Machine-Gun

Machine-Gun, gun in which the operations of loading, extraction, and firing are performed by automatic mechanisms, making it capable of sustained or continuous fire. From 1662 to 1861 guns were designed for multiple loading, but none were satisfactory. The development of metal-cased fixed ammunition during the American Civil War made the machine-gun an effective instrument of war. As a result, magazine and repeating small arms and numerous kinds of machine-guns were manufactured. Of these early pieces the best was undoubtedly the Gatling, although the Nordenfeldt was satisfactory as a ship's gun. The French developed a type of machine-gun that they employed in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871; it was not very successful, however, and was generally considered inferior to the Gatling.

The first machine-gun with calibre larger than small arms was the Hotchkiss revolving cannon, invented by Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss, an American, living in France. These guns were first one-pounders; they were afterwards made to fire 6-lb shells, but were replaced later by rapid-firing single-shot weapons. The Maxim-Nordenfeldt automatic one-pounder, first used in the Spanish-American War, was developed from the smaller automatic gun of the Anglo-American engineer Sir Hiram Maxim, which had been in use for several years.

Before World War I, practically all machine-guns used the same calibre ammunition as infantry rifles (see Rifle). After being used in combat, they were divided into types, each especially suited for a particular use. The lighter-weight types were adapted to firing short, concentrated bursts of fire, and the heavier weapons were developed for playing the continuous leaden stream of the machine-gun barrage. Machine-guns were also developed for mounting in tanks and in aircraft, and special mounts were developed for employing machine-guns in anti-aircraft work.

In May 1917, the Browning (heavy) machine-gun was tested and adopted as standard for the United States Army. With improved ammunition, this gun was a most effective weapon for delivering a sustained fire of great volume. Browning machine-guns were used, on the ground and mounted on aircraft, during World War II and the Korean War. In the 1950s, many types of automatic and semi-automatic guns were developed. In the mid-1960s, however, the US Army replaced all existing arms with the M16 rifle and M60 machine-gun.