Vickers Machine Gun

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 11:38 Written by Administrator Thursday, 02 July 2009 03:19

The Vickers machine gun was .303 calibre machine designed in the year 1912 by Vickers Ltd for the British Army. It was used widely during World War I. It also saw action in World War II and during Korean War. Part of the popularity of the Vickers machine was due to its great solidity and reliability. It could be continuously fired and would rarely breakdown or get jammed.

The design of the Vickers gun was based on the earlier Maxim gun of the late 19th century. In the year 1896, Vickers Limited acquired the Maxim Company and inherited the designs and improved them. Improvements included reduction in weight by removing certain parts and the addition of a recoil booster.

During the First World War, there was an acute shortage of Vickers machine guns and the British forces deployed in France were still equipped with older Maxim guns. However as the war progressed, Vickers Limited produced the guns in large numbers and simultaneously cut the prices in response to threats of prosecution for war profiteering. This ultimately led to the adoption of the Vickers gun as the standard machine gun by the British Army on all fronts.

The Vickers gun made use of the standard .303 Lee Enfield cartridges. Some versions of the gun could also fire the .5 in round. With firing rates ranging from 450 to 600-rounds per minute, the Vickers machine gun was very effective up to a range of 4,500 yards (4.1 kilometres).

Just like other guns in the class, several variants of the Vickers machine gun were designed. Some of the notable variants and derivatives include the .5-inch Mk. II, the .5-inch MK. III and the Mark IV and V guns. Mk. II was used in battle tanks while the MK. III was primarily employed as an anti-craft gun on British Naval ships. MK. III was also used on smaller naval vessels such as gun boats and torpedo boats. Mark IV and V were primarily intended for use on light tanks, but were also used as truck mounts.

The Vickers gun was also used as the standard gun on British and French aircraft after 1916. There were other lighter guns such as the Lewis gun, however, the Vickers gun was easier to synchronize to fire through the propeller and this was the reason why it was employed widely with aircraft. The guns used with aircraft were specially modified. The water-cooling jacket, though useless, was retained as the gun used barrel recoil. However, slots were cut into the empty jacket to enable air to circulate and cool the barrel.

By the Second World War, the Vickers gun was replaced by the faster-firing Browning Model 1919. The fabric belt feed mechanism of the Vickers gun made it difficult to use on aircraft and thus the Browning Model 1919 with its metal-linked cartridges proved to be superior. Several British aircraft also used the Vickers K machine gun which was a completely different gun design from the same company.

The Vickers gun was exported to several countries and was also used as the basis for several next generation machine guns. Even today, several countries such as India, Pakistan and Nepal continue to use it as a reserve weapon, intended for deployment during emergencies.

---

Share this on