The MG-15: A Flexible Aircraft Machine Gun Pushed into Infantry Service

The MG-15 was the first standard flexible-mounted aircraft machine gun adopted by the Luftwaffe in the 1930s. Both it and the MG-17 are evolved from a Rheinmetall/Solothurn design which would also become the Austrian and Hungarian M30 infantry light machine guns. As used by the Luftwaffe, the MG15 fired at 900-1000 rounds per minute from a 75-round double drum magazine (the MG-17 was the belt-fed version). It is a very sleek and plain looking tubular gun, using a short recoil action and a rotary locking collar to secure the bolt and barrel during firing.
As World War Two progressed, aircraft armor became heavier than the 8x57mm Mauser cartridge became insufficient for aerial combat. It would be replaced by 13mm, 15mm, 20mm, and even 30mm machine guns and machine cannons. This left a substantial numbers of MG15 guns obsolete but still in inventory, and at the end of the war some numbers were converted to infantry guns. This was done by adding a simple buttstock, a bipod and bipod mounting shroud, and infantry type sights. It was not an ideal ground gun, but with German arms production in serious trouble anything was welcome.
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[@genericfakename8197]

When I was a little kid I always assumed the Germans somehow managed to feed two belts into the gun at once.

[@edwhatshisname3562]

Nah.. only the Swiss would attempt something that complicated and outlandish. At least I think they would.

[@Bubben246]

@@edwhatshisname3562 I think they have

[@tuna5774]

@@Bubben246 and most likely failed because it's not precision German engineering

[@d3203]

@@tuna5774 dude the swiss build high quality shit. even better than us germans.

[@tuna5774]

@@d3203 Ne Mann, das einzige was die bauen können sind Uhren und Taschenmesser

[@rump438]

The German MGs have such a neat evolution.

[@jcindica]

Two scoops 😎

[@abaialsa712]

Is it ok to hate non-whites ?

[@mervinspear598]

U uoo 9>?

[@steffenrosmus9177]

@@abaialsa712 no

[@literal_f22]

@@abaialsa712 no, unless they treat you poorly

[@vogonford]

Army: "Hey guys, we need machine guns now. Like, tons of them. Make 'em cheap, make 'em fast." R&D: "Well, we have these old aircraft machine guns, but they'll need a little bit of work." Army: "Well, that shouldn't be too difficult. Just use some scrap wood and cast iron." R&D: "Nah, let's make it out of aluminum."

[@yangcheng-jyun8542]

Consider the lack of material in late war period, maybe sometimes aluminum was more obtainable than iron?Actually, some barrels of last ditch kar98k were made with aluminum.

[@thomasfocke9772]

vogonford

[@Erpyrikk]

Barrel out of aluminium.... NO!

[@fanta4897]

Barrels? I'd think that if they'd be forced to use aluminium, they'd first made any other part out of aluminium before barrel.

[@guii_zika3163]

7/11WasAnIsideJob aluminum was easier to cast obtain and scrap also low cost and light weight

[@realtalk1111]

I have started to like your videos before they even finish buffering. No politics, drama, clickbait, or useless filler. Just cool and interesting content. Keep it up.

[@edxcal84]

I completely agree! Just pure history and science behind the guns!

[@marks6663]

and no annoying vanity intros Gawd, I hate those.

[@joshuakalaniparks9084]

What is buffering ?

[@CPalanysamy]

sorry if I sound agressive (not my intention) but in my opinion everything is politics, the aversion to it is just childish

[@chasef8802]

@@CPalanysamy this is true, but his apolitical delivery allows it to be enjoyed by everyone, and his content would be bogged down by politics.

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Nice to see one of these like this, it really is a rare find! Thanks for bringing this on screen. LW weapons indeed started to appear on the front lines by the end of the war, even the MG151 (15mm) that the planes no longer used was sometimes used as a HMG. Previously, some Kriegsmarine units had received a bunch, but the whole history of ground use of these weapons is still shrouded in much mystery afaik. Also, the Bipod mount is made of aluminum? That's an interesting (and perhaps suboptimal) choice of material for late-war Germany. Very surprising.

[@sangerzonnvolt6712]

I did not know you were watching Forgotten Weapons too Bismarck (well should have known looking at your content)

[@nikolosm2632]

Not as rare as a ground converted mg81. I would love to see a video on that.

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Well if I get my historic gun info, might as well get it from the best outlet ;)

[@GrmlZGaming]

True. :)

[@bagelgon992]

Bismarck! Were you super excited when you saw aircraft armament on forgotten weapons too?

[@Tiger-ol7ef]

after having flown a flight sim for a few years, its kinda surprising how useful those spider web sights are

[@Tiger-ol7ef]

​@Altug Omeroglu Apologies for the essay here but for what seems like a very simple question has a great deal of complexity behind it due to the nature of air combat. Their primary use is to help the gunner lead a target, the exacts of which are extremely complex. There's a lot of math that goes into how they work which I don't know, but there are 4 main factors to using them, distance from the target, the target's speed, the relative motion of the target and the angle of the target in relation to you, this last one is sometimes called "angle off". For the sake of transparency, most of my experience (as above) comes from a ww2 flight sim in which I personally learned all of this vie trial and error from behind the stick, and not as a gunner. One function of the sights is to give the gunner the approximate distance to the target, this is done with the following formula: Range=(target's wingspan)*(number of times the target fills the ring's diameter in any axis)*10 So if the target can be placed within the sight twice and has a wingspan of 42 meters, the range is 840 meters. This does require that the gunner know the wingspan of the various planes he's likely to see, but if you're on a plane, either you, or someone else on board will probably have a list of those somewhere. The last 3 all tie into each other so I'm going to go somewhat out of order for these. First is "angle off". This refers to the angle at which the target is traveling in relation to you and typically go from 0-90 degrees with 0 being parallel and 90 being perpendicular. These angles however can be either the target heading towards or away from you, obvious exception if they're flying perpendicular to you. For example, a target can be closing at 40 degrees or extending at 10 degrees. For a given speed of a target this will relate to several rings in the sight that extend from the center of the sight to infinity. When you know , or more likely, have guessed, the target's angle off, you place the target on the ring that corresponds to that angle off and fire. I'll touch on what these would be with speed. Next is the target's speed. For this, I'll make some examples, but they're based on my experience of the German REVI C12 reflector gunsight, which is the sight that a lot of German fighters used during the war and is what I'm used to. I'm doing this purely because I have no idea what speed this sight was originally calibrated for. Depending the target's speed, these angle off rings could be wider or smaller for a given angle. For this sight I'm going to make the assumption that the ring formed by 4 bars that don't meet in the center is 5 degrees angle off. The first full ring I will assume is 20 degrees and the final ring I'll assume is 30 degrees. I will also assume that the target's speed is 400kph for those rings. If the target for whatever reason reduces speed to around 300kph, what was the 5 degree ring would be 10 degrees, what was the 20 degree ring would now be 30 degrees and what was the 30 degree ring would be 90 degrees. At least that's a rough estimate from what I know of a different sight, so take the numbers with a pinch of salt, but this still demonstrates the principle. Finally is relative motion. This has two aspects. Firstly, "closing"/"extending" which is whether the target is getting closer or farther from you. If you're in a plane, "closing" could also mean you're catching him. If the target is closing, then you need to shoot a little low or just shoot straight depending on speed. If he's extending then you need to shoot a little high because Second is turning. If you're on the ground and a plane goes into a turn then naturally the angle off is going to be constantly changing while the plane is in it's turn. As a result you have to adjust based on what he's doing. This isnt as big of a problem for some aircraft because you can just turn to match the opponent and thus nullifying the problem because both of your angles are changing constantly at, presumably, the same rate. Put all of this together and that's how the sight helps the gunner. When it comes down to in a fight though, all the math goes out the window and you really have no choice but to learn all this through experience. Again, sorry for the wall of text but despite a simple question, the answer really isn't simple.

[@Tiger-ol7ef]

@Altug Omeroglu Pleased you enjoyed it. Also if you want some visuals, this playlist does a good job at explaining the concepts I listed. The game is IL-2 Great Battles (or Battle of Stalingrad on steam) kzbin.info/aero/PLnyigzFtHeNpq6ozRQaIfU_fgOs9mBKH4 He doesnt go into the math but this is more for people playing IL-2 to learn how to shoot. He covers the 4 nations sights within IL-2 and in each will expand on the basic principles. Additionally, I forgot to finish one of my thoughts in relative motion, what I meant to say was "If he's extending then you need to shoot a little high because gravity is the eternal constant. As a result if he's heading away from you, your bullets will be low when they get to him."

[@warwolf715]

I love how this almost looks like an oversized MG34

[@baker90338]

To me it looks like a crutch with a drum mag attached

[@MrBioniclefan1]

Baker Tankersley lol so true

[@wojtekwaferb-298]

Both of you are right

[@zchen27]

The MG 15 is a variant of the MG 30, which is the prototype of MG 34.

[@visionist7]

The stock looks like a stick grenade or a rifle grenade launcher

[@Dr_Martex]

The MG-15, Otherwise known as *THE ANGRY TUBE*

[@bazookaboss332]

Nein, herr, es ist die böse pfeife!

[@tuna5774]

@@bazookaboss332 *es ist

[@rempuia69]

@@tuna5774 nein!

[@tuna5774]

@@rempuia69 junge was laberst du

[@rempuia69]

@@tuna5774 Vom Marktführer deutsche Technologie vom Feinsten

[@salokin3087]

When you're not old enough to own 34 :(

[@stefanb5189]

best volksturm joke today i guess?

[@ItsRawdraft2]

Ayy

[@BallistaBomber]

When you cant own any machine gun becuase they are heavily restricted and cost 30k dollars

[@TheSexhaver2625]

space cowboy#2 in California, they can come in and take it anytime and don’t need to state a reason, what did for a couple is buy and new made semi auto receiver, trigger, and barrel, get that receiver registered, and buy original parts to make a mg34 or 42, it’s not going to be matching numbers but it’s only around 3k instead of 13k for an original semi auto.

[@andresvalverde5182]

But this gun, although not designed for ground combat sounds quite fun. Looking away from the weird handling and recoil this thing could lug about 1100rpm which was just a tad under the MG42. If you consider this awkward looking, take a look at Mg81 which looks even funnier and has even much higher fire rate.

[@lucianene7741]

Germany, who was under heavy Versailles restrictions, managed to develop quite a lot of modern, high performance machine gun models during the interwar period, even affording the luxury of developing specialized MG for specific uses, like this one for aircraft. In the mean time the United States who was under no weapon development restrictions did not adopt any new machine gun between 1920 and 1940. They entered WW2 with basically WW1-era machine guns: Browning M1919, BAR of 1918 and M2 "Ma Deuce" heavy MG of 1920, plus some older water-cooled models. They did not have a specialized MG for aircraft, using the M1919 for that. Back to this beautiful example of MG-15, one can tell that it's an aircraft machine gun by that trunnion in the middle and by the relatively high complexity and quality, this was not a gun to be tossed around in the mud of the trenches. It can also be said that it was produced before the war started, it is a "peacetime" machine gun because the manufacturer took the time to do a high quality fit and finish without being pressured by battlefield demands. As for its latter infantry role, the high rate of fire made it a pretty good ersatz MG-42, but probably less reliable.

[@AdamantLightLP]

Lot of speculation... The US kept its WW1 designs because they worked. Heck, the US still uses the M2 today because it just works.

[@lucianene7741]

@@AdamantLightLP Agreed about the M2, not about the M1919. Compared to later "general purpose" machine guns it is heavy, relatively complex, has a low rate of fire, and can only be used from a tripod. It is a weapon good only for defensive purposes, while the likes of MG-34 and MG-42 are much more mobile and versatile, adequate for attack, not to mention their much greater firepower. The U.S. military recognized these shortcomings and later adopted the M60, the M240, and the M249 to fill in the squad machine gun role.

[@michaeldelucci4379]

You say that the US by using our mgs in World War two. Okay mass production numbers how many Browning designs were built. How many mgs did the Nazis built. Our mgs were also more reliable and soldier prouff. Whereas the Nazis were over designs using tight parameters. See what happened to them on the Eastern Front.

[@visionist7]

Not being able to change the barrel would have been a pain but since these were for Luftwaffe ground units they weren't expected to be firing away all day on the front lines

[@mtnbound2764]

i love seeing all the different solutions engineers came up with. the way the bipod attaches is truly brilliant, very simple, solid and it pivots side to side.

[@mikekemp9877]

the brits did a similar thing in the desert .the sas used surplus twin vickers machine guns mounted on jeeps from obsolete aircraft it then was adopted by the entire army .

[@Unus_Annus_]

Ah yes, SAS Jeeps

[@gmailquinn]

It's true

[@BRBMrSoul]

Alleged kicked so hard from them cause the vehicle to swerve, course when entire goal is to drive thru an airfield causing as much chaos as possible so few guys can sneak some plastic explosives on under side of plane wings in background; who cares. Believe was adopted too, but gotta rem the SAS were pressed into commando roles shortly after North Africa, so what may have become standard use may not really align with intended goal of why originally did it. Great book by Ben Macintyre called Rogue Heroes, focuses mainly on start of SAS but covers all this. Highly recommend reading it to any interested in this…inventive kind of military history.

[@mikekemp9877]

@@BRBMrSoul the sas basically nicked the guns from obsolete bombers in their early days.mounted on jeeps they provided devastating fire power for a small group of men.they used them also with great sucess in the hedgerow country of normandy where the fearsome paddy mayne would earn a medal by removing a german road block by driving at it at top speed guns blazing.were also employed again in shock attack mode in the bitter fighting in italy.however at arnhem the plan to use jeeps mounted with twin brownings by the paras to blast their way to the bridge failed.unlike the sas who used them from cover in surprise attacks the sad fact was in holland being flat the germans saw them coming and a browning was no match for a 88.

[@alwaystinkering7710]

That eccentric rear sight is slick. One major omission, I want to see that rotating bolt locking collar!

[@MrHws5mp]

I think he showed it in the MG-17 video.

[@seanflorian4653]

Seems like one of the few practical applications for drum mags

[@EMERTHERofficial]

I really like that "aiming"-system, super antic :D

[@Blech319]

Provokult the word you're looking for is 'antique'.

[@MrHws5mp]

The sight mountings were designed for the aircraft-type ring and bead sights. It wouldn't matter if the back one rotated a bit because it would be just a spherical bead on a post, and the front ring was such an imprecise device that a little rotation wouldn't matter. The ring was intended to allow the gunner to estimate lead on a fast-moving aircraft crossing his field of view by putting the target on one of the rings and then offsetting the aim point in the direction of movement. You can imagine how effective that was in the middle of a confusing air battle... Most of the single and double-mount 'flexi' type gun mountings fitted to pre- and early WWII types were so inaccurate that they probably wern't worth their weight in terms of hard kills produced, and designers and airforces were perfectly well aware of this. However, they fitted them anyway because a) they overestimated the 'scare factor' on a fighter pilot of a bomber generating lots of tracer, thinking it would force him to break off or at least put him off his aim. In practice, there are few warrriors more motivated than an 'immortal' 20-year old defending his homeland and whooutguns you to boot, and b) they did so for the morale of the bomber crews, who would otherwise be required to sit there and be shot at without response, surviving only by sheer luck and statistics (i.e. about 2-4% of a bomber raid actually being shot down). The only actually effective (in hard kill terms) defensive weapons on WWII bombers were power-operated multi-gun turrets with relatively sophisticated sights, that could be controlled and aimed accurately. Unfortunately, these pretty much had to be designed into the aircraft from the start, and most of the German bombers were twin-engined medium types designed for flexi guns only and couldn't be adapted to take proper turrets without massive penalties in range/speed/bombload.

[@muricaneagle666]

“lets just add the mg15 into the game instead of the more widely used by infantry mg34” -michael fuckface ex sledgehammer developer

[@bazookaboss332]

Sledgehammer was full of crap.

[@nicolatesla9429]

When we are talking strictly about flexible mounts, in aircraft, the 8mm (or 7.92mm) calibre was used troughout the war. The MG15 was eventually replaced with the MG81 or MG81Z (twin) mounts. These guns were mounted along with MG131's and even MG151's, and basically almost every Luftwaffe bomber had at least 1 MG81(Z) mount on board in the last year of the war.

[@kmoecub]

The bipod mount/ barrel shroud is quite a clever way to solve multiple problems with an aluminum heat-sink.

[@Lumadous]

Thanks for putting the link for the related video at the end rather than in the middle, makes it easier to enjoy this video before jumping into the next

[@ultranitro437]

What a beautifully simple looking gun! Reminds me of the first pump paintball guns that came out in the 80's!

[@kxd2591]

Thanks for posting. The first time I ever saw one of these was in the movie "Battle of Britain". I saw it at the R&R center in Vung Tau. I was on an appreciated three day incountry R&R in '69.

[@veritasvincit2745]

This channel is simply brilliant. I'm not really into guns as such. I used to hold a section one licence (UK) and enjoyed range shooting for a few years. However, they are a fascinating subject and this channel has taught me a lot of interesting information as well as history lessons. Brilliant. As for the MG-15, I always imagined it to be like this after reading Robert Westall's The Machine Gunners as a child.

[@CrashandTrash596]

The name "Tea Time Sneaker" instantly came to my mind when you mention the book and it's been 20 years since I read that book. We had a copy of it at my elementary school in Maryland. Thanks for bringing back a fond memory.

[@patricklonergan3]

The machine gunners! I remember that. I haven't thought about it in years. Thankyou for bringing back that memory. It was brilliant.

[@tiortedrootsky]

MG15, MG17 and FN CAL have very interesting feature. The lugs are cut diagonally at a very steep angle. So while the bolt rotates to unlock, the bolt face slowly moves back, giving primary extraction of the case.

[@MrKirby2367]

Thank you for explaining this to me , I had no idea how those drums worked I was always under the I'm press ion that there was a belt that fed from one to another. This system makes sense. Another thing I was struck as to how much nicer these weapons appear (on an aesthetic level) in comparison to their Allied counter parts.

[@Pyke64]

Thank you for doing this video !

[@CaballeroHispano]

Nice video man , amazing !

[@RobinRako]

Another awesome video. Thanks man.

[@wangeroogerque2931]

I love these little need things that they invented in the wars, such a versatile weapon like this is very interesting to me. Also the fast ratatatata of a machine gun puts a smile on my face, so two things I like in one.

[@HappisakVideos]

Watch the film Battle of Britain there is several scenes showing these guns used by German air gunners on Hienkel 111 bombers. They used surplus 111 aircraft provided by the Spanish Air Force. (You can see the Spanish markings just showing through the German livery painted on for the film!)

[@ramjb]

And they used spanish Buchons as the Bf109Es. They did go quite the lenght to characterize them as emils though (the Buchon was a Merlin engined Bf109G). They clipped the rounded wingtips to make them square as in the Emil and even added the characteristic early Bf109 tail struts... Commendable effort but a bit wasted if you ask me - you still can spot them easily due to them using the straight up V12 Merlin instead of the inverted-vee DB601 engine, the cowling of a Buchon is quite different from that of a DB-engined Bf109 and there was no way of masking *THAT* ;). I think some of the old BoB movie Bf109s were also used in Memphis Belle and in Nolan's Dunkirk, btw...

[@Graham-ce2yk]

They also appear in the mini-series Piece of Cake, and some of the footage got reused as newsreel footage in Their Finest, but if you want really strange, track down the Italian film Eagles over London, they used Buchons in RAF markings for take-off scenes...

[@MrHws5mp]

Even more wierdly, some of the Buchons were painted up in RAF markings and used to play Hurricanes in the background of some flying scenes in BoB, because flying Hurricanes were (and still are) much harder to come by than flying Spitfires. You can see them clearly if you know to look out for them.

[@richardrichard5409]

@@MrHws5mp "repeat please" Polish scene has one Hurricane with two 'Bf109' behind 😎

[@kalajel]

You have to admire the ingenuity.

[@bitfreakazoid]

I love how that sight system works. Wish we got to see it opened up.

[@randywatson8347]

That elevation sight is so simple to manufacture and cool.

[@pawnxqueen935]

Thank you for what you do!

[@mobilegamersunite]

Looks narnar! Crazy awesome looking model!

[@douglasgault2578]

I really like the clean design I didn't catch the weight of aircraft & weight after ground conversion, being a pilot these details are important if you're going to get something in the air. Very clean and simple. Nice job on the video as usual...

[@elflakeador09]

I freaking love these videos and this channel 😎👍

[@quintusantonius9375]

Confession time: I sometimes watch your videos when I can't sleep, because Ian's voice is so even and soothing.

[@incom8062]

He kinder talks like a teenager.

[@bt3779]

This would make a great Star Wars prop.

[@merlemorrison482]

thanks for explaining the mag set-up - I had thought that one drum was only to capture the used belt.....

[@MrFelix002]

i never heard of this wonderful piece of technology, wow

[@samulrich4203]

Best gun channel on yt

[@radfatdaddy4169]

Pfft probably the best channel on KZbin period.

[@Ensign_Cthulhu]

That brass-catcher bag (if they can find one) is going to be useful for any buyer who likes to reload their own ammunition, or who cares enough for their brass not to spew it all over the range. Saves on picking up at the end of the day's shooting.

[@yetanother9127]

10:25 Looks a bit like a Panzerbuechse stock.

[@binarystein8077]

that rear sight is ingenious

[@tommyscaletta]

CoD WWII: So we have several machineguns to choose from for the german army. The MG34, MG42, you know, legendary weapons.... Fuck it, we are going with the MG15! HISTORICAL ACCURACY!

[@jibjabs1277]

Eating Flashbang MG 42 will be in the full game. Plus i don't know what's wrong with giving rarer weapons a spotlight, it gives for a more unique experience as opposed to using the same guns we always have in previous games.

[@jibjabs1277]

Tanner Clark I'm not playing multiplayer for accuracy, as long as I have fun, that's all I care about. Yeah, it would be better if they didn't fuck up the swastikas in multiplayer and zombies or put women in the game, but as I said, I just want to have fun. I will be heavily disappointed if the campaign isn't accurate however. And yes, I definitely appreciate the work that goes into the smaller shooter titles. I think they do a much better job at portraying war and should be more recognised.

[@tommyscaletta]

Right, MG42 is in the game, as a stationary weapon with literally no recoil and almost no spread. Awesome historical accuracy. Giving rarer weapons a spotlight isn't wrong, but if you praise a game with 2 years of research and the goal of historical accuracy you shouldn't set rare weapons as a standard for all?! Same guns we always had in previous titles? It is not about the guns, it is about the gunplay. Very few weapons in CoD WW2 have recoil, they play exactly like every other weapon since MW2. No spread, fast reload, no punishment for holding down mouse 1, etc. CoD WW2 will under no circumstances be a unique experience. It is the same experience we've had since MW2, just with different textures so it fits into the WW2 setting. 60$ please.

[@tommyscaletta]

Day of Infamy is an example of a good WW2 shooter.

[@Dimetropteryx]

Tanner Clark All I got from that post was mindless squealing.

[@krejslayer]

Awesome, love your videos!

[@FirstLast-zc6rn]

really great video. i enjoyed this presentation a lot.

[@svenerikmoeller8809]

Jesus , that gun has balls

[@jakebriley6493]

I'm happy you enjoyed the video, Ian

[@codemiesterbeats]

thats a really neat method of attaching the bi pod... simple enough

[@Phoenix1776]

Damn I love this weapon! This is awesome

[@jacksonlewis4365]

really is quite a well put together conversion kit simple and innovative....

[@semibreve]

That rear sight drum is pretty sick

[@desroin]

To me the best thing about this gun is the bipod mount. I think that's just absolutely brilliant '_'

[@HoldUpStrong]

love that front sight

[@mr.gunzaku437]

My favorite machine gun episode! I wish it was belt fed but it's my favorite LMG!

[@pbr-streetgang]

Thanks for the vid sir.

[@russelder9743]

Amazing---------what a great lesson in history

[@nucupanzaru9609]

Super presentation 👍

[@hagergrinkenschmied8019]

Nice silhouette. This catapults me back to the early 80's, when I saw "The Machine Gunners".

[@justinhemboorger1620]

Now thats what i call a forgotten weapon gotta love it

[@davidaitchison8791]

No, they didn't use "mittens" or two fingers to pull the trigger. The enlarged trigger guard is simply to facilitate use with a gloved hand.

[@SayNoToDemocide1]

I wonder how effective the MG-15 was as a ground machine gun. By the way, I think that saddle-drum probably inspired the modern Beta C-mag, and I think it would be interesting if Ian would check out the MG30, the MG34's predecessor (the biggest problem with it is that it is rare).

[@andresvalverde5182]

less effective than the Mg42 and 34, due to it's awkward handling and shock absorbing as it was intended as a aircraft gun. Nonetheless it was still more effective than equipping a squad with last ditch automatic guns (and probably better than the M1 30. cal).

[@lewcrowley3710]

I believe the aluminum part is also meant to be a heat sink to cool the weapon. BTW, being high up also means rarified air, less dense, so it doesn't cool as well. I could see the weapon being used defensively and in fortress situations, but inferior to MG42 in a regular infantry action.

[@worldtraveler930]

Alright, now I want one!

[@zachnar0125]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!! I do so many models and I can never get an up close look at this weapon.

[@stringbean90]

Much love from Australia, gun jesus!

[@thiesvanderkooij8421]

Spiderweb sights are just, the coolest thing ever.

[@chuckernaught1]

Im loving the Mlok handguard

[@petergrahammer1493]

I am not a gunguy, but i can listen Ian for Hours. The "bob ross of weapons" . I symply love his voice. And if he woud talk about electronics or gameplay, i woud listen too.. But after all this years, i know a lot about exotic weapons..

[@EnjoyCocaColaLight]

This is beautiful!!!

[@ethan5.56]

That thing is awesome

[@quattroconcept4]

Beautiful machine

[@TheAtmosfear7]

Isn't it ? The Germans have such slick mgs i love them

[@notmenotme614]

MG-15’s were used in the defensive gunner positions in Luftwaffe bombers such as the HE-111 and JU-88. Because they weren’t belt fed, it caused a lot of issues. When the bomber was attacked the gunner had 2 choices… fire the entire drum magazine and then take several seconds to change it while still under attack, or change the drum magazine after every burst and having half empty mags laying everywhere? German bombers would have to carry dozens of these drum magazines everywhere they could store them, in every gap, hole, crevice and surface. I saw a photo where the top dorsal gunner was surrounded by those drum mags. Another problem was these pintle mounted machine guns had a limited arc of fire and were clumsy / unwieldily to use compared to Allied powered turrets. The German gunners also complained of the exposure, getting cold and the slipstream.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Brings back memories using that gun in a He111 bomber over britiain, during the Battle of Britian ..... errr Cliffs of Dover flight Sim actually. Constant changing of magazines being very annoying when being shot up by Hurricanes.

[@mart_en]

Are you Vulcan and 110 years old ?

[@christophervanerp1133]

@@mart_en he said flight sim

[@seanc6170]

Hey Ian, do you think you'll ever be able to take a look at the MG 13 or MG 30? They seem like true forgotten weapons since they were overshadowed by the later MG 34, MG 42, and even the MG 15.

[@alancrews2066]

Now that is cool.

[@MilfHunter104]

Tube goes BRRR

[@matthayward7889]

That rear sight is as elegantly simple as the rest of the ground-kit mods are needlessly complex! Is the (presumably steel) barrel jacket so flimsy that it needed a bipod support? Another Great video Ian!

[@MrJotaefebe]

Thank you for this blessed video Gun Jesus!

[@eddielane9569]

Love it ! Just watched two German men on a You Tube video find one in a pond and it was in incredible shape. It has been there since WW2 as well as other machine guns they found as well as rifles.

[@964cuplove]

Oh, in Germany we cannot own these so I wonder what the guys that found these did….

[@eddielane9569]

@@964cuplove they might had to turn them in to the military. Sometimes when they find old Armament light grenades or unexploded Ordnance they have to call the military to come in to deal with it. Can you own any guns in Germany?

[@observer6294]

Very nice looking, I like everything of it.

[@TheAhriman]

Man, the colours are matched and accentuated. What a fetish gun!

[@Tobascodagama]

That ground sight is a really clever solution! Also kind of interesting that you still had the spiderweb AA sights when the gun has been converted for ground use. I guess you could use the same gun as both a standard LMG and for harassing enemy aircraft. It also makes me wonder if the ground conversion kits were issued to aircraft crews, like you could pull the gun out of the aircraft and convert it for ground use if you ever needed to fight your way back to friendly lines.

[@tila7405]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3W9nYmhaNN2bacm5s

[@baileybrunson42]

Very interesting Ian.. I believe I read somewhere that a similar "kit" was issued to Luftwaffe aircrews in case they were shot down and had to walk to friendly lines to have a light MG for defense.

[@borjesvensson8661]

That really seems like a kit to bee able to use the guns if grounded behind enemy lines that later got pressed into regular ground use.

[@jackgibeau1858]

I always liked the gigantic front sight the gun had

[@ethanclark6859]

I always assumed the MG15 was basically an MG34, and after watching this, I think I like it more than a 34. The thought behind the design and the infranty conversion, all while being so simple and obvious to do blows my mind

[@andreibaciu7518]

This looks very star wars-esque even without any greebling

[@Gunitz89]

Damn i was really curious about this one

[@duncanbrown1864]

Very interesting!

[@joenoname9909]

0:40 german bombers didn't have waist gun station. MG15 was used mostly on cabin rear mount, nose turret and belly turret.

[@RatKindler]

Just watched a video of some guys magnet fishing a pond and found one of these. Came here to see what it's all about. Interesting video.

[@wrxs1781]

Well done.

[@NortyLukey]

I was hoping for the original MG-15, hopefully you can get your hands on that one soon

[@deeboy4378]

wld love to see u fire these

[@chrism2027]

Really very interesting design of the weapon and its double drum ammunition, pretty cool part, I like the weapon very much from the construction.

[@Hedlum]

That was pretty neat. I wonder what the army guys thought about this gun when comparing it to the 34 and the 42. (Other then just being happy to have a machine gun period, of course.)

[@cocorkiller2322]

Drum has a great name