The Machine Gun Nsb
Nordenfelt Single-Barrel Machine Gun. and extracting. They should in no way be confused with the other weapons, regardless of the fact that the company advertised the heavy guns as Shell Machine Guns. The Nordenfelt Co.'s most interesting product was a light single-barrel machine gun designed for the infantryman. It was lever operated and used toggle joint locking. The principal parts of this rifle caliber weapon were a Hand lever with cam plate combined, b plunger, c action slide piece, and d...
Cannon 1
Early History of Hispano-Suiza Company The Soci t Fran aise Hispano-Suiza S. A., located in Bois Colombes, France, a Parisian suburb, emerged from World War I as one of the most famous aircraft engine manufacturers in the world. This firm was first organized in 1904 for the manufacture of automobiles in Barcelona, Spain, by a Swiss engineer. Marc Birkigt, with the financial support of the Spanish King Alfonso XII1 hence the name llis-pano-Suiza, meaning Spanish-Swiss . A plant in Paris was...
The Machine Gun Deu
Rheinmetall Solothurn 20-mm Automatic Cannon Model ST 5, Showing Ease of Disassembly tery position uncovers the spring-loaded striker allowing it free movement to fly up and strike the primer. The recoil caused by detonating the powder charge, which is much greater than that required to operate the weapon, is dampened out by use of a muzzle brake. The remaining energy pushes back both the barrel and the bolt with the pivoting lock holding the assembly locked together for a distance of inch. At...
Books
Anbot, VV. J. Aircraft and Submarines. 1918. Ader, C. Aviation Militaire en l-'mncr. 1907. Aircraft in ITVn and Comment'. 1918. American Machinist. Artillery and Smalt-Arms Ammunition. 1942. Balleisen, Charles E. Principles of Firearms. 1915. Barnes, G. M. Weapons of World War II. 1917. Barrfs, Maurice. L'Aviation Pendant la Cue nr. 191G. Barileit, W. A. and Gaij.atin, 1 . B. Digest of Cartridges for Smalt Arms. 1 78. Black, Archibald. The Story of Plying. 1943. Blanch, H. J. A Century of duns....
Info Xrj
Krieghoff, Ileinrich, Waffenfabrik 459, Krum, Alfred 453 Krupp, Friedrich, A. G 450, 555, 010 L. S light machine rifle 446-449 Lahrn. Lt. Frank P 267, 271 Lahti. Aimo Johannes 440, 596 Lahti aircraft cannon, 20 mm 596-597 Lahti Suomi light machine riHe See L S light machine rifle Laird, Charles W 256 Laird-Menteyne machine gun 256 La no ley. Samuel P 261. 204 Larimer, Adm. E. B 337 Lauf, Hans 469, 470, 171 LePrieur rocker 348 349 Lewis, Col. Isaac Newton 275. 276, 278. 279, 281, 284, 285, 289,...
Breda Mm Automatic Cannon
An early experienc e with aire rail cannon that ended in complete failure c aused the Italian Air Force to delay the development ol large-bore aviation weapons until it was altogether too late. And had the Breda 20-mm automatic gun not been designed originally for ground work against armored vehicles and later refined for aircraft use, there would have been no Breda aircraft cannon. In 1934 the Italian Armv introduced this weapon as an antitank gun and mounted it on a carriage similar to that...
Lbbe Mm Aircraft Cannon
A prominent Berlin engineer, II. F. A. Liibbe, completed in 1929 a working model o an automatic gun that he considered the last word in aircraft armament. The weapon was also held to be highly desirable for use against armored vehicles. The gun in question was gas operated, had a bore diameter of 20 millimeters and had proved capable of firing at the rate of 3 gt 0 shots per minute. It was air cooled, magazine drum fed and its weight was only 107 pounds without feeder. These features are...
Cannons
When the leaders of the Gentian Air Force, during the latter days of the first World War, ordered the placing of armor around the vital parts of their huge Gotha bombing planes, they realized that they had not only made the rifle-caliber machine guns of the Allies obsolete but their own as well. In order to find some suitable weapon that would deal adequately with the situation and still not violate the St Petersburg Treaty relating to small-bore explosive projec tiles, they turned to the...
Earliest Birkigt Type Cannon
In 1933 Birkigt began work on the devisement of a weapon he later produced successfully. This mechanism could in no sense rise to the dignity of an invention, the principles involved having been long known by those who followed the profession of gun design. A combination of already established methods of operation was arranged in such a manner as to result in a shooting prototype. Its system of locking was covered in a patent application by Carl Swcbilius, one of the most prolific machine-gun...
Madsen Automatic Machine Guns
There came into existence in 1902 an automatic machine gun the parentage ol which has been one ol the most controversial subjects in the history of such weapons. It has bee n officially known under the names. Madsen, Rexer, 1 . R. R. and Schouboe. and was originally manu- laclured by the Dansk Rekvlriffel Syndikat of Copenhagen, Denmark. It derived the title by which it is best known, Madsen. from the name ol the Danish Minister of War of that period, as a tribute to his enthusiasm for the...
Info Ymy
pressed forward after the safety catch lias been disengaged to lorce back the trigger bar. This in turn pulls the sear aw.iv Ironi the cocked hammer, which Hies up detonating the primer in the cartridge. I pon discharge ol the cartridge, all recoiling parts move togethet securely locked for one-hall inch. At this point the bolt is unlocked. The breech loc k is c ammed down out of its locking recess and allows the boh to recoil free ol the heavier parts. The extractor withdraws the empty case...
The Machine Gum
McManus, Luis M Houston, Tex. Machine gun 1,273,078 1G July 1918 Assigned to Warner, James H. McNaii.r, Joseph Treanor New York, N.Y. Centrifugal machine gun and method for feeding same 1,472,080 30 Oct 1923 Mi.infrsmann, William Elizabeth. N.J. High velocity gun 1,326,763 30 Dec 1919 Mejean, Jacques G. Gfnhva, Switzerland Gun actuator 2,341,641 15 Feb 1944 Assigned to General Aircraft Equipment Co. Mejia, Enrique A. Mexico City, Mexico Improvement in many-barreled guns 62,281 19 Feb 1867...
Lairdmenteyne Machine Gun
On 15 September 1913 a test of an English-made machine gun was ordered at Springfield Armory, Springfield, Mass. In the trial that followed it failed so miserably that it is mentioned here only to straighten out the classification of the weapon. It has been referred to as the Coventry machine 31111. the C. O. W. rifle-caliber ma- chine gun, and the Laird-Mentevne automatic gun. The first two designations were acquired because the Coventry Ordnance Works of Cov- entry, England, manufactured and...
The Machine Gun Ipj
allow them to fight off anything that dared approach the flying arsenal. As one very enthusiastic supporter explained. For an airplane to engage a Zeppelin with the limited armament the plane could carry would be like a canoe attacking a battleship. Since the Zeppelin could reach prohibitive altitudes and needed no weight limitation on the number of machine guns and even cannon that could be mounted, the arguments of its supporters seemed to be too one-sided even to be logically disputed....
Flak
The Germans have long been famous for using a reliable firing mechanism in every conceivable manner in which it could be applied and the MG-151 was certainly no exception. It made practically a simultaneous appearance as an antiaircraft automatic gun and was given the designation of Flak 38. This cannon was de-signed by Mauser engineers, Linderand Froebel, and although similar in appearance and identical in operating principles, it is a distinct weapon and not to be confused with the MG-151 20....
Info Hkm
conspicuously absent. The handle did not even ' 4 lie appearance of a pistol grip, being only Jvingled piece of wood scrcwed onto a rigger guard and frame. And while the total production ran into many thousands, there was no interchangeability ol parts, as the French methods did not call for such close gaging of components. Thus, the weapon could be considered hand finished as far as interchangeability is concerned. The weight of the Ghauchat weapon 19 pounds, including folding bipod definitely...
Info Ebq
The First Shct Fired from an Airplane. Glenn Curtiss, Pilol, arid 2nd Lt. Jacob E. Fickel Hclding the Rifle. planes or silent gliders and noiseless invisible wars were predicted by the use of smokeless powder and rifle-muffling devices. The impact 011 the public was terrific, but military minds remained skeptical. They mustered mathematical calculations to prove that nothing but a rifle could be fired from a plane, one shot at a time, and under certain conditions only since successive and rapid...
Tai Game Gunbuw
On the right side of the receiver near the breech end of the barrel is an electric switch. It energizes the circuit when the whole counter-recoiling mass is one-sixteenth inch out of battery. The weapon then fires and recoil forces start in before the lx gt lt and barrel strike the receiver. With the building up of the peak powder pressure and for a half inch of free travel during recoil, the bolt and barrel continue rear- ward as one unit. The lugs in the receiver then rotate the linking ring...
Info Xfw
Prince, Norman 508 Propeller arc. Firing through 301 Ptickle, James 17-19 Puckle revolving firearm 17-19 Puteaux Arsenal 194 Puteaux aircraft cannon 508-511, 593 Puteaux machine gun 194 Radio, First aviation 273 Rakula. Theodor 551, 553 Rasmussen. Julius A 210 Reber, Maj. Samuel 271 Reco i i I ess weapons 495-499 Reliners, Gun barrel 427 Remington, Flihu 28 Remington Arms Co. . . 160, 166, 178, 179, 260 Requa battery 35-36 Research and Development Service 587 Revelli, Bethel Abiel 251, 252,...
Info Cji
Hotchkiss Machine Gun, Model 1933. The First Hotchkiss Gun to Use a Belt Feed. very high degree from the previous firing, it was noted that in 1 minute and 8 seconds it showed a dark red, and before the end of the 848 rounds of sustained fire it was again a bright red. Upon examination of the working components, there was evidence of much fouling in the receiver, while all the oil had been burned away from the forward part of the piece. These parts were working sluggishly when charged back and...
9mm Gun Pinwheel To Fire On Tripod
received so thorough an investigation as did the Hotelikiss revolving cannon. Even though the weapon was considered reliable when adopted arid later events verified this conclusion , for 10 years the gun was iirecl at the French Naval Testing Grounds at Le Havre. During this period every possible point connected with the gun, or its ammunition, was exhaustively studied and reported. When this prolonged trial was finally ended, all the data covering the test were assembled and properly...
The Machine Gun Xxd
and lie designed the first of the series of ZB light machine guns. Completion of this model took him only three years from conception to finished product. At the time he was only being paid the equivalent of 520 a week, but he patented various features in the devisement of die weapon that later not only made him a very wealthy man but saw him quickly promoted to chief of the plant's experimental laboratory. The Czech Army officials put the company's first, offering through the most strenuous...
Acknowledgments
The help and encouragement received from many sources in the preparation of this work can never be fully acknowledged. The following individuals are listed in at least partial recognition of such contributions. Captain Eugene Tatoin, I KSK, formerly Chief, Re 8, and Mr. James R. Norton, Head Engineer, Re8, Aviation Ordnance, Bureau of Ordnance. Mr. M. Bigelow Browning, Vice President, Browning Arms Company Colonel Leo A. Codd, Executive Vice President. American Ordnance Association Dr. S. G....
9mm Rifle Barrels Canada.
Hare. D. O. CIIAKI.KMOWN, Ill. Improvement in repeating ordnance 12.20 23 Jan 1855 Hoffman Harper, Ancf.lo C. Washington, D.C. Mad line gun 1,369,426 22 Feb 1921 Harrin Harry K. Washington, D.C. Machine gun 1,693,228 8 Jan 1929 Assigned 2 3 to Morgan R. Mills Harrington amp Richardson Arms Company Worcester, Mass Recoil operated firearm 812.015 6 Feb 1906 Bye Safety device for firearms 2,495,383 21 Jan 1950 Mulno Harvey, Eari.e M. Springfield, Mass. Automatic firearm 2,397-963 9 Apr 1946...
The Machine Gun Cwx
Breed mechanism for automatic firearms 1,181,065 23 May 1910 Hold back device 1,19 5.759 5 Sep 1916 Bori gt , Robert F Blue Earth, Minn. Buffer spring assembly for automatic firearms 2,504,958 25 Apr 1950 lt BotLs amp Voung Boi kdku.es. E. A. L. St. Dents, France Automatic firearm 1.382.058 21 jun 1921 Assigned to Soci t Anonunc des Etablissements Delaunav Machine gun 1,402,564 3 Jan 1922 Assigned to same firm Bourne. Roland B. West Hartford, Conn. Gun silencer 2.375.617 8 May 1915 Assigned to...
Info Pva
automatic weapons that had been previously tested. The Savage Arms Co., already tooled up for the caliber .303 Lewis gun for the British, had been approached as early as 5 February 1917 before the section was set up on the production of sufficient caliber .30 06 guns for Marine Corps testing. Through the hard labor of an already overworked factory at the urgent insistence of the Navy, this was done and by 5 April 1917, one day before declaration of war, successful acceptance tests were run by...
Bofors Automatic Aircraft Cannon
The name Motors fust appeared in the Swedish public records in November 1646 when an individual named Paul Horsman was granted permission to erect a forge and hammer mill in the mining district of Bofors in central Sweden. It was typical of the many such mills that were later to bring fame to the Swedish steel industry. There was nothing outstanding about this particular establishment until the middle of the nineteenth century when world events enlarged its sphere of activity. As early as 1870...
McCLEAN MACHINE GUN
Before going into the description and background of the McClean automatic weapons, first patented in 1902 and government-tested both in 1903-05 and in 1916-18. it is necessary to bring attention to the fact that the inventor is often confused with Dr. James H. McLean, patent medicine salesman and so-called machine gun inventor of the manual-operated period. The designer of the weapons under discussion resembles the St. Louis doctor only in the close spelling of the last name. Samuel Neal...
The Machine Gun Brp
Maxim asked it a Protestant was not one who protested against something The Russian admitted that such was the case. Maxim then said to the official. Put me down as a Protestant. I am a Protestant among Protestants. I protest against this whole thing. In that way, Maxim said, lie became a member of the Protestant church. Although the Russians moved slowly, they finally purchased vast numbers of Maxim guns. Later, observers reported that over half the Japanese casualties in the Russo-Japanese...
Info Mbu
protect his family from the ravages of the smallpox epidemics which were regularly sweeping the country. Purportedly at a suggestion by Col. R. A. Maxwell that a special objectives weapon was needed, Gatling drew up plans for a machine gun. Conceived in 1861 and patented in 1862, it was designed to defend buildings, causeways, and bridges. The first model was only a crude forerunner of the gun he soon perfected, the prototype oi one of the most remarkable firing mechanisms of all ordnance...
Gatling Machine Guns
The North was deprived of a great ordnance officer when Major General Gorgas joined the Confederacy, but this loss was more than offset when Richard Jordan Galling moved to the North in 1844, hoping to manufacture and market several of his mechanical inventions. Gatling was born in Hertford County, N. C., on 12 September 1818. His parents were Mary Barnes and Jordan Gatling, both descended from English colonists in North Carolina. His father, while still a young man, had invented a machine for...
Medieval Instruments of War
Hie trebuchet was a medieval contribution I the rock-throwing devices. It got its power, n from a taut cord or twisted rope, but from heavy counterweight. The throwing beam w swiveled on a strong axle near the top of tl framework. The bottom carried heavy weight and the top a throwing cup. Winches pull back the top so that the bottom weight move up and forward. Upon release, the weight beam swung down like a huge pendulum. Til top struck the brake beam, and the rock wi hurled in the general...
Info Kwt
rounds a minute. On the few guns that did not incorporate this feature the ammunition was lubricated by brushing on the oil externally before being loaded into belt or can. The feed box with its compartments could also be removed and an attachment substituted that allowed a non-disintegrating metal belt holding 300 rounds to be used if desired. Some guns were modified ' o feed from the left and eject to the right, and gt thers made to do just the reverse. A combined safety catch and charging...
Info Bek
Hispano-Suiza 20-mm Automatic Aircraft Cannon, Model TjI returned to the St. Paul plant and on 10 fitly 1944 the first 20-mm T31 appeared. Between that date and 20 September a total of 2,455 guns had been modified, and a scheduled rate of 1,250 guns per month was set as necessary to ill the demand. By May 1945 a total of 12,083 weapons had been converted from AN-M2 to the lighter weight T31, at which time all alteration ceased. The modification of the M2 to the later designation was done at a...
Info Rbh
finally designed, naturally air fights took place at the new heights and pilots began to have new kinds of malfunctions that were traced to the extreme cold at these altitudes. Reports of stoppages became so prevalent that electric heaters were improvised by ordnance mechanics in collaboration with field electricians. Finally when a heater was made that proved aderpiate, manufacturing drawings were sent to the Vickers Co. and it was mass produced. The greatest percentage of stoppages at...
The Machine Gun Dvp
scmbly goes forward, pushing the cartridge out of its container in t he feed tray into the chamber. When this is accomplished, the bolt stops and the gas piston continues forward, forcing the breech lock up into the locking recess in the top of the receiver. On the last movement forward of the gas piston alter the mechanism is locked, a projection on top of the gas piston sit ikes the firing pin which in turn hits the primer to detonate the propcllant charge. I he expanding gases forcing the...
The Machine Gun Dgy
chusctts, only to return to Maine, and marry Harriet Boston Stevens. They went to Sangers-ville, Maine, cleared a farm, erected buildings, and started farming. At this placc Hiram Stevens Maxim was born on 5 February 1840. When Hiram was six. the father gave up his farm, and started a wood turning establishment at French's Mill in the same township as Sari-gersville, where Maxim began his education at the local school. The boy was a great hunter and natural out-doorsman. He and his brother,...
Birkigt Type Mm Hispanosuiza Cannon Egi
other specifications should also be incorporated in the redesign of this weapon. There were definite disadvantages in the use of the AN-M2 gun mounted in aircraft, mainly because of its profile and weight. With the feed in place, the silhouette was very bulky, and often the weapon had to be installed in planes at various angles, sometimes even sideways. This not only handicapped the problem of mounting bur wasted space and made the correct placement of feed chutes most complicated. While the...
J Oex
Army Ordnance became so impatient with the lack of results that it engaged John M. Ihowning and Fred Moore, of Colt's Patent Fire Arms Co., Hartford, to inspect visually the mccha-lism, hoping that these two outstanding otd-lance men could suggest something that would better its performance or increase its efhcicncy. If need be. they were to send the weapon to Colt's lor further development. On 29 Novenmber 1920, Browning and Moore visited the Aircraft Armament Division in Washington, D.C., to...
Si
Rheinmetall 37-mm Automatic Cannon, Flak 18 554 Rheinmetall 30-mm Automatic Aircraft Cannon, MK-101 556 Rheinmetall 30-mm Automatic Aircraft Cannon, MK-103 557 Bolt Assembly of Rheinmctall s 30-mm Automatic Aircraft Cannon, MK-103. Left Bolt Mechanism Disassembled. Right Bolt Mechanism Assembled and Rheinmetall 30-mm Automatic Aircraft Cannon. MK-108 559 Rhcinmetall 30-mm Automatic Aircraft Cannon, MK-108, Disassembled. 1 Blast Tube. 2 Back Plate Assembly. 3 Bolt Assembly. 4 Receiver and Barrel...
Johnson Light Machine Gun
Mclvin M. Johnson, Jr., is one of America's gifted gun designers. Born in Boston in 1909, he is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School. In 1983 he was commissioned in the Marine Corps Reserve and became captain in 1938. As early as 1937 Johnson produced experimentally a prototype light machine gun chambered for the caliber .30 0 gt United States infantry rifle cartridge. Empty, it weighed only 12I O pounds and was capable of delivering a maximum rate of fire of 500 shots a...
Appendix A
Patents on Machine Guns and Relating Mechanisms Upon which the World's Automatic The following patents granted by the United States Patent Office to American and foreign inventors cover the most important machine-gun and firing mechanisms from which have evolved the automatic wreapons we know today. The patents are listed under the inventors and the firms or individuals to whom they may have been assigned. The title, patent number, and date of patent are given for each, together with names of...
Carr Machine Gun
The Navy's Bureau of Ordnance on 14 April 1901 was requested by the Driggs Seabury Gun and Ammunition Co., 43 Cedar Street, New York City, to arrange a test of a new machine gun at the Naval Proving Ground, Indian Head, Md. The inventor of the gun, produced by this company, was Howard Carr of San Francisco. The Navy assured Di iggs-Seabury that it would give the weapon a trial and consider ii for adoption if it proved capable of meeting certain requirements. The date for the test was set for 16...
Ammunition V T W
rifle invented bv Arthur Savage, a rifle designer tar in advance of his time. By 1915 it was manufacturing, in addition 10 high-power rifles and ammunition, several .22 caliber rifles and an automatic pistol. In that year the corporation was merged with the Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Co., which held a number of basic patents on automatic arms. In 2 years, this plant reached an output of 400 Lewis guns per week. After production was well tinder wav and thousands had been delivered, the Lewis was...
Hotchkiss Mm Aircraft Cannon
during a satisfactory powder Lor die new round ol ammunition hut the American Dupont Co. undertook and solved this ballistic problem for them. The weapon was gas operated, as were all Hotchkiss gun mechanisms. It was magazine fed and air cooled with an announced rate of fire of 180 shots a niinutA The operating mechanism was simple in design and very rugged in construction. There were very few working parts, all of which could be easilv demounted and re- assembled without the aid ol tools. The...
Info Uga
Kispano-Suiza 30-mm Automate Aircraft Cannon. Th is an Experimental Model Manufactured in France Aeronautical Board that cognizance of the de-veloptnent of aircraft cannon he not assigned to either service to the exclusion of the other recommendation approved hy the Secretaries of War and Navy and the stated willingness of the War Department to undertake any work in connection with aircraft cannon desired by the Navy, the Bureau of Ordnance transmitted, on 9 March 1938. to the Ordnance...
Birkigt Type Mm Hispanosuiza Cannon
The Hispano Co., owning patent rights to the accepted method of firing through the hollow propeller shaft, began to seek a suitable lightweight cannon to place in its engine mountings. It decided upon the Oerlikon gun, which was highly esteemed by the French Air Force. This automatic cannon was of Swiss manufacture. being made at the Zurich plant of the Oerlikon Co. After some delay, the Hispano-Suiza Co., at the request of the French Air Ministry, obtained a liccnsc to produce the weapon at...
Marlin 1917 Aircraft Machine Gun 1917 Model
remedied by further modifying the action through the addition of greater weight to the piston. The first rearward movement of the bolt Swebilius deserves great credit for accomplishing this most difficult task, especially since it was performed in a few weeks' time. In this short period he made the Marl in gun a reliable automatic arm that was used throughout the war and for 3 years afterwards as the principal synchronized automatic machine gun of the American air force. Later it was also...
Info Eeh
Parabellum Aircraft Machine Gun, Model 1913, 7.92 mm. This Early Type Used the Water-Cooled Jacket Slotted for Air Coolinq. was looking for when its Zeppelin threat was exploded by British machine-gun fire, flic Para-bell um was the German first-line aircraft machine gun throughout the war. A few have also been found equipped with water jackets for ground use or perhaps more logically for Zeppelin mounting. The following cycle of operation of Karl Heinemann's Parabellum, or refined Maxim gun,...
Info Uux
Minister of Armament informed the lTnited States Army Automatic Arms Division that the automatic 37-mm Puteaux cannon was acceptable for aircraft installation. He doubled that enough would be manufactured before 1 April 1919, to arm any appreciable number of planes. Two guns were ordered from Fiance bv the United States Army for experimental purposes and contracts were offered to encourage American manufacturers and designers to submit bids. It was stated that any company, turning out a copy of...