As soon as the MG08/15 “light” machine gun was adopted by Germany, it was recognized as an ideal basis for an aircraft gun. Weight was of the essence for WW1 aircraft, and a lightened Maxim […]
First produced in 1902, the Madsen was one of the first practical light machine guns, and it remained in production for nearly 5 decades. The Madsen system is a rather unusual recoil-operated mechanism with a […]
Forgotten Weapons merino wool hoodies from Varusteleka: https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/forgotten-weapons-sarma-merino-wool-hoodie/72488 The DWM company in Germany had a license on the Maxim gun design prior to World War One. They produced the rather old-fashioned MG08 for the German […]
In response to a Finnish military need for a machine gun better than the old Maxim for aerial and anti-aircraft use, Aimo Lahti developed the L33 machine gun from the basis of the Lahti-Saloranta design. […]
Britain began the process of replacing its Vickers aircraft machine guns with a new Colt/Browning design in 1935, with its adoption of the Colt MG40. This was essentially John Browning’s air cooled M1919 machine gun […]
Yesterday we looked at the Savage M1918 aircraft version of the Lewis gun, used by American aviators during World War One. Today, we are taking it out to the range along with a very scarce […]
As an open-bolt machine gun, the Lewis was not well suited to synchronization on WW1 aircraft – but it was an ideal gun for flexible mounting. To suit this use, a series of aircraft-specific Lewis variations were […]
Darne was a French gunmaker best known for sporting shotguns, but they entered the military arms field during World War One. The Lewis Gun was one of the best Entente aircraft guns, and Darne put […]
John Browning’s original Model 1895 gas-lever machine gun was still in production by Colt when World War One broke out. It was not the most modern gun around by then, but it was available – […]
The United States adopted the Vickers gun as the Model 1915, but one of its uses was as an aircraft machine gun. Since it fired from a closed bolt, the design was easily fitted with […]
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