POTD: Germany’s Early Semi-Automatic Rifle – Mauser Selbstlader M1916
Sam.S 07.22.24
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! World War I gave birth to Mauser Selbstlader M1916 also known as M1915, an automatic German rifle. It was designed by Paul Mauser and it was a refinement of 06/08 and 10/13 models. The Selbstlader M1916 used a recoil-operated tilting bolt lock system with a rectangular cam on the side of the barrel extension which acted against the flapper. The magazine was detachable and had a capacity of 25 rounds; its release button was housed behind the trigger guard something that made it unique when compared to other rifles of its kind. While this model had been rejected by the German Army, Fliegerkarabiner 15 became very popular among their Air Corps and Ballon-und-Zeppelin-Truppe who adopted them first. This resulted in approximately 600 units being manufactured consisting of one-third rifles and two-thirds carbines. Each rifle came packed with eight magazines with a total ammunition capacity of up to eight hundred rounds made of standard seven-point nine-by-fifty-seven millimeter Mauser bullets. Nevertheless, a carbine version would have a short fore-end and barrel as well as a small front grip, unlike the rifle type. Even so, lack of reliability under field conditions meant that M1916 could not be used for long periods before it was replaced by aircraft-mounted machine guns.
“Originally conceived to be a weapon used aloft for aircrews, both balloon crews and airplanes, it is purported that recoil was punishing and the arms were not popular and were quickly replaced by the Mondragon rifles. It’s unique flapper-locking mechanism was designed by Paul Mauser himself, it is indeed fairly complex on the interior with all the machining very beautifully done. Included is a reprint of the original manual, in German of course. It is purported that only about a thousand of these interesting and semi-complex rifles were manufactured”
Extremely Rare German M1915/16 Flieger Karabiner. (n.d.). Amoskeag Auction. photograph. Retrieved July 22, 2024, from https://live.amoskeagauction.com/lot-details/index/catalog/87/lot/48292/Extremely-Rare-German-M1915-16-Flieger-Karabiner.
