From the Vault: Early Belt-Fed Machine Guns
Brownells Gun Tech Keith Ford explores early 20th-century belt-fed machine guns from the Rock Island Auction Company, focusing on John Moses Browning's designs. The video highlights the Colt-Browning M1895 "Potato Digger," the first successful gas-operated machine gun adopted by the U.S. military, discussing its operation and calibers (.30-40 Krag, 6mm Lee Navy, .30-06). It then examines the water-cooled Browning M1917 and the lighter, air-cooled M1919, detailing their service history from WWI through the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.






