denton
Member
This one took me a few minutes to sort out.
Thanks to other posters, we've seen a strange looking device also described as Browning's first gas operated machine gun (45-70). If I've got this right, that device did precede the one shown here. Both that and the lever action 44-40 that I posted earlier were "flapper" systems, extracting energy to run the mechanism from gas that had exited the muzzle.
This one picks off propellant gas off near the muzzle, and so is the first of the type we have today. The bore is 44 caliber, but nobody that we know of has actually checked the chambering. It is presumed to be 44-40. Note the vertical magazine well on the right side of the receiver.
Reportedly, Mikhail Kalashnikov studied this particular device when designing his AK47, and it's influence is clearly present down to present day AR15s and the like.
This is one ugly piece of work. Note the two extra dovetails in the middle of the barrel. Of course, it wasn't meant to be anything but a test prototype, and it filled that role admirably.
As I was taking this photo, there was a lady there looking at it with interest. She seemed to be puzzled by the term "gas operated", and I think she was trying to figure out how you put gasoline in it.
NOTE: I'm probably headed back over to the museum tomorrow, and will get a few more pictures. If there are any requests for specific items, let me know.
Thanks to other posters, we've seen a strange looking device also described as Browning's first gas operated machine gun (45-70). If I've got this right, that device did precede the one shown here. Both that and the lever action 44-40 that I posted earlier were "flapper" systems, extracting energy to run the mechanism from gas that had exited the muzzle.
This one picks off propellant gas off near the muzzle, and so is the first of the type we have today. The bore is 44 caliber, but nobody that we know of has actually checked the chambering. It is presumed to be 44-40. Note the vertical magazine well on the right side of the receiver.
Reportedly, Mikhail Kalashnikov studied this particular device when designing his AK47, and it's influence is clearly present down to present day AR15s and the like.
This is one ugly piece of work. Note the two extra dovetails in the middle of the barrel. Of course, it wasn't meant to be anything but a test prototype, and it filled that role admirably.
As I was taking this photo, there was a lady there looking at it with interest. She seemed to be puzzled by the term "gas operated", and I think she was trying to figure out how you put gasoline in it.
NOTE: I'm probably headed back over to the museum tomorrow, and will get a few more pictures. If there are any requests for specific items, let me know.
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