historicalfirearms:Benét-MerciéAutomatic Machine Rifle Model 1909Laurence Benét and Henri Mercié des
historicalfirearms:Benét-MerciéAutomatic Machine Rifle Model 1909Laurence Benét and Henri Mercié designed their light machine gun in the early 1900s while working for Hotchkiss et Cie. A number of nations adopted it in various forms including France, Belgium, the US and Britain. Known by a number of names including the Hotchkiss Portative, the Hotchkiss Mk1 and in the US as the automatic machine rifle, Model of 1909. Noteably, the Hotchkiss Portative was the first light machine gun to be adopted by the US military The Benét-Mercié or Hotchkiss light machine gun was a gas-operated, air-cooled, select fire weapon that fired from an open bolt. Weighing 12kg (26.5lb) it was one of the period’s lighter machine guns, with most of the weapon’s weight in its working parts.670 Model 1909 automatic machine rifles were made by Colt and Springfield Armory - making up a substantial part of the US military’s machine gun inventory when it entered the First World War in 1917. These American-made guns would later suffer issues with broken extractors and firing pins while on active service. These breakages necessitated the disassembly of the gun to get the weapon back in action - not ideal in combat.US troops with an M1909 (source)The weapon used a long-stroke gas system and locked using a cam actuated interrupted-thread with a fermeture/closing nut rather than the bolt rotating to lock and unlock the breech. The Hotchkiss was air cooled with the Model 1909′s manual explaining that “the barrel should be cooled by means of the cooling sponge after about 300 rounds of continuous firing. The rifle may be fired for1,000 rounds without cooling, without serious injury to the barrel but this should be avoided as far as possible.”Excellent animated video from vbbsmyt showing how the Hotchkiss Mk1 worked (source)The weapon fed from metal feed strips or belts made up of 3-round strips linked together. The strips were fed into the gun by a spring tensioned, feed arm which was cammed by the bolt carrier. The charging handle was located dirrectly behind the reciever, combining a selector lever. To cock the Hotchkiss the bolt handle was moved to the 12 o’clock position and pulled to the rear and then set to the desired mode of fire: semi or fully automatic. The position of the charging handle made the weapon distinctly unergonomic, precluding a decent cheek weld for the gunner.The US adopted the weapon because of its light weight and ease of transport, however, complaints were made about keeping the weapon on target during automatic fire. The 1912 manual suggests firing no more than 10 to 15 rounds before re-sighting the gun. Depending on the nation’s preference the Hotchkiss was issued with either a small but robust tripod (the British MkI) or a height adjustable bipod (M1909). The M1909′s pack mule system (source)The Hotchkiss Portative’s relatively light weight for a machine gun of the period,12kg (26.5lb), meant it was adopted by a number of mounted units. Both the British and US cavalry adopted the Portative. The US Model 1909 was later replaced by a specially modified Browning Automatic Rifle, the M1922 Cavalry Machine Rifle. The M1909 first active service during the 1913 US occupation of Veracruz.The US Model 1909 could also mount the M1908 telescopic sight which could aid shooting out to 2,000 yards. There was also a standard ladder sight fixed to the rear of the receiver while in the British Mk1 version a tangent sight was fitted further forward next to the feed strip assembly.The M1909 gained somewhat of a bad reputation when it was reported that a number of guns failed during Pancho Villa’s 1916 raid on the US-Mexican border town of Columbus. As a result of this failure the guns were nicknamed the ‘daylight gun’ as it could only be operated or repaired in daylight. However, at least one M1909 played an important role in the defence of Columbus when Lt. John P. Lucas, commander of the 13th cavalry’s machine gun troop, managed to get one of his guns into action and mount a defence. US M1909 team in action with assistant gunner at the ready with another feed strip (source)Major Julian Hatcher of the US Army Ordnance Department investigated the issues and found that lack of training was the cause of many of the issues - with a key problem being panicked troops inserting the feed strips in upside down or incorrectly causing jams. Hatcher noted that contrary to the myth that grew up “at least two of the four guns were always in action” and that the assumption the M1909s jammed “was false, for the machine guns were a decisive factor in saving the town… they fired nearly 20,000 rounds” during the raid.The M1909 went on to see action during the US’ punitive expedition into Mexico again Villa and in the early stages of America’s involvement in World War One -although these are likely to have been relegated to training as most US units were issued British or French weapons, depending on the sector they were deployed to. By 1918, the M1909 had been supplanted by the M1915 Colt-Vickers, and John Browning’s M1917 and M1918 BAR in US inventory. Sources:Images: 1 2-5 Handbook of the Automatic Machine Rifle, caliber .30, Model of 1909, US Army, (source)Hatcher’s Notebook, J.S. Hatcher (1962)1909 Benet-Mercie Machine Rifle: The Daylight Gun’, American Rifleman, B. Canfield (source)US Automatic Machine Rifle Model of 1909, Small Arms Defense Journal, R.G. Segel (source)If you enjoy the content please consider supporting Historical Firearms through Patreon! -- source link