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Colt Machine Gun The CEF went to France originally equipped with American made Colt machine guns, issued four per infantry battalion. This weapon was the first successful gas operated machine gun, with the action driven by an arm hinged beneath the barrel - when firing the weapon close to the ground, this arm would make contact with the earth, hence the nickname in American service of "Potato Digger." Operated from the tripod, however, the weapon operated satisfactorily, though British ammunition was prone to jamming, as it was in the Ross rifle. The weapon's genesis came in 1889 when John Moses Browning (the son of a gunsmith and prolific designer of small arms) observed the effect of effect of muzzle blast on nearby foliage whilst duck hunting, and rightly assumed that he could use this energy to operate an automatic weapon. The gun was air-cooled and fired a .30 calibre round. They were phased out in 1916 and 1917 in favour of the Lewis Gun.
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[weapons/include_lightweapons.htm] |