The Brits also started making Japanese 6.5mm Arisaka bullets during the war...so something like that for a lightened F-H rifle/MG system would be nice.Properly adopt the Farquar-Hill in 1918. It supplements and eventually replaces the Lee-Enfield in the inter-war period. This pages the way for a better semi-auto rifle in the early 1930s, quite possibly chambered for a rimless cartridge. With less emphasis on the LMG the UK clones the GPMG concept.
Properly adopt the Farquar-Hill in 1918. It supplements and eventually replaces the Lee-Enfield in the inter-war period. This pages the way for a better semi-auto rifle in the early 1930s, quite possibly chambered for a rimless cartridge. With less emphasis on the LMG the UK clones the GPMG concept.
The 1918 version that was still relatively underdeveloped was. If adopted in 1918 and continually improved it would have been considerably lighter.The Farqhar-Hill is a bit big and heavy for Infantry, it was closer to the BAR than an Infantry rifle. I can see it supplementing the Lee-Enfield maybe replacing the Lewis Gun.
The 1918 version that was still relatively underdeveloped was. If adopted in 1918 and continually improved it would have been considerably lighter.
British Army adopts the Vickers Pederson rifle the Bergman MP28 SMG and the FN Browning Hi Power pistol. Nothing needs inventing or developing, just a willingness to spend the money.
I would love to be able to handle and shoot a Pederson but toggle locks and minute tolerances in the desert. It might have worked but I can imagine the small arms people in the British Army would have had the screaming heebie jeebies at the thought of it.
Anyone who opened up a Vickers or Maxim Machine Gun would have seen a toggle lock, and they were still reliable in desert, and everywhere else
Not to mention it required a lubricated cartridge, which when heated (say in a hot chamber), could potentially get sticky enough to attract/capture dirt and sand.The US War department were critical of the Pederson
the concerns expressed by the Semiautomatic Rifle Board regarding the vulnerability of the operating mechanism to sand and mud when held open were very real.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedersen_rifle
Other Toggle locks could work in bad conditionsNot to mention it required a lubricated cartridge, which when heated (say in a hot chamber), could potentially get sticky enough to attract/capture dirt and sand.
The US War department were critical of the Pederson
the concerns expressed by the Semiautomatic Rifle Board regarding the vulnerability of the operating mechanism to sand and mud when held open were very real.
Other Toggle locks could work in bad conditions
The biggest problem with British and Commonwealth infantry was the pathetic allotment of mortars. Germans had 6 8cm mortars at battalion. Americans had 4 81mm mortars at battalion plus 9 60mm divided among the 3 rifle companies. Soviets had 9 82mm mortars at battalion, plus 120mm at regiment level. The British had 2 3-inch mortars at battalion, that’s it. The 3-inch also had the worst range of all WWII medium mortars.