www.MG42.us

what is the difference between post was and ww2 cans, basket carrier etc.? Is it just that ww2 has waffen stamps and is a different color paint? thanks for the help

Tom,

They should be different in width. 8mm v 308.


Steve

so that means post war is nfg and I got to spend the big $ on ww2 stuff, bastards

That would depend on who made the cans. Yugo cans aren't waffenamt'd, but are made to fit 8mm. Cans can be found for $20 that fit 8mm, and considering the $10 difference between those and .308 cans, it's worth it if you're going to shoot .308. I'd suggest a couple 8mm German cans, then several .308 cans. You'd likely be shooting .308 mostly anyway, because it's cheaper than good 8mm. Sure, you can get cheap 8mm, sometimes for 8 cents a shot.... and you can blow your gun apart to save a dime a shot. Doesn't make sense to me to take the chance on 40 year old ammo to save a few bucks in a $3,000 semi, or $40,000 transferable MG42. Besides that, it's embarrassing as hell to have the barrel door blow open and have to ask someone to pick the crap out of your face.

Been there, saw it happen, didn't like it, and was glad I never considered shooting crap ammo in my MG.

Tom,

John has hit the nail on the head with the ammo cans and ammo! I understand what you need and the price of the WWII cans do vary from Vendor to Vendor.

Sportsmans Guide has a decent deal on WWII cans and includes four (4) WWII belts for less than $40 each. The one I ordered was in very good condition and the belts were very good too. I feel it was a good buy. Here is the link to the page: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=148403

If you do a search on their website for "ammo can" they also have the post war German .308 cans for less than $10 each. I bought a couple of these too and they are in excellent condition. Sometimes with SG, the quality varies, but I think you will be pleased with the cans.

I got 2 nice ammo cans with my aa kit , no belts in n.j., i was looking at some assult drums withthe carrier bracket I found for $95 post war (don't say yugo or not)or $144 ww2 just want to round out the accesories before it gets expensive and scarce

Tom,

The $144 Drum and Carrier must be the one from Gun Parts Corp I assume? I bought one of these from them about 1 year ago for $125. Price increase since them I guess. The stuff I bought was in excellent condition. The Carrier just needed a good cleaning, and the Drums were used, but not abused, and the paint was still in decent condition. I was well pleased with the buy.

actualy these are marstar, usa money is worth more so it works out for us, i can't find them at gpc i find their site a little diff to nav

Tom,

I agree that GPC is a difficult website to navigate in; you better know the exact name of what you want.

I went to the index listing of all firearms parts and clicked on MG42. There are not a lot of parts, but the Drums and Carrier showed up there. I thought about ordering another set, but decided that two Carriers with Drums was enough since I have about five more Drums too.

Love that MG42, but taking it to the range is a chore; gun, tripod, ammo cans, drums, spare parts, and tool kit. Add to that, the .308 cover, feed tray, ammo can with ammo, and .308 barrel. A number of trips from truck to range. I am too old for this kind of fun, LOL

abwer can you post a link to the item I am f@$#%^& blind or something :x , thanks

Hope I don't end up with any post war stuff. I'm in Kuwait so I have to wait till 2006 to go look at my stuff. I've been ordering up a storm. Anyone know the quality or whether the stuff is Yugo or WWII GErman: I bought 2 aluminum and 2 steel ammo cans from IMA (International Military Antiques), each with 5x50 round belts. I also bought their wartime 2xsnail drums with holder. Then from Allegheny Arsenal I bought two of his MG cans with the double latch. I think I'll buy another aluminum can...I heard all the aluminum cans were WWII GErman as nobody else w=made them.

Tom R,

I am at work and they have the site blocked here. When I get home this evening, I will try to find the link for the drums and carrier and post on the Forum!

Tom R,

I decided to leave work early today since it is Good Friday and first thing is to look up the info on the Drums and Carrier from GPC. I looked back in my records and I ordered the Drum & Carrier set on 26 November 2003. The Item Number was 460550B and the price was $140 (thought it was $125, but I was wrong).

I did a complete search on GPC's website and appreaently they do not have anymore. Man, time does fly as I thought I bought this last year.

thanks anyway for checking i did see ima has them but 3 prices ww2 grey, ww2 green. post war? see what you think

here is the link to ima's mg42 stuff http://www.ima-usa.com/index.php/cPath/14_67

here is marstar, remember our money is worth more so prices are not as high as posted http://www.marstar.ca/TempBaskets.htm

don't care yugo/ post war/ green etc. just want to fit 8mm though i may have to call opinions?

well I checked my green ammo cans from the aleg arson gb and 8mm does fit them also i have a green yugo basket I got from marstar a long while back and 8mm fits that also,yugo stuff seems fine to me, i don't care if i get waffen amps or not just want them to work for 8mm, can always use a spacer for 308 get what i mean?

Tom.

I looked at IMA's site and all the sets appear to be original WWII, just the color of the paint. Unless you want the authenticity, I would go with the German Post War Green color because the price is $125 per set.

I have two sets, one is original paint and the other appears to be post war painted, but close to the WWII color. they are both dated 1943.

If you start using them, the paint will chip anyway, and the original green paint set for $195 has some minor rust spots on them that you will need to clean up. Once the rust is cleaned up, there will be shiney spots that will need some type protection from rust beginning again. I vote for the post war painted set. This way, if the paint gets chipped, you won't mind doing a repaint in the future.

By the way, the sling looks like post war Yugoslavian. The German sling is a slit sling with leather pads. Also, the cleaning kit is post war Yugo and has some nice stuff in it that is handy. I have one of these and take it to range just in case. The split case extractor and the carbon reamer are really handy. I took the "cheesy" Yugo oil cans out and put spare parts in those pockets. You have to read the description real slose sometimes and unless the specifically state it is WWII German, you can bet its post war.

Here is IMA's set...I wouldn't have been happy about it if I didn't plan to repaint.

http://picturerack.com/ims/reichpapers/7709.jpg

thanks for the input I definitly got to get a double basket carrier before prices shoot up

Tom,

I will say one thing, when you carry the double drum carrier to the range, you get a lot of interest from the on-lookers (of course the gun has done some of that already). Setting up the MG42 is almost like setting up a display at a gun show, except you can live fire!

i just shoot in the back yard(18acres) the guys I know that belong to ranges are I think "afraid" to take my 1919 and I not sure why, these are just oversized rifles, not like it is a howitzer