Machine guns introduction
Austria
 Schwarzlose M07 M07/12
 Steyr-Solothurn MG 30
 Steyr AUG /Hbar
Belgium
 FN Model D
 FN Minimi
 FN MAG
 FN BRG-15
China, People's Republic
 Type 67 GPMG
 Type 88 GPMG
 Type 95 LMG
 Type 77 HMG
 Type 85 HMG
 W-85 HMG
 Type 89 HMG
 Type 02 / QJG 02 HMG
Czech Republic
 ZB 26
 ZB 53 / Vz.37
 ZB 60 new
 Vz.52, Vz.52/57 upd
 UK Vz.59 upd
Denmark
 Madsen LMG
 Madsen-Saetter
Finland
 L/S-26
 Valmet KvKK 62
France
 Chauchat CSRG M1915
 Hotchkiss Portative
 Hotchkiss M1914
 Hotchkiss M1922 LMG
 Hotchkiss M1930 HMG
 MAC M1924/29
 AAT Mod.52
Germany
 MG 08, MG 08/15, MG 08/18
 MG 13
 MG 34
 MG 35/36 Knorr-Bremse
 MG 42 and MG 3
 HK 21 and 23
 HK MG 4
Great Britain
 Vickers Mk.I
 Hotchkiss Portable Mk.I
 Lewis
 Vickers-Berthier
 Bren
 L86A1 SA-80 LSW
Israel
 Dror
 Negev
Italy
 Fiat-Revelli M1914 M1935
 Breda M1930
 Breda M1937
Japan
 Type 03 & Type 92
 Type 11
 Type 96 & Type 99
 Type 62
Mexico
 Mendoza
Russia / USSR
 Maxim M1910/30
 Degtyarov DP DPM RP-46
 Degtyarov DS-39
 Degtyarov RPD
 Kalashnikov RPK
 Kalashnikov RPK-74
 Gorjunov SG-43 SGM
 Kalashnikov PK / PKM
 Pecheneg
 DShK DShKM 12.7
 NSV 12.7 'Utes'
 Kord 12.7
 KPV 14.5
Singapore
 STK Ultimax 100
 CIS .50 MG
South Africa
 Vector SS-77 / Mini-SS
South Korea
 Daewoo K3
Spain
 CETME Ameli
Sweden
 Knorr-Bremse m/40
Switzerland
 W+F Lmg 25
 SIG KE-7
 Steyr-Solothurn MG 30
 SIG MG 50
 W+F MG 51
 SIG MG 710
USA
 Benet-Mercie M1909
 Lewis
 Browning M1917 M1919
 Browning M1918 BAR
 Johnson M1941 M1944
 M60
 M16 LSW / LMG
 M134 Minigun
 XM214 Microgun
 Stoner 63
 M249 SAW
 M240
 Mk.48 mod.0
 Browning M2HB .50 cal
 XM312 .50 cal
 LW50MG

 Gatling, Minigun, Vulcan

all texts and some pictures
copyright © 1999-2009
by Max R. Popenker
and can not be used without author permission

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Lewis light machine gun (USA - Great Britain)

British-made Lewis light machine gun, caliber .303, left side

Dutch-made Lewis M1940 light machine gun, caliber 6.5x53R, with 97-round magazine

Japanese-made Lewis Type 92 light machine gun, caliber 7.7x57SR

Diagram of the Lewis machine gun action

Caliber	.303 (7.7x57R), .30-06 (7.62x63) and others
Weight	11.8 kg
Length	1283 mm
Barrel length	666 mm
Feed	pan magazine, 47 or 97-rounds
Rate of fire	550 rounds per minute

The Lewis light machine gun was designed in USA by Col. Isaac N. Lewis, based on earlier machine gun by Dr. Samuel McLean, but found no takers because of personal opposition from US Army’s Chief of ordnance. Trying to sell the gun overseas, US-based Automatic Arms Co, which held patents for Lewis guns, established a subsidiary company in Belgium, know as Armes Automatiques Lewis SA. However, it was a pure marketing agent, and production contracts for first “European” Lewis LMG were placed in 1913 with British Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) company. First batch of 50 BSA-made Lewis guns was completed by mid-1913, in as much as seven different calibers, with obvious goal of marketing these guns across Europe. When war broke, BSA received orders for Lewis guns, and by the end of the war delivered well over 15 thousands of Lewis guns. In USA, Lewis machine guns were built in .30-06 caliber, mostly for US Army Air Corps and for US Marine corps. The Lewis gun also saw extensive use as an aircraft machine gun during WW1 and in following decade.
Lewis light machine gun became most famous in British use and manufacture; it was widely used by British troops during WW1 and afterwards. During WW1 it was also supplied to Imperial Russia. During WW2, many infantry Lewis guns were recalled from reserve stores and issued to British Home Guard units. Furthermore, in the view of possible German invasion in 1940-41, many former aircraft Lewis guns, of both British and US origin, were converted for ground use and also issued to Home Guard. It must be noted that ex-aircraft Lewis guns, supplied from USA through Lend-lease program, were chambered for .30-06 US Service ammunition; when converted to ground use in UK, these guns retained its chambering and were marked with red stripes to distinguish its non-standard chambering.
Lewis machine guns were also manufactured under license in Japan (as Type 92, for Naval infantry and aerial use) and in the Netherlands.

Lewis light machine gun is a gas operated, air cooled, full automatic only weapon that fires from open bolt. It has a non-removable barrel with aluminum radiator, enclosed into tubular barrel jacket of relatively large diameter; jacket was opened from both front and rear. When gun was fired, the muzzle blast caused the air to flow inside the jacket from rear to front, providing forced air cooling for a relatively light barrel. In aircraft versions the jacket and radiator usually were discarded to save weight.
The basic action used a rotary bolt with four radial lugs, located at the rear of the bolt; lugs locked into the recesses in receiver walls. Bolt was operated by a vertical stud, which entered a helical cut made in the bolt body. This stud was installed on the gas piston rod, which runs below the barrel. Gas block was located near the muzzle, and was concealed within the barrel jacket. One unusual design feature of the Lewis gun was the return spring. It was a spiral, clock-type spring which operated a gear wheel, located in the semi-circular hump below the receiver. The gear wheel co-operated with a teethed rack, machined on the underside of the gas piston rod, so the return spring was wound upon recoil cycle (under the power of powder gases), and then unwound itself on closing movement of the bolt group. The firing pin was fixed to the vertical stud on the gas piston rod.
The feed system of the Lewis gun was also somewhat unusual, as its flat pan magazine, which held rounds in two layers, had no spring to feed cartridges into the gun. Instead, the magazine was powered by the gun itself, via special feed operating arm with two pawls, which engaged stamped ribs, made on the outside of the magazine cover. The feed arm oscillated in horizontal plane, being operated by the vertical stud located at the rear of the bolt. With each cycle of the bolt group, magazine was rotated by one step to feed next cartridge into the ready position. For aerial combat, four-layered magazines with bigger capacity were produced.
Standard furniture for Lewis light machine gun included a wooden pistol grip and a wooden buttstock, and a folding, detachable bipod. Optional carrying handle could be installed near the center of gravity of the gun, that is, at the rear of the barrel jacket.
Guns, converted from aerial to ground use often lacked the barrel jacket and radiator; a light bipod was attached to the mounting, originally used to install the gun in aircraft turrets. Additionally, a skeleton buttstock was pinned to the rear spade grip and a simple rear sight set to 400 yards
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