St-Étienne Mle 1907
Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne · Machine Gun · Out Of Production · 1907
Also known as: Saint-Étienne Model 1907, Mle 1907, St. Étienne M1907
Overview
The St-Étienne Mle 1907 is a French gas-operated, air-cooled heavy machine gun chambered in 8x50mmR Lebel. Developed by the state arsenal at Saint-Étienne as a domestically produced alternative to the Hotchkiss, it used an unusual reversed gas-piston system driving a rack-and-pinion to operate the bolt, and fed from 25-round rigid metallic strips. Tripod-mounted and capable of an adjustable rate of fire, it served as a principal French heavy machine gun through World War I despite a reputation for mechanical complexity and sensitivity to dust and mud.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 26000 g (917.1 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1180 mm (46.46") |
| Barrel Length | 710 mm (27.95") |
| Action Type | Gas Operated |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 25 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Feed Strip |
| Muzzle Velocity | 724 m/s (2375 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 3354 J (2474 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 1500 m (1640 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 4500 m (4921 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 600 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Number of Grooves | 4 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 8x50mmR Lebel · primary — also known as 8mm Lebel, Cartouche Mle 1886, 8x50R
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: 25 Round Metallic Strip, 300 Round Fabric Belt
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety
- Features: Air Cooled, Tripod Mounted, Adjustable Rate Of Fire, Metallic Strip Feed, Open Bolt
Variants
- St-Étienne Mle 1907/16 — Improved
Service history
Operators
- French Army · adopted 1907 · as Mle 1907
- Hellenic Army · adopted 1918
- Spanish Republican forces
Conflicts
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
- Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Production
Estimated total produced: 39,700 · Production years: 1908-1918
Roughly 39,700 produced; largely supplanted in French front-line service by the Hotchkiss Mle 1914 by the end of WWI.
Origin
Country of origin: France
Designer: Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne (MAS)
Discontinued: 1918
Notes
Mechanically intricate: its forward-acting gas piston and exposed rack-and-pinion mechanism made the gun prone to fouling in trench conditions. The improved Mle 1907/16 added a new gas regulator and revised sights. Many were withdrawn from front-line French service and passed to allies or rear-area units before WWI ended.
Background
Its gas piston ran forward rather than rearward, an inverted layout that let designers reuse the action's spring as a buffer but left a fragile rack-and-pinion drive exposed to trench grit. Soldiers found it so finicky that many St-Étiennes were quietly handed off to allied armies and secondary fronts as the more rugged Hotchkiss took over the front line.