So, do you know how to keep your 1915 Chauchat LMG running in case of German poison gas attack? What is the proper ammo loadout for your assistant gunner? Well, I hope you’ve found us here at Forgotten Weapons before you have to go into action, because we’ve got a copy of not one, but three original US manuals for the 1915 Chauchat. They’re all posted on our Original Manuals page – take a look! In addition to telling you load up your buddy with 480 rounds and liberally coat the internals with Russian oil in case of chlorine attack, you’ll find a good description of how the gun works (or doesn’t), how to take care of it (and I don’t mean throwing it away and finding a BAR), and how to drill and fight with it (in a WWI trench, to be specific).
(1918) Provisional Instruction on the Automatic Rifle, Model 1915 (Chauchat) (English)
(1918) Notes on Mechanism of the Chauchat Machine Rifle, Model 1915 (English)
(1918) Manual of the Automatic Rifle (Chauchat), Drill – Combat – Mechanism (English)
Wow! Thanks for posting this! I am loving this web site. Keep up the good work.
Thanks just what I needed to get mine working
I’m a World War I reenactor and my position/duty in my unit is Chauchat gunner. As such, I’ve been doing a lot of research, and these manuals are exactly what I needed! Thank you so much!
Interesting that our modern arguments about clips vs magazines do not reflect the historical use of the terms, at least as far as these references go. The cleaning rod is also referred to as a ramrod, and maybe carrying over from artillery practice, the cleaning mop is called a sponge. Isn’t the English language fun!