MG 131 machine gun
The MG 131 was a 13 mm machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. The MG 131 was designed for use at fixed or flexible, single or twin mountings in Luftwaffe aircraft during World War II, and could be considered to be the Luftwaffe's rough equivalent of the Browning M2 machine gun.
It was installed in the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Me 410 Hornisse, Fw 190, Ju 88, He 177 Greif bomber, and many other aircraft.
The MG 131 fired electrically-primed ammunition in order to sustain a high rate of fire when shooting through the propeller disk of a single-engined fighter. A pair of MG 131 machine guns was used as cowl armament on later models of the Bf 109G (which originally required one blister or Beule on each side of the fuselage to house the larger breech of the new gun) and the Fw 190.
Technical data
- Weight : 16.6 kg
- Length : 1.17 m
- Muzzle velocity : ~ 750 m/s
- Rate of fire : ~ 900 rounds per minute
See also
External links