French Machine Gun Type Ho

The first Hotchkiss machine guns manufactured in France, the Model 1897, were acquired by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1898 and intended for evaluation. Japanese sources indicate they were chambered for the new 6.5x51SR Arisaka Type 30 cartridge. Only a handful were ordered and all feed strips must have been standard French types imported from France with the guns. These trials must have been successful as the first Hotchkiss guns imported in large quantity and used in combat were purchased beginning in 1902. According to Imperial Japanese Army acquisition records, they were a version of the Model 1900 Hotchkiss made to Imperial Japanese Army requirements. Besides the caliber (6.5x51SR Arisaka Type 30), they differed from other contemporary Hotchkiss guns in having two additional cooling rings on the barrel (seven instead of the usual five). The Imperial Japanese Army designation for these weapons was Type Ho: using a kanji for Ho. The use of the abbreviation instead of an adoption year indicates a foreign-made gun. Type Ho weapons were the only Hotchkiss guns used by Japan in the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905). The latest document mentioning them found in a brief scan of the Japanese National Archives is dated 1907, so they appear to have passed quickly out of service on adoption of the Type 38. It is quite possible they were converted to the Type 38 standard.

These French-made weapons were fed with 30-round rigid brass strips. Each loaded rigid strip was individually packed in a cardboard sleeve, which protected the strip while being transported in the ammunition crate. It was only during the feeding of the strip into the weapon that the cardboard sleeve was removed.

The French brass strips offered for export during the very first years after 1900 are marked with a tiny letter within a shield. The exact meaning of this marking (inspection or manufacturer stamp) remains unknown. It is also possible that some strips for the Type Ho guns were made in Japan, but if so, they would probably have been made on imported French machinery and be indistinguishable from French strips except perhaps for this marking. So far, the author has been unable to unequivocally identify any Japanese-made strips for Type Ho weapons.

Japanese Machine Gun Type 38

When the Imperial Japanese Army purchased the French-made Type Ho, they also bought a license to manufacture it. The first Japanese-made gun, manufactured under Hotchkiss license, was adopted under the designation Type 38; the Japanese equivalent of Model 1905 (38th year of the Meiji era = 1905). Despite this designation, these guns only began to reach service in 1906. Also, despite a designation indicating Japanese manufacture, it is very likely that some major components, especially barrels, and possibly whole guns, were still made in France, at least at first. There probably was considerable parts interchangeability with the Type Ho.

The Type 38 was not an exact copy of the Type Ho as the Japanese never exactly copied a foreign design. In this case, they added a cartridge oiler to the feedway, and a new trigger group and pistol grip, including a grip catch that held the trigger for continuous fire. Type 38 guns were in service at least as late as 1940, according to documents in the Japanese National Archives. However, from about 1935, they were second-line guns, serving as trainers with special blank-firing barrels and as home-defense anti-aircraft guns. In the early 1930s, many were decommissioned and sold to China, only to be used against Japan later.

The Type 38 continued to use the same 30-round brass strips, but no cardboard sleeve specifically marked for it has been found for this article. It is likely that, at least at first, strips for it were made on French machinery.

The Japanese army, under the approval of their Military Provisional Committee, ordered from France samples of Model 1909 Portative light machine guns in original 8mm French caliber for research with aircraft in 1915. These weapons were referred to as the Type 42. Experiments were carried out with the Type MO aircraft at the army’s Tokorozawa Airfield facility.

Japanese Machine Gun Type 3

The first machine gun truly of Japanese design chambered for the 6.5x51SR Arisaka cartridge was the Year 3 Type, usually referred to in English as simply Type 3. The kanji character for “year” was included in the formal Japanese designation to indicate that the 3 represents the 3rd year of the reign of the Emperor Taisho, i.e., 1914 in the Gregorian calendar. This gun was the work of the famous designer Kijiro Nambu, and is mechanically very different from the Hotchkiss. It used only two Hotchkiss features: the feed wheel/feed strip and the Hotchkiss-style operating rod (although the exact form of the operating rod was different). These guns entered service in the World War I period, with both the Army and Navy, and remained in service through the Pacific War in late World War II mainly with Japanese troops in China.

The 30-round feed strips for this gun are almost identical to the early French brass export models and retain the cardboard protecting sleeve. The Japanese cardboard sleeves are usually covered with a kind of gauze. Although no official document has been found concerning this issue, various reasons have been suggested by different knowledgeable authors. It is probable that the reason for the gauze covering could be found among the following various explanations: to prevent moisture deterioration; to add strength to the container; to prevent damage from the pointed bullets during handling and to improve the grip on the sleeve in order to facilitate its manipulation.

The cardboard sleeve containing a single loaded strip bears a label describing the content of the sleeve. Usually, a second little label, glued on the side of the sleeve, states the type of ammunition as well as the manufacturing data (lot numbers and date of production). Ammunition and feed strips for Type 3 weapons have also been manufactured in the independent state of Manchukuo (Manchuria). This state, geographically situated in continental China, gained independence from China in 1932 after the invasion of the Japanese army in 1931. In 1934, Pu Yi was declared Emperor of the Manchukuo Empire, which although theoretically an independent state was in fact closely controlled by the Japanese. Production occurred in the city named Mukden (in Manchu spelling) within the Hoten Zoheisho Kabaushiki Kaisha (Hoten Arsenal Co. Ltd.) established at the old Three Provinces Arsenal site in November 1932 after Japanese occupation in 1931. This facility is also commonly referred to as simply Mukden Arsenal.

In the 1920s, Type 3 machine guns chambered for 7×57 Mauser were adopted by Chile under the designation Modelo 1920. Probably only a few hundreds of weapons manufactured at the Kokura Arsenal were imported from Japan. However, it seems that the barrels, the main specific part for the 7mm caliber, were imported from the Hotchkiss Company in France. Accordingly, the Chilean Modelo 1920 weapons observed so far bear the Japanese Kokura logo on the receiver and the French Hotchkiss logo on the barrel.

The Chilean-made strips for the Modelo 1920 are similar to the early French Hotchkiss strips and therefore differ from the contemporary Japanese strips for Type 3 by the lack of the corner notch. These 30-round brass strips are marked with a shield containing the indication of the manufacturer FAMAE (Fabricas y Maestranzas el Ejercito in Santiago) as well as “CHILE”.

Japanese Machine Gun Type 92

From 1932 onwards, an updated version of the Type 3 machine gun entered service under the designation Type 92 therewith indicating its year of adoption (2592 in the Jimmu calendar – the beginning of which corresponds to the mythical creation of the Japanese Empire, 660 BC in the Gregorian calendar). Type 92 machine guns are chambered for the more powerful 7.7x58SR ammunition and remain fed with 30-round rigid strips. Many Type 3 guns were converted to the Type 92 standard.

The geometry of the 7.7mm strips is identical to that for 6.5mm. Shooters have found that strips originally loaded with 7.7mm cartridges can be reloaded with 6.5mm and function perfectly and vice versa. From approximately 1943 onwards, the brass strips were often replaced by tinned or zinc-washed steel strips of identical geometry. The individual cardboard sleeves are simplified and do not bear the external gauze anymore. The sealing of the two parts of the sleeve remains done with a label, which indicates the contents of the sleeve. The data concerning the lot numbers and date of production are no longer printed on an extra label but are directly inked on the side of the sleeve. The Japanese strips for both for 6.5 and 7.7mm bear, almost always in the same place, a small character, the meaning of which remains unknown (manufacturer code or inspection mark).

It is worth noting that, whereas the design of the rigid strips used by the Hotchkiss company was improved several times between 1900 and 1930, the Japanese strips remained faithful to the original French design of 1897. The majority of the evolutions designed by the Hotchkiss company in France were intended to increase the longevity of the strips. Those strips were supposed to be reloaded a great number of times and therefore, a special recalibrating tool was provided with the weapon’s accessories.

The major evolutions of the Hotchkiss commercial strips concerned both the stamping pattern of the hooks to fasten the cartridges and the characteristics of the metal sheet used (brass, various heat-treated steels, different thicknesses, etc.). On the other side, the Japanese strips never incorporated any of those major evolutions. This might be explained by the fact that the Japanese strips were considered as consumable and not as a weapon accessory. Indeed, the Japanese strips, even in new unissued condition, appear particularly fragile as the brass sheet is not very rigid and the hooks retaining the cartridges can be easily bent or broken. In most cases, a single feeding through the weapon represents the maximum that a strip can withstand.

For field combat use, the strips, fitted in their cardboard sleeves, were carried in two different models of chests. For infantry units, 18 strips were packed in a chest Model A, which could be carried on a man’s back by means of straps. For cavalry units, a larger chest of Model B carried 25 strips. The shipping crate was of the same dimensions as the Model A, but much cruder and not back-packable. It held 25 strips because they were packed into it differently.

(The author acknowledges the help of Mr. Ted Bradstreet and Dr. Edwin Libby for their key contribution to enlighten the historical background of the early Imperial Japanese Army machine guns and to Mr. William M.P. Easterly for his thorough review of the manuscript.)

After World War II, the French Army wanted to adopt a new submachine gun to replace the various British, German and American guns that their troops were then equipped with. The request had a sense of emergency as a new war was brewing in Indochina. Both the state factories in Châtellerault, Saint-Etienne, Tulle and the private arms manufacturer of Hotchkiss began work on this project.

The Hotchkiss Company, established by Benjamin B. Hotchkiss in 1867, was initially devoted to the production of solid cased ammunition during the 1870-71 war. Later, he developed the Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon that was used by many countries at the end of 19th century. The most successful gun the company ever produced was the Hotchkiss machine gun developed by Laurence Benét and Henri Mercié at the turn of the 20th century and used to great effect during World War I.

During the 1920-30s, Hotchkiss developed light machine guns, infantry machine guns, aircraft machine guns, large-bore weapons and anti-tanks guns for armies throughout the world. After 1945, the Hotchkiss firm produced submachine guns for the French Army and others.

General Information on Hotchkiss Submachine Guns

The general appearance and operation of the Hotchkiss submachine guns is the same for all their models. They have a cylindrical frame with the cocking lever and ejection port both located on the right side. Depending on the model, they may have a fixed or folding stock made of wood or metal. Some models have a short telescoped barrel that can be pushed to the rear inside the frame, while others have a fixed barrel with a cylindrical cooling jacket. The magazine is derived from the MP 40 magazine and is located in a folding magazine holder. The guns works with a blowback bolt with a delayed firing pin. The guns are relatively complicated being made with many parts. Firing devices are complicated and are made of many parts with numerous parts being made of stamped sheet metal.

Model 011

The Model 011 has a rigid wooden stock, is very simple in its manufacture and is as crude as the Sten submachine gun. The triangular stock has a vertical bar on the left side for attaching a sling. The stock is assembled with an end cap that closes the frame at the rear. The sear mechanism is located in a triangular shaped box under the receiver frame. The magazine well is also a front grip that can be folded permitting the gun to be carried with a loaded magazine under the barrel. The ejection port has a cover that can lock the bolt in the opened or closed position and is used as a secondary safety. The barrel is located in a socket that can move to the rear for carrying thus reducing the length of the gun. The rear sight is located on top of the stock end cap and the front sight can be folded.

This model was developed in 1948 and was used by local units in Indochina, such as Phat-Diem Bishop Suppletive Guard.

Model 010 or “Type Universal”

The Model 010 is probably one of the most curious submachine guns ever made. Most of the components can be moved to reduce the volume of the gun for carrying:

• The metallic tubular stock can be folded under the frame,
• The pistol grip can be folded forward enclosing the trigger guard,
• The magazine housing can be folded forward under the barrel,
• The barrel can also be moved rearward.

The receiver frame is of a tubular shape with a flap to cover the ejection port that is located on the right side. The cocking handle is spherical and is also located on the right side. It holds a sheet strip to cover the grove upon which it moves. The bolt has a separate firing pin and the recoil spring is helicoidal. Ignition of the primer is delayed until just after the bolt is closed and is actuated by a lever. The trigger housing is a triangular box located under the receiver and contains a push-through button selector. The magazine is located in a forward folding housing. The stock is made of an assembly of tubes with a wooden shoulder rest. The pistol grip is equipped with brown plastic grips. The folding rear sight has two apertures and the front sight is protected by a hood.

Disassembly the Hotchkiss Model 010 is straight forward:

• Remove the magazine and clear the gun,
• fold the stock,
• remove the rear plug,
• extract the recoil spring and bolt.
• Reassemble in reverse order.

The Model 010 is a very complicated gun and is not easy to use; particularly during handling as it is easy for fingers to get caught and/or pinched in any one of the many folding parts.

The gun was manufactured between 1949 and 1952. It was tested by the French Army in Indochina by paratroops and the Foreign Legion. Some countries did buy a few of these guns such as Venezuela and Morroco. The last Hotchkiss Model 010 at war were found in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Model 017

The Model 017 is designed like the Model 010 except it has a fixed wooden stock, a longer barrel, a perforated cooling jacket and the pistol grip cannot be folded. An additional safety device is installed near the trigger and when it is in place the use of the trigger is not possible. The Model 017 was designed for police use and was tested by the French police; but the MAT 49-54 was chosen instead. The Hotchkiss Model 017 was also tested by Morocco.

Model 304

The Model 304 is an evolution of the former models. It has a fixed wooden stock and several variations exist:

• tubular receiver frame, short barrel that can be retracted in the frame and a rectangular trigger box mechanism;
• tubular receiver frame, long barrel with a perforated cooling jacket, rectangular box trigger mechanism and a reversible spike bayonet like the MAS 36 rifle;
• sheet metal frame with dust cover on the ejection port, long barrel with a perforated cooling jacket, triangular trigger box mechanism and a reversible spike bayonet like the MAS 36 rifle.

Specifications

The Hotchkiss Model 1914 was the standard French Army heavy machine gun during World War I. It was also the primary heavy machine gun of the United States A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Force). Heavy but rugged and dependable, the Hotchkiss Model 1914 saw continuous service along the entire line of the Western Front for the full duration of the war (1914-1918). It continued in French service after the war in France’s Colonial endeavors and as a secondary armament role within Europe up to and including the Second World War.

History

Upon Hiram Maxim’s success in harnessing the energy of the recoiling forces in producing the world’s first truly automatic machine gun, inventors everywhere attempted to design firing mechanisms that replicated the full automatic function without infringing on Maxim’s patents.

One such inventor was a young Viennese nobleman and officer in the Austrian Army. Captain Baron Adolph von Odkolek had successfully designed and constructed a prototype gas-operated machine gun and sought to market his invention. In 1893, he traveled to the world famous Hotchkiss manufacturing facility in St. Denis, France, just outside the city limits of Paris, to see if they would be interested in building his gun.

Laurence Benét, head engineer and promotion manager, and his assistant Henri Mercié, were actively trying to come up with a new machine gun when Odkolek came to them in 1893. They tested Odkolek’s prototype and were generally unimpressed with it due to overheating problems. They did, however, recognize that there were certain mechanical features; particularly the simple operation of a gas piston housed underneath the barrel that they saw as extremely promising. Benét refused to manufacture Odkolek’s gun on a royalty basis, but instead offered to buy the patent rights outright so as to pursue and refine the development of the operating system. Odkolek agreed and a lump sum payment was negotiated in return for assigning all manufacturing rights to Hotchkiss.

Benét then started work on designing a new gun using Odkolek’s operating principles. His new gun was chambered in 8mm Lebel and was gas-operated employing a simple reciprocating piston that did not infringe upon John Browning’s patent on a gas-operated gun that used a swinging lever as used on the Colt Automatic Gun.

The first model of the new gun was tested at the St. Denis factory by Laurence Benét in 1895. In honor of Benjamin Hotchkiss, the founder of the company, the gun was named “the Hotchkiss.” Instead of feeding ammunition from fabric belts, the new gun used metal strips, each containing 30 rounds. Shunning the use of a water jacket for cooling, the new gun was air cooled. A brass shoulder piece, or stock, was permanently attached to the frame. While mechanically the new gun performed better than they had hoped, they found that the heavy barrel they used overheated too quickly destroying the rifling after a relatively small number of rounds had been fired.

Hotchkiss Model 1897

The solution to overheating that Benét came up with is a design feature that to this day defines the Hotchkiss machine gun – the large doughnut rings around the breech area. Benét knew that more metal mass was needed around the breech area to absorb the heat generated at this point, but just adding solid metal would add tremendous weight to the gun. Instead, he introduced brass circular doughnut-shaped fins at the critical area around the breech. This provided ten times the surface area around the breech area and added little weight. This was incorporated into a new model: the Hotchkiss Model 1897. The French Army adopted this weapon and purchased a limited number of the Model 1897 as they were particularly keen on it being air-cooled and lighter in weight than the water-cooled Maxim. Water source was a problem in the desert environment of the French colonies in Africa and the Hotchkiss solved a logistics problem. The gun proved to be fairly reliable, but was still prone to overheating even with the massive brass cooling fins. Though there were minor improvements in the next two models, the basic gun remained the same as a gas-operated, air-cooled, strip-fed machine gun.

Hotchkiss Model 1900

The refinements that occurred in 1900 mostly centered on making adjustments to the original mount. Since overheating was still a problem, the brass doughnut cooling rings were replaced with steel ones and the barrel was redesigned with a lower carbon content to help extend barrel life in a sustained fire mode.

The Hotchkiss Model 1900 achieved a great amount of success and was sold world wide with many going to Mexico and Japan. The first conflict between major powers in which machine guns were employed by each participant was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 and ’05. The Russians were equipped with Maxims and Madsens, while the Japanese had the Hotchkiss. The Japanese were very impressed with the Hotchkiss design and after the war obtained a license to produce them in Japan – ultimately adding some design features of their own resulting in the Type 3 and Type 92 heavy machine guns.

During the Russo-Japanese War new and old tactics were tried in the use and deployment of machine guns and thus began the learning curve of the capabilities of machine guns in actual warfare. The French, British and Germans had observers taking notes during the war noting the use, deployment and tactics for use in their own applications. The Germans learned quickly. The British and French did not.

While the French Army had a few of the Hotchkiss Model 1900s, they embarked on a program to develop their own machine gun produced in their own government arsenals. They felt they could do it better and did not like paying royalties to a commercial firm such as Hotchkiss for the use of a gun. The result of their effort was the ignominious Puteaux Model 1905 and the St. Etienne Model 1907. (See SAR Vol. 6, No. 11, August 2003 Mitrailleuse Saint Etienne Mle 1907.)

When World War I broke out across Europe in 1914, France found itself at a serious disadvantage due to a small stock of automatic arms consisting of the already outdated and complicated St. Etienne Model of 1907 and some Hotchkiss Model 1900s. But France was fortunate in the sense that it had a domestic company with a proven machine gun that could tool up for large mass scale production in a very short period of time. With a few more minor tweaks in production methods and materials, and the removal of the shoulder stock and replacing with a simple D-grip, the new weapon of war was the Hotchkiss Model 1914. The reliable qualities of the Hotchkiss were quickly recognized by the entire army, and were issued as front-line equipment with a large number of brigade companies having been formed and equipped with this weapon.

The best instance, among many, demonstrating the efficiency of the Hotchkiss was in the spring of 1916, during the heroic defense of Verdun, when a section armed with two Hotchkiss machine guns held its position near Hill 304 for ten consecutive days and nights. Entrenched 150 yards behind the crest, which the Germans were endeavoring to seize, this unit repulsed unaided all assaults, mowing down the succeeding waves of attack as they reached the summit. During these ten days, the section, cut off from all supplies and communication expended over 150,000 rounds of ammunition. The original and normal supply of a section was 5,000 rounds. Fortunately, a dump of infantry cartridges was near at hand and all hands, including officers, set about reloading the feed strips, thus enabling the section to carry on to the end. When it was realized that each gun fired upwards of 75,000 rounds and still were serviceable, one must admire the robust nature of the Hotchkiss and its reliability.

The U.S Army Arrives

When the American Expeditionary Force arrived in France in 1917 with no machine guns, the French provided enough Hotchkiss Model 1914s to equip the first 12 Divisions. Ultimately, 5,255 Model 1914s were delivered to the U.S. troops with 224 per Infantry Division, with 16 per Infantry Regiment and 16 per Machine Gun Company. Later Divisions were additionally equipped with Colt Vickers Model 1915 and lastly the Browning Model 1917, which saw only limited service.

The Hotchkiss proved as reliable and robust in the hands of the Americans as it was with the French; filling the role as an offensive, defensive and anti-aircraft weapon. The hard learned lessons of use and tactics by the French were taught to the newly arrived US forces during 1917 and 1918. When US troops finally entered combat in 1918, their use was employed with efficiency.

Description of the Hotchkiss M1914

The description of the Hotchkiss M1914 is best related in the Handbook of the Hotchkiss Machine Gun Model of 1914, No. 1932, as printed in the Ordnance Manual of January, 1918. “The Hotchkiss machine gun, Model of 1914 (Mitrailleuse Automatique Hotchkiss), caliber 8mm, is chambered for the standard French rifle ammunition. The gun is classified as heavy, air-cooled, gas operated, and fed from metallic strips or linked bands.

“In order to eliminate artificial cooling devices, air is utilized as a cooling agent. The barrel is heavily made, which tends to retard overheating. To assist in the natural cooling of the gun, a radiator having five large annular ribs is shrunk over the rear end of the barrel.

“Expanding gases furnish the energy for the operation of the gun. After the gun is fired and the bullet has passed the gas port in the barrel, the live powder gases expand through the gas port into the cylinder and impinge against the head of the piston. This throws the piston to the rear, compressing the recoil spring which furnishes energy for the counter-recoil. The various lugs and cams of the piston actuate the feeding, firing, extracting and ejecting, and control the operation of the gun.

“The feed strips or bands are metallic stampings on which are formed three parallel rows of teeth for holding the cartridges in place. The feed strips are flat and hold 24 cartridges in a single row.

“The feed is entirely mechanical, and is independent of the inclination of the gun. The feed strip is ejected automatically. By the employment of strips the consumption of ammunition is easily controlled, and a much better economy is feasible than with a long band.

“The gun is composed of only 30 pieces that are easily dismounted. There are very few springs and screws, and only a few of the main parts are indispensable for the proper functioning of the gun.

“All parts of the gun are constructed in such a manner that it is impossible to assemble them improperly. The ordinary dismounting and assembling of the gun can be accomplished without the aid of a single tool. The dismounting of the barrel or gas cylinder necessitates a wrench which forms a part of the accessories of the arm.

“On account of its weight the Hotchkiss is fired from a tripod or other suitable mount. The arm is especially adapted to defense work and to barrage fire or indirect fire. When used for night firing it is fitted with a flash screen.”

Operation

A loaded feed strip with the cartridges facing up is inserted into the feed block until its movement is stopped. Pull the cocking handle to the rear locking the moving parts in the rear cocked position, and then push the cocking handle forward. The cocking handle does not reciprocate during firing. Again, the 1918 edition of the Handbook of the Hotchkiss Machine Gun Model of 1914 best relates the operation of the gun. “Pulling the trigger releases the trigger from the sear notch on the underside of the piston allowing the recoil spring to drive the piston forward. The lug of the firing pin resting between the firing pin tang and the breech block tang of the piston carries the firing pin forward. The nose of the locking cam of the piston, bearing against the breech block lock, carries the breech block forward.

“The breech block forces the front end of the ejector out of the path of the breech block. The lower part of the breech block face strikes the base of the cartridge, stripping it from the feed strip and driving it forward into the chamber. The feed wheel is now advanced over the first half of the feeding movement by the action of the large feed cam of the piston against the operating lug on the operating wheel of the feed wheel. The feed wheel pawl engages the feed wheel ratchet and prevents rebound. As the breech block closes against the cartridge in the chamber, the extractor springs over and engages the rim of the cartridge. The breech block has now reached the end of its forward movement and the breech block lock is in position above the recoil blocks in the receiver and is free to lock. This movement is accomplished by the locking cam of the piston working against the cam surface of the breech block lock, causing the rear end of the latter to tilt down in front of the recoil blocks.

“The piston continues forward, carrying the firing pin and primes the cartridge. The recoil spring abutment of the piston, striking against the counter-recoil buffer in the front end of the receiver limits the forward motion.

“After the explosion has taken place and the bullet has passed the gas port in the barrel, the live powder gases expand through the gas orifice into the gas chamber and impinge against the head of the piston, forcing it to the rear. This action compresses the recoil spring and stores up energy for the counter-recoil.

“The piston withdraws the firing pin from the primer. The lower cam of the breech block lock riding on the upper cam surface of the piston raises the breech block lock clear of the recoil blocks.

“The breech block tang on the piston striking the rear shoulder of the breech block carries the breech block to the rear. The extractor withdraws the empty shell from the chamber. The rear end of the ejector rides out of its groove in the breech block, which pivots the front end of the ejector into the path of the cartridge. The cartridge base strikes the ejector, which throws the shell out to the right. The small feed cam on the piston now completes the rotation of the feed wheel and places the next cartridge in position above the stripping finger. The feed wheel pawl engages the feed wheel ratchet and prevents rebound.

“The backward motion is limited by the rear end of the piston striking the breech cover. If the trigger is held back by the finger, the mechanism starts immediately on its forward motion. If the trigger has been released, it springs up and engages the sear notch of the piston holding the gun in the cocked position.

“When the feed strip has been fired through, it allows the upper lug of the arrestor to spring up and the arrestor catch engages the arrestor lug on the piston. This holds the piston back so as to allow the loading of the next strip.”

Basic Field Stripping

To field strip the gun, make certain that there is no feed strip in the feed tray and pull the cocking handle back far enough to visually inspect the chamber to make sure it is clear.

Pull out the feed block key and remove the feed block. Press in the recoil spring guide located within the D grip and pull out the breech cover pin located on the left side of the receiver just in front of the D grip. Remove the breech cover and recoil spring to the rear. Slide the trigger guard to the rear and remove. This can be accomplished by tilting the trigger a little toward the rear and removing it downward.

Draw the cocking handle to the rear until it comes out of the guides on the receiver. Then pull the piston and breech block the remainder of the way out of the receiver. Rotate the front end of the ejector out until it is at right angles to the receiver, and then remove the ejector. To rotate the ejector, grip the top lug with the finger nails or place a finger over the axis of the ejector along the side of the receiver and give it a quick draw to the rear.

To remove the barrel, move the barrel lock completely to the rear and place the barrel wrench over the gas cylinder support with the handle to the right horizontal to the ground. Push down on the barrel wrench until the barrel stop pin strikes the top of the receiver. Pull the barrel out toward the front. Unscrew the gas regulator, which can easily be turned by hand if it has been kept clean and well oiled.

This completes the basic field stripping of the weapon. Reassembly is in the reverse order.

Mounts

The Hotchkiss Model 1914 used two primary mounts. The first was the Omnibus Model 1915 mount produced at Puteaux that was originally intended for use with the St. Etienne Model 1907. The Omnibus Model 1915 tripod was the last iteration of tripods designed for the St. Etienne Model 1907 and could be, and was, used to a great extent with the Hotchkiss M1914. It consists of two essential parts: the traversing group and the tripod. The upper part of the traversing head is fork-shaped and has two recesses on which the trunnions on the machine gun are locked in place. The traversing head also carries the telescoping elevating mechanism and the traversing clamp. The distinguishing feature of the Omnibus Model 1915 tripod that makes it instantly recognizable is the large elevating wheel located on the left side of the traversing head. The tripod consists of three groupings: the pivot body, the trail, and the legs. The pivot body serves as a bearing for the traversing head. The trail consists of an arm and an inner tube. The arm is joined to the pivot body and the inner tube within the arm may be extended to lengthen the trailing leg. The trail terminates in a shoe provided with a trail spike. The trail also carries the gunner’s seat which can be fixed at any convenient position by means of a hand bolt. The two front legs are jointed at their upper ends to the same trunnion at the body of the pivot. They are joined together by a separator which keeps them apart when the tripod is set up. The right leg is provided with a leveling screw to vary the length of this leg for uneven terrain. Additionally, each front leg has a knee joint making it possible to bring the mount to a kneeling position by folding the lower part of both legs under the trail. An anti-aircraft extension that attached to the pivot head was also available.

The second type of tripod used was the Hotchkiss Tripod Model 1916. Manufactured by Hotchkiss for the M1914, it was similar to, but simpler and slightly lighter than, the Omnibus Model 1915 tripod with some obvious differences. It, too, consisted of two essential parts: the traversing group and the tripod. It also had a forked-shaped traversing head with two recesses on which the trunnions on the machine gun are locked in place. But instead of the large elevating wheel, elevation was controlled by a simple wheel located directly beneath the telescoping elevating mechanism. The tripod also consisted of three groups: the pivot body, trail and legs. As with the Omnibus 1915 tripod, the pivot body accepted the traversing head, and the trail consisted of an inner tube that could be extended out and the gunner’s seat could be adjusted. The two front legs, however, did away with the separator cross bar and the knee joints and the right leg leveling mechanism.

There was actually a third tripod that saw very limited use with the Hotchkiss M1914, also named the Hotchkiss Tripod Model 1916, which was made in the United States. Commonly called the “Cleveland Mount,” it was manufactured by the Standard Parts Company of Cleveland, Ohio. In October, 1918, 2,500 were reported as completed. This was the only work performed in connection with this gun in the United States. For all intent, it was a copy of the French manufactured Hotchkiss Tripod Model 1916 except that it had a distinguishing feature that consisted of a large 360 degree traversing head above the pivot head that allowed a full 360 degree traversing movement for anti-aircraft fire.

Anti-Aircraft Sights

The auxiliary sight for anti-aircraft firing comprises four essential parts: the mire, the guidon, the support bracket for the mire, and the support clamp for the guidon.

The mire (rear anti-aircraft sight) is made with a moveable scale ended by a bead. It is mounted in a trunnion case supported by a shank inserted into the mire support that is then fitted into the mire support bracket. The mire support bracket is affixed by four screws to the right side of the receiver between the pistol grip and the D grip.

The guidon (front anti-aircraft sight) is made of a laying frame supported by a shank inserted in the hole of the guidon support clamp. The frame is made of two fork-shaped branches connected by three horizontal parallel threads. The center thread is provided with a bead. An illuminating disk set on each branch level with the central thread facilitates night firing. The guidon clamp is made of two semicollars with a bored block to receive the guidon. It is set on the front end of the barrel against the front sight band. Essential with the anti-aircraft sights is the hand-held stadia for range finding.

Accessories

As the premier front line heavy machine gun for two armies, there were a number of accessories associated with the Hotchkiss Model 1914 that included: strip loaders, strip resizing tool, clinometer, anti-aircraft sights and stadia, barrel and gas regulator wrench, hand extractor hook, defective cartridge extractor, flash hider, leather mittens with chain mail and asbestos pads for handling hot barrels during barrel changes, a leather with chain mail and asbestos pad shoulder epaulette to carry a hot barrel on one’s shoulder when advancing, canvass gun case and a metal armorer’s box containing cleaning rod, jags and brushes, oil bottle, spare recoil spring, screwdriver, hammer, pins and punches, chamber gauge, gas cylinder scraper, spare firing pins, extractors, ejectors, small springs and pins, etc.

Conclusion

The Hotchkiss Model 1914 was the right gun at the right time serving the French Army admirably as well as the US Army. It was reliable and robust and could be counted on regardless of the situation, climate or terrain. The only complaint, and generally considered the weak point of the weapon, was its feed strip design that was clumsy to handle requiring constant feeding of the gun and strips easily deformed or bent. The other chief drawbacks consisted in its excessive weight in comparison to the Vickers and Browning, and the length of time required for cooling – four minutes and six seconds of time and a sponging with water being required between each burst of 1,000 rounds. However, the simplicity and ruggedness of the gun enabled it to be dismounted and reassembled in less than a minute without the aid of a single tool. Nevertheless, the Hotchkiss remained in service with the French both at home and in their colonies up to World War II. The United States did not keep the Hotchkiss in their inventory after the war and discarded them in favor of the superior Browning guns. But their contribution to the allied war effort was immense being the most widely used heavy machine gun of the allied forces and they played a pivotal role in the ultimate victory in World War I.

Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss, 1826 – 1885

Born in Watertown, Connecticut in 1826 and then moving to Sharon, Connecticut in his early youth, Benjamin Hotchkiss began his mechanical experiments in his father’s hardware factory. In the 1850s, he served as an apprentice at Colt’s Patent Firearms Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Becoming a master mechanic, he is credited with designing and perfecting various models of the Colt revolver and Winchester rifles. In 1860, he developed an improved system of rifling and a new kind of percussion fuze for projectiles. As with so many American firearms inventers of the time, Hotchkiss moved to France in 1867 where his firearms inventiveness was given better consideration. In France, he demonstrated an improved metallic cartridge case that was immediately ordered for manufacture in St. Etienne and the French placed an advance order for a machine gun Hotchkiss had in mind by using the destructive forces of an explosive shell in a rapidly firing gun. With this backing from the French government, Hotchkiss remained in France and four years later in 1871 established his own company, Société Anonyme des Anciens Établissements Hotchkiss et Cie (Hotchkiss and Company) in Saint Denis, just outside Paris.

There, with a background in designing artillery projectiles and systems of firing, Hotchkiss formulated what he considered to be the best caliber to produce the most destructive force capable from a rapid firing weapon. The result of his calculations was a bursting charge cavity of correct dimensions and a balanced fuzed nose with a 37mm projectile. The gun he built around the 37mm round was intended for flank defense and he introduced a new and unique feature: each of the five barrels was rifled with a different pitch ensuring a sweep of the target area with shrapnel.

While the Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon, on first impression, resembles a Gatling gun, it is operationally markedly different. The five barrels are mounted parallel to each other around a central shaft and are rotated and controlled by means of a hand crank that also controls the loading, firing and extracting operation. Unique to the Hotchkiss internally is that the barrels are rotated intermittently without turning the breech mechanism. Thus, the barrels are stationary at the moment of firing negating any centrifugal force normally imparted to projectiles at the start of their flight when fired from a continuously rotating barrel. Additionally, there was just one firing pin and spring instead of five and a single loading piston.

The impressive 37mm round contained 3-1/2 ounces of powder. The cartridge case measured 3.66 inches without projectile, 6.68 inches long with projectile, and a complete round weighed 2.42 pounds.

There were six models of the manually operated Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon depending on their specialized purpose: the light 37mm for field use; a high velocity 37mm for flank defense and fortifications; the 37mm designed for shipboard use only; a 40mm for fortifications; a 47mm gun for naval use; and a 57mm gun, also for naval use.

At one time or another, the Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon was used by just about every navy in the world including Germany, England, Holland, Italy Austria, Turkey, Denmark, Russia and the United States. The French Navy alone used over 10,000 revolving cannon and four million rounds of ammunition.

It was the Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon and his fuzed rounds that earned Hotchkiss his fame and fortune and his name known around the world.

Laurence Vincent Benét, 1863 – 1948

Born at West Point, New York in 1863, Laurence Benét was the son of General Stephen Benét who was at one time the Chief of Ordnance of the Untied States Army. During his father’s tour of duty at the War Department, Laurence prepared for college at Emerson Institute and was graduated in mechanical engineering from Yale in 1884. The following year in 1885, he went to France to work for Benjamin Hotchkiss at the Hotchkiss Company where he began a fifty year career with that famous firm.

Showing great mechanical skill and managerial talent, he rose through the ranks while at Hotchkiss. Upon the death of Benjamin Hotchkiss in 1885, Benét was well situated within the company and was appointed in 1887 by the Hotchkiss stockholders to be the head engineer and promotions manager whereupon he made as his assistant the very talented Henri Mercié. It was this dynamic team of Benét and Mercié that then orchestrated the next successful phase of the Hotchkiss Company. With the company well established in the arms field by the success of Benjamin Hotchkiss’ revolving cannons, Benét and Mercié were at the right place at the right time for the new invention of the age: the machine gun.

Benét took two brief leave of absences during his tenure at Hotchkiss. During the Spanish-American War he served as an Ensign in the United States Navy, and during World War I, he served with the American Ambulance and Hospital Corps in France and for the last two years of the war was a member of the advisory staff of the American Expeditionary Force Purchasing Board.

For these and other services he was honored by various Governments; his decorations included the Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor, French Medal of Honor, Commander of the Military Order of Christ (Portugal), Commander of the Order of the Crown (Romania) and Officer of Osmania (Turkey).

After his retirement as Vice President and Director of the Hotchkiss Company, Mr. Benét was made honorary President of the Company. He returned to the United States in 1937 living in Washington D.C. until his death in 1948. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

In an interview after his retirement, Benét said, “I believe I have been called a ‘merchant of death.’ Do I look it?” “I’m sorry,” he added, “that my fingers are not dripping blood this morning.” His profession, he said, did not fill him with horror. “One of the great satisfactions of my life is that the Hotchkiss machine guns saved Paris from the Germans. Most of the liberties we enjoy were won by the sword. If people have nothing else to fight with they will fight with their hands.”

By Edwin Libby

The standard heavy machine gun employed by Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific War was the Type 92, commonly called the “Juki” by the combatants of both sides. This weapon derived its name from its Japanese designation Jukikanju, or “heavy machine gun” and, although this weapon was regarded a medium machine gun by U.S. forces because of its infantry rifle caliber, the gun’s 122-pound weight with tripod readily demonstrated the logic of its “heavy” classification. The gun was air-cooled and 61 pounds was accounted for by a very heavy barrel housed in a massive receiver casing with large radiator flanges to draw heat away form the mechanism during firing. A slow rate of fire of 350 to 400 rounds per minute, and a hollow-sounding report at a distance, earned the Juki the derisive name of “woodpecker.”

The design of the Japanese Type 92 originated with the French Model of 1897 Hotchkiss heavy machine gun, several of which were purchased from the Paris-based Hotchkiss Company, and these guns were used with great success against the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. In that war the Japanese Army originated the technique of overhead fire in support of their infantry assaults, but they also used their tripod-mounted Hotchkiss guns to deliver direct fire from front line positions. Although this latter tactic proved to be exceedingly costly in Japanese lives, its success signaled the need for mobile firepower to support infantry on the battlefield. It also stimulated the quest for a light machine gun among the nations who recognized this need from their participation or observation in this first great modern war. After building the French Hotckiss MG under license and after modifying this gun to improve its reliability, the Japanese Army adopted a heavy machine gun of indigenous design, designating it the Taisho Type 3 Model of 1914. This gun was a much developed and refined version of the original French gun with a new and original locking system created by the gun’s designer, Kijiro Nambu, a Japanese Army officer who was to become Japan’s premier firearms designer. Several years later Nambu further refined his Type 3 heavy machine gun with greatly improved iron sights, with added optical sights, and with a new and powerful 7.7mm cartridge for which the refined gun was chambered. In 1932 this gun was adopted by the Japanese Army as the Type 92 heavy machine gun, and this gun was the Japanese heavy machine gun most frequently encountered on the battlefields where U.S. troops were engaged.

Ammunition of various types – ball, tracer, and armor-piercing – on 30-round rigid brass or steel feed strips was used in the Type 92 heavy machine gun. The strips offered a marked contrast to the flexible ammunition belts used by U.S. light, medium, and heavy Browning machine guns and captured Japanese Juki positions littered with empty feed strips and spent cartridge cases remain vivid in the memories of many U.S. combat Marines and soldiers. Each feed strip was packaged in a cloth-covered cardboard sleeve which, with its top removed and the strip engaged in the gun’s feedway, was used to guide the strip and to protect the cartridges on it from dirt and debris. To deliver sustained fire, strips were easily hooked together as they were fed into the gun by the assistant gunner; each cartridge was oiled by a brush in the feedway as it was drawn into the gun.

Ball ammunition of 7.7 diameter (.303 in. caliber) used in the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun was loaded typically with a bullet of 204 grains, one of the heaviest rifle caliber ball bullets used in World War II, and very heavy in comparison to the 154-grain ball bullet of the .30 caliber M2 cartridge used in U.S. Browning machine guns. This ammunition gave the Japanese Juki an effective range of 1500 yards, and a remarkable maximum range of 4500 yards. Three different types of optical sights of various powers (4-, 5-, and 6-power) enhanced the accuracy and effectiveness of this weapon. Whenever opportunity was presented the Japanese carefully located and concealed their heavy machine guns and the support positions for these guns, established fire lanes and precise target areas, and registered the fire of these weapons. A Juki in a prepared position and manned by a competent crew was a deadly weapon and a formidable obstacle for any attacking troops.