Nanker Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Well I won't say that about the M1 Garand. And it's ma deuce Keerect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 The MG 42's barrel was prone to overheating if firing continuously for around 150 - 200 rounds. The barrel had to be swapped out which took about 5 - 9 seconds and that's when they weren't able to hit you 8 times out of 10. If one was dumb enough to fire continuously. And the barrel could be changed more quickly...again, this is where the crew experience comes in, a good veteran crew could change it in as little as three seconds. And that much heating was pretty much average for an air-cooled machine gun. It wasn't any more prone than a .30-cal Browning or a Bren. The WWII GIs went to war with a lot of pretty inferior equipment - rifles, machine guns, tanks, planes and ships. We caught up though but mostly in quantity and it took about three years. The Browning 50 cal machine gun "Ma 2" is one for the ages though. It's still in use today. GI's didn't use ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Just cause I'm fascinated by your reading habits, how long did it take you to get through those 608 pages? Don't feed the beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpberr Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Germans had higher quality "stuff" when it came to armaments. They had their own factories in the Ruhr Valley and then when they acquired Czechoslovakia for a player to be named later, they picked up the Czech's fine Skoda howitzer factories. The Germans provided technological evolution in firearms through both WWI and WWII from the 9mm Luger to the grandfather of the modern assault rifle (STG44, not the AK47) to the MG42, a machine gun that remains in use today in some countries, believe it or not. Not to mention numerous technological advances in armor, vehicles, airplanes, mines, grenades, etc. Problem is that the Germans would never be able to produce enough weapons. Small country. Once you took out the factories, they had a hard time making anything. Whereas the United States....we outproduced everybody in WWII even joining the war nearly two years into it. Germans had quality but we had production. For their 10 quality built guns, we could build 200 "good enough" guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 Yeah but according to Tom, D-Day/Normandy was no big deal Walk in the park after you call in artillery. Right Tom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Walk in the park after you call in artillery. Right Tom? Calling in the entire Eighth Air Force never hurts, either. There's no problem that can't be solved without the liberal application of high explosives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 (edited) Calling in the entire Eighth Air Force never hurts, either. There's no problem that can't be solved without the liberal application of high explosives. Well except for the friendly fire thing. Edited July 14, 2012 by Jim in Anchorage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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