At fleamarkets here in Germany a lot of old sheet metal toys get sold. There are some that replicate field guns and they even have a proper sliding breach and recoil assembly. The art of sheet metal stamping was mastered in Germany a long time before the war.
I know the guy in The Netherlands who cuts up the MG 42 in this way. He removes the rails so that they remain whole. He has a patern of cutting them up so that the can be reassembled in the best and eassiest way. Still it pains me seeing him at work.
Waaay too cool. I am building a Stgw. 57 and can appreciate the design and operation of the MG 42. Would love a video on the reconstruction of the MG 42.
Its even worse when you hear that cucks destroy them up even more and turn them into semi auto only. Might as well be working for the atf at that point
@@eamonia well yes, we should be making plenty of machine guns here too, but foreign guns will by definition need to be imported. They would just be sold alongside domestic ones. Like foreign and domestic cars.
I've always been fascinated with mechanical devices and the engineering that goes into them. Some things designed and built are so ingenious that they become art. That is one of those things,
It is the mechanical functionality in the designs of guns that I like. Some people like paintings, some people like sculptures, I like mechanical things myself, guns, cars, motorcycles, metal working tools, etc. The MG42 is a work of art with a 1200 round per minute or better cycle rate, too expensive, but still a work of art to look at.
Oh hi there new best friend…. Would love to send you some large crates so that you may send me back the same large crates, slap full of…. Uhhh…… fresh Norwegian throw rugs…. *ahem*….. yes, Artesian Norwegian Throw Rugs made by Hipster Viking Grandmas.
I was an MG3 gunner during my national service in Das Bundeswehr in 1984/85. Probably ran 50,000 rounds through mine. All at the high rate of fire. We were in the fulda gap. Loved that system
The mystery tool is called a Clecos and of course Cleco Pliers to install and remove them. I first used them building race cars and motorcycles. They were I believe originally designed by the Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company. They are generally made 4 sizes. The “silver” / zinc colored ones are 3/32nds, the copper are 1/8th, the black ones 5/32nds, and gold / brass are 3/16th. Additionally there are made in several different designs, spring loaded which are used with the pliers, as well as a threaded version with a hex nut to draw them up, thumb screw, as well as one that acts like a clamp as well as a couple other variations. The easiest way to think about what exactly a Cleco is to think of it as a removable pop rivet. Today some people use self tapping screws instead of cleco’s which I don’t like to use because the sheet metal is often damaged or distorted with self tapping screws and a driver
Same here, I built reproduction 60s vintage race cars. They were used to temporarily secure the aluminum body to the steel tube chassis during drilling and riveting
Nice demill. They didn't cut the front barrel trunnion. The spring-loaded piece is the recuperator. Its purpose is to thrust the barrel forward after the rollers unlock.
Living in Germany half my life and being an advanced Militaria collector, I used to have MOUNTAINS of MG-42s and Stg44s and MP-40s....and they were chopped into little bits like this guys set... all really nice intact guns that all the Collectors and re-enactors loved. Used ti buy 42s 25 and 50 at a time, and I'd wade into the piles and pick out the " Sahnestücke". Good times.
Cleco pliers for doing sheet metal work! used a lot in aviation skinning so you can line up all the rivet holes for riveting, pretty neat invention and a must have for ANYONE doing sheet metal work(especially aluminum since you can't just stick it in place with magnets!)
They remind me of the M60 Pig. I got lucky back in the 1990s with my mg42 kit. Instead of torch cut, it was cut with a saw. With nice clean cuts which were easy to repair. By man oh live was it ever expensivre to feed.
Well, the Beretta bolt was not a war time production. The original MG42 bolt carriers have casting marks all around the body and are clearly made to a "only focus on the stuff that is important, but make that damn well" philosophy. He mixed up a few things, like the welds in the barrel shroud, which were also done a quarter century after the MG42 was introduced by a state of the art weapons manufacturer without any war time duress. So they were neither done with WW2 tech, not under war time production restrictions.
I appreciate you geeking out on the complex stamping. I went down an entire rabbit hole on German stamping techniques looking into the manufacturing process for a pre war (1912ish) Haller stove I had sitting on the shelf. The Germans had mastered progressive stamping by the turn of the century, at a level none of the other industrial powers would match until the 1950's. It's one of those things that's WAY more complicated than you would think it is. The Stalhelm is a great example. It was something like a 12 step progressive stamp to turn a single sheet metal disk, into that surprisingly complex curved form, while maintaining uniform metal thickness. The British wanted to copy it, but just couldn't repeat the process without cracking the metal, so they ended up going with the doughboy helmet, which could be smashed out in a single stamping. Often, things that look simple, really aren't.
You're absolutely right. Some of the most complex things are actually the ones which look super simple at first. Do you happen to know of any good resources to learn more about stamping?
Great chat Mark, good luck with the parts kit. The Americans had TIG, it was developed at Northrop in the early 1940's. The Germans would have been stick or oxy-acetylene welding. It might still be a prototype but the Inkunzi Strike pulls it ammunition belt only on the rearward motion of the bolt to help use up recoil energy. Clecos, I have used them a few times. They are one of a few things I told my boss at a sign shop to look into, I don't think he ever did. They also make ones that are a flat clamp for holding onto stuff without holes. For the barrel end? ?trunnion? I suspect its a string of operations on horizontal mills. The Germans had to add 17 processes to chrome plate airplane engine valves because they didn't have enough nickel for better steel. For 28-48 valves per engine, times something like 100,000 engines. Think more steps. The engraving could be done with a pantograph, some AK markings have been made using them. They can precisely trace a larger (or smaller) template. Lever delayed blowback dates as far back as the 1910's.
Everything about the MG42 is mind blowing! The Germans thought they were the supreme race, bc they were unbelievabley more advanced than everyone else! WE ALL got most modern/improved tech from Germany post WW2!
@@leftyo9589 which in my opinion is the even crazier thing everyone tries to make this a bad thing but look how far horse wagons got them its incredibly what they could achieve with them
@@leftyo9589and despite that they had pretty good logistics. You have to admit invading a good bit of Europe using horse driven logistics is impressive. They lost later on when they weren’t using horses lol
I owned 2 VW Corrado G60's, the superchargers were interesting to dig into. The service interval according to VW for the superchargers was 30-40 thousand miles, LOL.
Nice video, very informative. Yes I use cleco's almost every day in the autobody field, they are wonderful. I do believe the VW Corrado replaced the Scirocco , both were great little cars.
Cleco... I have used them, in all their varieties. Clamping ones, screw tightening and yes the ones you are using. They are amazing. My exposure is in aerospace. Love them. Always need more than you think. :)
Ahhh... Cleco's w/ the pliers! ( I have made button style, and extended length with reduced diameter to pass through small tight places... ) Love those little guys! Boy... one of those new barely used kits would be awesome for a folding stock and a shorter barrel and of course hushed! Enjoyed this thoroughly as a .50 of yours I once had! Glad that I found your channel Mark! Respectfully, Seth
Hey Mark, that center section that butts up against the stop is the camming section or camming block (AKA the trunion). Shrouds cut under that section are some of the most PITA's to get back together and straight. I have two kits like that. I went with Global Tool and Machine rear receiver shells because my kit didn't come with the rear sections. The larger post war bolts didn't just slow down the ROF, but the original bolts were metallurgically inferior and actually too light. They would create bolt bounce and fire OOB causing damage and issues.
Great Video Mark Always enjoy them and learning ! Living in Germany during my VW /Porsche /Audi/NSU apprenticeship there’s a certain skill level of teaching over there the skills from the past were definitely different. Sad to see what’s being turned out today not the same level automated modern times the skills have gone out the window. Es muss was deutsches sein.
I wish I could find the picture again, but there's a photo out there of the 56 or something different bends it took to make the receivers... really cool picture.
They did use gas welding for their guns, they were very well trained and put just enough heat and material to connect it without distortion of the parts. After a while you get a pace that's pretty quick to weld with just enough effort.
I remember reading that the early MP38 or 40 prototypes were made by a typewriter company, as the stamping process for that gun was considered quite proprietary at that time-John in Texas
The company that made the sheet metal MG42 design work, was a company that made sheet metal toys before the war. No small arm ever made, has put as many enemy combatants into an early grave like the MG42. The human wave attacks against German positions on the eastern front are jaw dropping to read about, in the accounts of German vets. They describe the entire frozen landscape of white snow, turning completely brown with soviet human wave attacks.
And they still haven’t changed their doctrine and strategy. Difference being the Reds don’t have the rest of the world to back them up and give the supplies.
I am familiar with the G60 Volkswagens. The scroll-charger is quite a thing. They are also quite a thing when they go out of time too. There were many cars converted to turbochargers when the G-lader died.
I'm glad you mentioned the 249 and the 240! I actually repair them in the army, but my dream gun is to get an MG3 parts kit! Is there any places I can get one?
Mostly likely low amperage arc welding with a 1/16 rod or possibly torch welding would have been used, but some US late war grease guns were welded with heliarc, I couldn’t imagine the pain in the ass working with a shielding gas that is lighter than air
While I personally don’t know exactly what type was used, I do know that because of restriction placed on Germany after WWI, they went hard in the welding arena in ship production. Just after WWI, They began skirting the restrictions, producing warships that were larger and MUCH lighter, capable of being packed with more armor (after the fact) and more storage & armament/arms by utilizing a mostly-welded hull. It is curious that practically all the names of early welding in the US were of German ancestry, many even immigrants. It was ‘33 that Lincoln Elec took Arc welding to the big time (to the public, making customers), 1920 saw Nobel (a GE Employee) develop DC-powered automatic welding, and even far back 1916 resistance welding was sold to the world. My adventurous brain says they were using some TIG tech they stole straight from the US Naval Research Laboratory, but were likely using a much-updated and ill-recorded form of much-earlier 1912 Germany-invented “firecracker” welding, or a shielded electrode. Lots of knowledge lost after that war….
I've used cleco clamps and pins , it was for a aerospace contract . Never was told the exact details, just a blueprint to build parts. The rumor was it was for the at the time the new F22 Raptor. I've been welding since I was a teen in 90 . Before that my grandfather owned a welding shop and father was a welder . Family business.
I still keep spring clecos in my toolbox for small jobs but I usually use the wedgelock clecos. They require a special unidirectional roller bearing tool to tighten and loosen but they hold much better than spring clecos and are less finickey than regular draw clecos.
Hey there Mark, love the video and the channel, hey your side camera is much more clearer than the front facing camera, it's brighter and very clear compared to the front one.
Use a pice of aluminum or copper as a backer/ a fixture to extend the base metal to the point of the torch cut, and then clamp it and heat it to slowly release the heat tension. I wouldn’t even try to weld them directly together with that 1/4” gap from the torch! Asking for trouble and a MGB42, B for banana!
I hated to get drafted to the Bundeswehr in 1980. But the training with the guns of those times were a real highlight.Too bad it was rather rare being on the shooting range.My favorite gun was the follower of the MG 42,the almost identical MG 3 which shoots the 308 rounds and at a lot slower rate of fire.My standard battle rifle-G 3 also was a very nice gun. One of the exercises with the MG 3 was to shoot as few rounds as possible.We had to load the belt with 4 rounds in a row then leaving one empty,which stops the gun firing.The best guys only managed to stop shooting after 3 rounds.For good shooting you got extra days off at the weekend,for me a big motivation besides the fun shooting such nice "toys" being a bad soldier 😂 Being a world class mecanic I hate seeing such masterpieces destroyed. I have friends in Croatia which have access to a copy of the MG 42.The jugos just built it after WW2 without license with help of some east german techs.They were quite impressed when I did a field strip like the last time wasn't 40 years ago.As said I love this gun and want it 😄
By far, my favorite German machine rifle. Honestly, it might be my favorite machine gun over-all. Thanks for giving us a look at the meat & taters. Who is selling these parts kits? I'm definitely interested in acquiring one.
What you mentioned about the barrel shroud? barrel tower? being welded is something I noticed on the forgotten weapons video, you can see the seam on the open side by the muzzle cap and on the far side(and on the cut outs opposite the open end). I assumed the stamping used a progressive die or multiple dies, the first one bends the open side halves then the second wraps the whole assembly into a square. But if that was the case how would you retain the barrel trunion? So round n round I went trying to understand how this beauty came to be… When I first thought about the mg42 (around when I started welding at 14) I thought it was made of box section steel tube that was cut and welded to, maybe that could be your next big thing! STEN style “hardware store “ mg 42s!
Got a ton of clecos and pretty handy with a tig but unfortunately I live in California and can’t even get a parts kit sent here I have always wanted to rebuild a piece of history even if it’s just for a “wall hanger”
I've used many Clecos working sheet metal on drag cars. They're so handy and work amazing. They are color coded and the copper 1/8" was what we used most of the time. Looks like you're using the black 5/32" ones.
My grandfather ('Opa' passed away earlier this year served ) was an American soldier 'Company H the 16th infantry' in wwii. My great uncle was a Austrian soldier in wwii. Grandmother (Omi) said he had froze to death in the alps. She had a Pic of him in the hallway. Omi would always tell me how much I looked like him.
Id really like to see you build one of these new hk21 kits showing up. I bought one and ive been waiting over a month for a guy to finish making the barrel. I cant wait to see if i can make it "super safe"
Clecos, used them when helping my buddy test fit the skin of the 5/8 scale Stuka he was building before he actually began final riveting. Unfortunately he passed away recently before it was finished.
Closest thing to a mini gun, would buy one. You should get another parts kit just in case. Possibly could use the roller delay for a BMG, it's actually similar to artillery/tank lockup.
I used klecos building AM radio phasors. Big metal cabinets filled with large coils and capacitors that direct the radio waves toward the populated area, otherwise the radio waves disperse in a perfect circles like ripples in a pond.
There were tons of them made in the last 3 years of the war and then again when the newest version of the MG1 and/or MG3 started up again to coincide with the restablishment of a German government in 1949, althoough there technically was no German military to use. There weren't that many changes to the weapon from the 1942 model to 1949 except that there were far fewer cities and towns to manufactacture them in in 1949. The eastern regions of Germany were ethnically cleansed and delivered to the Soviets and/or to the Poles or Czechs between 1945 and 1951 or 1952. Germany, the rump state that was actually1/3 smaller than the pre 1939 map would indicate. Germany was also reduced in size by the soon to be established DDR too. The Germans never never really stopped production entirely.
i bought a Russian BP-27m machine gun cut in three diagonal parts and welded it back to a non firing display. looks perfect. actually there are jigs and videos on you tube where you can actually make it work.
I wish i coulda got one of these kits when they came in a couple decades ago.....heck even the ones mr Bow brought a couple years ago. Outta my reach at this point. Oh well. Theyre so cool.
Let’s be more nuanced, Mark: you (and I, and many here) aren’t “going gaga for machineguns”, we’re studying with great wonder the evidence of the minds that created an out-of-this-world engineered art, with incredible craftsmanship and during a time period where the whole damn world felt it may go to sleep and never wake up…. We can -and must- appreciate these creations, while standing on the shoulders of hobbits!
To address what you said at ~20:30, I know there were some earlier gas delayed blowbacks, but I do believe HK's roller system is the first true mass market mechanical disadvantage based delayed blowback. With perhaps the exception of if you count the Thompson's Blish delayed blowback, which was earlier, but also didn't actually work lol.
My old roommate used to work with a guy in a transmission shop that would buy torch cut parts kits and tig weld them back together in jigs he made. He never got caught that I know of.
At fleamarkets here in Germany a lot of old sheet metal toys get sold. There are some that replicate field guns and they even have a proper sliding breach and recoil assembly. The art of sheet metal stamping was mastered in Germany a long time before the war.
I know the guy in The Netherlands who cuts up the MG 42 in this way. He removes the rails so that they remain whole. He has a patern of cutting them up so that the can be reassembled in the best and eassiest way. Still it pains me seeing him at work.
How much do one of his kits cost?
You should make a video on it I would watch it
Waaay too cool. I am building a Stgw. 57 and can appreciate the design and operation of the MG 42. Would love a video on the reconstruction of the MG 42.
Give us his information please
Hook me up with him, from what I heard in america we could be able to make new machine guns.. I hope so but it may take time and it may not
ATF: Is that a machine gun!?
PK Builder: Not yet...
ATF: Is that a machine gun!?
PK Builder: nunaybusiness
atf : what cu got there
me (with a fully automatic unregistered suppressed machine gun) : a paperweight
It's a shame anyone would cut up one of these masterpieces.
Its even worse when you hear that cucks destroy them up even more and turn them into semi auto only. Might as well be working for the atf at that point
In a free country these would be imported fully functional and sold in vending machines.
In a free country, they wouldn't _have_ to be imported...
@@eamonia well yes, we should be making plenty of machine guns here too, but foreign guns will by definition need to be imported. They would just be sold alongside domestic ones. Like foreign and domestic cars.
I've always been fascinated with mechanical devices and the engineering that goes into them. Some things designed and built are so ingenious that they become art. That is one of those things,
It is the mechanical functionality in the designs of guns that I like. Some people like paintings, some people like sculptures, I like mechanical things myself, guns, cars, motorcycles, metal working tools, etc. The MG42 is a work of art with a 1200 round per minute or better cycle rate, too expensive, but still a work of art to look at.
Love your videos here in Norway there are lots of them laying around in barns etc..
Oh hi there new best friend…. Would love to send you some large crates so that you may send me back the same large crates, slap full of…. Uhhh…… fresh Norwegian throw rugs…. *ahem*….. yes, Artesian Norwegian Throw Rugs made by Hipster Viking Grandmas.
I was an MG3 gunner during my national service in Das Bundeswehr in 1984/85.
Probably ran 50,000 rounds through mine. All at the high rate of fire. We were in the fulda gap. Loved that system
No brazilian soldier ever fired 40 thousand rounds in less than 30 years.
I carried the M-60 in the same time frame in the U.S. Air Force. We were to deploy to the German fighter bases if the gap was breached. Small world.
If so then you'd know it's Die Bundeswehr, not "Das" ...
@@powerbuoy yeah lol genau das dachte ich mir auch haha
@@dancewithmy1 ja haha, und beim Bund gabs oft nicht mehr als 20 Schuss im Gurt fürs MG oder 5 fürs G3, man musste ja sparen :)
The mystery tool is called a Clecos and of course Cleco Pliers to install and remove them. I first used them building race cars and motorcycles. They were I believe originally designed by the Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company. They are generally made 4 sizes. The “silver” / zinc colored ones are 3/32nds, the copper are 1/8th, the black ones 5/32nds, and gold / brass are 3/16th. Additionally there are made in several different designs, spring loaded which are used with the pliers, as well as a threaded version with a hex nut to draw them up, thumb screw, as well as one that acts like a clamp as well as a couple other variations.
The easiest way to think about what exactly a Cleco is to think of it as a removable pop rivet. Today some people use self tapping screws instead of cleco’s which I don’t like to use because the sheet metal is often damaged or distorted with self tapping screws and a driver
Same here, I built reproduction 60s vintage race cars. They were used to temporarily secure the aluminum body to the steel tube chassis during drilling and riveting
I was rewarded for staying up late.
Amazing engineering!
The purchase price is the cheap part- it's a house payment every thirty seconds of sustained fire hahaha
Nice demill. They didn't cut the front barrel trunnion. The spring-loaded piece is the recuperator. Its purpose is to thrust the barrel forward after the rollers unlock.
I have an MG-42 dummy with original parts. It doesn't fire but it's a beauty,and I love it .
Some collect rembrants,I collect Rhinemetall.
I bought it from Allegheny Arsenal in Pa. About 15 years ago. Real nice.
I agree I can appreciate the technical expertise and design. The amount of craftsmanship and work just is beyond imagination. I agree wholeheartedly.
Living in Germany half my life and being an advanced Militaria collector, I used to have MOUNTAINS of MG-42s and Stg44s and MP-40s....and they were chopped into little bits like this guys set... all really nice intact guns that all the Collectors and re-enactors loved. Used ti buy 42s 25 and 50 at a time, and I'd wade into the piles and pick out the " Sahnestücke". Good times.
It's like story time with uncle Mark. Love it.
Cleco pliers for doing sheet metal work! used a lot in aviation skinning so you can line up all the rivet holes for riveting, pretty neat invention and a must have for ANYONE doing sheet metal work(especially aluminum since you can't just stick it in place with magnets!)
They remind me of the M60 Pig. I got lucky back in the 1990s with my mg42 kit. Instead of torch cut, it was cut with a saw. With nice clean cuts which were easy to repair. By man oh live was it ever expensivre to feed.
M60 designer took several cues from the mg42 design. Especially the top cover and feed.
Crazy looking at that bolt. The machining looks better than most modern weapons I’ve handled.
Well, the Beretta bolt was not a war time production. The original MG42 bolt carriers have casting marks all around the body and are clearly made to a "only focus on the stuff that is important, but make that damn well" philosophy. He mixed up a few things, like the welds in the barrel shroud, which were also done a quarter century after the MG42 was introduced by a state of the art weapons manufacturer without any war time duress. So they were neither done with WW2 tech, not under war time production restrictions.
I appreciate you geeking out on the complex stamping. I went down an entire rabbit hole on German stamping techniques looking into the manufacturing process for a pre war (1912ish) Haller stove I had sitting on the shelf. The Germans had mastered progressive stamping by the turn of the century, at a level none of the other industrial powers would match until the 1950's. It's one of those things that's WAY more complicated than you would think it is. The Stalhelm is a great example. It was something like a 12 step progressive stamp to turn a single sheet metal disk, into that surprisingly complex curved form, while maintaining uniform metal thickness. The British wanted to copy it, but just couldn't repeat the process without cracking the metal, so they ended up going with the doughboy helmet, which could be smashed out in a single stamping.
Often, things that look simple, really aren't.
You're absolutely right. Some of the most complex things are actually the ones which look super simple at first. Do you happen to know of any good resources to learn more about stamping?
Great chat Mark, good luck with the parts kit.
The Americans had TIG, it was developed at Northrop in the early 1940's. The Germans would have been stick or oxy-acetylene welding. It might still be a prototype but the Inkunzi Strike pulls it ammunition belt only on the rearward motion of the bolt to help use up recoil energy. Clecos, I have used them a few times. They are one of a few things I told my boss at a sign shop to look into, I don't think he ever did. They also make ones that are a flat clamp for holding onto stuff without holes. For the barrel end? ?trunnion? I suspect its a string of operations on horizontal mills. The Germans had to add 17 processes to chrome plate airplane engine valves because they didn't have enough nickel for better steel. For 28-48 valves per engine, times something like 100,000 engines. Think more steps. The engraving could be done with a pantograph, some AK markings have been made using them. They can precisely trace a larger (or smaller) template. Lever delayed blowback dates as far back as the 1910's.
Everything about the MG42 is mind blowing! The Germans thought they were the supreme race, bc they were unbelievabley more advanced than everyone else! WE ALL got most modern/improved tech from Germany post WW2!
yet large parts of their army moved by horse.
@@leftyo9589 which in my opinion is the even crazier thing
everyone tries to make this a bad thing but look how far horse wagons got them
its incredibly what they could achieve with them
@@leftyo9589I think this was on beginning of WWII, but later they had trucks, half-trucks and tanks.
@@leftyo9589and despite that they had pretty good logistics. You have to admit invading a good bit of Europe using horse driven logistics is impressive. They lost later on when they weren’t using horses lol
An local older guy who owned a gun store was really into collecting WW2 guns rebuilt an MG-42 parts kit to semi-auto.
I owned 2 VW Corrado G60's, the superchargers were interesting to dig into. The service interval according to VW for the superchargers was 30-40 thousand miles, LOL.
Nice video, very informative. Yes I use cleco's almost every day in the autobody field, they are wonderful. I do believe the VW Corrado replaced the Scirocco , both were great little cars.
Cleco... I have used them, in all their varieties. Clamping ones, screw tightening and yes the ones you are using. They are amazing. My exposure is in aerospace. Love them. Always need more than you think. :)
Ahhh... Cleco's w/ the pliers!
( I have made button style, and extended length with reduced diameter to pass through small tight places... ) Love those little guys! Boy... one of those new barely used kits would be awesome for a folding stock and a shorter barrel and of course hushed!
Enjoyed this thoroughly as a .50 of yours I once had! Glad that I found your channel Mark!
Respectfully, Seth
Good old Cleco fasteners, I was an aircraft metal worker so I used them lots.
Clecos baby! Ive used many times
I once saw a Marine push one through another Marines thumb
I used them in high school for aviation maintenance course. Wanted them for my home shop use but they were out of my price range as a teen...lol
@@eldiablo7862 Same here. Clecos and rivets all day long.
Hey Mark, that center section that butts up against the stop is the camming section or camming block (AKA the trunion). Shrouds cut under that section are some of the most PITA's to get back together and straight. I have two kits like that. I went with Global Tool and Machine rear receiver shells because my kit didn't come with the rear sections. The larger post war bolts didn't just slow down the ROF, but the original bolts were metallurgically inferior and actually too light. They would create bolt bounce and fire OOB causing damage and issues.
One of the few legends of youtube, always great to see a new video Mark. Thank you
Great Video Mark Always enjoy them and learning ! Living in Germany during my VW /Porsche /Audi/NSU apprenticeship there’s a certain skill level of teaching over there the skills from the past were definitely different. Sad to see what’s being turned out today not the same level automated modern times the skills have gone out the window. Es muss was deutsches sein.
I wish I could find the picture again, but there's a photo out there of the 56 or something different bends it took to make the receivers... really cool picture.
Absolutely awesome I can't wait to see that thing run.
That is an amazing kit! Thx for the video, Mark.
Thank you Mark for sharing this very enjoyable and interesting video six stars brother
They did use gas welding for their guns, they were very well trained and put just enough heat and material to connect it without distortion of the parts. After a while you get a pace that's pretty quick to weld with just enough effort.
Fantastic look at a work of art Mark, tks vour sprung dork technique!
Cleco clamps are awesome. Best way to describe them is temporary rivets. Have buckets of them.
Preach
I remember reading that the early MP38 or 40 prototypes were made by a typewriter company, as the stamping process for that gun was considered quite proprietary at that time-John in Texas
Thanks so much for this video! What an incredible weapon!
The company that made the sheet metal MG42 design work, was a company that made sheet metal toys before the war. No small arm ever made, has put as many enemy combatants into an early grave like the MG42. The human wave attacks against German positions on the eastern front are jaw dropping to read about, in the accounts of German vets. They describe the entire frozen landscape of white snow, turning completely brown with soviet human wave attacks.
Early days maybe....
@matthewlewis-zw3tf
The bad guy won WW2
And they still haven’t changed their doctrine and strategy. Difference being the Reds don’t have the rest of the world to back them up and give the supplies.
I like this story because the soviets were the real enemy
@@josephhawkins5750 They've been bra in washed to feel the same as you, like you have of them. Just pawns and tools in another game of WW1.
You always have the best videos!!
Would love to have time and your experience to build a few parts kits
I am familiar with the G60 Volkswagens. The scroll-charger is quite a thing. They are also quite a thing when they go out of time too. There were many cars converted to turbochargers when the G-lader died.
It pains me to see these glorious machines ruined from import. I'm glad to see more and more being rebuilt and enjoyed by the community.
I live in Tampa and was in thay rain storm haha. Nice pick up !!!! What a bunch of beautiful parts
I'm glad you mentioned the 249 and the 240! I actually repair them in the army, but my dream gun is to get an MG3 parts kit! Is there any places I can get one?
I doubt the process was used to make firearms that early, but Heliarc was perfected and patented in 1941.
Mostly likely low amperage arc welding with a 1/16 rod or possibly torch welding would have been used, but some US late war grease guns were welded with heliarc, I couldn’t imagine the pain in the ass working with a shielding gas that is lighter than air
While I personally don’t know exactly what type was used, I do know that because of restriction placed on Germany after WWI, they went hard in the welding arena in ship production. Just after WWI, They began skirting the restrictions, producing warships that were larger and MUCH lighter, capable of being packed with more armor (after the fact) and more storage & armament/arms by utilizing a mostly-welded hull. It is curious that practically all the names of early welding in the US were of German ancestry, many even immigrants. It was ‘33 that Lincoln Elec took Arc welding to the big time (to the public, making customers), 1920 saw Nobel (a GE Employee) develop DC-powered automatic welding, and even far back 1916 resistance welding was sold to the world.
My adventurous brain says they were using some TIG tech they stole straight from the US Naval Research Laboratory, but were likely using a much-updated and ill-recorded form of much-earlier 1912 Germany-invented “firecracker” welding, or a shielded electrode. Lots of knowledge lost after that war….
I've used cleco clamps and pins , it was for a aerospace contract . Never was told the exact details, just a blueprint to build parts. The rumor was it was for the at the time the new F22 Raptor. I've been welding since I was a teen in 90 . Before that my grandfather owned a welding shop and father was a welder . Family business.
I still keep spring clecos in my toolbox for small jobs but I usually use the wedgelock clecos. They require a special unidirectional roller bearing tool to tighten and loosen but they hold much better than spring clecos and are less finickey than regular draw clecos.
My Polish P83 is stamped and welded too. Look up Polish P83... More Than Meets the Eye to see how they did it. Really cool!
Hey there Mark, love the video and the channel, hey your side camera is much more clearer than the front facing camera, it's brighter and very clear compared to the front one.
Mark you are a dead set legend and I appreciate each and every video you make.
I'm still gonna be a tight arse with my money though.
Nice kit. one trick to reduce weld shrinking, build up weld on the cut edges to get zero gaps, then fit the pieces together.
That's actually helpful, as a novice welder thank you
Use a pice of aluminum or copper as a backer/ a fixture to extend the base metal to the point of the torch cut, and then clamp it and heat it to slowly release the heat tension. I wouldn’t even try to weld them directly together with that 1/4” gap from the torch! Asking for trouble and a MGB42, B for banana!
I hated to get drafted to the Bundeswehr in 1980.
But the training with the guns of those times were a real highlight.Too bad it was rather rare being on the shooting range.My favorite gun was the follower of the MG 42,the almost identical MG 3 which shoots the 308 rounds and at a lot slower rate of fire.My standard battle rifle-G 3 also was a very nice gun.
One of the exercises with the MG 3 was to shoot as few rounds as possible.We had to load the belt with 4 rounds in a row then leaving one empty,which stops the gun firing.The best guys only managed to stop shooting after 3 rounds.For good shooting you got extra days off at the weekend,for me a big motivation besides the fun shooting such nice "toys" being a bad soldier 😂
Being a world class mecanic I hate seeing such masterpieces destroyed.
I have friends in Croatia which have access to a copy of the MG 42.The jugos just built it after WW2 without license with help of some east german techs.They were quite impressed when I did a field strip like the last time wasn't 40 years ago.As said I love this gun and want it 😄
Really cool of you to hang out with the Big Shooterist.
Not laser engraved, but likely electro-acid etched via a stencil.
By the way brother, thank you for this generous share . and ah ya we go gaga over this stuff too
By far, my favorite German machine rifle. Honestly, it might be my favorite machine gun over-all. Thanks for giving us a look at the meat & taters. Who is selling these parts kits? I'm definitely interested in acquiring one.
As a kid who grew up in the 70’s, every time I see an MG42, all I can think of is Boba Fett!
Why?
@@swojal1493 actually I think it was the sand troopers who had the gun with that stock.
@@johnknouse8846
Tuscan raiders?
@@almaadams3631 that’s them!
The fact that these functioned at a cyclic rate of up to 25 rounds per second on a full length rifle cartridge is amazing.
Thanks for the video and info Mark, appreciate it!
What you mentioned about the barrel shroud? barrel tower? being welded is something I noticed on the forgotten weapons video, you can see the seam on the open side by the muzzle cap and on the far side(and on the cut outs opposite the open end). I assumed the stamping used a progressive die or multiple dies, the first one bends the open side halves then the second wraps the whole assembly into a square. But if that was the case how would you retain the barrel trunion? So round n round I went trying to understand how this beauty came to be…
When I first thought about the mg42 (around when I started welding at 14) I thought it was made of box section steel tube that was cut and welded to, maybe that could be your next big thing! STEN style “hardware store “ mg 42s!
Got a ton of clecos and pretty handy with a tig but unfortunately I live in California and can’t even get a parts kit sent here I have always wanted to rebuild a piece of history even if it’s just for a “wall hanger”
Thanks for helping Dlask with their shotgun build!
Love these vids and commentary, keep it up man
I've used many Clecos working sheet metal on drag cars. They're so handy and work amazing. They are color coded and the copper 1/8" was what we used most of the time. Looks like you're using the black 5/32" ones.
My grandfather ('Opa' passed away earlier this year served ) was an American soldier 'Company H the 16th infantry' in wwii. My great uncle was a Austrian soldier in wwii. Grandmother (Omi) said he had froze to death in the alps. She had a Pic of him in the hallway. Omi would always tell me how much I looked like him.
Very cool, How'd you space out the other cut sections?
Id really like to see you build one of these new hk21 kits showing up. I bought one and ive been waiting over a month for a guy to finish making the barrel. I cant wait to see if i can make it "super safe"
where does one find those?
now imagine making those bolts with a SHAPER. Crazy
Clecos, used them when helping my buddy test fit the skin of the 5/8 scale Stuka he was building before he actually began final riveting. Unfortunately he passed away recently before it was finished.
It's called a klico or clico it's for aligning body parts on cars before you weld them or bolt them in place
There are a handful of machine guns that I covet, and this is # 1. After that, BAR, Thompson SMG, STG 44, and MP 40.
Are there any Cetme Ameli parts kits out there somewhere?
I had a 90’ g-60 corrado, loved that car.
Closest thing to a mini gun, would buy one. You should get another parts kit just in case.
Possibly could use the roller delay for a BMG, it's actually similar to artillery/tank lockup.
Damn I love that FN MG-42
I used klecos building AM radio phasors. Big metal cabinets filled with large coils and capacitors that direct the radio waves toward the populated area, otherwise the radio waves disperse in a perfect circles like ripples in a pond.
Cleeco pliers and Cleeco removable rivets. I use them in sheet metal fabrication. Race cars and off road stuff mostly.
Clecos!!! I use those on a nearly daily basis.
Fascinating piece of history!
There were tons of them made in the last 3 years of the war and then again when the newest version of the MG1 and/or MG3 started up again to coincide with the restablishment of a German government in 1949, althoough there technically was no German military to use. There weren't that many changes to the weapon from the 1942 model to 1949 except that there were far fewer cities and towns to manufactacture them in in 1949. The eastern regions of Germany were ethnically cleansed and delivered to the Soviets and/or to the Poles or Czechs between 1945 and 1951 or 1952. Germany, the rump state that was actually1/3 smaller than the pre 1939 map would indicate. Germany was also reduced in size by the soon to be established DDR too. The Germans never never really stopped production entirely.
I love this. Thank you Mark…
i bought a Russian BP-27m machine gun cut in three diagonal parts and welded it back to a non firing display. looks perfect. actually there are jigs and videos on you tube where you can actually make it work.
Like I legit wanna juat hang out in the shop with Mark and listen.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, lots of toys for kids were made from stamped sheet metal.
cleco's they have them for different hole sizes & small jaw clamps.
I wish i coulda got one of these kits when they came in a couple decades ago.....heck even the ones mr Bow brought a couple years ago. Outta my reach at this point. Oh well. Theyre so cool.
I can't wait to see what you do with this.
Thanks Mark! You's Toobs let me get some history. Cleco's are reusable rivets?
Where does one find any torch cut kits anymore?
Schwing!!!! THAT is a golden find!!!
This is great, but I long for the good-old uzi build days.
Let’s be more nuanced, Mark: you (and I, and many here) aren’t “going gaga for machineguns”, we’re studying with great wonder the evidence of the minds that created an out-of-this-world engineered art, with incredible craftsmanship and during a time period where the whole damn world felt it may go to sleep and never wake up…. We can -and must- appreciate these creations, while standing on the shoulders of hobbits!
Now you have a gun. All these years dealing with junk are going to be rewarded.
Are you going to post on Pepperbox?
A cool Toy!! Thanks Mark!
Heliarc which is the original form of tig welding was perfected in 1941 but the ideas and patents go back as far as 1890
To address what you said at ~20:30, I know there were some earlier gas delayed blowbacks, but I do believe HK's roller system is the first true mass market mechanical disadvantage based delayed blowback. With perhaps the exception of if you count the Thompson's Blish delayed blowback, which was earlier, but also didn't actually work lol.
My old roommate used to work with a guy in a transmission shop that would buy torch cut parts kits and tig weld them back together in jigs he made. He never got caught that I know of.