View source for MG 15

{{Short description|WWII-era German aircraft machine gun}}
{{distinguish|text= the earlier German light machine gun, the [[Bergmann MG 15nA machine gun]]}}
{{more footnotes|date=September 2010}}

{{Infobox weapon
| name               = MG 15 machine gun
| image              = Munster MG15 (dark1).jpg
| image_size         = 350
| caption            = An MG 15 equipped for infantry use, but lacking the bipod. [[German Tank Museum]], Munster (2006)
| type               = Aircraft [[machine gun]]
| origin             = [[Weimar Republic]] / [[Nazi Germany]]
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_ranged          = yes
<!-- Service history -->
| service            = {{ubl
  | 1933–1950s (MG 15)
  | 1938–1945 (Type 98){{sfn|Mikesh|2004|p=117}}
  | 1941–1945 (Type 1){{sfn|Mikesh|2004|p=128}}
  }}
| used_by            = 
| wars               = [[World War II]]<br />[[Korean War]]
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = Theodor Bergmann
| design_date        = 1932
| manufacturer       = Bergmann (Weimar Republic), Rheinmetall (Third Reich)
| unit_cost          = 
| production_date    = 
| number             = 
| variants           = 
<!-- General specifications -->
| mass               = {{convert|12.4|kg|lb|abbr=on}} loaded with gunsight and cartridge bag
| length             = {{convert|1078|mm|in|abbr=on}} (without attachments)
| part_length        = {{convert|600|mm|in|abbr=on}}
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications --> 
| cartridge          = [[7.92×57mm Mauser]]
| cartridge_weight   = 
| caliber            = [[7.92×57mm Mauser|7,9 (7.92<small>+0.04</small>)]]
| action             = [[Recoil-operated]]
| rate               = 1,000–1,050 rounds/min
| velocity           = {{convert|755|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}
| range              = 
| max_range          = 
| feed               = 75-round double-drum magazine
| sights             = Various types
}}

The '''MG 15''' was a German [[7.92×57mm Mauser|7.92 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.

== 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 [[Bergmann MG15 nA Gun|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 [[Second World War|WWII]] aircraft gun uses a rotating bolt and 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. The bolt mechanism acted as a traditional open-bolt machinegun design, in which the bolt will slam forward when empty, and require re-cocking either before or after a new magazine was fitted in order to be able to fire again. <ref>{{cite web |title=MG15 Quick Fire |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZthPTgMlH0o?t=17|website=Youtube |publisher=Mortar Doc |access-date=16 June 2022}}</ref>

The MG 15 fires from an open bolt, meaning that the bolt stays back when the gun is ready to fire, and is thus unsuitable for [[Synchronization gear|"through the propeller" synchronized forward firing]] on a fuselage mount.{{source?|date=February 2023}} 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.

[[File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-S52435,_Polen,_Blick_aus_Bugkanzel_einer_He_111.jpg|thumb|left|An MG 15 in [[Heinkel He 111]], Poland, [[September 1939]] ]]

The "saddle-drum" magazine was so called because it straddled the gun, with two inversely symmetrical spiral drums that fitted on either side of the receiver. The 75 rounds of ammunition (not 150 as is often mistakenly claimed) was shared evenly by both drums and as the gun fired, converged under spring tension towards the centre and from thence passed downwards into the action. The MG 15, having a firing rate of over 1,000 rpm, could empty the magazine in 4.5 seconds or less, and typical practice was to provide at least 10 spare magazines for each gun on the aircraft.  This still left the gunner with the problem of reloading in combat, offering a brief opportunity for enemy fighters to attack with impunity.{{sfn|Saunders|2020|page=61}}

Starting in late 1940 the MG 15 was replaced by the belt-fed Mauser 7.92&nbsp;mm [[MG 81 machine gun|MG 81]], MG 81Z (twin-MG 81), [[MG 131 machine gun|MG 131]] 13&nbsp;mm machine guns, or [[MG 151/20]] 20&nbsp;mm cannons. As they became redundant in their original role, many MG 15s were modified for infantry use, and a carrying device was also issued that held three of the saddle-drums. (There are a number of pictures showing the guns, both aircraft and ground versions, with 25-round magazines from another machine-gun, the MG 13, however the magazines are not compatible with the MG 15.) The official total of conversions was about 17,648 by January 1, 1944, although the actual number may have been greater.

The license-produced MG 15 was used in the Japanese aircraft as the ''Type 98'' flexible-mounted machine gun and as the ''[[Type 98/Type 1 machine gun|Type 1]]'' in the Imperial Japanese Navy.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://dragonsoffire.com/photog_TYPE1a.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-08-06 |archive-date=2012-03-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310072902/http://dragonsoffire.com/photog_TYPE1a.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref> Type 98 machine guns were also used by the Communist forces during the [[Korean War]].{{sfn|Kinard|2010|page=535}}
{{Clear}}

==Specifications==
*Calibre: 7.9 +/- .04&nbsp;mm
*Cartridge: [[7.92×57mm Mauser]]
*Round weight: 35.5&nbsp;grams (cartridge 24&nbsp;grams, bullet 11.5&nbsp;grams)
*Muzzle velocity: {{convert|755|m/s|ft/s}}
*Rate of fire: 1,000 (possibly up to 1,050) rpm
*Length : {{convert|1078|mm|in}} (without attachments)
*Barrel length: {{convert|600|mm|in}}
*Weight unloaded with gunsight and cartridge bag: {{convert|8.1|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
*Weight loaded with gunsight and cartridge bag: {{convert|12.4|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
*75-round magazine unloaded: {{convert|2.27|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
*75-round magazine loaded: {{convert|4.24|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
*Weight of the 2-part loader: {{convert|0.72|kg|lb|abbr=on}}

==Users==
* {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}
* {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
** [[Imperial Japanese Army]] (Type 98){{sfn|Mikesh|2004|p=117}}
** [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] (Type 1){{sfn|Mikesh|2004|p=128}}
* {{flagcountry|North Korea}}
** [[Korean People's Army]] (Type 98){{sfn|Kinard|2010|page=535}}
* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Romania}}
* {{flag|Turkey}}

==See also==
* [[Type 98/Type 1 machine gun]]

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center" widths="220">
File:MWP MG15 HeinkelHe111 Gabszewicz.JPG|Debris of a downed Heinkel He 111 along with the barrel of an MG 15. [[Polish Army Museum]], Warsaw (2006).
File:MG-15_ammo_Ju-52.jpg|World War II-era German MG 15 type mounted aboard aircraft with anti-aircraft sight present near the tip of the barrel and lacking the infantry-variant butt-stock at the rear
</gallery>

== References ==

===Notes===

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Saunders |first=Andy |date=November 26, 2020 |title=RAF Fighters vs Luftwaffe Bombers |url=https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/raf-fighters-vs-luftwaffe-bombers-9781472808523/ |format=Paperback |edition=1st |location= |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] |page= |isbn=9781472808523 |access-date=}}
* {{cite book |first=Robert C. |last=Mikesh |year=2004 |title=Japanese Aircraft Equipment 1940-1945 |url= |language=en |location=Atglen, PA |publisher=Schiffer Publishing Ltd |isbn=0-7643-2097-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kinard |first=Jeff |year=2010 |chapter=Machine guns |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZNxDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA535 |editor-last1=Tucker |editor-first1=Spencer C. |editor-last2=Pierpaoli |editor-first2=Paul G. Jr. |title=The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History |url=https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A1645C |edition=2nd |volume=1. A-L |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1-85109-849-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116043249/https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A1645C |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |access-date=November 15, 2018 }}
* {{cite web|url=http://geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust5.htm|title=Panzerfaust WW II German Infantry Anti-Tank Weapons Page 5: Machine Guns|last=Hofbauer|first=M.|date=1998-08-29|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027135418/http://geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust5.htm|archivedate=2009-10-27}} 
* [http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32758 MG 15 in private collection, forum site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120044934/http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32758 |date=2010-11-20 }}
* [http://www.dragonsoffire.com/Photo-Album.php Imperial Japanese Weapons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002091400/http://www.dragonsoffire.com/Photo-Album.php |date=2020-10-02 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|MG 15}}

* {{YouTube|id=RsaIJtr1tEY|title=Forgotten Weapons – The MG-15: A Flexible Aircraft Machine Gun Pushed into Infantry Service}}
{{WWIIGermanInfWeapons}}

{{WWIIGermanAerialWeapons}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mg 15 Machine Gun}}
[[Category:7.92×57mm Mauser machine guns]]
[[Category:Aircraft guns|MG 015 machine gun]]
[[Category:Light machine guns]]
[[Category:Machine guns of Germany]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Germany]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Japan]]
[[Category:World War II machine guns]]
[[Category:Rheinmetall]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1930s]]