While its water-cooled barrel gave it an appearance broadly resembling the family of Maxim-derived machine-guns (such as the British Vickers and the German Maschinengewehr 08), internally the Schwarzlose was of a much simpler design, which made the weapon comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

During World War II the Schwarzlose saw limited action in North Africa as an anti-aircraft weapon in Italian service.

Besides, captured Schwarzlose machine guns of various types saw service with second line units of the Nazi German army, especially during the desperate fighting that took place in the final phases of that conflict.

During World War I, the Schwarzlose was also pressed into service as an anti-aircraft gun, and, as such, it was deployed using a variety of (often improvised) mountings.

7/24 (heavy machine gun model 7/24) by the Janeček factory (adapted from 8 mm calibre to standard Czechoslovak munition 7,92 Mauser).

Because of the relatively long delay time of the Schwarzlose M7/12, the synchronization systems that were developed could be operated safely only in a narrow band of engine rpm.

The result was never entirely satisfactory and Austro-Hungarian aircraft thus armed usually carried the Kravics indicator to warn the pilot of a malfunction in the synchronization gear.

[14] Until these synchronization problems had been overcome, it was not uncommon to see the Schwarzlose deployed in a removable forward firing Type-II VK gun container which had been developed by the Luftfahrtruppe's Versuchs Kompanie at Fischamend.

The Type-II VK, which received the macabre nickname 'baby coffin' due to its shape, is remarkable in that it was possibly the first example of what today would be called a gun pod.

In 1916, the water jacket was removed entirely, and the resulting weapon was re-designated as the Schwarzlose MG-16 and MG-16A when fitted with a stronger spring and a blowback enhancer to increase the gun's cyclic rate, which was eventually brought up to 880 rounds per minute in some versions of the MG-16A.

All ring-mounted defensive guns were equipped with specialized sights and a box for the ammunition belt, which allowed quick and trouble-free reloading.

After the end of World War I, the Schwarzlose saw limited use as an aircraft gun with various East European air forces.