37mm Mclean gun - could it be good AA or At gun ?

ATP

Well-known member
They tried, but failed.

A number of British-made single Bofors guns were captured in Singapore in 1942 and the Japanese proceeded to copy the design under the designation Type 5, but quality control was poor enough to cause severe reliability issues. Several modifications were made to try to resolve this and otherwise improve the weapon -- notably longer barrels and flash suppressors -- but they were never satisfactory and only a handful were built for trials.

(Remember that the U.S. had to make numerous modifications to the Bofors design to make it suitable for mass production. No one else, not even the British, managed to do so -- which is why the British version of the Bofors saw only limited use.)

Poland before WW2 buy license,but we still manage to made only 17 per month in 1939.Even worst,production of ammo hit even more problems,so we must sell 168 of those we made,becouse it would be no ammo for them.
We ended with 306 made,and,becouse we were too optymistic about how much ammo they use,many was abadonned when it was no ammo for them.

So,considering that Japan get guns,not plans for guns and machines to made them,i am not suprised that they failed.
 

Buba

A total creep
The M60 Machine Gun was partially inspired by the MG-42.
We are drifting off topic - but leasurely designing something in peacetime from scratch with "inspired by" making part of process is different than reverse engineering something from captured specimens during a war. Especially as the Germans made the copying more difficult by not using US inches.

The Soviets managed to copy the B29 - but it still took them almost three years of a no-expense-spared super-prestige project. And they were at peace. Three years to first flight, five years to "mass" service.
Admitedly a 40mm AA guns is less complex, but still would need 2-3 years of large effort to be put into mass service.
Poland before WW2 buy license SNIP
Polish industry made exactly as many 40mm Bofors AA as the Army (i.e. Government) ordered.
Because the orders were small there was spare manufacturing capacity, hence Polish factories made guns for export, to fulfill orders Bofors took upon itself yet could not make enough guns to deliver.
Also - fire control/sights for Polish Bofors were made in Hungary and these barely sufficed for the guns ordred by the Polish Army - production of sights in Poland was to start late '39/early '40.

No ammunition for guns - it was an issue of transport, not of availability in general. Polish post-1926 generals had the same attitude towards logistics as Barbie towards math - "boring".
 
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ShadowArxxy

Well-known member
Comrade
The M60 Machine Gun was partially inspired by the MG-42.
It was mainly inspired by the FG42, not the MG42. The US did try to copy the MG42 and failed.

No, Husky_Khan is correct. While the M60 does take some concepts from the FG42 (semi-bullpup design with pistol grip), it is *directly based on* the MG42, to the point of flat out copying the MG42's belt feed system with only a handful of minor changes.
 

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