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Title:	RIFLE, MILITARY -  GERMAN RIFLE FG42 AUTOMATIC 7.92MM SN# 04522
Maker/Manufacturer:	STANGE, LOUIS
Date of Manufacture:	1943-1944
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 908
Measurements:	OL: 96.5CM 38" BL: 50.1CM 19 3/4" 11 lbs.

Object Description:

GERMAN RIFLE FG42 AUTOMATIC 7.92MM SN# 04522
Manufactured by Heinrich Kreighoff, Suhl, Germany - German World War II selective-fire automatic rifle with 20-round detachable box magazine. Second pattern-late model (plastic pistol grips) with muzzle brake, folding sights, bipod. 4-groove rifling; right hand twist. Muzzle velocity 2500 fps. Flaps on magazine housing. Weapon weighs approximately 9.9 lbs. unloaded and 11 lbs. loaded. Cartridge: 7.92 Mauser.

Markings:
Receiver: FZS/FG42/04522.
Bolt: 4522x FZS.
Stock: 4207.
Trigger guard, magazine housing and magazine housing flaps: FZS.
Magazine: SJL (manufacturer's code)/01.

Weapon one of "29 Boxes of Miscellaneous Foreign Weapons as received from New York Port of Embarkation on 6 March 1946, per SA OOO.4/17 and 28. Note: Itemized list showing quantities and descriptions of individual weapons to be attached and made part of this voucher promptly upon completion of checking in of weapons in Experimental-Laboratory, Building No. 28. Weapon to retained in Experimental-Laboratory for an indefinite period for examination and study per Mr. P.W. Oliver, 11 March 1946, after which they will be regreased and boxed suitable for storage and place with other Museum Material in Building #19 pending reopening of the Armory Museum."

In 1979, the National Park Service loaned this weapon to the Small Caliber Weapon System Laboratory located in Dover, N.J. This weapon aided the U.S. Army in the development of a Dual Purpose Weapon then being designed for the Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle. Specifically, the engineers wanted to analyze this rifle's trigger mechanism. According to the US Army, "The weapon has beens studied in detail by our weapon designers during the concept phase for two different major programs. The knowledge gained during our custody of the rifle has contributed significantly to a speedy program development for a major laboratory thrust. This effort would surely have been delayed without your cooperation.
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to you for your cooperation which has well served the best interests of the US Government." - Signed, Murray G. Swindler, Colonel, Ordnance Corps, March 10, 1983

Notes: The FG42, adopted in 1942 by German airborne troops, and manufactured only in limited numbers, must be credited with bringing the dual-purpose rifle/light machine gun concept into prominence. Weighing about 11 lbs., this gun fired semi-automatically from an open bolt. It was fitted with a light folding bipod, and had a magazine capacity of 20 rounds.

"The FG42 was an automatic weapon developed by Rheinmetall to meet a Luftwaffe requirement for a special weapon for paratroops. The designation 'FG42' is the abbreviation for Fallschirmjagergewehr 1942, meaning 'parachutist's rifle (Model) 1942.' Limited production of this weapon took place, not in 1942, but late in the war.
The FG42 had some of the characteristics of a light machinegun, but it also had features normally associated with individual rifles. Its weight was considerably less than that of the typical light machineguns of that time. As it fired the standard 7.9 x 57mm Mauser cartridge, stability was unsatisfactory in full-automatic fire. It has been asserted by a person who occupied an important position in small-arms development in wartime Germany that the designer of the FG42, Louis Stange, would have preferred to use the 7.9x33mm kurz cartridge. He was forced, however, to accept a decision made at the political level.
The FG42 was gas-operated and magazine-fed. It fired full automatic from the open-bolt position or semiautomatic from the closed-bolt position. Two distinct varieties existed, and the second variety apparently, although only about 7,000 of both types were made. Although the FG42 was developed by Rheinmetall, actual production was accomplished by other firms." - Musgrave

"During World War II, the Krieghoff Waffenfabrik, of Suhl, Germany, devoted its time mainly to the production of the Parabellum (Luger) pistol. This company turned out large quantities of he letters represent the initials of the Fallschirm Jaeger Gewehr (paratroop machine gun), and the numerals indicate the year of adoption. Shortly after the gun had been issued, the Germans used it in the invasion of Crete. This was the first time a military objective had been taken by soldiers parachuted from troop-carrying planes and the FG-42 played no small part in the success of the campaign. The FG-42 was a gas-operated, rotating form of lock, air-cooled, bipod-supported weapon that had an unusually large ventilated forearm grip. The overall weight of the gun was only 14 pounds with bipod and loaded clip that held 20 rounds." - Chinn

"The German FG42 ran into the same problems later encountered by the FN LAR and the M14. It was an attempt to create a lightweight, selective-fire weapon chambering full-power rifle ammunition. Like the FN LAR and M14, the results created a good rifle, although the FG isn't as well balanced, thanks to its side-mounted magazine. But the weapon failed to replace the machine gun because of heat buildup and, most importantly, excessive recoil.
Early FG42s had a stamped steel stock, while later ones had a wooden stock and pistol grip. Only 5,000 to 7,000 of the rifles were made. The United States tested several of the rifles in other chamberings and later incorporated elements of the FG42's trigger mechanism in the T44 machine gun. The T44 later led to the development of the M60 machine gun, which also incorporated the belt feed of another German weapon, the MG42. The FG42 also greatly influenced the design of the experimental LMR which was developed by TRW as a possible replacement for the M16." - Duncan Long

DISPOSITION OF OTHER FG42s THAT WERE IN SPRINGFIELD ARMORY MUSEUM COLLECTION:
Army #5993 - FG42 SN# 02582 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #5995 - FG42 SN# 445 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6084 - FG42 SN# 02908 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6085 - FG42 SN# 03585 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6182 - FG42 SN# 822 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6185 - FG42 SN# 00752 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6219 - FG42 SN# 03987 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6291 - FG42 SN# 1875 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6503 - FG42 SN# 03192 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6528 - FG42 SN# 00458 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.
Army #6570 - FG42 SN# 00278 - WeapoArmy #6571 - FG42 SN# 0047 - Weapon listed as surplus to the needs of the Museum in a letter to the United States Military Academy dated 12/28/51.

References:
Chinn, George M. THE MACHINE GUN. Vol. III. Department of the Navy. Washington, D.C. 1953.
Long, Duncan. ASSAULT PISTOLS, RIFLES AND SUBMACHINE GUNS. Carol Publishing Group. N.Y., N.Y. 1991.
Musgrave, Daniel D. GERMAN MACHINE GUNS. 2nd Ed. Ironside International Publishers, Inc. Alexandria, Virginia. 1992.