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A moment of gun collector zen...

By The Armorer on January 5, 2012 | | Comments (9)
The Arsenal's Hotchkiss "Portative" machinegun, in the dismounted-from-a-tank form. No, it's non-functional. We can't afford a shootable one. Most likely, neither can you.

[This pic and the other will embiggenate]


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9 Comments

By Argent on January 5, 2012 11:23 AM
Portable huh looks heavy as hell but well made.  Although for WW1 it was probably light as a feather.

What is that whirleygig next to it?
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 5, 2012 11:28 AM
The two white plastic gizmos are a rain gauge and a wind gauge, one set of several that dot the property and report wirelessly to the base-station in the house.

That thing is unwieldy, especially because it uses trays to feed ammo to the gun.
 
By CCO on January 5, 2012 3:58 PM
White plastic? My screen must be off, because it looks blue to me. ;)

I think I've pictures of a Japanese WWII machine gun that was tray loaded or rather loaded with metal strips from the left.  
 
By SezaGeoff on January 5, 2012 3:59 PM
 What is the chambering?  I have seen old film of continuous fire with these, so do the strips clip together to keep them going?  You still need two to service the gun though, which must have made tank use a problem.
 
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 5, 2012 4:15 PM
Blue is an artifact of taking the picture between BMNT and dawn...

This is .303, Geoff.  And yes, the trays do join together, but a good gunner (in a ball mount scenario) could hook the trays together himself, I suppose, though the jolting ride of those early tanks still would have made that a challenge.
 
By SezaGeoff on January 5, 2012 6:46 PM
Thanks John.  I didn't know that the Aussies used them, and have probably passed them by thinking they were Japanese trophies or French equipment.  The wife's great, great uncle was in the 4th. Light Horse, but was killed at Magdebar - the year prior to Beersheba. It looks like the display version is reasonably priced, but that would still be illegal here in Australia.
 
By Justthisguy on January 6, 2012 2:35 AM
That anemometer looks like a most-excellent wind-doping gizmo, much more classy and high-tech than the toy pinwheels the benchrest cranks use.

Y'know, I think I could get into benchrest. It seems the most autistic of all shooting sports. One of the members at the old High Road, a benchrest shooter, once said:

Q. How can you tell if a gun nut is an Aspie?

A. He doesn't have a range bag, he has a range _trailer_!

I wonder if the bench rest guys let you fire yer rifle with a lanyard?  Makes perfect sense to me.
 
By Justthisguy on January 6, 2012 2:43 AM
P.s  I think a cable release for a camera shutter would be even better. It would remome even more of that pesky physical human element from the shot.