The FG42 research thread

[Guillaume d'Orange]

Hi everyone,

This is just to compile the piecemeal threads I started or contributed about the FG42, for ease of reference
This is of course open to fellow members who also research original FG42s.

Pics of FG42s in Paris

The "Musée de l'Armée" reopened and I realized there are 4 FG42s on display there (one is in the "Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération"). I've never seen an FG42 before and was stunned to see how compact this thing is (some 16cm shorter than a 98k) ! Unsurprisingly, the 4 of them were made by...

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fzs FG42 question

Does anyone on here know the fellow with the fg42 collection? I need to see if he has photos of the BAL acceptance (Eagle 2 or Eagle 22). It’s not something normally imaged. We don’t need pics, just images if the acceptance.

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"Death from Above" book (2007 edition vs 1990 edition)

Hi guys, I have the 1990 edition of "Death from Above: the German FG42 Paratroop Rifle" The 2007 new expanded edition is said to have "an Addendum containing 68 more pages and 122 new illustrations. The 2007 Addendum challenges everything previously known or assumed about the timetable of...

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FG42 in France in June-July 1943

Hi everyone, I have had access to a book written by Alain Chazette named "Fallschirmjäger : les parachutistes allemands en France 1943-1944", printed in 2001 for a total of only 1500 copies. I did not manage to find a copy and had to go the "Bibliothèque Nationale de France" (our Library of...

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FG42 #190 and #1864 (Type1/Type E)

Hi everyone, As I unsubscribed, I missed this video on Forgotten Weapons about a Type E being auctioned at Morphy's. It is #1864: As some of you remember, I documented 4 Type1/Type E in French state collections (courtesy of them)...

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FG42 #540 (Type1/Type E) at Grand Curtius, Liège, Belgium

Hi folks, Some pictures of this FG42. I managed to get a photo of the serial number #540, but not the acceptance stamps. What's interesting is the label that mentions Krieghoff in Suhl AND in Herstal. I will probably ask the curator why they added Herstal and if he owns some material...

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Number of Type 1/Type E FG42 produced

In "Death from Above" (1st Edition), Dugelby and Stevens wrote (p.117) that there was at least 2101 "early" FG42s produced (including prototypes i.e 50 type C and 50 type D). There may have been at least 2000 Type1/Type E as #1999 was in Byron Vickery's collection and is shown in the book...

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FG42 and its Grenade Launcher

The Luftwaffe tested the FG42 for quite some time, certainly from at least February 24, 1943 until April 16, 1943. Those dates appear in a trial report performed in Tarnewitz dated July 2, 1943. Two grenade launchers were tested, but as Michael Heidler wrote in the following article in Small...

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FG42 #1151 and #1799 (Type 1/Type E), #3176, #3209 and #3214 (Type 2) at War Heritage Institute in Brussels

Pics were taken by mister van de Poele at the Musée de l’Armée et d’Histoire Militaire in Brussels (thanks to him). What's interesting is the serial number just above the trigger on the 2 type I : it also appears on #190, #1295 or #1864. Also worth noting on #3209, the small "fzs" stamp on the...

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FG42 #49 at National Army Museum, New Zealand

Hi folks, I contacted the curator at this museum and he sent me a couple of pics (that I am not authorized to publish unfortunately). The museum is half closed at the moment and he can't take the photos I would have liked. Here is the rifle (pic taken by @a j s ): The serial number is #49...

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Pictures of FG42 with scope

Hi all, I came across this pic taken at Gran Sasso. It looks like this FG42 is equipped with a scope. What do you think : scope or no scope ? Do you know examples of period pics of FG42 with a scope ?

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Cheers !

 

[Guillaume d'Orange]

Updated with the most recent posts.
Any help to identify private collectors or museums owning FG42s is welcome (I received some PMs).

Research topics about FG42s:
- period of test by combat units
- first use in combat
- time period of production
- manufacturing patterns (serial number, stamps, modifications)
- estimate of surviving examples
- supplementing/discussing current literature (2007 edition of "Death from Above" by Dugelby and Stevens/ 2012 edition of "The FG42 Fallschirmjägergewehr" by Guus De Vries, 2016 edition of "Fallschirmjägergewehr 42" by Dieter Handrich)