Page 286 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

284 LIGHT MACHINE-GUNS

1914–1945 AND MACHINE-PISTOLS

Although rapid-fire weapons ruled the battlefields of World War I, they
were far too cumbersome to be carried into attack. The first step was to abandon

ARS ammunition belts, water-cooling, and the impossibly heavy static mount for ▲ LEWIS GUN M1914 The air-cooled Lewis Gun was the
magazines, and adopt lighter barrels and the sort of “furniture” found on rifles.
These innovations led to the light machine-gun (LMG), which was handy enough,
first LMG used on the Western Front.
just about, for a man to fire from the hip on the move. The next stage in the
Date 1913
Taken up by the Belgians, then by
ORLD W development of automatic weapons was a complete departure. The machine- Origin US the British, it remained in service
pistol was an entirely new form of a much lighter weapon, firing pistol-caliber
Weight 26lb (11.8kg)
on the ground, in the air (when it was
usually stripped of its barrel shroud),
ammunition in bursts.
Barrel 26in (66cm)
and even at sea until World War II.
Caliber .303in
THE W
Perforated barrel

▲ MG13 The MG13 was developed from a weapon
Date 1914 Louis Schmeisser designed and Dreyse Carrying handle
produced from 1909. That gun was
Origin Germany
water-cooled, but the MG13 swapped the
Weight 24lb (10.9kg) water jacket for a perforated shroud, and
Barrel 28 ⁄4in (71.7cm) gained a tubular butt stock and a pistol
1
grip-and-trigger group.
Caliber 7.92mm Mauser
Butt plate

▲ MAXIM MG08/15 To turn it into an LMG,
Date 1915 the MG08’s receiver was
abbreviated and it got a
Origin Germany
slimmer water jacket,
3
Weight 30 ⁄4lb (14kg) a bipod, a butt, and a
Barrel 28 ⁄2in (71.9cm) pistol grip and trigger. Wooden butt
1
Ammunition belts were
Caliber 7.92mm Mauser
contained in drums. Trigger stabilizer
Support
Barrel

▲ BROWNING AUTOMATIC John Browning responded to pleas to
RIFLE (BAR) M1918 provide infantrymen with a weapon they
Date 1918 could fire in bursts from the hip while Wooden fore end
advancing. The gas-operated BAR was or handguard
Origin US too heavy and cumbersome ever to be a
Weight 16lb (7.28kg) success in that role, but it survived as the
Barrel 24in (61cm) US Army’s stock LMG until the 1950s.
Caliber .30-06 Springfield
20-round detachable magazine