FG 42 Paratroop Rifle

FG 42 rifle second model. Pressed metal receiver body and folding bipod painted black. The action is marked FG42, fzs and the serial number on the top near the breech. Wooden butt and fore grip with a brown chequered bakelite pistol grip. The barrel has a detachable cruciform spike bayonet that fits into a slot underneath. The sights are a folding front post and adjustable folding aperture rear. It is missing a magazine and the fluted muzzle cap.

The FG 42 was one of the outstanding small arms designs of the Second World War and it is estimated that about 7,000 were made. They were first used in 1944 during the rescue of Mussolini and later encountered in France and Italy toward the final stages of the war. The rifle was originally developed for the German parachute troops of the Luftwaffe (Fallschirmgewehr 42) under the political influence of Herman Goering. However with the decline of the German parachute forces toward the middle of the war and coupled with political, technical and manufacturing difficulties, it became increasingly hard to justify production on a mass scale. The Army High Command showed no interest in it and was never properly developed.