MG 131 - with Ken Huddle

The MG 131 is an extremely rare German machine gun. The Institute of Military Technology's special guest Ken Huddle and C.Reed Knight, Jr. break the gun down and discuss it's internal parts. The 13mm German aircraft fully automatic machine gun used in WWII.

[@maxkronader5225]

Well done gentlemen. This video deserves far more views and upvotes than it received.

[@AlexDahlseid2002]

The MG 131 replaced the MG-17 on fighters like the Bf 109 and FW 190 and was also was a defensive weapon on bombers like the HE 111, Ju 88, Ju 188 and many more bombers.

[@maxsmodels]

If you look at later model Bf-109Gs and Ks you will notice large humps on the cowling in front of the cockpit. Those were aerodynamic fairings that had to be mounted to make room for the MG-131's larger receivers. The planes were originally designed for the smaller 7.92mm aircraft guns.

[@FreedomForAll2013]

You see that on Gs or Fs that were made for MG17s but either changed later, or before they left the factory... Later, the K had a modified fuselage that allowed for the larger Mg131 without the need for the "bug eyes" as my Son calls them

[@FreedomForAll2013]

See when they made the Fs, they geared towards even better top speed, with better rate of climb again than the Es but also with an improved turn time... The F was made for fighting on the western front and specifically geared towards fighting new, faster than ever spitfires, unlike Gs that were made more for Russia... A German high ranking officer in the Luftwaffe whos name I cannoy remember, was unimpressed with the lack of fire power when compared to E models that had FF cannons in each wing, modifiied to take mineshells, at the time... The F only had the MG151 and the new 15mm round (while having good ballistics) was considered by experienced pilots to be shit as all fuck... So the MG151 was modified into an MG151-20 that fired 20mm mingeshoss shells at 750 rounds a minute... This new improvement was also made along side additional gun pods carrying MG151-15mm machine guns or 20mm versions... There was also a model G that was fitted with the 30mm MK108 motorkanon... Basically, someone felt the lack of firepower in new Fs wasn't good enough, and either would increase it with better machine guns(MG131s) or better/more MG151s... By the time they made the K, the MG131 was considered standard

[@lucythefrogge]

MG-131s were also put on Fw-190A-8s

[@stasik1352]

This gun used mainly HE rounds, Not AP ones, which did more damage than an standard AP-I round used by the US AN/M2 machine guns, So overall, It did more damage thanks to rounds used, had a higher rate of fire by 50 rounds a minute, had a smaller cartridge so more bullets could be loaded. It was mostly better than the AN/M2 but had a lower muzzle velocity.

[@zolikoff]

Yeah, it was much better for general purpose anti-aircraft, but had a significantly weaker AP performance whenever it needed to. It didn't matter much as there were other excellent guns available for AP performance. The US .50 cals did have higher muzzle velocity, which meant a somewhat easier targeting, less leading necessary, but this really did a lot more damage on a hit.

[@trauko1388]

Fetish, the M2 was already obsolescent in WW2, after all, it was an overweight WW1 relic.

[@MorangRus]

MG-131 was pretty good in its intended role and in its time. A niche weapon firing an unique cartridge (only similar to some other Axis .50-cal aircraft guns in perfomance, like the Italian and its Japanese derivative), also Axis standards of military equipment were ruined by Axis defeat, and the caliber itself soon became obsolete for aircraft weapons (even though American Sabres soldiered on with .50-cals in Korea, muzzle velocity became more important by then as aircraft speed grew). And it is indeed underpowered for a general purpose HMG. Thus it fell out of use.

[@vicnighthorse]

DR Dan: Both guns were employed on fixed and flexible mounts on WWII aircraft - that makes them very comparable. As with all weapons context is very important. The 131 fit in places that the M2 would not and although firing projectiles 20% lighter and 7.5% slower it tossed enough more of them that the pounds of shells projected per pound of gun was 60% higher. The standard practice of the Luftwaffe was not to begin firing until about 100yards or less so the velocity was of much less importance than it was in ground applications. It was very good for it role. That the M2 is better in other roles is irrelevant. That the more multi-role M2 is still in service (though not in fighter planes or bombers anymore) is even less relevant as to whether it was better for the purpose for which it was built. In terms of energy at the muzzle the M2 is indeed almost 55% more powerful but since the M2 was 70% heavier, the 131 was 60% more efficient when it came to energy per pound of gun. If one was unfortunate enough to be in German plane with medium machine guns in WWII they were much better off with the 131 than they would have been with the M2.

[@invictusangelica]

wood1155 Are you dumb? The M2 used on aircrafts is the AN/M2 variant which had a fire rate of 750-850 RPM depending on bolt condition. At the final months of the war, the M2 was upgraded to the M3 which had the exact fire rate of the Hitler's Buzzsaw: 1200 RPM.

[@danielgreen3715]

Beautifully Engineered..Never seen one before!!! But rather complicated you can see how cleverly its been designed thankyou now all i need is a chance to see one working!!

[@jagervw]

I've seen this in person- German engineering! Stange was a genius. The one was in the former collection of Richard Wray.

[@HamburgerMolester]

I really appreciate the comparison of rounds.

[@jarin12ga]

What an amazing gun!! What a cool piece of history!!

[@klesarhr-bz5of]

interesting, thank you a lot for showing the documentary of this rare ww2 gun

[@owensthilaire8189]

I typed in MG 131 not actually expecting to see one. Fantastic! Anybody know if the MG 151 was similar, just up sized for 15mm or was it a totally different gun?

[@kimjanek646]

Completely different gun.

[@VSCOMO]

this was very interesting!!

[@VRichardsn]

Interesting video!

[@zorngottes1778]

The colapsing feed parts look like the ones on a ZB 26 / 30 or the bren. The interrupted thread also looks like the ones on ZB or bren. The electric ignition was nessaray and very useful for synchronizing the gun with the prop, I guess.

[@goo_rocket5897]

Excellent, I have actually learned something thanks guys.

[@SilentRazor1uk]

I nice vid, both informative and exceedingly rare for this weapon, good work IMT. It seems the MG131 is very much derived from the German era of milling & riveting with stampings - sort of like a mix of MG17, MG34 & MG121 parts designs.

[@johannesunkel2177]

Razor1uk q⛹

[@mattdathew2794]

i never knew gun architecture was too complicated

[@artinrahideh1229]

This one isn't that bad actually. Gun itself is fairly simple, check out the avtomat fedorova to see how complicated it can be

[@ikueguge7765]

Spectacular presentation - thank you so much for sharing ! ! --~o

[@Joebunkyss1]

luv that gun.

[@Joebunkyss1]

they made a mad twin mount version for luftwaffe trucks and bases. is there any 151's out there...?

[@saint_alucardwarthunder759]

Is there any video of this thing firing anywhere?

[@CastilloinaSpeedo]

Anyone know of a video of these firing?

[@agiekasaputro5884]

Can someone explain why this machine gun was no longer produced and/or used after the war? I mean, MG42 was converted into MG3 during the Cold War and it's still in Bundeswehr's arsenal.

[@fatdad64able]

@Agi Ekasaputro. German army never believed in heavy machineguns in my opinion. One reason (amongst many) would have been the extra logistics (ammo) those would require. Actually Germany is famous for having created the first "general purpose machinegun" (MG34). MG42 and MG34 successfully fulfilled both roles in light (bipod) and heavy machinegun (tripod) configuration with the same caliber 7.92x57mm Mauser for Karabiner 98, MG34 and MG42. MG131 was strictly an aircraft gun and also it was fired electrically which would not have been an option for field use.

[@agiekasaputro5884]

@@fatdad64able what a shame eh? I mean, it's half the weight of M2 and Dshk 😔

[@kimjanek646]

@@agiekasaputro5884 Yeah and also half the muzzle energy. It completely sucks outside it’s intended role as fighter armament. Even as defensive gun it wasn’t great since it basically had the same ballistics as rifle caliber MGs.

[@kimjanek646]

Because it’s an aircraft MG. It was supposed to replace the obsolete 8mm MG 17. However no one mounted MGs anymore for any type of aircraft after the war since 20mm cannon and larger calibers where so much better in terms of ballistics and destruction power.

[@johnfranks]

So were the billet parts just prototypes?

[@dultra]

I'm looking for a 13mm HE inert projectile to my ammo case.

[@lucabrasi8790]

Cmon please let us see it working

[@FroggyFrog9000]

Didnt know about the electrically primed ammo - thats pretty high tech!

[@numberpirate]

Tiger 88mm were also.

[@FroggyFrog9000]

Way cool!

[@ramjb]

Most german autocannons designed for aircraft use were also electrically primed. The MG131 wasn't the only one by far. Those weapons were specifically designed to be highly efficient on synchronized mounts and relying on electrically primed ammo made them much easier to synch than with mechanic interruptors so they lost far less rate of fire when firing from synchronized mounts. There's a very good reason why weapons as the M2 50 cal or the Hispano 20mm autocannons were mounted well spaced out on the wings - so they didn't have to shoot through the propeller. Mounting weapons so far out of the wings, however, brought all the inherent problems with harmonization, vibration and convergence. German fighters just bunched most of their weapons on the cowling or inner roots maximizing concentration of fire irrespective of convergence distances. As a result of that advantage, combined with the faster rate of fire of german weapons compared with allied ones, studies of the time rated the standard Bf109G weaponry (2xcowling mounted MG131, 1xMG151/20 firing through the propeller hub) as at least equivalent in effectiveness to that of a Spitfire IX (2x50 cals, 2xhispano 20mm cannons placed in the middle of the wing). Rechlin studies proved that a Fw190 with only cowling guns and inner root cannons had a 90% effective firepower compared with a Fw190 with four cannons (as the other two were mounted in the external wings, so were also susceptible to convergence issues). Following that report most of the german fighter units using the Fw190 as a pure air superiority fighter (and not for B-17 hunting) removed their outter wing cannons to save weight, and the new Fw190D and Ta152 families were developed without those weapons at all. Their effective firepower was still rated as twice as that of a spitfire even when mounting the same number of MGs and cannons because the Fw190 setup allowed them to fire in concentrated cones of fire regardless of the distances involved, while still having superior rate of fire, while the spitfire guns lost most of their effectivity out of convergence distances. Keeping in mind that the allied weapons were heavier too, In what regards to efficiency you can't ask for much more. In fact the americans studied the MG151 and MG151/20 very closely and there was some serious intention to put the 15mm version into production to replace the M2. Even while a limited production run was built (the weapon was named T17) the plan was shelved because of the extreme logistic problems that a change of caliber would induce, mixed with the obvious problems of putting a whole new weapon in production to replace another one in the middle of a war, but it was indeed very seriously considered at the time. Those weapons were very, very, very good and advanced for their time.

[@MajorCaliber]

WHY oh why were we fighting *against* the Germans, instead of helping them defeat the real evil--USSR???

[@devintariel3769]

Major Calibere because they were waging an aggressive war against all of Europe and the Soviets would've destroyed us no matter how long it took.

[@zali13]

Imagine if these were used as defensive MGs for Stukas. Stukas were hopelessly obsolete, but having a much heavier-hitting gun protecting it from rear attacks might have saved a few Stukas. Thoughts on this?

[@visionist7]

They ended up fitting a twin 8mm gun for rear defense

[@josephstabile9154]

From D model onward, Ju-87 employed mg 81z with very high cyclic rate--~50 rps. Cyclic rate of MG 131 is 15 rps. The thinking was that mg 81z gave significantly higher probability of hits.

[@kimjanek646]

@@josephstabile9154 Your confusing RPM with RPS. Minutes, seconds.

[@kimjanek646]

The MG 131 wasn’t that great as defensive armament. It had practically the same ballistics as the 8mm MGs but the ammunition wasn’t a lot more effective. As others have said, the MG 81z mounted as defensive gun had more than three times the RoF. Defensive guns also rarely save the plane from getting shot down.

[@josephstabile9154]

@Kim Janek Thanks, those were typos on my part; that should read rps. I've edited my comments.

[@adenkyramud5005]

Even as a German I have never heard about this one... interesting stuff

[@saint_alucardwarthunder759]

I'd really like if Germany now modded that gun for modern standarts, removing electric-firing mechanism instead of using M2 Browning. I just want them to use their own weaponary, especially if it's that beautiful.

[@eternalhowl8895]

So is this is the equivalent of the fifty Cal if it was used by infantry?

[@tobiaszistler]

eternal howl to the end of the war it was used in the infantery because the luftwaffe overal was shut down soe to the lack of oil and gas so the tooked them out and used them (i think on a wheled lafett because it was quiet heavy especialy the mg151)

[@S.P.Q.R.T]

спасибо

[@supercalifeafilististicexp5513]

Hoitenflug 3 80cal. I believe

[@larrybedouin2921]

The Japanese version of the 13 mm MG 131 was the Navey Type 2. It has a firing pen and a charging handle. It did not use the electric primed ammunition as with the ridged mounts for the flexibility mounted guns. Their rate of fire was 1/3 less.

[@rozellgabriel6299]

is there a vid of this thing firing?

[@zolikoff]

I'd also like to see it fire, but unfortunately, no.

[@toniberger6005]

a late anwser but just look old vids of german planes is combat. nearly evry 109 / 190 around 42-43+ had at least 2 of these in there planes

[@lptomtom]

I wonder if there's still fireable ammunition for the gun...

[@TheOwenMajor]

at this point it would be easier and safer to make it yourself your get a custom order.

[@Joebunkyss1]

+lptomtom shells were steel.....be rusty by now.

[@clod2692]

nice video! sadly in war thunder game this gun sucks in comparision to other cannons!!

[@uberlol2228]

PowderedMonkey it depends on the plane you're shooting at

[@definitelyarussianpaidtrol1406]

+PowderedMonkey Right now the Mg131 is the SHIT!

[@Joebunkyss1]

+I AM A BIG TROLL! HEED ME OR I WILL CURSE YOU WITH SPAGHETTI AND LAUGH cant beat a 20

[@clod2692]

Scott Awaywithit why? he said the truth, compared to usa 50. cal mg 131 lacks some power that it should have

[@publiusscipio5697]

PowderMonk still does 3 years later

[@vroomkaboom108]

inb4 CoD WW2 makes this an infantry weapon

[@Joebunkyss1]

I imagine the heavey "billet" of iron that is the cover is meant to be....likley for protection from cook-offs....a thin stamping would shread. i aways thought this gun was like the mg 34 (there is never a human scale reference in the technical manuls)....but open her up and its just like the 30mm canon that was in the jets but they had a short barrel....the ammo is just like the kurz(stubbie) in an mp44....shortened down from "over kill (magnum)size".....just as effective...(nicht merh fleigen ...fur du.! ).... ( ; =

[@robertlynn540]

Du doch nicht!

[@qaz120120]

This thing would be deadly if mounted on a armoured car.

[@igor98588]

очень жаль что нет русского перевода

[@fernandogonzalez033fernand8]

Esta es de calibre más grande que el 12,7??

[@ag2938]

Ja, 13,1mm Geschoss Durchmesser, aber weniger Treibladungen in kürzerer Hülse!

[@fernandogonzalez033fernand8]

@@ag2938 hasta el día de hoy no existe ametralladora con calibre más grande que la Brownie 50

[@joycekoch5746]

Oh come on guys, you are not going to fire it so we can here and see what it can do?

[@zyzor]

Is this a cannon? Or a heavy machine gun?

[@fatdad64able]

@Zyzor: Yes.

[@zyzor]

@@fatdad64able I guess we can toss a coin to determine the nomenclature of this weapon.

[@heinersaller5374]

Its a 13mm heavy machinegun. I would say everything from 20mm is considered a machinecannon

[@Bayan1905]

As cool as the MG-131 was, it was nothing to the MG-151/20.

[@nickjohnson710]

One's a machine gun and One's a cannon!!!!! 🤷‍♂️ what a stupid comment to make 🤦‍♂️🤣

[@tiortedrootsky]

Will there ever be a video that does a good job at explaining the operating mechanism?? Not a single word about the rotating collar that locks the bolt?

[@icebobk6702]

I swear the MG-131 is a 20mm auto cannon

[@galdramadur1]

No it is not. This gun is definitely a 13 mm cannon.

[@guii_zika3163]

Icebobk i guess you confused the mg 131 with the mg 151/20?

[@numberpirate]

Irritating that the camera man kept zooming on the guys talking vs showing what their hands were doing. I have seen plenty of old men, but only one MG-131 being taken apart (or almost one whole complete one, hence my irritation with the troglodyte cameraman).

[@Christian-lf6iy]

Ohhhhh stop complaining you dense, nerdy fuck... appreciate what you just saw instead of complaining like everyone does these days. Why not be grateful that someone was willing to even make the video fuckin’ ungrateful nerd!

[@FeatherResonance]

@@Christian-lf6iy i gotta admit it seems a little absurd to be calling someone else a nerd as an insult when you clicked on an 8 minute video of two dudes talking about a 75 year old gun.

[@Clash_CT_Rocker69]

A masterpiece of design, production of this heavy machine gun. German scientists and inventors of not only weapons, but also internal combustion engines, rockets, aircraft like the Ho229 and in the fields of chemistry and medicine are world famous as brilliant scientists, top designers and advanced weapons manufacturers, until the moment of capitulation in 1945, when Germany ended up as occupied country. The USA/UK and CCCP used an occupation of Germany for their "hunt on German scientists" who were forced to produce advanced weapon systems for USA/UK and CCCP. France was there, also. All this was accompanied by the mainly France and British imposition of collective guilt on all post-war generations of Germans. And this collective brainwashing of Germans continues by British in every series on all History, National Geographic and other similar TV channels.

[@tiortedrootsky]

Hey everybody! Whe've got ourselves a nazi here! ^^

[@user-gh9ez5vk4v]

Senkq God wideo. Not Ykreinian subtitres.

[@markelalagoz8481]

Pro-German channel?How about excellent Russian equipment.J would appreciate that

[@galdramadur1]

If you want to see russian crap go to the pro russian channel.

[@fatdad64able]

@@galdramadur1 congrats to this excellent reply. ^^

[@amelie-anngagnon3222]

Dont need cnc when you german