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just a quik question...is there a preferred oil/grease for use in mg42/53.....thanks in advance

I usually grease the rails with a little chassis grease. It comes in a tube to fit in a grease gun for a few bucks. It's enough to last for years. Oil? 10w40 is the usual for me.

I agree with John Baum, and go even further..>> For me, I prefer a wet gun, for even in re-enactments with blanks, we are usually in sterile or near sterile environments......Changing hot barrels & spraying oil on them to help them cool faster, plus using the two piece blank barrels, I lube the small insert that goes into the large barrel......In sustained live firing on say a range, spraying the bolt face & trow-out bearings between engagements can't hurt.

Note that we're talking about oil here - NOT WD-40. WD-40 is really nasty thick crap when it dries, kind of like dried linseed oil, and I highly recommend against using on any gun. If you're in the rain, fine, use WD-40 if you must, just get it off before it dries.

ok extra question then...i have noticed that some people are spraying oil on the belts before they feed them...is this just a personal thing or is this recommended procedure....if so what is the preferred spray to use....thanks in advance

The manuals say to lubricate inside the cartridge pockets of the belts before loading the belts.

With a semi-auto, it's borderline of having enough power to reset the hammer and strip the cartridge, so they spray the belts with a variety of products to get a little extra lubrication to reduce friction. My 42 isn't a semi, so I don't need to do that. Somebody else will have to answer about what they do.

Lately I've been using Rem Oil in a spray bottle on my belts in my Wiselite S/A M53, and it works OK.

Whether you use grease or a good lubricating oil, be sure to clean all the oil, powder residue, and other dirt from the firearm as soon as you can right after shooting, then apply fresh clean lubricant. Running dirty lubricant will cause the bluing to wear off and even steel wear, and chemically it will trap corrosives that will promote rust, which is evil.

So do the right thing, protect your baby, and CLEAN IT properly.