MG 13
| MG 13 | |
|---|---|
_noBG.png) Maschinengewehr 13 | |
| Type | Light machine gun |
| Place of origin | Weimar Republic |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1930–1945 (Germany) |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | Spanish Civil War World War II Second Sino-Japanese War Chinese Civil War Portuguese Colonial War |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1928 |
| Produced | 1930–1934 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 13.3 kg (29 lb) |
| Length | 1,443 mm (56.8 in) |
| Barrel length | 718 mm (28.3 in) |
| Cartridge | 7.92×57mm Mauser |
| Action | Short recoil, fired from closed bolt |
| Rate of fire | 600 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 890 m/s (2,900 ft/s) |
| Maximum firing range | 2,000 metres (2,200 yd) |
| Feed system | 25 round box magazine, or 75 round saddle drum, 5 round stripper clip |
The MG 13 (the shortened version of the German word Maschinengewehr 13) is a German light machine gun developed by converting the Dreyse Model 1918 heavy water-cooled machine gun into an air-cooled version.[1]
History
[edit]Dreyse Model 1918 Machinegun: In 1907 Louis Schmeisser of Erfurt patented a machine gun named in honor of the inventor of the Dreyse needle gun by the heads of the factory where it was made, which was founded by Dreyse. The Dreyse machine gun was a heavy, usually tripod mounted, belt-fed and water cooled machine gun.
The 1907 model was succeeded by the 1912 model, and later by the 1918 models. It was ordered that the Model 1918 was to be modernized by the company Simson in Suhl, which resulted in the Maschinengewehr 13.[1]
Usage
[edit]
The MG 13 was introduced into service in 1930, where it served as the standard light machine gun of Germany until 1935.[1] It was superseded by the MG 34 and later by the MG 42.
An unusual feature of the MG 13 was its double-crescent trigger, which provided a select fire capability without the need for a fire mode selector switch. Pressing the upper segment of the trigger produced semi-automatic fire, while pressing the lower segment of the trigger produced fully automatic fire. It fires from a closed bolt, by using an internal hammer.
Surplus units of the MG 13 were supplied to Francisco Franco and to his Falangist political party in order to assist them in the Spanish Civil War. Later on they were instead sold to his Spanish State, where they retained the original German MG 13 designation. They were also sold to Portugal, where they remained in active service until the late 1940s as the Metralhadora 7,92 mm m/1938 Dreyse.[1]
As the MG 34 was being introduced into service, the MG 13 was withdrawn from it and they were placed into storage. However, they were reissued during World War II, primarily to the static defense/lower quality units. Because it was fairly easy to handle the machine gun, and to reload it, these lesser quality troops were generally capable of using the MG 13 rather efficiently.
On later examples a 75-round "double drum" magazine was also used. It was equipped with a folding butt stock and a carrying handle.[2] It was used in the turret of the Panzerkampfwagen I.[3]
The Chinese Nationalist government also imported the MG 13, together with the Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. A light tank from Germany, in 1936. A year later, those MG 13s were being used by the Chinese National Revolutionary Army against Japan's Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[citation needed] And Portugal used it as a squad automatic weapon (SAW) during the Portuguese Colonial War, under the name m/938.[4]
The Bundeswehr Museum of German Defense Technology in Koblenz has one of this specimen in its collection.
Users
[edit]
Weimar Republic
Nazi Germany
Norway: Norwegian Police received ex-German MG-13s after WWII and converted them to MG-13k.[5]
Portugal
Republic of China
Spanish State
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Smith, Joseph E. (1973). Small Arms of the World (10th ed.). Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Company. p. 137.
- ^ "MG 13 'Dreyse' machine gun (Germany)". World.guns.ru. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- ^ "Panzerkampfwagen I". Achtungpanzer.com. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- ^ Abbott, Peter; Rodrigues, Manuel (1998). Modern African Wars 2: Angola and Mozambique 1961-74. Osprey Publishing. p. 18.
- ^ Myrvang, Folke (December 2012). "MG34 and MG42 in Norway, Post WW2". Small Arms Review. Vol. 16, no. 4.
External links
[edit]
- Turrión, Matias V. (1945). Manual del Fusil Ametrallador 13 Dreyse (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial Gran Capitan. (Manual for the MG 13)
- "Maschinengewehr 13 kurz Dreyse MG13 k". Militärische Bodenfund Originale (in German). 2014. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. (Photo gallery)