The KE-7 was the product of two Swiss designers, Pal de Kiraly and Gotthard End, and was introduced in 1929 by the Swiss manufacturer SIG. It was a recoil operated design and fired from an open bolt. The guns were not adopted by the Swiss military, and were exported primarily to Latin America and China, being mostly made in 8mm Mauser. They were tested by many European nations, and were offered in a wide variety of calibers. The rate of automatic fire would vary depending on caliber, but was not less than 550 rpm. Magazines were typically 25 rounds.
The gun did have a quick-change barrel, and could fire in either single shot or automatic mode. It didn’t use a selector switch, though – pulling the trigger back slightly gave single shots, and a further pull gave automatic fire. This was a relatively common feature of submachine guns at the time, although not seen so much in light machine guns.
Photos
This KE-7, with an extended magazine, is in the collection of Reed Knight:
Manuals
Wasn’t Kiraly a Hungarian?
Yes, he was.
Dear Sir,
I was writing an article regarding to the Sig KE7 in China Civil war in 1930-1940. Do you know why the Swiss Army didnot adorpt this kind of light machine gun, which defects in this gun?
many thanks in advance!
william
May be cause the Swiss army had already adopted the Furrer Lmg-25 in 1925. Since the Furrer proved a pretty satisfactory design (it remained in service until the 60s) and the KE-7 entered production in 1929, I’d say SIG’s gun was 4 years too late…
It is amazing how it was made. A little bit over designed however the aim of the designers (Kiraly and End) is to make an open bolt machinegun that is safe to use. The short recoil system of the gun minimizes recoil and on the top of that the mechanism/s on the bolt assembly reduces pressure and recoil. That is astoundingly amazing. Plus they actually made the none reciprocating bolt handle which is good to an open bolt gun. The trigger assembly is also amazing, you just need a soft squeeze and a pull to do semi and full auto. The barrel is easy to replace as well. The only issue to the design is the machining, they don’t simplify that much. However in later years the same principle goes to the sig model 510 (the PE 57 if it is in semi) , which simple( a little bit still complex) and robust. The designs though of both PE 57 (SIG 510) and the SIG KE7 is complex and costly making it hard to invest to one. I would be happy if someone in the US mad e a working replica of KE 7 and Ian and Karl Mud Test it, that would be fun.