The Parabellum MG 14 was a 7.92 mm caliber

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

machine gun built by

Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book diction ...

. It was a redesign of the

Maschinengewehr 08 The MG 08 ( 08) is a heavy machine gun (HMG) which served as the standard HMG of the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was an adaptation of Hiram Maxim's 1884 Maxim gun design, and was produced in a number of variants during the war. ...

machine gun (itself an adaptation of the

Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a Recoil operation, recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Maxim, Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first automatic firearm, fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most ...

) system intended for use on aircraft and zeppelins.

Design

Like the earlier

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

, it used a toggle action that broke upwards rather than downwards, the opposite way to the MG 08, making for a much more compact receiver. The fusee spring was replaced with an internal spring design, the breech block was completely different and the spent cartridges dropped out the bottom of the receiver, rather than being ejected forward through a hole under the breech from the receiver. There appear to be no action or receiver parts interchangeable with the MG 08. The MG 08's belt-style ammunition feed was enclosed in a drum, the recoil casing was lightened and the cooling jacket was modified for air- instead of water-cooling. The rate of fire was 700 rounds/minute. The belt was reduced to 30 mm in width.

Use

An MG 14 was used in the early development of the German version of the gun synchroniser by

Anthony Fokker Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...

. The MG 14 was used with the first version of the pioneering Fokker ''Stangensteuerung'' synchronizer on the five Fokker M.5K/MG pre-production prototypes for the

Fokker E.I The Fokker E.I was the first fighter aircraft to enter service with the Fliegertruppe of the Deutsches Heer in World War I. Its arrival at the front in mid-1915 marked the start of a period known as the "Fokker Scourge" during which the E.I an ...

. However, the limited supplies of the weapon were more urgently needed for observers in reconnaissance aircraft and defensive gunners aboard Zeppelins and heavier-than-air bombers and it was reserved for flexible mounts where its combination of light weight and high rate of fire were most useful. The weapon was also temperamental when used on the M.5K/MG, as noted by

Otto Parschau ''Leutnant'' Otto Parschau (11 November 1890 – 21 July 1916) was a German World War I flying ace and recipient of the Pour le Mérite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, and Iron Cross, First Class. He was noted as one of the pre-eminent a ...

. The MG 14 and subsequent MG 14/17 did make one important contribution to the fixed forward-firing LMG 08 and LMG's 08/15 guns, in that their 30mm wide cloth ammunition belt was compatible with those weapons, The fixed forward-firing guns used fixed ammunition feed guides and judging by surviving photographs, the belts were used exclusively by the ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' for all fixed forward-firing guns. The belts can be readily identified by two grommets (instead of three for the wider MG 08 and MG 08/15 belts used by ground forces) and the lack of extended brass tab (also used by the MG 08 and MG 08/15 ground guns). This not only reduced weight and bulk but it also allowed for much lighter and smaller empty belt chutes, which came out of all LMG 08's and LMG 08/15's and led down into storage bins in the aircraft. At least three versions survive, a water cooled, an air cooled and a 14/17 version with a 3x telescopic sight.

Operators

* * : during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

* : around 115 used by the

Latvian Army The Latvian Land Forces () together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. From 2007 to 2024, the Land Forces were organized as a fully professional standing army until the re-introduct ...

as the ''Parabellum'' machine gun (by April 1936)

References

Bibliography

* Williams, Anthony G. and Emmanuel Gustin. ''Flying Guns: World War I and its Aftermath 1914–32''. Ramsbury, Wiltshire: Airlife, 2003. .
First World War.com

External links

* ttp://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30030884 IWM: Parabellum M1913 & MG 13
IWM: Parabellum M1913 [2nd issue] & Parabellum l.MG 14

Forgotten Weapons - Parabellum 1914/17: Germany's Ultimate Aircraft Maxim
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parabellum MG 14 7.92×57mm Mauser machine guns Machine guns of Germany Medium machine guns World War I aircraft guns

Design

Use

Operators

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links