We are remaining in the same period of the Great War for our third post in the series of ‘MACHINE GUNS OF WWI & WWII’. However, we are taking to the air to present one of the first aerial machine guns and certainly one of the most iconic ones from the German side, the ‘luftgekühlt Maschinen Gewehr 08/15’ (air-cooled machine gun 08/15), or lMG 08/15. Read on for another LSB journey in firearms history…

The American Sir Hiram Maxim, who was born in Maine in 1840, was an inventor of early electric devices with tens of patents, including a light bulb which preceded Edison’s. He was so prolific that industry could not match the pace of his inventions. In 1880 Maxim moved to London. It is there that on hearing an acquaintance saying “there is always a war in Europe” that he conceived the idea for a new weapon which would change the world. By 1884 he had already submitted a patent to develop a gas recoil activated, spring assisted mechanism that would automatically load, fire, eject and repeat without any additional assistance, to attain a rate of 600 rounds per minute.

Soon after, Maxim established the Maxim Gun Company with financial support from Albert Vickers, who became company Chairman, to open a factory in Hatton Garden, London. A Swedish competitor named Nordenfelt joined forces and the company become the Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company, which was later absorbed into the Vickers company. This was the birth of the water-cooled Maxim-Vickers gun, which was later known as the Vickers with some modification.

In 1889, the German Rifle Commission tested the Maxim gun at Zorndorf. The Ludwig Loewe company began producing the Maxim Gun in Berlin, after it signed a seven-year contract with Hiram Maxim. It was the Imperial German Navy which placed the first order for German-made Maxim guns in 1894. In 1896, Loewe founded a new subsidiary, the Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM), to handle production. Orders for the new gun came pouring in from Argentina, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Switzerland. Some of these nations would later go on to produce their own versions of the Maxim. In 1908, DWM’s 7.92x57mm Maxim gun was officially adopted by the German Army as the ‘Maschinen Gewehr 08’, or MG 08, which when mounted on its distinctive sled mount became the undisputed master of the battlefield in WWI.

Aircraft first made their debut in the Great War, mainly for observation purposes. When enemy aircraft met in the air, their crew would take pot shots at each other with their pistols, and later with specially designed carbines. It was soon realised that a new weapon was required, one which had a high rate of automatic fire. The fighter plane had come of age, as the belligerent countries mounted their ground machine guns on their aircraft. However, it was quite impossible to mount a water-cooled machine gun. 

The earliest fixed guns in German aircraft were MG 08 that had been converted to air-cooled guns by turning the water jacket into a perforated barrel jacket and fixing an ingenious mechanism which was synchronised with the propeller to fire through it. These works were carried out at the Spandau Arsenal, which name remained associated with German aerial machine guns. 

In 1915, the German Army adopted the lighter, bipod mounted Machinen Gewehr 08/15, or MG 08/15. This was meant to give greater mobility to the infantry. The idea was soon taken up for aerial use, and developed as the ‘luftgekühlt Maschinen Gewehr 08/15’, or lMG 08/15. The diameter of the perforated cooling jacket was reduced to 92.5mm. The lMG 08/15 and the earlier lMG 08 were always fixed forward-aimed in dual mounts on German single-seat fighter aircraft. They were first mounted on the Albatros D.I and D.II fighters in late 1916, and singly on German armed two-seat observation aircraft for synchronized forward-firing armament. An ammunition counter was occasionally fitted to the rear of the guns, allowing the pilot to know how much ammunition was left to fire. Later, guns were fitted with a Klingstrom device on the right side of the receiver, which allowed the gun to be cocked and loaded from the cockpit with one hand. 

Although more than 23,000 examples of the lMG 08/15 were produced during WWI, hardly any survive today. Apart from those that were lost in aerial combat, what remained was destroyed along with the aircraft after 1918 when Germany was forced to do so by the Allies. The ones which survive today are generally trophies captured by the Allies. These guns are missing even from the most advanced collections. 

The extremely rare example that we are offering today was made by the Gewehr Fabrik in Erfurt in 1918. The fuzee spring cover bears the factory logo. This is seldom seen on lMG08/15. All components have the same serial number, except for the bolt assembly. The top cover is missing, possibly from the result of the aircraft crashing down to the ground. The gun is in full working order and it retains most of the original blued finish. Interestingly, there is a splash of old red paint on the rear of the jacket close to where the gun would have been mounted on the aircraft. LSB is proud to be offering the holy grail of German machine guns.

While our photos are as detailed as possible and do not hide any flaws, you have the option of examining the firearm physically, by appointment. Do not take any risks with overseas online auctions when you have the chance of knowing what you are buying. LSB’s knowledge and experience in historical firearms assures you of a good investment. We offer a lifetime guarantee on the genuineness of the pieces in our vast inventory so that you may buy in full confidence. This article is also featured on our Facebook Page.

If you wish to own this rare and interesting firearm, please send us a private message or phone us on 99471091. It will be reserved for the first client who pays a deposit by Mobile or Online bank transfer. Police applications will be filled in after we receive the deposit and a scan/photo of the client's 2020 Collector Licence A Special.

We take great pleasure in bringing you these daily snippets of firearms history and we hope that you enjoy reading them.