Colt Machine Gun Firing Distance

[Nathan Greenfield]

Should have asked this with the one on the Ross Rifle.

How far did the rounds from a Colt Machine gun reach?

[Borden Battery]

Here are two excerpts from some interviews with retired Brig-General Brutinel with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. Note the 303 ammunition and the falling short of the first round. Indirect fire was usually at 500 yards and longer. When they could, the CMGC converted all of their units to the Vickers machine gun.

Borden Battery

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Sir Clifford asked me to prepare for the following day, 2nd of August, 1914, a note concerning machine guns, their fire power and their employment, also a project I had mentioned to form a Machine Gun Motorised Unit of 16 Guns, this number being consistent with the ascertained capacity of the Colt Company to manufacture 303 machine guns within three or four weeks.

Every casualty reported was thoroughly investigated and it was found that not a single case was clearly due to machine gun fire. Invariably the casualties were due to enfilade fire from German fixed rifles. This was a great relief to us, more especially because the first bullet of the Colts falls short, the initial energy being absorbed in part by the setting in motion of the automatic feeding. Close observation showed that the shorts were grounded within 200 yards from the firing points.

[Rob Gray]

Nathan,

Do you mean "What is the effective range of the weapon?", because that's really all that matters to the user - no good hosing the enemy 2 miles away if the effective range is only 1000 yards.

Rob.

[Borden Battery]

Following a "Google" search, there is not a lot of material on the Colt machine gun.

Source: http://www.spanamwar.com/Coltmachinegun.htm

TECHNOTES:

Total Weight: 40 pounds (gun only)

Tripod: 28 pounds

Mount 28.5 pounds

Length: 40.75 inches

Range (based on sight): 3,000 yards

Calibers: Two different calibers, see below

Caliber: 6mm Lee Navy

Bullet weight: 135 gr.

Muzzle velocity: 2,469 fps

Caliber: 7x57 Mauser

Bullet weight: 173 gr.

Muzzle velocity: 2,300 fps

[Nathan Greenfield]

Thanks.

Should have thought of a "Google."

Cheers,

Nathan

[lassuy]

H.W. McBride, in his book A Rifleman Went to War, says that the Colt had less vertical dispersion than the Maxim or Vickers, and was therefore safer in firing over the heads of your own troops. He also liked the fact that it was air-cooled, so you didn't have to carry water with you. This would limit sustained fire, but he mentions firing one til the barrel was glowing red. McBride was an American serving in the CEF, by the way--and I highly recommend both his books, the aforementioned Rifleman, and his earlier work, The Emma Gees.

[lassuy]

I should add that the Colt went through several versions, the 1895 IIRC, the 1914, and the Colt/Marlin 1918. The 1895's and 1914's were what the CEF were using, they featured a rather unique swinging link that worked the action. This link swung down from the bottom of the barrel, so it limited how close to the ground the gun could be place--and earned the gun the nickname the Potatodigger, as the link would strike the ground and fling up dirt if placed to low. The Colt/Marlin incarnation did away with the swinging link, replacing it with a gas piston, and was developed for aircraft use.

[Cnock]

From March 1915, Canadian machine gunner had complained that the Colt M.G. was not reliable in combat. During 2nd Battle of Ypres, at Keerselare, the Canadian 2nd Brigade had suffered a severe reverse, because the Colts failed. Some became useless, after firing only a few rounds.

The gun's extractor broke fast, it had a complicated mechanism and a cumbersome mounting, thus it was unsuited for service in the trenches.

Source : 'Trench Warfare - Techonoly and the Cabdian Corps 1914-1918'

Regards,

Cnock

[lassuy]

McBride does mention trouble with extractors, but he lays it to faulty ammunition. He said that known makers ammo, such as Winchester or Kynoch was trouble-free, but ammo made by makers who had sprung up when the war started was worthless---in the Colt or the Vickers. He used both, so he ought to know. The main difference seems to be that the Colt would break parts, the Vickers would simply jam and refuse to fire. He goes to some legnths about his ability to make and replace nearly every internal part of the Colt, and even mentions that a part on the French military bicycle matched a part on the Colt! From then on, he never went by a French dispatch riders bicycle without scavanging it for parts. Wonder what the French dispatch riders thought about that?

He also said the main problem with the Ross rifle was the ammo, too---as was bourne out by later inquiry.

[Geoff Parker]

For those looking for info on the COLT "potato digger" I would recommend Goldsmiths new

book on the Browning machine guns firing rifle calibre ammunition, as Goldsmith goes into the

COLT MG in some depth as it was designed by Browning. The book is published by Grade

Publications and priced at £ 56.00.-

Geoff