The Guns of War: WWII machine gun found in Lithuanian mail

[onedef92]

WWII machine gun found in Lithuanian mail

Posted: Mar 22, 2011 9:47 AM EDT
Updated: Mar 22, 2011 11:07 AM EDT

VILNIUS, Lithuania - Lithuanian customs and postal officials say they have found a fully functional machine gun dating from World War II, complete with ammunition, in a package at Vilnius International Airport.

Officials said Tuesday that the German-made MG-42 machine gun was found after scanning a suspicious 20-kilogram (44-pound) package posted in Lithuania and bound for Germany.

Customs spokeswoman Asta Mikeleviciute says it was the first time that customs authorities had ever uncovered such a parcel and an investigation has been launched.

No evacuation of the capital's airport was ordered, but authorities were placed on alert.

More than 65 years after the war, Lithuania and other East European countries continue to uncover large amounts of weaponry and unexploded ordnance.

[Scissors]

Side note: I loved Vilnius. It's a nice city with awesome restaurants.

My hotel being right next to the bakery on J. Basanavičiaus gatvė didn't help, either.

[Yerf Dog]

http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/images/%20MG42%201943/MG42-4.jpg

[Bucwheat]

Dam,I thought I wrapped it better.:leaving:

[Mark C5]

As old as the design is, being on the business end of an MG-42 is no place to be. I had the pleasure of firing one back in the '80's while on a visit to the GSG9 guys and was VERY impressed. The guys who had to face these in WWII had to have big balls to take them out.

[Fastguy]

The rate of fire on an MG42 is insane and the 8mm round is not something you want to catch from a bolt action Mauser, let alone a belt or drum mag machine gun.
YouTube - MG42 Machine Gun - "Hitler's Buzz Saw"


YouTube - Facing the German MG-42 Machine Gun!

[mrvette]

Back in the 60's there was a Lithuanian EE working in the training dept for RCA, teaching techs how to fix color TV sets....as well as any thing else....lots of theory and practice....

Well so his name was Bayliss Brascoscus (sp?) and he spoke with a super thick accent but his english was fine....

so he seemed short tempered one class and I asked what was....

I was one of maybe 6 techs that actually understood the theory and practice and hung in there with him....out of a class of maybe 60....10% or so....

like any other field only maybe 10% know WTF is going on, the rest are clueless....

So anyway, he looks at me and laughs....he says......

this idiot came in recently, asking about some audio amp...and tried to argue with him over the service counter about something the guy was totally outta his league with....a simple B+ measurement.....and so after some trying, Baliss comes back to the guy,.....saying....'YOU BE FIRST AMERICAN.....

the guy looks at him, and so he continues on.....First I kill Germans, then I kill Russians, you don't get the hell outta my site, YOU BE FIRST AMERICAN!!!!

when the soviet union fell ~20 years ago, the first president of the then liberated Lithuania was another fellow of the same last name....damn if I can spell it though.....

So every time I hear of Lithuania, I think of old Bayliss and laugh my ass off....

:lol::lol::rofl:

[Rapid Roger]

Side note: I loved Vilnius. It's a nice city with awesome restaurants.

My hotel being right next to the bakery on J. Basanavičiaus gatvė didn't help, either.

My ancestors are from Vilnius,hopefully some day I will be able to visit......:)

[VITE1]

Wasn't the MG 42 the basis for the M60?

[Uncle Pervey]

Wasn't the MG 42 the basis for the M60?

Yep, we took the design and screwed it up, it took them 15 years of redesign to get it back as good as the original MG42. You can buy semi-automatic versions of one of them in several different calibers for about $2000.00. Most of them are actually MG53 which were licensed to Yugoslavia. They are a hoot to shoot! :yesnod:

[Scissors]

My ancestors are from Vilnius,hopefully some day I will be able to visit......:)

Great place. They also have a memorial to Frank Zappa. Here's the pic I took:

http://www.runswithscissors.info/images/vilnius06/dsc00066sm.jpg

[island14]

Frank Zappa / Robin Trower

Last good concert I was at :D