Feldl gun

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Scheme drawing without magazines

The Feldl gun was a four-barreled repeating gun (contemporary Kartätschgeschütz ) and thus a forerunner of the machine gun . The gun was used by the Bavarian Army in the Franco-German War (1870/71). A large crank wheel which had to be turned by hand was used for loading and firing . Due to technical problems and insufficient tactical capabilities, it was soon retired.

Development and production

The engineer Johann Feldl from Forsthart had developed a four-barrel bolt-action gun in 1867/68 and submitted the plans to Maschinenfabrik Augsburg (now MAN ). After various attempts at shelling, which uncovered excessive lead-in of the barrel, the examination committee recommended changing the barrel of the newly introduced Werder M / 1869 rifle , which was supplied by the Amberg rifle factory .

Eight guns were manufactured in the Augsburg engineering works for the Bavarian Army in October 1870 and distributed to the two Bavarian Army Corps in two batteries of four each. With more guns produced, the number per battery increased to six.

Austria had tried out the Feldl gun, along with the Gatling Gun and the Mitrailleuse , but in the autumn of 1870 decided on the Montigny Mitrailleuse.

technology

The four parallel, adjacent barrels were almost identical to the barrels of the Werder rifle, but had a greater wall thickness in order to better withstand the heat development. The same cartridges in caliber 11 × 50 mm R were used, which accelerated a 22 g bullet to a muzzle velocity of 420 m / s and had an effective range of 1500 m. The cartridge's propellant charge was black powder . A recoil was practically imperceptible.

Technically, up to 400 shots could be fired per minute, but in practice 300 shots were the ultimate rate of fire . The firing man had to make 150 revolutions of the crank wheel per minute, which meant greater physical exertion. The high rate of fire could not be sustained for long in practice, as the powder smoke prevented the shooter from seeing. While the powder smoke dissipated during reloading with ordinary guns, the continuous firing of the Feldl gun constantly renewed the cloud of smoke.

The four tubes are fastened to a base plate and their rear end protrudes into the housing with the loading and launching mechanism. This mechanism is made of steel and bronze manufactured and is in a housing made of brass housed. On the top of the housing there are holders for the magazines, which were inserted vertically. The drive of the loading and firing mechanism was a hand crank, which was located on the left side of the weapon and was turned by a standing soldier. The shooter, on the other hand, sat on a folding seat which was attached to the mount . He had to lean to the right to correct the target range ( ballistics ) using the sight mounted on the right of the weapon . At the rear there were four slides to disengage the loading mechanism per tube. This was necessary if a cartridge had jammed in the loading mechanism. In this way, the other pipes could continue to fire. Another lever on the back was used to interrupt the discharge of the shot. The shooter could use a crank for the vertical direction and a hand wheel for the lateral direction. The lateral direction allowed the weapon to be pivoted up to 28 ° to both sides on the stationary mount. The visor was adjustable up to 1500 m. During training , a collection box for the ejected cartridge cases could be attached below the weapon .

41 cartridges were stacked horizontally in simple magazines ; the magazine did not have a spring that pushed the cartridges out, but was based solely on the weight of the cartridges. The magazines had to be full before they were inserted into the weapon, otherwise there was a risk that the cartridges could stand up in the magazine. A spring-held flap prevented the cartridges from falling out. Only when the magazine was inserted into the magazine receiver was the flap pushed open and the cartridges released. These slipped into the feeder under their own weight. The gun could be loaded with a maximum of 328 cartridges in 8 magazines, of which 2 magazines per barrel. Since the left magazine of each barrel was only used after the right one had released all cartridges, a continuous exchange of the magazines was possible while firing and thus real sustained fire .

By operating the hand crank, the chronological sequence of the locking mechanism was controlled via four eccentric bodies and a system of toggle levers . Each barrel had its own ammunition feeder and locking mechanism. While the breechblock was withdrawn and the empty case withdrawn, the percussion hammer tightened and was held in place until the bolt, sliding forward again, inserted the cartridge into the cartridge chamber. Then the hammer hit the firing pin and this ignited the cartridge's propellant charge. The mechanism works in the chronological order that one barrel was opened, the second loaded, the third closed and the fourth fired. The gun fired one shot for every half turn of the crank handle.

The actual weapon was carried by a wheel mount . The large and light wheels resembled wheels on contemporary agricultural implements.

The Feldl gun weighed 490 kg with empty limber ; fully ammunitioned and with equipment 658 kg. Of 6,864 rounds, 2,624 were packed in magazines and thus ready to fire, the remaining number serves as a reserve to fill up the magazines. The gun was pulled by 4 horses . Each gun was accompanied by two ammunition wagons. These were captured in the battle of Wörth (August 1870) and were also drawn by 4 horses. Each ammunition wagon weighed 1,660 kg with ammunition. The ammunition wagon was equipped with 16,016 rounds, 3,936 of which were packed in magazines.

service

The full crew consisted of 6 men, 2 of them directly on the gun. The gunner was responsible for aiming while another soldier turned the hand crank. In principle, the gun could also be operated by a man, but with a reduced rate of fire. Two other soldiers left the task of supplying the gun with full magazines and their refilling, the other two served as reserves.

commitment

The first battery arrived in the first days of October 1870 at the I. Royal Bavarian Army Corps and was used in the battle at Artenay on October 10 and the occupation of Orléans on October 11. As long as the Army Corps was on the offensive , the guns were kept in readiness most of the time. Because of their short range compared to normal guns, they could not be used like artillery. They could not be used on the offensive to support the infantry either, as it was impossible to drive 4 horses into the opposing infantry fire and to set up the position under fire . Only at Artenay was it possible to bring a Feldl gun into the exit of a village that had just been evacuated and shoot at the retreating French. This happened without any imperative tactical necessity, but rather to use the new weapon in combat. About 300 rounds were fired.

The first real use took place in the battle of Coulmiers on November 9th, 1870. In contrast to the previous offensive, the Bavarian Army Corps went on the defensive here. Coulmiers had to be given up. A battalion of infantry and a Feldl gun battery were left in the village to hold it as possible to delay the French attack and thus cover the retreat of the Bavarian Army Corps. The guns were somewhat covered by hedges and houses. The outnumbered enemy was delayed for two hours. Advancing enemy detachments were thrown back three times and a gun battery was also forced to change its position. The Feldl gun first proved its usefulness. When the battery was fired on in both flanks , however, it had to change its position. Due to the vibrations caused by the movement of the guns, cartridges positioned themselves in the loading mechanism and jammed it. Of the 16 barrels of the battery, 13 stuck and could only be repaired after the battle. It became clear that the gun was technically not yet fully developed. The weapon would have had to be emptied or completely unloaded before the position change, but this was unrealistic in battle. A total of around 750 rounds were fired.

At the request of the General Staff, Johann Feldl inspected the guns on site near Paris from November 28 to December 29, 1870 . He criticized their poor state of maintenance , which resulted from inadequate training of the operating teams. The cartridge dimensions were out of tolerance and so the ejector could not work properly. He also found that the magazines were too delicate to handle in combat. The General Staff decided that the weapon was not reliable enough and therefore withdrew it from active service. The realization that the cost of the Feldl gun was in no relation to the benefit prevailed.

Further use

After the war, the 14 Feldl guns were handed over to the Ingolstadt state fortress , but were replaced by field guns as early as 1875 . The reason was the conversion of the infantry armament to the unified Mauser model 71 with its new cartridge. Except for one, the guns were mainly sold abroad. One was discovered by a German major in the arsenal in Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and repaired, but no longer used. This copy was taken back by the expedition troops to the German Reich.

One copy is now in the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Bavarian History in Regensburg .

Comparison with the French mitrailleuse

Reffye mitrailleuse

A weapon comparable to the Feldl gun was the French Reffye mitrailleuse , which was also used in the Franco-German War. The heavier mitrailleuse used larger cartridges with a greater range of 2500 m. As a result, the mitrailleuse was assigned more to the artillery, while the Feldl gun using infantry caliber with a shorter range was viewed more as a companion to the infantry.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Government Gazette for the Kingdom of Bavaria , 1870, p. 600 [1]
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Michel Bourget: Les mitrailleuses bavaroises Feldl in Gazette des Armes , No. 430, April 2011 [2]
  3. ^ A b Deutsches Waffen-Journal Extra Volume 9 - Maschinenwaffen I , ISSN  1610-7039
  4. ↑ a b Bernhard von Poten : Concise Dictionary of the Complete Military Sciences, Volume 5 , 1878, Velhagen & Klasing , p. 141 [3]
  5. ^ The first Austrian Mitrailleur battery , in: Streffleurs military magazine, Volume 3 , Verlag Ludwig Wilhelm Seidel , 1871, p. 46 [4]
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Hermann Graf Thürheim: Mitrailleusen and their achievements in the campaign 1870-1871 in Streffleur's Austrian military magazine , volume 12, issues 3-4, RV Waldheim, 1871, pp. 237-257 [5]
  7. ↑ a b c d Bernhard von Poten : Concise Dictionary of All Military Sciences, Volume 3 , 1877, Velhagen & Klasing , p. 217 [6]
  8. ^ A b c d e Georg Ortenburg: Weapons of the Wars of Unification 1848-1871 , Bechtermünz, 2005, original 1990, ISBN 3828905218 , p. 96
  9. ↑ HDBG Magazin No. 2 - Der Museumführer , ISBN 978-3-937974-45-3 , p. 38