Lewis Gun

Birmingham Small Arms Company · Machine-Gun · Discontinued · 1914

Weight (empty)13000 g (458.6 oz)
Overall Length1280 mm (50.39")
Barrel Length670 mm (26.38")
Magazine Capacity47 rounds
Action TypeGas Operated Long Stroke
Firing MechanismOpen Bolt
Muzzle Velocity744 m/s (2441 fps)
Muzzle Energy3132 J (2310 ft·lbf)
Effective Range800 m (875 yd)
Frame MaterialSteel

Primary Caliber: .303 British

The Lewis Gun is a gas-operated, air-cooled light machine gun designed in the United States in 1911 by U.S. Army Colonel Isaac Newton Lewis, building on earlier work by Dr. Samuel McClean. Immediately recognizable by its distinctive aluminum finned barrel radiator enclosed in a cylindrical cooling shroud and its top-mounted flat pan magazine, the Lewis was the first truly practical light machine gun of the modern era. Chambered primarily in .303 British, it weighed approximately 13 kg, measured ...

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Designer: Isaac Newton Lewis