12,000 rounds / 3,000 kills = 4 rounds per kill.
4 rounds per kill from a mg? Seems wrong.
Well, he’s only claiming 2000 or so, and perhaps 400 of those were rifle kills.
12,000 rounds/ 1600 kills = 7.5 rounds per kill.
Don’t forget that these were either files or waves of men charging the guns, and that the men still in the boats were essentially in death traps where *any* round entering the front meant an injury or death.
He estimated 1,000 to 2,000 himself. Also, targets were tightly packed as in the comment about emptying the landing craft single handed.
The higher rate of fire of the MG-43 would actually reduce the hit-per-shot ratio.
Scoring one thousand hits on moving targets under those conditions was pretty fair shootin'. Two or three thousand is medal-worthy...if your side wins...and very productive of nightmares.