Does MG42/ M53 Barrel actually need to recoil/ move?

[HKARAK]

Does MG42/ M53 Barrel actually need to recoil/ move back? Or was this really over engineering..... just thinking about HK roller locking and what makes them different. Welcome any thoughts. Thanks!!

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Yes, the barrel needs to move back in order for the bolt to be unlocked from the breech. The gun was designed to do so. The barrel move rearward under the effect of recoil. Hence, the guns of this type are called "recoil operated". Now, having a moving barrel is less accurate than a static unmoving barrel, but it has the advantage of allowing you to have a much simpler bolt to breech locking mechanism. In every design, there are advantages and disadvantages. It all depends of what design features you want to stress.

The extreme power of full sized rifle rounds REQUIRES a full locking mechanism if you want to keep the weight of the bolt LOW. A roller delay design for breech locking, called "half locking" in German, like you find in HK submachineguns and assault rifles, does not have enough strength by itself to hold the breech safely closed, long enough for the pressure to come down to a safe level (just enough to operate the action). For .308 rifles like the HK-91, a combination or roller delay blowback design combined with a friggin' heavy bolt is used against the power of that round, which is LESS than the power of 8mm Mauser. Ever fire an HK-91 or G-3 battle rifle? That heavy bolt transmits a lot of felt recoil to your shoulder! A gas operated .308 rifle like the FAL or AR-10 is a LOT softer on the shoulder. The German design was made PRIMARILY for easy, fast, and inexpensive manufacturing of a military rifle, at the expense of some comfort in shooting. That's why they are the way they are.

[flemgunner]

Man thats a pretty good explanation

[Bil]

Also consider they were also used on a heavy mount,or vevivle mounted,it was a multiple-use gun.It also had to be usable as a squad weapon,and be easily moved and repaired.With all of these criteria,they came up with a pretty good compromise,considering one of the main faults was keeping it fed. ---bil

[blackreichswehr]

the outstanding feature of the short recoil system of operation is that, by proper disign, high rates of fire can be attained. and this is what the military asked for in the specs. --high rate of fire, cheap, funtional reliability, 8mm