Firearms - An Illustrated History

["M A N U A L L Y O P E R A T E D R E P E A T I N G R I F L E S ( 1 8 9 4 \u2013 9 5 ) \u2022 149 \u25b2 MANNLICHER MODEL 1895 The straight-pull bolt-action M1895 was the work of Ferdinand Ritter von Barrel band Date 1895 Mannlicher, and used a rotating locking lug that turned in a camming (spiraled) Origin Austria groove. Simply pulling the bolt handle straight backward caused the bolt to Barrel 30in (76.5cm) rotate, unlock and slide back, and open the breech. Pushing the handle forward Caliber 8 \u00d7 50mm advanced the bolt, making it pick up a cartridge, before rotating and locking. Ammunition was fed from a fixed box magazine that Mannlicher also designed. The rifle was used widely throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Rear barrel band \u25bc WINCHESTER MODEL 1895 Winchester joined the list of manufacturers Forestock cap with sling with sling swivel Date 1895 making repeating rifles, and its repeaters used swivel and bayonet lug Origin US classic tubular magazines.This lever-action Barrel 30in (76cm) model, however, broke with tradition by having Caliber .30in a box magazine. Military sales of the 1895 were strong, particularly to Russia, which bought over 290,000 between 1915 and 1917. Sling FULL VIEW Rear sight Steel barrel Foresight Front sling \u25b2 MAUSER PLEZIER The influential German manufacturer attachment 1895\u201397 DELUXE Mauser (see pp.164\u201365) was a major Bolt Date 1895\u201397 supplier of rifles to the Boers in South Origin Germany Africa, and a very popular rifle was the Ten-round Barrel 28in (71cm) Model 1895. Both military rifles and those magazine Caliber 7 \u00d7 57mm made up as Plezier (\u201cpleasure\u201d) sporting rifles saw combat in the hands of the Boers in the Second Boer War (1899\u20131902). Wooden forestock Front sling attachment","150 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) JAMES P. LEE GREAT GUNSMITHS LEE-ENFIELD In 1895, the British Army adopted Lee-Enfield\u2019s bolt-action rifle. In various forms, this weapon was to remain the British Army\u2019s standard- issue rifle until 1957. It would see action in countless conflicts all over the world and is still used by police in some countries.This unique record is due largely to the brilliance of designer James P. Lee.The Lee-Enfield guns are named after him and the London borough of Enfield, where the original Lee-Enfield rifle was designed and where it and its various derivatives were produced at the Royal Small Arms Factory. James P. Lee was a Scottish-born inventor and a barrel created byWilliam Ellis RAPID FIRE and firearms designer who emigrated to Metford. Users were impressed with the The problem with the Lee-Metford was Canada and worked in the US, where Lee-Metford, which had a \u201ccock-on-closing\u201d that the smokeless propellant generated he made important advances in rifle and action that allowed very rapid firing.When additional heat and pressure, which damaged magazine design. His work came to the the weapon was used with smokeless powder the barrel\u2019s shallow, rounded rifling.The attention of the British Army in 1888, when (see pp.142\u201343), however, the rifling in the solution lay in a new type of rifling with they adopted the Lee-Metford rifle, which barrel wore rapidly.The search was soon a square shape, devised at the Royal Small combined a bolt action designed by Lee on for a replacement. Arms factory at Enfield.When barrels with \u25bc BRITISH SOLDIERS DuringWorld War I, hundreds of thousands of British infantrymen, on theWestern front and elsewhere, carried Lee-Enfield rifles. Soldiers affectionately referred to their SMLEs as \u201csmellies.\u201d","G R E A T G U N S M I T H S L E E - E N F I E L D \u2022 151 SMLE MARK III WITH 1915 Because the SMLE Mark III is quite complex RIFLE NO 5 MARK 1 WIRE-CUTTER ATTACHMENT to manufacture, the simpler SMLE Mark III is \u201cJUNGLE CARBINE\u201d developed to fulfill the high rate of demand 1879 James P. Lee develops a bolt-action, magazine- during World War I. 1943 A very quiet, suppressed version fed rifle; successful in its own right, this design of the Lee-Enfield rifle, the De Lisle attracts the interest of the British Army in 1888. 1939 The No. 4 Rifle is designed to be easy Carbine, is produced for British to mass-produce; its spike bayonet is commando troops during 1895 The British Army adopts the Magazine, known to soldiers as the \u201cpig-sticker.\u201d World War II. Lee-Enfield (MLE) rifle. 1944 The need for a short, lightweight rifle 1907 The SMLE Mark III is introduced. spurs the creation of the Rifle No. 5 1914 British Army Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall Mark I, known as the \u201cJungle Carbine.\u201d sets the world record for rapid fire, with 38 aimed rounds in a minute. the new-style rifling were combined \u25b2 MODERN CONFLICTS to .22in caliber so that they could act as with Lee\u2019s rapid-firing bolt action in An Afghan soldier holds a 1902 Lee-Enfield rifle training rifles firing inexpensive ammunition. 1895, the new Lee-Enfield rifle was born. found during a joint US and Afghan Army raid in Others, with the addition of features such as Lee\u2019s cock-on-closing action, in which 2002 in Kunar province, Afghanistan. cheek pieces and telescopic sights, became the forward thrust of the bolt cocks the sniper rifles. Conversions to automatic or action, was faster than that of the Mauser introduced in 1907 and used throughout semiautomatic loading were also carried out. Model 1898, which cocked on opening.The WorldWar I, was the best-known of them. Both the versatility of the original rifles and Lee-Enfield design also placed the bolt The way these Lee-Enfields combined a the various conversions have helped to keep handle over the trigger, near to the user\u2019s user-friendly layout with the ability to fire the Lee-Enfield popular globally. It is widely hand, again making it faster to operate. A rapidly piqued the interest of many users, and used by police forces, for hunting, and for detachable 10-round magazine kept the the guns spread around the British Empire target shooting, and Lee-Enfields (or copies of weapon supplied with ammunition. Military and beyond. Users also realized that the basic the weapons) are still found in combat.The commanders were initially sceptical about design\u2014and later models that were simpler history of the Lee-Enfield is one of the greatest the removable magazine\u2014they feared that and easier to manufacture\u2014could be modified success stories in the world of firearms. soldiers would lose this vital piece of for a range of uses. Many were converted equipment in the heat of battle, and some early Lee-Enfields had a length of thin chain \u201cIt was a rifle light and handy, accurate at to keep the magazine tethered to the gun. short and at long ranges and... capable of a Subsequent versions had a charger, or remarkable rate of fire.\u201d \u201cstripper clip,\u201d loading system that did away with the need for the detachable magazine, LIEUTENANT-COLONEL LORD COTTESMORE ON THE LEE-ENFIELD .303IN MAGAZINE RIFLE while allowing the operator to load and fire at speed.The rate of fire possible with Lee- Enfield rifles was impressive and surprised Britain\u2019s enemies in World War I.There are accounts of German troops attacked by fire from Lee-Enfields mistaking this for machine- gun fire.This was borne out in target shooting, when skilled marksmen could hit a target at 300 yards (270m) more than 30 times a minute, and even inexperienced soldiers could achieve a rapid rate of fire. VERSATILITY AND USE The original Lee-Enfields were impressive, but many wanted a more accurate weapon that was also lighter.The manufacturers at Enfield responded with shorter and lighter models offering charger-loading and improved sights.The Army designated these firearms Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield (SMLE rifle for short).The SMLE Mark III,","152 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) MANUALLY OPERATED Bolt handle REPEATING RIFLES (1896\u20131905) Regimental identification plate Many countries designed and introduced into military service their own varieties of bolt-action repeating breech- Trigger loaders.Those of Mauser (see pp.164\u201365) from Germany, guard however, were regarded as especially robust, accurate, and serviceable. Countries sought to purchase their rifles from Rear sling Rear sight Mauser, from other manufacturers making Mauser rifles attachment under license, or, as in the case of the US, were sufficiently influenced by the quality of the design that they acquired Bolt handle rights to manufacture their own version. Integral five-round magazine Bolt handle protrudes horizontally Dismounting disk Semi-pistol grip Trigger guard Internal five-round Cocking box magazine piece Rear sling swivel Experimental 25-round removable box magazine","M A N U A L L Y O P E R A T E D R E P E A T I N G R I F L E S ( 1 8 9 6 \u2013 1 9 0 5 ) \u2022 153 Leaf-type Waffenfabrik Mauser began exporting rifles to Cleaning rod \u25bc ARISAKA MEIJI 30 rear sight China in 1875; then came the Mauser-Koka, for Serbia; the Belgian M1889; the Turkish M1890; Date 1897 \u25b2 MAUSER MODEL 1896 the Argentine M1891; and the Spanish M1893.The Date 1896 world\u2019s armies seemed to be beating a path to Origin Japan Origin Germany Mauser\u2019s door. Mauser began manufacturing the Barrel 29\u00bcin (74cm) Model 1896 for Sweden in 1895. Licensed Swedish Barrel 31\u00bdin (79.8cm) Caliber 6.5 \u00d7 55mm production of the rifle continued until 1944. Caliber 6.5 \u00d7 50mm At the conclusion of its war with China in 1895, the Japanese Army decided to adopt a modern rifle in a small caliber. Designed by Colonel Nariakira Arisaka, this gun was chambered for a 6.5mm semi-rimmed round and used a turning bolt of the Mauser pattern with forward-locking lugs. It came into service in the 30th year of the Emperor Meiji. Leaf-type \u25bc MAUSER MODEL 1898 By the time of the Gewehr (rifle) 98, Mauser rear sight Date 1898 had solved virtually every problem known Origin Germany to beset the bolt-action magazine rifle. It FULL VIEW Barrel 29\u00bcin (74cm) added a third rear-locking lug to reinforce Caliber 7.92 \u00d7 57mm the two forward-mounted lugs, as well as improving gas sealing and refining the magazine. If the rifle had a fault, it lay in the design of its bolt handle, which projected outward and tended to catch on clothing. Sling Foresight \u25c0 MAUSER MODEL 1893 The Mauser 1893 was the seminal Spanish Date 1900 Mauser rifle of the late 1800s. Such was its Cleaning Origin Germany effectiveness during the Spanish\u2013American rod Barrel 29\u00bcin (74cm) War that it pushed the US toward Caliber 7 \u00d7 57mm development of the Springfield rifle (below). The 1893 was fed from a five-round integral box magazine.The example shown here was manufactured in 1900. \u25c0 SPRINGFIELD MODEL 1903 Impressed by the Mauser rifles US troops Date 1903 encountered during the war against Spain, the Origin US United States Ordnance Department looked Barrel 24in (61cm) to replace its Krag rifles (see pp.62\u201363). Negotiating a license to build a Mauser design Caliber .30in-03 Barrel Bayonet lug of its own, the result was the .30in Rifle, band Magazine, M1903.The example shown here has an experimental 25-round magazine.","154 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) Wooden butt MANUALLY OPERATED REPEATING RIFLES (1906\u201316) Bolt handle By the end of the 19th century, bolt-action repeating rifles were in almost universal military use, but each country sought to refine and improve its own rifle. France, for example, replaced the outmoded Lebel rifle with a more modern, but still flawed, design in the form of the Berthier.The British Lee-Enfield Mark I rifle was shortened to make it handier.Although France and Britain planned more refined smaller-caliber rifles, the arrival ofWorldWar I meant that the standard caliber of .303in was retained. Even before the outbreak of war in 1914, however, the trend was toward shorter-barreled rifles. FULL VIEW \u25b2 SMLE MARK III Trigger guard Date 1907 Origin UK Detachable 10-round box magazine Barrel 25\u00bcin (64cm) Caliber .303in A shorter version of the Lee-Enfield Mark I (see p.148) had been introduced Cocking piece enabled the in 1904 as the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield action to be safely cocked and (SMLE, often nicknamed \u201cSmellie\u201d).The uncocked manually if necessary SMLE Mark III introduced improvements to the rear sight, magazine, and chamber. Rear sling attachment Bolt handle Bolt Integral five-round box magazine Butt screw Experimental 20-round removable Wooden butt box magazine","M A N U A L L Y O P E R A T E D R E P E A T I N G R I F L E S ( 1 9 0 6 \u2013 1 6 ) \u2022 155 Cocking piece Trigger guard Tubular magazine \u25b2 BERTHIER CARBINE The French military authorities replaced housed in stock Date 1907 the tubular-magazine Lebel rifle (see p.147) Origin France with the Berthier carbine, which used the Receiver ring where Barrel 15in (38cm) same bolt mechanism but had a box magazine. the barrel is fitted Caliber 8mm Its capacity of only three rounds, however, was a major flaw.The carbine was first Rear sight introduced into service in 1902.This example was built in 1907. Barrel band Bolt handle Finger grooves Foresight is mounted between protective blades Trigger \u25b2 ENFIELD PATTERN 1913 This experimental design was produced as Date 1913 a potential replacement for Lee-Enfield\u2019s Bayonet lug Origin UK SMLE, firing a more powerful .276in round. Barrel 26in (66cm) At the start of WorldWar I, manufacturing Foresight Caliber .276in problems with this new Pattern 1913 rifle resulted in a further change in caliber. Barrel band \u25b2 BERTHIER MLE 1916 Foresight is mounted Date 1916 between protective blades Origin France Front sling Bayonet lug attachment Barrel 311\u20442in (79.8cm) \u25b2 ENFIELD PATTERN 1914 Date 1914 Around the onset of WorldWar I, the Pattern Caliber 8 \u00d7 50mm Origin UK 1913 rifle was modified to use the .303in Barrel 26in (66cm) chambering, and the weapon was redesignated Although the Berthier carbine (top) Caliber .303in Mauser as the Pattern 1914.The Model 1917, a continued to use the bolt action of the .30in-caliber version of the Pattern 1914, Lebel, it was outmoded in appearance, was later adopted by the US Army. due to the length of its barrel. However, its only serious defect lay in its limited magazine capacity. Seen here is a modified version issued in 1916, with an enlarged five-round magazine.","156 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) Cocking piece MANUALLY OPERATED REPEATING RIFLES Bolt handle (1917\u201345) Wooden The experience of World War I had severely tested butt military rifles in service throughout the world. Most had stood up to combat conditions well, and whenWorldWar II loomed, most rifles still had the bolt-action mechanism recognizable from 50 years before.While the barrels of many had been reduced in length to make rifles lighter and handier, this had little adverse effect on their accuracy over fighting distances. Trigger guard Receiver Slit in butt for Rear sight attaching sling Cocking piece Dismounting disk holds mainspring inside bolt when the rifle is dismantled or reassembled Magazine Ten-round detachable release catch box magazine Steel-bound butt Finger groove Bolt (one on each side) Sling attached through a slit in the butt Rear sling Trigger swivel Butt plate","M A N U A L L Y O P E R A T E D R E P E A T I N G R I F L E S ( 1 9 1 7 \u2013 4 5 ) \u2022 157 Foresight \u25b2 ARISAKA YEAR 38\/44 Introduced to Japanese service in 1907, the Bayonet Folding bayonet CARBINE ArisakaYear 38 rifle was upgraded during hinge Date 1944 WorldWar II.This model is called theYear 38\/44 Origin Japan Carbine because it was made in the 38th year of Rear Barrel 18in (45.72cm) the reign of the Emperor Meji and was updated sight Caliber 6.5mm in 1944.This short carbine has a folding bayonet hinged beneath the muzzle. FULL VIEW \u25b2 MAUSER KAR 98K The \u201cKarabiner\u201d 98K embodied improvements Barrel band Date 1935 to the Mauser Gewehr 98 rifle (see p.153) Origin Germany and became the standard German service rifle Barrel 23\u00bdin (60cm) of World War II. More than 14 million guns Caliber 7.92 \u00d7 57mm were manufactured between 1935 and 1945.A number of variations were produced, including Foresight those for mountain troops, paratroops, and protector snipers. During the war, the original design was simplified to speed up production. Muzzle \u25b2 LEE-ENFIELD NO. 4, MK.1 The new Lee-Enfield, which appeared late in 1939, \u25bc ARISAKA TYPE 99 Japan\u2019s war experience showed that the 6.5mm Date 1939 differed very little from the model it replaced \u2013 the Date 1939 round used in the Year 38 rifle was inadequate. Origin UK SMLE Mark III (see p.154).The bolt and receiver Origin Japan TheType 99 used the more potent 7.7mm round. Barrel 25\u00bcin (64cm) (the central body of the firearm containing the Barrel 25\u00bein (65.5cm) It was available in two versions, a short carbine Caliber .303in operating parts) were modified; the rear sight was a Caliber 7.7mm (shown here) and a standard version, 6in (15.2cm) new design and was placed on the receiver and the longer. An oddity of the Type 99 was a folding forestock was shortened, exposing the muzzle. metal monopod support beneath the forestock The Number 4 remained in service until 1954. (detached from this gun), although this was not rigid enough for its purpose. Bolt handle protrudes horizontally Folding cruciform bayonet Foresight in protective shroud Integral five-round magazine \u25b2 MOSIN-NAGANT In 1910, the 3-line Mosin-Nagant rifle (see CARBINE M1944 p.147) was modified to produce a carbine by Date 1944 shortening its barrel. In 1938, it was revamped, Origin USSR largely to make it cheaper to manufacture, and in Barrel 20\u00bcin (51.7cm) 1944, it attained its final form with the addition Caliber 7.62 \u00d7 54mm of a folding cruciform bayonet.Though it was obsolete by that time, the People\u2019s Republic of China began manufacturing copies in 1953.","LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION By the 1860s, the Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut, was the largest of its kind in the world. Employees carried out specific tasks in order, producing firearms on a large scale. Here, revolvers are being assembled in around 1917.","","160 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) Turned-down bolt handle RIFLES FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES Magazine Difficulties encountered during World War I included barbed wire catch entanglements and the need to project grenades over longer distances than a man could throw.This spurred the combatant forces to develop new devices to deal with these challenges. Britain\u2019s Lee-Enfield rifle, for example, could be given special adaptations including cutters to enable infantrymen to penetrate barbed wire defenses, and a special cup to help fire a Mills Bomb (TNT-filled grenade) into enemy trenches. Butt plate Butt marking disk to uniquely identify rifle Rear sight Receiver Ten-round FULL VIEW box magazine Bolt handle Bolt Wooden butt Forestock Ten-round magazine Rear sling attachment","R I F L E S F O R S P E C I A L P U R P O S E S \u2022 161 \u25bc SMLE (SHORT MAGAZINE The battlefields of World War I LEE-ENFIELD) MKIII RIFLE WITH were festooned with barbed wire WIRE-CUTTER ATTACHMENT entanglements, and many methods Wire cutter Date 1907 for dealing with this were tested. Rear Origin UK One involved attaching spring wire sight Barrel 251\u20444in (64cm) cutters to the muzzle of an SMLE Caliber .303in rifle, but this proved ineffective. Barrel Sling attachment Bayonet band mount Sling Mills Bomb, or Arming lever Foresight No. 36 grenade retaining ring \u25c0 SMLE WITH MILLS The Mills Bomb was adapted for BOMB LAUNCHER rifle-use by the addition of a rod Date 1915 to the base cap.The rifle itself was Origin UK fitted with a ring or cup, mounted Barrel 251\u20444in (64cm) at the bayonet lug, to retain the Caliber .303in grenade\u2019s arming lever.To fire Range 500ft (150m) the grenade, a specially formulated Grenade type Antipersonnel blank cartridge was used. Bayonet could be detached Foresight for Stabilizing fins Broken end to be used as a knife grenade launcher of bayonet Grenade body Barrel band Marker capsule \u25b2 LEE-ENFIELD NO. 4 RIFLE The No. 4 Rifle, used extensively inWorldWar II, WITH GRENADE LAUNCHER had an exposed muzzle, which enabled the British Date 1940s Army to develop a new style of tubular launcher. Origin UK The rifle could launch a fin-stabilized antitank grenade, Barrel 30in (76.2cm) which was mounted over its muzzle on the bayonet Caliber .303in lugs. Using a powerful blank cartridge, it was fired with Range 330ft (100m) the butt of the rifle grounded.This example is equipped Grenade type Antitank with a later model L1A1 practice grenade.","162 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) Checkered Trigger \u25b2 LEBEL MOD\u00c8LE 1892 walnut grip guard Date 1892 CENTER-FIRE REVOLVERS Origin France Barrel 111\u20444in (28.6cm) Once revolvers adopted center-fire metallic cartridges Caliber 8 \u00d7 27mm rim-fire (see pp.112\u201313), invented in the 1860s\u201370s, several basic designs of frame became established, and these were to remain almost The double-action, solid-frame consistent for a very long period. Solid frames with cylinders that Lebel Mod\u00e8le 1892 was loaded by hinged out sideways for reloading were most common.The user means of a gate. It was used by the pushed the extractor rod to eject the cartridges.Alternatives French Army in World War I. included theWebley and Scott system, which extracted all the cartridges at once as the frame swung open.The strength, Foresight Brand name inscribed simplicity, and durability of a revolver meant that it could on barrel be deployed reliably in military, sporting, and self-defense roles. Earlier self-cocking and single-action designs gave way to a more universal use of the double-action mechanism, which provided the option for rapid fire or for cocking the revolver manually to aim with more precision. \u25bc RAST AND GASSER M1898 This solid-frame, double-action pistol was issued to Date 1898 soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian Army inWorldWar I. Origin Austria Around 200,000 of them were produced from 1898 Barrel 83\u20444in (22.3cm) to 1912. In this design, the cylinder revolved around Caliber .32in a fixed axle and cartridges were loaded and extracted one at a time through a rearward-hinging gate. Foresight Hammer Barrel lug (attaches barrel to forestock) Extractor rod Cylinder contained six .455in Eley rounds Type and caliber Cylinder holds six Recess for stamped into barrel .45in Colt rounds cylinder- Cylinder- locking bolt releasing catch \u25b2 WEBLEY AND SCOTT MK VI Checkered Cylinder axis Date 1915 grip and extractor rod Origin UK Barrel 6in (15.2cm) \u25b6 COLT NEW SERVICE Caliber .455in Eley Trigger Date 1901 guard Origin US The last in a long line of service Barrel 5\u00bdin (14.4cm) revolvers produced by the famous Caliber .45in Colt Birmingham, England, partnership, the MarkVI was introduced early Lanyard ring American officers were issued with Colt Lanyard inWorldWar I.This revolver, \u201cautomatics\u201d beginning in 1902, but some ring which took Eley cartridges, was felt that they were likely to jam.They renowned for its sturdy reliability. preferred the last revolver produced Its frame could hinge open to for the US Army\u2014the .45in-caliber expose the rear face of the double-action Colt New Service, cylinder for rapid reloading. which remained in service until 1941.","C E N T E R - F I R E R E V O L V E R S \u2022 163 Recess for cylinder- locking bolt Hammer \u25b2 SMITH AND WESSON M1917 Cylinder holds six Cylinder- Heavy .45in ACP cartridges releasing catch N-Type frame Date 1917 Cylinder holds \u25b6 SMITH AND WESSON Smith and Wesson Origin US six rounds of MODEL 27 produced a huge variety ammunition Date 1938 of pistols chambered for Barrel 5\u00bdin (14.4cm) Origin US the various Magnum Barrel 83\u20448in (21.3cm) cartridges\u2014.357in and .44in are only the Caliber .45in ACP Caliber .357in Magnum most common\u2014on light, intermediate, and heavy frames.The heavy Model 27, DuringWorldWar I, Smith andWesson which fired a .357in Magnum, was the was commissioned to produce a most popular model, and was produced revolver that chambered the .45in ACP with 4in (10.2cm), 6in (15.2cm), and round.This was the M1917.Although 83\u20448in (21.3cm) barrels. it was a success, it faced extraction problems unless the ammunition was Foresight loaded in flat half-moon clips, each carrying three rounds. Spurless hammer Hammer Cylinder holds six .38in rounds \u25b2 ENFIELD NO. 2 MARK 1 Date 1938 Origin UK Barrel 5in (12.7cm) Caliber .38in After World War I, the British Army decided to adopt a lighter caliber for its service side-arm. The revolver it chose was almost a copy of the Webley and Scott MK VI (left).The version shown was issued to tank crews, and lacks a hammer spur to prevent it catching from on clothing in the confined spaces of a tank. Cylinder- releasing catch Trigger Having championed the hinged- Grip- frame revolver, Smith andWesson, retaining \u25b2 SMITH AND WESSON with the advent of more powerful screw MILITARY AND POLICE ammunition, was obliged to switch Date 1900 to a solid frame with a swing-out Origin US cylinder for its Military and Police Barrel 5in (12.7cm) pistol.This was chambered for the Caliber .38in Special long .38in Special round. Lanyard ring","164 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) PAUL GREAT GUNSMITHS MAUSER M AU SE R Mauser is one of the most celebrated names in the history of firearms design. Although Paul Mauser, its creator, died in 1914, Mauser\u2019s influence was still clear in the design of many of the rifles in use during World War II. It was in the late 1800s and early 1900s that Paul Mauser developed a series of bolt-action rifles, weapons that became known for their ease of use and reliability.This helped them sell in large numbers, dramatically changing the way battles were fought. Paul Mauser was born into a family of German \u25b2 MODEL 1898 gunsmiths and his father, Franz Andreas Mauser, German troops used this rifle very effectively worked at theW\u00fcrttemberg Royal Armory. in World War I. It replaced the Model 1888 Paul Mauser was drafted as an artilleryman in rifle as the main rifle in service in Germany. 1859 and did his military service at the arsenal at Ludwigsburg. Here, he was able to continue \u201cThe pistol was the best thing in the world.\u201d his trade as a gunsmith.At both the Royal Armory and at Ludwigsburg, the young Mauser WINSTON CHURCHILL, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF UK, ON THE MAUSER C.96 found that the prevailing rifle was the Dreyse needle-fire rifle (see pp.108\u201309), a bolt-action clear\u2014it was reliable and easy to use, and a major problem with the Dreyse needle-fire weapon.Although the Dreyse rifle was because it did not have a downward-moving rifle, with its long, needlelike firing pin, widely used, Mauser wanted to improve it, lever it could be fired and loaded more easily which sometimes caused the weapon\u2019s paper in particular to eliminate problems such as gas in a prone position than a lever-action rifle.Also, cartridges to discharge accidentally when the blowback (caused by expanding gases created unlike muzzle-loading guns, it did not have to be bolt was being closed. However, all early by the ignition of the propellant) and the gun\u2019s loaded while standing up, making it safer to use Mausers were single-shot weapons and were tendency to discharge accidentally. So from in battle. Bolt-action weapons would gradually at a marked disadvantage compared to the the 1860s onward, Mauser began to develop become more widespread. Mauser\u2019s weapons repeating rifles introduced byWinchester new bolt-action weapons to address these issues. also used metallic cartridges.This overcame in 1866. Mauser began to design bolt-action rifles with a repeating action in which a TRANSFORMING WARFARE cycle of the bolt loads the chamber for the Bolt-action rifles began to become popular in next shot.The most successful of these was the 1860s and Mauser patented his first one the Model 1898 (see p.153), which took five in 1868.The advantages of the bolt action for smokeless cartridges in a disposable charger loading a gun at the breech were immediately (or stripper clip). Light and easy to use, the Model 1898 was one of the most successful rifles of its time, a reliable repeater that could be loaded and fired from a prone position and could stop an enemy advance in its tracks. Adopted by the German Army (where it was given the designation Gewehr 98), the rifle played a major part inWorldWar I and set a high standard for other manufacturers to emulate. \u25c0 GERMAN TROOPS WITH MAUSER RIFLES Seen here is a group of German troops in battle, in about 1916, aiming their Mauser Gewehr 98 rifles from a ruined building.","G R E A T G U N S M I T H S M A U S E R \u2022 165 MAUSER MODEL 1871 MAUSER C.96 1871 The Model 1871 is the first rifle manufactured 1896 The distinctive grip of the C.96 semiautomatic 1918 The Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr is the world\u2019s by Paul and his brother, Wilhelm Mauser. pistol leads to its nickname, \u201cBroom handle.\u201d first antitank rifle. 1874 The Mausers purchase the W\u00fcrttemberg Royal 1898 The Model 1898, purchased by the German 1935 The K98k is adopted by German armed forces. Armory and begin to make 100,000 Model Army, becomes the most successful Mauser rifle. 1948 The Mauser factory is dismantled after 1871 rifles for W\u00fcrttemberg\u2019s army. 1914 Paul Mauser dies, but the company continues World War II, and engineers salvage some 1878 Mauser develops the Zig-Zag, the first to prosper, supplying weapons in large numbers of the equipment for the company that German military revolver to employ during World War I. will become known as Heckler and Koch. modern brass cartridges. \u25b6 YOUNG WINSTON The actor Simon Ward, playingWinston Churchill in the 1972 film Young Winston, carries a Mauser C.96 pistol.Winston Churchill used this gun in the Sudan and during the Boer War, and it became his favorite weapon. THE PISTOLS OF MAUSER When the first semiautomatic pistols (see p.166) were developed by German gunsmiths such as Hugo Borchardt in the 1880s and 1890s, Mauser also moved into this market. Mauser\u2019s first, the highly successful C.96 (see p.166), was a highly distinctive firearm with a box magazine in front of the trigger and a grip that looked like the handle of a broom.The gun also had a removable wooden shoulder stock that doubled as a carrying case or holster. Carried byWinston Churchill and Lawrence of Arabia, the C.96 became well-known, and Mauser manufactured more than a million of them.The C.96 also took the Mauser name to China, where large numbers of the weapon were manufactured. The name Mauser is almost synonymous with \u201cpistol\u201d in many countries in Asia. WAR AND PEACE After World War I, the Mauser company used its engineering and manufacturing skills to branch out into peacetime products, such as tools, sewing machines, and even cars. But when Germany began to rearm in the mid- 1930s, the Mauser line of firearms continued with the KAR 98k (see p.157), a bolt-action rifle first produced in 1935 but descended from the Model 1898 (left). Like the older rifle, the KAR 98k took ammunition loaded in a stripper clip, but it had a down-turned bolt handle (in contrast to the straight bolt handle of the Model 1898), which made for faster operation.The KAR 98k was used widely by the German army in World War II, especially for providing covering fire for machine-gunners.","166 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) SELF-LOADING PISTOLS (1893\u20131900) The final decade of the 19th century saw an extraordinary upsurge in the development of reliable self-loading, or \u201csemiautomatic,\u201d pistols, which could fire one round with every pull of the trigger.They worked on recoil operation (see p.305)\u2014by using a spring to harness the power in the recoil of the fired cartridge to reload the weapon. It was Hiram Maxim who had perfected recoil action in machine-guns (see pp.184\u201385), following which gunmakers began applying it to other weapons. Detachable Recoil spring stock housing FULL VIEW \u25b2 BORCHARDT C.93 Date 1894 Origin Germany Barrel 6\u00bdin (16.5cm) Caliber 7.65mm The C.93, developed by gunmaker Hugo Borchardt, was the first successful self-loading pistol. For its loading action, the C.93 drew on the design of Maxim\u2019s machine-guns, which Borchardt\u2019s employer, Ludwig Loewe, was producing under license in Berlin. Recoil spring housing Leather holster combined with detachable wooden shoulder stock Hammer Adjustable Loading\/ejection port rear sight Blade-shaped foresight Fixed \u25b2 \u201cMARS,\u201d BY magazine GABBETT-FAIRFAX Date 1899\u20131902 Origin UK Barrel 10\u00bdin (26.5cm) Caliber 8.5mm Mars\/.45in Webley The \u201cMars\u201d pistol was too big, expensive, complex\u2014and too unforgiving\u2014to succeed in the already congested and competitive weapons market of 1900. Trigger \u25b2 MAUSER C.96 Although complicated and slow to load due to its fixed Lanyard ring Date 1896 magazine, the \u201cBroom handle\u201d Mauser Selbstladepistole Origin Germany (self-loading pistol) soon became popular in military circles Barrel 5\u00bdin (14cm) thanks to its very powerful ammunition. It remained in Caliber 7.63mm Mauser production until 1937 and was copied the world over. It was usually supplied with a holster-cum-shoulder stock (like that of the C.93, above), which was essential for safely firing the gun. Fully automatic versions, which could fire continuously while the trigger was pulled, were also produced.","Ejection port, an opening in the receiver S E L F - L O A D I N G P I S T O L S ( 1 8 9 3 \u2013 1 9 0 0 ) \u2022 167 through which spent cartridge cases are ejected Foresight Trigger guard Exposed hammer Butt houses Recoil spring removable housing eight-round magazine \u25b2 BERGMANN NO. 3 Date 1896 Origin Germany Fixed magazine Barrel 4\u00bdin (11.2cm) Caliber 6.5mm Bergmann The Louis Schmeisser-designed \u201cNo. 3\u201d was among the simplest of pistols, with a small-capacity fixed magazine Cocking and a \u201cblowback\u201d breech.The blowback system used the handle combined weight of the breechblock and the resistance of the pistol\u2019s mainspring to counter the recoil force generated on firing a cartridge.This enabled the breechblock to move fully rearward, where it was held back by the sear. Pulling the trigger again made the breechblock fly forward under spring pressure, collecting a cartridge, chambering it, and firing it. The cycle would then repeat. Foresight Rear sight Recoil spring housing Hammer pivot screw Trigger guard \u25b2 BROWNING MODEL 1900 Butt houses Date 1900 Magazine removable release catch seven-round Origin Belgium magazine Barrel 4in (10.2cm) Caliber 7.65mm John Browning (see pp.180\u201381), probably the most prolific gun designer ever, moved to Belgium from his native US in 1895.There he produced an improved version of his first semiautomatic pistol, which became known as the Model 1900. It used a breech of the blowback type. Small and light, the Model 1900 was hugely popular, and over 700,000 units were sold before production ceased in 1911.","168 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) Foresight SELF-LOADING PISTOLS Cylinder-indexing (1901\u201324) grooves This period saw the appearance of several designs Hammer of self-loading pistol that are still familiar today. John Browning created a series of slide-action pistols produced Slide by Colt, culminating in the Model 1911A1, which was carried by American forces through both world wars. \u25b2 WEBLEY-FOSBERY Cylinder- Georg Luger perfected the toggle-bolt breech mechanism retaining of Hugo Borchardt to produce the pistol which became Date 1901 the ubiquitous German military sidearm. Other pistols, wedge while technically interesting, proved less successful. Origin UK Cutaway toggle knob Barrel 7\u00bdin (19cm) Caliber .455in Safety catch \u25b2 LUGER P.08 Safety In 1899, Colonel George Fosbery Date 1902 catch designed a self-cocking revolver Origin Germany in which recoil propelled the Barrel 4\u00bein (12cm) barrel and cylinder backward Caliber 7.65mm within a slide, indexing the cylinder (positioning each chamber in turn opposite the firing pin). It proved too fragile for battlefield conditions. Foresight Trigger 4in (10cm) barrel, the longest permitted in Georg Luger designed his iconic Germany after World War I Pistole \u201908 in 1900. It would remain instantly identifiable for Magazine grip its entire production life.This early model used 7.65mm Muzzle ammunition, which lacked stopping power. Slide, drawn back manually to cock the pistol Trigger \u25c0 COLT MODEL 1902 Browning produced a series of successful guard Date 1902 locked-breech pistols for the military Origin US market. However, the Model 1902 was not Butt houses seven-round Barrel 6in (15.2cm) as popular.This gun featured a double-link removable box magazine Caliber .38in ACP mechanism. Its barrel was connected to the pistol frame at each end via pivoting links, Barrel-locking lug which locked the barrel and slide together until the bullet left the muzzle. Foresight Loading\/ejector port Tapered barrel Foresight Hammer \u25b2 STEYR M1905 \u25b2 LUGER P.08 Action- AMERICAN EAGLE locking pin Date 1905 Date 1906 Trigger Origin Austria-Hungary guard Origin Germany Barrel 6\u00bdin (16cm) Butt houses 10-round fixed Barrel 6in (15.2cm) Caliber 7.63mm Mannlicher box magazine Caliber 9mm The M1905, designed by Austrian manufacturer Steyr-Mannlicher International sales of Luger pistols (see pp.290\u201391), was chambered for grew enormously and in 1906, new a round generally thought too powerful models, in 9mm caliber, included for a recoil action, but succeeded due one for commercial sale in the US. to the high standard to which it was This finely finished version had the manufactured.This pistol was never manufacturer\u2019s mark (DWM) and especially popular though. also an American eagle on the top of the receiver.","S E L F - L O A D I N G P I S T O L S ( 1 9 0 1 \u2013 2 4 ) \u2022 169 Concealed Barrel hammer locking lug \u25b6 STEYR-HAHN Austria tried for many years MODEL 1911 Date 1911 to produce a successful military Origin Austria Barrel 5in (12.7cm) pistol, and succeeded with the Caliber 7.63mm Mannlicher M1911. It was similar in concept to the Colt (below), except that its barrel rotates, rather than tips, Butt houses eight-round to unlock it from the slide. fixed box magazine \u25b2 WEBLEY MODEL 1910 Butt houses seven-round Date 1910 removable box magazine Origin UK Foresight Lever holds slide Barrel 5in (12.7cm) Slide back for stripping Caliber .38in Recoil spring housing Webley of Birmingham, England, produced a range Toggle doubles up Ramp breaks toggle Patent data of locked-breech, self-loading as cocking grip joint upward pistols from about 1904.They Butt houses were all designed by J. H. seven-round Whiting, who collaborated with Hugh Gabbett-Fairfax on the removable \u201cMars\u201d (see p.166), and were box magazine adopted by some police forces. Ejection port Safety catch \u25b2 COLT M1911A1 Magazine Date 1924 catch Origin US Barrel 5in (12.7cm) Caliber .45in ACP Browning designed the Colt M1911 in 1911, following which it was accepted as the US Army\u2019s official sidearm. He designed it in response to a demand by US soldiers fighting Moro rebels in the Philippines for a pistol firing a heavy .45in round in place of the less-effective .38in caliber revolvers with which they had been issued.The example shown here is a later M1911A1. \u25b2 LUGER P.08 9MM PARABELLUM Date 1908 Origin Germany Barrel 4in (10cm) Safety Caliber 9mm Parabellum catch The Luger P.08 is one of the best- Butt houses 10-round known pistols in the world. Luger removable box magazine copied many features of Borchardt\u2019s C.93 pistol of 1893 (see p.166), but Magazine grip adopted a leaf recoil spring and moved it into the butt, improving the overall balance considerably. Luger also produced improved ammunition for his pistol, the Parabellum round, which was to become the world standard. Magazine grip","170 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) 1 S H OWC A S E Loading indicator LUGER LANGE P.08 PISTOL Recognized worldwide, this distinctive gun was used heavily by German forces in both world wars because of its reliability, accuracy, and light weight. It is one of the earliest self-loading pistols (see p.166), but unlike others, it is equipped with a recoil-operated toggle-lock instead of the slide action that later became standard. Firing the gun pushes the breechblock backward, folding the toggle and ejecting the spent cartridge. \u25b6 LOADING INDICATOR 1 WITH CARTRIDGE Breechblock The extractor, or loading indicator, is attached contains a striker to the breechblock.When a cartridge is in Sideplate Toggle assembly Sear place, the extractor lifts upward at the front, fits here fits here exposing the word \u201cgeladen\u201d (loaded) stamped on its side. It is easy to see, and feel, if a Luger pistol is loaded. Most Luger pistols used the Parabellum cartridge, which became the standard pistol round of armies across the world. Barrel \u25b2 BARREL AND LOCK ASSEMBLY Rear sight Flat plate The barrel fits into a block that adjustment catch projects rearward has two plates projecting rearward. The toggle assembly is fitted between \u201cL\u201d shaped Barrel assembly- these plates.The barrel and the toggle sear link retaining lug assemblies are attached to the main frame lever (receiver) of the pistol.To field-strip the Slot in trigger mechanism gun for cleaning, the barrel assembly is for sear link lever pushed backward.This allows the user to turn the release lever clockwise and lift off the sideplate.The user can then pull out the release lever, allowing the barrel assembly to slide forward out of the receiver. \u25b2 SIDEPLATE Sideplate Unique to the Luger is an L-shaped release lever lever located on the inner side of the sideplate.This lever connects the trigger \u25b6 MAIN FRAME with the sear.The sear in this gun holds The main frame (receiver) back a striker until the trigger is pulled. of the gun houses the magazine, Without the sideplate in place, the gun mainspring (inside the butt), is inoperable. and trigger, and provides the platform onto which the barrel and lock assembly fit.","S H O W C A S E L U G E R L A N G E P . 0 8 P I S T O L \u2022 171 \u25bc TOGGLE ASSEMBLY 2 \u25bc REAR TOGGLE PIN LUGER LANGE P.08 PISTOL The toggle assembly consists of the sliding The toggle pin fixes the toggle breechblock and the hinged toggle.The toggle Toggle (unfolded) assembly to the barrel frame. Date 1917 is a mechanical linkage between the breechblock and the mainspring, which runs down the back Coupling Hole for rear Origin Germany of the gun\u2019s butt.The mainspring is attached to link toggle pin the toggle by the coupling link. Barrel 7in (17.8cm) Barrel 2in (5cm) Caliber 9mm Parabellum Georg Luger\u2019s P.08 was available in calibers of 7.65 or 9mm and various barrel lengths. This \u201cLange,\u201d or long-barreled version, was issued to artillerymen as a personal weapon, and is also known as the \u201cartillery\u201d model. It was equipped with either a standard 8-round magazine or a 32-round drum magazine, both detachable and using 9mm Parabellum cartridges.The gun has a rifle-type adjustable rear sight graduated to 875 yards (800m) and was supplied with a simple detachable shoulder stock to enable a more steady aim at longer ranges. FULL VIEW Hole for rear toggle pin Magazine Ramp to catch fold toggle Safety catch Mainspring is 2 housed here, parallel to the magazine, \u25b2 TOGGLE (FOLDED) which occupies The user loads the gun by pulling the toggle, which most of the butt folds upward, drawing the breechblock backward and compressing the mainspring (left, in the butt). As the toggle folds upward, the spring inside the magazine pushes a cartridge up.Then, as the mainspring extends, it straightens the toggle and pushes the breechblock and cartridge forward, sealing the breech and chambering the cartridge. On firing, the recoil sends the breechblock and toggle backwards, and the toggle folds as it runs up a ramp on the rear of the frame, triggering a cycle of automatic loading.","172 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) UGO GUSSALLI GREAT GUNSMITHS BERETTA BE R E T TA The world\u2019s oldest firearms manufacturer is the Italian company Fabbrica d\u2019Armi Pietro Beretta SpA, which originated in the 16th century as a supplier of gun barrels to the arsenal in Venice. From these small beginnings, Beretta has expanded into a large business with a global reputation in a variety of fields\u2014 from small arms for military use to hand-made shotguns, often beautifully engraved.These guns continue to be recognized for their excellent design and high standard of quality under the able guidance of Ugo Gussalli Beretta and his sons. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the city GardoneVal Trompia in Lombardy, whose decline in the 18th century. By this time, of Venice was a powerful and independent business began to prosper in 1526, when he Beretta\u2019s weapons were well-known republic with lands in northern Italy and supplied 185 harquebus barrels to the arsenal. beyond theVenetian empire, so the company the Mediterranean.The Venetians grew rich could still flourish as its initial market shrank. through trade, and to help defend their empire, THE CRAFT TRADITION In the 19th century, Pietro Antonio Beretta they developed the arsenal at Venice, originally TheVenetians valued the work of gunsmiths and his son Giuseppe traveled up and down a ship-building complex, as a major gun such as Beretta and levied low taxes on them, Italy demonstrating their company\u2019s products manufacturer.The arsenal called on craft giving them more power to run their own and collecting orders. Purchasers liked the workers from outside the city to supply parts affairs and a ready market for their products. quality, workmanship, and craft values of for weapons. One of these craft workers was Mastro Bartolomeo Beretta, exploiting local Beretta\u2019s products and the orders continued Mastro Bartolomeo Beretta, a gunsmith from deposits of high-grade iron ore to make his to flow in, especially for their finely crafted, guns, did well, and he and his descendants ornately engraved rifles. \u25bc BERETTA CRAFTSMAN handed down the techniques of gunsmithing A worker assembles a hunting rifle at the Beretta from father to son from the 16th century to PRIZED FOR PRECISION factory in Italy in 1985.The stunning engraving the present.Venice provided a strong market Throughout its history, the on these premium weapons is done by hand and for Beretta\u2019s firearms until the city went into company has developed individually signed by the engraver. weapons for supply to a variety of military and civilian users. Its military weapons have moved with the times. For example, duringWorld War I, the company developed the Model 1918, one of the first submachine-guns used by the Italian army. During the 20th century, Beretta handguns, especially its semiautomatic pistols, were widely employed by the military and police, and this has continued into the 21st century. Strength in this area is partly due to Pietro Beretta, who took over in 1903 and developed international sales, and partly toTullio Marengoni, Beretta\u2019s chief designer from","G R E A T G U N S M I T H S B E R E T T A \u2022 173 MODEL 1934 MODEL S-686, 1982 1526 Mastro Bartolomeo Beretta supplies 1918 Beretta\u2019s first submachine-gun, the Model 1918, 1953 In Ian Fleming\u2019s first James Bond novel, 185 harquebus barrels to the arsenal is launched and taken up by the Italian Army. Casino Royale, the hero carries a Beretta in Venice. 418 pistol. 1934 The Model 1934, a compact, semiautomatic 1915 Beretta begins to produce semiautomatic pistol designed for the Italian Army, is created. 1985 The semiautomatic M9 is ordered for pistols\u2014a type of gun that will become the US Army as a replacement for the one of its most important products 1935 The SO series of over-and-under shotguns venerable M1911 pistol designed by during the 20th century. is launched, beginning an enduring line of John Browning. double-barreled shotguns, including the Model S-686, that lasts until today. \u201cWe are Beretta. We don\u2019t want to make a copy of other shapes.\u201d ATTRIBUTED TO FRANCO BERETTA, SON OF UGO GUSSALLI BERETTA \u25c0 TARGET SHOOTING 1904 until his death in 1965. Marengoni\u2019s FOR THE ATHLETES Beretta weapons have found work in small arms bore fruit in the form By 1956, the excellence of the weapons was particular favor with competitive of the Model 34, which sold in huge numbers confirmed at the Melbourne Olympics, at skeet shooters. Here, Australian over a 40-year period.This tradition has which a shooting competitor with a Beretta shooter George Barton fires continued with the M9, issued to the US Army, won gold for the first time; medals went to a Beretta during an event in and the 92 series, bought widely by armed Beretta shooters in nearly all the following Melbourne in 2006. forces around the world.These weapons are Olympics, and there were also successes in valued for their precision of manufacture and theWorld Championships from 1978 reliability, as are Beretta\u2019s competition rifles onward.The success enjoyed by the SO1 and shotguns, especially the SO (Sovrapposto, has continued to today, with the SO5 and indicating that the barrels are arranged one the SO6\u2014premium firearms that combine above the other) shotgun series launched in excellent balance and precision with beautiful 1935.The firm\u2019s position in this area was also design. In addition to these premium weapons, strengthened by the fact that Pietro Beretta\u2019s Beretta also produces many competition and nephew, Carlo, was an avid competition hunting weapons designed for users on a marksman, giving the designers informed budget that still maintain the quality and feedback on the firearms he used. reliability that have made the company\u2019s name.","174 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) SELF-LOADING \u25bc NAMBU TAISHO 14 The first Nambu pistols appeared PISTOLS (1925\u201345) Date 1920 in 1909. Although they were clearly Origin Japan influenced by the Luger P.08 (see p.168), In the years following World War I, military forces Barrel 4in (12cm) they have nothing in common with it worldwide began adopting self-loading pistols for use by their Caliber 8mm Nambu internally, the unlocking of the bolt officer corps.While some were intended solely for personal from the barrel being achieved by the defense, others, such as the Browning High Power or GP35, rotation of a linking block. were dual-purpose weapons suitable for offensive operations due to their caliber and magazine capacity. Safety catch Hammer Foresight Trigger Cocking piece Foresight Magazine catch FULL VIEW \u25b2 ASTRA MODEL 901 This self-loading pistol was part of the Date 1927 Astra 900 series, a copy of the Schnellfeuer Removable butt Origin Spain (\u201cRapidfire\u201d) version of the Mauser C.96 Barrel 61\u20444in (16cm) (see p.165). It could switch between Caliber 7.63mm Mauser semiautomatic and automatic firing modes. In fully automatic mode, the gun would keep firing as long as the trigger was kept pulled.The gun Manufacturer\u2019s was, however, difficult to control in that mode. markings Firing-mode 20-round selector fixed magazine switches between Foresight fully and Hammer Slide grips semiautomatic modes Trigger Recoil spring housing guard Foresight \u25b2 WALTHER PPK TheWalther PPK was popularized through Semi-shrouded Date 1931 its cinematic use by James Bond, and it did hammer Origin Germany indeed find its way into many security service Barrel 31\u20444in (8.3cm) hands, mainly because of its compact Butt houses Caliber 7.65mm dimensions. It was a simple recoil weapon eight-round most commonly produced in .32in ACP removable box (7.65mm) caliber, and was fed from a seven-round magazine. magazine Magazine Safety \u25b2 TOKAREV TT MODEL 1933 base catch Date 1933 \u25b6 STAR MODEL M Recoil spring Date 1932 housing Origin Soviet Union Origin Spain Barrel 5in (12.5cm) Manufactured by Echeverria in Eibar, the Barrel 41\u20442in (11.6cm) Caliber 9mm Largo Star was one of the best of many copies of the Colt M1911 (see pp.178\u201379), although it Caliber 7.62mm lacked the grip safety of the original 1911 model. Various versions of this model were produced in a The Tokarev TT was the first number of different calibers until the mid-1980s. self-loading pistol on general issue to the Red Army. In design, it was similar to the Browning GP35 (right), with a similar recoil-driven self-loading action. It was simple and could be field-stripped without tools. It lacked a safety catch.","S E L F - L O A D I N G P I S T O L S ( 1 9 2 5 \u2013 4 5 ) \u2022 175 Foresight Manufacturer\u2019s markings Hammer Recoil \u25b6 BERETTA 318 spring Date 1935 housing Origin Italy Barrel 2\u00bcin (5.7cm) \u25b6 BERETTA MODEL 1934 Caliber .25in ACP Date 1934 The Beretta Modello 318 Trigger was produced in Italy from guard Origin Italy 1935 to 1943. It was one Butt houses of a developing line of Barrel 6in (15.2cm) removable Beretta small-frame pistols in nine-round .25in ACP caliber introduced Caliber 9mm short box magazine in 1919, and it was exported in decent numbers to the US, Pietro Beretta SpA (see pp.172\u201373) where it sold under the name is the world\u2019s longest-established Bantam or Panther. gunmaker. Its M1934 became the official Italian officer\u2019s side-arm Polish eagle Manufacturer\u2019s Rear duringWorldWar II.The design proof mark markings sight evolved from one executed two decades earlier.This recoil-operated Decocking Hammer weapon was restricted to firing a lever reduced-power round, originally in 7.65mm caliber. Hold-open Milled notch cocking grip Hammer Slide catch lever Trigger Safety \u25b2 RADOM M1935 catch \u25b2 BROWNING GP35 Date 1935 Date 1935 Butt houses Origin Belgium 13-round Origin Poland Barrel 43\u20444in (11.8cm) removable Barrel 41\u20442in (11.5cm) Caliber 9mm Parabellum box magazine Self-loading pistols were used only Caliber 9mm Parabellum occasionally by special forces before the High Power (Grand Puissance) The Radom was similar in concept GP35 became the first self-loading to the Browning GP35 (left), but pistol to be officially adopted into it was more compact and had extra British service in 1954. It replaced security features.These included a the revolver as the official military decocking device that pulled the firing sidearm in Britain.This model pin back and allowed the hammer to fall was the last Browning design. forward safely without firing the pistol. Barrel breech Foresight \u25b6 WALTHER P38 Grip made out of Bakelite, one of the Date 1938 early forms of plastic Origin Germany Barrel 43\u20444in (12.4cm) Caliber 9mm Parabellum Developed by theWalther company just prior toWorldWar II, the P38 has come to be recognized as one of the finest semiautomatic pistols ever designed. Simple in construction and ruggedly built, it proved to be reliable under all circumstances.","176 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) SELF-LOADING RIFLES \u25bc M1 GARAND RIFLE Designed by John Garand, the Date 1932 M1 rifle was the first general issue Self-loading, or semiautomatic, rifles existed before the Origin US self-loading rifle to be accepted for end of the 19th century.The first one was developed by Manuel Barrel 24in (61cm) US military service. By the end of Mondragon of Mexico in 1891, but like other early designs it Caliber .30in-06 WorldWar II, more than five million proved too complex for military use.While some early self- of them had been manufactured. loading rifles were recoil-operated (see p.305), others began utilizing a system of gas-driven reloading (see p.305). In 1917, Rear sling attachment French gunmakers introduced the St. Etienne self-loading rifle, while in the US, John M. Browning perfected his \u201cautomatic\u201d Foresight rifle, the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). Both were in service inWorldWar I. A later successful design was the M1 Garand rifle, designed by John Garand, which, with its numerous variations, saw widespread service inWorldWar II.The German Sturmgewehr 44 had fully automatic firing capability, and led the way toward today\u2019s assault rifles (see pp.250\u201351). Threaded receiver cap Integral magazine Rear Cocking Wooden butt sight handle \u25b2 MONDRAGON RIFLE 15-round Rear sight MODEL 1908 detachable box magazine Date 1908 Welded Origin Mexico\/Switzerland pressed-steel Barrel 24in (61cm) receiver Caliber 7mm The Model 1908 Mondragon was the final version of a gas-operated, semiautomatic rifle first designed by Mexican General Manuel Mondragon in 1891.Though designed for infantry use, some rifles were issued to German air crew at the beginning of WorldWar I. Wooden butt Pistol grip 30-round detachable box magazine","Cocking handle S E L F - L O A D I N G R I F L E S \u2022 177 Foresight between protective blades Forward Bayonet Gas cylinder containing sling swivel attachment a piston linked to the breechblock Bottom plate of Cocking Perforated sheet- internal eight-round handle steel hand guard Muzzle compensator box magazine deflects propellant gas exhaust on firing to reduce recoil Trigger 10-round detachable \u25b2 TOKAREV SVT40 Fedor Tokarev designed a self-loading rifle with a Foresight box magazine Date 1940 tilting bolt locking into the floor of the receiver, and Origin Soviet Union had it accepted by the Red Army in 1938.Two years later, Barrel 24in (61cm) he produced a more robust weapon that was cheaper and Caliber 7.62 \u00d7 54mm quicker to manufacture.The SamozaryadnayaVintovka Tokarev 40 (SVT40) was issued to noncommissioned Rear sight officers, and some were employed as sniper rifles. Cocking handle Safety catch Steel butt plate 10-round detachable box magazine \u25b2 M1 CARBINE Foresight in \u25b2 GEWEHR 43 Foresight Date 1941 protective shroud Date 1943 Origin US Origin Germany Barrel 18in (46cm) Designed to be lighter and handier than an infantry rifle, Barrel 22in (56cm) Caliber .30in and employing cartridges more powerful than those used Caliber 7.92 \u00d7 57mm by pistols, the M1 was intended as an alternative to the rifle and the pistol. Issued from 1942, it was chambered The German army\u2019s request for an intermediate round developed byWinchester, and for a self-loading rifle to increase had an action similar to that of the Garand (top), except infantry firepower spurred the it had a short-stroke gas piston. It was also produced introduction of the successful with a folding butt (see pp.214\u201315). Gewehr rifle 43. A number of them were fitted with telescopic sights and used as sniper rifles. Stacking hook is part of the gas cylinder cap and enabled groups of rifles to be propped up on their butts and stacked Perforated \u25b2 STURMGEWEHR 44 In 1940, work began on a rifle capable of pressed-steel (STG44) selective fire\u2014it could switch between forestock semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. Date 1944 It was chambered for a new intermediate 7.92 \u00d7 33mm round. It was put into Origin Germany production as the Maschinen Pistole Barrel 161\u20442in (41.8cm) (machine-pistol) 43 and later renamed the Sturmgewehr (assault rifle) 44.The Caliber 7.92 \u00d7 33mm Kurz StG44 was an early example of a handheld machine-gun, and used gas to reload FULL VIEW its mechanism.","178 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) 1 S H OWC A S E Ejection port COLT MODEL 1911 This all-time classic recoil-operated pistol (see p.305) has its origins in the work of John Browning in the 1890s. It used the .45in ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge, which delivered a bullet with twice the energy of the 9mm cartridges favored in Europe.Adopted by the US government in 1911, it is still in limited service, a record for a military handgun. Brass cartridge case \u25b2 .45IN ACP CARTRIDGE Slide houses firing Designed by Browning in pin and extractor 1904, this powerful center-fire cartridge is also used by the \u25b2 SLIDE AND RECOIL SPRING HOUSING Thompson submachine-gun The slide houses the barrel, recoil spring, and breechblock.When the bullet is fired, the slide (see p.212\u201313). recoils backward, extracting the empty case and cocking the hammer. Driven forward by the recoil spring, the slide then feeds a new cartridge into the chamber.The hammer remains cocked until the trigger is pulled, at which point it strikes the firing pin. Barrel bushing Recoil spring \u25b6 RECOIL SPRING After the gun is fired and the slide has moved backward, the recoil spring forces it forward again, feeding a new cartridge into the chamber and sealing the breech ready for firing. \u25b6 REAR SIGHT 2 This steel block with a \u201cV\u201d notch is fixed into a dovetail slot on the slide. The rear sight is set in correct position at the factory and is not adjustable. \u25b2 RECEIVER, OR MAIN FRAME The receiver houses the magazine and the main elements of the firing mechanism.These are the trigger, sear (not seen), hammer, mainspring (not seen, located in the butt), grip safety, safety catch, and a disconnector (not seen) to prevent full automatic fire.The receiver also houses the slide stop, which holds the barrel on the receiver independently of the slide. If removed, it allows the slide to move forward off the receiver. 1 \u25b2 EJECTION PORT The ejection port is an aperture cut in the upper portion near the rear end of the slide to allow the ejection of empty cases when the gun is fired.","S H O W C A S E C O L T M O D E L 1 9 1 1 \u2022 179 COLT MODEL 1911 With seven cartridges in Date 1914 Origin US the magazine and one in the Barrel 12in ( 30.5cm) Caliber .45in ACP chamber, this rugged gun Breechblock was a formidable weapon to containing firing pin and extractor be confronted with.The Model 1911\u2019s use of the same ammunition as the Thompson submachine-gun made these FULL VIEW (SLIDE PULLED BACK) two weapons ideal and deadly partners, FULL VIEW not only for use in the battlefield by the military but also by law enforcement agencies, and \u201cgangs\u201d in their battles on the streets.The model shown here was made in 1914. Grip-retaining screw 2 Rear sight \u25bc BARREL ASSEMBLY \u25bc MAGAZINE The barrel is fitted into the barrel A steel box magazine holds seven cartridges and is fitted inside bushing, and the recoil spring sits the butt.When the last cartridge is fired, the platform inside the underneath the barrel.To field strip magazine engages with the slide stop, which holds the slide in an the gun, the recoil spring is pushed backward, allowing the barrel bushing open position to show the magazine is empty. Inserting a full to be rotated sideways.The slide stop magazine and depressing the slide stop allows the slide to move can then be removed and slide and forward and feed a cartridge into the chamber ready for firing. barrel taken apart from the main frame. Magazine platform (opened up) Slide stop is a \u201chold-open\u201d device Barrel link pin, that retains the slide in a rearward which attaches position after the last round from barrel assembly the magazine has been fired to frame, fits here Trigger Hammer (cocked) Magazine-release button Magazine housed in butt Safety catch Grip safety locks the trigger so that it cannot be pulled unless the user is gripping the pistol and has the safety pressed down","180 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) JOHN GREAT GUNSMITHS BROWNING BROW N I NG John Moses Browning was one of the most versatile and widely respected gunmakers in history. Although he began as a gunsmith, based in a small workshop in his native Utah, he built his reputation not as a manufacturer but as a designer of firearms. He sold his designs to gunmakers such as Winchester, Colt, and the Belgian firm Fabrique Nationale. He became famous for the build quality and practicality of his firearms, and for his innovations, especially in the field of automatic weapons. From the age of seven, John The first designWinchester bought from \u25c0 TESTING A PROTOTYPE Browning worked for his father, Browning was the single-shot rifle he was John Browning tests a prototype Jonathan, a gunsmith in Ogden, producing in his workshop in Ogden.This of his heavy machine-gun in Utah.This is where he learned impressed Thomas G. Bennett, president around 1918.This firearm, a the basics of the gunsmith\u2019s and general manager ofWinchester, when water-cooled .50in caliber craft and was soon he visited Ogden in 1883. It became the weapon, was an enlarged version experimenting and coming up Winchester Model 1885.The gun sold well, of the .30in caliber M1917 gun. with ideas of his own.Within especially to users who wanted a rifle for a few years, he had built his long-range target shooting, and gained an high-powered repeating rifle, first gun, a single-shot rifle for excellent reputation. Its falling block action soon appeared.This was his brother, Matt, and by 1879, was so strong thatWinchester used it for followed by the Model 1892, when John was 24, he and his the punishing job of testing new cartridges. a lighter gun popular with brother set up their own It cemented Browning\u2019s reputation as a cowboys, the Model 1895, a workshop.The Brownings creator of rugged, effective firearms. bigger weapon designed for quickly established a reputation hunters, and the Model 1897 for efficient, well-made Once he had sold the Model 1885 to (see p.183), the first effective weapons.Their small workshop could not Winchester, the young gunsmith was free repeating shotgun, a weapon keep up with the demand, but the brothers to concentrate on designing new firearms used byWells Fargo bank guards and the US did not have the capital to expand. So in 1883, for the company, and the Model 1886, a military. A total contrast was the Model 90, Browning started to sell manufacturing rights a lightweight weapon that was often given toWinchester, beginning a fruitful business to young people who were learning to shoot. relationship that produced some of the best- Altogether, Browning sold more than 40 known firearms made in the US. designs to Winchester, 10 of which made it into production, along with designing weapons THE BROWNING APPROACH for other companies. It was an outstanding The 1880s and 1890s were fruitful decades achievement that made Browning one of for John Browning. During this time he the most celebrated firearms designers produced many weapons in partnership with in the world. the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. His approach was to design guns that were simple NEW BREAKTHROUGHS in layout and therefore straightforward to Some of Browning\u2019s most notable manufacture and repair, as well as being robust breakthroughs came in the field of automatic enough to be reliable under the sometimes weapons. In the late 1880s, he developed the punishing conditions of the American West. first effective gas-operated automatic gun. Gas-operated firearms (see pp.194\u201395) use \u201cIf anything can happen in a gun, it probably will the high-pressure gas generated when a sooner or later.\u201d cartridge is fired to power a mechanism that extracts the spent cartridge case GUNMAKER JOHN BROWNING and delivers another one to the chamber. He offered his design to Colt and it eventually became the Colt M1895 machine-gun (see p.194), which could fire more than 400 rounds per","G R E A T G U N S M I T H S B R O W N I N G \u2022 181 WINCHESTER MODEL 1887 BROWNING FN BROWNING M1917 HP 35 1883 Thomas G. Bennett of Winchester visits 1900 Browning is granted a US patent for a 1918 The M1918 light machine-gun, also Browning and buys the patent of his single- semiautomatic rifle, which becomes the known as the Browning Automatic shot rifle outright for $8,000. Remington Model 8 in the US and the FN Rifle (BAR), begins its long service life Model 1900 elsewhere. of more than 40 years. 1887 The lever-action Winchester Model 1887, designed by John Browning, is the first successful 1917 The launch of the Browning M1917 heavy 1935 Derived from Browning\u2019s last repeating shotgun. machine-gun is too late for widespread use design, the FN Browning HP 35 also in World War I, but the weapon will be used for incorporates the work of FN designer 1897 Browning signs a contract giving FN the right to decades afterward. Dieudonn\u00e9 Saive. manufacture and sell his .32in automatic pistol. minute and used air-cooling to compensate for than the single-fee payment he had accepted in the Model 1917 (see p.190), a powerful the heat produced by the action.The weapon the past.Winchester turned down Browning\u2019s recoil-operated machine-gun cooled with a sold in markets from Russia to countries in request, and the designer instead went to the water jacket, and the Browning Automatic Rifle South America and saw service in the Spanish\u2013 Belgian company Fabrique Nationale (FN). (see p.194), a light machine-gun first produced AmericanWar (1898) andWorldWar I. Having FN accepted, and its Browning-designed in 1918.The latter remained in production, made a mark with this large automatic gun, M1900 semiautomatic pistol (see p.167) in various forms and via a number of Browning designed an automatic pistol.This was produced between 1900 and 1911.This was manufacturers, into the 1950s. A tireless type of weapon had been developed in Europe the beginning of a partnership that lasted until innovator, Browning continued working into his by manufacturers such as Mauser, but Browning Browning\u2019s death. last years and died while working on a self- was the first American to enter this market. loading pistol at his bench in the FN factory in First, he offered his design toWinchester, but he In the final decades of his life, Browning Li\u00e8ge, Belgium. His name lives on as the creator asked for a royalty on each weapon made, rather continued his work, concentrating especially on of some of the world\u2019s most successful firearms. automatic weapons. He produced such guns as \u25bc PUBLIC ENEMIES Leaning out of a car window, Stephen Dorff, playing HomerVan Meter, fires a Browning Automatic Rifle at FBI agent Purvis and his men in the 2009 film Public Enemies. The movie is about the notorious 1930s bank robber John Dillinger.","182 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) Shrouded hammer COMBAT AND POLICE SHOTGUNS Shotguns have a long history as combat weapons, giving service in conflicts from the American Revolutionary War (1775\u201383) to World War I and beyond.Their cartridges are packed with shot\u2014small lead pellets.The shotgun has always been an effective close-quarters weapon. US infantrymen recognized the value of the six-shot pump-action Winchester 1897 in trench warfare inWorldWar I. Shotguns continued to evolve, with progress centering on increasing the capacity of the magazine and on new types of ammunition for both military and civilian security operations. Under-lever Trigger guard Ejection port External hammer Wooden butt Loading gate in under side Rear sight Decocking lever Semi-pistol stock Cocked\/ uncocked indicator Under-lever","C O M B A T A N D P O L I C E S H O T G U N S \u2022 183 Tapered round barrel Muzzle Abbreviated Tubular four-round wooden forestock magazine Six-round \u25b2 WINCHESTER MODEL 1887 An action unique to shotguns is the tubular magazine UNDER-LEVER SHOTGUN lever-action rolling block of theWinchester Model 1887, designed by John M Browning. Date 1887 Produced in .73in and .79in chamberings (and a very few to accommodate .70in Origin US bulleted cartridges), the lever action proved Barrel 191\u20442in (50cm) unsuitable for shotgun cartridges, and was discontinued in favor of pump-action guns. Caliber 12-gauge (.73in\/18.54mm) User pulls back cocking slide Perforated to load a new cartridge barrel shroud FULL VIEW \u25b2 WINCHESTER MODEL 1897 TheWinchester Repeating Arms Company PUMP-ACTION SHOTGUN commissioned John M. Browning to develop a Date 1897 pump-action shotgun, and he produced the M1897. Origin US This gun\u2019s magazine made it extremely useful to Barrel 20in (51cm) the combat infantryman. Pump action is a type of Caliber 12-gauge (.73in\/18.54mm) slide-action mechanism in which the user first pulls the cocking slide backward, ejecting an empty case Full-length and cocking the hammer. Pushing the slide forward wooden forestock chambers a cartridge and closes the breech.The gun is then ready to fire. Sling swivel \u25b2 GREENER-MARTINI Developed afterWorldWar I for use by British colonial police POLICE SHOTGUN forces, this single-shot weapon was unconventional in that it Date 1920 had a Martini falling-block action. In this action, the cocking Origin UK lever is pivoted forward, causing the breechblock to hinge Barrel 28in (71.2cm) vertically downward into the receiver.This opens the breech Caliber 12-gauge (.73in\/18.54mm) for loading a new cartridge manually. Furthermore, this gun accepted only cartridges of an unusual form\u2014to prevent stolen guns from being used by civilians.","184 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) \u25b2 MAXIM GUN In the Maxim gun, the energy from the recoil TURNING POINT was used to eject each spent cartridge and insert the next one and fire it.This made it less labor- M AC H I N E - GU NS intensive and more efficient than previous rapid- firing guns that relied on manual cranking. In 1883, a patent filed by Hiram Maxim covered a revolutionary concept in firearms\u2014a gun in which energy from the explosion, in addition to driving the bullet, also drove the cycle of loading and firing and would continue to do so as long as there was a supply of ammunition. All the user had to do was point the gun and pull the trigger.This true machine-gun inspired the development of new \u201cfully automatic\u201d and \u201csemiautomatic\u201d firearms, which are the weapons used today by the world\u2019s armed forces and law enforcement agencies. Mechanized guns, or what were considered to own distinctive ways and were widely used by noted other flaws associated with machine-guns, be \u201cmachine-guns,\u201d first began to appear in the the major military and maritime nations of the which included cartridges that often suffered middle of the 19th century.Their operation world. However, all mechanical machine-guns from a \u201chang-fire\u201d\u2014a delayed explosion of the involved feeding the cartridge into the chamber suffered from the same drawback\u2014they main charge after the primer was detonated. of a barrel, firing it, and then extracting the required human energy to operate them empty case by a manually powered mechanical and stamina to maintain a continuous fire. THEORY BECOMES REALITY process in a continuous cycle.The first of these Maxim experimentally modified rifles to guns to achieve real success was the Gatling, RECYCLING WASTED ENERGY use their recoil energy to load and fire them. later followed by the Nordenfelt, Hotchkiss, All guns obey the same law of nature\u2014the Satisfied that the idea could work, he built and Gardner guns.All performed well in their force that drives the ammunition an experimental gun, which operated in the forward also drives the gun same way but used a specially designed BEFORE backward.This was considered lock mechanism.This mechanism extracted an unavoidable nuisance by cartridges from a continuous belt, fed them into The third quarter of the 19th century saw gunmakers. Hiram Maxim, the chamber, and fired them.A hang-fire was not the creation of guns capable of giving sustained however, recognized it a problem in such a gun, because it could not fire. Often referred to at the time as \u201cbattery as a source of energy and continue its cycle until the explosion occurred. guns,\u201d they became thought of as \u201cmachine-guns\u201d put it to better use. He also Conscious of the heat generated by continuous because the processes of loading and firing had been mechanized, turning them into \u201cshooting machines.\u201d They were successful, but they had their drawbacks. GATLING GUN \u25cf MOST GUNS WERE HEAVY and often needed to be mounted on wheeled carriages for transport.Their use on land and at sea needed massive mountings fixed to the deck or other structures capable of supporting them. \u25cf A CREW OF SEVERAL MEN was required to operate the guns, and a team of horses had to draw the gun carriage along with a limber to carry the ammunition. \u25cf LIGHTWEIGHT, PORTABLE MACHINE-GUNS, such as the Nordenfelt gun, were developed. However, since they were hand-cranked, their aim was easily disturbed and not very accurate.","T U R N I N G P O I N T M A C H I N E - G U N S \u2022 185 \u201cWhatever happens, we have got KEY FIGURE The Maxim gun, and they have not.\u201d HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM HILAIRE BELLOC, IN HIS POEM, \u201cTHE MODERN TRAVELLER\u201d (1898) (1840\u20131916) firing, Maxim fitted a jacket containing water they could be mown down.This was seen for American-born Hiram Maxim emigrated to around the gun\u2019s barrel to keep it cool. His the first time when British colonial forces used Britain in 1881 and became a British subject creation was aided by the invention of smokeless the Maxim in the MatabeleWar (1893\u201394) in 1900. His childhood experience of being powder (see pp.142\u201343).This new propellant in modern-day Zimbabwe. In a nation where knocked over by a rifle\u2019s recoil may have been produced less residue to clog a barrel, and firearms were not in common use by non- instrumental in leading him to harness a gun\u2019s developed its explosive pressure more Europeans, its impact was as much psychological recoil energy, eventually designing the Maxim gradually, thereby imparting less shock to the as physical. In one battle, it is said that 50 machine-gun. His inventions included, among mechanism. Maxim had observed that the guns, British soldiers with just four Maxim guns others, his \u201cCaptive Flying Machine\u201d\u2014a very operated by a crank handle or a lever, were hard fought off 5,000 Ndebele warriors. Pitched successful fairground ride, which helped fund to train onto moving targets.With his new gun, battles and charging began to become obsolete. his experiments. He was knighted in 1901. all the user had to do was aim and shoot\u2014the This weapon was again used to devastating effect gun would continue to fire until its ammunition in Sudan in the Battle of Omdurman (1898), AFTER supply was exhausted. Maxim\u2019s genius had fought between the British and Arab Mahdist Maxim\u2019s gun turned the old, manual machine- conceived a new way to use explosion energy for forces. Used successfully against the charging guns into obsolete technology. Once it got into operating a gun and created a true machine-gun. tactics of the Arabs, the Maxim enabled the production and its capabilities became known, British forces to kill more than 10,000 of the it provided the cutting edge every military power On the battlefield, the Maxim gun brought enemy while losing only about 50 soldiers. wanted in order to give themselves supremacy shocking carnage and prompted a change in over a supposed enemy. military tactics. It was an ideal weapon for Maxim\u2019s patent became a blueprint for many \u25cf LIGHT MACHINE-GUNS developed rapidly, defending a position, whether a building or a modern self-loading firearms that followed and leading to guns such as the Browning Automatic trench, and Maxim-equipped armies began to have become icons of their type, bringing with Rifle (see p.194).These could be carried by one lure enemies into \u201ccharging,\u201d at which point them a new level of horror to armed conflict. man with a supply of ammunition and fired from the hip while moving. \u25bc THE MAXIM IN CHITRAL By the 1890s, the British Army decided to issue the Maxim gun to every battalion. Captain Alan L. Peebles of the Devonshire Regiment had seen the Maxim in action inWaziristan in 1894. In 1895, he brought a pair of Maxim guns to Chitral (in modern-day Pakistan) as part of a British expeditionary force sent to recapture a fort overtaken by Afghan tribesmen. Pictured here are some soldiers from the force with a Maxim Gun. BROWNING AUTOMATIC RIFLE \u25cf SUBMACHINE-GUNS were lighter, more compact, and fired pistol ammunition.The most iconic gun of this period was the Thompson submachine-gun (see pp.212\u201313). THOMPSON SUBMACHINE-GUN \u25cf MODERN FULLY AUTOMATIC and semiautomatic weapons are the offspring of these early developments, relying on the same basic recoil-operation principles for their action.The technology extended beyond heavy weaponry to handguns and spurred the development of self-loading, semiautomatic pistols using recoil energy.","186 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) RECOIL-OPERATED Water MACHINE-GUNS (1884\u201395) coolant jacket In 1884, Sir Hiram Maxim invented a machine-gun (see pp. Elevation 184\u201385) that worked by recoil-action instead of being hand-cranked wheel like earlier machine-guns (see pp.136\u201339). Maxim had initially tried to harness the energy of a gun\u2019s recoil to automate its action in rifles such as the Peabody-Martini and Winchester. He ultimately perfected the process in his machine-gun.The Maxim machine-gun was fully automatic, meaning it could fire continuously while the trigger was kept pulled.Within 10 years, armies in the UK, Germany, and Russia had adopted this weapon. Rear sight \u25bc MAXIM EARLY PATTERN Seen here is an 1885 model of Maxim\u2019s first machine-gun.At first, Gun on (unfolded) MACHINE-GUN orders for the Maxim gun were hampered by the fact that it produced antiaircraft Date 1885 clouds of gunpowder smoke, but once it was allied to smokeless mounting Origin Germany\/UK powder (see pp.142\u201343), it became a truly significant battlefield Barrel 28in (72cm) weapon. Like many early machine-guns, this one depended on a Naval pintle mounting, Caliber .45in water-cooling system to temper heat generated during continuous modified during World firing in order to extend its barrel life. War I for a ship\u2019s defense against attacking aircraft Water Recoil booster coolant jacket enhances recoil to aid reloading Trigger Elevation \u25b6 MAXIM 1-POUNDER \u201cPOM-POM\u201d adjustment Date 1890 Origin UK Barrel 43in (109cm) Caliber 37mm Tripod leg The \u201cPom-Pom\u201d\u2014so-called because of the noise it made when in use\u2014was an enlarged version of Maxim\u2019s .45in Gardner-Gatling caliber machine-gun (right). It was the world\u2019s first autocannon\u2014unlike a machine-gun, it fired shells rather than bullets.The \u201cPom-Pom\u201d served as an artillery weapon and an antiaircraft gun inWorldWar I. Foresight FULL VIEW Water coolant jacket","R E C O I L - O P E R A T E D M A C H I N E - G U N S ( 1 8 8 4 \u2013 9 5 ) \u2022 187 Grip Tripod \u25c0 MAXIM .45IN GARDNER- Elevation wheel mounting GATLING CALIBER Operator\u2019s Tripod leg Date 1892 seat Origin UK Barrel 44in (112cm) Caliber .45in The British Army\u2019s .45in Maxim gun had become the standard Maxim gun by the late 19th century. It was converted to .303in caliber from 1897\u201398 onward.The Royal Navy, however, continued with the .45in Gardner-Gatling caliber gun until the end of World War I.This was mainly because these machine-guns, even the higher-caliber ones, would be fixed to a ship\u2019s structure and did not need to be moved.The .45in caliber gave the naval Maxim guns greater range and penetrating power.These weapons fired about 450 rounds per minute. Spike to Rear sight position gun (unfolded) in soft ground Hiram Maxim and Swedish gunmaker Nordenfelt \u25bc MAXIM-NORDENFELT entered into partnership in 1888. In this early MODEL 1893 experimental model, intended for French trials, Date 1893 steam pressure was used to operate the firing mechanism Origin UK of the gun when the trigger was pulled\u2014an impractical Barrel 42\u00bdin (108cm) refinement that was soon discontinued.This model fired Caliber 11mm 450 rounds per minute. In 1896, their joint venture was subsumed intoVickers, Sons and Maxim. Cover for breechblock mainspring","188 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) RECOIL-OPERATED Recoil booster Sangster MACHINE-GUNS (1896\u20131917) enhances recoil auxiliary tripod to aid reloading Machine-guns built at the turn of the 20th century were either recoil-operated or gas- driven (see pp.192\u201393).They were produced in Europe when the continent was devoid Connection for of conflict. Materials such as brass were plentiful and were used to make gun parts such as condenser hose water jackets and spring housings.As Europe enteredWorldWar I, brass became scarcer, and Muzzle cap steel\u2014which was less expensive and also more durable\u2014began to be employed for making gun parts. Gas-operated machine-guns could withstand greater pressure than recoil-operated ones and fire more powerful ammunition. However, recoil-operated machine-guns were more common, because their simple, reliable design found greater favor with troops. Rear sight Water jacket Feedway for to cool barrel ammunition belt Feedway for Foresight ammunition belt Carrying handle Tripod leg Operator\u2019s \u25b6 BROWNING MODEL 1917 Elevation seat wheel Date 1917 FULL VIEW Tripod leg Origin US \u25b2 MAXIM MACHINE-GUN MODEL 1904 Barrel 24in (61cm) Date 1904 Origin UK Caliber .30in Barrel 28\u00bdin (72.3cm) Caliber .30in-03 John Browning produced a poorly designed machine-gun for Colt, the The Maxim gun was robust in construction gas-operated M1895 \u201cPotato Digger\u201d and almost foolproof in design, taking (see p.194), but later reverted to recoil on many forms after its introduction, operation when creating the M1917. It including this upgraded model.This Maxim fired 400\u2013520 rounds per minute.This gun was the first rifle-caliber machine-gun gun sported a water jacket to cool its formally adopted into US service. It barrel during operation.Water-cooled was manufactured in .30in-03 caliber machine-guns usually required a two-man in the US by British gun manufacturer crew\u2014one to fire the gun and the other Vickers, Sons and Maxim. Later, some to monitor the jacket and the fabric belt units were manufactured under licence which loaded ammunition into the gun. in the US by Colt. Eventually, most Ammunition belts could carry a higher Maxim models began to accept the newly number of cartridges than standard introduced US .30in-06 cartridge.This magazines and they could be loaded gun fired 400\u2013600 rounds per minute. easily via the feedways on these guns. Foot of tripod leg fitted with cleat to stabilize the gun by preventing movement","R E C O I L - O P E R A T E D M A C H I N E - G U N S ( 1 8 9 6 \u2013 1 9 1 7 ) \u2022 189 \u201cFive arch\u201d sight bridge Water jacket to cool barrel \u25b6 VICKERS \u201cLIGHT PATTERN\u201d Ammunition Trigger MODEL 1908 belt feedway bar Date 1908 Tripod extension Trigger bar extension pantograph for use with Youlton Origin UK Hyperscope Barrel 28\u00bdin (72.3cm) Elevation Caliber .303in screw The Model 1908 was designed to resolve Elevation shortcomings in theVickers-Maxim \u201cNew wheel Light\u201d model (see p.196). It had a less bulky receiver. It could also be used in Tripod leg trenches with a traversing tripod base that allowed the gun to be swung upward for use.The gun could be used with a Youlton Hyperscope\u2014a form of periscope sight commonly used in trenches inWorldWar I. This model had a rate of fire of 450\u2013550 rounds per minute. Trigger Traversing turntable Pistol grip Traversing turntable clamp Strap to tie tripod legs together when folded FULL VIEW","TRENCH WARFARE Machine-guns such as those made by Hotchkiss and Maxim caused great destruction in the trench warfare of WorldWar I.This two-man French Hotchkiss crew is flanked by two infantrymen.","","192 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) RECOIL-OPERATED Rear sight Ammunition Foresight MACHINE-GUNS belt feedway (1918\u201345) Without question, the most important Trigger \u25b2 BROWNING The M1919 was an advancements in machine-gun design were Pistol grip MODEL 1919 air-cooled version made by the American inventor John M. Browning Date 1919 of the earlier M1917 (see pp.180\u201381). His designs stimulated the production Barrel-change Origin US (see p.190), and it proved of both medium (.30in caliber) and heavy (.50in caliber) handle Barrel 24in (61cm) to be a first-rate medium machine-guns that could be operated by two men.The Caliber .30in machine-gun, supporting second advancement that allowed the effective use US infantrymen of recoil-operated guns was the introduction of throughout World War II, barrel-locking systems that allowed the barrels and remaining in use until to be changed quickly while in the field to the 1960s. It had a firing prevent overheating. Perhaps the best rate of 400\u2013600 rounds of these systems was that per minute. developed for use on the German MG42, a design that remains in use to this day. \u25b2 BROWNING M2 HB The highly effective \u201cfifty cal\u201d M2 HB Perforated Date 1933 (heavy barrel) has been used as a key barrel shroud Origin US armament in aircraft, on armored vehicles, Barrel 3\u00beft (1.14m) and as shown here, by ground troops.This Butt Caliber .50in gun can fire 485\u2013635 rounds per minute, and remains in service today. Flash hider concealed the flash of Rear sight Ammunition exploding propellant gases, helping belt feed to hide the firer\u2019s position \u25b2 MASCHINENGEWEHR 34 Double-crescent trigger Date 1935 Origin Germany Barrel 24\u00bein (62.7cm) Caliber 7.92 \u00d7 57mm The Maschinengewehr 34 (MG34) was a revolutionary design\u2014light, yet robust enough to deliver sustained fire at 900 rounds per minute. However, it was difficult and expensive to Bipod manufacture and was subsequently replaced by the MG42.","R E C O I L - O P E R A T E D M A C H I N E - G U N S ( 1 9 1 8 \u2013 4 5 ) \u2022 193 Flash Perforated Recoil-actuated automatic hider barrel shroud traverse mechanism Perforated barrel shroud \u25b6 MASCHINENGEWEHR 42 Bracing Lafette 42 Firing lever insulates the user\u2019s hands bar heavy tripod from the hot barrel Date 1942 and helps to air-cool Trigger bar the barrel Origin Germany Belt feed Barrel 21in (53.3cm) mechanism Caliber 7.92 \u00d7 57mm A successor to the MG34 (below), the MG42 had an extraordinarily high rate of fire\u2014over 1,200 rounds per minute\u2014and was capable of sustained long-range fire when used with a tripod. It featured a recoil-actuated automatic traverse mechanism, which moved the gun\u2019s butt slightly to the left and right when firing, allowing the weapon to spray bullets over a small arc and a large target area. Spade grips Ammunition belt Tripod supporting box leg Tripod mount","194 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) Ejection port GAS-OPERATED MACHINE-GUNS Gas-operated machine-guns harness the energy of the gases produced by the exploding cartridge (see p.305) that propel the bullet Elevation\/traverse controls down the barrel.A portion of these gases is bled off to reload the gun by driving a piston to the rear, which pushes the bolt backward.This extracts the spent cartridge and chambers a new one. Guns using this system can Spade grip be made light and easily to control because the gas piston and springs inside the gun absorb much of the recoil.These machine-guns evolved in the 1880s and 1890s, and the first claim to a working design was the Colt-Browning \u201cPotato Digger.\u201dA more sophisticated design belonged to the Hotchkiss company\u2019s hugely successful Hotchkiss machine-gun. Gas-operated systems have Tripod leg \u25b2 COLT-BROWNING M1895 The Colt M1895 was the creation of John continued to proliferate. \u201cPOTATO DIGGER\u201d Browning; it was nicknamed the \u201cPotato Date 1895 Digger\u201d because of its innovative mechanics. \u25bc LEWIS GUN M1914 Origin US Some of the gas produced by the exploding charge Barrel 28\u00bcin (72cm) was tapped off from near the muzzle to drive an Caliber .30in Krag arm through a 170-degree action.Through a linkage, the arm, in turn, powered the opening and closing of the breech.The M1895 was reliable Date 1914 enough, and served with the US Army, Navy, and Origin US Marine Corps around the turn of the century. Barrel 26in (66cm) Flash hider Foresight Caliber .303in The air-cooled Lewis gun was the first Pan magazine light machine-gun (LMG) used on the holds 47 rounds Western Front.Taken up by the Belgians, then by the British, it remained in service on the ground, in the air (when it was usually stripped of its barrel shroud), and even at sea untilWorldWar II. It could fire 500\u2013600 rounds in a minute. Muzzle Trigger Cooling fins continue Barrel shroud inside barrel shroud and heat dissipator Gunner\u2019s left hand grips Cocking Bipod leg stock here handle Carrying handle Ejection port Foresight guard Gas tube Trigger guard with \u25b2 BROWNING AUTOMATIC John Browning responded to pleas to provide security lock in place RIFLE (BAR) infantrymen with a weapon they could fire in Date 1918 bursts from the hip while advancing.The gas- Rear sling 20-round detachable Origin US operated Browning Automatic Rifle was too attachment box magazine Barrel 24in (61cm) heavy and cumbersome ever to be a success Caliber .30in in that role, but it survived as the US Army\u2019s stock LMG until the 1950s.","G A S - O P E R A T E D M A C H I N E - G U N S \u2022 195 Ammunition \u25bc GORYUNOV SGM First developed duringWorldWar II, this Soviet Foresight belt feedway Date 1946 machine-gun was modernized shortly after the conflict guard Origin Soviet Union ended. Dust covers were added to both the feeding Dust cover Length 44in (112cm) aperture and the ejection port for fired cartridge casings, Caliber 7.62 \u00d7 54mm and a finned barrel was added to dissipate heat during use.The gun was then given the name Goryunov SGM. Its rate of fire was 500\u2013700 rounds per minute. Finned barrel Flash hider Gas tube Receiver Carrying handle Optical sight \u25bc HOTCHKISS MLE 1914 The Hotchkiss MLE 1914 was based upon a design originally conceived by Date 1914 Baron A. Odkolek von Augeza of Austria. It was improved by LawrenceV. Origin France Benet in association with Henri Mercie.The primary changes in the arm\u2019s Barrel 50in (127cm) construction involved the incorporation of fins to cool the barrel during Caliber 8mm Lebel firing\u2014a design improvement that would be seen in many machine-guns\u2014 and a gas regulator to control the rate of fire, which was about 550 rounds per minute. Simple in construction, with only 32 parts, the MLE 1914 was fed with metallic ammunition strips that held 24 rounds. Ammunition belt feedway Gas tube Cooling fin Steadying grip Elevation gear Trigger Elevation wheel Traversing Gunner\u2019s turn table seat FULL VIEW","196 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 8 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) Rear sight Ammunition belt feedway HEAVY MACHINE-GUNS (1900\u201310) Receiver Viewed almost as artillery pieces, heavy machine-guns\u2014 \u25b2 VICKERS-MAXIM The first departure from Maxim\u2019s some operating by recoil, others by gas pressure\u2014were \u201cNEW LIGHT\u201d MODEL 1906 original design (see p.186), the designed to provide covering fire for attacking forces or Date 1906 recoil-operated \u201cNew Light\u201d saw the defensive fire from fixed positions. From the Maxim 1904 Origin UK original brass fittings exchanged for machine-gun (see p.188) to the Goryunov SGM (see p.195) Barrel 28\u00bdin (72.3cm) much lighter steel, but continued and the Russian Maxim 1910, heavy machine-guns were Caliber .303in to employ the downward-breaking cumbersome and needed crews of three to five soldiers for locking toggle that made the receiver operation. Although these weapons were effective, they had Optical rear sight large. Its rate of fire was 450\u2013500 limited mobility. During firing, they generated vibrations rounds per minute.The Russians that made them unstable, and so they were best suited adopted it as the M1910 (below). for use from static mounts fitted to vehicles or, later, aircraft. Flash Cooling hider water jacket Cover for Grip breechblock Front legs of mainspring mount swiveled up and back \u25b2 DWM MG08 Sledge-style Elevation mount screw Date 1908 Towing Origin Germany tongue Barrel 281\u20444in (71.9cm) Wheeled carriage Caliber 7.92 \u00d7 57mm Mauser Soon after the German Army acquired its first Maxims in 1895, Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) began modifying the design, and the final version was adopted as the schweres Maschinengewehr 08 (heavy machine-rifle), or MG08. It had a heavy sledge-style mount, known as the schlitten.This gun fired 500 rounds per minute.","H E A V Y M A C H I N E - G U N S ( 1 9 0 0 \u2013 1 0 ) \u2022 197 Recoil booster enhanced recoil to aid reloading Cooling water in jacket Carrying \u25b2 SCHWARZLOSE MODEL 07\/12 Flash hider reached boiling point after handle Date 1912 suppresses 600 rounds of rapid fire Origin Austria-Hungary flash from Barrel 203\u20444in (52.6cm) exploding Caliber 8mm Mannlicher propellant gases The Schwarzlose was the only heavy Tripod leg Shield for protecting machine-gun to use an unlocked gunner from enemy fire recoil-operated system, better suited Ammunition belt to pistol-caliber ammunition. In this made of metal system, the weight and stiffness of the instead of fabric working parts (bolt and return spring) were chosen to achieve exactly the right rate of fire\u2014around 400\u2013580 rounds per minute. Massively over-engineered, it proved almost indestructible in normal use. Enlarged cap allowed water jacket to be filled with snow Drainage cap Cooling water jacket Recoil booster Carriage wheel \u25b2 RUSSIAN MAXIM MODEL 1910 Date 1910\u201342 Origin Imperial Russia Barrel 28\u00bdin (72.1cm) Caliber 7.62 \u00d7 54mm The Imperial Russian arsenal at Tula, Russia, began manufacturing their own version of the Vickers \u201cNew Light\u201d model in 1910; it stayed in production until 1942.The guns were mounted on Sokolov wheeled carriages, each of which incorporated a turntable, while some, such as this one, were fitted with shields.The Model 1910 fired 500 rounds in a minute.","198 \u2022 A W O R L D I N C O N F L I C T ( 1 8 0 0 \u2013 1 9 4 5 ) HEAVY MACHINE- Shoulder Gas port and GUNS (1911\u201345) brace expansion The heavy machine-guns of the two world wars proved \u25b6 HOTCHKISS M1914 chamber for their effectiveness when used against vehicles. Many were made Date 1914 driving the in calibers of a sufficient size to penetrate light armor.These Origin France operating weapons, such as the gas-operated ones seen here, could also be Barrel 31in (78.7cm) piston used at long ranges\u2014the Degtyarev DSHK1938 had a range of Caliber 8 \u00d7 50mm rearwards about 1\u00bc miles (2km), for instance.This helped to compromise the massing of enemy troops prior to attacks. Weighing over 36kg (80lb), complete with its tripod, the Rear sight Hotchkiss MLE 1914 (see p.195) was a massive gas-operated weapon. While it was normal for machine- gun crews to sit or lie behind their weapons, in some instances they had to stand.This variant of the MLE 1914 is equipped with a shoulder brace and a tripod allowing its use from such a position. Spade grip Elevation adjustment knob Ejected case Elevating deflector keeps quadrant away spent cases 108mm-long cartridge Antiaircraft mounting Steel ammunition belt"]