In 1911, a serving American officer and amateur inventor, Colonel Isaac Newton Lewis, perfected a light machine gun originally designed by another American, Samuel Maclean. The American Army showed no interest in its production, so Colonel Lewis retired and moved to Belgium in January 1913, where the Belgians undertook its manufacture. Surprisingly, its calibre was 7.7mm or .303, the calibre of the standard British rifle round.
Showing posts with label Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lewis. Show all posts
Sunday, July 3, 2011
The good and the bad
The Italian Fiat-Revelli M1914 must have been a gunner's nightmare, with a complex mechanism that was prone to jamming. The unreliable French Chauchat LMG was designed by three men - Chauchat, Suterre and Riberolle - and as such has been called a gun designed by committee. The American-designed British-built Lewis gun, however, would be one of World War I's success stories.
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