I got sick of buy MGs, so I decided to trade for my next one!

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    IMBLITZVT

    IMBLITZVT

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 20, 2009
    3,799
    Catonsville, MD
    I got sick of buying MGs, so I decided to trade for my next one!

    Machine guns are expensive and it flat out hurts paying for them. So for my next MG, I decided not to pay for one.

    Now I can't tell you how many times people tell me they can't "afford" a Machine gun. So I decided to prove you can get into a Machine gun without spending a dime. Now, I have seen people trade cars, gold and even bitcoin... but I don't have a spare car, gold or bitcoin. Plenty of guys with like 50 handguns tell me they can't afford a MG. Well sell off a bunch of pistol and you can! I love hearing MGs are to much and then I get told how they buy nothing but CMP Garands... but they only have 99 of them... Well lets slim down to a handful and its easy to afford a Machine gun! However I don't have that many guns, so I decided that was to much to trade too! I decided nothing more than parts were up for trade! Gun parts only but even then I don't have that many...

    So in the end... I traded my next MG for a bipod, two bolts and a steam cover! 4 parts, nothing more.

    IMG_20180820_183509538 (1).jpg

    1x Tank-Gewehr Bipod (Think 13mm Mauser, 1918)
    2x Bolts (Maxim MG08 Machine gun locks, technically)
    1x Steam port cover (Maxim MG08/15 Water cooled MG part that directs the steam down a hose)

    So yeah I grant, they are not typical parts and yes, they do have a lot of value. They are all at least 100 years old too. However, I was able to trade these 4 parts for a Registered Machine gun! Time to eat... I will tell you what I got shortly!
     
    Last edited:
    IMBLITZVT

    IMBLITZVT

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 20, 2009
    3,799
    Catonsville, MD
    rouchna said:
    Damn it man. Hurry up and eat and tell me what you got.
    Click to expand...

    Ok, sorry, Dinner then a game with the kids... I am back.

    So I will grant there are only so many MGs you can trade 4 gun parts for and have it be a fair deal. A while back I was reading what a guy with 150+ MGs was saying on a forum and then got the book on the subject, Honor Bound. I have heard since I first started buying Machine guns how the absolute worse Machine gun ever made was the Chauchat (Said Show-Show). Well like everything we are taught, things are not as they appear. The Chauchat was one of the very first light Machine guns to be fielded. I mean Technically, it along with the 1918 BAR are the only two Automatic Rifles of any real note. While I would love a 1918 BAR, they are not really in trade range. Back to the Chauchat. It came out in a time where the choices were very limited. The Germans were fielding the MG08 with no light MG opinion. The British had the Lewis gun and the Vickers. Sure the Lewis is light-ish but... The French had the 1914 Hotchkiss, with many the heaviest standard rifle caliber barrel in history. So if you had to run with one of them or a bolt gun... Well the Chauchat starts looking better... You also come to find out that the Chauchat really only has a bad reputation in the US. The gun was even used by the Polish and Finnish post WWI. Well as it explains in the book, there are actually two different Chauchats! There is the 1915 Model with the half moon magazine. This fired 8mm Lebel. Sure there were some bad design features like an open sided mag but the gun ran pretty well for its role and for the time. That said the US had this gun produced in 30-06 in the 1918 model Chauchat. This took a different straight mag. This was the gun that proved a disaster for the US. The French screwed up the conversion of the dimension for the chamber. Basically they made the chamber tight. So, its no real shock the rounds stuck and the gun was viewed as a POS just like the XM16e1s. The gun works off long recoil, which was also used on by Browning on the Auto 5 shotgun. So the barrel recoils the full length of the cartridge. So its basic design was fine. The Author of Honor Bound details how with a 30-06 chamber reamer, he was able to take a gun that did not run and turned it into a fine working gun. However with the US only entering the tail end of the war, the gun was never fixed before the end of the war and the reputation was set. Unlike the XM16e1 it never had the time to work the issues out. Or at least this is what I hear!

    So when I had a chance to pick up a Registed Dewat 1915 Chauchat, I figured it would be a great time to see for myself!
    IMG_2780.jpg
     
    IMBLITZVT

    IMBLITZVT

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 20, 2009
    3,799
    Catonsville, MD
    ericoak said:
    I only have one guess...
    Click to expand...

    You already knew

    rsideout said:
    I'm going with a Chauchat, large fries, and a Coke. :)
    Click to expand...

    Insider info... does not count for you either! I hate being predictable! :)

    Well, this is a dewat so, the barrel is welded up. Normally I would try my hand at fixing it, but I think I will wind up sending it up to the guy who got me interested in this in the first place as he has done 20-25 of these repairs.

    IMG_2796.jpg
     
    rouchna

    rouchna

    Defund the ATF
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 25, 2009
    5,968
    Virginia
    IMBLITZVT said:
    Ok, sorry, Dinner then a game with the kids... I am back.

    So I will grant there are only so many MGs you can trade 4 gun parts for and have it be a fair deal. A while back I was reading what a guy with 150+ MGs was saying on a forum and then got the book on the subject, Honor Bound. I have heard since I first started buying Machine guns how the absolute worse Machine gun ever made was the Chauchat (Said Show-Show). Well like everything we are taught, things are not as they appear. The Chauchat was one of the very first light Machine guns to be fielded. I mean Technically, it along with the 1918 BAR are the only two Automatic Rifles of any real note. While I would love a 1918 BAR, they are not really in trade range. Back to the Chauchat. It came out in a time where the choices were very limited. The Germans were fielding the MG08 with no light MG opinion. The British had the Lewis gun and the Vickers. Sure the Lewis is light-ish but... The French had the 1914 Hotchkiss, with many the heaviest standard rifle caliber barrel in history. So if you had to run with one of them or a bolt gun... Well the Chauchat starts looking better... You also come to find out that the Chauchat really only has a bad reputation in the US. The gun was even used by the Polish and Finnish post WWI. Well as it explains in the book, there are actually two different Chauchats! There is the 1915 Model with the half moon magazine. This fired 8mm Lebel. Sure there were some bad design features like an open sided mag but the gun ran pretty well for its role and for the time. That said the US had this gun produced in 30-06 in the 1918 model Chauchat. This took a different straight mag. This was the gun that proved a disaster for the US. The French screwed up the conversion of the dimension for the chamber. Basically they made the chamber tight. So, its no real shock the rounds stuck and the gun was viewed as a POS just like the XM16e1s. The gun works off long recoil, which was also used on by Browning on the Auto 5 shotgun. So the barrel recoils the full length of the cartridge. So its basic design was fine. The Author of Honor Bound details how with a 30-06 chamber reamer, he was able to take a gun that did not run and turned it into a fine working gun. However with the US only entering the tail end of the war, the gun was never fixed before the end of the war and the reputation was set. Unlike the XM16e1 it never had the time to work the issues out. Or at least this is what I hear!

    So when I had a chance to pick up a Registed Dewat 1915 Chauchat, I figured it would be a great time to see for myself!
    View attachment 240848
    Click to expand...

    Wow. Learned a lot from your post. Please keep us posted :party29:
     
    rayrevolver

    rayrevolver

    Active Member
    Jul 26, 2012
    422
    Since no one posted it yet:
    For Sale–French rifle, never fired and only dropped once.

    Thanks for sharing. I did not know about the 2 models and will watch those videos later. Dang, Prvi still makes ammo so that won't be a problem.

    ...I can't afford a machine gun, man! :lol2:
     
    smdub

    smdub

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 14, 2012
    4,659
    MoCo
    This is great! I know you've been looking for one. Will be cool to see it run.
     
    IMBLITZVT

    IMBLITZVT

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 20, 2009
    3,799
    Catonsville, MD
    rayrevolver said:
    Since no one posted it yet:
    For Sale–French rifle, never fired and only dropped once.

    Thanks for sharing. I did not know about the 2 models and will watch those videos later. Dang, Prvi still makes ammo so that won't be a problem.

    ...I can't afford a machine gun, man! :lol2:
    Click to expand...

    I might even get a small white flag to put in the muzzle when on display. However, that is really only period correct for WWII. In WWI the French really did fight, maybe the most next to the Germans.

    Chauchat 1915, 8mm Lebel. Note the curved mag for the 8mm lebel rimmed cartridge. Also the grip is behind the mag.

    ee89ee16f84f8f67608f683cbbde9c92.jpg


    Chauchat 1918, 30-06. Note the straight mag and the grip in front of the mag. Also note that the mag is not "open" like the 8mm Lebel version! I guess they did learn!

    m1918-csrg.jpg


    Haha, I have been hearing that people can't afford them for so long... I would guess 1 in 5 is actually true. At least now I have proof, you don't need to spend a dime! :)
     
    IMBLITZVT

    IMBLITZVT

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 20, 2009
    3,799
    Catonsville, MD
    smdub said:
    This is great! I know you've been looking for one. Will be cool to see it run.
    Click to expand...

    Yeah, I got in it for the right price. Its going to take a while to get going. First it has to come in and then I am all but sure I am going to send it to a Professional MG gunsmith to get the work done. Probably take a year or more before I will get to fire it. At least that gives me plenty of time to figure out the ammo part of this...

    Now I have a line on a Potato Digger... :)
     
    Art3

    Art3

    Eqinsu Ocha
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2015
    13,315
    Harford County
    IMBLITZVT said:
    Yeah, I got in it for the right price. Its going to take a while to get going. First it has to come in and then I am all but sure I am going to send it to a Professional MG gunsmith to get the work done. Probably take a year or more before I will get to fire it. At least that gives me plenty of time to figure out the ammo part of this...

    Now I have a line on a Potato Digger    ... :)
    Click to expand...

    Hmmm...:tap:...sounds expensive :innocent0
     
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