The FG42 stands as one of the most distinctive weapons on any side of World War II. Developed in the 1940s on special order at the direction of Luftwaffe commander-in-chief Hermann Goering himself due to political friction with the Army, the Fallschirmjaegergewehr (Paratrooper Rifle) was intended to be a "universal weapon", colored by the needs of airborne warfare. Prior doctrine called for the deployment of airborne troops with conventional infantry weaponry, but weight/bulk limits meant that individual troopers jumped with at most a SMG, with the bulk of the unit's arms coming down separately in drop pods. This had dire consequences for the paratroopers deployed at Crete, who found themselves scrambling to recover their rifles and machine guns while under fire from the island's defenders, causing heavy casualties and robbing them of operational momentum. The FG42, then, was intended to be a weapon to replace all prior categories; enough range to replace the rifle as it uses the same full power 7.92 mm Mauser cartridge, enough suppressive power to replace the standard machine gun, and agile enough to replace the SMG. It could also double as a sniper/designated marksman weapon, with the addition of a ZF4 scope as fitted on this example, and carries an on-board spike bayonet for close-in work. It also utilizes a side mounted horizontal 20 round box magazine and a spent cartridge deflector mounted on the right side of the receiver. In essence, the FG42 would be the spiritual father of the full powered battle rifles that dominated the early phases of the Cold War, and were the de-facto standard Western infantry rifle until the rise of the intermediate caliber assault rifle. In practice, the FG42 suffered the same core issue as other battle rifles; a gun that needed to be a SMG and a squad automatic weapon at the same time meant compromises on both fronts. Without belt feed or interchangeable barrels, the rate of fire was limited compared to a dedicated SAW, and running full power rifle ammo through a lightweight gun made control difficult. While never used for a large scale parachute drop (Hitler pulled the plug on those after Crete), the FG42 was still issued to the Fallschirmjaegers, with many observed on the Western Front and in the Falaise Pocket. A number are known to have been captured and studied by American forces, and (along with the MG42) influenced the design of the M60 machine gun. This is a very rare FG42 "Type III", also referred to as a "Type G", paratrooper rifle as manufactured by Krieghoff. Unlike the approximate first 2,000 "Type I/Type E" production FG42s with forged manganese steel receivers, approximately 5,000 FG42s, including the "Type III/Type G" and a small amount of "Type II/Type F", were made with stamped receivers in part due to resource issues as well as increasing manufacturing efficiency, and incorporated a few design improvements. These FG42s combine sheet metal stamped parts with fully machined parts like the MP43 and 44 series. The majority of the limited amount of surviving FG42s were destroyed at the end of World War II and very few examples of any type are known today, with surviving examples considered the pinnacle of collectible German machine guns. The top of the receiver is marked "fzs/U/FG42/04911", with a Luftwaffe "drooped wing eagle" inspection/acceptance proof. Various components including the bolt are all correctly stamped "fzs", the wartime code for Krieghoff. The bolt body, piston, charging handle and left of the buttstock are all matching numbered "4911". Late war silver/gray phosphate type finish on most of the metal parts except the barrel, rear sight and trigger which have a blue finish, and the bipod legs have a black painted finish. Features a set of flip-up blade front and flip-up elevation adjustable peep rear sights specially designed to fold down for clearance underneath the included scope, an elaborate muzzle brake threaded to the muzzle, a cruciform spike bayonet (10 5/8" OAL, 7 1/2" spike) below, sheet metal bipod legs affixed behind the flash hider that fold rearwards to reside around the spike bayonet ahead of the foregrip, the trigger assembly is fitted with the second type vertical grip with brown bakelite grip panels and a variable setting sear that can fire semi-automatic from a closed bolt and full auto from an open bolt, permitting maximum accuracy in the former role and maximum cooling for the barrel in the latter, and is fitted with a laminated buttstock and one-piece ribbed hardwood forend. The Voigtlander ZF4 scope is finished in blue, with "Gw ZF4/33805/ddx." marked next to a blue triangle and an "L" on the left side of the squared tubular body, with a rubber eyepiece and reproduction stamped two-piece clamp-on scope mount rings. The rifle is complete with an original FG42 magazine with a phosphate type finish and a "drooped wing eagle" inspection proof.

Fine, retains 30% of a very thin sliver/gray phosphate type finish remaining overall and 75% of a very thin blued finish on the exposed barrel. The bipod retains 85% of it's black painted finish overall. The buttstock and forend are both very fine with a nice light oil finish showing minor handling marks on the sides. Mechanically excellent. The scope is very good, with a mixed brown patina overall and original dull blue finish visible in the protected areas, with sharp optics, a crisp reticle and both adjustment knobs functional. The reproduction scope mount rings are very good with some mild wear and spotting. This extremely rare and ultra desirable World War II German FG42 paratrooper rifle with a ZF4 scope would be the centerpiece of any advanced German military firearms collection! NOTE: This weapon is a National Firearms Act (NFA), fully transferable Class 3, which is registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, (BATFE) that is classified as a "Curios or Relic" as defined in 27 CFR, 478.11. These weapons are still subject to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44 and 27 CFR part 478.