The Johnston Model D1918 was a light machine gun.[1] It is a rare and little-known weapon with scant information available on it. It is best known for its resemblance to the Lewis Gun, having a similar gas-operated action and a barrel surrounded by a cooling shroud.
The action was gas-operated, with the piston working in a cylinder beneath and integral with the barrel. The Johnston did not use the Lewis's prominent clock spring. Cocking of the piece was unusual, the entire pistol grip sliding forwards to engage the action, then returning backwards to cock it.[note 2] This was first unlocked by a trigger-like mechanism in a cutout through the grip, behind the firing trigger.
The cooling shroud could be removed without tools by unscrewing the front retaining ring from the barrel by hand. The aluminium cooling fins inside were in two pieces and once the shroud was removed, came loose from the barrel. A cold barrel could be unscrewed for field exchange.[note 3] An integral bipod was attached to the shroud.
Stripped to major groups
Variantsedit
Variant without thermal jacket
A variant was produced without the heat shield jacket and with a bare, unfinned barrel. A muzzle counterweight maintained the normal balance position. A further wooden handgrip was provided ahead of the receiver, as the bare barrel would be too hot to hold, unlike the cooling shroud.
Notesedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Johnston Model D1918 machine gun.
johnston, light, machine, johnston, model, d1918, light, machine, rare, little, known, weapon, with, scant, information, available, best, known, resemblance, lewis, having, similar, operated, action, barrel, surrounded, cooling, shroud, johnston, d1918, lmgtyp. The Johnston Model D1918 was a light machine gun 1 It is a rare and little known weapon with scant information available on it It is best known for its resemblance to the Lewis Gun having a similar gas operated action and a barrel surrounded by a cooling shroud Johnston D1918 LMGTypeLight machine gunPlace of originUnited StatesSpecificationsCartridge 30 06 SpringfieldActiongas operatedFeed systemdouble drum magazineThe weapon was chambered for the 30 06 round fed from double drum magazines note 1 The action was gas operated with the piston working in a cylinder beneath and integral with the barrel The Johnston did not use the Lewis s prominent clock spring Cocking of the piece was unusual the entire pistol grip sliding forwards to engage the action then returning backwards to cock it note 2 This was first unlocked by a trigger like mechanism in a cutout through the grip behind the firing trigger The cooling shroud could be removed without tools by unscrewing the front retaining ring from the barrel by hand The aluminium cooling fins inside were in two pieces and once the shroud was removed came loose from the barrel A cold barrel could be unscrewed for field exchange note 3 An integral bipod was attached to the shroud Stripped to major groupsVariants edit nbsp Variant without thermal jacketA variant was produced without the heat shield jacket and with a bare unfinned barrel A muzzle counterweight maintained the normal balance position A further wooden handgrip was provided ahead of the receiver as the bare barrel would be too hot to hold unlike the cooling shroud Notes edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Johnston Model D1918 machine gun Rather than the Lewis pan magazine A similar cocking action was used in the Czech BESA 15mm and was copied for later models of the Besal emergency production LMG based on the Bren Unlike the Bren where a side handle with extra insulation and leverage was provided to allow a hot barrel to be changed References edit Johnston Model D1918 www forgottenweapons com 26 January 2011 nbsp This article relating to machine guns is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article on military history is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Johnston light machine gun amp oldid 1160904260, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
