Spandau LMG08/15 (Maxim)

History of Spandau LMG08/15 (Maxim)

When the German Empire entered World War I (1914-1918), the ultra-lethal and efficient Maxim MG08 was the standard field machine gun. The 1915 "lighter" MG08/15 was developed from this base design, removing the 70-pound slide, adding a pistol grip and bipod, and installing a shoulder rest.

The gun's water-cooled and belt-fed characteristics were retained, and the gun quickly replaced the original MG08, both in usability and on the battlefield.

As a fixed mount on German fighter jets, the gun also proved to be quite lethal, usually mounted in pairs above the nose and fired synchronously by rotating propeller blades. The "LMG08/15" was the result of a further development of the series, which transformed the infantry machine gun into an effective air-cooled aircraft weapon.

The Spandau Arsenal in the German Empire was the sole manufacturer of this new machine gun, which entered service and entered the war in mid-1916.

The water cooling jacket was replaced by a large bore barrel jacket, as water cooling had no place in aircraft guns. The gun also featured a slightly modified German ammo belt. Like its ancestors, the LMG08/15 is equipped with the ubiquitous 7.92x51mm German Mauser rifle cartridge, which is inserted into the weapon via a 500 release belt.

The cyclic rate of fire reaches 400-500 rounds per minute, and the effective range is 2200 yards.

Due to Spandau's involvement in the manufacture of this new weapon, the Maxim LMG08/15 was once known as "Spandaus", and the line remained in service until the end of the war in November 1918.

From mid-1916 to 1918, approximately 23,000 LMG08/15 machine guns were produced.

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