NOT so deadly weapon but still useful

THe MG42 is not 20 mm its 7,62 (.30 cal). None of them have any experience in using it, I think the are more confident with what they have. No nations use the MG42 but machine guns built over the design, like the american M-60 and the german LMG M-72. The foresight of the MG isn't even up (on the MG42 the sights can be laid down so as not to damage them in travel), so how the hell do the take aim with it???

Think about it

A. How do you know the MG42 was not damaged during the firefight? After all they threw about 4-5 grenades into the mg's position. B.How would Miller or his men know that shortly thereafter they would be involved in defending a bridge and might need the weapon? C. The MG42 is just that, a machine gun, not a rifle. It also does not fire 20mm shells, because it is a machine gun. Witness the 20mm cannon the Germans use in the final battle. That weapon fires 20 mm shells.

Wrong caliber

In this nitpick the MG42 is referred to as a 20mm. That large a caliber is called machine cannon. The MG42 is a machine gun caliber 7.92mm standard German cartridges and it is not a sniper-rifle. It is true that it was very easy to use, but with a cyclic rate at about 1200 rounds-a-minute it could easily surprise unexperienced troopers and the barrel would quickly be so hot it would be damaged. The reason why they left it behind, is that they do not have any ammo for it because it uses 7.92mm Gewehr Patrone 98.(they should have smashed it instead.)Steamboat Willie referred to as a sniper, is in fact the guy feeding the MG42.

Not idiots, but soldiers.

No on would argue that the MG42 wasn't a great weapon. What could be argued about this nitpick is that the MG42 is not a rifle, it is a machinegun. Furthermore, it is not and was not chambered for 20mm, but rather 9mm. Remember the AA gun that devastates the men on the German tank towards the end of the movie? That is a 20mm. Big difference. A 20mm would not have left much of the fatally wounded medic. Secondly, the point that the fellow nitpicker made about the soldiers taking the MG42 along with them is a fallacy. When the U.S. soldiers were assigned to locate Pvt. Ryan, they did not know that they would be later defending a town against a German armored assault, otherwise they would have been kitted out with American heavy weapons (Bazookas, 60mm or 81mm Mortars, Browning 30 cal MG). Second, soldiers are weight conscious, especially on patrol or a long hike. Who would have carried the MG42? Would they have to carry their regular weapon in addition? Who would carry the MG42 ammo? (It starts to get heavy after the first few miles!) Third, soldiers in that scope of war would have taken into account the distinctive ripping canvas sound of the MG42. I am sure that they would not want to sound like a German machine gun team amongst other U.S. soldiers in the area, lest they get attacked. Some U.S. Soldiers probably did use captured German weapons during the war, but given the mission which they were assigned, had I been in their boots, I would have dismantled it and left it.

I'm confused here!

I don't know where to begin here! Here goes: 1) The German (Steamboat Willie) manning the machine gun emplacement at the radar station wasn't a SNIPER in the true sense of the word. He assisted in ambush tactics, not sniping. 2) They would have left the machine gun behind because it is used primarily for defensive purposes - it would require at least two men to carry it with tripod - the mission they were on required significant travel with expediency - looking for a needle in a haystack in the French countryside and find Ryan before he is killed. Even if they encountered sufficient enemy forces to use the weapon against, it would not be their perogative to do so (suicide) and they could never get it set up in time in case of unexpected close action. 3) The weapon is a heavy machine gun, not a rifle. 4) That weapon doesn't fire 20mm ammo, but the 20mm cannon on wheels used in the village to kill the US soldiers atop the knocked out German tank does. 'Nuff said.

wow

The guy they beat up was not a sniper. The gun they used was a machine gun not a rifle. As for why they didn't use it, you have to remember, they were kind of like a light scout squad. Picking up that gun would have weighed them down to much. Plus they had no idea they were going to get into a battle of that size. And if you think they should have gone back to get it. There is no way they could have gone back to get it and been back for the battle.

Remember what their mission was.

I agree, from studying WWII I agree that the MG42 was a devestating weapon, but you must remember what their mission was. Their mission was to get PVT. Ryan and leave get him out of combat. They had no idea they were going to stay and help repell the german advance. They were suited for small battles, so they could get to Ryan quickly and go home. It would have made no sense to take the weapon given their mission.

MG42 would have been useful

It is a 7. something caliber, between 7.6 and 7.9. The base it was standing on could have been easily removed, and apart from unfamiliarity it was the best machine gun made in WWII. The rate of fire was unmatched and according to all account could be fire extremely accurately in short burst by an experienced gunner. Any contest as to its quality only have observe that pretty much all modern light machine guns have been based on it as correctly observed, the M60, MAG (FAL Belgium) the current German LMG(don't know its name) and pretty much every other one you can think of. I think a combination of all the comments approximates the truth.

Read this about German Machine guns

The German MG's had problems with their barrells heating and cracking over long periods of use. Seeing as how the three germans were left by themselves to defend the radar maybe they weren't left with a spare barrell or had used up their spare barrell already. My great grandfather told me about a time when some friends were fooling around with an MG-42 and the barrell explode from being cracked.

Actually....

The MG-42 was a wonderful weapon. I have seen it in several new clips, from the Balkans to Afganistan. Think it was the Italians that made a short version of it awhile back. It was chambered for 7.92mm or better known as 8mm Mauser. It was even rechambered into .308 for Nato allies that used the post-war version of it. It was called something like the G-3 or along those lines. And Willy was probably an ammo runner and/or an assistant loader. With the exception of being beaten, he was unharmed. The crew of the 42 looks as if they were blasted by a grenade. And instead of letting Willy go I would have shot him. As it was proven, he became a liability. He could have returned to the knocked out radar station, retrieved an operable weapon and come up from the rear of the Reangers and attacked them. He may not have seem like the kind of soldier to do that but look what he did at the bridge.

So many mistakes in one Nitpick!

Dear 8114, I can appreciate the enthusiasm a movie like “Saving Private Ryan” can generate. Let's not let that enthusiasm lead us to write without researching. If we are going to nit-pick, let's try to get your facts right. For starters, the MG42 fired standard German 7.92mm rifle ammunition, not the 20mm "ammo" suggested. A weapon large enough to fire 20mm rounds had to be mounted, at the very least, on a two-wheeled steel carriage. As to why U.S. infantrymen would not try to make use of this excellent German weapon, there are at least four reasons. Number one; it's ammunition was incompatible with U.S. issue rifle cartridges, (U.S. .30 caliber [7.62mm] ammunition), therefore, they would have to capture sufficient quantities of German ammunition to make it worthwhile. Number two; the MG42, sans tripod and ammunition, weighs 25lbs. A poor infantryman must carry a heavy load (60lbs per man was about average) cross-country, on foot, for mile after mile. Who would want to add the extra 25lbs (plus tripod and ammunition) to his load? Number three; the MG42 made a distinctive sound when it fired (described as like "tearing of sheet metal"). This sound coming from one's on lines could create confusion and may deceive one’s own troops and result in "friendly fire" being brought down upon the user. Number four; the assertion as to the ease of use of the MG42 not withstanding, it was still a weapon that the troops had not been trained on and was therefore, an unknown quantity. As to the MG42 being used today, it is, in a slightly modified form. The modern German Bundeswehr (German Army) uses the MG3, which but for the change in cartridge caliber, is nearly identical to the old MG42. The MG3 is chambered to use the NATO standard 7.62mm round (the same round used by U.S. forces during WWII). As to another "rifle" (I am sure you meant to say "machine gun") being used for such a long period of time, that record is held by the U.S. ground forces Browning M2 "Ma Deuce" .50 caliber machine gun. This first saw action in 1917 during WWI. It took its present form in 1921 when its caliber was increased from 11mm (French ammunition) to 12.7mm (German ammunition). In its M1921 configuration, it has served through WWII up to today. Look at any picture of a contemporary M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank; "Ma Deuce" sits atop the turret. And one more thing, a sniper is one who seeks to kill at a distance and yet remain hidden. Therefore, one does not “snipe” with an automatic weapon like an MG42. Thank you

No-no

Soldiers are taught that unless they are in imminent danger and there is no other choice, never pick up and use the enemy's firearms. It might be booby-trapped.

MG-42.

Another reason for NOT taking the MG-42 qwith them was it was OVER HEATED which explaions why it was SMOKING!! Who would WANT to carry a red hot smoking possibly damaged MG-42? NOT ME!

Weaponry

This clown's comments are just too stupid to ignore. First he refers to an MG-42 as a "Rifle", and that not only can it fire 1,000 rpm (More like 1200 rpm), but it is instead of 7.92 x 56 cal. but a 20mm? The 20mm was a bloody CANNON. Like the one on that trailer. The only thing I agree with is the question of WHY no one even bothered to pick up left behind guns and ammo, etc. I was told by some ex-Maori Batallion guys that when they were in Italy, they had Stens, but not for long. They GOT RID OF THEM and replaced them with MP-40's whenever they came across them. The reason being, the STENS were crap, the MP-40's WEREN'T. One more point to mention, NO Gunner, in his right mind would EVER Spray shots in the way this clown says he would, as in "Mowing down the enemy". He would be abusing his gun by over heating it, and putting himself in danger as the ammo would go off by itself. A GOOD Operator would fire in bursts, as they were trained to do, and still do a good job.

Sheer weight

If you noticed, an MG42 weighs a good amount, more than the BAR. It would take a man to carry the machinegun, and another to feed the ammo into it. Plus when Hanks says "You can help with the bodies" Upham looks around, there are no extra barrels or ammo for the MG42.

THey attach em

At a place like that, a guard area or whatever. They arent going to bipod an mg42 on sandbags, they usually attach them with metal vices and such. These can be difficuilt to take apart, and would have taken to much time, effort, etc.

if u fired...

if you fired 250 rounds of mg42 ammo from an mg42. The barrel would overheat,causing the gunpowder in unspent sheels to ignite, which would set off all of the bullets left in the box, or in the new one put in, and killing anyone within a 15 yard radius. So maybe it was a good idea, they woukld have needed to fire ALOT of ammo from that beast.

Too many mistakes in one thread to ever address them all so I'll stick to the ones that no one else clarified.\r\rFirst off, "the MG3 is chambered to use the NATO standard 7.62mm round (the same round used by U.S. forces during WWII)." The G3 is in fact chambered to fire the Nato 7.62x51 round but the US in WW2 used the .30-06. Same caliber but NOT the same round.\r\rSecond, cooking off an MG42....when the barrel overheats, the round in the chamber cooks off by itself which is the same as if the gunner had pulled the trigger and fired the round. The round doesn't "explode" or destroy the gun. It also isn't very quick which means the gun will sit there and smolder and then "POW" (one shot)....and thirty seconds or less, another "POW" etc.\r\rThird, ammo loads carried by infantry are mission specific. That means if you plan to go on a "light patrol", you don't take 80 pounds of ammo per man, nor any heavy mortars or heavy MG's etc. You take the lightest load you can that will conceivably handle the job you plan to do (plus whatever extra any man wants to carry for his own personal comfort). The point being that no matter how much you carry (if you wanted to collect every weapon and every bullet you find for "later), you will eventually get to a point where you will run short.\r\rIn the movie, even if they *had* taken the MG42 and collected every bullet they found, they would still be at a point later in which it all wasn't quite enough. \r\rThe answer to the question of why they didn't take the MG42 is thus "when they had it, they didn't need it so they left it." Asking why they didn't take it is no more realistic than asking why they didn't take one of the howitzers from back at the base?

Ever fire one?

Just out of curiosity....you ever fire one of these behemoths, you would know that they are basically a bullet shotgun. One could theorize that the germans had expended most of their ammunition at that time(notice that there were other dead americans, cows, etc... and would not have had enough ammunition to justify carrying it with them. These things cycle at 1000 to 1400 rounds per minute, much too fast to use as a sniper weapon. Also, these things were too large to be carried effectively by one person.\r\rAlso, when they threw grenades into the nest, the gun may have been damaged. After all, Hanks' character said "wait until they change the barrel" if the gun was open when the grenade detonated it may have been unusuable. \r\r

wow

There were a lot of things said here. Some were right, and some wrong. The Mg42 is 7.92mm (8mm) caliber, firing at about 1200 rpm. Yes, i've fired one, and its far from being a "bullet shotgun". Now, if they DID decide to take it (which they wouldn't do) they could have handled it fairly easily. You do not HAVE to use the tripod. Mg42s are also equipped with a bipod, but using it makes it a little less accurate. There is the concern of ammunition. It is pretty darn heavy. And when they run out, they can't get any more. But the bottom line is, you remain faithful to YOUR weapon at all times. If there was some exptreme condition, like maybe Reiben losing his BAR, then maybe, MAYBE, MAYBE you would take the Mg42.