The Shosh machine gun was called an individual weapon, which was not famous for its positive aspects, but won the glory of the worst machine gun with many shortcomings. The command of the French army and other countries used it as a weapon for soldiers during the First World War and in subsequent years.
Machine gun description
The original appearance of the machine gun with a long barrel does not allow it to be confused with other weapon models of the time. The machine gun of the Shosh system in the design consists of a long receiver tube, under it there is a mechanism on a bulky box. Cartridges are fed from the lower semicircular magazine, thin bipods protrude forward. Two handles of wood complete the picture, the butt looks asymmetrically short compared to the trunk.
The automatic operation of the machine gun is based on the principle of recoil of the barrel with a long movement, through which the mechanism for subsequent supply of ammunition is launched. Larva lobes enters the grip with the trunk and locks the channel. A constantly triggered trigger triggers single shots of continuous action.
Aiming is carried out on the fly against the background of the sector sight. The described automatic circuit allows you to shoot at a slow pace. Modern weapons theorists unambiguously speak of such a trigger class as an unnecessary principle, but in those military times, automation with a low rate of warfare was widely used.
The Shosh pistol is characterized by two handles, one of which is located under the butt like a pistol model, the second is under a long barrel to maintain balance when firing. Permanently installed on folding legs. Production does not require large material costs, so more than 200 thousand units of a kind of automatic machine are produced in a short time.
Battle use
The French military ranks immediately after the release of the first models recognized as the best weapons of a light machine gun. The Shosh machine gun is rapidly moving from production workshops to trenches, its use is becoming popular. The weapon belongs to hand-held devices, since its weight does not exceed 10 kg with a carbine.
On the left side of the box there are holes that allow you to bring in a belt for fastening behind your back in a campaign like a rifle. The French army became famous for the concept of "wandering fire" due to the fact that the machine gun Shosh arr. 1915 allowed to shoot from the hip while walking and running across rough terrain.
Origin of weapons
The initial task of the designers was to create a self-loading machine gun or automatic light rifle for firing standard Lebel rifle cartridges. The ancestor of weapons is considered to be a Swiss gunsmith of Hungarian origin Frommer. He is trying to introduce the invented rifle into the army of his country, but tests revealed the failure of the weapon, and the government refused.
The restless inventor turns to the French, who decide to finalize the circuit diagram for equipping soldiers. Shosh automatic rifle gets its name by the name of the chairman of the French committee, engaged in the creation of these weapons. The letters CSRG appeared in the name of the automatic gun thanks to the name of all the constituent parts of the production. Clianchat (control link), Snlerre (engineer), Ribeyrolle (technician-technologist), Gladiator (factory). Popular rumor called a machine gun by the name of Colonel of the French army Shosh.
Advantages of the machine gun
The design of the weapon is developed taking into account the possibility of its production in non-specialized factories. The company Gladiator, which released the first inspection batch, is a bicycle factory. Shosh machine gun CSRG M1915 conquers the expanses of factory floors and becomes massive. The advantages of the machine gun are few:
- One of them is light weight, allowing the soldier to maneuver and shoot from different positions.
- The second positive quality is that the slow rate of fire does not allow the use of a large number of rounds, and the consumption of ammunition is significantly reduced.
- The third advantage is the low cost of manufacture and simplicity of the device.
At this point, the positive characteristics of the weapon end. Without the end of the cycle of certain tests, the machine gun is sent to arm the army. And a year after equipping it with an automatic rifle, it begins to be massively removed from the weapons depots of existing military formations. There were more disadvantages than advantages.
Disadvantages of the design of the machine gun
The weapon is designed with visible flaws, for example, the larva in the trunk is constantly twisted, the machine gun jammed at critical moments. Dust and dirt constantly accumulate in a long pipe, which adversely affects the accuracy of shooting. The Shosh machine gun is very mediocre in striking targets due to the fact that more than 3 kg of heavy parts moved in a light rifle when fired.
The unsuccessful design and shape of the magazine does not allow all ammunition to get into the barrel in the correct position, the last cartridges are rotated in the chamber with the rear end forward. This leads to a stop of the device, requires disassembly and correction of the malfunction. In a battle, this serves as a loss of time and promises defeat.
Very often the carbine spring becomes unusable and requires replacement, and in the field it is difficult. The innovation to reduce the weight of the machine gun in the form of windows on the walls of the store turns out to be that its unreliable work is tested by additional dirt and dust in battle conditions.
The Shosh machine gun won a negative attitude by the fact that parts could fly out of it when fired. The receiver, the casing and the metal skeleton are fastened together by one bolt, which does not tighten firmly due to the thickness of the layer and is twisted out of the hole due to vibration. The loss of the fastener ends with the cessation of firing.
Machine gun modifications
Over the years, model changes look like this:
- In 1915, the Mle 1915 model was released using a cartridge from a French rifle.
- The year 1918 was marked by the beginning of the production of a machine gun for the use of an American cartridge of 7.62 caliber.
- The modification option for Belgian cartridges 7.65 was put into production in 1927.
Using a machine gun in other countries
The characteristics of lame quality could not attract other countries for the acquisition of such a machine gun, but this was not so. The orders of the director of the military department of the American army turned out to be enough to transfer about 16 thousand weapons to the battlefields in eastern France to arm the American soldiers who fought there.
At the same time, Colonel Isaac Lewis establishes production of reliable machine guns in America, but the head of the department, because of personal hostility to him, stops his choice of low-quality weapons and supplies the Shosh machine gun to the army. Americans, accustomed to a comfortable war, did not practice such weapons for a long time. While one of the military fired, two more quickly tried to charge the failed stores.
The director of the military department decides on the release of a new modification under the American patron and in 1918 produces a batch of updated Shosh machine guns in the amount of more than 19 thousand pieces. The new model is not much better than the first. The number of cartridges in the magazine is reduced to 16, and an error in the drawings turns the barrel chamber into an uncomfortable design, which makes it difficult to extract cartridges.
The use of Shosh automatic rifles in Russia
During the First World War, the Russian Empire delivered 500 units of the Shosh machine gun from France at the end of 1916. A further period of hostilities required the transfer of the French invention in the amount of 5600 units. This weapon was successfully and not very used by the Red Army for waging a civil war. Use continued after its completion.
Western countries
In France, F. Schauch's CSRG machine gun of 1915, released under the regular production cartridge, is used to equip the army in early 1915, but is withdrawn from use in 1924.
The First World War was characteristic of the German Empire by arming the army with a small number of automatic machine guns received as trophies in military operations on the western front. During the Second World War, the Third Reich also uses the Shosh trophy machine gun in a modification for French, Belgian and Yugoslav cartridges.
Finland equips its army soldiers with machine guns twice - during the Finnish-Soviet war and in the war against the Soviet Union until 1944. Supplies mean the purchase of 5 thousand pieces of machines.
Romania, which participated in the First World War, uses 7,200 weapons for the entire period. At the same time, 5 thousand rifles were delivered to Poland. In Italy, the command quickly realizes what a Shosh machine gun is, so automatic rifles did not gain a visible advantage. But a certain amount is provided for arming the crews of armored vehicles.
Actions for disassembling the Shosh machine gun 1915
- The machine gun is discharged.
- Pressing the stopper behind the box from below removes the recoil pad along with the springs.
- The springs are separated, then the stop clutch is removed.
- The casing is separated from the box by pulling the handle for cocking back, the connection bolt is removed, the contactor is turned head down.
- Remove the rammer with the platoon handle and direction bar and take it out of the hole in the receiver.
- After removing the box, the trigger is disassembled.
Assembling an automatic machine gun is carried out in the reverse order.
Opinions of experts about the design of weapons
R. Lidshun, G. Vollert describe the Shosh machine gun in their book “Small Arms Yesterday” as a weapon acceptable for use by infantrymen, since a soldier can carry it during an assault. If we talk about massive use, then such machine guns significantly raised firepower during attack and retreat. In the modern world, the importance of weapons has been reduced to nothing, but in that situation its use was justified.
Knowledge of the history of France says that this country did not keep up with the then world, hence the creation of a machine gun follows. This rifle serves as a bone of contention among American gun lovers. Many enthusiasts argue that the machine gun should have been brewed tightly and not be used in hostilities. Such thoughts are expressed by Ford R. in the book “Infernal Mower”.
The Russian commander Fedorov believed that a gun in the form of a machine gun, characterized by a long recoil, was considered obsolete, and relief in shooting was achieved by shortening the barrel.
So, the Shosh machine gun of 1915 is considered not a very successful model of automatic weapons. Its use in battle by many countries suggests that this machine gun was one of the first prototypes of subsequent successful models.