To the same end, the recoil spring was extended into the stock. The side-mounted magazine was used so that the trigger mechanism could be mounted farther forward than is possible with a bottom-feed magazine, and thus the receiver could be kept shorter. Still, the original design was quite the achievement.
GERMAN MAUSER RIFLE FROM WW2 FULL
The bipods were too fragile, the bipod tended to rattle out during firing, the stock was prone to damage, the grip was uncomfortable to use, and the gun was too light to be controllable in full auto fire (remember how I mentioned the M14?). It used a long stroke gas piston, and only a couple thousand were produced before some problems became clear, and the design was modified. This would be the first model of the rifle, most easily identified by its very steeply canted grip and stamped metal buttstock. Impressively, Rheinmetall pulled it off – their design was accepted for production as the FG-42. No mean feat to cram all that into one design!
Among others, the new design was required to use detachable box magazines, be no longer, bulkier, or heavier than a standard K98k, have an integral bipod and bayonet, fire from a closed bolt in semiauto (for accuracy) but from an open bolt in full auto (to improve cooling and prevent cookoffs), and use the standard 8x57mm cartridge. The result was a very optimistic list of requirements for proposals from armsmakers. It was decided that the paratroops needed a compact weapon that could serve as both individual shoulder rifle and light support machine gun, giving the rate of fire of the MP40, the range and accuracy of the K98k, and the suppressing capability of the MG34 (much like the US intention for the M14 rifle). These weapons were dropped in canisters rather than with each individual soldier, which led to serious problems in actions like the attack on Crete. Going into the war, they used a mixture of MP40 and MP38 submachine guns, K98k rifles, and MG34 machine guns. As a service, the Fallschirmjager had some autonomy in weapons procurement, and they instituted a development program for a weapon independent of the rest of the German military.
The FG42 ( Fallschirmjagergewehr, in the German tradition of making four little words into one big word) was a rifle ahead of its time, made in small numbers for German parachute troops during WWII.
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