There's no adjustment switch or dial, however, by changing the booster from 8mm to 308 (or vice versa), the type of ammo, and/or the caliber, you can change the rate of fire a bit. The heavy MG3 bolt (IIRC 950g?) in 308 will definitely slow things down a bit, but to my understanding, you do have to be careful swapping out other parts (MG3, MG74, or M53) parts into an MG42 as you can cause reliability problems and possibly accelerated wear and damage to the receiver if everything is not in balance. I keep mine set up as a mock MG3 (standard, not heavy bolt) in 308 and never shoot 8mm out of it. I've never tested it, but compared to other machineguns on the firing line, I'd guess it to be running in approximately the 900-1000rpm range.
German MG-42
- Thread starter joeranger
- Start date
There's no adjustment switch or dial, however, by changing the booster from 8mm to 308 (or vice versa), the type of ammo, and/or the caliber, you can change the rate of fire a bit. The heavy MG3 bolt (IIRC 950g?) in 308 will definitely slow things down a bit, but to my understanding, you do have to be careful swapping out other parts (MG3, MG74, or M53) parts into an MG42 as you can cause reliability problems and possibly accelerated wear and damage to the receiver if everything is not in balance. I keep mine set up as a mock MG3 (standard, not heavy bolt) in 308 and never shoot 8mm out of it. I've never tested it, but compared to other machineguns on the firing line, I'd guess it to be running in approximately the 900-1000rpm range.
DARIVS ARCHITECTVS
New member
My MG-42 is all original parts in 8mm and runs at 1250 rds/min. Your mileage may vary. The powder charge of the rounds affects it some, but changing the bolt to a postwar 950 gram MG-3 bolt will slow the cycle rate considerably, saving ammunition, but making the recoil into a chattering bump instead of a steady push. Shaggy is right in warning against potential problems by introducing new parts that may vary in dimensions from the specification. You could introduce problems. If it runs properly, best leave it alone. Mine runs just fine. Bad ammo will create occasional stoppages. I have had no problems with Romanian 1970's surplus ammo, although because those rounds are little light in power, they may cause stoppages in some guns. Because 8mm ammo is no longer locally available since it all dried up, the MG-42 see less and less firing occasions every year. The 1986 ban will probably never be repealed, and even if the BATFE grants an amnesty to closet hideaway guns and lets you register them, the incredible flood of reassembled guns which are tried to be passed off as untouched originals in hiding would probably make it impractable for the BATFE to tell the original, hidden guns from the assembled fakes. I believe this is one of the largest reasons why a general amnesty for hidden historical machine guns will never come to pass.
DARIVS ARCHITECTVS
New member
The law can be changed, but only by a preponderance of public opinion. Since the most vocal opinionators in the US are anti-gun, wrongfully equating guns with the law violaters in society and ignoring the presence and deterrant effects on crime of lawful gun owners and collectors, the chances of significantly swaying the law toward more free gun ownership is small. No politician, hoping to please everybody with statements that sway to and fro in the wind, will even bring up the gun issue, much less take a stand on it, especially if the result is giving more power to the citizenry and less to government.
I've never used these guys but I was looking around for an MG42 and I found this website for C&R guns. It says u get a working MG42 (did not specify Auto or semi) and a 200rd belt for 43.5K.
http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/miscclass3/cr.html
http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/miscclass3/cr.html
Beretta686
New member
For $43,500 you may as well get an FFL, pay the $500/yr tax to be an SOT, make friends with the local PD or contribute to the sheriff's re-election campaign, so they'll want you to "demo" them and make a few bucks doing transfers for people, so that you can own post-samples (and prob have enough $$$ left over for a SAW & Glock 18 and a pile of ammo to keep to keep it company).
I know there has to be tons of these weapons in existance throughout the world (I hear their popular in Finland with collectors) so the price can't be too much. Hell, my CO had to crunch an StG44 in Iraq that was recovered from insurgents.
Plus if your a dealer than you don't have to worry as much about a stroke of a pen making your $43.5k prized toy into a hunk of metal.
I know there has to be tons of these weapons in existance throughout the world (I hear their popular in Finland with collectors) so the price can't be too much. Hell, my CO had to crunch an StG44 in Iraq that was recovered from insurgents.
Plus if your a dealer than you don't have to worry as much about a stroke of a pen making your $43.5k prized toy into a hunk of metal.
DARIVS ARCHITECTVS
New member
The other side of the coin Berreta686:
The FFL fee is a tax, nothing more. At least when you buy a C&R gun, you have a TITLE, not a LICENSE. YOU OWN IT. No politician can revoke ownership, and it's a different thing to make an item illegal in the US and try to confiscate it. It seems easier to abolish FFL's and SOT's with a simple revokation. All the value of a C&R gun as it goes up in price goes to the owner. The downside is they are extremely expensive, and if you buy one, you will probably not be able to afford another. I own two myself, and though two isn't as many as the doaen beat up rewelds a few friends own, they are MINE. I don't pay for the priviledge of possessing them. To some of us, that distinction is worth something. Perhap it doesn't matter to those who only look at the pocketbook. Were it possible that more C&R guns would be registered through and amnesty of the closet hideaway relilc guns, then maybe the prices would be more reasonable. But reasonable is something politicians are not. And until a majority of voters want to kick an anti-gunner in the balls at the voting booth, that's where things will remain.
The FFL fee is a tax, nothing more. At least when you buy a C&R gun, you have a TITLE, not a LICENSE. YOU OWN IT. No politician can revoke ownership, and it's a different thing to make an item illegal in the US and try to confiscate it. It seems easier to abolish FFL's and SOT's with a simple revokation. All the value of a C&R gun as it goes up in price goes to the owner. The downside is they are extremely expensive, and if you buy one, you will probably not be able to afford another. I own two myself, and though two isn't as many as the doaen beat up rewelds a few friends own, they are MINE. I don't pay for the priviledge of possessing them. To some of us, that distinction is worth something. Perhap it doesn't matter to those who only look at the pocketbook. Were it possible that more C&R guns would be registered through and amnesty of the closet hideaway relilc guns, then maybe the prices would be more reasonable. But reasonable is something politicians are not. And until a majority of voters want to kick an anti-gunner in the balls at the voting booth, that's where things will remain.