It was only in the postwar period that the Allies became aware of the weapon (which had been locked by Germany until 1921), and they quickly took samples and tested them extensively in their respective countries. This continued until the end of the year, although the war ended in mid-November with Germany on the losing side. The tests overwhelmed German authorities, who optimistically called for several thousand copies in the first batch. The first usable prototype of the Gast Gun appeared in mid-1917, and development continued until official testing began in early 1918. Patents covering the operation of Gast-Gun were issued in 19, as nothing like it had ever been observed. Muzzle velocity is rated at 3,100 feet per second, and effective range is up to 2,000 yards. This machine gun has a rate of fire of 1,600 rounds per minute - more than double that of the MG14. To simplify handling, the shooter used a single trigger mechanism (closer to a traditional pistol grip), and the wooden shoulder rest was hollowed out to save weight. The drum was mounted vertically on the side of the gun. To meet the rapid depletion of ammunition, each barrel was fed by its own magazine containing 180 to 192 rounds of ready-to-fire 7.92mm rounds (the same as those used by German riflemen). Recoil operation allows the movement of one of the barrels to sequentially power the feeding system of the other barrel, which allows the gun to fire bullets quickly. The Gast Gun solves the problem of high rate of fire by offering a dual side-by-side barrel arrangement. This requirement was addressed to some extent by developing one of the most unique weapons of the First World War - the "Guest Machine Gun Model 1917" - or "Guest Gun".Ĭarl Gast (as part of the Vorwerk company) began the design work in secret in 1915, and his creation was just one of several projects being considered by the Luftwaffe at the time. As useful as the gun was, the Germans were looking for a new gun with a higher rate of fire, as the MG14 could only fire 600-700 rounds per minute. It was essentially the classic water-cooled Maxim 1908, further developed by the air-cooled MG08 and felt throughout the conflict, while the MG08 was primarily used as a fixed battery on the nose of many aircraft. The Parabellum MG14 air-cooled machine gun in the 8x57mm IS was the standard machine gun used on trainable mounts on German aircraft of the First World War (1914-1918). History of Gast Machine Gun Model 1917 (Guest Gun) 2 Gast Machine Gun Model 1917 (Gast Gun) Specification.1 History of Gast Machine Gun Model 1917 (Guest Gun).
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