History of WWI Primer 095: French Hotchkiss 1914 Documentary
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- čas přidán 25. 03. 2019
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Othais and Mae delve into the story of this WWI classic. Complete with history, function, and live fire demonstration.
C&Rsenal presents its WWI Primer series; covering the firearms of this historic conflict one at a time in honor of the centennial anniversary. Join us every other
Tuesday!
Special Thanks: Jeff II and William
Additional reading:
Les Mitrailleuses Francaises
Jean Huon and Alain Barrellier
The Hotchkiss Company During the Great War
Pierre de la Gorce (probably)
Norske Mitraljoser og Maskingevaerer: Hotchkiss, Madsen og Colt
Tom Flatby and Folke Myrvang
La Mitraileuse Francaise Hotchkiss Modele 1914
La Gazette des Armes 427
Luc Guillou
The Belgian Army in the Great War: Portable Service Weapons
Pierre Lierneux
The Machine Gun, Vol 1
George M. Chinn
Safe range space thanks to Triana Protection
Additional photos thanks to Rock Island Auction
Ammunition data thanks to DrakeGmbH
/ drakegmbh
Visit us at candrsenal.com
![Eminem - Houdini [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/22tVWwmTie8/mqdefault.jpg)
For a crew served weapon like this, when Mae considers the "taking it into battle" question, Mae should just consider herself 4 or 5 Maes and that she'd be running it as the crew that is intended.
War were declared. You know it's coming, but you don't know when, and it surprises you every time.
The warning is when Othias says, "But then..."
And...Othias has added this phrase to the standard American lexicon
it's almost as being Belgium!
When this series is over, someone needs to compile all his "war were declared's" into one video
My favorite part of the video.
"the pointy end goes towards the enemy" Good advice, almost always applies.
Pretty solid except for the odd case of the chauchat, where in the pointy ends go towards the enemy, the operator, and that guy in the plane
>almost always applies
>almost always
>almost
*_Seppuku intensifies_*
"But commissar.....you've pointed it at me...."
"Well I guess we learned something today, didn't we Guardsman? Be a darling and push that trigger for me, won't you?"
This looks a lot more modern than it really is. The photo of the guys wearing derbies handling it looked really odd - like a Back to the Future scene.
TAOFLEDERMAUS yup, I went in reverse and thought Bloke on the Range was doing a video on the Hochkiss but it was the Bren in .303 which was an auxiliary weapon I was almost trained in when I was serving in Canada, (May have been converted to .308 but that was more then 20 years ago and my memory ain’t what it used to be). So embarrassing since my CZcams identity is my actual name because since the content providers lay it out to be trolled the least I could do is be equally identifiable in case I suddenly become an a-hole.
"Looks modern"
Wut you talkin' bout Jeff?
Although compared to a maxim gun-cube I suppose it is...
@@john-paulsilke893 honestly sir I like yourself use my real name and find it a good way to keep my comments from being abusive to others. I just wish that more people would be like this. Thank you for holding yourself accountable in this way.
@@planescaped the layout of the gun is pretty modern.. air cooled barrel over a gas tube, almost normal looking feed block, pistol grip… this think almost looks like an overgrown MAG 58 rather than the steampunk/clockwork monstrosities that most of the early MGs look like. (Looking at you St Etienne and Benet Mercie)
The bronze feed block makes this already steampunk-looking gun even more steampunk-looking.
The bronze parts on old MGs are like old wood parts on old SMGs🤌👌
"...there's the doo-dad, here's my ding-a-ling..."
Haha
"These French Words" That's an awesome Bluegrass Band name.
Not zydeco?
For your information, Norwegian Chief Armourer Mørch (or Mørk, I'm unsure of the spelling) developed a metallic belt that was issued for the Norwegian Hotchkiss. I've handled such a "double-pinch" belt once, it got turned in full of 6.5x55 ammo during a firearms amnesty some years back. This Norwegian-issue belt apparently works in unmodified Hotchkiss guns designed for metallic strip feed. It is basically a series of steel two-round strips linked together with wire hinges. IIRC it held 100 rounds or so. It was called "dobbeltklypet" which I loosely translate as "double-pinched" because each cartridge was held by a pair of spring steel pincher sort of things. Don't know why nobody else copied this, might be a cost issue since the multi-part belt is clearly more expensive than a stamped strip.
I have seen Kongsberg Hotchkiss with belts, basically belts "pretending" to be feed strips :-) As you probably know, Kongsberg actually refused to buy them from France as we could make them cheaper and faster here. And individual testing of ech gun was severe (1000 rounds on every gun I believe).
These the kind of belt you handled? www.kvf.no/guns/mg/bilder/MG-Kongsberg-Hotchkiss-M98-M11-ladeskinner-1.jpg
Stig-Magnus Gjerald yeah, with a stiff starter section for loading into the gun.
I believe the French did something similar in their tanks with 10+rd strips linked like described.
“firearms amnesty” 🤦🏼♂️
Albert Henri Mercié, born oct 20th 1863 in La Rebolada (Spain) deceased may 27th 1936 in Saint Denis (France)
Joined the army in 1883 for 5 years
Documents show him in Saint Denis in 1914, in Lyon in 1916 and back in Saint Denis in 1918.
His son Daniel died as prisonner of war oct 25th 1918 after having being captured july 28th 1918
Thank you for the update. Too bad about his son. So many men, women, and children just lost to history in that terrible conflict.
What a tragedy him dying a POW just 16 days before the Armistice.
Source?
@@borkwoof696 the archives of the Saint Denis city for Henri Albert and his sons
Interesting trivia regarding Hotchkiss guns is that after the end of WW2, the liberated Korea had a whole bunch of Japanese Hotchkiss guns left. But they were just discarded or scrapped. Most likely reason why is because the North got the Russian Maxim guns and the South got the 1919s af well as 1917s. So as far as I know there's no record of both Koreas using the Hotchkiss guns after the liberation. Thanks for showing one slick French Steampunk!
- Jack the Korean Gun Nut.
I would bet ammunition supply was a factor in that.
@@snowstalker36 There's a caveat though. Both Koreas - even till the start of the Korean War - had a good bit of leftover Arisaka rifles in their inventory. If you look around the internet there's some photos of South Korean infantrymen marching with Type 38 or 99.
Seconded: that 1907 is the most Steampunk-esque HMG ever, despite not generating steam.
I'd like to hear more from Jack the Korean Gun Nut
John D just piss on the barrel to cool it down and hey presto: steam. 😂
(I know, I know, ideally it should not be just steam producing but steam driven...)
Just to be clear, FABRIC ammunition belts from WW1 cannot be linked together. Modern disintegrating-link metal belts CAN by connected together by simply adding a spare round between the two belts.
The metal strips from this guy can as well, as long as they're supported or only added as the other was almost finished
Othais, I love how you handle large, heavy, metal, practically indestructible objects so delicately as if they were made of glass.
You were the biggest kid in school, weren't you?
Once he showed up at Gene Hackman's place when the latter was going through a hermit phase. Hackman offered drink, soup and a cigar. Othais did not stick around for the espresso...
Machine guns essentially sell at a minimum of $10,000 in the US. These rare historical military arms can and do go up to 100-200 thousand.
The only way to protect the purity of his precious bodily fluids.
@@hangonsnoop What was that about purity of fluids? Some people really get hung up on that......
@@jobdylan5782 more like. $5500 and up if you include certain submachine guns like Grease Guns, Stens, and such.
Nobody:
Othias: *grunts*
P.s Loving the crisp microphone sound quality though.
"The Germans are Troublesome." Both World Wars in only four words.
MrMISTER well, once they got riled up it took half the world to get them to calm down... 🙃😂
They are still troublesome. They think that they know "better" and it allways end in disaster. Let them stick in technology and God forbid them them from politic.
@@herrmateuss Hey, we _DO_ know better! 😉
(At least many of us regarding nationalism, racism, dictatorship, nationalsocialism, socialism. Why it's all bad. And how easily a democracy can be lost. The numbers knowing are dropping, though. 😒)
"The French are kinda dicks."
Both World Wars five words?
Note: I'm not German, just thought this would be funny.
As described by the British over tea!
I can't speak for everyone but the enjoyment I derive from watching your struggles is because it proves that even "professionals" experience difficulties at inopportune moments.
Wow I was really impressed with this Hotchkiss 1914, like how Project Lightening really impressed me with the Lewis gun. I would not have thought the Hotchkiss was superior to the Maxim but I can definitely see it's advantages. Excellent episode, as per usual.
It's a good day when the first youtube notification on my phone is a Hotchkiss MG episode.
One of the things about crew served weapons is that you have a crew to dig your HEAVY machine-gun in properly. So when you do project Thunder™ please have them properly emplaced.
Finally, I have watched every single Primer, only took me 3 weeks, and I must say this is an absolutely excellent series you all have produced here. Some of the best historical content I've seen in awhile.
And now, I begin on Anvil...
I am on my 3rd time and it never gets old
If you assembled and disassemble, this gun once a day, you'd be totally ripped, without having to go to the gym.
just taking it out of storage once a day would be a decent little workout.
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.
Outstanding content,thank you good sir! Best wishes to the entire C&Rsenal crew.
back with a BAM, a machine gun episode to return with, thank you so much!
Didn’t see anything on your channel and then this popped up in my Recommendations....YAY, A NEW EPISODE!
I love the solid brass on that thing
Such a brilliant lesson in history. Thank you for all the hard work and man hours.
I like anything you do and am happy to just watch whatever comes out and when.
Part of the 'would you take this into battle' question that seems to be common across most of the battle-tested machine guns of the Great War is how brutally simple they were. The Hotchkiss is a great example: keep feeding it ammo and it works, trained crew optional.
Even the Maxim, which seems to be about as close to an artillery piece as one can get in the form factor of a machine gun, isn't difficult to operate. Jam in the end of the belt, rack the charging handle twice, and rock out. Continue as needed, topping off the water jacket when necessary. Same for the Hotchkiss: jam in a feed strip and go to town. These weapons were so simply designed that even someone with virtually no training at all could understand the basics of what to do and get it into action.
Thank you Team for Putting this great Film out. Othas Thank you taking it apart on camera Well done.Having Mae in there will be great. Well done on Project Lighting
I think I should express my deep aprechiation foor the content your channel produces and the work you put in.
Your animation is excellent. Our ancestors were incredible in their mechanical knowledge and innovation. Thank you for your videos.
You make it all look SO easy!
I'm glad you explained why you didn't link the feed strips. I've wanted to see a video of this function and was somewhat disappointed it wasn't in the video. I understand why you couldn't.
Always happy to see a new CN arsenal video
Great musical choice. Great everything...as always.
Terrific Video Othias, very well done.
I wrongly wrote off this weapon but after watching your episode - changed my mind , its one of the best mounted machine guns of ww1
Comments on the afterword. And here I thought Mae was the one in charge.... After having watched this channel for over a year, I am glad to hear/see that Mae is learning the ropes on production. (has learned?) Keep up the good work anyway and some of us hope that you both keep improving/learning/producing. Thank you again for your efforts. The next question is How many more WWI firearms are there?
Othais: "grunt" ... oh how I missed that :o)
Possibly worthy of being immortalised, t shirt wise 😉
Since its an implaced mashine gun, i think the simplicity of the heavy barrel compared to the water jacket seen on everything else is really good on this gun. There is a reasons thats how we do it today, albeit not to this extent.
It seems the trend with late 19th century/ great war machine guns was the need to make the guns supremely reliable in order to entice adoption. These guns were a first for many nations. After the great war the lesson seemed to be about sacrificing some of the reliability/ sustainability of the guns in order to gain mobility. Plus if the new designs were easier/ cheaper to build all the better.
19th century firearms were transitioning from black powder to smokeless ammunition, so there was still the problem of fouling that gunked up the gun to jamming.
Lessons from the great war improved ammunition quality, metallurgy, mechanism simplicity, and battle strategy.
It makes sense, there was an awful lot of skepticism about the machine gun at that time, it being so new. Reliability was paramount in convincing militaries that they were a viable weapons system.
I legitimately think that is a very good looking machine gun. Love the lines, and the contrast of the black and brass.
Thanks for being back to your regular schedule! Less risk of going cold turkey...Would be nice to get more infos on their use in tanks; even the British used them.
you really covered this subject thoroughly and we see how this gun came into being slow as it was ..interesting!
I love how you counted your fingers just to make sure they were still there lol lol lol.
Ps love your show great job guys and gal.
Great video team! I have to say, even if you cant find 100% examples that are still in shootable order - would love to see a video on the St Enteinne 1907 and the Fiat Revelli 1914. Two guns that for my money are tied for the most oddball wierd machine gun design. I am one of the nerds that enjoys the history lecture of the videos as much as the shooting segments. Mae is a bonus to those.
Such a great video, thanks man
Excellent as usual
"Here's my dingaling" - "Ignore this white stuff"
You really do love your guns!
I definitely understand.
That animation is so amazing.
Thank you for making this happen
38:52 that fly got out immediately as soon as that bolt went home. Gonna have a hell of a shock being next to the muzzle like that.
A most superlative and informative episode as always though guys.
Dude that heavy Hotchkiss owned you! Merci for the great video!
Good to see Mae on the team full time!
What versions used brass strips and what versions used steel strips. And are the strips all the same and if not how do you tell them apart
"They may be the most robust heavy MG ever fielded."
The M2 would like to have a word.
Perhaps.., but I think you're confusing...
> A much more modern weapon of the M2 to the Hotch' that is, which in a much heavier caliber than this one.
> That this fires a rifle round and so is proportionally of a heavier & robust construction than the 'duce' is; for its relative round size and later, more advanced feed system.
> This has a real 'quick change' barrel system unlike the duce's screw in system.
> I would guess the barrel of this Hotch' is as heavy or heavier than that of the duce's.
Also M2 requires a bit more care and attention to run well, albeit, the M2 is still in service and has many decades of training around all its problems that ensures its 'reliabilty' in the field.
Next to the Maxim derived designs, the Hotchkiss family of designs, was widely used before and in WW1 by forces, and was licensed built in other nations as well, for example in Meji Japan, used by the Imperial Japanese Forces in the battles against Imperial Russia in the very early 1900's - hence why they still had some Hotchkiss derived weapon designs in the 1920's 30's and an adapted Lewis design too.
For your 1911 pistol, Forgotten Weapons already did a nice summary of history
this is by far my favorite machine gun of the 20th century
I support your decision to do things in life OTHER then this project. We do not want you burning out on us! I do not have Patreon but I have been able to support in other ways and I will continue to do so.
Seeing smoke come out of a gun looks satisfying to me I know it's more convenient to have smokeless rounds but it doesn't look as cool.
your always here when I need you
Nice gun. The thing really work slick. Mae look so happy when she's firing a machine gun :)
1:20 Ahhh footage from the South Carolina Military Museum vault. I've played with that thing in there, too!
That is so steampunk and futuristic looking for its time. I really love the look of it.
The videos on this channel are so good that I press like before I even watch it.
And then I watch it
The slow motion firing sounds like the hellish offspring of a Panzerwerfer and a Katyusha.
Panzerwerfer, it werfs panzer
"Saint Dennis." Never change, Othais. We wouldn't know what to do if you pronounced a European name the way a local would pronounce it.
To be fair, he's learned how to pronounce Birmingham, so he's learning!
Are "doodad" and "dingaling" technical terms? Great video and have enjoyed your episodes!
Yes, as is "thingamajig" which may also known as a "thingamabobber" in certain dialects.
Quite the episode! I really appreciate the hard work that you folks put into research, presentation and evaluation of each piece. It really brought to mind just how many weapons have gotten a bad reputation, like the Hotchkiss, unjustly. Some writer years ago had a personal axe to grind and just lambasted the feed system, the reliability, the whole works. I also remember a (formerly) respected writer waxing eloquent about just how great the large ring mauser was and why it was subsequently sporterized so much. In the next sentence, he advised anyone with an Arisaka or small ring Mauser to turn it into a novelty lamp. (my gorgeous hunting rifle that I discovered to be a 1st year Type 99 begged to differ)
P. S. Since you taught May the ins and outs of production, will Crozier be doing more machine gun evaluations to help out?
Fudd lore is a hell of a thing. Do you know which writer it was, and why he is no longer respected, aside from the arisaka remarks
nice one
That's a lot of moving mass. What a beast.
"Dont lose this little guy"
*Toss haphazardly to the side*
It looks like a machine gun designed by Nikola Tesla. I'm surprised it was never converted into a Star Wars prop.
The Hotchkiss Machineguns seem to be a mainstay of French and Japanese armies, eh? It might be heavy af but at the end of the day, you know it works. And it works for a variety of calibres: 8mm Lebel, 7 mm Mauser, .30-06, .303, 7.7 Japanese.
The hurried setup was actually somewhat more authentic for combat use. With a proper crew. more people could refine the position and secure the mount. I'd guess many times , speed at getting it in action was more vital than any fine tuning of the position. Linking the strips would have been nice, but again the gun you used may have been more like many fielded, slightly out of tune for the linked strips. Altogether a remarkable perfoprmance from an old gun and it young operator. It was nice to see a gun which did not beat on Mae like most of them have done. Clearly this gun runs like a classic Timex watch. It just keep ticking. More great work from C&Rsenal.
Question: In regards to the feeding clips, when it is loaded into the machine, is there a physical indicator that it is in the correct spot, or is it just a audible click?
I would think if its just the click, that would be pretty hard to hear with artillery and machine guns going off. (sorry if this was explained and i'm just bird-brained)
Love the series, you guys do a great job!
Andrew Hotchkiss, rocking the Englebert Humperdink look there!
We have pictures of my Grandfather with that kind of haircut. The question is, was he also wearing a dress?
@@kevinsullivan3448 Could have just been very big flared trousers and the camera angle!
Just as a bit of a correction disintegrating belts can be easily linked (obviously those were not yet available at the time). You don't even need a second person for it. You just do it when you feel the ammunition starts running low and there are 15 seconds to do it. So the strips have no advantage in this regard.
Actually in the tank footage it looked like it was fed from a belt.
I got a question. Can you demonstrate the ammo clip's ability to hook together with another one when firing. I am curious to see how difficult it would be to keep the strip aligned to ensure it fed in.
Thanks...
I love the name that Othias used to describe the gun, the "Big Boy Hotchkiss".
Othais, have you done a review on the Schwarzlose HMG yet? I can't find one if you did.
I'm a little hazy on that disassembly procedure. Could you do that again?
Your Patreon link is missing from the video description!
Where can I get the skinny on Baloo The Bear and Annie Oakley? Do you two own all those weapons? I wonder how the winds flow @ Knob Creek.
THANKs
I know that I'm years late but I have been wondering if there was a tripod with a mechanical traverse that was used during this period? If not I believe it could have made a difference and would appreciate your thoughts on this one way or the other.
What did Othias get for Episode 95...a hernia. This was a great episode...no surprise.
The Japanese developments of the Hotchkiss pattern guns needs some explaining and you people are just the ones to do it.
Excellent work carry on.
So based on the Mae-versation it sounds like your rating the Hotchkiss 1914 as being fairly resistant to Private Snuffy and his 'Best intentions' when it comes to the manual of arms?
Was it this version or the later one that was mounted on tanks? I know the Hotchkiss was often preferred over the Lewis for tank mounting since the gas wouldn't be pumped into the already bad conditions of the interior.
I would love to see you take a look at the Chilean Modelo 20 machine gun; which is a Type 3 - Hotchkiss 1914 hybrid (mainly a Type 3 MG with a Hotchkiss made barrel) chambered for the 7x57mm Mauser spitzer "thin" variant (7.21 mm vs the european 7.24 mm)
Nice to see it got the Mae grin of approval.
👍 And COMMENT WERE MADE! 😂. The research, the expertise, the thorough descriptions of all things Gun, & on & on with the superlatives, is why I can easily watch well over an hour and NEVER be bored. Y'all have an absolutely unique channel & it is a history buff's dream come true 😁! Othias, your dry humor and immaculate knowledge base plus pleasant sound of your voice (You coulda been in Show Biz, lol) makes your presentation an experience that is addictive! And much to my surprise (so many Bimbos.....so little value) Miss Mae is apparently just as well educated in firearms as you Sir. The respect you both show one another is inspiring. I love watching Miss Mae shoot.........especially the post mag (stripper clip) dump giggles 😄 If I ever got a chance to shoot a machine gun & was allowed a mag dump or two would make me giggle too!!! Thanks kids (I'm ancient, lol!) For a great vid....AS USUAL!
According to Ian Hogg & John Weeks' small arms reference book, the reason the French didn't adopt the Hotchkiss before the Great War was because the state arsenals didn't want to pay the license fee. They also state that the primary objective of the design of the operating systems of the Puteaux and St. Entienne was to avoid infringing on the Hotvhkiss patents at all costs. Does your research agree with this?
no patreon link in the descrition?.. PS will you go subscribestar?
Othias, what rifle is that on the bottom of the horizontal group of rifles over your left shoulder. The receiver looks like a Win 1885 High Wall, but I’m not sure that’s actually what it is.
You are probably done with all the Hotchkiss filming... But don't forget to check my friend out at Panzerfaustarmory. He still has that Lebel ammo I believe. Great episode!
My body is ready!
How did the french carry the Hotchkiss? Didn't found documentation about it? It was pretty clear how the germans carry the MG08 around, but I'm not sure about the hotchkiss
www.mitrailleuse.fr/France/Transport/transport.htm
@@ighmur thank you for the answer