Arms, Armor and Militaria

7.92x57mm. 18.7" barrel length. SN: 021094. Blued metal finish with gray barrel shroud mounted in a World War II German Lagerfugel, or aircraft ball mount. Deactivated short-recoil operated muzzle boosted belt-fed machine gun intended for aircraft service. Cover assembly shows model marking MG 81 followed by the serial number and byf factory code indicating it was manufactured by Mauser-Werke. Item additionally shows an applied painted rack number of 80 with two illegible digits following. Empty belt guide struck with an R initial above a {Droop Wing Eagle} with additional nonmatching serial of 602. Further {Droop Wing Eagle} mark visible on rear cover assembly. Ball mount marked LK 140/81/FI203694 in addition to Eagle stamps, a Luftwaffe mark, BAI/28 mark, and {B in shield} mark. Item has been deactivated by welding a plug into the feed ramp. It is also incomplete, and lacks the bolt, return spring, firing pin spring, pistol grip, sights, etc.. The cocking handle is frozen due to the welding. Item fitted for right hand feed.

Designed to replace the magazine-fed MG 15 machine gun, the MG 81 was developed by Mauser using the successful MG 34 as its basis, but in a more compact mounting required by the internals of an aircraft. It served in a wide variety of aircraft throughout the war, and was even pressed into service as a ground-based machine gun in the hands of Luftwaffe personnel in the last stages of World War II. With a cyclic rate of fire of between 1,400 and 1,600, this machine gun distributed ammunition even faster than the famed MG 42. {NFA-Class III}