The MG13 was an air-cooled machine gun. In order to prevent excessive overheating, the gun was supplied with a spare barrel. The problems with overheating of a magazine-fed machine gun are that either this could lead to the transfer of heat, which would result in the premature detonation of the rounds it contained; or the barrel could begin to melt and thus sag under its own weight. Whichever eventuality, this needed to be prevented as it would lead to the destruction of the gun and serious injury to the crew. Because of these potential issues, the MG13 was designed with the provision for changing the hot barrel for the cooler spare. In order to transport the spare barrel in the combat zone, while protecting it from ingress of dirt, the Germans issued a steel tube with a carrying strap as shown here.
Blank Fire Adaptor.
Recoil-operated machine guns, those which function by using the kinetic energy produced from the discharge of the fired round, rely on firing actual bulleted rounds in order to work. When using the machine gun for field exercises, it is not always practical to discharge live rounds for fear of potential accidents. So in order to facilitate the use of the gun, a blank fire adaptor was fitted. This had the effect of compressing the gases produced in order to replicate the pressure generated by firing a live round.
The MG13 had a theoretical rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute (this assumes an unlimited supply of rounds cycling, without any stoppage). However, as with all machine guns, a constant supply of ammunition was essential. As with the spare barrel, it was necessary to transport the spare magazines while simultaneously protecting them from the ingress of dirt. The box shown here was the standard method for the transportation of 8 magazines.
Combination Spanner.
The designers of the MG13 reduced the number of size variants for the nuts on the gun to two. Thus it was issued with this double-headed spanner, with which any adjustments could easily be made by the gunner. This set a standard and was also issued for the MG34.
Oil Can.
Part of the gunner's tool kit, the oil can was used for the lubrication of the gun.
Burst Case Extraction Tool.
Designed to be used by the gunner for the removal, from the breech of the gun,of any cases which may fail due to weaknesses in the brass.
Spare Barrel for the MG13. Similar in style to the earlier MG08, it is long (thus offering a potential degree of accuracy not required in a machine gun) and relatively light wieght in terms of construction. Pronlonged firing could prove an issue, this design being potentially better suited for use in a water cooled gun. Below, close detail of the proof stamps.
To view the sustained fire kit click here.