Reloading Guns

John McKenzie · 27 June 2009, 09:07 AM

Hi Bob....It would be only maybe under a minute depending on ..Pilot or observer and position in aircraft.......Once the gun is accessed (ie by pulling down on Foster mount or whatever ..for pilot )..To remove old drum..Press in the thumb latch on RH side atop the drum whilest holding the leather handle , and simply lift it upwards off its spiggot.....Store...Take new one from rack( or wherever )..With the afore mentioned thumb latch pressed in ,and holding it as before by the strap , place over the spiggot and allow to drop down fully and release thumb catch.....Job done.....and back to flying the 'plane from whatever attitude it got into when the previous opperation was taking place.......

..Regards..John.

Dave_Watts · 27 June 2009, 11:35 PM

Hi Dave83,

I'm not certain about all guns, but the Germans did not try to collect the fired empty cartridge casings at all, they simply went into the slipstream and away. This makes me recall Herman Goring and his utilization of deflectors on all of his Fokker fighters to prevent empties from hitting him in his "precious/handsome" face.

Best,
Dave W.

P.S. I have to say to all, I know and have corresponded with John McKenzie many years ago and his aircraft guns are nothing short of works of art! He used to make them for sale and one would not be able to tell the difference from the real thing. As I recall John had a couple of small things he did so as to not allow the gun to really shoot, but they are suberb "replicas", (and all metal)! Again, congratulations John!

John McKenzie · 28 June 2009, 04:09 AM

Hi Dave...Been a long time.....Thanks for that great testimonial especially from you , the recognised expert on these MG's.....One point that has occured to me recently , that you may be able to explain is this.....Respect to DrI,DVII.etc...Where the empty belt shoot is only big enough for use of (?40mm) Parambellum type narrow belt......Why , (when presumably it would have been better from opperation of MG ref.,feed block ,and storeing live belt etc,. )..did they not make the "used belt" shoot big enough for the wider(including indexing fingers ) standard 08 belt in the first place.?....Just wondering , is it possible that the small exit shoot was deseigned for disintigrating links initial..and for some reason , these were not taken-up or were opperationaly unsucessful....this then leading to subsequent "fix" of using the widely seen Parambellum belt.?......Also , was there some form of tensioning applied to the belt after the shoot tube exit , to prevent the used belt from"concertinaring " up and jamming inside the tube.?...(this seems to have been necessary with the Vickers..SPAD & Nieuports &Sop Pup)

.....Best Regards ..John.

Dave83 · 28 June 2009, 04:22 AM

Hello i read also that a two rivet belt was used for the Spandaus but i have never seen such a two rivet belt in a museum or in the net there are no belts existing till now or what can be the reason for that ??
I only know the tree rivet belt with the spacer fingers that the bullets in the ammo box not change the possition during transport to reduce mal functions when firing like for the ground MG 08 or MG08/15

Anyone any opinions of that ??

Regrads David

WolfOfBadenoch · 29 June 2009, 05:24 AM

John, thanks for posting these great photographs. Being a bit of a Spandau fan myself, would you mind posting any other photos of the lMG08/15 that you may have stashed away ? Thanks very much !

John McKenzie · 29 June 2009, 06:13 AM

Hi there WolfOfBadenoch...Alex....Here is all I could come up with..The photos are approx. 30 year old technology...and not the best even then..but its the best I can do.....REMEMBER......These are NOT real guns , and the accuracy is only as seen......Hope this is of some use to you....Regards..John.

John McKenzie · 29 June 2009, 06:22 AM

John McKenzie · 29 June 2009, 06:25 AM

John McKenzie · 29 June 2009, 06:28 AM

Bob_Mackenzie · 29 June 2009, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John McKenzie

Hi Bob....It would be only maybe under a minute depending on ..Pilot or observer and position in aircraft.......Once the gun is accessed (ie by pulling down on Foster mount or whatever ..for pilot )..To remove old drum..Press in the thumb latch on RH side atop the drum whilest holding the leather handle , and simply lift it upwards off its spiggot.....Store...Take new one from rack( or wherever )..With the afore mentioned thumb latch pressed in ,and holding it as before by the strap , place over the spiggot and allow to drop down fully and release thumb catch.....Job done.....and back to flying the 'plane from whatever attitude it got into when the previous opperation was taking place.......

..Regards..John.

Thanks John

1 minute seems an awful long time in a dogfight....

Cheers

Bob