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Initial impression of the Matrix (S&T) MG-42


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My initial impression of the Matrix (S&T) MG-42.

 

I had this on pre-order from Evike since early October,

I received one of the first batch, just after New Years.

 

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At $630 US I was a little apprehensive.

 

It's not perfect........

6 mm hole in drum mag, a couple of cross threaded screws and a few mangled slot screws.

 

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...and some strange hammer marks.

 

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It's on par with A&K for quality as far as I can tell.

Finish is nice, paint seems sturdy, low gloss.

 

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All non-magnetic metal except for the bi-pod, charging handle, barrel release latch (decorative) and the flashhider stop bar. It doesn’t appear to be monkey metal, my guess is aluminum. Real wood stock. It does seem to be sturdy.

 

The flashhider has a plastic cone on an aluminum base for the US customers. I don't know if an all metal one will be available or if the RS one will fit.

 

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I haven't disassembled it, I'll leave that to others to do for review.

But I did remove the grips and discovered the gear box. Note the bushings.

 

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XYT gears

 

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The Drum feeds well and keeps up with the rate of fire.

 

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Runs on four (4) AA batteries and I added a pressure switch to by-pass the defective sound activator.

 

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Easy to refill

 

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I chrono'd it with .25's and it averaged 370 fps at 1200 rounds per minute.

 

Overall, I'm happy with it.

 

I can't wait to field this.

 

It sure is pretty....

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

It's the same gun but in 7.62x51 NATO rather than 7.92x57 Mauser.
Cosmetic differences include:
MG3 bipod lacks the height adjustment screw that the MG42 has.
MG3 flash hider looks different

MG3 rear sight is graduated out to 1200m, the MG42 sight goes out to 2000m

The MG3 also lacks the flip up AA-rear sight of the 42. There are separate AA-sights for the MG3, but they are not mounted on all guns.

Feed tray is shorter (shorter round) and the way ammo boxes attach to the side is different.

Top cover is also slightly different, but not by much.

Newer MG3's have polymer buttstocks and grip plates, but older bakelite furniture is still correct.
Blued steel is correct for both guns, while some newer MG3's have a dark gray parkerized finish.

After the war, MG42's were slightly modernized into the MG59 and put to use in the West German Bundeswehr. A bit later, the 7.62 MG1 was developed, which then turned into the MG3. Most current MG3's were purpose built like that, and are not refurbished MG42's. All German MG3's are manufactured by Rheinmetal, while many other countries use guns manufactured in Turky and Pakistan.

  
The Yugoslavian M53 is a straight up MG42 clone (same caliber too), the only visible difference being the wooden buttstock that's a lot more chunky than the MG42 and MG3 buttstocks.
M53 parts (and demilled M53's) are a lot cheaper than original, genuine MG42 parts. So if you want real steel parts for your MG42, old Yugoslavian surplus is what you want to look for (except for the fugly M53 buttstock)

*goes to put more rails, m4 stocks and magpul stuff on my Shoei MG3*

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lol, it was a joke. i knew what you were talking about.

 

ill keep it in mind for the future. but i only plan to do it once i can find all the MG3 modernization parts. i have found the modern muzzle device and top cover and Bakelite stock, however, i really want the adjustable stock and railed top cover. i cant find the carry handle/forgrip though.

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Oh god, what's the cyclic rof on that like?

It could go between 850 and 1200 rpm depending on the weight of the bolt.

 

The CETME Ameli was a good design, but only pre-production examples worked flawlessly. Production units had some changes made in order to make them cheaper and they caused them to fail miserably. Too bad.

 

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  • 1 month later...

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