Advice on buying an MG 42

[maxfaxdude]

Hello everyone. My name is John, I'm new to this board and this is my first post.

I've decided to buy a fully-transferable full-auto MG42 and I would appreciate any sound advice and info. The MG42 is new to me but I do have many other machine guns. I have read a lot of the posts and info on this website and I am halfway through reading Folke Myrvang's German Universal Machineguns book. I've also spoken to Bob Naess regarding the MG42 and fired 2 different MG42s (both on tripods on 2 separate occasions). One of MG42s I shot is for sale for $35K, is in good condition, was one of Kent Lamont's guns and includes a tripod, a spare barrel, spare part kits and some optics (I never saw the optics the seller was talking about because he had it packed away). While shooting the gun, 4 out of about 250 rounds of Romanian 1970s steel-cased corrosive ammo had normal primer strikes but did not fire. I shoot my guns a lot, so I'd expect to shoot 5000 to 6000 rounds a year from the gun and would prefer to shoot 8 mm Mauser over 308. I talked half a dozen people who have MG42s for sale but the gun for 35K is at the top of my list because the seller seems honest and because the price is the lowest. I'm going to the Knob Creek shoot from April 9 to 12 to get more info and hopefully shoot another MG42.

Given this background information, I had some questions:

1) I got asking prices ranging from 35K for the "shooter" I mentioned earlier to 65K for an "unfired" with multiple new bolts, barrels, a tripod, MG Z device and many other unfired spare parts (it looks like a museum piece). What is a "fair" price for the MG42s as described above?
2) Should I send the gun that I purchase to Bob Naess or someone like him for an inspection?
3) Is Romanian steel-cased 8 mm Mauser ammo the best ammo to use?
4) What kind of maintenance and what parts should I expect to replace if shooting 5000 to 6000 rounds per year?
5) What extra parts should I buy now?
6) What is the easiest way to find out if the gun is a C&R

Thank you in advance for any information or advice you can offer.

John
Las Vegas, NV

[JBaum]

Do you have a C&R firearms license? If you're going to buy out of state, get one ASAP since it will save you having to pay 2 tax transfers and waiting time.

1. $35,000 is good for a good shooter. $65000 is nuts for an unfired, regardless of accessories, and you're going to shoot it anyway, so why do that?

Opinions on price don't matter, it's what they actually sell for that is a guide.
Here is recent pricing for the MG42: http://www.machinegunpriceguide.com/htm ... elt_5.html

2. Bob Naess can certainly do whatever needs done if it needs fixed. Likely the only thing that will be questionable will be the recuperator, and you can send him that for a rebuild without sending the whole gun. Test it to see if it needs the springs replaced, and if so, send it to him, or order replacement springs from him.

3. "Is Romanian steel-cased 8 mm Mauser ammo the best ammo to use?" That's sort of like asking if it's OK to syphon gas from the junk yard wrecks to run in your new BMW. It will probably work (except for 4 times that it duds, and maybe the one time it blows up the gun. I had a guy at my house shoot 50 year old ammo in an MG42. I help pick the brass pieces out of his arm when the gun blew, and straightened the barrel door with a large deadblow hammer and a 2 x 4. Steel cased ammo corrodes from the inside out. Who knows what it looks like inside, until it blows up and you can look through the side of the shell, if you can fine a piece.
Shoot modern ammo (reloads OK), not 40 year old, you don't-know-where-it's-been ammo. It just doesn't make sense to worry about saving 25 cents a shot and have the potential of blowing the bottom out of the gun. It's embarrassing to have to stop shooting so someone can bandage your arm.

4. Keep the rails and feed parts in the top cover greased, and all you'll need to buy are barrels and bolts for spares (for quite a while, anyway). A grip or two wouldn't hurt, and an extra top cover is also nice. .308 is cheaper to shoot and more available, so if you're going to do that, buy the parts to swap it to .308. It is more gentle to the gun, so that means less wear.

5. Buy barrels and bolts. Barrels are getting more expensive, get them while you can. Bolts are still widely available for reasonable money. Don't shoot a WWII bolt. It's 70 years old, made from steel of unknown quality (did the Norwegian shipment of nickel come in that week?), and old steel crystalizes. It looks like it has mica chips in it when it shatters. Using a Yugo or MG3 bolt avoids that potential problem.

6. If it was made in WWII, it will have German markings. If it's more than 50 years old, it's C&R. Therefore, any WWII gun is C&R, except if it is a WWII German marked gun but was imported and registered through a dealer later. Then it may or may not be C&R, depending on the registration date. Whoever is selling it should know.

[maxfaxdude]

Jbaum,

Thank you for the prompt reply.

I do have a C&R FFL and the ammo I was thinking of using would be new (2014 or 2015) manufactured steel-cased Romanian non-corrosive stuff.

I thought 65K for an MG42 was too much as well.

[michaelkih]

by "new Roamanian ammo", do mean the new Hot Shot stuff? I like it. It's toasty!

[maxfaxdude]

Yes.... the Hotshot stuff.

[michaelkih]

The Hot Shot ammo is GREAT ammo. It is bimetal, so it will wear out the barrel faster, but besides that, it is really really great stuff.