us 30.06 caliber military weapons

58 The Small Arms Review • Vol. 10 No. 1 • October, 2006

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U.S. Service Weapons Using .30-06by Robert G. Segel, Frank Iannamico & Dan Shea

The U.S. M1903 Rifle was designed andadopted to replace the Krag-Jorgensen rifleand its .30-40 cartridge. Adopted on June

19, 1903, the M1903 Riflewas chambered for theModel of 1903, .30 Govern-ment Cartridge (.30-03),which had a 220-grainround-nose projectile. TheModel of 1903 Rifle was

only in service a short period of time before some changes were made. One of the most prominent up-grades was the rechambering for the improved Model of 1906 cartridge, which had a lighter, spitzer-type projectile and an improved powder. A newly designed M1905 rear sight was also added. The rifles were manufactured bySpringfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal from 1903 until 1914. Production was quickly resumed during 1917 with the U.S.entry into World War I.

The M1903 Rifle in .30-06 caliber remained the standard service weapon of the U.S. until the adoption of the M1 Rifle in 1936.During World War II, production of the M1 Garand was not able to keep up with the wartime demand. Thus, Remington Arms wasawarded a contract to resume manufacture of the M1903 Rifle. During production, there were many new features implemented intothe original design of the ’03 rifle to speed up production. These rifles were designated as the M1903 (Modified). Subsequently,more improvements were made resulting in the M1903-A3 model, which was adopted on May 21, 1942. The 03-A3 had manystamped parts, a new receiver mounted aperture rear sight and a longer hand guard. The L.C. Smith & Corona Company wasawarded a contract in February of 1942 to supplement production. The M1903 and its variants remained in service until declaredobsolete on July 24, 1947.

U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30 Model of 1903

The U.S. Maxim Model of 1904 was the first rifle caliber heavy machine gun approved for use as the standard service type by theU.S. Army in 1904. The Army was interested in the Maxim as early as 1887 and procured examples of the “World Standard” MaximModel 1889 and Model 1900 for evaluation. After sporadic testing, the Chief of Ordnance finally gave approval for adoption in1904. The first order for 50 guns and tripods were manufac-tured by Vickers, Sons & Maxim (VSM) in England in theU.S. caliber .30-03.

The Ordnance Department wanted the gun to be made inthe United States and enlisted Colt to manufacture the gun.Problems arose and it was several years before Colt couldbegin production. In the meantime, another forty guns wereordered from VSM. Colt finally began production in 1908.By 1908, the service cartridge had changed from the .30-03to the .30-06. The ninety guns produced by VSM were allconverted to the new service cartridge while all the Colt gunswere manufactured in .30-06. Colt produced 197 guns, andwith VSM’s 90 guns, total production of the Model of 1904was 287 guns. Colt never produced any tripods. All thetripods were made by VSM and wheeled carriage mountswere produced by Rock Island Arsenal.

The Model of 1904 saw a brief service life, quickly beingdeclared obsolete by 1915, yet was widely used and saw ser-vice in such distant outposts as the Philippines, Hawaii,Mexico, Central and South America. The gun never sawactive combat service, particularly in World War I, beingrelegated to training purposes.

U.S. Maxim Automatic Machine Gun,Caliber .30, Model of 1904

59The Small Arms Review • Vol. 10 No. 1 • October, 2006


U.S. Service Weapons Using .30-06

The Automatic Ma-chine Rifle Model of 1909is commonly referred to inthe U.S. as the “Benet-Mercie.” Laurence Benetwas an American engineerwho worked for theHotchkiss Company inParis, France. He, alongwith another Hotchkiss en-gineer named HenriMercie, collaborated to de-velop an air cooled, gasoperated, lightweight ma-chine gun based on theHotchkiss Model 1900heavy machine gun design.

The Model 1909 differed from heavy machine guns in that it weighed just 30 pounds and was fitted with a wooden stock with elevation gearand a bipod. It was mechanically modified as to how the breech closed and the feedway and feed mechanism were changed. The gun also hada barrel changing ability, unique at that time. The number of parts to the gun were reduced to just twenty five.

The French adopted the French made Hotchkiss gun in 8mm Lebel and the British adopted it in .303. in 1909 and was known on theContinent as the “Hotchkiss Portative.” That same year, the U.S. Army, after lengthy trials, adopted it as service issue as the Automatic MachineRifle Model of 1909 and ordered 29 guns from Hotchkiss. The Ordnance Department wanted the gun to be made in the U.S. The rights weresecured and Colt and the Springfield Armory were contracted to produce the American version in .30-06. Over the next several years, bothmanufacturers combined produced approximately 670 guns. The Model of 1909 was issued for service with the Model of 1908 Warner &Swasey telescopic musket sight, originally used for sharpshooter use with the Model 1903 Springfield rifle.

The Model of 1909 was issued to U.S. infantry and cavalry troops from 1909 to 1918 and saw limited tactical use in the landing at Vera Cruzin 1913, all along the Mexican border in 1916 and was used in the defense of Columbus, New Mexico against the sneak attack by Poncho Villain 1916. Though the British and French “Hotchkiss Portative” version was widely used in World War I, the U.S. “Benet-Mercie” was relegatedto training use. It was declared obsolete in 1918 and ultimately replaced by the far superior M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle.

U.S. Automatic Machine Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1909

Model 1914 Colt Automatic GunInvented and designed by John Browning, the Colt Model 1895 Automatic gun was the world’s first practical gas-actuated machine gun.

Using a gas-impingement system that operated against a lever that traveled downward and backward in a 170-degreearc underneath the gun, it affectionately became known as “The Potato Digger.” Colt manufactured the gun and wasextremely successful in selling the gun world wide in a variety of calibers. The U.S. Navy purchased fifty guns in1897 in 6mm Lee and another 150 guns in 1898. These guns were used assecondary armament on ships and with naval landing partiesand with the U.S. Marines. The gun was also used with somedegree of success in the Philippines, the Boxer Rebellion, Mexi-can border war and the Spanish-American War.

The U.S. Army ordered 100 guns for testing and training in .30-40 Krag. Upon therecommendation of a joint Army-Navy board of 1898 for standardizing arms and am-munition, the Navy rechambered their 6mm Lee to .30-40 Krag, and then they allwere changed to .30-03 and ultimately to .30-06. Though the Army, Navy andMarines all used the Colt Model 1895; only the Navy officially adopted theweapon. The Army just continued to buy it commercially as they deemednecessary eventually buying 2,800 guns during World War I. The “Model”designation was a name used by Colt and did not represent acceptance asissue by the Army.

In 1914, Colt modified the Model of 1895 by replacing the heavy, thick permanentbarrel with a finned barrel that was easily changeable and became the Model of 1914. Itwas this version and its variants that ultimately saw use in World War I by a number of Alliednations though relegated as secondary armament and training by the U.S. The gun was usedwith three types of tripods, basically differing only in height.




The U.S. began to realize how vastly under-armed in automatic weapons it was and starteda new series of tests in 1913 and field trials in1914. The new, improved version of the Maximgun, now called the Vickers, was the clear win-ner. The new British Vickers was redesignedinternally to maximize space within the receiverbox by inverting the toggle joint and lock, andthe overall weight of the gun was substantiallyreduced; all without sacrificing reliability. In1915, the Board of Ordnance unanimously ap-proved the type for the Army as the Model of1915 chambered for the .30-06 cartridge. Theyimmediately placed an order for 125 guns tobe made by Colt and in 1916 placed an addi-tional order for 4,000 even though the first or-der had not yet even been made. When the U.S.entered World War I in April, 1917, not a singleColt Vickers M1915 had been delivered due toproduction problems at Colt.

Colt made Vickers guns finally became available in late 1917. By mid 1918, Colt Vickers started to beshipped overseas. The first twelve divisions arriving in France were issued the French Hotchkiss Model of1914. The next ten divisions that sailed for France in May and June of 1918 were equipped with the ColtVickers. By August, 1918, thirteen divisions were using the Colt Vickers. In all, 12,125 Vickers Model of1915 ground guns were produced by Colt.

At the end of World War I, the remaining inventory of Colt Vickers were put into storage and held in reserve.They were ultimately sent to Great Britain under Lend-Lease to help guard against German invasion duringWorld War II, especially after the huge losses of equipment at Dunkirk, while British production fought torearm the British Army. After World War II, the U.S. did not want the guns returned and the British destroyedthe remaining inventory.

U.S. Vickers Machine Gun, Caliber .30, Model of 1915Colonel Isaac Lewis began development of the Lewis gun in 1910 based upon a

previous design by Samuel McClean. Lewis presented his gun for formal testing in1912 to the Ordnance Board, which included a “stunt” by firing the gun from anairplane - the first time a machine gun had ever been fired from an aircraft. TheOrdnance Board took a dim view of the “stunt” and during the rest of the trials tookparticular efforts to find fault with the gun and rejected it claiming it was no betterthan the already approved Model of 1909 Benet-Mercie.

Lewis then went to Europe where his gun was warmly received and went intoproduction in 1913 at Armes Automatiques Lewis in Liege, Belgium and at theBirmingham Small Arms (BSA) Company in Birmingham, England. Belgium wassoon overrun by Germany in 1914 and production continued at BSA who eventu-ally produced 145, 397 Lewis guns during World War I in the British .303 caliber.The gun was widely used to great effect throughout the war.

Savage Arms Company of Utica, New York began producing Lewis guns for aCanadian contract in .303 and the U.S. Army procured 350 guns (in .303) for use in1916 along the Mexican border. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army still harbored a grudgeagainst Lewis and his gun that dated back to 1912. The U.S. Navy, however, heldno such animosity and purchased 6,000 Lewis guns from Savage for the U.S. Marines chambered in .30-06 and it was designated as the Model of 1917. Upon arriving inFrance, the 5th Regiment of the Marines attached to the 2nd Division, who had been issued and trained with the Model of 1917, had their Lewis guns taken away and wereissued the French Hotchkiss M1914 and Chauchat M1915 machine guns. The American .30-06 Lewis guns were turned over to the Aviation Services. The Army in duecourse purchased 2,500 M1917 Lewis guns but they relegated them to U.S. training. U.S. Model of 1917 Lewis guns saw little or no infantry combat during the war. Afterthe war, the Army discarded the Lewis gun though the Navy and Marine Corps kept it in their inventory until the 1930s.

U.S. Browning Machine Gun, Caliber .30, Model of 1917John Browning continued to experiment with different machine gun designs after the introduction of his first machine gun,

the Model of 1895 Automatic Gun. He developed a short-recoil, water-cooled gun in 1900 and pat-ented it in 1901. There was no government interest in this prototype and he ceased work on it until1910 when he made further modifications and improvements to it. Again, there was no governmentalinterest in the gun.

As the U.S. was being drawn into World War I, the Ordnance Board urgently requested designsfor new machine guns. Browning took his heavy water-cooled ma-chine gun along with his new Browning Automatic Rifle to be tested inFebruary, 1917. Both guns tested exceptionally well and the BAR wasordered immediately. As war broke out, another official test occurredin May, 1917. The genius of John Browning shone through with the

simplicity of design, reliability and ease of maintenance. Browning’s heavymachine gun was adopted as the Model of 1917 chambered for the .30-06 service cartridge and ordered

into production with contracts being awarded to New England Westinghouse, Remington and Colt.30,089 M1917 Brownings were sent to France before the war ended with 1,168 guns actuallybeing used in the front lines. The first instance of combat usage was in September, 1918 in the

battle of the Meuse-Argonne, where, in wet and muddy conditions, the new Browning gunsperformed exceptionally well with one company firing 10,000 rounds per gun.

The Browning M1917 was to replace the variety of machine guns in American use (British Mk I Vickers, U.S. Vickers Model of 1915 andFrench Hotchkiss Model of 1914) but the war ended two months later so the Browning actually saw limited use. Yet, Browning’s design was so brilliant that theM1917 and its subsequent variants soldiered on in the U.S. inventory for another fifty years.




Colonel Isaac Lewis began development of the Lewis gun in 1910 based upon aprevious design by Samuel McClean. Lewis presented his gun for formal testing in1912 to the Ordnance Board, which included a “stunt” by firing the gun from anairplane - the first time a machine gun had ever been fired from an aircraft. TheOrdnance Board took a dim view of the “stunt” and during the rest of the trials tookparticular efforts to find fault with the gun and rejected it claiming it was no betterthan the already approved Model of 1909 Benet-Mercie.

Lewis then went to Europe where his gun was warmly received and went intoproduction in 1913 at Armes Automatiques Lewis in Liege, Belgium and at theBirmingham Small Arms (BSA) Company in Birmingham, England. Belgium wassoon overrun by Germany in 1914 and production continued at BSA who eventu-ally produced 145, 397 Lewis guns during World War I in the British .303 caliber.The gun was widely used to great effect throughout the war.

Savage Arms Company of Utica, New York began producing Lewis guns for aCanadian contract in .303 and the U.S. Army procured 350 guns (in .303) for use in1916 along the Mexican border. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army still harbored a grudgeagainst Lewis and his gun that dated back to 1912. The U.S. Navy, however, heldno such animosity and purchased 6,000 Lewis guns from Savage for the U.S. Marines chambered in .30-06 and it was designated as the Model of 1917. Upon arriving inFrance, the 5th Regiment of the Marines attached to the 2nd Division, who had been issued and trained with the Model of 1917, had their Lewis guns taken away and wereissued the French Hotchkiss M1914 and Chauchat M1915 machine guns. The American .30-06 Lewis guns were turned over to the Aviation Services. The Army in duecourse purchased 2,500 M1917 Lewis guns but they relegated them to U.S. training. U.S. Model of 1917 Lewis guns saw little or no infantry combat during the war. Afterthe war, the Army discarded the Lewis gun though the Navy and Marine Corps kept it in their inventory until the 1930s.

U.S. Lewis Machine Gun, Caliber .30, Model of 1917

John Browning continued to experiment with different machine gun designs after the introduction of his first machine gun,the Model of 1895 Automatic Gun. He developed a short-recoil, water-cooled gun in 1900 and pat-ented it in 1901. There was no government interest in this prototype and he ceased work on it until1910 when he made further modifications and improvements to it. Again, there was no governmental

As the U.S. was being drawn into World War I, the Ordnance Board urgently requested designsfor new machine guns. Browning took his heavy water-cooled ma-chine gun along with his new Browning Automatic Rifle to be tested inFebruary, 1917. Both guns tested exceptionally well and the BAR wasordered immediately. As war broke out, another official test occurredin May, 1917. The genius of John Browning shone through with the

simplicity of design, reliability and ease of maintenance. Browning’s heavymachine gun was adopted as the Model of 1917 chambered for the .30-06 service cartridge and ordered

into production with contracts being awarded to New England Westinghouse, Remington and Colt.30,089 M1917 Brownings were sent to France before the war ended with 1,168 guns actuallybeing used in the front lines. The first instance of combat usage was in September, 1918 in the

battle of the Meuse-Argonne, where, in wet and muddy conditions, the new Browning gunsperformed exceptionally well with one company firing 10,000 rounds per gun.

The Browning M1917 was to replace the variety of machine guns in American use (British Mk I Vickers, U.S. Vickers Model of 1915 andFrench Hotchkiss Model of 1914) but the war ended two months later so the Browning actually saw limited use. Yet, Browning’s design was so brilliant that the

As World War I heated up, orders for the Colt M1914 increased aswell. Colt entered into an agreement with Marlin Arms Company onmanufacturing the M1914. Marlin’s designer, Carl Swebilius, workedout an improvement to the operating system that changed Browning’soriginal “Gas Hammer” style lever action to a straight piston arrange-ment. The Marlin guns, with the exception of a small run of M1917trainers, were no longer “Diggers,” the piston in tube arrangement ranalong the bottom of the barrel and applied the energy to the bolt system.

This change made Browning’s system easier to adapt into aircraft and vehicles; thus, the M1917 and M1918 MarlinAircraft Machine Gun designations, and the M1917 Marlin Tank Machine Gun designation. Unfortunately, changing toa straight line piston changed the impulse time and energy, and the early guns had trouble in extraction tearing case rims.Adjustments were made to the design, but not before negative publicity occurred. Marlin had taken the position that theammunition the Army had did not have strong enough cases and the Army said that the Marlin guns had to work withammunition that was fielded. In the end, the Marlin M1917 type guns were relegated to aircraft use where there was morecontrol on ammunition quality. Some of the Marlin guns had aluminum radiators on the barrels similar to the LewisM1917, but most had a bare barrel.

The Marlin M1917 and M1918 machine guns did see combat in U.S. use. During World War II, may were shipped toEngland for their naval defense.

There were an additional 2,816 of the Marlin Model 1917 that are virtually identical to the Model of 1914 “PotatoDigger” made by Colt. These were for training in the U.S. Army, and the main difference was in the location of the beltfeed opening.

Marlin Machine Gun Model of 1917/18




The U.S M1917 riflewas originally produced asthe Pattern 14, .303 caliber“Enfield” for the British.Prior to the U.S. entry intoWorld War I, the Britishnegotiated several con-tracts with the U.S. firmsof Remington, Winchesterand Eddystone (a Reming-

ton subsidiary), to produce the P14. Collectively, 1.2 million of the Pattern 14 rifles were made from 1916 to 1917.Upon the United States’ entry into World War I, the U.S. Army faced a service rifle shortage. With the British contracts completed,

instead of having the companies retool for the M1903 rifle, the War Department decided to make a few design changes and rechamberthe P14 to the U.S. M1906 rimless .30-06 round and the new rifle was ready for production. The U.S. M1917 rifle was officiallyadopted in April 1917. There were over 2.4 million manufactured from 1917 to 1919 at a cost of $26.00 per weapon.

When World War I ended, the M1917 rifles were prudently placed into storage, after having been rebuilt by various U.S. arsenals.When World War II broke out in Europe, the U.S. and her Allies again faced critical shortages of small arms. The M1917 rifles werepulled from storage and issued to rear echelon soldiers and for training. After the war in October, 1945, the U.S. Army declared theM1917 rifle obsolete. While the U.S. M1917 rifle was more utilitarian then glamorous, it did everything it was intended to do.

U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, Model of 1917

As the U.S. was being drawn into the First World War, the Ordnance Board met in May, 1917 to consider for adoption designs forlight machine guns and automatic rifles. John Browning had been previously working on a gas-operated, magazine fed, true auto-matic rifle design and submitted it to the board. It was unanimously accepted by the Ordnance Board and requested that productionbegin immediately at Colt who had secured the rights. However, Colt was already at peak production and requested approval fromthe Board for delay in production while they built a new facility in Meriden, Connecticut. Due to the immediate need, the requestwas denied and the lead manufacturer became the Winchester Company.

The initial contract with Winchester called for 25,000 BARs. They were in full production by June, 1918 delivering 4,000 gunsand in July were turning out 9,000 BARs. Colt and Marlin-Rockwell also began production shortly after Winchester got into fullproduction.

By July of 1918, the BAR began to arrive in France and the first unit to receive them was the U.S. Army’s 79th Division and theyimmediately exchanged their woefully inadequate French M1915 Chauchat machine rifles with the new BAR and began training. Inthe September 1918 battle of the Meuse-Argonne, the BAR was used extensively. World War I only lasted another two monthsbefore ending in November, 1918. Thus, while the BAR was the state-of the-art weapon, it saw limited combat service. Neverthe-less, the M1918 BAR was such a fine weapon that it remained as the standard U.S. service automatic rifle after the war andproduction continued after the war. Of the total 102,125 M1918 BARs produced, Winchester made 47,123, Marlin-Rockwell39,002 and Colt 16,000.

U.S. Browning Automatic Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1918




The U.S. was ill-equipped when it enteredWorld War I in 1917 and was particularly lack-ing in automatic weapons. With less than1,100 automatic weapons in inventory, con-sisting of four types in two different calibers,these guns were needed in the U.S. for train-ing the new army. When U.S. divisions ar-rived in France, they had no automatic weap-ons.

The French, at war since 1914, had an armsindustry in full force. Thus, U.S. troops ineighteen divisions were issued the FrenchModel 1914 Hotchkiss heavy machine gunand the Model 1915 Chauchat automatic rifle:both chambered in 8mm Lebel. The Frenchquickly developed the Chauchat to fill the immediate wartime need of France and consisted of fabricated steel tubing of standard sizes andstampings. The only parts requiring extensive machining were the barrel and bolt. The long-recoil operation, cheap materials, unorthodoxenclosed design and hurried production produced a gun that had poor reliability and worse accuracy. But, it was all that was available.

To help alleviate a two-cartridge supply nightmare, the U.S. asked the French manufacturer, C.S.R.G., to produce the gun in .30-06. Goodidea, bad execution. The gun was simple in its design and conversion was easy: change the barrel, replace the semicircular magazine with adetachable box magazine, change the angle of the bipod and change the graduations on the rear sight. However, the already poor reliability ofthe gun went from bad to worse.

The more powerful, straight cased, rimless .30-06 cartridge was very difficult to extract. With its violent action, the M1918 Chauchat torethe cartridges instead of extracting them and the more powerful .30-06 caused major stress on all the working parts causing failures. Addition-ally, the gun heated up very quickly causing the action to freeze until it had cooled. Due to the enclosed design, clearing stoppages and jams wasalmost impossible. The gun, in a single word, was awful.

The U.S. nevertheless quickly adopted it as the Chauchat Model of 1918 and bought and paid for 25,000; taking delivery of 19,241. Thereis no record of M1918s being used in combat and were relegated to training use. They were so bad, that immediately after the war, the U.S.ordered them to be destroyed.

In the rush to supply American troops in World War I, deficiencies in design and manufacturing methods of the Model of 1917 manifesteditself quickly in operational use. Many of the problems stemmed from the lack of, or improper heat treating of, key internal parts that includedthe bolt, barrel extension, accelerator, firing pin, trigger and extractor. Inaccurate manufacturing tolerances also contributed to leaking waterjackets at the muzzle cap. The most severe problem was due to the pounding of the breech lock on the breech lock cam causing cracks in thereceiver side and bottom plates.

As early as 1919, steps were taken to remedy these problems; the most obvious being welding or riveting a “U” stirrup under the bottom plateand extending up each side of the receiver to strengthen the receiver box. Aprogram was initiated by Rock Island Arsenal in 1936 to covert all Model of1917 guns with upgrades. Changes included a large, new-manufactured re-inforced bottom plate that extended up the sides of the receiver and riveted inplace, a new belt feed lever, an improved top cover latch that also incorpo-rated a hold open feature and a new rear sight graduated in yards for the M1ball cartridge (original Model of 1917 sights were in meters). This improvedversion of the Model of 1917 was designated as the M1917A1. (The “Modelof” designation for U.S. arms was dropped in 1939 and replaced with theletter “M”.)

During World War II, more changes occurred to the M1917A1 that in-cluded an improved bolt, the bronze end cap and trunnion replaced by steel,the steam tube assembly was strengthened and the rear leaf sight graduatedfor the now standard M2 ball cartridge. While almost all Model of 1917swere ultimately converted to the A1 specifications, production resumed from1936 to 1945 with 55,859 M1917A1s being produced by Rock Island Arse-nal.

The M1917A1 was used extensively in both theaters of operation duringWorld War II and continued service throughout the Korean War and the be-ginning stages of Vietnam.

Browning Machine Gun, Caliber .30, M1917A1

U.S. Chauchat Automatic Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1918




During the interwar pe-riod, many attempts weremade to improve on theM1918 BAR. TheM1918A1 and the M1922were made in very smallquantity, with the basicaddition of a bipod beingthe most obvious change. In 1938-39, serious work was begun on whatbecame the Browning Automatic Rifle, Model of 1918A2. The initialexperiments with the bipod were expanded upon, and the bipod place-ment was moved to the front of the barrel utilizing a new flash hider tosecure it. The bipod allowed full rotation of the barrel, which made upsomewhat for the loss of traverse due to the forward location.

A second addition was that of a pistol grip which extends slightly below the trigger. The method of firing was changed from selectfire, (semiautomatic and fully automatic) in the Model of 1918, to dual rate of fire in the Model of 1918A2. This rate reducingmechanism was initially based on the Belgian FN-D BAR trigger group but was later adapted to a US design. Magazine guides werealso added to the front of the trigger guard. The fore end was shortened and a heat shield was added, all to help the cooling process.There was a hinged buttplate to add support from the operator’s shoulder, and the new buttstock design allowed for a monopod stockrest.

Production of the M1918A2 was initially performed by upgrading M1918 and M1918A1 BARs. M1918A2 new manufacturingwas started in January of 1943. The M1918A2 BAR served in the US military forces throughout World War II, Korea, and well intothe Vietnam War. M1918A2s are still seen in various inventories around the world, obsolete though they are.

U.S. Browning Automatic Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1918A2

The success of John Browning’s designs is evident in the proliferation of Browning machine guns used by U.S. and other forcesaround the world. The end of World War I and the advent of more mobile military forces led firearms designers to confront newproblems of portability, and the use of tanks and aircraft compounded this. Browning’s basic design for the M1917 series hadmorphed from water-cooled to air-cooled as early as 1918, and the first models of 1919 Browning machine guns were basically foraircraft use.

The most prolific of the air-cooled Browning machine guns in rifle caliber was the M1919A4. This final variant was designed aseither a flexible mount unit for tank use, or for mounting on the M2 tripod with traverse & elevation mechanism and pintle. Produc-tion began with the adoption of the M1919A4 in 1935. At that time, all M1919A2 and other earlier variants were started onto arebuild program to have the longer 24 inch heavy barrel as well as other modifications. By 1939 the elongated slots in the barreljacket were changed to the quickly recognizable pattern of 5/8 inch diameter holes.

The M1919A4 served well into the Vietnam War for U.S. forces and is still in use today in various armies around the world,primarily in South and Central America and Africa, although most have been replaced with more modern weapons. The M1919A4

was fieldedin .30-06,but it hasbeen issuedto variousarmies in8 m mM a u s e r ,7 . 6 2 x 5 1NATO, 7.65Argentine,and others.





The Browning M1919A6 wasconceived as a stop-gap measure tofill a void between the M1919A4and the BAR. The BAR, while rela-tively light and portable, did nothave the capability of sustained fire-power. The M1919A4, while per-fectly adequate, lacked the abilityto be quickly set up and employedand still required the use of a tripodfor stability.

The Infantry Board in 1942 in-vestigated many light machine guns of the time, including the German MG42. While a number of designs were submitted, wartimeshortages, production constraints and immediate need precluded the design and production of a superior weapon versus modifyinga current production weapon to fill the need. (A bird in hand is better than two in the bush.) Reminiscent of Germany’s decision inWorld War I to develop a light machine gun from an already existing production gun (the MG08/15 from the MG08), the InfantryBoard decided to make modifications to the Browning M1919A4 machine gun.

Beginning in 1943, the gun was standardized as the M1919A6 and featured a removable shoulder stock, a lighter barrel with adifferent barrel bushing to accommodate a bipod and was fitted with a carrying handle. The gun weighed 12.5 pounds lighter thanthe M1919A4 mounted on its M2 tripod, and was easily transportable and set up by one man. Other than these relatively minormodifications, the gun was mechanically identical to the M1919A4.

Production of the M1919A6 was by the Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors, who produced 43,479 M1919A6s. Anumber of M1919A4s were also converted to the M1919A6 configuration. The gun saw wide service in the last two years of WorldWar II and continued to see service through the Korean War and the early years of Vietnam.


U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1

Development of the M1 rifle began in 1919. Limited funds and the conflicting ideas of many of those involved caused theprogram to drag on until 1936, when a suitable prototype finally emerged. Original prototype rifles were chambered for a .276caliber cartridge. However, the weapons were soon changed over to the existing, standard U.S. 30-06 round by order of GeneralDouglas MacArthur. The decision was due in part to the large stockpiles of the ammunition that remained from the First World War.The basic M1 design was continually refined until 1940 when large-scale production finally began.

The gas operated, semiautomatic M1 rifle was the inspiration of John C. Garand, who designed the weapon while employed by theSpringfield Armory. During World War II, the M1 rifle was manufactured by Springfield Armory and the Winchester RepeatingArms Company. Approximately 4,040,802 M1 rifles were manufactured from 1937 to 1945. The remarkable M1 design was tohave a service life extending long past the conclusion of World War II.

In 1950, the outbreak of hostilities in Korea brought the World War II M1 out of pending retirement. A dwindling supply of riflesdictated that additional M1s would be needed and production resumed. During the Korean Conflict M1 rifles were manufactured byInternational Harvester, Harrington & Richardson and the Springfield Armory. During the1950s era, approximately 1,427,970additional M1 rifles were produced, and many more WWII era rifles refurbished. The last M1 rifle was manufactured in 1957.




Immediately following World War I, experiments began on making a high speed air-cooled Browning machine gun variant foraircraft use. The original high speed guns were designed by Colt, and these included the M1918, M1918A1, M1919, and MG40.Each model had its problems, leading to the next variant. Part of the problem was that in going to the newer more powerful M2 .30-06 service cartridge, the cyclic rates went up by percentages in the 20% range. At 1,000 rpm, problem occurrences were magnified.

The final variant of the high speed Browning machine gun is commonly referred to as the “Aircraft Gun” or the “M2”. The prefix“AN” simply stands for “Army-Navy.” There were two basic models of the M2: Fixed or Flexible. The M2 Fixed gun was forwardfiring only, mounted in the wings or cowling, for remote firing by the pilot on an aircraft. The M2 Flexible gun had a spade gripassembly and was mounted so that an air gunner could engage targets within his traverse area.

The M2 guns were designed so that they could be switched out for feeding from either the right or left sides. This also allowed forthe use of a twin mount. Twin M2 Browning machine guns firing at 1,200 rpm each made for a very impressive increase in hitprobability in air battles.

Browning Machine Gun, Caliber .30, M2

Designed by Melvin M. Johnson, Jr., the M1941 Johnson was unique for a rifle caliber semiautomatic weapon because it wasrecoil operated rather than the more commonly used gas operating system. This unique feature made the Johnson rifle easy tomanufacture and less prone to gas fouling. The weapon also featured a 10 round rotary magazine that could be topped off withadditional rounds. The nomenclature M1941 was a commercial designation as there were no Johnson rifles manufactured underU.S. contracts.

The Johnson Automatics Company subcontracted with the Universal Windings Company to manufacture the weapon at theirfactory complex located in Cranston, Rhode Island. The company would be known as the Cranston Arms Company. Approximately30,000 Johnson Rifles were manufactured before production ceased in early 1943.

Although the Marine Corps had chosen the M1 Garand, few M1 rifles were available as wartime demand far exceeded the supply.One feature of the Johnson rifle that the Marines liked was it could be easily broken down. This was considered an asset for theirnewly formed “Paramarine” battalions where the rifles could be easily carried when disassembled. The Marines procured a limitednumber of the Johnson rifles for issue to the 1st Parachute Battalion in 1942.

The M1941 Johnson Rifle




The .30 caliber M37 machine gun was a post World War II machine gun variation designed as a secondary weapon for use oncombat vehicles and tanks. The M37 differed from the M1919A4 in that it could be fed from either the right or left side byrepositioning of a few parts. The top cover also had a new type latch that could be opened from either side. The M37 was generallyused as a fixed tank weapon, but was also utilized in the flexible role, primarily by the U.S. Marine Corps. When used in the flexiblerole, rear sights were added and the weapon was used on the M2 tripod. Among other improvements, the M37 featured a chromedtrunnion block, barrel and booster. Many of the parts of the M37 were redesigned and not readily interchangeable with the M1919A4machine gun. Rock Island Arsenal and Saco-Lowell Shops manufactured the M37 machine gun from 1953 to 1969. The M37Cvariation was similar to the M37, but used an electric solenoid to fire the weapon, and rather than manually charged, it used ahydraulic system to perform the task. The M37C was used in early helicopter applications, as well as being fitted in the U.S. M48and M60 tanks.

Invented and de-signed by Melvin M.Johnson, Jr., it was hisintent that the M1941Johnson LMG re-place the BAR. De-spite the light machine gun desig-nation, it really was an automatic rifle likethe BAR. Notwithstanding the name game, theM1941 LMG had many unique features. Cham-bered for the M2 .30-06 cartridge, it had a straight linestock which decreased muzzle rise during full auto-matic fire; necessitating a high front sight. It waslight weight at only about 13 pounds and was veryaccurate in the semiautomatic mode as it firedfrom a closed bolt, yet in full automatic mode,fired from an open bolt to assist in cooling andpreventing cook-offs from a hot barrel. Themagazine well was also unique in that the 20-round box magazine could be topped-off by the addition of single rounds through theright side of the receiver or by five round stripper clips. Additionally, the feed lips were a machined part of the receiver rather thanbeing part of the magazine and thus not subject to deformation. The M1941 LMG also employed a quick change barrel.

The M1941 Johnson light machine gun was never officially adopted by the U.S. but was used by selected units of the Marines andArmy. Because BARs were in short supply, the U.S. Marines obtained a small quantity of M1941 LMGs primarily intended for useby airborne units and Marine Raiders which saw combat use in the South Pacific. The Army also acquired some M1941 LMGs forissue to the Army’s First Special Service Force, the OSS and there are unconfirmed reports that they were also used by some ArmyRangers.

Though some 10,000 M1941 LMGs were produced by Cranston Arms Company, only a relative few (less than 3 percent) wereused by the U.S. with the bulk originally ordered by the Dutch for use in the Dutch East Indies. At the fall of the Dutch East Indiesto the Japanese, the remaining guns of the contract were embargoed so as not to fall into Japanese hands and is the reason a numberof guns were available to the U.S. as needed.

Model of 1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun

Browning Machine Gun, Caliber .30, M37



U.S. Service Weapons Using .30-06Model: U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1903Caliber: .30-06Operation: Bolt actionOverall length: 43.5 inchesBarrel length: 24 inches, twist right hand 1 turn in 10

inchesWeight: 8.69 poundsMagazine: Integral, 5 round capacitySights: Front: blade.Rear: M1903 ladder type, M1903-A3 stamped,

aperture type .Production: Pre-WWII approximately 1,704,779.

During WWII 1,415,593Manufacturers:

World War I: (M1903) Springfield Armory, Rock IslandArsenal.

World War II: (M1903-A4) Remington Arms, L.C. Smith& Corona

Model: U.S. Maxim Automatic Machine Gun,Caliber .30, M1904

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, short recoil with muzzle gas

assistCooled: WaterWeight: Gun: 57.5 lbs. Tripod: 80 lbs.Overall length: 44 inchesBarrel length: 28.5 inchesCyclic rate: 500 rounds per minuteFeed: 250-round fabric beltSights: Front: Protected blade.Rear: Ladder type graduated to 2,600 yardsProduction: 287Manufacturer: Vickers, Sons & Maxim, Colt

Model: U.S. Automatic Machine Rifle,Caliber .30, Model of 1909

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, gas operatedCooled: AirWeight: 30 lbs.Overall length: 48.5 inchesBarrel length: 25.1 inchesCyclic rate: 400 rounds per minuteFeed: 30-round metal feed stripSights: Front: Protected blade.Rear: Ladder type graduated to 2,800 yards

Warner & Swasey M1908 telescopic sightProduction: 670Manufacturer: Colt, Springfield Armory

Model: M1914 Colt Automatic GunCaliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, gas impingement systemCooled: AirWeight: Gun: 35 lbs. Tripod: 56 lbs.Overall length: 41 inchesBarrel length: 28 inchesCyclic rate: 400 rounds per minuteFeed: 250-round cloth beltSights: Front: Protected blade.Rear: Ladder type graduated to 2,600 yardsProduction: 25,000Manufacturer: Colt, Marlin-Rockwell

Model: U.S. Vickers Machine Gun, Caliber .30,Model of 1915

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, short recoil with muzzle

gas assistCooled: WaterWeight: Gun: 32.5 lbs. Tripod: 50 lbs.Overall length: 43 inchesBarrel length: 28 inchesCyclic rate: 500 rounds per minuteFeed: 250-round cloth beltSights: Front: Protected blade.Rear: Ladder type graduated to 2,600 yardsProduction: 12,125Manufacturer: Colt

Model: U.S. Lewis Machine Gun, Caliber .30,Model of 1917

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, gas operatedCooled: AirWeight: Gun: 25.5 lbs. Bipod: 3 lbs.Overall length: 51 inchesBarrel length: 26.5 inchesCyclic rate: 550 rounds per minuteFeed: 47-round rotating pan magazineSights: Front: Blade protected by ears.Rear: Ladder type graduated to 2,100 yardsProduction: 8,500Manufacturer: Savage Arms Co.




Model: U.S. Browning Machine Gun,Caliber .30, Model of 1917

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, short recoilCooled: WaterWeight: Gun: 30 lbs. Tripod: 53 lbs.Overall length: 38.5 inchesBarrel length: 24 inchesCyclic rate: 500 rounds per minuteFeed: 250-round fabric beltSights: Front: Protected bladeRear: Peep, adjustable leaf graduated to

2,800 metersProduction: Approximately 72,000. Wartime 42,750Manufacturer: New England Westinghouse,

Remington, Colt.

Model: Marlin Machine Gun,Caliber .30, M1917/18

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, gas operated straight

pistonCooled: AirWeight: 25.0 lbs.Overall length: 40 inchesBarrel length: 24 inchesCyclic rate: 600 rounds per minuteFeed: 250-round fabric beltSights: Front and rear sights varied by model and

application. Ground guns had similar sightsto theColt M1914. Other mountings useda variety of aircraft and anti-aircraft sights.

Production: 1917 (Navy): 1,605; 1917/18Aircraft: 38,000

Manufacturer: Marlin Arms Corporation, Marlin-RockwellCompany

Model: U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, Model of 1917Caliber: .30-06Operation: Bolt-actionOverall length: 46.25 inchesBarrel length: 26 inches, twist: left hand 1 turn in

10-inchesWeight: 9.187 poundsMagazine: 5 rounds integral box typeSights: Front: protected blade

Rear: protected aperture style adjustableladder sight

Production: Approximately 2.4 millionManufacturers: Remington, Winchester, Eddystone

Model: U.S. Browning Automatic Rifle,Caliber .30,Model of 1918

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, semiautomatic, gas

operationCooled: AirWeight: 15.5 lbs.Overall length: 47 inchesBarrel length: 24 inchesCyclic rate: 550 rounds per minuteFeed: 20-round detachable box magazineSights: Front: Blade.Rear: protected aperture style adjustableProduction: 102,125Manufacturer: Winchester, Marlin-Rockwell, Colt

Model: U.S. Chauchat Automatic Rifle,Caliber .30, Model of 1918

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, semiautomatic, long-recoilCooled: AirWeight: 19 lbs.Overall length: 45.5 inchesBarrel length: 17 inchesCyclic rate: 300 rounds per minuteFeed: 16-round detachable box magazineSights: Front: Blade.Rear: V-notch tangentProduction: 19,241Manufacturer: C.S.R.G. (Chauchat, Sutter, Ribeyrolle

& Gladiator

Model: Browning Machine Gun,Caliber .30, M1917A1

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, short recoilCooled: WaterWeight: Gun: 33 lbs. Tripod: 53 lbs.Overall length: 38.5 inchesBarrel length: 24 inchesCyclic rate: 500 rounds per minuteFeed: 250-round fabric beltSights: Front: Protected bladeRear: Peep, adjustable leaf graduated

to 2,600 yards.Production: 55,859Manufacturer: Rock Island Arsenal




Model: U.S. Browning Automatic Rifle,Caliber .30, Model of 1918A2

Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, gas operationCooled: AirWeight: 19.4 lbs.Overall length: 47.8 inchesBarrel length: 24 inchesCyclic rate: 300-450/ 500-650 rounds per minuteFeed: 20-round detachable box magazineSights: Front: Blade.Rear: protected aperture style adjustableProduction: 249,380 total new production as A2Manufacturer: New England Small Arms (NESA),

168,363; IBM Corporation, 20,017; RoyalTypewriter Company, 61,000


Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, short recoilCooled: AirWeight: Gun: 31 lbs. Tripod: 14 lbs.Overall length: 41 inchesBarrel length: 24 inchesCyclic rate: 450-500 rounds per minuteFeed: 250-round fabric belt or disintegrating linksSights: Front: Folding bladeRear: Peep, adjustable leaf graduated to

2,400 yards.Production: RIA 31,596; Saginaw 367,853; Buffalo

38,300. Total production of all M1919A4variants from 1939 to 1945: 441,494.

Manufacturer: Rock Island Arsenal, Saginaw SteeringGear Div. of General Motors, BuffaloArms Co


Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, short recoilCooled: AirWeight: Gun: 32.5 lbs.Overall length: 53 inchesBarrel length: 24 inchesCyclic rate: 450 rounds per minuteFeed: 250-round fabric beltSights: Front: Folding bladeRear: Peep, adjustable leaf graduated to

2,600 yards.Production: 43,479Manufacturer: Saginaw Steering Gear Div. of General

Motors

Model: U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1Caliber: .30-06Operation: Semiautomatic, gas operatedOverall length: 43.6-inchesBarrel length: 24 inches, twist: right hand, 1 turn in

10 inchesWeight: 9.5 poundsMagazine: 8 round enbloc clipSights: Front: Blade with protective earsRear: ApertureProduction: Approximately 5,468,772Manufacturers: World War II:

Springfield Armory, WinchesterKorean War era: Harrington & Richardson,International Harvester, SpringfieldArmory

Model: Browning Machine Gun, Caliber .30,M2 Caliber: .30-06

Operation: Full automatic, short recoilCooled: AirWeight: 23.0 lbsOverall length: 39.9 inchesBarrel length: 23.9 inchesCyclic rate: 1,200 rounds per minuteFeed: disintegrating linksSights: Varied according to mountingProduction: Brown-Lipe-Chapin 33,311; Buffalo

Arms Co. 96,822; Savage 14,800; Colt49,681

Manufacturer: Brown-Lipe-Chapin Div. General Motors,Buffalo Arms Company, Savage ArmsCorporation. Colt’s Patent Firearms Mfg.

Model: M1941 Johnson RifleCaliber: .30-06Operation: Semiautomatic, short recoil operatedOverall length: 45.87 inchesBarrel length: 22 inches, twist: right hand 1 turn in

10-inchesWeight: 9.5 poundsFeed: Internal rotary type, 10 round capacitySights: Front: blade with protective earsRear: aperture type, graduated in metersProduction: Approximately 30,000Manufacturer: Cranston Arms Company



Model: Model of 1941 Johnson Light Machine GunCaliber: .30-06Operation: Full Automatic, semiautomatic, short recoil

operatedOverall length: 42 inchesBarrel length: 22 inches, twist: right hand 1 turn in

10-inchesWeight: 13 poundsCyclic rate: 450 rounds per minuteMagazine: 20-round detachable box magazineSights: Front: blade with protective earsRear: Folding aperture type, graduated in metersProduction: Approximately 10,000Manufacturer: Cranston Arms Company

Model: Browning Machine Gun, Caliber .30, M37Caliber: .30-06Operation: Full automatic, short recoilCooled: AirWeight: 31 lbs.Overall length: 41.75 inchesBarrel length: 24 inchesCyclic rate: 450-550 rounds per minuteFeed: Disintegrating linksSights: Added for C Front: Folding blade

Added for C Rear: Peep, adjustable leafgraduated to 2,400 yards.

Production: RIA 7,340; Saco, unknownManufacturer: Rock Island Arsenal, Saco-Lowell Shops


us 30.06 caliber military weapons

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