Light machine gun Lewis (Lewis) .... Lewis light machine gun (Lewis), device and properties Lewis light machine gun

Originality of design and worthy specifications made the Lewis machine gun one of the most durable weapons of the first half of the twentieth century. In addition, the memorable appearance helped the machine gun to remain in the minds of fans. military history as one of the symbols of the largest military conflicts in history.

The history of the development of the Lewis machine gun

The first developments in this area belong to the American Samuel McLean, but Colonel american army Isaac Lewis. It is curious that initially the colonel planned to create a water-cooled easel machine gun, but abandoned this idea due to the occupation of a niche by the developments of Maxim and Browning that had already proven themselves.

A forced air-cooled light machine gun is introduced in 1913, but does not attract the attention of the US War Department, after which Lewis begins production in Europe. So, Armes Automatique Lewis is founded in Liege, Belgium, and production in the UK is carried out under the auspices of Birmingham Small Arms (later American industry is involved in the business). In the same year, the Belgian army took the "Lewis" into service, and already in 1914 successfully used them with the outbreak of the First World War.

The first batch of ten samples arrived in Russia in July 1913 for testing at the Officers' Rifle School. Appreciating new sample in comparison with the existing bulky counterparts, two years later, a decree was issued on the mass acquisition of the Lewis system for installation on light aircraft. Before the start of the revolutionary events, approximately 9,500 Lewises of American origin (for Mosin rifle ammunition) and about 1,900 British models (caliber 303 British) were purchased.

Description of the design and principle of operation

The already generally accepted principle of the removal of powder gases did not bypass this machine gun. Of the technical solutions that distinguish Lewis from analogues, it is especially worth noting a special valve on the gas chamber to control the rate of fire, the extraordinary structure of the disk store along with the feeder. There was no supply spring in the magazine, so it rotated with a protruding tail on the spring. The task of the unusual-looking casing is forced air cooling: at the time of the shot, the powder gases “getting stuck” in the casing forced cold air to circulate along the barrel due to its rarefaction in the rear and temperature differences.

However, it is worth noting that although the aviation variation of the machine gun was produced without such a device, this did not create difficulties in its use by parts of the British army, so the casing can be considered a design overkill. The rejection of a cylindrical reciprocating mainspring in favor of a lamellar one also looks unusual. Due to its wear and shrinkage after long-term firing, a special key was added to the set of accessories for the machine gun to tighten the spring.

Main structural elements:

• Barrel (with casing and radiator);
• Receiver;
• Gate;
• shutter frame;
• Box with reciprocating mainspring;
• Score;
• Bipod (later one telescopic).

The percussion mechanism belongs to the percussion type, fixed on the bolt carrier. The bore was locked by turning the curved groove of the shutter. The fuse was placed on the receiver, and the design of the trigger mechanism excluded the possibility of firing single shots, which often led to an overrun of cartridges, taking into account the small capacity of the disk magazine.

Lewis gun ammo

There were practically no worthy opponents for the "British of American origin" in his niche. For example, the German MG 08/15 was essentially a "Maxim" that lost weight compared to the original, but was still too bulky. The French Shosh model was too unreliable and vulnerable to pollution, and the closest enemy, the Danish Madsen, with relative success, had absolutely no development potential due to a number of initial flaws. This situation allowed the designer to get the most out of his invention, and the machine gun was mass-produced for the following ammunition:

• .303 British (7.69*57mm);
• Mosin rifle cartridge (7.62 * 54 mm);
• .30-06 Springfield (7.62*53mm);
• .256 Mannlicher (6.5*53mm);
• Less well-known variants, in particular, chambered for the German 8mm cartridge.

The most common are the first two options from this list.

Tactical and technical characteristics

For a generalized understanding, the following table shows the parameters of the first British production model. Differences from counterparts adapted to other calibers are minimal.

Despite the fact that Lewis gun (that's how it is spelled in English, it official name in the ranks of the British armed forces) successfully coped with its main task - supporting the infantry in the offensive and even earned the nickname "machine gun with which you can run", preserved in history various designs machines and tripods for him.

Pros and cons of weapons

Repeating the above, "Lewis" was the absolute leader among infantry weapons. First of all, due to the fact that now a machine-gun crew of two people (the first number carries weapons directly and two disk magazines, the second - additional ammunition) became as mobile as most of infantry armed with rifles (later - PP). Examples of application are also successful both in aviation on aircraft unable to carry heavier weapons, and as a means air defense. Until the 1940s, a number of machine guns were equipped with special wire sights.

The main disadvantage was the low density of fire - a standard magazine of 47 rounds with a mass of almost two kilograms was discharged in three seconds. The disc magazine was often criticized for its constant rotation, which, if handled carelessly, often injured shooters' fingers and led to misfires.

Lewis machine gun modifications

In addition to adaptations for various calibers, the British continued to develop the idea of ​​a designer.

Version history:

• Infantry modification Mk1 - slightly modified sample;
• Mk2 - specifically for air combat. Added a second handle for control, instead of the stock. For the first time, magazines for 97 rounds are used, a bag for cartridge cases appears, the casing and radiator are shortened, a flash suppressor is added;
• The Mk3 was redesigned from those already in service: the automation was improved and the gas outlet was enlarged.

Also, a licensed copy - Type 92 - was widely used in Japanese aviation.

Application in history

Shortly after being put into service, the first shots were fired from the Lewis in combat conditions. In the European theater of operations, he was appreciated by all opposing sides for multitasking and mobility. The soldiers of the countries where he was not accepted for service sought to get him as a trophy.

But this model earned the greatest fame a little later, becoming the most recognizable of the machine guns of the Civil War. Now MMG "Lewis" is almost an obligatory prop in any film about the confrontation between the "reds" and "whites". He deserved special love among the Makhnovists - Makhno's bodyguards were completely armed with them.

After the revolution, the machine guns of the Lewis system lay in huge quantities in the warehouses of the Red Army until the beginning of World War II. With them, the first of the formed divisions went to the front right from the 1941 parade of the year, and militia units like the Tula Workers' Regiment were massively equipped with them.

The last conflict where the massive use of the American designer's system was noticed was the Korean War.

I encourage readers to discuss this system ahead of its time or turned out to be an unnecessary whim of the designer?

We are waiting for your comments.

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American Isaac Newton Lewis (1858-1931) served as an officer in the US Army. In addition, he was also an inventor, whose work is still used in the military industry in many countries. In 1911, Lewis improved upon Samuel McLean's original machine gun design and launched a massive marketing campaign for the resulting rifle. She was called " automatic rifle Lewis" and was equipped with a mobile air-cooling system.

Rifle production

Throughout its history, this rifle has been used for defense, for shooting from the air and as a light version of the infantry machine gun. The Lewis rifle continued to be used during the First and Second World Wars. It is curious that the US authorities at first were not interested in the development of Lewis, and this forced him to sell his invention to Europe, where it served in the arsenal of the Belgian army. Belgium began serial production of the machine, then Britain and France became interested in it.

America found itself forced into World War I, and only then did it finally invest in the production of the Lewis rifle. Production was carried out in England, in Birmingham (BSA). The German attack on Belgium was swift, and the Belgian troops were forced to retreat. It was during this fierce battle that the Lewis rifle was used for the first time. By the time the war reached its peak, the Lewis rifle had already found its wide application. It was equipped with observation towers, biplanes and bombers. The war, which, according to experts, should have ended by Christmas 1914, ended up lasting four long years and became one of the bloodiest in history.

Huge front-line territories were entangled in a network of trenches, between which there were round-the-clock skirmishes. Areas not occupied by trenches were under constant crossfire and were called "deserted lands" because it was impossible to survive on them.

firing range

The machine gun played an important role in this war. Wartime practice showed that it was the side that was armed with machine guns that always won. At the same time, aircraft and tanks began to join the machine guns. The firing range and ballistics of rifle cartridges made it possible to keep the enemy at a great distance, preventing him from going on the offensive.

Machine gunners could also be combined into a detachment, where they, mutually covering each other, ensured complete control over enemy positions and shelters. Along with artillery fire, these weapons resulted in huge human casualties. In essence, the Lewis rifle was an automatic firing system equipped with a gas chamber and air cooling. She weighed about 13 kilograms. The machine gun was loaded with a 30-06 Springfield round drum, and its rate of fire was from 500 to 600 rounds per minute. The firing range varied from 800 to 3000 meters.

A distinctive feature of the Lewis machine gun was its casing. It was intended to protect the shooter from contact with the hot barrel and to better purge it with a forced cooling system. This system worked at the expense of spent powder gases and was innovative and very effective for its time. The machine gun, which has forced air cooling, compares favorably with its water-cooled competitors. It did not need to be additionally filled with water and one person could easily handle it (unlike the same Vickers).

By the time America adopted the Lewis machine gun, this weapon had already proven itself in battles around the world. America entered World War I only in 1917. By this time, Lewis already had wide popularity and was used almost everywhere. Especially often, aircraft and biplanes of the allied forces were equipped with this machine gun. There was a serious shortage in the American army firearms. This forced America to buy Lewis machine guns from Britain, and they remained in service with America until the end of World War II, despite the fact that in parallel the Americans also bought the Czech machine gun Bren Light Machine.

Lewis Mark XI SS

At the end of the war, the Lewis was praised for its lethality and ease of use, but the machine gun often jammed and was too heavy. It was also condemned for its extremely inconvenient reloading and relatively complex mechanism, which was difficult to repair in the field. Despite this, it was inexpensive and was used everywhere: on land, in the air, infantry, navy and air force.

By the beginning, the Lewis machine gun had undergone a number of modifications and improvements and was again put into service. In 1942, Britain financed the development of another modification of the Lewis - Lewis Mark XI SS.

It was assumed that this would make it possible to make a full-fledged infantry LMG from the Lewis machine gun for firing from the shoulder. Similar developments were carried out by the Americans.

As a result, a series of Mark assault rifles saw the light, many of which were not successful and never entered service. Latest Versions Markov were widely used after the war, and structural elements used in this series served as the basis for modern automatic rifles.

The Lewis machine gun continued to be used later - during the Arab-Israeli war (1948-1949), during the Troubles (1960-1998) and during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995).

At the beginning of the 20th century, a triumphal procession of manual automatic weapons began on the battlefields, one of the most successful examples of which is the Lewis light machine gun.

The fusion of revolutionary solutions and dead-end moves took its place on the pedestal of the longest-lived weapons, along with Hiram Maxim's masterpiece. Few people know that for the first time in a hundred years he repeated circuit diagram barrel cooling, tested on Lewis mod. 1913.

But there were also enough dead-end solutions - the use of a springless magazine, lamellar coil springs in the mechanism and an overcomplicated shutter. But first things first.

History of creation

The scheme using the long stroke of the gas piston came from Samuel McLean. At that time, it was a heavy machine gun with the usual water cooling at that time. But the idea was implemented, in a slightly modified version, by Colonel of the American Army Isaac Lewis.

The changes he made turned a mediocre easel machine gun into a revolutionary manual one. A new cooling system was introduced, the locking system was somewhat modified. But as was often the case in the USA of those times, due to the lobby of General William Crosier, Lewis's application for the competition was rejected.

Colonel Lewis resigned and moved to Europe to promote his weapons in pre-war Britain.

It was 1913, the tension future war was already up in the air.

The weapon was adopted by Belgium and the Royal Armed Forces of Great Britain.

In Belgium, Lewis organized his enterprise. But due to the absence production capacity, all weapons were made to order in the workshops of Birmingham Small Arms in Britain, and later in the USA, at the factories of the Savage Arms Company.

For 1913, Lewis machine guns were produced under the cartridge .303 British, or 7.7x56R. In the USA, weapons were produced under the American rifle cartridge. 30-06 Springfield.

After the start great war Lewis machine gun has gained a truly world-wide fame. It was used by all warring states. Including Germany, the captured machine guns were converted to the 8 (7.92 mm) mm Mauser cartridge and they fought again, only on the other side of the front.

About 15 thousand of these machine guns were delivered to the Russian Empire. They were actively used both in rifle units and in the emerging aeronautical units of Russia.

It should be noted that once again, but not last time part of the delivered machine guns was re-barreled under the Russian cartridge 7.62x53R.

After the end of the First World War, in the 20-30s, these machine guns were actively produced in Europe, and were in service with a number of countries.

Moreover, in 1923 in Britain, Lewis underwent modernization during which the production process was somewhat simplified and the machine gun itself was lightened.

Lewis weapons were also used in the Second World War, moreover, single samples of these weapons fought in the 50s, in Korea.

Design, features and principle of operation

Lewis light machine gun mod. 1913 represents automatic weapon. The principle of operation of automation is based on the energy of the removal of powder gases from the barrel, with a long piston stroke, a rotary shutter, with 4 stops.

The fire mode is only automatic, firing is carried out from an open shutter. Lewis' device is extremely original in a number of ways, and in many ways ahead of its time.

Peculiarities

main feature of this weapon is its cooling system, a metal casing with an aluminum radiator inside.

This pipe gives it a somewhat eccentric image of a minigun, work to facilitate this design was carried out constantly, but they only came to the operation of a machine gun without it at all.

The barrel cut ended in the casing itself, when fired, air was drawn through the radiator, thereby cooling the barrel. Now this cooling system is often criticized, citing the post-war years and the use of Lewis without radiators as an example.

But keep in mind that at the time of the release, this decision was fully justified.

Moreover, the same cooling scheme is now used at the PKP Pecheneg.

Using a coiled mainspring - feature Lewis designs. The manufacture of such springs was quite expensive, in addition, the metal of these springs quickly "tired".

Shop disk, located on top receiver. The design of the magazine is quite original, it does not have a feed spring, the cartridge is fed by the lever of the weapon mechanism when the magazine rotates.

The magazine capacity was 47 or 97 rounds. The store had an extremely simple form, his equipment was organized quite simply. I turned the axis of the disc, inserted the cartridge into the socket, turned the axis and inserted the next one.

Despite the original and simple design, the store has the following disadvantages:

• the duration of the equipment, each cartridge is inserted alternately with the axis scrolling, the use of the bar did not greatly speed up the process;
• the magazine box open from below led to the contamination of the cartridges, which could cause delays in firing;
• rotation of the magazine disk when firing could cause injury if the weapon was handled carelessly.

Nevertheless, despite all the shortcomings, the device of the store was simple, the store itself had a significant capacity, in addition, it required only automatic actions from the equipper.

Operating principle

The principle of operation of the machine gun was quite simple, when fired, part of the powder gases fell into the underbarrel gas chamber.

The gas piston moved, releasing the shutter and moving it back, while twisting the spring and turning the magazine disk.

The shutter, moving, removed the spent cartridge case from the chamber and threw it to the side, simultaneously cocking the rear sear. Moving to the rearmost point, the shutter stopped. The mainspring untwisted, moved it forward. The feed lever lowered the cartridge from the magazine down to the bolt.

The cartridge was sent into the chamber, and at that moment a shot took place. The cycle was repeated again.

Performance characteristics and comparison

At the beginning of his career, Lewis had only three main competitors - the German MG-08 / 15, the Danish Madsen and the French. But in practice, the MG-08/15 was a converted Maxim, adapted as a manual, with a mass of 18 kilograms and external bulkiness, mobility was below average.

Which, in general, affected its application.

The Madsen system, a fairly successful weapon model, but having inherent flaws, such as a box magazine sticking up, which blocked the shooter's view.

The Shosh system, with a 20-round magazine and drawbacks like constant jamming and contamination, is also not a full-fledged competitor.

Thus, it was the English machine gun that was the king of the First World War. This was due to both a successful design and performance characteristics. In addition, one must take into account the fact that he had significant reserves for modernization.

This was shown by numerous alterations for different cartridges, both with a welt sleeve - 7.62x53R, and without a welt - 8 mm Mauser.

The 1913 Lewis machine gun of the year had following characteristics:

• cal. 303 British;
• weight (empty) - 11.8 kg;
• barrel length - 665 mm;
• total length - 1283 mm;
• technical rate of fire 650 rds / min;
• magazine capacity 47 or 97 rounds, weight 1.8 kg (47 rounds);
• effective range 3200 meters.

According to the totality of characteristics at the time of the start of production, this machine gun overtook all analogues. A fully equipped machine gunner carried a loaded 13 kg Lewis machine gun and two magazines for it. The rest of the disks were at the second number of the calculation.

Application

The peak of his career came in the First World War, where he was used on all fronts. Among the Landwehr infantrymen, Lewis earned the nickname "rattlesnake", which is somewhat deserved by the sound of firing, but his mobility and tactics of use on the battlefield also played a significant role.

The machine gun was also produced after the end of the war, and moreover, it was actively used as an air defense weapon on ships and boats back in the 40-50s.

Moreover, a well-known photograph of the parade on November 7, 1941, where the Red Army soldiers go to the front with Lewis machine guns, apparently seized from long-term storage warehouses.

A lot of historical shots were captured by Lewis in the service of the royal troops and Her Majesty's Navy.

Britain used them everywhere, but mostly on secondary sectors of the front.

The machine gun was also actively used as a turret for aviation. But they finished using it for aircraft defense already in the early 40s. Rifle-caliber bullets could no longer damage an all-metal aircraft with a single hit.

And the low rate of fire did not allow to achieve a significant number of hits on a high-speed target.

In cinema

The most famous appearance of Lewis in the film "White Sun of the Desert", where his role was played by a DP machine gun.

Lewis was also noted in the film "Own among strangers, a stranger among his own." In the series "Makhno" and "Chapaev", where he occasionally flashes in the frame.

In foreign films, he appeared in the frames of the films All Quiet on the Western Front, The Battle of the Cortes, The Mummy and others.

In computer games

The machine gun model is found in a number of modifications of the STALKER game, in addition, the Lewis gun can be seen in the World of Guns: Gun Disassembly simulator.

In Battlefield I, the Lewis machine gun is carried by the fire support team.

In addition, it was Lewis that was taken as the basis for creating appearance blasters in the game Star Wars battlefront.

Video Review

The Lewis light machine gun, created in 1913, became a real symbol of the First World War. During the war years, he was not only the main machine gun of the countries british commonwealth, but was also widely used around the world, including taking part in the Civil War in Russia. The machine gun was withdrawn from service in the 1930s, but with the outbreak of World War II, after a partial modernization, the "old man" had to be returned to service. In our country, this machine gun is familiar even to those who have never been particularly fond of firearms and his. He became a real hero not only of world cinema, but also of domestic cinema. In particular, in the beloved by many movie "The White Sun of the Desert" with a Lewis machine gun, you can see the Red Army soldier Sukhov.

In fairness, it should be noted that not only a real Lewis machine gun was filmed in the famous Soviet western. In the shooting scenes, it was replaced with a Soviet light machine gun DP (Degtyarev Infantry). For filming, the machine gun was specially “made up” under the “Lewis” with the help of a characteristic barrel casing and a ribbed lining on the disk. Most likely, during filming, the real Lewis was simply out of order or there were no blank cartridges for it. At the same time, the Lewis machine gun appeared in many Soviet / Russian films about the Civil War.

The Lewis machine gun, or simply the Lewis, is a British light machine gun that was created in 1913. It is worth noting that the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe design of the machine gun belonged to Samuel McLean, but it was brought to life by an American - Colonel Isaac Lewis. Initially, he wanted to use this machine gun as a machine gun with water cooling, but during the development he abandoned this idea in favor of creating a light machine gun with forced air cooling of the barrel.

The creator of the illustrious machine gun, US Army Colonel Isaac Lewis (Isaak N. Lewis) was a leading weapons specialist in the US Army. He was educated at the famous West Point Military Academy, from which he successfully graduated in 1884. In 1911, Lewis became head of the artillery school located at Fort Monroe. Here he achieved fame as a very good specialist in electrical and mechanical engineering. As his retirement from the armed forces approached, the colonel began working as a consultant for AAC (Automatic Arms Company) in Ohio.

For a number of years, Isaac was developing his own light machine gun, the automation of which would work due to the energy of powder gases. At this time, AAC acquired the rights to a machine gun designed by Dr. Samuel McLean. Lewis used McLean's technical solutions to create his own machine gun. For the right to produce this weapon, the AAS company transferred him a controlling stake and control over the production and distribution of the machine gun. Two years later, in 1913, the Lewis machine gun with a disc magazine and air-cooled barrel was finally ready.

Initially, Lewis wanted to offer his product to the American army, but received a harsh refusal, which was caused by an old personal conflict between the designer and General Crozier, who at that time was the head of the US Army's weapons department. As a result, Belgium became the first country to adopt the Lewis light machine gun, this happened already in 1913. At the same time, just before the war, the British also liked the machine gun, production was launched in England at the BSA factories. By the end of 1915 new production shops, located in Birmingham, earned at full capacity, the production of machine guns "Lewis" there reached 300 pieces a week.

The combat debut of the machine gun fell on the First World War and turned out to be very successful. Because of the maneuverability and general secrecy of this weapon, the soldiers of Kaiser Germany nicknamed the Lewis machine gun " rattlesnake". This nickname was also facilitated by the characteristic sound of a fired machine-gun burst. At the same time, the Germans themselves actively used the captured Lewis machine guns, converting them to the Mauser 7.92 cartridge and actively using them in assault squads along with other trophies obtained in battles.

Machine gun automation worked on the principle of removal of powder gases. When firing, the gases passed through the hole in the barrel and pressed on the piston. The piston, moving back, turned the gear of the spiral (same as in hours) return spring with a gear rack, winding it up in this way. Structurally, the light machine gun consisted of the following main parts and mechanisms: a barrel with a casing and a radiator, a receiver with a feeder and a cover, a recoil pad with a butt, a bolt, a bolt frame, a fire control handle, a reciprocating mainspring with a box, a magazine and a bipod.

« calling card The Lewis-designed light machine gun had a casing, which with its edges extended far beyond the muzzle and created a kind of ejector with its profile - when firing, a wave of powder gases, passing through it, with its inertia contributed to the creation of a rarefaction in the rear of the casing. As a result, a portion of cold air was pulled under the casing along the longitudinally ribbed machine gun barrel. At that time, active air cooling in small arms was not used anywhere else.

In front of the casing there was a gas chamber regulator, which had two holes for venting gases with letter designations: "S" - a smaller hole and "L" - a larger hole. In order to move the regulator from one hole to another, it had to be rotated 180 degrees using the regulator lever. The machine gun bore was locked by turning the bolt, the lugs of which fit into the transverse grooves of the receiver. Turning the bolt of a light machine gun when locking is carried out by a curved groove on the bolt and the base of the bolt rack.

The machine gun used a striker-type percussion mechanism, which was mounted on the bolt carrier. The trigger mechanism of the weapon allows only automatic fire from it. The extraction of the sleeve (cartridge) was carried out by two ejectors fixed in the bolt, and the reflection was carried out by a lever-type reflector, which was located in the receiver. The light machine gun had a fuse, which consisted of two strips with cutouts at both ends. The slats were placed on the left and right side of the receiver. The cutouts were designed to put the bolt carrier on the fuse in the forward and rear positions. In order to put the bolt carrier on the fuse, the bar (left or right, depending on which side the charging handle was located on) had to be moved up.

The machine gun barrel and receiver had a threaded connection. Air barrel cooling. The cooling of the barrel of a light machine gun was enhanced due to the presence of a radiator and a casing with a pipe on it. For the convenience of shooting, the light machine gun was equipped with a bipod. Sights were represented by a frame diopter sight and a triangular front sight. In the case of using a machine gun as a light machine gun, it was attached to the swinging part of the machine, while the butt plate with a butt was replaced in the machine gun with a butt plate with a handle.

The machine gun was fed with cartridges using disc magazines attached to it from above for 47 and 97 rounds, which were multi-layered (in two or three rows, respectively). The cartridges in the store were located radially to the axis of the disc. At the same time, the stores in the Lewis light machine gun did not have a feed spring - their rotation to feed the next cartridge to the chambering line took place using a specially provided lever, which was located on the machine gun and was driven by a bolt. Keeping the disk magazine from turning to the left or right side was carried out using two levers that were placed on the receiver cover. In the infantry version, the Lewis was equipped with a removable bipod and a wooden butt. Sometimes a special handle could be installed on the barrel casing, designed to carry a light machine gun.

The design of the infantry version of the Lewis machine gun did not change for almost the entire First World War. However, the military conflict required the use of a machine gun in aviation. The aviation version of the machine gun already had its own differences. So it turned out that the massive "pipe" of the radiator casing prevents the air gunner from aiming, because due to the large windage, the machine gun was subjected to very strong pressure air flow. It also turned out that due to airflow during the flight, the machine gun barrel is less prone to overheating than on the ground, so the unnecessary casing on the aircraft machine gun was abandoned, although the radiator itself remained in place.

It was also found that spent cartridges, which flew overboard, could damage the fabric covering of the aircraft, and for machines with a rear engine, also the propeller. Therefore, in combat units, they independently set about equipping machine guns with special boxes or bags for collecting cartridge cases. After receiving formal complaints from pilots, BSA began manufacturing cartridge case bags for turret versions of its machine guns with a capacity of 94 shells. However, for intense air combat, the capacity was not enough, and the capacity of the bags was increased to 330 shells.

The reliability of the Lewis design light machine gun in even the most adverse conditions ensured the weapon's reputation as one of the best light machine guns of the First World War, although the weight of the weapon gave the shooters certain difficulties. The machine gun was withdrawn from service in the UK only in the late 1930s. However, defeats in the first battles of World War II, when a large number of weapons of the English expeditionary force were left in France, as well as the need for short time expand mass army and to equip the territorial defense troops with something, the machine gun was returned to service. In the army, which experienced a shortage of automatic small arms, approximately 59 thousand Lewis light machine guns were returned from the warehouses. At the same time, all machine guns underwent minor modernization, in particular, aluminum radiators were removed from them, and a flame arrester appeared on the muzzle, and the heavy bipod was also replaced by a single-legged telescopic one.

Military parade on Red Square. Moscow, November 7, 1941. The photograph is especially interesting in that the Red Army soldiers are wearing winter helmets, canceled in July 1940, and are also armed with old British machine guns of the Lewis system.

The Lewis machine gun was also widely used in our country. Back in 1913, the Russian army showed interest in this development, acquiring an experimental batch. But massively these machine guns appeared in Russian Empire only in 1917, in 1916, an agreement was signed for the purchase of 9600 American machine guns and 1800 British-made machine guns. Already after the withdrawal of Russia from the First World War, these machine guns were massively used during the Civil War. For example, Nestor Makhno's bodyguards were armed with Lewis light machine guns.

In the Red Army, Lewis machine guns remained in service until the mid-1920s, remaining in military warehouses until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. It is also curious that British-made Estonian submarines of the Kalev type were armed with Lewis machine guns. These boats, along with machine guns, were transferred in 1940 to the Baltic Fleet. By the autumn-winter of 1941, the Red Army faced the same problem as the British - there was a shortage of automatic small arms for the newly formed units. The available Lewis light machine guns were returned from the warehouses, including they went into service with the militia units defending the approaches to Moscow and Leningrad.

Used during the Second World War, this light machine gun and the Axis countries. Since the end of 1944, the Germans have been arming Volkssturm battalions with them, transferring 2891 Lewis machine gun M1920 from the arsenals of occupied Holland. In Japan, machine guns of the Lewis Type 92 system (they were produced in this country under license) were used until the end of World War II, while in the Japanese army they could additionally be used from special tripod machines.

Tactical and technical characteristics machine gun "Lewis":
Weight - 13 kg.
Length - 1280 mm.
Barrel length - 670 mm.
Cartridges - 7.7x56 mm (.303 British), 7.62x63 mm (.30-06 Springfield), 7.62x54 mm R.
Rate of fire - 550 rds / min.
The initial speed of the bullet is 740 m / s.
Effective fire distance - 800 m.
Shops - disk for 47 or 97 rounds.

Sources of information:
http://www.airwar.ru/weapon/guns/lewis.html
http://www.megasword.ru/index.php?pg=550
http://world.guns.ru/machine/usa/lewis-r.html
http://gunmagazine.com.ua/index.php?id=313
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The feat of Lieutenant Gudz
How a battalion consisting of one tank stopped the German offensive on Moscow.
Pavlov's House
How 31 people defended the building for 49 days, withstanding the onslaught of an entire regiment.
Nonsense of the Ukrainian media
Ukrainian media accused the militia of shelling Lugansk from Gradov...

The feat of the Konovalov crew
On July 13, 1942, our tankers destroyed 16 enemy tanks on a faulty KV, and left without a tank, returned to their own on a captured panzer.

How Sergeant Panfilyonok knocked out 17 German tanks from forty-five
On June 25, 1941, a battery of our magpies knocked out 42 enemy tanks. 23 of these tanks were hit by one gun, and 17 of them by one person.

V-1
On June 13, 1944, the first projectile was fired at London.

Losses of German tanks during the war
How many tanks did the Germans lose every month.

On December 5, 1941, the counteroffensive began. Soviet troops under Moscow.

How Mikhail Devyatayev escaped captivity by hijacking a German plane
On February 8, 1945, a group of Soviet prisoners of war escaped from a German concentration camp in a German bomber they captured.

Brusilovsky breakthrough
On June 4 (according to the new style), 1916, the famous offensive of the Southwestern Front began.

Militias shot cops-marauders
And in Slavyansk, two militiamen were shot for the same ...

Danube landing
On June 24, 1941, our troops landed on Romanian territory.

Tu-126
The first Soviet aircraft AWACS.

How a Leningrad chemist destroyed the German air fleet
The professor's discovery made it possible to prevent mass raids on Leningrad.

Riding on the wing
How our pilots took out their downed comrades from the German rear on the wings of their planes.

I-153 in the battles for the Motherland
I-153 is the best biplane fighter...

The feat of senior lieutenant Shevtsov
How the tank company of Lieutenant Shevtsov took Maloarkhangelsk and held the station until the main forces arrived ...

How a resourceful foreman blew up a German ship
Sergeant Major Mitrokhin crawled up to the side on a sled and planted explosives. The sleigh with the foreman was dragged back on a winch.

The feat of a telephone operator
On March 3, 1944, telephone operator Olga Efimenko knocked out a German tank and killed a dozen Fritz.