FG 42

Lore & Background

The FG 42 was developed after the Battle of Crete, where German Fallschirmjäger suffered heavy casualties because they could not carry rifles or machine guns during jumps; weapons were dropped separately in containers. The German RZ parachute harness, with a single riser and two straps, forced a landing on hands and knees, preventing safe carriage of heavier equipment. This experience demonstrated the need for a rifle that could be carried during a drop.

The Reich Air Ministry sought a universal shoulder-fired automatic rifle to replace the bolt-action rifle, submachine gun, and light machine gun in the air assault role. The Army Ordnance Department dismissed the undertaking as unrealistic, so the Luftwaffe developed the weapon independently. The LC-6 specification of 14 December 1941 required a weapon not exceeding 1000 mm in length, not significantly heavier than the Karabiner 98k, capable of semi-automatic fire from a closed bolt and fully automatic from an open bolt, feeding from detachable 10- or 20-round magazines, and able to mount a bayonet and use rifle grenades. The Luftwaffe favored the 7.92×57mm Mauser full-power cartridge for its long-range potential.

Prototypes were solicited from six manufacturers; the design by Louis Stange of Rheinmetall-Borsig, known as Gerät 450 or Ausführung 'A', proved satisfactory. After modifications (Ausführung 'B' and LC-6/II and LC-6/III prototypes), the weapon was accepted into production as the FG 42. Fifty rifles were fabricated by Rheinmetall-Borsig for evaluation by the end of 1942. A pre-series batch of 50 rifles was produced in early 1943. The Heinrich Krieghoff company was contracted for limited production as Rheinmetall lacked capacity for serial production.

Reader's Guide

The FG 42 is considered one of the most advanced weapon designs of World War II. Its development was driven by the specific tactical needs of German paratroopers, who required a compact, powerful automatic rifle they could carry during a jump. The weapon's expedited development and changing Luftwaffe requirements resulted in a myriad of variants; post-war literature typically identifies three versions, though the Germans did not give them separate designations. The Modell I and Modell II were never officially referenced; period documents simply refer to the weapon as the 'Fallschirmjägergewehr 42' or 'FG 42', always referring to the latest production model.

The FG 42 influenced post-war small arms development. Many features of its design—such as general shape, stock style, gas-rotating bolt operation, and sheet metal and plastic construction—were copied by the US Army when it developed the M60 machine gun. The weapon saw first operational use during the raid to free Benito Mussolini in September 1943, where it was used by paratroopers of the Fallschirmjäger Lehrbattalion to try out new equipment. Despite its advanced design, the FG 42 was produced in very limited numbers and saw only limited use until the end of the war.

Did You Know?

• The FG 42 was developed after the Battle of Crete, where paratroopers could not carry rifles during jumps and had to retrieve them from scattered containers under fire.
• The weapon could fire semi-automatically from a closed bolt and fully automatically from an open bolt.
• Louis Stange, the designer, had previously worked on the MG 34 machine gun.
• The FG 42's design features were later copied by the US Army when developing the M60 machine gun.