 Gast took out patents on 21 January 1916 and 13 February 1917, describing his weapon as "a double-barreled machine gun with recoiling barrels".Rates of fire of 1,600 rounds per minute were achieved during trials.In August 1917, Gast's demonstration so impressed ordnance experts that a production order for 3,000 guns, along with spare parts and ten ammunition drums for each gun, was awarded to Vorwerk und Companie at a unit price of 6,800 marks each.