WWII German vs. US auto weapons

[Carcassonne]

[smle-man]

I fired a 50 rd belt through my friend's MG42 and it was about gone before I could release the trigger. It sounded like a bedsheet being ripped in half. Awesome weapon. The WW2 German infantry squad existed to carry and feed ammo for the MG42!

[Von_Richthofen]

I fired a 50 rd belt through my friend's MG42 and it was about gone before I could release the trigger. It sounded like a bedsheet being ripped in half. Awesome weapon. The WW2 German infantry squad existed to carry and feed ammo for the MG42!

Exactly! I read accounts of Norwegian troops and few personal interviews of Nord and German vets. The Germans preferred the MG34 because you could feed it either side and 650 RPM... One Norwegian said being the best on the 42 saved your aching back and Germans hated schlepping all that extra ammo..

[Dingotech]

This video was posted here a couple of years ago, and there were some interesting comments by someone familiar with the differences in combat doctrine (at the squad or platoon-level) between WWII era Germany and the US.

[Carcassonne]

... One Norwegian said being the best on the 42 saved your aching back and Germans hated schlepping all that extra ammo..

I was in the US army during the 1990's and I hated "schlepping" extra ammo. The only time I liked the extra ammo was during an enemy engagement. You can never have enough ammo when you are shooting at the enemy.

That is why I liked the M16 and the 5.56x45 cartridge. It was lighter and I could carry 2x more ammo than 7.62x51. I kinda have to scratch my head when someone says they would rather carry an M14 than an M16. I get the feeling that they never had to carry one with ammo all day long.


.

[smle-man]

I was in the US army during the 1990's and I hated "schlepping" extra ammo. The only time I liked the extra ammo was during an enemy engagement. You can never have enough ammo when you are shooting at the enemy.

That is why I liked the M16 and the 5.56x45 cartridge. It was lighter and I could carry 2x more ammo than 7.62x51. I kinda have to scratch my head when someone says they would rather carry an M14 than an M16. I get the feeling that they never had to carry one with ammo all day long.


.

Look at the basic load for a infantryman between the M14 and M16. 5-20 round magazines for the M14 v. 7-30 round magazines for the M16. For the same weigh a lot more rounds can be humped with the M16. As you said, you can never have too many rounds but you sure can have too few. Except in Afghanistan or the Boer war almost all infantry engagements were-are less than 300 yards and most of those are within 100 yards. The 5.56 cartridge is more than adequate at that range.

Great thread drift!