Elite Selbstlader M1916 (Codex Entry)

The Elite Selbstlader M1916 is a Codex Entry featured in Battlefield 1. It was introduced on February 14th, 2017 in the Winter Update alongside eight other Elite Codex Entries. It is unlocked upon obtaining 500 kills with the Selbstlader M1916 and awards 25000 XP.

ELITE SELBSTLADER M1916 RIFLE


''Like many other nations at the start of the 20th century, the German military were conducting trails in order to find a semi-automatic rifle suitable for adoption. The designer behind the G98 rifle had been working on a long line of prototype self-loading rifles since 1906, and right before WW1 his designs had evolved into the Selbstlader M1910/13. It had several improvements over previous prototypes, but like most of the early self-loaders, it was still an overly complicated design that required lubricated cartridges for proper function. The M1910/13 was highly sensitive to dirt and had very tight manufacturing clearances, and it too was rejected by the German Army.''

''When WW1 broke out the need for self-loading rifles suddenly increased, primarily for use from aircraft, which did not yet have machine guns. New self-loader trails were conducted in 1915, and considering the clean environment inside aircraft the M1910/13 was adopted by the German Air Corps as the "Flieger-Karabiner M1915", and by the "Ballon-und-Zeppelin-Truppe" as the "Selbstlader-Karabiner M1916".''

''During the war the Army's interest in semi-automatics was renewed as well, and the Selbstlader was also manufactured in an infantry version. These had full length fore stocks and bayonet mounts, and were field tested both on the western- and eastern front. Only about 1,000 of the Selbstlader M1915 and M1915 were produced, and in the end, it seems it was not mechanical issues that held the weapon back, but very expensive and time consuming manufacturing. In the air force the Selbstlader was gradually replaced with the semi-automatic Mondragon, which was even less reliable, but only cost about a third to manufacture.''