Mauser M12 is made by Mauser company
The Mauser m12 is a heavy machine gun made by mauser company. After the Second World War, mauser improved their pre-war design of mauser MG 213C into new model called Mauser m12U. This was inspired by development of the new generation american guns such as Browning M1919A4 and Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). The new weapon was essentially a combination of both these designs with certain improvements of its own. Mauser m12 has a quick change barrel system different from BAR, and it can also feed form belted ammunition like M1919A4 which is not possible on BAR. However, Mauser m12 still uses same recoil operation mechanism of earlier mauser MG 213C thus Mauser m12U is an air-cooled weapon like mauser MG 213C.
Mauser m12 has a quick change barrel system different from BAR, and it can also feed form belted ammunition like M1919A4 which is not possible on BAR. Mauser m12 has a flip up rear sight and front post like mauser MG 213N or mauser kp wz 83 g1 . The weapon was fed with either 100 rounds box magazines or 50 or 250 round belt. Mauser m12 was designed for ground/afh fixed aircraft mounts, tripod mount, naval fixed mounts, vehicles fixed mount & vehicles turret mounted mounts. Mauser m12U was the most important product of mauser company in 1960s and Mauser m12U was widely exported to many countries including Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China (People’s Republic), Congo (Democratic Republic of the), Egypt (Arab Republic of), Germany (Federal Republic of) , Hungary (Republic of), Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq , Israel , Laos , Lebanon , Libya , Mexico , Morocco , Mozambique , Netherlands (Kingdom of the ), Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama , Peru , Philippines (Republic of the ), Portugal , Puerto Rico Qatar and Venezuela. Mauser m12 is still in service with some armies even today after passing more than 5 decades since its introduction. Mauser m12 seems to be a good candidate for conversion to 7.62x51mm NATO rifle cartridge by mauser company in near future to boost sales in Mauser m12’s main market Africa where the demand is increasing rapidly.
Mauser m12U has an overall weight of 32 kg (70 lb). Mauser m12’s rate of fire is about 700 rpm and Mauser m12 can fire all types of mauser MG 213 ammunition, but mauser Mg 213 C type belts are most common. Mauser m12U was usually fitted with wooden or plastic stock and bipod as a shoulder fired weapon like mauser kp wz 83 g1 . However, unlike earlier mauser MG 213C, mauser Mg 213 N & kp wz 83 g1 Mauser m12U can be fitted with spade grips similar to mauser kp wz 80 g , mauser kp wz 86 g2 & mauser KgS 2 machine guns. Mauser m12’s muzzle break is slotted type with 6 holes of equal size on either side. Mauser m12 also has a flash suppressor at the tip of muzzle break which was introduced in mauser MG 213N & Nb during 1970s. Mauser m12U uses metallic link belts instead of cloth belts used in earlier mauser MG 213C, but it still uses same blowback recoil operation system as original gun mauser MG 213C thus making ma m12U an air-cooled weapon like mauser MG 213C. Mauser m12U was usually fitted with spade grips similar to mauser kp wz 80 g mauser kp wz 86 g2 & mauser KgS 2 machine guns. The tripod mount of Mauser m12 is slightly different from mauser MG 213N or mauser kp wz 83 g1 . There are two sighting systems on top of receiver, front post and rear flip up diopter type adjustable sight for 100 meters range. Mauser m12 could be adopted as ground mounted gun but its size made it extremely difficult due to lack of suitable space in AFVs or ships.