moving weapon on moving targets. I was thoroughly confused and intrigued so I spent spent hours trying to find an example on the internet with no luck. Has anybody here ever heard of such a thing? Maybe I misunderstood. I figured this would be the place to ask because I don't use the internet much. I would message Ian directly but like I mentioned I'm not good at internet stuff.

10 years to develop a rifle... Degterev with his PTRD giggles.

Could you do an episode on the MG3 please .

Outstanding video.

Great episode

Thought I was in an alternate timeline for a second there.

This machine gun will never be retired even if lasers and aliens have arrived

Good info. Covered a lot.

I have to watch every Forgotten Weapons video twice because the first time I'm usually just writing down the titles of the books that I see in Ian's periphery.

The belt fed B.A.R looks like a M240

I see that WWSD “dmr” poking out ;)

Thanks Ian

Just finished watching the video. Very cool!