MG-46

Machine Gun has other meanings. See Machine Gun (disambiguation) for other uses.

Machinegun 1946Maschinengewere 46
Specifications
Type	General-purpose Machine gun
Ammo Type	Machinegun Ammo(7.92x57mm Mauser)
Operation	Fully-automatic
Weapons Stats
Damage	High
Magazine Size	250
Total Ammo	250
Appearances
Appears In	Wolfenstein: The New Order Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
Drops From	Super Soldier 1946

The MG-46 (MaschinenGewehr 1946) or Machinegun 1946 is a turret armament designed and used by the Nazis during 1946. In many aspects, this is the successor to the feared MG 42 until it was succeeded by MG-60 in 1960.

Overview

The Machine Gun 1946 is an (apparently) electrically-powered multi-barreled rotary machinegun capable of very high volumes of fire. It is mostly seen mounted on turret bases where it is loaded with an endless supply of ammunition, and operation is only limited by the barrel cluster overheating. When dismounted, however, it becomes a mobile powerhouse, capable of mowing through hordes of enemy personnel before running out of ammo. Upon running dry it cannot be reloaded as it is automatically dropped to the ground, but can be refilled to full capacity instantly by picking it up again and mounting it onto an empty turret base.

With that said, however, the MG-46 is very heavy, slowing Blazkowicz down substantially when it is hefted around and even more when the barrel cluster is spooled up. It also has a lot of recoil when fired non-stop, therefore limiting the range where it can efficiently engage targets to just a few dozen meters; however the simple expedient of laying down huge volumes of sustained automatic fire can allow it to engage further targets, though with inefficiently high ammo consumption. The MG-46 also doesn't have its own slot (unless a specific perk is taken in The Old Blood), therefore it will be dropped immediately upon switching weapons or Blazkowicz going through certain interactions, which may cause players to lose possession of it. Lastly, its high rate-of-fire can burn through ammunition at an alarming rate, and depending on the situation, a turret mount might not be easy to come across.

Portable MG-46s are the preferred armament of the old-model Super Soldiers. It makes extensive appearances in The Old Blood, but is rarely seen after the prologue of The New Order is completed.

Upgrades

Perk Upgrades

The New Order perks

• Bullet Feeder: Increases the MG-46's available ammunition load to 350.

The Old Blood perks

• Carry heavy machinegun: Allows the player to stow an MG-46 in their inventory like a normal weapon.

Trivia

• The Machine Gun 1946 strongly resembles the Venom from Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Both weapons were results of Nazi engineering, are multi-barreled machineguns, and are favored by the two games' respective Super Soldiers. The MG-46 may have been a follow-up project and has a production model as the Venom is a prototype for a handheld version.
• The MG-46 can still overheat despite using a system of multiple rotary barrels, which was invented specifically to remedy that problem. Presumably, the developers made it be liable to overheat to keep the gun balanced.
  • The weapon also does not have a clear breech position. Tapping the fire key without holding will cause the barrels to stop at random points on the face of the gun without actually lining up with any kind of chamber.
• "MG 46" is printed onto the side of the weapon's casing chute.
• Upon closer inspection, the barrels of the MG-46 appear to be merely four MG-42 barrels held together with two steel rings. Oddly, the barrels have retained their individual barrel shrouds and flash hiders, which would not only make the gun unnecessarily heavy, but also require a much more powerful motor to rotate while providing little benefit.

Gallery

A Super Soldier uses MG-46.

BJ uses the MG-46.