MOKAREX FRENCH MCHINE GUN TEAM

The Chauchat (pronounced 'show-shah') was a light machine gun used mainly by the French Army but also by seven other nations, including the USA, during and after World War I. Its formal designation in the French Army was Fusil-Mitrailleur Mle 1915 CSRG. It was also known as the FM Chauchat, CSRG or Gladiator. Over 260,000 were produced, making it the most widely-manufactured automatic weapon of World War I. A variant, made to accommodate the US .30-06 cartridge under American orders, was designated the CSRG 1918 and unfortunately was also referred to as "the Chauchat".hotchkiss

The Chauchat CSRG M1915 was one of the first light machine guns designed to be carried and fired by a single operator and an assistant, without a heavy tripod or a team of machine gunners. It set a precedent for several subsequent 20th century firearm projects, being a portable automatic weapon built inexpensively and in very large numbers. It combined a pistol grip, an in-line stock, a large-capacity detachable magazine, and selective-fire capability in a compact package of manageable weight (20 pounds) for a single soldier. It could be fired from the hip and also while walking.



However, in the muddy trenches of northern France, it faced a daunting challenge which it did not completely overcome. However the record shows that it provided significantly useful service when one considers it was the first of it's kind operating in the worst possible environment. Most of the problems were caused by the open sided, semi-circular magazines which caused 2/3 of all stoppages, most of which could be quickly cleared. Immediately after the war, the French replaced it with the Mle 1924 and later with the Mle 1924/29 light machine gun. The American Expeditionary Forces in France (the AEF) replaced it with the vastly superior ( but not available when needed the most ) Browning Automatic Rifle, or BAR, which appeared on the front lines of northern France in September 1918, barely two months before the Armistice of November 11.



Over time the Chauchat's poor reputation and short service life have led many modern experts to describe it as perhaps the "worst machine gun" ever fielded in the history of warfare.[1][2][3] Period reports, soldiers' memoirs, as well as US Divisional Histories (1917–1918) tend to be more moderate in tone. The reason for the blanket condemnation of all Chauchat machine-rifles, both the CSRG Mle 1915 and the CSRG Mle 1918 , is due in very large part to the disastrous service record of the CSRG Mle 1918 ( in .30-06 ) and to the ignorance of the useful service provided by the CSRG Mle 1915 ( in 8mm Lebel ) during WW-1.







MODEL SOLDIERS FROM FIXED BAYONET Unpainted £5 each plus free painted model. Non-Dinpinti / 7 Euro + soldatino gratis con ogni ordine. This applies only to the FIXED BAYONET SOLDIERS which are of our unique manufacture or made for us.SEE list of what is available .All other soldiers listed here are just those we like and want to feature.We do not sell anything thats not on our list.