Bergmann MG 15nA machine gun The Bergmann MG15 was the World War I production version of a prototype machine gun designed in 1910 . It should not be confused with the similarly designated Rheinmetall MG - 15 , which was a completely different weapon , whose nomenclature is often confused with the Bergmann because of the naming conventions of the Weimar Republic . The two weapons are completely unrelated . The Bergmann MG - 15 fired from 250 , 200 , or 100 round disintegrating metal - linked belts , a first for a light machine gun . The crank - loaded " Kurbel drum " that held a 100 - round linked belt could be fitted to the side of the weapon ' s receiver with a mounting bracket . Design and Development . The Bergmann gun used a lock system patented by Theodor Bergmann in 1901 along with the short recoil principle of operation . The locking system , in which a cam moves a lock vertically in the weapon was not dissimilar to the Browning machine gun designs . The original design , borrowing from the 1910 pattern , was a heavy ground - based weapon fitted with a water - cooling jacket . The weapon was then lightened for both infantry and aircraft use . For aircraft usage , the bolt was lightened and the mechanism sped up from 500 rounds per minute to 800 . For ground use , this weapon was adopted as the Bergmann MG - 15 . The receiver to the weapon was machined down and lightened , featured a butt stock fitted to the end of the weapon . It was given a pistol grip and trigger grouping instead of spade - grips , the heavy cooling jacket was replaced with a thin perforated barrel - shroud and an affixed bipod halfway down the barrel . The major development of the weapon came early in 1916 when the Bergmann MG - 15 was converted into a second variation to mirror the development of the Maxim MG 08 / 15 . The bolt was slowed back down as the original had stoppage issues when used in the ground role . The bipod was removed from the flimsy barrel - shroud and relocated to just forward of the pistol grip using a swivel - mount that accepted the bipod shared between the Bergmann and Maxim guns . A carry handle and new sights were also added . When this variation was adopted , it was called the Bergmann MG - 15nA , the nA standing for " neuer Art " ( " new Model " ) . The old pattern was then renamed the Bergmann MG - 15aA from " alter Art " ( " old Model " ) . The MG - 15nA saw a much larger dispersion amongst the Imperial German forces than the MG - 15aA . Service use . Battlefield usage of the weapon was significant , but not to the extent of the Maxim weapons . The Bergmann MG - 15nA was an important weapon in that it filled a gap in the German armory between the rifle and the heavy machine gun . The only other light machine gun the Imperial German Army fielded before the Bergmann was adopted were the various Madsen light machine guns used by the " Musketen " battalions . In the Battle of the Somme , the German Army found that they desperately needed a weapon to counter the British Army ' s Lewis Gun . The limited quantities of the Madsen gun ( Germany did not produce any Madsens in the First World War and relied almost entirely on captured weaponry ) only added to the need for a contemporary to the Lewis . The German Army , reeling from the Battle of the Somme , ordered some 6 , 000 MG - 15nAs in November 1916 . These weapons were distributed to Musketen and other infantry battalions before enough troops could be trained upon the new MG - 08 / 15 in the winter / spring of 1917 . The majority of MG - 15nA weapons were actually delivered to the Eastern and Palestine fronts where the German Asia Korps made the most significant use of the gun . The German " Leichtmaschinengewehr Truppen " ( referred to as LMGt for short ) were formed specifically for the weapon . The MG15Na was a generally reliable gun which served until the manufacture of automatic weaponry was ceased in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles , but the dominance of the Maxim ' 08 during the war meant it never acquired much enthusiasm from military officials . The weapon had faded into obscurity by the time the Second World War came about .