ILLE,RMIiMAGAZINE Vol.41, No. 3 Summerr; 2O2O $8,0O

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.'.:.' THE STRANCE EARLY HISTORY OF AMTRICAN MACHINE CUNS'

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\, .IrY CO11\'C11t1O1tat mea- that \\'ere lcadih' ayailablc. PlL.siclcnL thc Holclrkiss nrodel 191.1 ancl, l.rte in sure, the U.S. Arm\/s lrrto- \\ ilson's policr. of strict ncutralit\, that '\n rr. r. rlrcRr', r' rir,.1tt6."1'.- maflc \\.ea Polrs PIOgram rn forbade anythins that even looktd Bcnjarnin B. IIotchkiss n,as boLrr \{olld \\ar I uas a [ai]urc. likc plcpalations Iol t'ar r,urlil 1916, into a Connecticut f.rmilr'of machin- Fol 30 r,cals, flom LEt4 b 191"1, in- clicln't help. ,\s a lcsult, thr-. r\r'mv i.lr ,nd 'l ' r, ,l L ir . , rr'", r' ,1e-iql irr'; lentions such as those of Nlaxim ancl \\'ent Lo rl'.rr 1\'itlr a paltrv collection arnrs for: Colt and l\rinchcstcr'. Hc and Leu'is languislred in the U.S. bccausc, oi obsolctt. models and h.rcl to lelv on his blotlrer Andreu'irrventetl a lir re or in the absence of .r clefinable threat, the the French tof .rlmost all of their auto- shells and fuscs for liflccl ar'lillclv that authoriti--s coulcl not clecicle t hat thev matic \\'eaP('rs. b--came the orre of the most rviclelv :-iou.rl ', ' d, d \ l fr, '-1 .' r'n, , , rr That much ls lr c.ll knou n; less u,e 11 r.rsecl lifled projectiles in the Cir-il \'\'ar. sm;rll ilals against pooilv almcd acl- I r nrr,t i- lL.r lL, rr. ch'r', .rr^. rrsed \\ihen the U.S. gover.nnrent lost inter' \crsar'1cs; 1-Lo o11(- cxPccic(l \\rar on a b1- the AlLics, anct lcnt ol solcl lo thc csl aftcl thc. rvar', he movecl to Palis, European scale. As lVor'1d War I a;.r American Erpedilionan' Forces, l'ere l'here he foundr.d Ilotchkiss rt .ir. pr,' .'..1. .l', \rlrr'- rttropl.r ir', r- alnost all tlcrive'cl fi om American cle 'I her.e he u.as joinecl b1, trnothcr Amcr- tia, and internal clir,isions prevented signs. Ihis article deals l'ith thc tl'o ican, Laur-cncr-. Ben6l, an engineel and it from c.r'cn comnritting to lnodcLs l.rc'avv machine Eirrns rrsed Lrv the AEF, artillerv expclt. Bcnit's falhcr', Gcnclal Stephen Vincent I3err6t (not to be con fuscd $'ith thc poct o[ the. same nanre) had been thc U.S. Almv's Chie.f of Orclnance and realizcd that thc iutrrre of rveapons tlevelopment lar. jn Eu- lope. llc ulgcd his son Lo seek ouL his olcl friencl Hotchkiss for crnplovment. Hol.hl i-. u.t. dvli1.1rle.' ,' r'sici\, "' r.l "I cleveloping a lullt' autonratic machin.. gun to conlpcte !\,ith llre recenll\, irl rfL'(i \i (l V.r\i||r. Tn l\{i brt(,rc p-..r - -J fol snch a grrn coulcl bc. folinulatcd, Hotchkiss ctied; tuo vcals latcl thc shaleholclers appointed llen6t chief cnginccr ancl director oi pronrotion. ln I893 an Austli.rn .rr'rrrv c.tp- tain, B.tron Aclolph von Odkolek, approaclrecl thc Hotchkiss Comp.r111 u'ith a design fof an automatic ma- i chine gun. llen6t and his engineers ,rtirtn't lhink nrr,rch ol lhe t'eapon, bul .her likcq tlr. .p, .rt;rr- pri.r.ipl. a llas actuated reciprocatilrs pistorl that avoidcd patL.r.rts trlreadv iru'alded l,' \l.r',irn .rnd L. Lirtt. llr, r b,',r: tt thc ri:lhts flonr Oclkolek and in lE95 testc,rt thcil prototvpe grnr. The nre. chanical features lolkccl ucll, but qo L " b.rlrc or orltc r',',.,. Jo 11., 1- 1p Bsr er.rtldrJ 1.rr'5. to|oitl..l fir -.rL.lr* barrcl's base; these became the \\'eap on's visual tladcmalk, making it irn- mediatel\- identifiable. Thc air-coolecl design obr'iaterl the ,+E-, need fol a r,ater jacket around the bar- Gene a Steplref Vlncent Befet (January 22,1827 Jartt-tary 22 1895) Lbtary rel and a reservoif tn srrpplv it. This rr of Congress. ,,1, 1^, ', ". I'l- tlr-rrr fhe Artillerylan oN uroJ JutzsSEtr\luBtu,{JJ[[1-rY I rt Io,\ |

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-!D Ja suodDal\ ^\ competing models and also made it due to faulty materials and manufac- Nevertheless, its reliability made it usable in arid climates. Its 8 mm Lebel turing, but the Navy liked the design popular with the French. Its staying cartridges, rather than being fed by a and suggested the firm hire Edward power was proyen in the battle of Ver- belt, used a tray holding 24 rounds; al- Parkhurst, a Connecticul engineer, to dury when a section of infantry, cut off though the gun could fire at up to 600 help solve its problems. Parkhurst was from the rest of the French army but rounds per minute, it had to be con- known for work he had done in the equipped with two Hotchkiss guns, stantly reloaded. The tray feed was 1870s on a hand-cranked, multibarrel held off German assaults for ten days, considered an asset, as the operator gun manufactured by Pratt & Whit- firing a total of over 150,000 rounds. had to make good use of his ammuni- ney. His recommendations to Hotch- In France the AEF purchased 5,255 of tion instead of simply spraying bullets kiss yielded the Model 1897 that, with them, making it the heavy machine over the landscape. Simple in design, improvements, Ied to the Model 1914, gun most used by American soldiers. the gun had only 38 parts and could be the standard French heavy machine The staying power of the Hotchkiss disassembled without tools except for gun of . With its tripod was proved in another way; the design the barrel and the cylinder. the gun weighed 110 pounds. The tri- was adopted by the ]apanese, Poles, The U.S. Navy tested an ear- pod could not be lowered, so it was Greeks, and ltalians, whose versrons ly-model Hotchkiss in 1896. It failed difficult to conceal in open country. served through WW[.

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.tDl, Jo sttodoalq hacl designed r'vere selling r,r'ell and thc governinent shou'ed no interest. In i910 hc picked it up again, mak- i"i\ ing inprovements to thc 1901 model . ".- 1:txr hul lirine ilte..rnre b,r'ic rrcclr,rri-n. | - i".i. ll rol'ning first dcmonstrated his -' _,., c- ' V,'del l'll0 in f ebr u.rlr lo l7. in lronl l.,.*;t of high-rankine American and foreign armv officers, members of Congrcss, ancl the press. rlrh^,,.1, ir f-.-i,,-,-.1 ,,,\F c\le\\'c. ^r'l('u5l ",,6 "-, the Armv fclt the gun reqrrired further ro-lirrg. Th.rt V.rv aL thr 5prirgiielLr Annorv, Brou,ning fired off 20,000 Iounds at 600 rounds per minute r,ithout a sbppage. An Army board cltrickly recomrncnded it for immedr- .tl; Prtrc\r.c. llc-.Lle* ilr r, li.rb,litr. thcv liked ils simpJe design; it coulcl Over the Top: A Browning 30 cal. rnachine gun crew of ihe 315th N4G Battalion be disrnantlecl and reassembled br. a creeping toward the enemy ines through the woods 'crr between La Cha ade and bl rdiol.lc.l opclJl,.r in .r rrin- C aon lVeuse October 29 1918. WW S gna Corps Co ection Unitecl States ules. Its orrlv drarvback \^,as that it Army Her tage and Education Center, Car s e, Penn.

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C oseup of gun crew w th .30 ca . Brown ng [4G 83rd D v s on, October 1 1918. WWI Siona Corps Co ect]on. Her tage and Education Center, Car s e. Penn.

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.D \\ .ft) s uodDa,\\ would take time to produce in suffi- cient numbers. Contracts were let with Colt, Remingtory and Westinghouse for a total oI 45,000 gunsi almost all had been produced by the time the war ended. In his lifetime Browning was cred- ited with designing 13 pistols, 11 ri- fles, 6 rnachine guns, and many other Browning Automatic Rif le, this rif le is part of the United States Army Heritage and weapons. He also produced a proto- Education Center. type machine that would meet that iheir engineers took Browning's credited with taking German positions the need for "walking fire"; that is, a hand-made prototype and gener- and breaking up counterattacks. Un- soldier could fire it while advancing ated all the production drawings and fortunately, transportation bottlenecks against the enemy. The gun, cham- specifications over a single weekend. prevented most weapons from reach- bered for the standard .30-06 rifle By July 1918 the company had deliv- irg the soldiers before lhe Armisbice. , was air-cooled and gas-ac- ered 13,000 BARs, and by the end of Both of Browning's guns, the BAR fualed, fired at 480 rounds per min- the war more than 40,000 had reached and the .30-caliber machine gun, along ute, and carried a 20-shot . France. Browning himself was entitled with its .sO-caliber upgrade, turned Weighing 16 pounds, as compared to to $12.7 million in royalties from his out to be excellent weapons and, in nine pounds for a typical bolt- designs, but claimed only $750,000. their many Yariants, continued to rifle, it was supported by a shoulder Both Brownings began ardving at serve the United States in World War sling and fired from the hip as the the front in July when the 79th Divi- II and far beyond. The .50 caliber ver- soldier was walking. Allernatively, ir sion, the first to receive them, disem- sion is still used by the U.S. military. could be held and fired like a conven- barked at Brest. Sturdy and reliable, tional rifle. they were an immediaLe success, and Gene Fax is the author of With Their Bare Dubbed the Browning Automatic as more became available, those uruts Hands: General Pershing,lhe 79th Division, Rifle or "BA&" it debuted rn 1917 at that could get them abandoned the and the Battle for Montfaucon, which the same February and May firings Hotchkiss and the French Chauchat was published by Osprey Publications as Browning's heaYy machine gun. It in favor of the new weapons. During in February 2017 and appeared in met with quick approval and a con- the Meuse-Argonne offensive, which paperback in June 2018. The book was tract was awarded to Winchester for initially suffered from poor awarded the 2017 Master Corporal Jan 25,000 units. Company lore has it support, Browning's guns were often Stanislaw Jakobczak Memorial Book Award by the U.S. Military History Group as the outstanding book on U.S. military history between 1898 and 1945. It was named "One ofthe 5 Best Books on the Hundred Days Offensive" by Hhtory of War rrragazine. More of his writings can be found at genefaxauthor.com. An earlier version of this article appeared on the Osprey blog site. _, €a, le€.-_r.

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