.303 Hotchkiss Mk I LMG

[woodsy]

Here are a few photos of my Hotchkiss. When obtained, it was in the Mk I* configuration with the tank grip and skeleton stock. I already had a spare trigger guard so, thanks to Tom and his drawings from the Pattern Room library, I have made a walnut stock to the original specs, including the shoulder strap assembly. Thsi is now a nice example of the type of gun used by the NZ Mounted Rifles and the Australian Light Horse in the Sinai and Palestine campaign of 1916 & 17. The saddle bucket has had some restoration work as well but is an ex Aussie example (D D stamped)from Ebay, thanks to Tom's eagle eye! I picked up the spare barrel and other leather bits in NZ, and the other accessories came from the UK.

[tom]

Absolutely magnificent!

I'm glad I got rid of my Hotch', that lot would make it look sick!

I haven't got one but are you short of the case extracting tool that goes in the loop on the bandoleer in case we see an example in our travels?

ATB

Tom

[Richard Fisher]

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

[Kev]

Thats a handsome Hotchkiss display Rod......great stuff !

Kevin

[woodsy]

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.

[tom]

Will keep a look out unless anyone has one spare on the forum?

Have you got the brass barrel moutnted AFV trunion thingy? Think I saw one recently in a box of odds and sods..


ATB

Tom

[woodsy]

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.

[Kev]

Look forward to the pictures.

Sounds like a very interesting demo

ATB Kevin

[leeenfield]

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?

[woodsy]

Here are a couple of pictures of me shooting the Hotchkiss 'Portative' last week. ;D

[tom]

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

[Kev]

oooooooooooooooooooooh

[chuckm]

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

[chuckm]

Brain fade,,,,,,,,,It was in .303 Cal.

Chuckm

[woodsy]

During WW1 the British also used the .303 Hotchkiss in tanks and it was slightly modified in the feed system to use both conventional strips as well as the newly developed 'belts' and became known as the Mk 1*. The belts were actually very short strips (3 round?) linked together to make a flexible 50 round belt. I have unfortunately never seen a belt but would love to get one for my collection! ;D