The british army adopted the new vickers design in 1912 as the gun, machine, vickers. It was in service from before the first world war until after the end of the second world war. Vickers gun was not easy to operate for it needed 6 to 8 men to operate it well. The lewis gun is regarded as the best light machine gun of the first world war, and for good reason. More detailed information is not available at this time, but rest assured that we will be revisiting this weapon in the future, and will post a great many detailed photographs when we do. Vickers guide is a one of a kind tour of some of historys most interesting and rare firearms, sourced and examined by larry vickers from public and private collections across the globe. D eveloped in the early twentieth century, the british army formally adopted the vickers gun as its standard machine gun in november 1912.
Over 30,000 bren guns were produced by 1940 and they proved to be accurate, reliable and easy to carry. Oct 14, 2012 the vickers k gun also knows as the vgo or vickers gas operated gun was a development of another countrys design, much like the bren, and also operated in a similiar fashion. The vickers machine gun or vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the watercooled. Please note this has been scanned at 150% to make reading easier. The high rate of fire was needed for the small period of time when the gunner would be able to fire at an attacking aircraft. List of contents of the box, spares and the wallet from the 1918 handbook on the vickers. A visual history shows in unique visual detail on how gun design evolved. Mar 31, 2015 the vickers machine gun was the standard issue machine gun for the british army in world war one. The weapon was also adopted for land use during world war ii. Apr 07, 2017 the gun was simply called vickers gun or vickers machine gun. The vickers machine gun an indepth study of the vickers mg in. The 1 inch gun was developed before the first world war, apparently for both aircraft and ground use. In 2000, richard met dolf goldsmith author of the grand old lady of no mans land for the first time. Vickers k gun in jewelry quality cast brass, cutting.
The american revolution was foughtand wonwith guns, and the. The vickers k machine gun, known as the vickers gas operated vickers g. As an alternative, the kindle ebook is available now and can be read on any device with the free kindle app. Even though it was lighter than the maxim, the vickers was still rather cumbersome. The first flight of a whitley was made on 17 march 1937. The vickers machine gun was the standard issue machine gun for the british army in world war one. It is amusing today to note that in the orders for the 100th machine gun companys barrage of 10 guns, captain hutchison ordered that rapid fire. Vickers k vgo medium machine gun aircraftvehicle machine gun. Vickers was, in fact, threatened with prosecution for war profiteering, due to the. The original product of the machine gun was to supply the british army. At the start of the war, senior british army officers were less than sure about the effectiveness of the machine gun.
Vickers k machine gun 2 pcs, gaspatch models 1535076. The vickers mgpage contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and plastic scale modeling. Mar 19, 2019 the british army adopted the new vickers design in 1912 as the gun, machine, vickers. Do you know what is the order of battle of the vickers k gun troop. The british bren light machine gun 500 rpm was based on a czech design and introduced in 1938.
It is presumed that the gun was designed around the usual. The gun alone weighed around 1523 kg including a full water jacket and the tripod a further 1823 kg. T he gun alone weighed around 1523 kg including a full water jacket and the tripod a further 1823 kg design and history. Army rangers storming pointe du hoc were not the only allied troops using vickers k guns on dday. Jan 15, 2016 i may be a bit biased here by my ownership of one, but i believe that the vickers gun is one of the best allaround firearms ever made. Delivery of production aircraft began in the beginning of the following year, and by march no. It was manufactured by vickers and was sometimes known as the vickers maxim and sometimes just vickers.
Some were adopted by reconnaissance units and commando teams. Rather less information has survived about other vickers projects. It was designed during an era of experimentation and. Armstrong whitworth whitley aircraft fighting the uboats.
The vickers was designed by hiram maxim, americanborn british inventor who moved from the united states to the united kingdom. The weapon was initially categorized as a heavy machine gun though this designation later gave way to a medium classification upon the arrival of other truly heavy weapons. Jan 02, 20 the magnificent vickers gun american 1915 model i may be a bit biased here by my ownership of one, but i believe that the vickers gun is one of the best allaround firearms ever made. The vickers k or vickers gas operated vgo and also officially as gun, machine, vickers berthier, 0. It was used only in flexible mounts, a fixed version proving unsuccessful. Eventually phased out of service by the raf in favor of the browning m1919, the guns found new life with. It was used with and sometimes replaced the mg 34 generalpurpose machine gun in the german armed forces.
It was one of the most commonly used weapons in the first world war. The retractable ventral turret was removed, and replaced by two machine guns firing from the side windows. As part of the history of the vickers, there are a number of potential myths and legends associated or attributed to the gun. The vickers k gun also knows as the vgo or vickers gas operated gun was a development of another countrys design, much like the bren, and also operated in a similiar fashion. Airplane kits guns weapons vickers airplane kits guns weapons 16 scale scratch building supplies scratch building supplies guns weapons scratch building supplies guns weapons vickers scratch building supplies guns weapons 16. Vickers medium machine guns for sale international. He then went on to redesign his earlier maxim toggle lock, short recoil water cooled gun. The vickers gun or vickers machine gun as it is often called was one of the first armaments fitted to an airplane for combat in the early 1910s. Vickers guide is a one of a kind tour of some of historys most interesting and rare firearms, sourced from public and private collections across the globe. A british sergeant airgunner manned his vickers k gun from the rear cockpit of. The british special air service mounted some vickers k machine guns on jeeps.
However, both weapons were made and used until the end of the war. The belt fed semiautomatic phenomenon came about in the mid1990s as a way to comply with the law while meeting collector interest in military weapons such as the rpd 7. The machine gun typically required a six to eightman team to operate. The vickers mgpage contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and. This book does a fantastic job of covering its history, design, and success. Mar 19, 2019 the vickers k or vickers gas operated vgo and also officially as gun, machine, vickers berthier, 0. Mg53 machine gun in excellent condition, these are becoming much harder to obtain these days, deactivated with a working action, it can be cocked and dry fired, the practical alternative to the extremely scarce mg42. The weapon, originally water cooled and based on the successful maxim gun, was designed and manufactured by vickers limited of britain and fitted to many early british and french fighter planes. Available accessories availability domestic orders ship within 23 business days. The vickers k series were first issued to the raf as an aircraft defence gun. The whole nine yardsthis is commonly associated with the length of the vickers. As the hk45 endurance test started to wind down, was fortunate to have two firearms industry legends ken hackathorn and larry vickers agree to discuss their involvement in the hk45s history. Maxim machine gun, first fully automatic machine gun q. The design is clearly derived from the iconic vickers machine gun, but is also clearly the product of significant effort to make it a viable light machine gun.
Vickers guns were included as a type of heavy machine guns where lewis gun was applied in the army. The magnificent vickers gun american 1915 model i may be a bit biased here by my ownership of one, but i believe that the vickers gun is one of the best allaround firearms ever made. Is, powered by 795hp armstrong siddeley tiger ix radial engines, and armed only with a single vickers k gun in both nose and tail turret. Uss beatty in 1943 had a weapon on board known as a k gun, could this and the vickers k machine gun be the same weapon. If so than i guess it was not just the rn who used them.
Like the bren, the k gun used a tilted locking breechblock, but unlike the bren, it delayed locking till the last moment and with lighter moving parts could operated. This gun was built on a ww2 australian vickers parts kit from i. Are there another commando with k gun troops like no. During the aden emergency in radfan, vickers gun was used for the last time. Replica vickers k gun or vgo detailed replica vickers k gun made from resin, with some metal parts, supplied with 1 magazine that is permanently attached. This teacherdeveloped 5th grade word list covers all the basics to prepare students for middle school. Many also found use with the sas and mounted on either trucks or jeeps and these could be single or mounted in pairs. Boxart vickers k machine gun 2 pcs 1535076 gaspatch models. Therefore most battalions were only issued with two. Some vickers machine gun video content ideas inspired by the work of britishmuzzleloaders and bloke on the range, as well as conversations with the armourers bench, as well as the positive response to the belt loading video, i think its time for a bit more video on the vickers machine gun.
Ak ar15 wwii 1911 books prints other authors contact. V, which marked a real step forward with a threeman crew and the larger hull required to operate an improved armament, the vickers cal. The vickers k also known as the go or vgo was a gasoperated light machine gun fed from a 100round doublerow pan magazine. The vickers mgpage contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and plastic scale modeling projects dedicated to this firearm.
A mark ii browning is featured in my book, a bridge to time. Theres many first hand accounts of troops in action using the weapon, which some titles include less of so that was nice to have here, most of which are from british. Its design was based on patents of the frenchman andre berthier, and the vickers class k. Wwii maxim 191030 machine gun with sokolov wheeled. Its gas cylinder is located below the barrel, and a longstroke gas piston operates a vertically tilting bolt. Hk45 interview with ken hackathorn and larry vickers. It has included a forum, mailing lists and now uses facebook to communicate and collaborate. Not to be confused with the vickers light machine gun. In this section, the facts relating to those myths are explained and confirmed or denied. The total number of deaths caused by war during the 20th century has been estimated at 187. The twin mounted vickers go was preffered due to its rapid fire rate up to 1200 round per minute.
Originally developed from the vickers berthier machine gun, its high rate of fire was necessary as aircraft gunners had shorter windows of opportunity to shoot at other aircraft. The carrying straps on these have now been improved and feature a steel bracket to which the web handle is now rivetted on, which is a great improvement on the previous ones. The new machine gun corps were formed with one hundred men to each company and a team of six men to each vickers. At first the vickers k guns were used, located just in front of the wings, but the majority of the mk ics carried a pair of beltfed browning. A jacket around the main barrel seen above held about one. Dolf expressed his support for richards work and encouraged it further. Vi was logically based on this model, with a higher degree of standardization, which. The vickers machine gun website has been established since 1998. Vickers k machine gun internet movie firearms database. The vickers was formally introduced to the british army in 1912 and quickly saw use in the war. It was designed during an era of experimentation and craftsmanship, with a quality and care that would make it today prohibitively expensive.
May 06, 2016 the vickers gun or vickers machine gun as it is often called was one of the first armaments fitted to an airplane for combat in the early 1910s. It features more than 300 iconic examples, including the military ak47 assault rifle. Dec 23, 2017 training footage of the vickers k being used in preparation for the landings at pointeduhoc. With its locking mechanism reversed so that the toggle breaks downwards, the vickers is otherwise based entirely on the maxim gun. Let me show you other details about vickers gun below. If you read about the k gun in marty morgans the forgotten guns of dday article. The bren was supported by a bipod and offered automatic and singleround shooting. Us rangers using the vickers gasoperated class k gun youtube. The vickers k, or vickers gas operated vgo was a british machine gun originally developed for use on aircraft. I may be a bit biased here by my ownership of one, but i believe that the vickers gun is one of the best allaround firearms ever made. Many books, programmes, films and interviews about them and rightly so. The vickers machine gun also known as the vickers gun was a machine gun that was used by the british army from 1912 to 1968. The vickers machine gun or vickers gun was the watercooled. Maschinengewehr 42, or machine gun 42 was a generalpurpose machine gun.
The british vickers 450500 rpm machine guns were, along. The truth is that guns save lives and those orchestrating the the gun control laws know this. It was based on the vickers berthier infantry machine gun and replaced the venerable lewis of the first world war. Jun 24, 2009 this is a newly rebuilt vickers gun in. As well as the vickers machine gun, the british used the hotchkiss and the lewis gun.
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