St-Etienne Mle 1907
Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne · Machine Gun · Out Of Production · 1907
Also known as: Saint-Etienne Mle 1907, Mle 1907, Modele 1907
Overview
The St-Etienne Mle 1907 was a French air-cooled, gas-operated machine gun chambered in 8mm Lebel, developed at the Saint-Etienne arsenal as a domestic alternative to the Hotchkiss. It used an unusual forward-operating gas piston driving a rack-and-pinion mechanism that cycled the bolt rearward, and offered an adjustable cyclic rate. Fed from 25-round rigid metal strips (or, from 1916, 300-round fabric belts), it was mechanically complex with 64 component parts and proved prone to jamming in the mud of the Western Front.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 26000 g (917.1 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1180 mm (46.46") |
| Barrel Length | 710 mm (27.95") |
| Action Type | Gas Operated Long Stroke |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 25 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Stripper Clip |
| Muzzle Velocity | 724 m/s (2375 fps) |
| Effective Range | 2000 m (2187 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 600 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 240 mm (9.45") |
| Number of Grooves | 4 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 8mm Lebel · primary — also known as 8x50mmR Lebel, 8mm Lebel, Cartouche Mle 1886
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Metal Strip, Fabric Belt
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety
- Features: Air Cooled Barrel, Forward Operating Gas Piston, Rack And Pinion Action, Adjustable Rate Of Fire, Tripod Mounted
Service history
Operators
- French Army · adopted 1907 · as Mle 1907
- Hellenic Army
Conflicts
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
- Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Production
Estimated total produced: 39,700 · Production years: 1907-1918
Roughly 39,700 produced; abandoned by France at the close of World War I
Origin
Country of origin: France
Discontinued: 1918
Notes
Widely regarded as inferior to the Hotchkiss it was meant to supplement; the French abandoned it as soon as World War I ended. Many were relegated to colonial and second-line use, and surplus guns saw action in the Greco-Turkish and Spanish Civil Wars.
Background
The Mle 1907's backwards-running gas piston and rack-and-pinion gearbox made it one of the most mechanically convoluted machine guns ever fielded; its 64 parts jammed so readily in trench mud that French troops were glad to be rid of it the moment the Armistice was signed.