(Redirected from Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken)
Shop Designed as a replacement to the problem laden Type 11 machine gun, the Japanese Type 96 provided a welcome upgrade to the old hopper fed design of the Type 11. Based loosely on the design of captured Czech ZB vz.26 rifles, the Type 96 entered production in 1936 and served the Japanese Imperial Army., Airsoft Guns, Shop By Rifle Models, WWII.
Industry | |
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Predecessor | Ludwig Loewe & Company Waffenfabrik Mauser Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik Lorenz |
Founded | 1896 |
Headquarters | Germany |
MG08 machine gun.
Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when Ludwig Loewe & Company united its weapons and ammunition production facilities within one company. In 1896 Loewe founded Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken with a munitions plant in Karlsruhe (Baden), formerly Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik Lorenz, and the weapons plant in Berlin. Shares that Loewe had in other gun- and ammunition plants were transferred to DWM. This included Waffenfabrik Mauser, Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre (FN) in Belgium and Waffen- und Munitionsfabrik A.G. in Budapest. The DWM was orchestrated by Isidor Loewe (1848–1910), as his brother Ludwig had died in 1886. Karl Maybach (who was part of the Maybach company) was employed by the Loewe company in 1901.
Firearms[edit]
DWM introduced the Pistol Parabellum ('Luger Pistol') in the early 1900s. It was worked on by Georg Luger and Hugo Borchardt. DWM manufactured the Maschinengewehr 01 and Maschinengewehr 08, licensed version/clone of the Maxim machine gun. The MG08 would be the main German machine gun of the First World War, alongside the somewhat different, air cooled Parabellum MG 14/17 for aviation use. Along with being one of the main arms suppliers of Imperial Germany, the company was at the forefront of small arms technology. They also supplied the world (mostly Latin America) with the Mauser rifle system, becoming one of the world's largest arms manufacturers. Due the fact that the Mauser rifle was one of Germany's main exports before the First World War, DWM proved to be an important part of the pre-war German economy. Many of their weapons were still used by German troops up through the Second World War.
DWM had its own system of cartridge codes, and the 'DWM' three digit-code still is important in differentiating vintage ammunitions. Furthermore, the DWM cases had no caliber names, so one did not get misleading caliber designations in reformed cartridges.[1]
Takeovers and name changes[edit]
DWM was taken over by the Quandt Group in 1929. At this point the involvement of the Loewe company came to an end. The original Ludwig Loewe & Company merged with the 'Gesellschaft für Elektrische Unternehmungen' in 1929.
DWM underwent a number of name changes following World War I and the subsequent disarmament phase. DWM was no longer allowed to produce military equipment after World War I (although they continued on a smaller and somewhat secret scale) and the first name change was to BKIW (Berlin-Karlsruher Industriewerke or 'Berkawerke') in 1922. After the national-socialist takeover of power in Germany, the company added 'vormals Deutsche -Waffen und Munitionsfabriken' (former DWM) to the company name in 1933. In 1936 DWM reverted to its old name.
From 1940 to 1945, the Quandt family factories- AFA and Deutsche Waffen-und Munitionsfabriken- were staffed with more than 50,000 forced civilian laborers, prisoners of war and concentration camp workers, according to Scholtyseck's 1,183-page study. A recent film, 'The Silence of the Quandts', took a critical look at their wartime activities. After denazification hearings in 1948, no repercussions followed.[2]
Deutsche Waggon- und Maschinenfabriken[edit]
In the 1950s, following the war, the Berlin branch of the company switched to the renovation and building of railroad and public transport equipment. It started using the name Deutsche Waggon- und Maschinenfabriken GmbH, but still used the original DWM logo. It later became Waggon Union, a manufacturer of rail vehicles and bus bodies.
Industriewerke Karlsruhe[edit]
In 1970 the Karlsruhe branch merged with the Augsburg-based company Industriewerke Karlsruhe Augsburg (IWKA). In 2007 the Karlsruhe-Augsburg company moved to Augsburg and reverted to the original name of the Augsburg company, Keller und Knappich Augsburg, or KUKA, now a robotics firm.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Manual of Pistol and Revolver Cartridges, Jakob H. Brandt, Schwäbisch-Hall, FRG, 1998
- ^http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=301361
- 50 Jahre Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken AG, VdI verlag, 1939
- 75 Jahre Industriewerke Karlsruhe, Selbstverlag, 1964.
- Ludwig Loewe & Cie 1869-1929, VdI Verlag, 1930.
- Geschichte der Mauser-Werke, VdI Verlag, 1938.
- FN 100 Years, Francotte & Gaier, Didier Hatier, 1989.
- Die Blutige Internationale, Otto Lehmann-Russbüldt, 1930.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken. |
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deutsche_Waffen-_und_Munitionsfabriken&oldid=913313849'
(Redirected from MG15)
MG 15 machine gun | |
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Type | Machine gun |
Place of origin | Weimar Republic or Nazi Germany |
Service history | |
Used by | Nazi Germany Imperial Japan (Type 98) Korean People's Army (Type 98) Romania |
Wars | World War II Korean War |
Production history | |
Designer | Theodor Bergmann |
Designed | 1920s |
Manufacturer | Bergmann (Weimar Republic), Rheinmetall (Third Reich) |
Variants | Modular design Type 98 (Direct Japanese copy) |
Specifications | |
Mass | 12.4 kg (27 lb) loaded with gunsight and cartridge bag |
Length | 1,078 mm (42.4 in) (without attachments) |
Barrel length | 690 mm (27 in) |
Cartridge | 7.92×57mm Mauser |
Caliber | 7.9mm |
Action | Recoil |
Rate of fire | 1,000–1,050 rpm |
Muzzle velocity | 755 m/s (2,480 ft/s) |
Feed system | 75-round double-drum magazine |
Sights | Various types |
The MG 15 was a German 7.92 mmmachine 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.
- 3References
History[edit]
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 15nA (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, and also making it nearly impossible for 'through the propeller' synchronized forward firing on a fuselage mount. 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.
MG 15 in Heinkel He 111, Poland, September 1939
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 were used to secure the magazines in the aircraft, while a carrier of 3 mags each was used on the ground. Ammunition was fed by a spring forced spiral double-drum containing 75 rounds total (not 150 as is often mistakenly claimed). 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 25-round magazines from the MG 13, however the magazines are not compatible 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 license-produced MG 15 was used in the Japanese aircraft as the Type 98 flexible-mounted machine gun and as the Type 1 in the Imperial Japanese Navy.[1] Type 98 machine guns were also used by the Communist forces during the Korean War.[2]
Specifications[edit]
MG 15 equipped for infantry ops, but lacking the bipod. German Tank Museum, Munster (2006)
![Allplan Für Machine Gun Allplan Für Machine Gun](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125691410/665072755.jpg)
Debris of a downed Heinkel He 111 along with the barrel of an MG 15. Polish Army Museum, Warsaw (2006)
- Calibre: 7.9 +/- .04 mm
- Cartridge: 7.92×57mm Mauser
- Round weight: 35.5 grams (cartridge 24 grams, bullet 11.5 grams)
- Muzzle velocity: 755 metres per second (2,480 ft/s)
- Rate of fire: 1000 (possibly up to 1050) rpm
- Length : 1,078 millimetres (42.4 in) (without attachments)
- Barrel length: 600 millimetres (24 in)
- Weight unloaded with gunsight and cartridge bag: 8.1 kg (18 lb)
- Weight loaded with gunsight and cartridge bag: 12.4 kg (27 lb)
- 75-round magazine unloaded: 2.27 kg (5.0 lb)
- 75-round magazine loaded: 4.24 kg (9.3 lb)
- Weight of the 2-part loader: 0.72 kg (1.6 lb)
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^http://dragonsoffire.com/photog_TYPE1a.jpg
- ^Kinard, Jeff (2010). 'Machine guns'. In Tucker, Spencer C.; Pierpaoli, Paul G., Jr. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History. 1. A-L (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 535. ISBN978-1-85109-849-1.
Sources[edit]
- L.Dv 110 Beschreibung und Bedienungsvorschrift für das M.G. 15, Manual for using MG 15 owned by contributor (may not be correct German spelling)
- Hofbauer, M. (1998-08-29). 'Panzerfaust WW II German Infantry Anti-Tank Weapons Page 5: Machine Guns'. Archived from the original on 2009-10-27.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to MG 15. |
- Forgotten Weapons – The MG-15: A Flexible Aircraft Machine Gun Pushed into Infantry Service on YouTube
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MG_15&oldid=924098127'