Development of the Machine Gun

Though tactically often badly employed in the field, and conse quently put out of action by the German artillery, this gun proved that means could be provided which would enable a few men to pour a continuous stream of bullets on any spot, and thus be a factor in war too important to be overlooked. This gave a new impetus to inventors, and other guns were soon produced ; the best known being those of Gardner, and Palmcratz and Norden felt. In the British Service, the Gardner superseded the Gatling. Guns of this description were made with one, two or five fixed barrels and could fire about r 20 rounds per minute, provided that no troubles arose in the gravity fed supply of ammunition.

When later the Palmcratz-Nordenfelt rifle calibre machine was perfected, it was submitted to trial and proved to be the most reliable quick-firing gun yet produced, and eventually it became the machine gun, not only of the British service, but also of the services of most of the leading Powers. Like the Gardner, this gun also had two or five barrels fixed side by side, and was actuated by a lever worked backwards or forwards. The mechanism was simple and strong, and its maximum rate of fire a little over 600 rounds per minute. The cartridges were contained in a magazine situated above the breech action, from which they fell by gravity into position in front of whichever breech was open, and were sub sequently fired through the action of the lever closing the breech.

The Maxim Gun.

Then in 1889 came the great development made by Sir Hiram Maxim. In all the guns hitherto produced, functioning was obtained by the hand operating a crank or lever. In the Maxim functioning was truly automatic, the recoil of the one barrel employed being utilized to perform all the operations necessary for loading, firing and ejecting. In this way the firer was spared the exertion hitherto expended on cranks and levers, which latter also had a tendency to cause unsteadiness of the gun, and loss of alignment. There were several new features in this gun which were true inventions. The rows of barrels, hitherto exposed to the air in other guns, were reduced to one single barrel which, for the greater part of its length, was enveloped by water in a casing. The method of feeding the gun with ammunition was

also new, namely, a fabric belt holding 25o rounds in lieu of the older gravity feeding magazines, etc. The locking of the action against the force of the discharge was a further new and most ingenious feature.

The first gun that was made performed perfectly and fired at a rate of between 600-700 rounds a minute. So struck was the well-known Chinese envoy Li Hung Chang when witnessing a demonstration of this gun consuming ammunition at this rate, that he remarked "That won't do for China, it's much too ex pensive in ammunition." This gun was adopted by Germany and Russia and was their principal machine gun in the World War. In the British army it was adopted in 1889 and in the navy in 1892. In the hands of the latter it was employed in many fights, and it was the only small calibre machine gun used in the Boer War. At the outbreak of the World War it had been superseded in the British cavalry by its lighter offspring, the Vickers (which is referred to later) but the change over had not extended to the infantry when the war began. In the British services it is now obsolete, its place being taken on land, on the sea and in the air by the Vickers .303.

Light Machine Guns.

When in the World War trench war fare set in and the power of manoeuvre disappeared, it was no longer possible to establish a superiority of fire by skilful tactics. Hence arose a greater demand for automatic weapons to increase the volume of fire, should occasion demand, and also to economize in riflemen. In the battles fought in the early days of trench war fare, the muddy state of the ground, the obstacles to be sur-. mounted, and the heavy weight of the existing machine gun and its mounting frequently prevented the gun teams from getting the gun forward into the positions ordered. For such a task, light ness and mobility were even more important than accuracy and capacity for sustained fire. Hence the demand arose for a light machine gun, which thus took its place in the equipment of the modern army. Several different kinds were employed and are referred to later.