mg42 real of fake?

[Thomb]

A friend of mine bought an mg42, he asked me if i could check it for real and fake parts. I'm not an expert on these weapons but this is as far i got.

Buffer closes counter clockwise.

postwar barrel, feeding tray, bipod, buttstock, not sure on the bolt, rear sight and maybe the buffer. what do you experts think?

[Patty D]

Buttstock, bipod and feed tray are definitely postwar, not sure on the barrel as there looks to be couple of steyr markings on there, but I've never seen that type of stamp on a wartime barrel (plus they obviously continued as a firm postwar up to present day). I'd say it's postwar more than likely, but others here will confirm either way.

Can't tell on the buffer, if you have any pictures of that without the stock fitted that would help with that. Overall though looks like a nice MG42 used postwar by the Austrian army (BH) - again back to the Steyr marking....

It's rear AA finger sight is also missing too. Thanks for posting and welcome to the forum!

Pat


P.S the bipod is fitted on the wrong way around

[Thomb]

hi Patty,

here are some more pics of the buffer, does the front sight also have to be stamped?
And what will the value of the gun if he changed all the postwar stuff?

[k98]

Buffer ok

Buffer is genuine

[Patty D]

Yes that buffer is a nice original, thanks for the pictures.

As for value I cannot really say as the market differs greatly. Also it depends if you can change all the postwar parts, some (like the barrel) may be restricted and welded in place (?) and others like the buttstock will be hard to find and very expensive when you do eventually find a spare one for sale.

[jonathanseverin]

Post war 7.62mm barrel by the looks of things.
Jonathan.

[Paul Ba]

Post war Steyr werke barrel 7.62mm NATO, nice BH MG42 - more best than Jugo store MG42. Best luck with original parts!