Parabellum MG14

The Parabellum MG14 was a 7.92 mm caliber World War I machine gun built by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken. It was an adaptation of their Maschinengewehr 08 gun intended for use on aircraft and zeppelins. The MG08's belt-style ammunition feed was enclosed in a drum, the recoil casing was lightened, and the cooling jacket was modified for air- instead of water-cooling. The rate of fire was 700 rounds/minute.

The MG14 first appeared in 1914, but was rendered largely obsolete the following year with the introduction of the gun synchroniser which allowed pilots to fire between their aircraft's propeller blades. The MG14 was tried with the Fokker "Zentralsteuerung" synchronizer on the Fokker E.I pre-production prototypes, but the gun's reliability in this installation, even though its closed bolt firing cycle was a desirable feature for synchronisation, eventually proved to be unsatisfactory, but continued in service in applications where a synchroniser was unnecessary, such as armament for observers in reconnaissance aircraft, or defensive gunners aboard Zeppelins.

References

* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/mgun_parabellum.htm First World War.com]