A better machine gun for the US in WW2

The US Army was very impressed by the German MG42. They tried to build one in .30-06 caliber. Unfortunately a mistake in re-dimensioning occurred and it wouldn't work. WI with a bit more care they got it right and the Saginaw M-1943 entered production?
 
Nah, too late. By march 44 (which is when these tests were done) the US infantry was already equipped and trained for the remains of the conflict. Service would be limited as it would take time to refine the design, set up production and set up training for it.
 
There was nothing stopping the US Army from using the faster firing aircraft versions on the ground sooner.

But the real crime was thinking the M1919A6 was the proper response for a lighter MG. The Swedish version of the BAR already existed that was both belt fed and had QD barrels.
 
The US Army was very impressed by the German MG42. They tried to build one in .30-06 caliber. Unfortunately a mistake in re-dimensioning occurred and it wouldn't work. WI with a bit more care they got it right and the Saginaw M-1943 entered production?
IMHO unless the there was also a change in doctrine (to match the German doctrine of the time which IIRC focused their infantry squad around their machine gun) I don't see the U.S. adoption of a MG42 clone having much of an impact in the big scheme of things especially late in the war. That being said I expect the extra fire power would have been welcomed by the U.S. soliders.

If this weapon had been in service before the war started, and it was issued at squad level, and the U.S. had a doctrine that emphasized the role of the machine gun at squad level then IMHO the Japanese would have had a bloodier time in their initial fights in the pacific but I expect the overall outcome of the campaigns would have been similar.
 
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