Can someone tell me what type of machine guns were most commonly used by the Germans during WWII?

By Nathaniel Bridger (Nathaniel) on Unrecorded Date:

The Maschinengewehr 43 or MG34 firing up to 900 rounds per minute of 7.92 mm ammo, at a range ge of 3,825 yards (5000 yards max) was the most commonly carried and mounted in vehicles. The MG42, with a fring rate of 1300 rpm, had only fully automatic action and never really supplanted the MG34...both could be mounted on bipod or tripod ,ounts and were used the he "heavy" role in a number of capacities including anti-aircraft fire. Hope this helps...*Grin*

By Nathaniel Bridger (Nathaniel) on Unrecorded Date:

I must apologize. One should not attempt to post while being distracted by a cat....The MG-42 and the MG-34 could be used in the "light" role on a bipod mount or in the "heavy" role on a fixed tripod mount. The reason the MG-42 never replaced the MG-34 despite its higher cyclic rate of fire is because it, being mass produced, did not meet required tolerances as well, could not stand up to dusty or dirty environments, and the barrels wore out too quickly!

By Craig Rothhammer (Gueststar) on Unrecorded Date:

Both the MG-34 & MG-42 models are used in the show. There are distinct differences in the barrel jackets which make them readily identifiable.
The MG-34 has a round perforated barrel jacket & the MG-42 has a square one with larger perforations in it.
In the show, you will also periodically see a "heavy" machinegun of the maxim/browning variety with large round water jackets on them.

Of course, we are expected to overlook the fact that they are often being fired from the turret of a "german" halftrack, made in detroit :)

By Louis Vierne (Louisvierne) (209.172.22.148) on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 02:09 am:

The MG 34 and 42 were both instantly identifiable to GI's as "Kraut" weapons by sound: The GI's used to say that the German machine guns sounded like "buzzsaws", where the much slower cyclic rate of fire of the Browning machine gun sounded like
"a motorboat". There were some terribly sad "friendly fire" kills of American GI's in heavy fire fights when a GI would capture a German machine gun, and turn it on the enemy. But the GI mortar crew 200 yds away heard an MG 34, and lobbed mortar shells in - end of MG 34, and end of heroic GI, also. Sad, but it's not for nothing they say "war is hell".