Krieghoff Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 (FG 42)

The Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 (FG 42) was a selective-fire automatic rifle designed by Louis Stange and manufactured in Nazi germany in WWII from 1942 to 1945. The weapon was developed specifically for the use of the Fallschirmjäger airborne infantry in 1942 and was used in very limited numbers until the end of the war. It combined the characteristics and firepower of a light machine gun in a lightweight form no larger than the standard-issue Kar 98k bolt-action rifle. Considered one of the most advanced weapon designs of World War II, the FG 42 influenced post-war small arms development, and most of its design was copied by the US Army when they developed the M60 machine gun. The FG 42 was a select-fire air-cooled weapon and one of the first to incorporate the "straight-line" recoil configuration. This layout, combined with the side magazine, placed both the center of gravity and the position of the shoulder stock nearly in line with the longitudinal axis of the bore, a feature increasing controllability during burst or automatic fire. The rifle fed from either a 10- or 20-round detachable box magazine or belt magazine. The weapon saw first operational use during the Gran Sasso raid (Unternehmen Eiche) in September 1943 when German paratroopers and Waffen-SS commandos rescued Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from his captors – 200 well-equipped Carabinieri guards. However, during the whole airborne operation (which was personally ordered by Hitler) not a single shot was fired.