Why was the Mg-42 so formidable in both its function and as a morale sapper?

Question

Ive heard historians say this over and over on History Channel shows but they never seem to go into detail as to why this gun was so excellent and why exactly did it have an adverse effect on morale?

Answer 1

From what I understand and have read about it, is this:
The Mg-34 you could actually hear the amount of rounds it was dispensing, it was quick but you could hear the individual shots in a row. When they introduced the Mg-42, all you heard was a continuous BRAP, you couldnt tell how many rounds they had shot. And from talking to my Grandfather about it he said it had an bad effect on the men around him and himself because they didnt know when it would stop, with the Mg-34 you could count them and know ok theyve shot that much. But when your cowered in a trench and the grounds getting chewed up around you, you dont know how many are coming at you.

Its actually a wierd situation and you have probably already guessed, and the 2nd reason is because it shot so many rounds so fast. It was the best machine gun of WWII and was copied for many years after on into the 80's(thats how you know you have a winner!)

Answer 2

Have you ever played Call of Duty 2? I played this on veteran level and the MG 42 is morale sapping, as is the Panzer. These weapons could fire a continue hail of bullets at you.

I had to die many many times (which a real soldier doesn't get to do) to figure out how to get close enough to these MG 42 sites. You have to approach under a barrage of continual fire, or figure out how to snipe all the soldiers manning that gun.

(I highly recommend COD 2 (single player) for learning about WWII and the nature of war in general.)

Answer 3

The gun was really just a long distance, powerful, shotgun. It was incredibly loud compared to the US .30 cal or the German Maschinengewehr 34, and was terrified because while it sprayed there was nearly no way a soldier could be active enough to fire a gun. The gun however, used way too much ammo and was incredibly heaving and hard to move, although it could fire many bullets in a minute, the gun was hardly tactical for its size and was inferior to the lately developed .50 cal US version in almost every way

And no Ford Perfect or w/e, it was not at all very easy to move, and its air cooling at 1500 rounds a minute did nothing if the gun was in intense combat...it overheated all the time when not shot in bursts

Answer 4

As everyone has already said, it had a very high rate of fire. It also had something new that allowed it to sustain that high rate - a quick change barrel. 800-900 shots per minute wouldn't have been nearly so impressive if they had to stop and cool down the barrel for five minutes after every 50 round burst.

Answer 5

Because it was loud - it had a distinct sound. And it had a tremendous rate of fire! And they were produced in large numbers...

All in all, it made for a very intimidating gun...

Answer 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG42

very easy to carry and move to a different position, 1500 rds a min fire (hence the "zipping" sound), easy to change barrrel (7 sec's)...7.62 standard calibre...didn't overheat and if it did the barrel could be exchanged in the time it took to reload a Thompson machine gun.

Answer 7

It was simple and dependable with an extremely high rate of fire,1200 rds. per minute.
The sound of it firing would scare the crap out of you.