"...The greatest battle implement ever devised."
was a belt fed weapon that replaced the MG 34 after lessons learned in three years of combat. It was the first machine gun to make extensive use of sheet metal stampings and pressings. This sped production and cut costs. It had a new quick change system for the barrel, needed because of the high rate of fire, and the high machining tolerances of its predecessor were eased, which improved reliability. The only other machine gun of this weight class during WW II was the British Bren, which was limited by its use of magazines instead of belts. The MG 42 epitomized the light machine gun that could provide large amounts of firepower and still be carried and put into action by one man (though a full crew was usually three men, to pack the ammo to feed the gun).
Browning M2 HB .50 cal. Heavy machine gun. United States. The M2 was developed at the end of WW I, and nearly two million had been produced by the end of WW II. It was used in a wide variety of roles; ground and air, while the equivalent Soviet weapon was the DShK38, a 12.7mm weapon that was used in ground roles only. The Browning was ubiquitous in supporting roles on the ground, and was the primary offensive and defensive armament in the air. http://www.fcsa.org/visitors/visitors_VH... http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/...
The machine guns gave good service as supporting weapons, but supporting weapons don't really win wars, however much they may help. The submachine guns were primary infantry weapons for some formations, but really were an interim fix that were cheap and easy to build. They were effective in an assault against bolt action rifles, but not as effective against automatic weapons.
At the time that Patton made his famous comment, the MP 43/44 was not yet in general issue. At that time, in spite of a few minor shortcomings, the M-1 Garand was the best infantry weapon in the world. The MP 43/44 never supplanted the M-1 as the world's best infantry weapon, but within five years after WW II, its descendant assault rifles had.
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