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I mainly shoot 308 in my MG42. I have read in another post that some of the top covers (like the MG1/3) can be rough on the belts. Almost all of my belts (I assume) are Yugo surplus.

My question is: Which top cover should I be using to get the best life from my belts?

Thanks.

I've been shooting a 42 for 20 years and never heard that a top cover can hurt a belt, and can't really figure out how it could. The top cover doesn't come into contact with the belt. Please post a link to the message where you read this.

The only things that comes into contact with the belt are the feed tray and feed pawls.

They're identical for both calibers other than the feed tray is naturally shorter for .308, and the feed pawls have the pivot hole in the lever slightly relocated to provide more travel for the feed pawls to be able to jump over the fatter .308 cartridge. I'm unaware of how this could affect the service life of the belts. (The MG3 feed tray is modified to hold a plastic ammo box, but that has nothing to do with the belts.)

Please explain how you think this could happen.