Mg15 St61

[Fritz Witt]

Hi,

Does anybody knows the production numbers of the Fl MG 15 ? Any idea out there what the "ST 61" stamp on some receivers means ?

Thanks !

[Fritz Witt]

Common guys ! No idea out there ?????

[StevenO]

Mg 15

Hello Fritz,

I have a ground dur MG15 but it is to far gone to be any help for you, and I do not have any idea what the numbers stand for.

Good luck
Steven

[Frank Schneider]

This is what I found on:

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/davin...ca_weapons.htm

"Official number of MG 15 was 17,648 on 01/07/1944; it is unknown how many of these had been already converted to ground use."

I do not know however where these numbers are based upon.

Frank.

[Frank De Smedt]

Frank,

I was checking a French book witch is also mentioning 17648 MG 15's who were available on 06/01/1944. If we know the exact number of MG 15's who were exported and the number of planes carrying MG15's who were shot down, than we have an almost correct estimation of the number of MG's made.
The ST 61 on some MG 15's would be a sign for exported examples from the Reinmetal firm.

Regards,

FRANK

[Fritz Witt]

Hi all,


Thanks a lot for your infos !

[Frank Schneider]

Frank,

I was checking a French book witch is also mentioning 17648 MG 15's who were available on 06/01/1944. If we know the exact number of MG 15's who were exported and the number of planes carrying MG15's who were shot down, than we have an almost correct estimation of the number of MG's made.
The ST 61 on some MG 15's would be a sign for exported examples from the Reinmetal firm.

Regards,

FRANK

Frank,

a lot of "ifs" and "whens" on this. Number of planes up to 01/06/1944 that crashed - but they could have crashed within German-held territory, so were (partly) salvaged. Number of guns per type of aircraft would vary as well, so you would need to know not only the numbers but also the types that crashed. Tough one. I am in favour of accepting the given number.

Frank.

PS: aangezien je uit het mooie Belgische komt, ga je naar Ciney?

[Frank De Smedt]

Hey Frank,

There's a little chance I go to Ciney.
Are you?
Next week I'm going to Luzern in CH.

Reagrds,

FRANK

[762x51]

The ST61 is a water-cooled version of the MG15 and they were apparently made by Germany for Romania under a military assistance program. Here is a photo of a ST61 dummy gun built on a 80% receiver that I made.



And this is a MG15 with the ground bipod adapter:



Here is a copy of the inventory list from a Romanian ST61 transit chest:



The Translation ("American" English):

Rhm. ST 61/56 Machine Gun Inventory – Crate #1

1. Transit Case
2. The Machine Gun

Accessories

3. Spare Barrel
4. Cleaning Rod
5. Magazine
6. Oil Pump
7. Cleaning Patches
8. Bipod
9. Asbestos Cord
10. Leather O-Rings
11. Shoulder Stock
12. Carrying Handle
13. Grease Container
14. Booster Wrench

Tools and Spare Parts

16. Spare Main Spring
17. Spare Front Sight Blade
18. Bronze or Aluminum Hammer
19. Punch
20. Screwdriver
21. Booster Reamer
22. Takedown Wrench
23. 3 Piece Cleaning Rod
24. Cleaning Rod Eyelet Tip
25. Angled Chamber Cleaning Rod
26. Brush Tip
27. Double Oil Can
28. Spare Safety Ring
29. Two Spare Ejectors
30. Case for parts with:
31. Two Firing Pin Carriers
32. Broken Case Extractor
33. Three Extractors
34. Two Firing pins
35. Pump for sulphur based oil

Regards,
Orin