Fg 42?

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I've never even seen an FG 42 and while I was doing a little search on the net all I could find was a site selling re-enactment fakies for $1500 and a place selling just the reciever for $4000 (which I am assuming means that an actual rifle is also foolishly expensive.

Has anyone ever actually fired one or been around one? I really don't know too much about them but they look so damned cool I couldn't resist making a thread.

PS - Why is it that the C&R stuff that would be so amazingly cool like an FG 42 or a BAR costs about what I pay in rent a year for my apartment?

 

[Rebar]

Why is it that the C&R stuff that would be so amazingly cool like an FG 42 or a BAR costs about what I pay in rent a year for my apartment?

Because they are select fire weapons. Most semi-auto and bolt action C&R stuff is less expensive, in a lot of cases a whole lot less expensive.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I'd throw that selector switch into the ocean for a BAR under $800.

Hell, even companies that make BAR's now (I think it was Valkyrie arms...) made a semi-auto BAR and it was still $2000.

 

[Ian]

I've seen some video of an FG-42 being fired. Looks like a good amount of recoil, and a double dose of muzzle flash. I sure wouldn't object to having one, though...

 

[Kenneth Lew]

Last real transferable FG-42/II I saw was for sale @ $75,000 and it sold! Replacement 20rd. magazines are over $1,000 ea pre-ban, post-ban, before-ban, or any-ban. Those rifles are as rare as hen's teeth.

PS - Why is it that the C&R stuff that would be so amazingly cool like an FG 42 or a BAR costs about what I pay in rent a year for my apartment?

If you rent is over $2,000 per month, you live in a very nice place. C&R Bars are over $25k.

Kenneth Lew

 

[kfranz]

Price is as it is due to a fixed supply and a greater demand.

 

[nbkky71]

Hell, even companies that make BAR's now (I think it was Valkyrie arms...) made a semi-auto BAR and it was still $2000

Valkyrie Arms has discontinued their 1918 BAR. However Ohio Ordnance makes one. Cost is closer to $3000 though. But worth every penny from what I hear.

http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/slr.htm

 

[Jim K]

There were two versions of the Fallschirmjaeger Gewehr (Parachute troop rifle) 42; I have seen and handled both, but never had a chance to fire either. They are pretty heavy (over 11 pounds) for a rifle but relatively light for a light machinegun which was the actual role. They were intended to give parachute and glider troops an LMG that would be lighter and easier to handle than the MG.34 or MG.42.

One reason for the high cost is that there were not many made*, and very few came in during the "dewat" days. The German army never placed a high priority on airborne operations, in spite of good success in the early days of WWII in Belgium. After Crete, Hitler just about shut down the paratroops and they were re-equipped as standard infantry units.

Even in airborne units, most troops were armed with the K98k, and the FG.42 was used in the LMG role. German parachute troops did not jump with their normal arms; they usually carried only a pistol and some grenades. All their other equipment was dropped separately in containers. One of the problems at Crete was that British fire was so heavy that many Germans died before they even reached the containers to get out their rifles or machineguns.

* I don't have any exact figures on production, but it was probably not over 10k.

Jim

 

[Dave Markowitz]

The German army never placed a high priority on airborne operations, in spite of good success in the early days of WWII in Belgium.

FYI, German Fallschirmjaegers under the Nazis were part of the Luftwaffe (air force), not the army, although for most of the war they operated alongside and under the command of the army, e.g., in Italy.

 

[Rebar]

I don't have any exact figures on production, but it was probably not over 10k

according to Smith & Smith, production was around 5,000 rifles.

The FG42 has the same problems as the M14, it tried to be a rifle and a light machine gun, but handling a full power full auto fire with a standard sized rifle was very difficult. This is what lead to the development of the 8mm kurtz round and the STG44 assault rifle.

 

[Jim K]

Hi, Dave and Rebar,

Dave, I knew that and probably should have said that the Wehrmacht high command, rather than the army, did not fully utilize airborne troops. Student was quite an advocate for the airborne; without him there would probably have been none at all in the German armed forces. Incidentally, anti-aircraft troops were also Luftwaffe, and the 8.8 cm guns used on every front were usually manned by Luftwaffe personnel as they were officially "Fliegerabwehrkanone" or anti-aircraft guns. I have it on reliable authority that they did a number on Sherman tanks, though.

Rebar, thanks for the figure. I have the book, but it was late and I was tired so I didn't look it up. In any case, there are very few in this country, even in armed forces museums. I would guess that the number privately owned, operational or not, could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Jim

 

[Dionysusigma]

So how difficult would it be to make a new-production, semi-only version that utilizes FAL mags?

(Read: Where can one find schematics and a CNC router? )

 

[Jim K]

Lotsa luck! I doubt the plans even exist any more. Of course, you can always buy one and reverse engineer it. Lotsa luck there also.

But if you spend a quarter million or so and do make them, I am sure both the guys who want one for $50 will be very happy.

Jim