.30cal machine gun

As I understand it, the M1919 .30cal machine gun was produced in (wait for it) 1919. The guns we used, however, were modified.

Is it correct that the main modification of our L3A4 Browning, was that the working parts were held to the rear when the gun was cocked (unlike the M60)?

Many thanks, Bruce

Bruce,

We used the M 1919A4 Fixed or Flexible, the working parts were held to the rear using the bolt latch.

Tubby

Bruce, the original had a "floating" firing pin. Was cocked and the bolt forward, needed to press the tit to fire. With the "fixed" pin (circa 1968?) the working parts had to be locked back when cocked. The pin would fire the round if the bolt went forward.

Thanks everyone.

There was something worrying me about the designation L3A4. Barry Diwell's sent me an authoritive reference which explains that with the fixed firing pin mod, the guns were designated as L3A3 (coax) and L3A4 (flex). This makes sense because if you're ordering a gun through the Q system, they have to be designated differently to ensure because of the different backplates. (I've seen some references which use L3A4 in relation to both guns, but I'm sure that it should be L3A3 and L3A4.)

Cheers, Bruce

I don't want to confuse things but my recollection is that they were marked 'L3A3/A4'.

Bruce Scott

L3A1/A2

The Commonwealth designation used by both the United Kingdom and Australia to designate the fixed (A1) and flexible (A2) versions of the M1919A4 in .30-06 caliber.

L3A3/A4

Australian sear hold-open conversion of previous L3A1s and L3A2s. The A3 is the modified version of the A1, and the A4 is the modified version of the A2.