St Etienne Mle 07/16 8mm Heavy Machine Gun

At the start of the First World War in 1914 the 8mm St Etienne was the standard Heavy Machine Gun of the French Army.

The St. Etienne machine gun was the product of a French government design, produced at the St. Etienne arsenal (hence its name). Designed as an improvement upon an earlier failed design, the 1905 Puteaux, and based upon the 8mm Hotchkiss, the mle 1907 St. Etienne was a complicated version of a simple design, and it soon proved unreliable.

Theoretically it was capable of firing 500 rounds per minute (which was adjustable by the gas cylinder) although far fewer in practice. It had the same feed method as the Hotchkiss, i.e. metallic feed trays with 24 or 30 8mm Lebel Rounds, a solution, although with some advantages, severely reduced the practical rate of fire. It was later on complemented by regular belt-feed. It was inexpensive to manufacture (due to the use of inferior materials), but it weighed almost 26kg and it also proved prone to overheating. It jammed easily. The length of the weapon was 1180mm, the Barrel 710 mm and it had a 4 groove, right-hand rifling.

It was deemed a failure, and replaced by the much more reliable and robust Hotchkiss. The last St. Etienne HMG:s were withdrawn from service in 1916, surplus weapons were either shipped to Africa, or given to the Italian Army, who had a shortage of modern MG:s.
 

Technical Data