German officer inspecting a captured Hotchkiss machine gun from a French Schneider CA-1 tank that has been adapted to anti-aircraft use. WW1
Posted by Sad-Commission2027@reddit | ForgottenWeapons | View on Reddit | 11 comments
BigFreakingZombie@reddit
Odd to see a Hotchkiss not fed with the usual 30 round clips but by a belt. Adopting this belt to infantry use shouldn't have been that difficult.
Great_White_Sharky@reddit
It was used in small numbers, but as you can see in this picture, the belt doesnt look to practical, it looks very rigid and unflexible, more like a bunch of small clips strapped together. For a tank it should be fine but in the field it might have been to unreliable
BigFreakingZombie@reddit
It WAS a bunch of small clips attached together. The belt was made by mating 3 round strips together to produce basically a primitive version of a disintegrating link belt.
Wannabe_Operator83@reddit
Too bad i've lost that book i had about machine guns, there was a detailed pic how that belt looked like up close
Fakes_p_acc@reddit
Yeah! It looks like a bunch of 5rnd clips linked together instead of the standard 30rnd clips, which does make sense as it would be an easier option than converting it to maxim-style cloth belts
Atholthedestroyer@reddit
To be fair, donating it's weapons for other roles is about the most useful thing a CA1 could do
Fakes_p_acc@reddit
Or finding shell-holes in the field lol
ilkikuinthadik@reddit
What's the giant orb thing?
Affectionate_Cronut@reddit
That's the mantlet, the shield that covers the hole in the hull where the MG pokes through. It must have incorporated part of the mount used in its improvised anti-aircraft role, so couldn't be removed.
Ka1serTheRoll@reddit
Old ball mount for when it was in a tank
AutoModerator@reddit
Understand the rules
Check the sidebar. It's full of resources to help you.
Not everyone is an expert such as yourself; be considerate.
No Spam. No Memes.
No political posts. Save that for /r/progun or /r/politics.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.