Chauchat M1915
«Fusil-Mitrailleur Mle 1915 CSRG»
Light machine gunFrance1915Historic
French long-recoil light machine gun in 8×50R Lebel with 20-round half-moon magazine; infamous for reliability issues but produced in over 260,000 units, the first mass-produced LMG.
Light machine gun//France
ID — CHAUCHAT-M1915
Designation
Chauchat M1915
Gladiator / Sidarme
Caliber
8×50R mm Lebel
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Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- Chauchat M1915
- Alias
- Fusil-Mitrailleur Mle 1915 CSRG
- Manufacturer
- Gladiator / Sidarme
- Country
- France
- Year
- 1915
- Category
- Light machine gun
- Status
- Historic
Ballistics
- Caliber
- 8×50R mm Lebel
- Muzzle velocity
- 700 m/s
- Rate of fire
- ~250 rpm
- Effective range
- 200 m
- Maximum range
- 2000 m
Dimensions
- Barrel length
- 470 mm
- Overall length
- 1143 mm
- Empty weight
- 9.07 kg
Mechanics
- Operating system
- Lungo rinculo della canna
- Bolt / action
- Rotating bolt
Feed
- System
- Caricatore amovibile semilunare
- Standard capacity
- 20 rounds
Fire modes
SafeSemi-autoAuto
Historical profile
Developed by the Chauchat-Sutter-Ribeyrolles-Gladiator (CSRG) team and adopted in 1915 to equip every French infantry squad with a light automatic weapon.
The open-side magazine and long-recoil action made it vulnerable to mud and dust, especially in the Somme and Verdun trenches.
Rechambered in .30-06 Springfield for the American AEF (M1918 CSRG): the US version was an outright failure due to chamber tolerance issues.
Variants
CSRG Mle 1915 (8mm Lebel)M1918 CSRG (.30-06)Mle 1915/27 (7.5×54)
Main users
France · Stati Uniti (AEF) · Belgium · Grecia · Poland · Romania
Key components
- ●Stock — Shoulder rest.
- ●Receiver — Weapon body with internal mechanisms.
- ●Grip — Primary grip.
- ●Magazine — Cartridge feed.
- ●Barrel — Guides the projectile.
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