Weapons Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié Light Machine Gun

[Dan Morton]

Wikipedia:
The Hotchkiss M1909 machine gun was a French designed light machine gun of the early 20th century, developed and built by Hotchkiss et Cie. It was also known as the Hotchkiss Mark I and M1909 Benét–Mercié.
It was adopted by the French army as the Hotchkiss M1909 (or Mle 1909) in 1909, firing the 8 mm Lebel.
A variant to use the .303 round was produced in Britain as the "Hotchkiss Mark I" and manufactured by Enfield. The British army employed three different types of machine gun: the Vickers medium machine gun, the Hotchkiss (for cavalry and tank use), and the Lewis Gun with the infantry.
It was adopted by the US in 1909 as the "Benét–Mercié Machine Rifle, Caliber .30 U. S. Model of 1909" firing the .30-06 cartridge. The name comes from three sources: Hotchkiss, the name of the American Benjamin B. Hotchkiss who started the company in France; the two main designers, Lawrence Benét and Henri Mercié; and the US designation system at time which label arms with "Model of Year". Lawrence Benét was related to the former head of US Army Ordnance at the time of adoption.
It is also known as the Hotchkiss M1909 and M1909 Benét–Mercié, but should not be confused with the heavier Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun.

 

[Dan Morton]

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