Best light machine gun of WW2

Come on. In every thread you make snide remarks at other members of the forum.

And 50 km with 45kg is not enough for bragging rights.

 

Not without being provoked.

That's over 90 lbs of equipment to be hauled over 50 km of rough terrain. I'd like to see you do that without breaking a sweat. I've seen plenty of soldiers complain having to carry less than that just half the distance along a flat coast line, and I haven't even mentioned that there was a time limit as-well.

 

Here ya go (courtesy of wiki):


Barrel length was 600mm, so accuracy was great, but as for changing the barrel, well that must have been a pain. Not exactly the ideal infantry GPMG. I do believe from just looking at it however that it was quite comfortable to wield.

 

I really think the tone you took with T.A. Gardner is really uncalled for. He initially stated that the drum magazine didn't see much use with the infantry because of it's weight.

Instead of just stating that sights were also an issue you stated:

When T.A. responded he was still civil and made a good case for his point:

You came back with:

TA responded:

Now I doubt he knows you personally or your background. It was not an unreasonable assumption for him to make, that you didn't understand how even small weight increases adversely effect an infantryman. I thought the same thing. I'm sure that Formerjughead remembers an old saying we used to hear all the time; "Ounces equal pounds, pounds equal pain."
You didn't appear to understand this in your earlier replies.

Both you and TA had good points, it was your off hand dismissal of the weight concern that tended to obscure the valid point you were making about the sights. I think you'll find that TA Gardner is one of the more knowlegeable posters on this forum, a gentleman and treats other posters with respect. We're all here to discuss and learn, it'd be nice for these discussions to stay discussions and not degenerate into a pissin' contest.
I really don't want to see this thread closed so let's just put the dispute in the past and return to the original issue.

 

Hi,

i like the German MG´s but i think one of the best and may be the most used in WWII is the Bren lmg. Good to carry and not a bad stuff.

Regards

Ulrich

 

Personally I feel that the Bren only came into it's right in 1942 when it was distributed in such quantity that it was used as a SAW.

Every British ID would have a MG bn to fill the role of MMG/HMG as others have pointed out earlier.

The Bren is a relativly light weapon and very reliable. I had the good fortune to try both the watercooled Vickers and a 7.62mm Bren in 1998 and I feel that the doctrine and TOE from 1942 onwards worked.

The MG 42/MG-3 is a weapon that I know very well. (I have used since Christ was a Corporal) It is a marvelous MG, but still we tend to use a few 5.56mm SAW's.

I think that is the main issue I have with these threads. The weapons need to be considered with mission profile and complimentary weapons within the unit.,

I have never fired the BAR, but it's characteristics and liberal deployment coupled with the other MG's in the US infantry makes it sensible. Or to flip it, the other MG's seems sensible since the Infantry squad has plenty of automatic rifles.

Mobility or volume of fire. The best is to have both. The MG 42 is the best compromise between the two in my book.

 

The Bren was a really needed Lmg for the British Army. The watercooled MG´s were out of time and to heavy to make quick movements with them. The US Browning M1919 wasn´t much better and only as the M1919A6 a bit more usefull. Don´t know much about the BAR but the concept was near to the Bren and it had problems with the heavy .30-06 round. The BAR was to light for the round and not easy to control in full auto. The todays ones like the M 240 are light to carry but with the 5.56mm round a bit to weak in my opinion. From the conception of the MG42 you´re right that it is propably the best one. From the quantity and the easy made design and the reason that the .303 was fully interchangable between the LE´s and the Bren, it will be my favourite.

Regards

Ulrich

 

While I won't try to compare the Lewis gun to either the Bren or anyother Light machine gun listed here, it wasn't that much of a "dog" either. And I don't think we should forget it.

The WW1 era, 26 lb. (11.8kg) Lewis gun wasn’t really a competitor with its slow ROF, but it was reliable as houses. Although, even with its cumbersome appearance (1283 mm length) with the aluminum barrel cooling-housing, it did have the option of a 97 round "pan" magazine to use.