But I won’t give you a machine gun... (c) Lewis - machine gun history. Lewis light machine gun: history of creation and characteristics Lewis machine gun

The Lewis machine gun is a legendary English light machine gun that took part in both world wars. This is one of the most recognizable weapons of the last century. The Lewis machine gun also took part in Russian revolution, and in the Civil War. "Lewis" can easily be called the most successful machine gun of its period.

The Lewis machine gun had an original design and really high combat characteristics, which allowed the machine gun to remain in service for so long. Distinctive feature Lewis machine gun is the shape of the barrel casing, by which this weapon can be unmistakably recognized.

History of creation

Light machine gun Lewis was developed by Samuel McClane in the USA in 1911. The development of this weapon was carried out by Colonel American army Isaac Newton Lewis. Initially, he wanted to make this machine gun an easel and equip it with water cooling, but then settled on original idea forced air cooling of the barrel. It should be noted that no one after Lewis used a similar scheme in the design of weapons.

Lewis offered his machine gun for arming the American army; several weapons were even tested, but military leadership The United States considered this machine gun unpromising and not worthy of attention. After this failure, Lewis retired and moved overseas, first to Belgium and then to Great Britain. It was the Belgians who were the first to become interested in the new machine gun and adopted it for service in 1913. The production of the Lewis light machine gun was launched at the factories of the BSA company (England).

In 1914, the machine gun received its baptism of fire - the World War. After its launch, the demand for the Lewis machine gun grew at an unprecedented rate, BSA expanded production, but despite this, it could not fulfill all orders. Therefore, some orders were placed in the USA.

German infantrymen called the Lewis machine gun " rattlesnake"for the characteristic sound of his work and were gladly taken as a trophy. Then the Lewis guns were converted to use the Mauser cartridge and were successfully used in battle. The German assault troops were especially fond of the Lewis machine gun.

This machine gun came to Russia back in 1913: several samples were purchased for testing at the Officer Rifle School. However, the Russian military did not like the Lewis; there were especially many complaints about the short service life of the machine gun barrel.

However, they did not forget about this machine gun in Russia; they became especially needed during the war. In 1915, the British government ceded to Russia the rights to all Lewis cars manufactured according to British orders in the USA. Deliveries began the following year. Also supplied to Russia were Lewis machine guns, manufactured in England and chambered for the English cartridge 303. American machine guns were made for the 7.62 mm Mosin cartridge.

Lewis light machine guns were actively used in Russian aviation. An additional handle, a sleeve collector and a flame arrester were installed on it. Sometimes the casings were removed: the incoming air flow sufficiently cooled the barrel.

Before the start of the revolutionary events, more than 10 thousand units of these weapons were delivered to Russia, so they were actively used during Civil War. For example, the personal guard of the legendary Father Makhno was armed with “Lewis”.

"Lewis" in quite large quantities were stored in Soviet military warehouses. After the start of the war they were remembered and sent to the front. There is a famous photograph of Red Army soldiers armed with these machine guns, marching in the famous parade on November 7, 1941.

The British had a similar situation. At the end of the 30s, the British army began to replace the Lewis with the more modern Bren. During the flight from France, a huge number were lost small arms, so the Lewis had to get back into service. The Germans also used these machine guns, captured as trophies. They were mainly used by Volkssturm units.

The last major conflict for this machine gun was the Korean War.

The design of a machine gun and the principle of its operation

The automatic operation of a machine gun is based on the removal of part of the powder gases from the barrel bore. The rate of operation of the automation (rate of fire) is regulated by a tap on the gas chamber. The gas piston moved backward, wound the spiral spring (as in a regular watch) and turned the magazine through a special mechanism. The barrel bore was locked by rotating the bolt, the stops of which fit into the grooves receiver. Trigger allowed only automatic fire.

The Lewis machine gun consisted of the following components: barrel with casing and radiator, receiver, bolt and bolt carrier, a magazine of a special design, a trigger mechanism with a handle, a return spring.

The coil spring is also a unique feature of this machine gun: it has never been used in a weapon since. To tighten the spring, a small special key was included with the machine gun.

The spring unwinds and feeds the cartridge into the chamber, after which a shot is fired.

The main feature of the Lewis machine gun was its casing, which greatly protruded beyond the dimensions of the weapon’s barrel. When fired, the powder gases created an area low blood pressure at the rear of the casing, which pulled cold air through it, which cooled the ribbed barrel. Folding bipods were attached to the casing.

The design of the magazine of this machine gun is no less interesting. It had a disk shape, the cartridges in it were arranged in several rows: two or four. Unlike most existing magazines, it did not contain a feed spring. The cartridges were fed using special mechanism, which was operated by a protrusion on the bolt. A store like this can be considered one of the first attempts to abandon belt feeding.

The fuse was installed on the receiver.

Forty-seven rounds were fired in just six seconds, so machine gunners were taught to release their finger from the trigger on the count of three. Sights consisted of a rear sight and a front sight located at the end of the casing. The rear sight had two positions: at 600 yards (about 500 meters) and a second one intended for shooting at longer distances. Anti-aircraft Lewis guns were equipped with special sights made of wire.

The Lewis light machine gun was developed in the United States by Samuel McClane with the participation of Lieutenant Colonel Lissack. The developers sold the patent rights to the resulting Automatic Arms Company in Buffalo. The Automatic Arms Company, in turn, asked Colonel Isaac N. Lewis to bring the system to a state in which it would suit potential buyers. In 1911, Lewis presented the machine gun to the Secretariat of War Affairs and the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Four copies were purchased for testing (characteristically, the first test was carried out in Maryland at a military aviation school), but the Armament Directorate this weapon was not considered interesting for the army. Lewis headed to Belgium, where he was able to establish production of a machine gun.

In 1913, the Lewis machine gun was adopted by the Belgian army (it also became the first country to use it in battle, in 1914 during its retreat). At the same time, Russian specialists became interested in the machine gun. At the beginning of July, the Belgian Society of Automatic Weapons sent a sample of a machine gun to St. Petersburg. During tests conducted at the Officer Rifle School, the system was revealed to be incomplete. The main complaints concerned the barrel cooling, which did not allow firing more than 600 shots. Despite this, the GAU made a proposal to purchase for testing in 1914 10 McClane-Lewis submachine guns, 3 Hotchkiss machine guns (for airplanes) and 2 Berthier (Berthier-Pasha) machine guns. The Military Council approved this purchase on July 25, 1913. With the outbreak of the First World War, the funds allocated for “Berthier” and “Hotchkiss” were used “to strengthen the funds of the war fund,” and interest in “Lewis” apparently continued. After testing 10 Lewis guns was carried out at the Officer Rifle School, the Head of the GAU ordered to send them to the Officer Cavalry School. In turn, the Officer Cavalry School abandoned machine guns, and they were transferred “to the Corps airfield.” Positive feedback, given by the Chief GAU inspired the company to offer on August 8 - after the start of the war - the supply of 5 thousand lightweight submachine guns with magazines for 56 rounds. However, they did not issue new orders then. And when the need for similar weapons It became obvious that deliveries had to wait until the end of 1915. In 1914, with the outbreak of war, the machine gun was adopted by the British Army. Initially, the contract was signed with the BSA company (Birmingham Small Arms), and although the production of Lewis required 6 times less time than the easel Vickers and was 5 times cheaper, the company could not set up production weapons on the required scale. In this regard, the contract was transferred to the American company Savage Arms Company. And only after sustainable production was established, part of the contract was “ceded” to Russia.

The machine gun had a gas exhaust automatic engine. Powder gases were vented through a transverse hole located at the bottom of the barrel. The piston rod had a long stroke. The barrel bore was locked by turning the bolt. Characteristics The machine gun had a spiral (snail-shaped) recoil spring, a relatively large-capacity disk magazine (there was no feeder spring), and air-cooled barrel.

The cooling system uses an original siphon circuit. An aluminum radiator with high longitudinal ribs and covered with a cylindrical casing was placed on the barrel. The casing at the front narrowed, extending beyond the muzzle of the barrel. During the firing of powder gases, a vacuum formed in the muzzle, as a result of which air from the breech was blown through the radiator.

Gas chamber - closed type. A regulator was screwed into the gas chamber from below, having holes of different diameters, which alternately stood opposite the transversely located outlet of the chamber. The regulator was turned with the lower key. There were sealing bands on the piston rod, and a cup-shaped recess on the piston. The rear and front parts of the bolt frame (rod) were rigidly connected with pins. At the rear there was a rack, a stand and a combat cock. The reloading handle was inserted into the rod on the left or right. The return spring was located at the bottom in a special box and caused the gear to rotate, which was engaged with the piston rack. This decision left in the receiver free place, protected the spring from heating, but was unnecessarily complex.

Four lugs were located at the rear of the bolt frame, and two spring ejectors were mounted at the front. The shutter was rotated by a gas piston strut sliding in the screw groove of the frame. The drummer was mounted on the same stand. The non-rotating tail of the bolt, inserted into the frame at the back, carried guide lugs. The upper protrusion drove the feeder. The trigger mechanism allowed for exceptionally continuous fire. It was assembled in a trigger box, which was attached to the receiver with a latch and a tab. A shot from the rear sear allowed intense fire without the danger of igniting the cartridges in the heated chamber. While pressing the trigger, he turned the trigger lever, while the sear of the lever came out from under the cocking of the piston rod. The function of the fuse was performed by a bar that blocked the slot of the receiver, locking the reloading handle. The moving system had a stroke of 163 millimeters.

The bolt, while moving backward, removed the spent cartridge case from the chamber and turned the lever reflector located in the receiver on its left wall. The reflector head protruded from the wall, entered the groove of the bolt frame and pushed the sleeve out with a blow to the right.

The original power system was an attempt to abandon the tape while maintaining the drive of the feed mechanism from the moving automation system, as well as to synchronize the operation of the mechanisms. The disk magazine included a cup, which was divided into 25 sectors by rods and wall projections. In sectors, cartridges were placed in two rows along a radius. In the center of the disk there was a bushing with a central hole and a screw groove. The feed mechanism, mounted in the receiver, had a feeder, a pawl with a spring, two limiters and a tongue with a guide plate with a spring. The loaded magazine was put on the receiver glass with the central hole (arrow forward). The first cartridge was located opposite the stop and tongue plate. When moving backward, the bolt with the protrusion of its tail moved along the curved groove of the feeder, rotating it to the left. The feed dog shifted the magazine cup, while the left limiter limited its rotation, not allowing it to take more than one step. The cartridge was pressed out by the tongue plate and moved into the receiving window of the box. When the bolt moved forward, it picked up the cartridge, and the feeder, turning to the right, jumped over the next protrusion of the cup with its pawl. The left limiter was pressed out with the magazine spike. The right limiter blocked the cup from rotating to the right. Since the magazine bushing was stationary, the cartridges, sliding with the noses of the bullets along the screw groove of the bushing, went down. Thus, with each turn, a new cartridge was placed under the tongue plate.

A folding frame sight with a diopter rear sight and a set screw was mounted on the receiver cover. The triangular front sight was mounted on the connecting ring of the casing, but this arrangement did not contribute to accuracy. The length of the aiming line was 818 millimeters. The design of the machine gun consisted of 88 parts.

The bipod for the Lewis machine gun was rigid triangular with a connecting rod with a clamp and a fork. The bipod could be attached with a fork back or forward. When mounted backwards, the firing sector increased (in addition, less space was required at the edge of the trench), and when mounted backwards, stability increased. Lightweight bipods were attached to the connecting ring of the casing on hinges.

The tripod machine for the Lewis light machine gun - the machine was supplied to Russia in small quantities - had two front and one rear legs with openers and shoes. The legs were attached to the frame on hinges, which made it possible to change the height of the line of fire. The machine gun was attached to the swivel bar using a clamp. For vertical rough aiming there was a mechanism with an arc. Fine adjustment was carried out by a screw mechanism that changed the relative position of the bar and the arc. Of course, the tripod provided better accuracy, but did not make the Lewis “universal.”

The Lewis machine gun was developed in the United States, and the bulk of the Lewis machine guns for Russia were also produced there, but in our country this machine gun - thanks to the cartridge and the ordering procedure - was always considered “English”. In addition to it, the Russian army was armed with a 37-mm McClen automatic cannon, the main task of which was to fight machine guns.

In Great Britain, the Model 1915 Lewis machine gun was equipped with a 47-round magazine in October 1916 and given the designation Mkl. At the end of the war it was replaced by the 1923 model. The old Lewis remained in the countries British Commonwealth, modifications with other calibers were supplied to Japan and Estonia. In December 1916, the Savage company received an order from the US Army for Lewis machine guns chambered for the 30-06 Springfield cartridge. This order was associated with preparations for the entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Entente. True, in the American army the Lewis was mainly used as an aircraft machine gun. By 1917, Savage had increased Lewis production to 400 units per week.

Although the Lewis was very heavy - almost half the weight of the mounted Vickers - of all the variety of light machine guns used in the First World War, it turned out to be the most “long-serving”. In the mid-20s, he was the only one in Russia who continued to be listed as service weapon rifle units. In our country, these machine guns last showed themselves in the first months of the Great Patriotic War, when they were issued to the militia and new formations. However, at that time “Lewis” was also used by other armies. Lewis's last "great war" was the Korean War, but later they surfaced in various parts of the world.

Being the most successful model of a light machine gun of its time, the Lewis machine gun also became widely known as an aircraft machine gun. On October 11, 1915, General Belyaev, assistant to the Minister of War, wrote: “I believe it is necessary... to order the Lewis company a thousand machine guns to equip airplanes.” That is, the Lewis machine gun was originally purchased by Russia for aviation. General Hermonius reported on July 14, 1916: “50 Lewis air machine guns marked “Aviation” were sent July 10-23 to the Naval General Staff. In Great Britain, the aviation modification of the Lewis Mk 2 machine gun was adopted in November 1915 - a month after the land Mkl was adopted (although the Lewis air battles used since 1914). Mk 2 was distinguished by the presence of a second control handle located in place of the butt, a sleeve-collector bag, a 97-round magazine, the casing and radiator were shortened on parts of the machine guns, and a flame arrester was installed. In 1918, the radiator was removed - the oncoming air flow during flight sufficiently cooled the barrel. In May 1918, the Lewis began to be converted into the Mk 2 with changes in automation parts and an enlarged gas outlet. Automation has been modified to increase the rate of fire. This machine gun, which was produced anew, received the designation Mk 3. When aviation Lewis began to be used on the ground in World War II, it turned out that a massive radiator was not really needed for a light machine gun.

The procedure for unloading the Lewis machine gun is: Lowering it down, turn on the fuse located on the left above the trigger guard. By pressing the latch located inside the magazine opening, separate it. Remove the cartridge from the receiving window (from under the feed lever) of the receiver. Lift up the fuse and turn it off. By pressing the trigger, smoothly release the bolt frame from cocking.

The procedure for partial disassembly of the Lewis machine gun:
1. Unload the machine gun.
2. Separate the butt plate and butt. To do this, press the latch located below the pistol grip and turn the butt 1/8 turn to the left.
3. The trigger box is separated. To do this, press the trigger to push the box back.
4. The box with the return spring and gear is separated.
5. Separate the receiver cover by sliding it back.
6. The feed lever is removed from the cover. To do this, move the feed lever latch forward; turn the lever to the right so that the cutout is in position opposite the protrusion on the glass.
7. Remove the bolt carrier and bolt from the receiver. To do this, you need to pull the charging handle back. Remove the handle from the frame by moving it to the side. Remove the bolt and bolt carrier.
8. The bolt is separated from the bolt frame.

Assembly is carried out in reverse order. When assembling, you must pay attention to the fact that when attaching the feed lever, the protrusion of the bolt tail fits into the curved groove on the feed lever; Before attaching the box, the return spring must be preloaded (partially twisted).

Technical characteristics of the Lewis light machine gun:
Cartridge – .303 “British” (7.71*56);
The weight of the weapon without bipod and cartridge is 10.63 kg;
Loaded magazine weight – 1.8 kg;
Weapon length – 1280 mm;
Barrel length – 660 mm;
Rifling – 4 right-hand;
Initial bullet speed – 747 m/s;
Sighting range – 1850 m;
Rate of fire - 500-600 rounds per minute;
Combat rate of fire - 150 rounds per minute;
Magazine capacity – 47 rounds;
The height of the firing line on the bipod is 408 mm;
Machine type – tripod;
Machine weight – 11.5 kg;
The vertical pointing angles of the machine gun on the machine are from -62 to +42 degrees;
The horizontal pointing angle of the machine gun on the machine is 360 degrees.

Based on materials: S. Fedoseev - Machine guns in the First World War

The First World War radically changed the military's views on methods of conducting combat operations. And if at the beginning of the “tight” defense there was no need for highly mobile means of infantry support, then by the end of the war they became vital. One of them were light machine guns, of which the Lewis machine gun is considered by many experts to be the best.

History of creation

The technical concept of the new machine gun was developed by Samuel McLean, but to bring it to real prototype Only US Army officer Isaac Lewis succeeded. He patented the idea, and the machine gun received his name - the Lewis light machine gun. However, it did not immediately become “manual”; initially it was a water-cooled heavy machine gun, but then Lewis used the original design of forced air cooling of the barrel, which significantly reduced the weight of the machine gun and made it possible to make it manual (by the way, this system is available nowhere else except in Russia the Pecheneg machine gun was not used). The production of weapons was established at the BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) factories in the United Kingdom. The first army to use the Lewis machine gun was the Belgian army (1913). She was the first to test it in battle.

The machine gun turned out to be very successful, especially in comparison with similar weapons of the time, and was soon adopted by many armies of the world. Moreover, not only its infantry version, but also its aviation modification became widespread. The latter was distinguished by the absence of a cooling system and a cartridge disk of greater capacity. IN linear parts army Lewis machine gun served until the beginning of the next great war, in which it was also used, but in small quantities. Production stopped completely in 1942.

Machine gun design

The Lewis machine gun operates by venting powder gases. The barrel is locked by turning the bolt, which, with its lugs, fits into grooves machined into the steel box. The rotation itself is carried out due to a curved groove on the bolt and the base of the bolt frame strut. Only automatic fire is allowed from a machine gun. Shooting starts with the bolt open, which negatively affects the accuracy of the weapon. The ammunition comes from the original disk, the cartridges in which are arranged in several layers.

Depending on the magazine capacity, there can be two (47 rounds) or four (97 rounds) of these layers. The magazine does not have a feed spring, which fundamentally distinguishes it from other systems. The supply of cartridges occurs due to the rotation of the disk, into which the automatic machine gun drives it. The rate of fire can be adjusted using a tap on the gas chamber. The return spring is of the drum type, which allows it to be adjusted using a special key.

Machine gun characteristics

The Lewis machine gun fires 7.62 mm bullets with initial speed 747 meters per second and a rate of fire of 550 rounds per minute. Effective firing range 1800 meters. Weight with disk filled with cartridges: 17.8 kg.

Role Model

The qualities of the new machine gun were appreciated not only by the Entente countries, but also by their opponents. German soldiers The Lewis gun was nicknamed the “rattlesnake.” He received this nickname for his high mobility, secrecy and characteristic “voice”. The Germans converted the captured machine guns to the Mauser cartridge and actively used them. It must be assumed that the experience of getting to know this weapon pushed German designers to create their own version, which we know as the best German machine gun MG-42.

One of the most recognizable weapons of the twentieth century is the Lewis machine gun, a photo of which clearly demonstrates its differences from other types. This fame is due to the fact that it is often shown in films dedicated to both world wars. However, it was actually used for quite a long time, since its combat characteristics were high. So - a Lewis machine gun.

The history of the appearance of the machine gun and a little from the life of its designer

The creator of this weapon is considered to be American Army Colonel Isaac Lewis. He was a talented and educated officer. He studied at West Point Academy, and after that, in 1911, he became head of the artillery school located at Fort Monroe. He remained in this post almost until the end of his service and retirement. During this time, Colonel Lewis's activities included scientific work and weapons development, he also became famous as a first-class electrical engineer and mechanic. Before retiring, Lewis chose a calling for himself - he got a job as a consultant at the Automatic Arms Company. While working there, he became interested in one of the prototypes of an infantry machine gun, the designer of which was a certain Samuel McLean. Lewis then used many of the solutions and design features of these weapons when developing his own weapons.

Lewis applied for his inventions many times, but never received a response. Since the command of the US Army was not then interested in the developments of their country's designers, he took a slightly different path. In 1912, a friend of Lewis, an officer at that time young generation troops, like aviation, Captain Chandler agreed to test a model of a machine gun on a Wright biplane. One of the pilots, Lieutenant Milling, was also involved in this.

Despite the fact that the machine gun proved itself quite well, the army command still did not pay due attention to it. Yes, official tests were carried out, but preference was given to a foreign-made machine gun - the Bene-Mercy. This French weapon was in many ways inferior to the Lewis machine gun. In addition, it had a specific power supply from special rigid tapes, which made working with it more difficult. This government position forced Lewis to move to Europe, resigning from the US Army.

New features and growing popularity of the machine gun

There, the Belgians became interested in promising weapons. The designer conducted a series of tests and demonstrations, after which a contract was signed with the Belgian army and the company Armes Automatic Lewis was created, which was supposed to produce the machine gun. But some problems forced Lewis to close the company and give the right to manufacture the machine gun to the British company BSA. She also tested it on model airplanes, where quite good results were achieved. In 1913, a Lewis machine gun hit a target from the air at a distance of 120 meters. At the same time it hit her most of cartridges from the disc.

These impressive results led to the company receiving a batch of trial orders from Russia, England and Belgium that same year. Despite the problem of barrel overheating, most experts gave the machine gun high marks. The Belgian Army adopted it. Russia also received a small shipment. The British Air Force showed caution and decided to observe from the sidelines.

Use in World War I

Since the mood in Europe suggested armed conflict, BSA decided to increase production capacity by ordering a batch of machines from the United States. With the outbreak of the First World War, the British Army first ordered 10, a little later - 50, and after testing on the battlefield - a full batch of 200 machine guns.

Demand for the Lewis light machine gun increased exponentially after Belgian troops successfully repelled several massive attacks by German forces. The Belgians were armed with Lewis guns. But since the BSA could not cope with such an influx of orders, they ordered a batch of 12 thousand machine guns from the American company Savage Arms Company. By 1915, a new factory was opened in Birmingham, which produced approximately 300 machine guns per week.

It's interesting that german army called the machine gun a “rattlesnake” because of the characteristic sound of the burst. Those machine guns that were captured as trophies were remade for the 7.92 mm Mauser cartridge. They were mainly used by assault troops.

Features and design of weapons

According to his idea, it was a machine gun with a disc magazine and barrel cooling by air. Its automation functioned as intended, thanks to the removal of powder gases from the barrel bore. At the moment of the shot, the gases acted on the piston, which, under their pressure, cocked the mainspring. At the same time, with the help of the rod stand, the combat protrusions were removed and the bolt began to move. The spent cartridge case was ejected through the extraction window using a reflector. Then the bolt protrusion acted on the feeder - and it supplied a new cartridge to the receiving window.

After all the parts were in their position, the mainspring pushed the bolt and rod forward. The bolt then picked up the cartridge and sent it into the chamber. The feeder moved to the right and was held by a latch. Next, the bolt was rotated, the lugs fit into special grooves, the firing pin hit the cartridge primer and a shot was fired.

Like most automatic weapons of the time, the drawing of the Lewis machine gun showed some characteristic shortcomings. Thus, due to prolonged shooting, the barrel very often overheated, which led to delays. But the designer took care of this. He came up with a special radiator, which was designed to cool the barrel, and enclosed it in a special aluminum casing. This was a kind of prototype of a modern barrel cooling system using an ejection pump. But even these measures did not help eliminate all the problems, and when firing in bursts of more than 25 shots, the machine gun still overheated, which necessitated the need to stop firing for some time.

Weapon power

One of the characteristic external features The Lewis machine gun has a disc magazine. At that time, this weapon power supply scheme seemed the most satisfactory. In total, the magazine held 46 rounds of ammunition, which could be fired in just 6 seconds. The diameter and thickness of the Lewis machine gun disc could vary depending on the type of cartridge used.

Ammunition used

Since the Lewis machine gun was used by many countries, it was modified to fit the required type of cartridge. In the USA and Russia it was a 7.62 mm cartridge, while countries such as Japan, France and Italy used the "0.383" cartridge in 7.7 mm caliber.

Further life of the machine gun, its modifications and variants

The first modification was made to an aircraft machine gun. The main changes affected the butt, which was replaced with a trigger similar to that of the Maxim machine gun. The bulky casing was removed, since at altitude the barrel was very well blown by the wind and there was no need to cool it. Also added special devices, like bags that caught spent cartridges, since during extraction they could damage the skin of the aircraft. It is noteworthy that in 1915 the Lewis machine gun became the standard for installation in military aircraft.

For more effective fire, the magazine capacity was increased to 97 rounds, in addition, it became larger in size. Also, for ease of replacement, it was equipped with a handle, which allowed all necessary operations to be performed with one hand.

Russian modifications

In 1916 it was released new machine gun Lewis, whose device was modified and a number of design changes were made. It was named Lewis Mk. II. In the same year, they created a more advanced turret for installation on an aircraft. It was a kind of arc-shaped rail that made it possible to move the machine gun down and back. A similar design was soon developed in Tsarist Russia.

Russia itself also actively used Lewis machine guns. There they were remade for the most common cartridge - 7.62x54 mm. They were used during the Civil War (and not only by the Red Army, but also by the troops of the Whites, Makhno’s anarchists, Basmachi), as well as initial stage Great Patriotic War. After this, there is no information about the further use of the machine gun.

A new version was also presented in 1917, when a naval variation of the machine gun was made. The weight of the weapon was significantly reduced and the rate of fire of the weapon was increased. This modification was named Lewis Mk. III. It quickly gained popularity not only in the navy, but also in the ground forces and aviation, and remained the main one until the outbreak of World War II.

Decline of Lewis's popularity

By the 1930s, the machine gun had lost its former popularity. Some defects were not completely eliminated; some appeared during further operation. For example, when an airplane climbed to a high altitude, the lubricant froze, the weapon needed regular cleaning and maintenance, which was not always possible in a fast and maneuverable war. The rate of fire, which was increased to 850 rounds per minute, overheated the barrel even faster, which was often overlooked in combat. Then the weapon simply failed.

And technical progress did not stand still, more and more advanced technologies appeared, new ideas were proposed, and they forgot about the outdated machine gun. Last time the British used it during the evacuation from Dunkirk at the beginning of World War II. Then the second echelon troops were armed with Lewis. In particular, not only infantry, but even aviation variants were used, which were redesigned. After the war, all remaining machine guns were most likely sent for disposal or handed over to museums.

But the German troops also used it during World War II, despite the fact that more advanced models already existed then. It was a Dutch batch of machine guns called M20, which the Germans, always striving to put as many trophies into use as possible, remade them and adopted them for service with the Wehrmacht under the name MG100.

Lewis machine gun: characteristics

Caliber - 7.7 and also 7.62 and others.
- Cartridge type - 7.7x57 R, 7.62x63 and others.
- Weight - 11.8 kg.
- Total length - 1283 mm.
- Barrel length - 666 mm.
- Disc capacity - 47 or 97 rounds.
- Rate of fire - 550 rounds/min.

Colonel Isaac Newton Lewis of the US Coast Artillery offered this machine gun to the US Army, but the weapon was not accepted, and Lewis set up his own factory in Belgium. In 1914, his company went bankrupt and the factory was taken over by the British Small Arms Company.
The operation of the automatic mechanisms of the Lewis system light machine gun is based on the principle of removal of powder gases through a hole in the barrel. In the front part of the casing there is a gas chamber regulator, which has two holes for removing gases from letter designations: “L” is a hole with a larger diameter and “S” is a hole with a smaller diameter. To move the regulator from one hole to another, it is rotated 180° using the regulator lever.

The barrel bore is locked by turning the bolt, the lugs of which fit into the transverse grooves of the receiver. The rotation of the bolt when locking is carried out by a curved groove on the bolt and the base of the bolt frame post. The striker-type impact mechanism is mounted on the bolt frame rack. The trigger mechanism allows only automatic fire.

The machine gun is fed with cartridges when firing from a disk magazine, which is driven rotational movement feeding mechanism. The feed mechanism is a lever type, driven by the protrusion of the bolt tail, which fits into the curved groove of the feed lever.
There is a pawl on the feed lever, which, interacting with the transverse ribs of the magazine, rotates the magazine. The magazine is kept from turning to the right and left by two levers located on the receiver cover.
The cartridge case is extracted by two ejectors fixed in the bolt, and reflected by a lever-type reflector located in the receiver.
This design of the feed mechanism turned out to be too complex and prone to delays when firing. In addition, the 47-round disc magazine was expensive to manufacture and low-tech. Therefore, in 1923, the design of the machine gun was modernized, during which a simple box magazine with a capacity of 20 rounds was introduced instead of a disk magazine. The feeding mechanism was also simplified accordingly.

The machine gun's safety consists of two slats with cutouts located on both sides of the receiver. The cutouts are designed to secure the bolt carrier in the forward and rear positions.

The design of the machine gun uses air cooling of the barrel. In order to increase cooling efficiency, an aluminum radiator with high longitudinal fins and a casing with a pipe are installed on the barrel. The barrel is connected to the receiver using threads.

The machine gun has a rack-mount type sight. It is mounted on the receiver cover and has up to 20 divisions. Longest range aimed shooting equal to 2000 yards, which corresponds to 1850 m.
To use the machine gun as a hand gun, it is equipped with a bipod, butt and handle trigger guard. IN easy version heavy machine gun it was installed on a light tripod machine, the butt plate with the butt was replaced with a butt plate with a handle.
The Lewis machine gun was also used as an aircraft gun. On aircraft it was installed in turrets and equipped with disk magazines with a capacity of 97 rounds.
With the adoption of the Bren light machine gun into service by the British Army, Lewis machine guns were put into storage or transferred to colonial troops. The shortage of light machine guns at the beginning of the Second World War forced the use of these machine guns in the regular units of the British Army.