MG 131 machine gun

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MG 131

Maschinengewehr 131
Type Heavy machine gun
Place of origin Germany
Service history
In service 1940 – 1945
Used by Germany
Wars World War II
Production history
Designed 1938
Manufacturer Rheinmetall-Borsig
Produced 1940 – 1945
Specifications
Weight 16.6 kg
Length 1.17 m
Barrel length 1,140 mm (44⅞ in)
Cartridge 13 mm
Caliber 13 mm
Action Recoil-operated; short recoil
Rate of fire 900 round/min
Muzzle velocity 750 m/s
Effective range 1,800 m (2,200 yd)
Feed system Belt-fed

The MG 131 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 131, or "Machine rifle 131") was a 13 mm machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. The MG 131 was designed for use at fixed or flexible, single or twin mountings in Luftwaffe aircraft during World War II, and could be considered to be the Luftwaffe's rough equivalent of the M2 Browning machine gun.

It was installed in the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Me 410 Hornisse, Fw 190, Ju 88, He 177 Greif bomber, and many other aircraft.

The MG 131 fired electrically primed ammunition in order to sustain a high rate of fire when shooting through the propeller disk of a single-engined fighter. A pair of MG 131 machine guns was used as cowl armament on later models of the Bf 109G (which originally required one blister or Beule on each side of the fuselage, flanking the upper rear end of the engine, to house the larger breech of the new gun) and the Fw 190.

  • Weight : 16.6 kg
  • Length : 1.17 m
  • Muzzle velocity : ~ 750 m/s
  • Rate of fire : ~ 900 rounds per minute
  • 13 mm APT 710 m/s, projectile mass 38.5 g, muzzle energy 9700 joules
  • 13 mm API 710 m/s, projectile mass 38 g, muzzle energy 9580 joules
  • 13 mm HEI-t with 1.4 g PETN + 0.3 g thermite 750 m/s, projectile mass 34 g, muzzle energy 9560 joules


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