The principal machine-guns used by the expedition were the 1904 Maxim, the M1909 Benet-Mercei Machine-Rifle, and the 1916 Model Lewis light machine guns. When the U.S. army trials to find the best machine gun ended in 1903, the Maxim gun was selected. The Army purchased 282 1904 model Maxims originally chambered for the U.S. 1903 cartridge, but converted to .30-06 when it was introduced. These guns were used in Mexico and as training weapons at the end of WWI. Maxim Model 1904 Statistics: Gun weight with coolant was 73½ pounds; weight of tripod was 80 pounds. Coolant capacity of jacket was 2½ quarts. Cycle rate of 600 rounds per minute. Effective range was 1,000 yards. All army maxims were mule packed. Soon after adopting the maxim, the U.S. Army started looking for a lighter machine gun that could go with the infantry anywhere. Only one weapon worth considering was the M1909 Benet-Mercie machine rifle. The gun was an air cooled, gas operated machine gun in .30-06 caliber. The gun used the Hotchkiss strip feed. It was fitted with a bipot and butt monopod; in addition, the company also offered a tripod mounting. The tripod was too weak so some weapons in Mexico were fitted with 1895 Colt tripods. The Army purchased manufacturing rights to the weapon and made 670 machine-rifles for their own use. This weapon received a bad reputation in the press but the problem was the crewmen. They were loading the strip feeds in rounds up causing one round instant jams. All machine gun crews were badly trained early in the expedition. There is a photo from the era showing a maxim gun crew loading the belt in from the wrong side while happily posing for the photographer. A Lt. Julian S. Hatcher was sent down to check on the machine-rifle problem and immediately established the U.S. Army's first machine gun schools. M1909 Benet-Mercie Machine-Rifle Statistics: Gun weight was 33 pounds; had a bipod mount and a rear monopod. Feed was 30 round strips and effective range was 1,000 yards with a cycle rate of 600 rounds per minute. As stop gap weapons, the U.S. Army bought 350 .303 British Lewis light machine guns for the border trouble. These weapons were taken from a British order with Savage Arms and gave reasonable service. Lewis Model 1916 Light Machine Gun Statistics: Weight was 25¼ pounds; bipod mounting; weapon was air cooled; feed was by 47 round drums; effective range of 1,000 yards and cycle rate of 500 rounds per minute. The main U.S. Army field gun of the era was the M1903 3 inch gun. This was basically an Erhardt design with a hydro-spring recoil and a pole trail. The gun was drawn by a four or six horse team and limber. U.S. Army 3-inch field gun M1903 Statistics: Range was 6,500 yards; elevation to 16 degrees; traverse arc of 8 degrees and standard shell was shrapnel. Sources: GUIDE TO UNITED STATES MACHINE GUNS by Konrad F. Schreier, Jr., Normount Technical Publications, Wickenburg, Arizona, 2nd Printing, August, 1975. THE GUNS 1914-1918 by Ian V. Hogg, Ballantine Books Inc., 101 Fifth Ave., New York, NY, 10003 Copyright 1971. Back to MWAN #19 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com