In WW2, the Germans had by far the better squad machinegun. Nevertheless, it had a severe drawback to its excellence: It required a highly-trained operator to be at its most effective in the field, and that operator had to be supported by at least one assistant (while the BAR could be operated by just one man).

Oppositely, the US soldier and, after 1942, the Marine of WW2 was armed with by far the better battle rifle, and was given sufficient training to allow for its very effective use.

Advantage: USA.

On a side note, it has been observed about the three premier bolt-action rifles of WW1 and WW2, that the Germans were armed with an excellent hunting rifle, the Americans were armed with an excellent target rifle, and the British were armed with an excellent battle rifle. (The French were armed primarily with the bayonet.)

Well put.

Topic wasn't battle rifle, it is machine guns. No argument that M1 Garand was best battle rifle of WWII (in large production).
As far as machine guns, the German MG42 was the best Infantry machine Gun in WWII hands down, with the MG34 in close second.

The best vehicle mounted machine gun of WWII was the U.S. .50 Caliber Browning with no competition. Especially since the Browning could even be carried on tripod as heavy weapons platoon machine gun in defensive positions.

In the end, for fast moving light infantry, the MG42 was the King of the Pack in WWII. We later copied a lot from it to come up with the M60 machine gun, best infantry machine gun of the VietNam era. The MG42 killed a lot more GIs and Tommies than either government is ever going to own up to.

Originally Posted by wjh2657

Topic wasn't battle rifle, it is machine guns...

Gosh, I'm sorry that I didn't live up to your rigid standards.
My reply didn't seem to bother the OP, though.

Lighten up.

Originally Posted by wjh2657

...[T]he German MG42 was the best Infantry machine Gun in WWII hands down, with the MG34 in close second...

...And I do believe that I wrote that, although without the specific nomenclature.
There was no need for you to repeat it.

SteveM1911A1...........bologna or bs, your choice. You were overly compelled to inject your little bit of knowledge into this machine gun oriented thread. Then You got indignant when you were called down on it.

Amsdorf, I enjoyed the film....I have always admired the MG34 and MG42.......I believe the Swiss Army used and may still use a MG 42 or derivative...

Simple answer...The Germans did........

Steve, does this forum have an "ignore" function? Seems like you found a candidate for your iggy list.

Thanks for your comments, I've heard that before, but only applied to WWI rifles. The Garand was the finest battle rifle ever made, in my opinion. M14 owners/lovers will want to strangle me, of course.

Originally Posted by Amsdorf

Steve, does this forum have an "ignore" function? Seems like you found a candidate for your iggy list...

Thanks for the thought.
I don't de-list 'em. I just let them have their fun.

BTW: Which Amsdorf? The town, or the theologian?

The theologian. You are the first person ever to have recognized my handle. Nicholas von Amsdorf.

Ah, Grasshopper—all that is necessary is to practice your Google-fu.
(It's a matter of loyalty: Our daughter works for Google.)

Here endeth the hijacking.
We return you to the original discussion, already in progress...

Well, you are the only person who has bothered, so, kudos to you.

One thing that does stand out. We produced around four times as many machine guns as did Germany, but that was just a small part of it. Germany could never match or even approach the industrial might of the U.S. That nation was doomed when we entered the war even if they had never attacked Russia before our entry.

Yup.
But nowadays, I think that Germany might win.
We've given away almost all of our heavy industry. Our military weapons are made by foreign companies.
The US is stuck in a service economy. It makes money for entrepreneurs, but we've lost self-sufficiency.

The concept of a "global economy" is that it will keep wars from happening, because every country is dependent upon every other country.
So far, it seems to be working pretty well.