Heavy MGs
ABC’s of Machine Guns
Here’s another neat manual – A.B.C du Mitrailleu – the ABCs of Machine Guns. This was published in 1917 (the fifth edition, anyway) in French, and does a nice job showing all the most useful […]
St Etienne
Light MGs
Bayonet Bipod
So last Friday, we posted a copy of an old World War I French machine gun booklet. Not anything particularly exotic – it was only talking about the main machine guns that were in common […]
Vintage photo
Vintage Saturday: French AA Gunners with a 1907 St Etienne
I don’t think that’s a standard-issue tripod – more like something built for an 8-foot-tall surveyor. Also, note the feed strip box on the ground below the gunner.
Light MGs
French 1923 LMG Trials Report
In 1923, the French military held a light machine gun trial to choose a weapon to replace the CSRG Chauchat. The trials involved weapons evaluations both by an expert committee and by 9 regiments testing […]
Book review
Book Review: Proud Promise, by Jean Huon
We’ve all heard the jokes about French guns – never fired and only dropped once. It’s a shame that they developed that type of stereotypical reputation here in the US, because the French were actually […]
Vintage photo