The only known Standschütze volunteer of that name was Dr. Richard von Hellriegel, the medical officer of Standschützen-Bataillon Kitzbühel.

Other soldiers bearing the Hellriegel surname are served in the Kaiserjäger but none of them can be definitively linked to this weapon.

[3] The military theory behind the Standschütze Hellriegel's creation was likely similar to that of early light machine guns such as the Chauchat and Browning Automatic Rifle; A light machine gun that could be carried by troops, used in infantry assaults, and capable of suppressive fire.

The cooling-jacket around the barrel bears similarities to that of the Schwarzlose machine gun, and had two openings, one to fill it with water and the other to release excess steam.

It appears to be blowback-operated, judging by its two coil springs which protruded behind the gun's cylindrical receiver.

The unusual appearance of the magazine has led many people to assume that the gun was belt-fed, however, this is not the case with the rounds being unconnected from one another and are propelled along the drum and feed chute by a spring.

The design is very similar to the German TM 08 snail magazine, which was used in the Luger P08 pistol and MP-18 submachine gun.

[2] As can be seen from the surviving photographs, the operation of the submachine gun required two men, a shooter and a magazine carrier.

Another aspect of failure may be the cost of production, which due to the selected materials (such as leather) and manufacturing complexity, would be high.

All this led the Standschützen Hellriegel Model 1915 to never advance past the prototype stage, becoming a forgotten weapon in history with nearly no surviving documentation.

[2] The Standschütze Hellriegel M1915 appears as a weapon in the first-person shooter Battlefield 1 by DICE and EA, albeit rather fictionalized.