Schwarzlose Machine Gun Model 07/12

Schwarzlose MG M. 7/12 - 8x50mmR Mannlicher.

Dutch Schwarzlose MG M. 08/13 - 6.5×53mmR

The Schwarzlose machine gun was a water-cooled, belt-fed machine gun designed by Andreas Wilhelm Schwarzlose for the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1907. While after the establishment of the Maxim construction many states of the world placed orders with the large manufacturers Vickers or DWM or applied for their own production, the K.u.K. monarchy Austria-Hungary took other paths. Around 1902, the Berlin engineer Andreas Schwarzlose had applied for a patent for his own construction of a machine gun. The Steyr-Werke acquired the license in 1905, 1907 it was introduced in the Austrian armed forces as M.07 in the caliber 8X50R. The model of 1907 has a gap between the top cover and the water jacket. This has been changed at the MG M. 7/12. Some improvements led from 1912 to the version M.07 / 12. Schwarzlose, who had previously attracted attention through technically highly interesting constructions in the field of weapons technology, took a completely new approach. Its MG had a fixed barrel and was based essentially on the functioning of a delayed spring-mass closure. During the shooting process, the system is locked at any time form-fitting. By contrast, a relatively strong closing spring, few but solid and thus robust closure parts and retarding leverage forces along with a short run (rapid pressure drop) Ensure the recharging cycle. A small shadow on this ingenious design raises the need for sleeve oiling, which was considered necessary to reduce pull-out resistance, thus minimizing the risk of sleeve tearing. An oil filling of five liters was enough for about 4,500 cartridges. The Austrian air force was equipped with M.07/12/R16 which was an air-cooled version of the M. 7/12. During World War I Austria-Hungary imported the MG M. 7/12 to Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

The nature of the construction initially suggests that the Schwarzlose MG relies too heavily on given functional parameters such as caliber, laboratory and, in particular, run length, to be easily adapted to other charges of the same caliber or other calibers. Interestingly enough, however, it has succeeded in adapting the MG to such different caliber as the improved cartridge M.31 (Austria, Hungary after 1931), 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Schönauer, 6.5 mm Swedish or even 8X57IS.

It was used in the two world wars and then on many fronts, from Scandinavia to North Africa.

Manufacturers were from 1905 to 1918 the OeWG in Steyr and from 1914 to 1918 FGGY in Budapest. Another manufacturer was in Holland based on the M.07 under the names M.07, M08/13, M08/15 chambered in 6.5×53mmR (Artillery Inrichtingen, M08, about 2000 pieces). As Kulspruta M/1914 (which looks exactly the same like the M. 7/12, but on the water cooling jacket is the Swedish national coat of arms.), it was used for decades in the Swedish army and built by Carl Gustav It adorns to this day the medal of the Swedish MG gunners.

Specifications

Schwarzlose Machine Gun Model 07/12

• County of Origin: Austria

• Type: Machine Gun

• Calibers: 8mm Mannlicher, 7.92mm Mauser, 6.5mm Mauser

• Capacity: 250 round fabric belt

• Cyclic Rate: 400 rds/min

• Length: 42.00in(1066mm)

• Barrel Length: 20.75in(526mm)

• Weight: (unloaded) 44lbs (19.9kg)

The Schwarzlose Machine Gun Model 07/12 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
Mountains on Fire		Austrian soldiers	M. 7/12	1931
If War Comes Tomorrow (Esli zavtra voyna)			Seen in documentary footage	1938
Operation Amsterdam			Dutch M. 08/15 (anti-aircraft version)	1959
Hell Is for Heroes		German soldiers	Stock footage	1962
The Four Days of Naples		Italian Resistance fighters		1962
The Shortest Day (Il giorno più corto)		Italian solders	M. 7/12	1963
The Desert of the Tartars (Il deserto dei Tartari)		Austro-Hungarian soldiers		1976
From Hell to Victory		British soldiers	Standing for Vickers	1979
The Roses of the Desert		Italian soldiers	mock-up	2006

Television

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
Front Without Mercy (Front ohne Gnade)			Seen among Italian troops; Ep.5	1984

Video Game

Game Title	Appears as	Note	Release Date
Battlefield: 1918			2004
Battle of Empires : 1914-1918			2014
Tannenberg	"Schwarzlose MG"		2019

Schwarzlose M1907/24

Czechoslovak VZ 24 Machine Gun - 7.92x57 Mauser

Czechoslovakia took over a larger number of these machine guns in the inventory of their forces. In 1924 these weapons have been converted to the caliber 7.92 × 57 mm and designated as M. 07/24; note that it has longer barrel and jacket. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the M. 07/24 was used by the Wehrmacht.

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Notation	Date
The Stolen Border (Uloupená hranice)		Czechoslovak troops		1947
Wolves' Lairs (Vlcie diery)		Slovak insurgents		1948
Captain Dabac		Slovak soldiers		1959
Forty-Four Mutineers	Dusan Blaskovic	Tono Mikles	standing for M. 7/12	1964
		Austro-Hungarian soldiers
A Star Called Wormwood (Hvezda zvaná Pelynek)	Rudolf Deyl	Pvt. František Noha	standing for M. 7/12	1959
		Bosnian guards
Von Ryan's Express		German guards		1965
The Day That Shook the World		Austro-Hungarian soldiers	standing for M. 7/12	1975
The World Knows Nothing (Svet nic neví)		Czechoslovak troops		1987
Capitaine Conan	Philippe Torreton	Captain Conan	standing for M. 7/12	1996
		Bulgarian and French soldiers , Bolsheviks
Company of Heroes		German soldiers		2013