Caldwell machine gun

Caldwell machine gun
Production information
Country of origin	Australia
Production began	1915
Technical specifications
Weapon type	Hand-cranked "heavy machine gun"
Caliber	.303 British
Weight	38lbs
Feed system	104 round pan magazines
Cyclic rate	Variable, reported to be 500 RPM
Maximum effective range	1000 meters

The Caldwell machine gun is a hand-cranked water-cooled firearm of Australian origin.

History

Designed by Thomas Frederic Caldwell of Melbourne, Australia, who moved to the United Kingdom to bring his invention to the attention of the British Government. It was lighter than its contemporary, the Maxim gun, and was also said to be cheaper to build and produce and was even said to be "foolproof". It is unclear whether any were produced, or if it advanced past prototype stages.

Overview

This two-barreled crank-operated firearm looks similar to the Maxim gun, but includes a steam valve. The two barrels can fire either simultaneously or separately, with a variable rate of fire dependent on how fast the crank is operated, à la gatling guns of the time.

Trivia

• The "machine gun" title it was given in most publications is somewhat of a misnomer, as it is hand cranked and not fully-automatic as what is expected of machine guns, and as such is not regarded as a true machine gun in the current sense of the term and would be classified as semi automatic in the U.S. under the National Firearms Act.