.303 Hotchkiss Mk I LMG

Hi Rod,

Hope you don't mind: One of the pictures wasn't coming up properly so I changed it so it would.

Great set-up and magnificent work on the stock.

Rich

Thanks guys! Tom, I need one of the case extractors, a 9 round strip, a 50 round tank belt, and the bronze hopper for the strip loader. ;D That should keep you amused for a while! Thanks Richard for sorting the photo. I couldn't figure why it didn't come up.

Hi Guys

Today I did a foreign weapons demo and familiarisation course for a Company of our soldiers who will be doing their first rotation to Afghanistan shortly. I had about 14 assorted guns there from the Skorpion machine pistol up to the .303 Vickers MG and I thought the occasion would be a good opportunity to try out my Hotchkiss for the first time ;D. Ergonomicaly it is not a nice gun to use in that it is difficult to cock and load and still keep it standing on its silly little tripod (I feel that the old type of spindly bipod that they were originally issued with would be better). I fired the first few rounds on semi-auto to get the feel of it and it was very similar feel to the Bren, despite the long and fairly heavy trigger pull. On full auto it was very controllable and I fired several 5-6 round bursts, also very similar to the Bren. My only concerns are with the sheer 'awkwidity' of the gun, its weight, and the loading procedure. Operationally it went well and reliably. All in all an interesting day! I may have a photo or two to post in a day or so.

Good Lord, is that what they called a "portative"?

I have the remains of the loading tool at left. Any chance of clear pictures to see if I can fab or locate some parts?

I would say you jammy git, but I know how much effort you put into this lark!

That shiny new butt did need a few dings and scratches from use ;-{D)

ATB

TomTom

I was at a Gun Show in Reno today and saw Mk1 for sale ! I believe it was a Mk 1 but I was not able to look very closely at it. Had the tripod and a spare barrel and some "extras" (chap did not say what) and was fully transferable. Chap said it was a hoot to fire and did come with some ammo and strips.

He had it up for $14,000 plus transfer tax($200).

One thing I saw was marked on the feed block, "Strip or Belts". Do they mean linking the strips together for longer lengths of fire? Or was there a separate belt of some type?

Chuckm
Carson City
Nevada