Feldgrau.net

Dragunov wrote:ah. but apparently it doesn't matter (okay, it does.), otherwise they would have changed it on the MG3... no?

but even if it had a handle... where would you put it? on the ground...?

They didn't change it in the MG 3 but MG 3 is, as we all know, basically the same weapon firing 7,62 NATO.

It must not be forgotten that we are talking about the very first examples of belt-fed light machine guns here. They were good guns but not perfect. Many later succesful light machine guns such as the FN MAG or PK series feature a handle on the barrel to aid removing it and for carrying the weapon.

If you don't have a handle on the barrel it will, like I said, just drop in dirt or where ever gravity sees fit to position it. The barrel and the chamber in it are likely to get sand or something else in them that doesn't belong there. This way the barrel has to be cleaned before putting it to use again. When a barrel has a handle it can be put aside pretty much anywhere in the firing position waiting to cool down. It can be put for instance into an empty ammo bin, on the edge of foxhole, against a tree stub, a branch, tree trunk or anywhere but not in the dirt or sand. See my point?

ah. right... so then i should ask could/should they have chenged it in the MG3 but then we're sorta going off topic...

and you couldn't do the same by grabbing the barrel with the pad?

I'm sure that the simple German machine gunner could perform amazing stunts with the pad or asbestos glove but when you're in the middle of a world war, such little accessories as those are not available all the time. They tend get lost, burned or shot up.

Here is one of the things that can happen with a hot barrel, this was the last time I shot mine, a year ago!!!! I just sold my collection of German arms, including the MG42 and an all matching MP40 among things.

cool!

but how did it happen?

Dragunov, me boyo, that's decidedly not cool!

While I hope the gun wasn't severely damaged, more importantly, I hope the gunner wasn't damaged!

Ratdog, that's not what led you to selling off your collection, is it? I don't recall specifics, but I do seem to recall that you had quite an assortment!

In the SF role the barrel hat to be changed more often I think that troops in the SF role were issued 1 extra barrel

Dragunov wrote:cool!

but how did it happen?

Well, I have had the mg since 2001, only shot it once a year and no more than 700 rounds per outting. Last year around this time I took a fellow "gun nut" with me to shoot. He was in the middle of some short bursts from the tripod and a large white puff occured and then a jam. We were about 350 rounds into it with the same barrel, and once the barrel was removed I couldn't extract the shell, and we found the tail on the ground with the spent shells. Put another barrel in and continued for about another 100 rounds before going to the mp40. I attributed it to possibly several things...........surplus ammo maybe weakened, or possibly the hot barrel cooking the shell off before being in battery completely. Gun nor person were hurt, and that is not the reason for me selling my collection.
I was having personal problems of the married female type (actually HER kids!!!!) and decided to leave the marriage, so to do so I needed money so I[sold my weapons, MG42, MP40, 2 K98's, G43, G41, 2 P38's and various mp40 parts kits and zf4 rigs. Not that big of a collection, but big to me and the income I have. The wife convinced me to stay, but the good side is I was able to pay all 5 credit cards off and have quite a bit left over for future investments. Did real GOOD with the MG's, best investment ever!!!!!
I always used 8mm surplus, and had plenty of primers being blown out and such, so maybe if I ever get into it again, I'll use modern day 8mm. Later.........................B

hhhhhhhh

c'mon Tom! it still looks cool

ah, the wonders of surplus ammo...

A real problem I have faced is the age of the brass casings which makes them a bit more brittle. Combined with the hotter load s of powder used in Turkish ammo, certain steps must be taken in order to keep the machinegun running smoothly without broken casings causing stoppages every 20 rounds or less. First, check the belt tension of the metal belts. The round should not be too tight in the links of the belts or they will not feed easily into the chamber and probably will cause a stoppage. Check the belts for twisted or broken links and repair them if necessary. Twisted links may be gently reformed with a couple needle nose pliers. Keep the belts clean of sand and dirt and lightly lubricate them before reloading. I have found that spraying the belts with RemOil (containing Teflon) just prior to shooting. Spray both sides of the belt, favoring the center where the belt links are and tips close to the points of the rounds and avoiding the primers. Oil will destroy the primers and make them not fire when struck by the firing pin. It is probably not advisable to store oiled ammo belts in their boxes because the oil may migrate to the primers and ruin them. I have noticed a complete absence of broke casings being stuck in the barrel chamber since I started lightly oiling the ammo belts. My thanks to Bob Bowman for this tip.

http://198.144.2.125/MG42/Machinengeweh ... enance.htm

http://198.144.2.125/MG42/Machinengeweh ... mation.htm