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can anyone explain to me how and where the recuperator is installed in this gun? I for the life of me cannot figure it out and cannot find a picture of it. Thanks.... Shawn

The recouperator mounts inside on the left side of the reciever,under the left hand bolt guide rail.The end with the channel attached ,bolts through the bottom of the reciever just behind the grip frame.the front end bolts into the left side of the reciever,under the rail in the feed tray area.

Uh. Ok Wish I had a visual.

Yes it mounts on the left side under the rail. If you look at your left hand rail the bottom has been machined flat for clearance for the recouperator. The machined side faces down towards the bottom of the reciever.

dear wise Dennis, What exactly does the recuperator do (purpose?)

pardon the poor graphics but try to visualise
red as the trunion , blue as the pistol grip , and brown as the buttstock.
the recuperator (a mg42 one) in the picture would lay on the bottom of the reciever as it is it the picture.

1919gunner wrote: What exactly does the recuperator do (purpose?)

after a round has been fired and the barrel and bolt recoil together , they are separated by the trunnion . the bolt continues rearward but the barrel gets pushed forward by the recuperator.
this is a pic of a mg 3 recuperator , notice the "tail" on the end.

OOOOhhhh. Thank you, Shawn

I have heard others complain that they did not recieve the mounting hardware. How it this thing attached to the reciever? screws, rivets? Shawn

Well,I think I've figured out how the front of the recuperator is mounted to the receiver.For lack of a better word ,a small machined L-shaped bolt goes into front slot in the recuperator were it catches against the plunger. When the recuperator is put in the receiver,the bolt sticks out through an approx. 3/16'' hole drilled in the side of the receiver.It's fastened with a small nut.I didn't get rear mounting hardware with my recuperator.Somebody please let me know if I'm wrong.

The barrel and bolt recoil together for about 8 millimeters, then the bolt rollers hit the cams, forcing them inwards. While the initial 8mm of recoil is occurring, the recuiperator is being compressed by the barrel extension. As soon as the bolt rollers are shoved toward the center, the bolt unlocks from the barrel extension and the recuperator pushes the barrel forward. The bolt continues rearward, extracting, ejecting, stripping the next shot from the belt, operating the belt lever, and loading and locking to the barrel, ready to fire again.

The recuperator is held by small bolts to the lower left side of the receiver, with the spring loaded knob toward the front. Screws should be peened over to prevent self-loosening.... or use locktite.

May I suggest a manual that would help understand the sequence of operation of the MG42? H.Dv. 216/6 is an origiinal German manual translated to English that has many graphics and an excellent description of how the MG42 works. It will answer some of your questions about which parts do what, and explain the recoiling of the barrel, how the booster works, and what each part does. It also includes exploded diagrams of all parts.

See http://www.GermanManuals.com for details.

Jbaum - good explaination.

AS2222 :
You're right. The L-shaped screw goes up front with the leg of the "L" facing aft in the recuperator slot. The leg can fit either direction - with the leg facing fwd or facing aft. Put it in with the leg facing towards the rear.

The rear bolt is a 5mm speciality bolt with shoulders cut such that the slot in the recuperator retains the bolt head from turning while the nut is being torqued. As I recall a 8-32 x 1/2 english machine screw will work just fine in it's place. The rear recuperator screw only keeps the recuperator down in the reciever. All of the shear of the recuperator is taken by the L-shaped bracket (not to be confused with the L shaped screw in the front of the recuperator) riveted to the receiver just to the rear of the recuperator

One thing to remember, don't weld the recuperator assembly to the receiver! Use the special bolt only.

Get in touch with John Baum and order some of his excellent translations of the original manuals, they will help with many of your questions. Plus they are great reading too.

The cost of the manuals is a small price to pay considering the vast amount of knowledge gained

jbaum please tell me exactly which manual to order from you and it's cost. I'll be looking forward to talking to you soon. Shawn

1919gunner go to johns site with the link above and click manuals there is a discription of all manuals with pics and pricing I just ordered 4 manuals today, hope this helps

Full descriptions (and prices) for each of the 10 or so MG42/MG3 manuals I've translated to English can be read at:

http://www.GermanManuals.com/manuals.html

thanks for your interest,

John