[Update] SMG Guns FG 42 Reproduction Review | fg42 – Australia.xemloibaihat

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. SMG Guns 7.92x57mm FG 42 is a wonderful clone of the Luftwaffe’s multi-purpose combat rifle developed during WWII for their elite Fallschirmjäger.

By David M. Fortier

The Lee Enfield series is generally considered the high water mark of military bolt action rifles. A tough, reliable design well-liked by the troops, it proved very effective during two World Wars and many smaller actions. I’ve always been a fan of the Lee, and find it interesting how this 19th Century manually operated design had a small influence on arguably the most innovative rifle developed during World War II, the German Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 (Paratrooper rifle 1942) or FG 42. I was thinking about this while lying prone behind a modern FG 42 reproduction dialing the rear sight up to 700 meters. In the far distance was my 800 yard berm with a number of steel targets. The FG 42 was sitting on its distinctive lightweight bipod, a fresh 20-round magazine jutting jauntily out from the left side of the receiver. Hauling back on the charging handle against the heavy recoil spring, I retracted the bolt and let it fly. The heavy bolt carrier assembly ran forward shoving a Hornady match load into the chamber. The rest of the world faded away. Now it was just this classic World War II rifle’s front sight, a faraway white steel silhouette and the building pressure of my finger on the trigger.

The unique FG 42 provided the “Green Devils” with a valuable advantage in heavy combat, such as here in the ruins of Monte Casino.

The global catastrophe we know as World War II begat many interesting small arms designs. Of these numerous models, the most influential proved to be Nazi Germany’s MP 43/44 and StG 44 series of Sturmgewehr (Storm or Assault rifle) chambered for the Polte 7.92x33mm Kurz cartridge. A revolutionary new type of weapon, the Sturmgewehr series combined the best features of the submachinegun and battle rifle into one compact package. As its long lasting legacy, both the Sturmgewehr and its 7.92x33mm Kurz cartridge were a direct influence on the Soviet AK47 and 7.62x39mm. As impressive as the MP 43/44 series is, in my humble opinion it pales in comparison design-wise to the much less well-known FG 42.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. SMG Guns late war Type II FG 42 is a great looking piece which has the looks and flavor of the famous World War II German design right down to the bayonet.

Why do I say this? Whereas the MP 43/44 and StG 44 combined the best features of the submachine gun and battle rifle, the FG 42 was part battle rifle and part light machine gun. In developing the FG 42 the engineers at Rheinmetall, and later Krieghoff, pushed the envelope reaching for what logically seems a bridge too far, and yet achieved it, to a degree. The result was a surprisingly compact selective-fire 7.9x57mm weapon with numerous advanced features. In combat it provided an over-match capability to the German Fallschirmjäger carrying it whether facing M1 Garands, SVT-40s or No. 4 Lee Enfields. Even today, the FG 42 looks remarkably contemporary despite being some 76 years old. Its legacy can be found inside the US M60 machine gun.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. Handling the SMG Guns FG 42 reveals just how advanced the German design was for the 1940s.

To understand the FG 42 we must travel back in time to 20 May 1941 and the Battle of Crete (Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta). The Germans launched Operation Mecury (Unternehmen Merkur) which was the first mass use of airborne forces in history. Their objective was drive the Greek and Allied defenders out and take the island in a lightening blow by landing troops in four zones. To make a long story short, the British and Commonwealth forces made some huge tactical blunders allowing the Germans to gain a foothold and then hold doggedly on. In the end Crete fell to the Axis Forces, but it came at a high price. The German’s suffered between 6,000 and 7,000 casualties and lost/wrote off approximately 284 aircraft with another couple hundred damaged. In the end it was not the easy victory the Luftwaffe had hoped for.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. The muzzle brake was found lacking on the early model guns and further improved to reduce recoil and aid controllability. It is an impressive looking piece.

The Luftwaffe came away from Crete dissatisfied with the performance of the standard Wehrmacht infantry weapons issued to their elite troops. While the 7.92x57mm Kar 98k was capable at long range it had a slow rate of fire and limited magazine capacity. The MP 40 on the other hand lacked range, penetration and precision. The MG 34 was very effective but too few in number. So a decision was made by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Air Ministry) to develop an entirely new multi-purpose weapon based upon the specific needs of the Luftwaffe. The new design would need to be compact and portable, possess the range and accuracy of a Kar 98k, and have the firepower of a light machine gun. Such a weapon would dramatically boost the firepower of the individual Fallschirmjäger and ease the logistics of resupply.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. The Germans appear to have pirated the bayonet from the French MAS Mle 1936 rifle. Its combat value is dubious.

Initially the Luftwaffe intended to work with the German Army to initiate a formal project to develop a new weapon. However, the Army disagreed with the basic concept and expressed no interest in the project. They would eventually abandon the full-size 7.92x57mm cartridge and put their efforts into selective-fire weapons chambering intermediate size cartridges. Undeterred, the Luftwaffe bypassed the Heereswaffenamt (Army Ordnance Department) and went directly to German industry.

Krieghoff and Rheinmetall both responded by submitting prototypes based upon the Luftwaffe requirements. Of the two the Luftwaffe selected the Rheinmetall design. This is credited as having been designed by Louis Strange and was based upon the operating system of the World War I vintage Lewis Gun. A gas operated design; it utilized a bottom mounted long-stroke piston. Gas tapped from the barrel pushed this to the rear. The piston was fitted with a vertical post at its rear which rode in a cam track on the bolt. It rotated the bolt, which featured dual opposed locking lugs, unlocking it and extracting and ejecting the fired cartridge case before a recoil spring pushed it back forward loading another round into the chamber. Visually it was a great departure from traditional German rifles featuring an inline design, tall folding sights, sharply angled pistolgrip, stamped metal stock, side-mounted magazine, prominent muzzle brake and folding bipod.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. Proper hand placement is a must so you don’t get hit by the reciprocating charging handle or burnt by the gas vent.

Rheinmetall lacked the capacity to actually produce the rifle so Krieghoff was given this task. A batch of 50 was produced and testing began. From this point the FG 42’s design would remain fluid and ever-changing. While the designation FG 42 never changed, the rifle it designated evolved greatly based upon end-user feed-back, changing requirements of the Luftwaffe and the realities of wartime manufacturing. During its short production life the FG 42 saw small changes as well as a complete overhaul of the design due to the needs of manufacturing and to improve performance. The series is typically broken down simply as either early (Type I) or late (Type II) model. Approximately 2,000 early model guns were produced and approximately 5,000 late models. While they shared the same designation and general layout the two models are quite different if placed side by side.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. A look at the mag well dust cover’s closed to keep out dirt and debris. Also note the safety lever.

Some shortcomings of the design were noted by troops when the FG 42 was first fielded by the “Green Devils”. Due to its light weight (9.3 pounds) and high cycle rate of fire (900 rpm) the FG 42 couldn’t match the performance of the MG 34, or the new MG 42 machine gun when fired off the bipod. It was also less controllable on full automatic when fired from the shoulder than the Army’s new 7.92x33mm Kurz MP 43. So a more effective muzzle brake was desired. Troops felt the sharply angled pistolgrip, designed to reduce the height and chance of snagging during a jump, should be replaced by a more vertical one. It was also decided to move the bipod mount from the gas block to near the muzzle. This was done to decrease dispersion. Troops complained about the metal buttstock which heated quickly and also deformed when launching rifle grenades.

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Photo by Laura A. Fortier. The SMG Guns FG 42 is chambered in the original 7.92x57mm and feeds from 20 round box magazines.

The German Army did their own testing with the FG 42, comparing it to their MP 43. As to be expected, the 7.92x33mm Kurz MP 43 out-performed the 7.92x57mm FG 42 during the close combat trials. On the range both rifles performed similarly when firing on targets up to 400 meters. Past 400 meters the FG 42 had an advantage. However, it could not provide accurate fire on full-automatic at long range. Seeing as the MP 43 had matched the FG 42 out to 400 meters, and out-performed it in close-combat the German Army continued to oppose the project.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. A look at the horizontal magazine position which takes a minute to get used to.

Despite the German Army’s position, the Luftwaffe’s Fallschirmjäger welcomed the design and appreciated the step up in performance it provided them. The FG 42 was first fielded during a daring commando raid during the rescue of Benito Mussolini. In the months following this small numbers saw action in Italy. The FG 42 gave a good account of itself during the Battle of Monte Cassino (17 January to 18 May 1944) in the hands of Fallschirmjäger defending the old monastery. This was ideal terrain for the FG 42 allowing it to showcase its full capabilities. The FG 42 also saw action in France during the hard fought hedgerow battles during the retreat from Normandy. It remained in combat with the hard-pressed Fallschirmjäger units, now fighting as conventional infantry, right up to Germany’s surrender on 7 May 1945.

What about major airborne operations which the FG 42 participated in? There were none. Fallschirmjäger losses during the Battle of Crete were so high Hitler decided airborne operations were no longer viable. While they didn’t know it in the aftermath of the battle, the Luftwaffe’s elite Fallschirmjäger units would spend the rest of the war fighting as conventional ground forces. After the war US Army ordnance took an interest in the operating system of the FG 42. It would later be incorporated in the US Army’s M60 machine gun. In doing so, Isaac Newton Lewis’s operating system, originally rejected by US Army Ordnance due to petty personal reasons became a staple of the US military.

The rifle seen here is a reproduction of a late model FG 42 manufactured by SMG Guns. This is a small three man shop in Decatur, Texas which became known for building semi-automatic Bren Guns, DP-28s and PPS-43s from kits. The company consists of Rick Smith the owner, and his two sons Bryan and Aaron. When I interviewed Rick for this article my first question was simply, “Why build an FG 42?” It is after all a complex design and difficult to manufacture. He replied that he was looking to take his company in an entirely different direction and move away from building kit guns. Due to this he was looking for a project to tackle that would catch people’s attention. So he spoke to his oldest son Bryan about the idea and they decided to do it.

Rick began by studying every photo and piece of information he could obtain on the FG 42. Three months later he had built a working, firing sample that resembled an FG 42. Initially Rick planned on using a tilting bolt, like a FAL, to simplify production and reduce costs. Bryan though would have none of that. If they were going to build an FG 42 then they would do it right. As to be expected various problems cropped up. A big one was manufacturing the bolts. Initially these were manufactured from 8620 steel, heat treated and surface hardened. But these failed within 35 rounds. They changed heat treaters and the bolts made it to 150 rounds. Eventually they changed their material to 9310 and with proper heat treatment never had a problem again.

Some of the challenges they faced were ensuring a long service life with components such as the extractors, barrel extensions and bolts. The German chamber on the FG 42 was not a conventional design. It was modified to aid extraction and reliability. SMG Guns didn’t have the capability to duplicate the original chamber design, so they had to tune their design in a different manner. Then there were the bipod legs, which were stamped sheet metal on the original design. Rick couldn’t afford a die set to have them stamped, so he had to go a different route. He ended up using raw castings from Japan and machined them. He also commented it was laborious to program by hand to make the receiver and bolt look the way they should.

Rick commented, “We knew it was going to be cool as soon as we got it up and running and saw how soft shooting it was.” In my opinion it is indeed soft shooting and it is very, very cool. Pulling it from its shipping case you can’t help but marvel at the design. Everything about the rifle exudes a different time, a different thought process and a deadly serious mission. The thinking is very German and out of the box, and it is a noticeable departure from commercial American designs built to a price point. Simply handling it transports you back in time, and puts a smile on your face.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. For all its complexity the FG 42 is a relatively easy rifle to strip and maintain.

In the hands the SMG Guns FG 42 is surprisingly compact for a rifle chambered in what Americans refer to as 8mm Mauser. At only 38.4 inches it is short. The placement of the magazine facilitates a shorter receiver which brings the rifle’s center of gravity in closer to the rifleman. The inline design is intended to reduce felt recoil and decrease dispersion. To further reduce recoil a large distinctive looking muzzle brake is fitted. In addition, the buttstock is spring-loaded and reciprocates a short distance. The folding sights are easy to use and provide a clear sight picture. The front is a protected post while the rear is a diopter design.

A gas operated design based upon the Lewis system; it features a long-stroke piston which acts as the bolt carrier. The rotating bolt features dual locking lugs. On the original design the rifle fired semi-automatic from the closed bolt position but full-automatic from the open bolt. This aided cooling when firing full-automatic and precision on semi-automatic. The SMG Guns reproduction is a semi-automatic design firing from the closed bolt position.

The design itself is relatively straight-forward and easy to strip once you get the hang of it. You start by removing the buttstock and then rotating the buffer freeing it. The buffer and recoil spring can then be pulled free. Next, pull the bolt to the rear, remove the charging handle from its slot and the piston/carrier assembly can be dropped out of the rear of the receiver. The bolt is easily separated from the receiver and taken down. This is all that needs to be done to perform routine maintenance.

Photo by Laura A. Fortier. Accuracy from the bipod was good with hits on reduced size silhouettes made at 400 yards and full-size targets at 800 yards using Hornady 196-grain Match.

While the SMG Guns FG 42 is a superlative conversation piece and wall hanger, its real home is on the range. It is a very fun rifle to shoot as it was intended to be used. Just understand it is by no means a match rifle. The original German accuracy requirement was for it to shoot into 5.5 inches at 100 meters with ball ammunition. This is a fairly typical requirement and not much different than that of the M16A2. While it is a fun rifle to shoot Fudd style from the bench, it really shines running drills, both near and far. The rifle handles well, the sights are good and while the horizontal 20-round magazine is a bit different, you quickly get used to it. Reloading is straight-forward and the rifle is very smooth shooting for the caliber. I was frankly surprised by how comfortable the FG 42 is. You do get some muzzle off it, and it does move around, but it doesn’t beat you, even prone.

I checked accuracy from the bench at 100 yards firing off a rest with a rear bag. Test ammunition was Hornady 196-grain Open Tip Match. The average of four 5-shot groups was a respectable 2.9 inches using the issue iron sights. Shooting a rifle like this from the bench is rather boring. So I moved to shooting off the bipod on steel at 400 yards. After a sighter to see where the Hornady load was impacting compared to the sight settings, I was putting shots on a silhouette. The impact of the 196-grain .323-caliber slugs was visually impressive, especially compared to a 5.56x45mm. Next I wanted to stretch the FG 42’s legs a bit.

I have a lot of time behind a Lee Enfield No. 4 and I was interested to see just how well the FG 42 compared at distance. Firing prone from the bipod at 800 yards I found the 8mm Mauser load a bit lazy in the Kansas wind compared to what I normally shoot. But it was certainly no worse than a .303 Mk VII. The trigger on the FG 42 is heavy, and does take some getting used to. But if you remember your basic fundamentals it is easily managed. Firing from the bipod is very comfortable and the command height seems a good compromise. Accuracy wise I made some nice hits on steel with the rest of my shots just off target. I did have to come down on my sights as the Hornady match load shot a bit flatter than the German issue load the sights were calibrated for.

How does the FG 42 compare to the lowly No. 4 .303 Lee Enfield at distance? Keeping in mind I am a bit jaded, and this was my first time behind an FG 42 I’d say the Brit has a slight advantage when it comes to accuracy on a known distance range in good conditions. It has a longer sight radius and I do prefer the milled rear sight on the No. 4. On the battlefield it would be a wash. The advantage really goes to the FG 42 which has a substantially higher rate of fire and great magazine capacity. The real limitation with both designs when shooting at distance is simply the iron sights and being able to discern a man-sized target, probably prone and shooting back at you. The FG 42 though, unlike the No. 4, does have an optic rail milled into the top of the receiver. A decent optical sight would be a game changer on this rifle.

And then, disaster struck. While firing prone at 800 yards with two colleagues spotting the right bipod leg suddenly snapped off. Oops. I will not type the exact word which came to mind. You can probably figure it out. Breaking a rifle this expensive, and it is very expensive indeed, during testing is never a good thing. The three of us all stood and stared for minute, mouths agape. Then we got back at it and, since the light was fading rapidly, did a night fire. Flash signature off the complex brake is pronounced and highly visibly.

My thoughts on SMG Guns FG 42 reproduction? I think it’s a marvelous piece. No it is not an exact 100% reproduction. There are small differences such as the handguard being slightly longer. But few will ever see a real FG 42 and be able to discern the differences. It is a very fun rifle to run drills with and shoot. The design is fascinating from both a mechanical aspect as well as historical. I did have a few failures to feed with the Open Tip Match ammunition which I don’t think I would have had with FMJ. Otherwise the rifle ran well.

The broken bipod? I asked Rick about this and he stated while it definitely is not common, it has happened before and he simply sends out a replacement leg to the customer. He says he stands solidly behind his rifle. Just read the information which comes with the rifle, use the proper ammunition and enjoy. The big bummer you have been waiting for? SMG Guns’ FG 42 is a limited production item and very expensive. To order one you must first get on their waiting list, and then it will be about six months before delivery. Price is $5,000. That’s some serious coin. However, if you want one for the reference collection they are the only game in town. Also, be aware production of the late model Type II FG 42 seen here is going to be suspended for a time with SMG Guns introducing the early Type I model. This should be just as exciting.

Sources:

SMG Guns; 
Hornady; 800-338-3220; 

SMG Guns FG 42 Specifications

Action: Rotating bolt via Lewis long-stroke gas
Caliber: 7.92x57mm
Barrel: 19.5 inch
Overall Length: 38.5 inches
Feed: 10/20 round detachable box magazines
Sights: Protect post front, rear diopter
Optics Rail: Yes
Stock: Wood, reciprocating
Weight: 10.6 pounds w/out mag
Finish: Black enamel
MSRP: $5,000

SMG Guns FG 42 Accuracy & Velocity

Groups are an average of four five-shot groups fired from a rest at 100 yards. Velocity readings recorded at the muzzle with a LabRadar Doppler chronograph at an ambient temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit, 1,030 feet above sea level.

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SMG Guns; www.smgguns.com Hornady; 800-338-3220; www.hornady.com Rotating bolt via Lewis long-stroke gas7.92x57mm19.5 inch38.5 inches10/20 round detachable box magazinesProtect post front, rear diopterYesWood, reciprocating10.6 pounds w/out magBlack enamel$5,000

One of the most interesting firearms to come out of World War II is the Fallschirmjaegergewehr 42 – the FG-42. There are so few of them still in existence that they often don’t get the attention they should, but that will all change now. SMG Guns of Decatur, Texas is building new semiauto-only replicas of the second model FG-42, and we got our hands on one to test out.

The FG42 had its genesis in the disastrous German airborne assault on Crete in May 1941. German paratroops (fallschirmjaeger) jumped with only light weapons (pistols and submachine guns), while their heavier arms were dropped in separate weapons canisters. On Crete many troops were separated from their weapons in the drop, and were left effectively unarmed, to unpleasant ends. The Luftwaffe decided in the aftermath to look for a new rifle which could fill the role of the Mauser and the MG34, and which could be carried in hand by paratroops during a jump.

The requirements set out for this new rifle were quite stringent. It had to be chambered for the standard 8×57 cartridge (the Wehrmacht was developing the 8mm Kurz at this time, but the Luftwaffe insisted on the full size rifle round for maximum firepower), and it had to use detachable box magazines. It had to be no longer, heavier, or bulkier than the K98k bolt action rifle, and it had to be capable of closed bolt fire in semiauto and open bolt fire in full auto. Two firms, Rheinmetall and Kreighoff, produced prototypes and the Rheinmetall one was chosen for development.

The result of this development program was the Type E, or first model, FG-42 rifle. This rifle met the design requirements, but was right on the narrow edge of practicality. Many components were too fragile, as weight had been savagely cut wherever possible to meet the strict weight limit imposed on the design. The buttstocks were made of stamped aluminum and prone to damage, the bipod legs were too thin, and the gas piston port was located midway along the barrel to allow for a short and light gas piston. This required the designer (Louis Stange) to use a clever design element to keep the gun safe, as gas pressure was really too high for a proper design. Moving the gas port forward to reduce pressure would make it too heavy, and reducing the size of the gas port would make the gun unreliable. Instead, he cut the chamber in the barrel to be cylindrical instead of tapered, so that while gas pressure was very high during the initial bit of extraction, the case would be blown out to fit the cylindrical chamber and retain a gas seal. This extra bit of time having the chamber sealed during extraction was enough to allow the pressure to drop to a safe level before the gas seal was lost and the case fully extracted.

Anyway, about 2000 of these early FG42s were built before the design was modified to address its problems. The second model (Type G) was a heavier and more robust gun. The bipod pivot was moved to the muzzle for better stability, the buttstock was made of wood, dust cover doors were added to the magazine well, and the receiver was redesigned as a stamping instead of being milled. The second model rifles were more successful, and their increased weight also made full-auto fire more controllable. About six thousand were made before the end of the war, and today they are one of the most valuable WWII firearms in the US, with prices in excess of $100,000. That puts them well out of reach of almost everyone – but now there is an alternative.

SMG’s Reproduction

SMG Guns is building a fully functional reproduction of the second model FG-42 in Texas. It does not use any original parts (there are virtually no originals available), and everything is being made from scratch on modern CNC machines and with modern high-quality steels (German wartime production often had to make do with whatever was available). When SMG offered to send me one to try out, I jumped at the opportunity – I wanted to see how it would compare to the originals, and what it would be like to shoot.

The Rifle’s Arrival

After a few days, I got a text message from our dealer, announcing that the Glider Corps had just dropped off a rifle, and I jumped in the truck go pick it up. As a guy used to buying well-used old relics, it was really a treat to crack open this gun case and find a pristine new rifle. It had a glistening finish, and the wood had a beautiful grain to it. Along with the rifle was a brand new reproduction sling made to original spec, a pair of 20-round magazines, an instructional video detailing a few quirks of the design, and a translation of the original German manual, modified to match the details of this semiauto. After prying it from the hands of my dealer, I took it back home to disassemble.

Internals

I can’t help it, the first thing I want to do with an interesting new gun is take it apart and see how it works – and this this FG-42 was certainly no exception. I have had the opportunity to disassemble an original German second model rifle, so I was curious how much different SMG’s semiauto would be.

As it turns out, there are enough differences that original parts will not interchange with the new rifles, but the operating principles are all the same (with the exception of the new ATF-approved semiauto trigger mechanism). The FG-42 had a rather unusual method of operating, based on the Lewis gun and later acting as the starting point for the US M60 machine gun. The firing pin is held rigidly by the gas piston, and travels back and forth inside the bolt (which rotates to lock, with two opposing lugs). A cammed track in the bolt body forces it to rotate and lock as the gas piston moves forward under spring pressure, and the trigger mechanism catches the piston and stops it from moving fully forward until the trigger is pulled. At that point, a second spring inside to bolt provides the force to push the piston (and with it, the firing pin) the last bit forward, so the firing pin emerges from the bolt face and fires the cartridge.

This system is authentically copied from the original German design, quirks and all. For the shooter, it is interesting to note that this mechanism creates an unusual feel to charging the rifle. The first bit of travel when pulling back the charging handle is quite stiff, as it first compresses the spring inside the bolt, then rotates the bolt open, and only then is free to move backwards under pressure from the mainspring.

The trigger mechanism is, of course, different from the original per ATF requirement, but it works on the same principle, just with a semiauto disconnector and no capacity for open-bolt firing. The flat spring used to hold the pistol grip on the gun (which will also be recognizable to those who have used an M60) has been inverted by SMG, so that it must be rotated up for removal. The originals rotated down, which lends itself much more easily to accidental disassembly in use. The safety has a 90 degree throw unlike the original’s 180, and the semi/full selector lever has been omitted.

On The Range

It took some deliberate effort to not handle this rifle with kid gloves, because I am so used to knowing them only as astronomically expensive originals. But SMG had urged me not to baby it at all, and this gun can stand toe-to-toe with anything else on the range. That’s what I like so much about this sort of very high-quality reproduction – you can appreciate it for the original design and its place in history, but you can also take it out to the range and blaze away to your heart’s content.

Anyway, I have a stash of Romanian 8mm ammo, which is pretty reliable stuff, although steel-cased, lacquered, and corrosive. Well, he said not to baby it, right?

I’m left handed, but started out shooting right handed instead, out of concern for spent cases. The receiver of the FG-42 is surprisingly short, because the side-mounted magazine is located directly above the trigger mechanism, instead of forward like most rifles. There is a brass deflector behind the ejection port, but the rifle is clearly intended for right-hand firing. After watching where the cases went, it because apparent that shooting lefty would not get me a spent case in the nose, so I switched to my natural stance.

I started by shooting at steel plates (from 4″ to 12″ in diameter) at 100 yards, both offhand and prone. These presented no problem at all to hit, and the 8mm slugs made a nice authoritative clang with each hit. Firing offhand is the more challenging stance, of course, but the aperture sight on the FG-42 was pretty effective. When I went prone, hits were downright easy to make over and over.

The rifle is relatively heavy, at about 12.5 pounds, but pretty well balanced. It uses an aperture sight mounted towards the rear of the receiver, and elevated high enough to allow a good cheek weld. I was able to hit my larger (10″ and 12″) steel plates fairly consistently offhand, which is about as good as my shooting gets with any iron sights. I also took it to a local 3-gun match, where the minimal muzzle climb helped me put close-range shots on target much more quickly than my M1 Garand can.

Recoil

From a shooter’s perspective, one of the really outstanding characteristics of the FG-42 is its felt recoil. Rick at SMG says it is comparable to an AK in 7.62×39, and he is not exaggerating. Despite shooting full-power military 7.92x57mm ammunition, this rifle was the gentlest thing I’ve shot in any caliber bigger than 5.56mm. There are several factors that allow this to happen:

• Muzzle brake. The FG-42 has a very effective muzzle brake. It makes an awful lot of concussion for bystanders, but is great for the shooter.
• Weight. Yep, weighing in at 12.5 pounds certainly helps tame recoil.
• Inline design. Like the ubiquitous AR, the FG42 uses an inline design, where the line of the bore runs straight through the center of the stock. This helps the shooter control recoil and prevent muzzle climb.
• Stock buffer. This is the big one, I think. The buffer in the FG42 stock allows the entire action to recoil about a quarter inch into the buttstock. This helps absorb an awful lot of recoil impulse and makes for a very comfortable gun.

I fired about 250 rounds in a couple hours, and had absolutely no discomfort at all. Most guns don’t actually hurt, but you know it after a range session like that, particularly with a potent rifle cartridge like 8×57. The FG42 did noting of the sort, even firing prone off the bipod. At the same time, muzzle rise was equally surprising for its absence. As long as you aren’t leaning back away from the gun when you shoot, the muzzle just doesn’t move. Looking at slow-motion footage of my shooting, you can see the action recoiling into the stock, and the push against my shoulder, but the muzzle just stays locked in place.

Magazines

Original FG42 magazines are, not surprisingly, as rare as the proverbial hens’ teeth. To make matters worse, the two models of original FG-42 didn’t use the same magazines (I have no idea why not; I haven’t seen suggestions that the first model magazines had any particular problems). Rather than reproduce magazines from scratch, SMG built their reproduction to use Czech ZB26/30 light machine gun magazines. The ZB magazines are the perfect choice for the FG-42, as they look very similar and are high quality and relatively easily available. They hold 20 rounds, same as the original mags. SMG provides two of these mags with each rifle, both being numbered to the gun and test fired prior to shipping out.

Historical Authenticity

Aside from the magazines and trigger mechanism as mentioned above, there are a couple other differences  between SMG’s rifle and the originals. The main one is the receiver, which SMG has milled from a block of steel. This is how the first model German guns were made, but the second model (which is what SMG has recreated) was originally made with a stamped receiver. The Germans at the time had advanced metal stamping skills, and a stamped receiver was cheaper for mass production as well as lighter weight. SMG, however, is making these in small numbers on modern CNC machinery and a milled receiver is by far the more practical method for them. This does mean some differences in appearance, such as the case deflector being an integral piece instead of riveted on, and the absence of rivets to attach the receiver to the front trunnion block (which is already an integral part of the milled receiver). The grip assembly is also milled, instead of being stamped, and there are a few other minor differences that will only be apparent to the serious student of FG-42 rifles.

Accuracy

I don’t have a bench at my range, so my accuracy testing was done from the 300 yard line, off the rifle’s integral bipod. I was shooting at an ad-hoc silhouette target with decent contrast, still using the Romanian milsurp ammo. I set the rear sight to its 300 meter mark, and found that it shot about 12 inches high overall (I believe the sights are calibrated for German 198gr ball, while my Romanian was 150gr). After adjusting my point of aim to the bottom of the silhouette, I was able to put 8 of 10 rounds into the paper, which I’m pretty happy with (they were all in the upper left quadrant of the target). It’s not really a test of the rifle’s accuracy potential, but I’m more interested in what results I can achieve in a practical test. It is worth noting that for folks interested in precision shooting with an FG42, these new rifles all have an integrated dovetail mount that will fit both original and reproduction ZF41 telescopic sights. Very few FG-42s were actually issued with scopes during the war, but the make a very cool accessory for getting the most out of one of these reproductions.

Reliability

Over the course of my firing, I did have several malfunctions. One was simply user error – don’t try to rack the bolt with the safety on, or you’ll jam the gun up. The malfunctions that weren’t my fault were several failures to extract. They occurred sporadically through my shooting, and I had no other problems from the gun otherwise. What happened was that the extractor claw didn’t fully snap over the cartridge rims, and thus didn’t pull them out after firing. The cases cases were easily removed by hand, and did not have torn rims. Rick Smith at SMG suggested that my Romanian surplus ammo probably had rims thicker than commercial spec, and I grabbed a set of calipers and checked my Romanian ammo against Remington, Winchester, and Federal brass based cartridges. The surplus rims measured 0.047-0.051 inches, while the commercial ammo was thinner and more consistent, at 0.040-0.041 inches. That means the surplus ammo I used had rims 25% thicker than spec – I’m actually a bit surprised I didn’t have more problems.

The rifle exhibits excellent ejection through all of my shooting – it threw cases very consistently about 4 feet to the right and slightly forward of the gun. I find this consistency to be a good indicator of a well-tuned mechanism, and it certainly made brass cleanup easy.

Workmanship

The workmanship is excellent on the rifle – it is a credit to SMG’s exacting manufacturing standards. The wooden stock and handguard look outstanding, as does the finish on the metal components. The rifle comes with an excellent reproduction leather sling as well.

One of the simple ways to get an idea of a manufacturer’s standard of quality is to simply run the bolt or slide of a gun. The best feel like they are running on oiled glass – a Sig P210 is a great reference. The not so great feel rough, gritty, or otherwise flawed. The bolt on the SMG FG-42 was excellent. The bolt is surprisingly stiff for its first bit of travel because of the mechanical design (the first half inch or so of travel has to compress the heavy firing pin spring as well as unlock the bolt), and then it slides the rest of the way nice and smooth.

My only complaint in this area was that the handguard on the rifle began to crack at the front after a few hundred rounds. The original German FG-42 rifles had a piece of corrugated sheet metal pressed into the circumference of the handguard to prevent this, and that metal is not present in SMG’s guns. Adding that feature or perhaps giving a slight clearance between the handguard and barrel surface would solve this problem, and I have no doubt that SMG will address this in future production (my review gun was serial number 14).

Price and Availability

Yeah, you knew this part was coming. The price on these rifles is $4995, and according to Rick at SMG there is currently a 6-9 month wait time for them. This isn’t vaporware, though – the guns are actively in production and the wait time is because of the number of people already on the waiting list. Getting your name on that list requires simply a call to SMG, and a $100 non-refundable deposit.

Considering the amount of time and research that went into these reproductions, I think they are a bargain. The rifle is as enjoyable to shoot as anything else I’ve handled (and better than most) on top of its historical significance. I don’t think I could ask for much more. Certainly the price will place it out of reach of many folks, but it’s simply a fact of life that really nice things are expensive. Some people as well will not be interested because of the places where it does stray from the original FG-42 design, but such is life. Those folks are quite welcome to bid on the next original one that comes up at auction. As for me, I will happily save up my pennies for one of these outstanding rifles from SMG.

I have also produced a video review of SMG’s reproduction FG-42 over at Forgotten Weapons, for folks who would like to see more about the gun.