The MG 42 had a very high rate of fire. It could fire about 1,200 rounds per minute. This was twice the rate of the British Vickers machine gun and American Browning. Soldiers were so terrified of the MG 42 that the United States Army made training movies to help the soldiers deal with the fear of going against the MG 42 in battle. At such a high rate, the human ear can not easily hear the sound of a single bullet being fired. This meant that the gun made a sound similar to "rrrrp". Allied soldiers nicknamed the MG 42 "Hitler's Buzzsaw".