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Title:	GUN, MACHINE -  GERMAN MACHINE GUN MG10 "DREYSE" 7.92MM SN# 1790
Maker/Manufacturer:	SCHMEISSER, LOUIS
Date of Manufacture:
Eminent Figure:	ANEY, CAPTAIN J.L.
Catalog Number:	SPAR 2594
Measurements:	OL:134.6CM 53" BL: 70.4CM 27 3/4"

Object Description:

GERMAN MACHINE GUN MG10 "DREYSE" 7.92MM SN# 1790
Manufactured by - Booster missing. Small dent in water jacket. Cartridge deflector on left side needs bolt.

Markings:
Receiver cover latch: DREYSE/NR. 1790.
Water jacket: Proofs. 1790 on various parts.

This is one of a number of items the Springfield Armory Museum received in 1920 from Captain J.L. Aney. Captain Aney was stationed in Europe with the Ordnance Department and assigned to the "Captured Material Section" in WWI. Aney was ordered to secure items for the Springfield Armory Museum. This weapon is listed on the Receiving Report as Item No. 181 and is described as: "German Dreyse gound type machine gun equipped with spare parts, bipod mount, magazine, belt deflect-or steam tube and magazine."
Weapon transferred to the Museum on 24 March 1920.

Notes: "Used by the German army in reasonable numbers during the First World War, the 7.92mm Dreyse machine-gun Model MG10 was overshawdowed by the much more successful Maschinengewehr 08. Water-cooled and short-recoil operated, it was tripod mounted and had a higher than average cyclic rate of fire. A modified version, the MG15, was introduced in 1915 in order to meet the need for a light machine-gun in Palestine and Turkey." - Bruce

"The brochure of 1912 describer a water-cooled, belt-fed, recoil-operated machinegun that included certain features which became recognized as characteristic of the Dreyse and its descendants. The receiver cover was hinged at the front end and contained the mainspring. When the cover was raised, the spring was disengaged from the bolt, and the feed mechanism was exposed. The backplate and a short section of the floor of the receiver contained the complete firing mechanism. The group was also hinged at the front and could be dropped down for inspection or disassembly. The bolt and its pivoted lock were carried in the barrel extension.
The gun was provided both with iron sights and with a 3-power telescope. The tripod had small wheels and a steel shield. This early gun had no particular Model designation and, so far as in now known, was never sold. By the time it appeared on the market, most countries had already adopted one of the well-known machine-guns; for example, the Maxim, the Hotchkiss, the Schwarzlose, or the Colt. To displace these well-known established sytems proved to be virtually impossible.
After the outbreak of World War I, when the need for lighter machineguns was recognized by all the participants, several versions of the Dreyse were tried in combat by the German Army to limited extent. Although several changes and modifiations were incorporated into these guns, they were not adopted as standard during that war. The several variations are sometimes referred to as Models of certain years, but such designations probably were unofficial and might have originated only with the manufacturer. It is known for a fact that the 1912 brochure on the original Dreyse machinegun did not assign any Model number to the weapon. It is also known that some of the later guns are marked only with the word 'Dreyse,' without any other designation.
The first guns tried in World War I were probably identical with the gun offered in 1912. They fired the standard 7.9 x 57mm Mauser cartridge and were intended for firing from a tripod. The German Army is reported to have used 3,000 Dreyse machineguns in the Palestine area during the war. This was probably considered a combat trial. An unknown quantity of Dreyse guns was supplied to Bulgaria. They used the Bulgarian cartridge.
Shortly after the war began, there were demands for easily portable machineguns, and a little later came the experimental program to develop a universal machinegun for use in the heavy, light, or antiaircraft role. The water-cooled, belt-fed Dreyse guns that competed in this program had a mounting bracket underneath that was compatible with the bipod of the MG 08/15. They could also use a detachable metallic stock, and they fired the standard rifle cartridge from the standard Maxim belt.
The modifications that werelled by springs....
During and after World War I, the Sommerda works continued its development of the water-cooled, belt-fed version of the Dreyse machinegun. Although it was never produced in any significant quantity, the improved gun received the official army designation 'MG14.' This model used the Maxim belt and fired from the closed-bolt position. Its principal recognition feature was a single spade-grip firing handle at the rear of the receiver. Rheinmetall offered this model in catalogs as late as 1929, without disclosing its official army designation. With the coming of the project which produced the MG34, the few existing MG 14's became obsolete." - Musgrave

DISPOSITION OF GERMAN MG10 DREYSE MG THAT WAS IN MUSEUM COLLECTION:
Army #5449 - GERMAN MG10 DREYSE MG SN# 1695 - Disposal. Received by Museum on 18 April 1935. At that time weapon was appraised at $400.

References:
Bruce, Anthony. AN ILLUSTRATED COMPANION TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR. Penguin Group.London, England. 1989.
Musgrave, Dainel D. GERMAN MACHINE GUNS. 2nd Ed. Ironside International Publishers, Inc. Alexandria, Virginia. 1992.