Lewis MG

JohnFitz · 9 June 2004, 02:46 PM

Was reading about the Lewis installation in the Austin A.F.B 1 and the comment was made that the "breach" of the gun stuck out under the instrument panel. Is it correct to say a Lewis MG has a breach? The Lewis has a "drum" for ammo so I'm confused about the use of the word "breach". It would seem more fitting in regard to the 37mm canon in the Spad 12. Can anyone offer expertise on this? Thanks.

Barrett · 9 June 2004, 07:50 PM

Every firearm has a breech, a term usually interchangeable with "chamber." The breech is the portion of the barrel in which the cartridge is chambered.

R Pope · 9 June 2004, 08:46 PM

JohnFitz, to be precise, your reference should have said "The action..." not the breech. Semantics again.

JohnFitz · 10 June 2004, 05:14 AM

Okay, thanks guys.

Graeme · 10 June 2004, 10:59 AM

From Van Nostrand's "Operation and Tactical Use of the Lewis Automatic Machine Rifle" (1917):

"The top of the receiver has a slot cut in it, to form a passage for the feed operating arm stud.

Also in front of this slot is cut the feedway slot through which the cartridges pass from the magazine to the chamber."

further:

"THE CARTRIDGE GUIDE AND CARTRIDGE GUIDE SPRING are on the left side of the feedways, and hold the cartridge in position, until the bolt pushes it down and into the chamber."

Graeme

JohnFitz · 10 June 2004, 03:05 PM

Graeme, thanks for your kind reply. Is the word "BREECH" used anywhere in the description? Cheers!

Graeme · 11 June 2004, 10:13 AM

John

There are about 17 pages devoted to a description of the gun, its use and maintenance but only "receiver" and "chamber" are used, never "breech".

For what it's worth, the book was published in the USA in 1917, so perhaps terminology was slightly different?

Graeme

R Pope · 11 June 2004, 06:54 PM

The "breech" is not really a part, it's the opening where the round goes in. It is a part of the barrel, and is closed by the bolt. It's not the chamber, that's the place the round sits to be fired. Clear as mud, right?

12 June 2004, 09:24 AM

Very confusing. On the Luger, for instance, there is a "breechblock" that is activated by the toggles, and on a 1911 there is a "breech face" on the slide.
The breech face does the final pushing of the fresh cartridge into battery.
The breech, therefore, is the opening into which the cartridge drops, slides or is forced, on the feed cycle.
Nomenclature was never consistent from writer to writer or artist to artist.
So, all I can say is, "Forward! Into the breech, men!"

R Pope · 13 June 2004, 01:45 AM

Except when you quote"Forward into the---" it should be "Breach", not "Breech". Different word, different meaning. And breechblock, bolt, obteration screw, whatever, they all close the breech and contain the cartridge.