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U.S. Navy. Via Francillon (1979)
| Ammunition |
7.92 x 57 with AP, API, and HEI rounds |
| Projectile
weight |
0.41 ounce (AP) 11.5 g (AP) |
| Velocity | 2460 feet per second 750 meters per secod |
| Range | 1970 feet 600 meters |
| Rate of
fire |
1100 rounds per minute |
| Weight |
15.9 lbs 7.2 kg |
| Gun power |
18 |
The Type 98 machine gun was used as a flexible weapon on Japanese aircraft throughout
the war. It was based on the German
MG 15, which in turn was based on the Rheinmetall MG 30 light
machine gun. It had a short recoil mechanism and was fed from saddle
drum magazines containing 75 rounds. It was one of the few aerial gun designs
used by both the Army and Navy (the Navy version being the Type 1.)
The Japanese originally intended to manufacture the fixed version of the MG 15, the MG 17, as well. However, they were unable to produce springs for the gun that could reliably maintain a long burst, a fault that was tolerable in a flexible weapon but not in a fixed weapon.
The large object below the action in the photograph is an empty case catcher, a common feature of Japanese aerial machine guns.
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The Pacific War
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Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2013 by Kent G. Budge. Index
