MG 34 and MG 42 Machine Guns

Иллюстрированное издание о немецких пулемётах MG 34 и MG 42.
The subjects of this book – the MG 34 and MG 42, plus derivatives – are interesting case studies within the scale of soldiers’ fears. Regarding the latter weapon, a US wartime information movie once declared that the gun’s ‘bark was worse than its bite’, no doubt a well-intentioned comment intended to reduce mounting concern among US troops about the firepower of this astonishing gun. In fact, the exact opposite was probably true. Firing at a cyclical rate of 1,200rpm, the MG 42 had a truly appalling bite. An on-target burst of just half a second could slash through a man with no fewer than ten 7.92x57mm high-velocity rounds, each delivering dreadful injuries, and at ranges of well over a kilometre. The MG 34 fired with less pace – up to 900rpm – but was also a proficient killing engine in trained hands.