S&T MG42
Two ordered from Tiger Airsoft who despatched them quickly. Then Parcel farce sent them to various locations in the UK before finally sending to my home address once the customs and handling fees had been paid.
In the box:
The gun was disassembled as shown, with the charging handle, bipod, drum magazine and buttstock separate from the main body. Also included was a simple instruction manual.
No little bag of BBs, rubbish battery or useless charger. The packaging was nothing special but gives good protection during shipping. There was a long barrel clearing rod, hidden amongst the foam padding.
On first opening the box I went straight to the buttstock, as I was unsure if it was going to be real wood or plastic. Thankfully it turned out to be wood. However the painted finish was pretty poor on both, with one being truly awful.
The guns themselves don’t look bad with a nice satin/gloss finish to the black paint. A couple of areas showed that paint had chipped off at the factory so I suspect that these will look battle worn sooner rather than later.
The majority of the weapon is made of metal, though this is aluminium or pot metal and is not magnetic. The bipod, main sights and catches are steel. The gun is huge, but not overly heavy or unwieldy.
After sanding the butts down with a sponge sanding block, I applied Danish oil to the bright, white wood beneath over the next few days to eventually end up with two dark stained and slightly distressed looking buttstocks. I have no idea what type of wood it is, but it seems reasonably heavy and hard and has a very smooth finish beneath the ‘stain’.
Then came the assembly of the guns.
One gun had a screw missing from the left side pistol grip panel, which are brown ‘bakelite’ plastic. Fortunately I had the exact same style of screw in my spares box.
The manual gives a picture guide on how to attach the magazine, bipod and buttstock but makes no mention of the charging handle anywhere… A few moments of shoving and probing soon had this in place though. It can be easily removed for transport should you wish, but there is a knack to it. (Push charging handle forward and rotate it clockwise and down)
The charging handle can be moved back and forth on the weapon but it does not reciprocate. Once on it is also quite sturdy.
The stock is simply inserted and twisted into place. A locking catch must be pressed if you wish to release the stock. There is room for a reasonably sized Lipo battery inside that would connect to the small Tamiya connector.
The drum magazine requires 4x AA batteries to be installed and will hold a reported maximum of 2400 BBs.
It is connected to the body of the weapon by means of a hook and clip.
The magazine is made from thin steel. You can open the top cover and also the sliding ‘door’ where the real ammo would feed. This does slide off if you are heavy handed, so care is needed to prevent this getting lost. (There is a locating pin/latch that will keep this in place)
To open the breech you push the spring loaded bar at the rear of the top cover forward and lift.
There is a spring feed tube within the magazine that needs to be inserted into a plastic adaptor. This adaptor then sits in the breech above the hop assembly. The feed tube is a friction fit into the adaptor. The BBs are eventually fed into the breech/hop vertically from above. It sounds more complicated than it actually is. I like this because if you wanted to use the weapon as a display piece you can remove the adaptor and put a link of deac' rounds in to dress it up a bit.
In addition there is a lead that must also be connected beneath the breech that links the magazine feed motor to the trigger.
The hop is a simple sliding affair: The picture shows the hop assembly with the plastic feed adaptor removed. I have no idea if this is TM compatible or not. Time will tell. But unless it shoots terribly, I wont be opening it up.
The bipod has a lot of movement and the legs can be adjusted for open angle by the adjustment of a rotating knob. It can be easily detached and can also be positioned closer to the receiver as there are two fixing positions.
The sights consist of a flip up post front and sliding rear. Both fold flat for transportation.
There is even a fixing position for the AA sight if you wanted to add one. (I have no idea if a real one will fit, but I am tempted....
The muzzle is metal and is a threaded fit as you would expect. There is a locating bar that fits into the notches on the muzzle break. This is spring loaded and appears to work well.
There is a fake catch on the right side of the heat shield that would be used to facilitate barrel changes. This does open but that is all.
I cleaned both barrels before attempting a chrono test. One gun was firing at between 330 and 340 fps, the other firing at a maximum 422 fps. Both using Blaster 0.2g BBs
Fortunately, this gun bears a lot of resemblance to the A&K M249, at least from a gearbox and motor set up, so removing and downgrading the spring is a few seconds work.
The motor assembly within the removable pistol grip seems to be fairly solid and easy to access if needed.
A point to note is that the magazine motor seems to rely on a firm pull on the trigger to operate, more than is needed to actually cause the gun to fire. If you have a light trigger finger, you may find yourself dry firing.
Using a 7.4 Lipo battery, the ROF was a respectable 730 rpm (when at 330 fps), which is ideal for WW2 as you won’t be expending too many of those precious rounds.
A higher voltage battery will obviously speed things up… the ROF and probably the failure rate of the gun. So I will stick to 7.4. ïŠ
There is a sliding safety catch that pushes through the pistol grip and can be set with thumb/forefinger of the firing hand. At first this was not very positive (it is plastic) but seemed to get better after being used a few times.
So, in conclusion and without actually fielding the weapon, I believe it to be a very skirmishable piece that looks the part, is mainly metal and wood and is light enough to be carted around all day without destroying your spine. I do think that it will need to be handled with some care and not be used and abused. Death rolls where you throw yourself to the ground are a no no!
I will add to this once I have used it in anger.
Looks good. I guess I will see it in action on the 30th of August. You mind if I ask how much it was including sling?
Interesting
Been wanting to get a MG34/42 for some time now. Am interested in how in stands on the field
Nice review , gun look's very nice and i like the re work on the stock , only pity is the spring tube feed system that i'm no fan of but that's just me ,i like the quick spring change option but wow what a difference in spring's supplied 
, it looks very good i like it .
armoury
m1a1 Thompson,sten mk2,mp40,stg44,sterling,mk2 bren gun,lee Enfield no4 mk1,Mauser Kar98, Walther ppk,smith and Weston m10 and Mauser m712
Give me a big enough hammer and a place to stand and I could fix the world.
i'll kill a man in a fair fight or if i think he's going to start a fair fight or over a woman or.......
a problem shared is a problem halved ,but an advantage shared is no advantage at all
if a job's not worth doing then its certainly not worth doing well
Looks good. I guess I will see it in action on the 30th of August. You mind if I ask how much it was including sling?
I presume you mean shipping rather than sling?
The are currently $628 plus about $200 shipping and then add on import duty and handling charges. This is higher than I paid. (They did mark the customs value down, not at my behest, but I aint complaining.)
And yes, it will be getting it's first game outing at Avellino.
Good review, though I would like to say a few things, give some pointers;
Take tape with you on your first game, as it will be required to solve a pair of problems.
The batteries that power the drummag tend to come loose as you run, you will have to tape them down.
The Hop up tends to shift as you run, another one to tape down.
Check the back of the drummag, it has a hole in it through which you may lose BBs(the prototype gun seems to have a feed button, but its missing on mine(AGM) and the GSG, so it will probably also be missing on the S&T and Matrix, correct me if I'm wrong).
The steel used for the mag is mild steel, as is the steel used for the feedingtray, dropping the gun will(!) damage it. The other thread had a photo of how mine came out of the box, and I heard a local player say he had to fix the Drummag fater limited use.
Also, you can remove the buttstock without releasing the catch, be careful with that.
The concept, the way they designed the gun seems good. However, I am not satisfied, the material used is bad and it seems they have absolutely no idea about 'in the field' use. My dboys AKMS is full steel and much sturdier, so for that the price, they could have done better, I certainly expected better.
I do have a better looking stock on mine. Just wood with transparent varnish. No complaints about looks.
Cant wait to hear your opinion after the first game.
What is this 'run' of which you speak? I am not familiar with the concept.
The tape is not a bad idea, but I will see what happens. I'd rather go with thread lock than tape if possible. And I have both in my tool kit. The battery case for the magazine is quite a snug fit inside the mag and the batteries seem to be clipped into the holder quite well. Again, I will see how I get on.
The drum mag does not have a hole except for where the spring tube passes through. And there is no 'feed switch'.
Also, having checked, it is not possible to remove the buttstock without depressing the catch. I would need to break the gun to do this!
I am not dissatisfied with this at all at this stage. I will have to see how I get on in the field. One thing for sure, I aint dropping it. Of all the airsoft guns I have owned, there are none that I would expect to withstand being dropped. (perhaps with the exception of my Ares L85 that was made of pressed steel, that also had a plastic gearbox, that incidentally, never let me down!) As I said in the review, it will need to be cared for, but don't they all?
They might well have fixed some problems then, which is good for you. Especially the hole in the back(I'll make a picture later) bugs me.
I actually got the stock out without releasing the mag catch.
My StG and AKMS have both taken quite a beating, the STG is 6 years old and looks mostly gray because of abuse, not aging. I remember standing around, then the cheap sling I had broke and bang, down into the ground it went. Cleaned off the dirt and continued to play.
Yet they both hold up fine. I do not think the MG can take that kind of abuse, It wouldnt survive even half the nonsense I have pulled with my other guns. Yet it costs more than the two others combined. I didnt say I intend to start throwing it around, just afraid that it will easily get damaged, without throwing it around. Better material would have made me a happy customer.
The batteries came out of the holder during an assault(angriff!!!), so that is one issue to watch, as for the hopup, others complained about the same issue, so thats not just me getting bad stuff. I should say, I intend to rewire it.
Edit; actually, there it is
Thanks for the heads up, I will certainly keep an eye on it and will report back what I find out. We have two in our group so I will add what we find with that one also. I might just pop an elastic band around the batteries just to keep them in place. It will stop the holder from moving around too.
Ah, I see.
I checked the hole I in the 'top cover' and you were right, bbs can pass through it, but only with a firm push. They don't fall out.
I think I may just fit a black screw in there anyway.
My main concern is the sliding door on the mag, as I fear it may get knocked off in the field.
I decided to use this in a modern game to see how it got on rather than wait until it was needed in a WW2 setting.
Well, I am pleased to report that used this quite aggressively through the day, running about with it (yes actually moving my legs quickly!! 
) and putting down a lot of suppressing fire as well as more controlled, aimed bursts.
I used more than 4000 bbs. (Approx 1.5 bottles of Blaster 0.2g)
Nothing fell off. Nothing came loose. The hop did not slip. It was not too heavy either, though I have found that carrying it over the shoulder is the best way to lug it around. (I am not a fan of using slings on long airsoft guns for fear of breaking the weapon in a fall etc)
In fact it was actually rather good. Range was good for a 330 fps aeg as was the accuracy.
The only 'problem' I had was in the number of players that wanted to have a look/heft/picture of it. 
Suffice to say I am chuffed to bits with it and can't wait to use it in a WW2 setting.
Good to see a skirmish report to go with the review. It certainly looks good. For WW2 games and, a bit of realism, you might want to use a higher powered battery, so get close to the real weapon's 1200 rpm. This will factor in the fearsome firepower, coupled with rapid ammo depletion, that German gunners had to deal with.
When I want your opinion - I'll tell you what it is!
I may try an 11.1V Lipo but with the ammo restrictions in most ww2 games, I would prefer a slower ROF. Be an interesting experiment though. I'll give it whirl on the chrono to see how fast it spews them out.....
I'd be wary of putting in a 11.1V Lipo unless you have a replacement gearbox / gear set waiting on hand. I have seen countless shredded gearboxes from those high-voltage batteries, and ruining an expensive gun in that manner - the pursuit of 1,200 rpm - would be somewhat embarrassing mid-attack...
I do not recall seeing this in the original review: what is the quality of the gearbox like? (my paranoia might be unfounded)
I agree. I will try in order to measure the increased ROF. But I too think that it will lead to problems sooner, rather than later.
I have not opened the gearbox. It is metal cased and appears to be a copy of a typical M249 with gears in the trigger assembly. They seemed to look ok to my 'non techy' eyes and the top section containing the cylinder is firmly attached. Changing the spring was a doddle.
Ok I'm even more tempted by one 
I'm gonna be at the Avellino game, could I have a feel of the weight please?? 
No, you can't.
You are a fellow Gebirgsjager, so as we will be fighting along side each other, you can heft it and have a damned good blat with it! 
Now is that Gebirgsjager esprit de corps forming already? I'm impressed Hurrah die gams!
Thought I would add my experience.
Bought mine for a shop in Belgium who's name I have forgot but they are on the web. 500GBP delivered.
After the first game were the hop had no effect. I added a small shim into the bucking slot on the hop arm so that the hop rubber actually touched the BB's in the barrel. Changed the hop rubber for a TM one, also added a washer to the hop adjusting arm locating screw to stiffen up the adjustment. Now shots with great range and consistency using 8.4 nimhs.
I finally got to use this in a WW2 setting and it worked brilliantly. Still unfettled, no added tape/thread lock or anything else. I am very impressed to say the least! Nothing fell off or worked loose and no sign of the hop drifting.
The magazine batteries lasted all day without any problems. No miss feeds, or delays in feeding. I did have to change the main weapon battery mid afternoon but that was due to the amount of use the MG was getting. 
It did start to feel heavy toward the end of the day and I found that carrying it over one shoulder to be the best way to cart it around, well that and letting my number two have a play for a while (thanks Lutz). (I am not a fan of slings on long or heavy airsoft guns)
All in all, chuffed to bits!!!
