Encyclopedia - Schwarzlose Gun
Used by the Austro-Hungarian army,
the 1912 Schwarzlose M7/12 8mm remained the former's standard machine gun for the duration of
the war.
Developed in Austria by the German Andreas Wilhelm Schwarzlose the weapon, which weighed 24kg (44kg with its mounting) and was water cooled, possessed a relatively short barrel. It was fed via a 250-round magazine fabric belt which could fire up to 520 rounds per minute, although rather less in practice.
An adapted version of the device was deployed by the Austro-Hungarian air service, although it proved markedly inferior to the British Lewis and Vickers equivalents; indeed it wasn't until 1917 that the Schwarzlose was belatedly modified for use with aircraft interrupter equipment.
The Schwarzlose was also used on an ad hoc basis by both the Italian and Russian armies - from captured supplies of the Austro-Hungarian weapon.
Battle Police were military policemen deployed behind an attack to intercept stragglers.
- Did you know?
