In early beginning of World War II, the Germans used the deadly and effective “Hitler’s Buzzsaw” other wise known as the MG-42 machine gun.
The chain-fed light machine gun could pump out 900-1500 per minute of 7.92x57mm Mauser rounds.
The sound of the MG-42 was different and when faced against it, you knew that you were out gunned.
Prior to WWII, the MG-34 was the main stable machine gun.
The firing rate was 800-900 rounds per minute.
The good news for the allies was that to have it manufacture it was very expensive and time consuming for the Germans.
This was the reason why the Germans replaced the MG-34 with the MG-42.
This firearm was cheaper and quicker to manufacture and put out to the troops.
Germany continued to field the MG-42s right alongside the MG-34s. The MG-42 became the general-purpose machine gun of choice for the German Army.
Soldiers use the machine gun as support weapons to keep Allies heads down while their forces manuevers, very similar to our Squad Automatic gunner of today.
Regular troops carried Mauser rifles and MP40-style submachine guns.
Here’s Youtuber Ian of Forgotten Weapons shooting both machine guns.
