MG 15
Encyclopedia
The MG 15 was a German 7.9 mm machine gun
designed specifically as a hand manipulated defensive gun for combat aircraft during the early 1930s. By 1941 it was replaced by other types and found new uses with ground troops.
(for neuer Art, meaning new model having been modified from an earlier design) has nothing in common with the World War II gun except the model number. The World War I
gun used a tipping lock system while the WWII aircraft gun uses a rotating bolt/lockring. The World War II MG 15 was used in nearly all Luftwaffe
aircraft with a flexible-mount defensive position.
It was a modular design with various attachments that could be quickly attached or removed. Operation was easy and the bolt remained in the cocked position after expending the 75 round double drum (also called a "saddle drum") magazine, negating the need to re-cock once a fresh magazine was installed.
The MG 15 fires from an open bolt meaning that the bolt stays back when the gun is ready to fire. Pulling the trigger releases the bolt and allows it to go forward, stripping a round from the magazine. The bolt continues pushing the round into the chamber and locks up when the lockring rotates and locks the bolt and barrel extension together. At this point the trip lever releases the firing pin and the gun fires. Recoil pushes the barrel,lock and bolt backwards until the lockring hits a cam that rotates it unlocking the bolt and barrel. Inertia carries the bolt backwards until the base of the fired case hits the ejector flinging the empty out of the receiver. If the trigger is held down the cycle will continue. If the trigger is released the bolt will remain in the rearward position.
The 75 rounds of ammunition was evenly distributed in each side of the magazine with a central feed "tower" where the ammunition is fed to the bolt. Various methods where used to secure the magazines in the aircraft, while a carrier of 3 mags each where used on ground. The drums were preloaded prior to takeoff so that the gunner did not waste time loading (however reloading could be done as quickly as 6 seconds).
Ammunition was fed by a spring forced spiral double-drum containing 75 rounds total (not 150 as is often mistaken). This combined with a firing rate of 1000+ rpm means it could empty the magazine in 4.5 seconds or less. Typical practice was to provide at least 10 reloads for each gun on the aircraft, not including the magazine on the gun.
Starting in late 1940 the MG 15 was replaced by the Mauser 7.92 mm MG 81
, MG 81Z
(twin-MG 81), MG 131
13 mm machine guns, or MG 151/20 20 mm cannons. Many MG 15s were modified for infantry use as heavier weapons replaced them on Luftwaffe aircraft. There are a number of pictures showing the guns, both aircraft and ground versions, with 25rd magazines from the MG 13 but the magazines don't actually work with the MG 15. Official numbers of conversions was about 17,648 by January 1, 1944, although additional conversions may have been done as well.
The MG 15 was used in the Japan
ese aircraft as the Type 98 flexible-mounted machine gun and as the Type 1 in the Imperial Japanese Navy .
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Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
designed specifically as a hand manipulated defensive gun for combat aircraft during the early 1930s. By 1941 it was replaced by other types and found new uses with ground troops.
History
The MG 15 was developed from the MG 30 which was designed by Rheinmetall using the locking system invented by Louis Stange in the mid to late 1920s. Though it shares the MG 15 designation with the earlier gun built by Bergmann, the MG 15nABergmann MG15 nA Gun
The Bergmann MG15 was the World War I production version of a prototype machine gun designed in 1910, the brainchild of Theodor Bergmann and Louis Schmeisser. It should not be confused with the similarly designated Rheinmetall MG-15, which was a completely different weapon, whose nomenclature is...
(for neuer Art, meaning new model having been modified from an earlier design) has nothing in common with the World War II gun except the model number. The World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
gun used a tipping lock system while the WWII aircraft gun uses a rotating bolt/lockring. The World War II MG 15 was used in nearly all Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
aircraft with a flexible-mount defensive position.
It was a modular design with various attachments that could be quickly attached or removed. Operation was easy and the bolt remained in the cocked position after expending the 75 round double drum (also called a "saddle drum") magazine, negating the need to re-cock once a fresh magazine was installed.
The MG 15 fires from an open bolt meaning that the bolt stays back when the gun is ready to fire. Pulling the trigger releases the bolt and allows it to go forward, stripping a round from the magazine. The bolt continues pushing the round into the chamber and locks up when the lockring rotates and locks the bolt and barrel extension together. At this point the trip lever releases the firing pin and the gun fires. Recoil pushes the barrel,lock and bolt backwards until the lockring hits a cam that rotates it unlocking the bolt and barrel. Inertia carries the bolt backwards until the base of the fired case hits the ejector flinging the empty out of the receiver. If the trigger is held down the cycle will continue. If the trigger is released the bolt will remain in the rearward position.
The 75 rounds of ammunition was evenly distributed in each side of the magazine with a central feed "tower" where the ammunition is fed to the bolt. Various methods where used to secure the magazines in the aircraft, while a carrier of 3 mags each where used on ground. The drums were preloaded prior to takeoff so that the gunner did not waste time loading (however reloading could be done as quickly as 6 seconds).
Ammunition was fed by a spring forced spiral double-drum containing 75 rounds total (not 150 as is often mistaken). This combined with a firing rate of 1000+ rpm means it could empty the magazine in 4.5 seconds or less. Typical practice was to provide at least 10 reloads for each gun on the aircraft, not including the magazine on the gun.
Starting in late 1940 the MG 15 was replaced by the Mauser 7.92 mm MG 81
MG 81 machine gun
The MG 81 was a German belt fed 7.9 mm machine gun, used in flexible installations in World War II Luftwaffe aircraft, replacing the older drum magazine-fed MG 15....
, MG 81Z
MG 81 machine gun
The MG 81 was a German belt fed 7.9 mm machine gun, used in flexible installations in World War II Luftwaffe aircraft, replacing the older drum magazine-fed MG 15....
(twin-MG 81), MG 131
MG 131 machine gun
The MG 131 was a German 13 mm caliber machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945...
13 mm machine guns, or MG 151/20 20 mm cannons. Many MG 15s were modified for infantry use as heavier weapons replaced them on Luftwaffe aircraft. There are a number of pictures showing the guns, both aircraft and ground versions, with 25rd magazines from the MG 13 but the magazines don't actually work with the MG 15. Official numbers of conversions was about 17,648 by January 1, 1944, although additional conversions may have been done as well.
The MG 15 was used in the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese aircraft as the Type 98 flexible-mounted machine gun and as the Type 1 in the Imperial Japanese Navy .
Specifications
- Calibre: 7.9 +/- .04 mm
- Cartridge: 8x57mm IS
- Round weight: 35.5 grams (cartridge 24 grams, bullet 11.5 grams)
- Muzzle velocity: 755 metres per second (2,477 ft/s)
- Rate of fire: 1000 (possibly up to 1050) rpm
- Length : 1078 millimetres (42.4 in) (without attachments)
- Barrel length: 600 millimetres (23.6 in)
- Weight unloaded with gunsight and cartridge bag: 8.1 kg (17.9 lb)
- Weight loaded with gunsight and cartridge bag: 12.4 kg (27.3 lb)
- 75 round Magazine unloaded: 2.27 kg (5 lb)
- 75 round Magazine loaded: 4.24 kg (9.3 lb)
- Weight of the 2-part loader: 0.72 kg (1.6 lb)