Exactly why Mauser would have come up with such a feed setup at that time, when they were already using fabric feed belts on the MG.08, is a very good question. It might be another indicator that the gun was intended as an aircraft-mounted weapon. At the time, the German Army was...
The I.G. (Infanterie‑Gewehr) Mod. 71 Mauser was the first of what would become literally millions of rifles manufactured to the design of the brothers Paul and Wilhelm Mauser, and the first regulation brass cartridge rifle of the German Imperial Army.
The I.G. (Infanterie‑Gewehr) Mod. 71 Mauser was the first of what would become literally millions of rifles manufactured to the design of the brothers Paul and Wilhelm Mauser, and the first regulation brass cartridge rifle of the German Imperial Army.