I Have This Old Gun: American Lewis Light Machine Gun

most lewis light machine guns were manufactured in 303 british for use of course by the british army but savage in utica new york made guns for the british but they also made them for the united states army the united states navy and of course the u.s marine corps when america entered world war one in spring of 1917 there woefully short of machine guns of any type for a light machine gun they've given up on the bennet mercy model 1909 machine rifle and at this time the lewis gun was doing great work in the hands of the british army on the western front the louis had been invented years before by colonel isaac newton-lewis who was a u.s ordinance officer who had invented any number of weapons developments in the 1890s and early 1900s and he based this lewis gun design on the mclean machine gun which had also shared this top mounted pan drum you know lewis brought to bear a lot of technical knowledge and and and looked at the whole project in a way that guys like browning may not have the lewis gun was in some respects mechanically pretty complicated and pretty unusual a clock spring was wound up by the movement of the operating rod that then sent the operating rod back forward to chamber a cartridge uh for the next shot and of course the pan itself uh was mechanically linked to the movement of the action so this was not this was not as simple a gun as we think of in today's context of a gas operated self-loading design the american lewis's were all made by savage the first savage lewis guns procured by the united states army were not in 30 odd six they were in surprisingly british 303 and some of those guns were among the ones that accompanied general pershing when he went down into mexico on the punitive expedition after after pancho villa uh very few of them i've seen one or two all the subsequent guns were made in 30 caliber and that required going from 303 to 30 out six required uh quite a few dimensional changes in the gun and they were done kind of on the run and the 30 odd six guns were beautifully finished and marvelously fitted really much much nicer looking than the bsa 303 guns were made in england but they didn't work as well because the gun had originally been dimensioned pretty much for 303 and uh if you look internally at those guns there's a lot of very complex machining that has to be done to make them it's a it's a marvel that any of the lewis guns worked as well as they did because it takes a high level of craftsmanship to make them during the early years of the first world war there were not many options in terms of a light machine gun in fact really all that was out there was the brilliantly made model model 1915 french showshot the other big option that was available and on the block at the time was the lewis gun and the lewis light machine gun which is air cooled despite the fact that it looks like it has a big water jacket it is an air-cooled machine gun feeding from the 47-round pie 10 magazine that mounts on top of the weapon the lewis gun is the weapon that everyone should have rushed toward because it was an effective design although it was a little bit heavier than the choshan it was nevertheless an effective design and it's being used by the british early in the war and the 303 caliber eventually the united states government is attracted to the design and eventually it is placed in production at savage arms and 30 caliber meaning that there's a british louis and then also an american louis one of the endearing things about u.s navy lewis guns and the u.s navy was the principal recipient of ground pattern lewis guns in the united states was that the butt plate would be covered with patent numbers colonel isaac lewis offered the war department his design free of any royalty uh out of uh sure a lot of patriotism uh his offer was was rejected shamefully by general crozier the chief of ordinance but lewis expected to make his money selling the gun overseas to foreign customers and as a consequence it was thoroughly patented so the savage made american lewis gun in 30 out six or 30 us caliber goes to france with the marines they use them in training but before they go into the front lines the guns are taken away from them uh number one you'll have one brigade of marines within a u.s division and that u.s division is only one division of many uh at the front and so it's a logistical nightmare to try and support lewis guns for just one brigade and meanwhile there was a need for these guns to be modified and then used on an aircraft however the lewis guns stay with the marine corps into the 1919-1920 caco revolt in haiti he used a great effect there and then later in nicaragua from 1927 up to 19 into the mid-1930s in anti-bandit warfare in the bush of nicaragua the marines are still using these at corregidor and the navy still has them on several of the landing craft that were coming into guadalcanal as late as 1942. in a moment that many people aren't aware of in september of 1942 a u.s coast guardsman by the name of douglas monroe is wielding an american lewis in 30 caliber as he is guiding a series of higgins boats small boats landing craft and evacuating marines of the seventh marine regiment near point cruz on guadalcanal and as he's maneuvering his boat into position and his boat is laying down effective uh grazing and suppressing fire using the lewis light machine gun monroe is ultimately struck by a japanese bullet and killed and is subsequently awarded the medal of honor for that action it is the only medal of honor awarded to a united states coast guardsman and the american lewis gun was a part of the action of course the lewis light machine gun as well a machine gun so it's subject to the national firearms act they're out there but they're pretty pricey

Channel: NRApubs

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Id: 3mLk8UQvA4s

Length: 8min 57sec (537 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 03 2021