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This machine gun was a French design that was developed in WW1. It was an attempt by the French national aresenal to come up with a design to challenge the Maxim. But it really wasn't a very good machine gun. It used gas piston action like the Maxim, but introducted a spring action so it wouldn't infringe on the Maxim patent. The spring tended to overheat and lose temper, so they openned it to air to allow it to cool, and that made it susceptable to dirt and jams.
The French ended up using it to defend forts where it wouldn't be exposed to the dirt of the trenches and used the Maxim for field work. After WW1 the French unloaded most St. Etienne's on their colonies-and the Greek Army who bought several thousand. I'm not sure if the Greeks modified it to use their standard 6.5 M-S cartridge or left it in the French 8 mm. Greeks used it mostly in their Forts on the Metaxas line where it reportedly performed acceptably.
Very Interesting. Never heard of this MG until now.
ReplyDeleteShould be 1.18m long and .71 barrel length, I don't think the gun was 33 feet long with a 21 foot long barrel
ReplyDeleteOops. Many thanks for catching this!
ReplyDeleteNp. gave me a smile. "That's a hell of a gun"
ReplyDeleteThis machine gun was a French design that was developed in WW1. It was an attempt by the French national aresenal to come up with a design to challenge the Maxim. But it really wasn't a very good machine gun. It used gas piston action like the Maxim, but introducted a spring action so it wouldn't infringe on the Maxim patent. The spring tended to overheat and lose temper, so they openned it to air to allow it to cool, and that made it susceptable to dirt and jams.
ReplyDeleteThe French ended up using it to defend forts where it wouldn't be exposed to the dirt of the trenches and used the Maxim for field work. After WW1 the French unloaded most St. Etienne's on their colonies-and the Greek Army who bought several thousand. I'm not sure if the Greeks modified it to use their standard 6.5 M-S cartridge or left it in the French 8 mm. Greeks used it mostly in their Forts on the Metaxas line where it reportedly performed acceptably.