Hotchkiss machine gun

{{Short description|Line of machineguns by Hotchkiss}}

{{More citations needed|date=December 2021}}

File:The British Army in Normandy 1944 B6918.jpg (KOSB), 9th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, firing a captured Hotchkiss machine gun during street fighting in Caen, 10 July 1944.]]

The Hotchkiss machine gun was any of a line of products developed and sold by Hotchkiss et Cie, (full name Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie), established by United States gunsmith Benjamin B. Hotchkiss.{{cite book|author=An Instructor|title=Complete Guide to the Hotchkiss Machine Gun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Hu-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PR11|date=29 March 2012|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=978-1-78151-265-4|pages=11–}} Hotchkiss moved to France and set up a factory, first at Viviez near Rodez in 1867, then at Saint-Denis near Paris in 1875, manufacturing arms used by the French in the Franco-Prussian War.

Variants

At the turn of the twentieth century, the company introduced the gas-actuated Hotchkiss machine gun, a sturdy and reliable weapon which was widely used during World War I and thereafter by the French Army. Weapons manufactured in the Hotchkiss machine gun line include:

  • Hotchkiss 1897 machine gun
  • Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun, light machine gun also known as the "Hotchkiss Mark I" in British service and the "Benét–Mercié" in American service.
  • Hotchkiss Mle 1914, medium machine gun
  • Hotchkiss 37mm, autocannon based on the M1897-M1914 model{{Cite web|url=http://tacerror.tumblr.com/post/98267462483/hotchkiss-37mm-autocannon-on-a-field-mount-early|title=Hotchkiss 37mm autocannon on a field mount, early... - Armies of a Genteel Age|website=Armies of a Genteel Age|language=en|access-date=2018-11-12}}
  • Hotchkiss M1922, light machine gun
  • Hotchkiss M1929, heavy machine gun
  • 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun, autocannon but sometimes referred to as a machine gun
  • Hotchkiss Type Universal submachine gun

The Hotchkiss design was also used on foreign productions:

References

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