×
Aircraft / Aviation Vehicles & Artillery Small Arms Warships & Submarines Military Ranks Military Pay Scale (2024) Special Forces

Schwarzlose MG


Water-Cooled, Belt-Fed Machine Gun


Austria-Hungary | 1905



"The Schwarzlose MG family of machine guns served as the standard machine gun of Austro-Hungarian forces during World War 1."

Performance
Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Schwarzlose MG. Information presented is strictly for general reference and should not be misconstrued as useful for hardware restoration or operation.
500
Rounds-Per-Minute
Rate-of-Fire
Physical
The physical qualities of the Schwarzlose MG. Information presented is strictly for general reference and should not be misconstrued as useful for hardware restoration or operation.
945 mm
37.20 in
O/A Length
530 mm
20.87 in
Barrel Length
91.49 lb
41.50 kg
Weight
Full-Automatic Fire; Belt-Fed; Toggle-Delayed Blowback
Action
8x50mmR Mannlicher; 8x56mmR Steyr; 6.5x53mmR; 7.92x57mm Mauser
Caliber(s)
250-round belt.
Feed
Iron.
Sights
Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Schwarzlose MG Water-Cooled, Belt-Fed Machine Gun family line.
MG M.05 - Model of 1905; original production model featuring oil lubrication for cartridge extraction.
MG M.07 - Model of 1907.
MG M.07/12 - Improved model M1907 of 1912; heavier bolt to do away with lubrication action of earlier marks.
MG-16 - Variant.
MG-16A - Variant.
MG M.07/31 - Modernized M1907 of 1931.
M08 - Dutch variant of 1908; chambered for Dutch 6.5x53mmR cartridge.
M08/13 - Dutch variant of 1913; chambered for Dutch 6.5x53mmR cartridge.
M08/15 - Dutch variant of 1915; chambered for Dutch 6.5x53mmR cartridge.
SJ vz. 07 - Model of 1907; chambered for Czech 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge.
SJ vz. 12 - Model of 1912; chambered for Czech 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge.
SJ vz. 24 - Model of 1924; chambered for Czech 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge.
Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/09/2022 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Prussian-German gunsmith Andreas Wilhelm Schwarzlose developed a line of machine guns that became the standardized water-cooled medium machine gun of the Austro-Hungarian Army heading into World War 1 (1914-1918). These developments were also taken on by many European nations, from Albania and Austria to Sweden and Yugoslavia. Operational service saw the line in action from its adoption in 1905 to the end of World War 2 in 1945, such was its reach on the battlefields of the 20th Century.

The Schwarzlose machine gun adopted the appearance long-established by the Maxim design complete with its rectangular receiver, jacketed barrel section, and conical flash suppressor. It was a belt-fed weapon typically feeding from a 250-round ammunition stock and chambered for the 8x50mmR Mannlicher Austro-Hungarian rifle cartridge. Export orders also led to more localized cartridge calibers then being adopted. The action and weight of the weapon required use of a heavy-duty tripod which made the complete system weigh 42 kilograms. Overall length was 945mm with a barrel measuring 530mm. As a water-cooled weapon, the design featured a "jacket" filled with water, this reservoir needing to be resupplied as the gun boiled the water off, in turn cooling the barrel and keeping it from overheating. With all of this in play - including ammunition handling and feeding - a typical machine gun team numbered a handful of people for proper operation in-the-field. One unique design element of the Schwarzlose approach was its use of an unlocked-breech design which, in turn, required the facilities of a shorter barrel assembly than seen in its contemporaries. The shorter barrel helped to quickly alleviate breech pressures but led to limited effective engagement ranges and a lowered muzzle velocity for the outgoing bullet.

Original production guns were forged during in 1905 as the Model 1905 and these were steadily improved through a line of similar weapons which including the upcoming Model 07 of 1907. In fact, one of the more popular breeds was the M07/12 of 1912. As proved common with other self-loading gun developments of the period, the earlier M05 and M07 production models featured an included oil pump function which was used to lubricate incoming cartridges to primarily ensure a smooth extraction of the spent case from the chamber after a shot was fire. This feature was only supported up until 1912 to which a newer, heavier bolt design was added in place of the reservoir and intended to apply additional pressure on the incoming cartridges.

In practice, the Schwarzlose was a well-liked weapon for its sheer simplicity of design and function. It was heavy as other machine guns of the period were and also as clunky due to all of the components actually making up the completed weapon system. The water-cooling feature was a key limitation of many types of the war including the famous Browning, Maxim and Vickers models. The limited range and lower muzzle velocity certainly hurt the weapon's battlefield reach but a machine gun was a machine gun in times of war - capable of mowing down inbound enemy infantry in short order as any other machine gun of the war. The inherent simplicity in design also meant that Austro-Hungarian factories could output the weapon in the necessary quantities for wartime service.

A lighter-weight version appeared for use on aircraft but this did not become an outright success - certainly not on par with competing types in the same role. The weapon was also trialed on trainable mountings in rear cockpit positions with similar limited results. Still other versions saw the weapon set atop a special turn-table mount to allow for its use as an air-defense weapon with a near-vertical elevation reach.

Active sales of Schwarzlose machine guns ended with the close of World War in 1918 and the eventual military drawdown following. Regardless, its sales and export prior to the end of the conflict ensured it a healthily long service life that saw it still in use with several armies of World War 2 (1939-1945) including both Italy and Hungary - though this was for lack of a better replacement or failure to modernize in time.

Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Schwarzlose MG. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national small arms listing.

Contractor(s): Schwarzlose - Austria-Hungary
National flag of Albania National flag of Austria National flag of the Austro-Hungarian Empire National flag of Bulgaria National flag of Colombia National flag of Czechia National flag of modern Germany National flag of Nazi Germany National flag of Greece National flag of Hungary National flag of Italy National flag of the Kingdom of Italy National flag of the Netherlands National flag of Poland National flag of Russia National flag of Serbia National flag of Sweden National flag of Taiwan National flag of Turkey National flag of Yugoslavia

[ Albania; Austria-Hungary; Austria; Bulgaria; Colombia; Czechoslovakia; Nazi Germany; Greece; Hungary; Kingdom of Italy; Netherlands; Ottoman Empire (Turkey); Poland; Imperial Russia; Serbia; Sweden; Taiwan; Yugoslavia ]
1 / 2
Image of the Schwarzlose MG
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
2 / 2
Image of the Schwarzlose MG
Image from the Public Domain.

Going Further...
The Schwarzlose MG Water-Cooled, Belt-Fed Machine Gun appears in the following collections:
HOME
SMALL ARMS INDEX
SPECIAL FORCES
ARMS BY COUNTRY
ARMS MANUFACTURERS
COMPARE ARMS
ARMS BY CONFLICT
ARMS BY TYPE
ARMS BY DECADE
COLD WAR ARMS
INTERWAR PERIOD ARMS
WWI SMALL ARMS
WWII SMALL ARMS
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2024 Military Pay Scale Military Ranks of the World U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols Breakdown U.S. 5-Star Generals List WWII Weapons by Country World War Next

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons. Special Interest: RailRoad Junction, the locomotive encyclopedia.


©2024 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2024 (21yrs)