Vickers K machine gun

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This article is about the Vickers K machine gun. For the USN depth charge projector, see
K-gun. For the machine gun, see Vickers machine gun
.

Vickers Gas Operated
pan
60/100 rounds
SightsIron

The Vickers K machine gun, known as the Vickers Gas Operated (Vickers G.O.) or Gun, Machine, Vickers G.O. .303-inch in British service, was a rapid-firing machine gun developed and manufactured for use in aircraft by Vickers-Armstrongs. The high rate of fire was needed for the short period of time when the gunner would be able to fire at an attacking aircraft. The weapon was adopted for land use during World War II.

Development

A Vickers K machine gun without its pan magazine in Batey ha-Osef Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel.

The Vickers K was a development of the

MG34.[1]

The weapon was adopted for British service as the VGO. It was test-flown with a large 300-round

Browning Mark II was selected as the standard machine-gun armament for RAF aircraft, the VGO became redundant for the RAF. These guns found secondary use in many roles. It continued to be used by the Fleet Air Arm
until 1945.

Variants

Some were made in 7.7mm for the Belgians[citation needed] before the war and at least one example of the ground variant survives in a Brussels museum.[2]

VGO No.1 Mk.1.

The Vickers class K/Vickers G.O. machine gun is a gas-operated weapon, firing from an open bolt (thus making it non-synchronizable for firing through a spinning propeller[citation needed]) in full automatic mode only. Its gas cylinder is located below the barrel, and a long-stroke gas piston operates a vertically tilting bolt. Feed is from top-mounted flat pan magazines with a nominal capacity of 100 rounds, although it was customary to load only 96 or 97 rounds to ensure reliable feeding. The gun is fitted with a single spade grip at the rear of receiver, with trigger to control fire. In ground use, it was normally mounted on single or twin pintle mounts on various jeeps and trucks.

Vickers GO No.2 Mk.1 Land Service

Originally intended for RAF airfield defence units, these guns were remanufactured from original Vickers G.O. No.1 Mk.1 aircraft guns. A number of these ‘Vickers G.O. Land Service’ machine guns found their way to a variety of British commando and reconnaissance units which operated in Europe during 1944 and 1945. The Land variant has the spade grip replaced with a "semi bullpup" short stock at the rear and a pistol grip with trigger below the receiver. A short forend or a folding carrying handle are added below the gas cylinder, and a folding bipod is attached to the gas block. New iron sights are provided on folding bases.

Vickers G.O. Camera Gun

A camera gun version was made for training. The body was of cast metal. The grip and trigger mechanism were realistic. Gunners in training exposed film when "shooting" at attacking aircraft and these images were analysed later. This was a technique developed in World War I with Lewis Camera Guns.[citation needed]

Combat use

SAS returning from a 1943 patrol in North Africa with their twin-mounted Vickers K machine guns.
Beaufort L4461 'OA-J', of No. 22 Squadron RAF. The turret has a Vickers K machine gun; for protection against beam attacks, another K gun is mounted in the port entry hatch.

The Vickers K was fitted to light and medium bombers in RAF service such as the

gun turrets, such as the dorsal turret in the Bristol Blenheim, the nose turret in the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and the rear of the cockpit in the Fairey Battle. It was the standard Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm "Telegraphist Air Gunner" machine gun, on British built carrier (Torpedo Strike Reconnaissance) aircraft - the Fairey Swordfish, the Fairey Albacore and the Fairey Barracuda.[3] As supplies of air-cooled .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns increased the Vickers G.O. was phased out of use with the RAF. These machine guns were then reallocated from RAF stocks to units of the British and Commonwealth armies. The gun continued in service with the Fleet Air Arm and its last recorded use by the navy was by 812 Squadron RNAS Barracudas in anti piracy patrols off Hong Kong in October 1945.[4]

A member of a Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) patrol poses with a Vickers 'K' Gas-operated machine gun on a Chevrolet 30-cwt truck, May 1942.

The

D-Day
.

In the

Motor Torpedo Boats, Motor Launches and other light craft, from 1942.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-88365-403-2
    , p. 88-89
  2. ^ "From Aircraft to Improvised Infantry: the Vickers MkI No2". forgottenweapons.com. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  3. ISBN 0-354-01075-1
  4. ^ "cdavidson4". Hms-vengeance.co.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  5. ^ Dunlap, Roy F., Ordnance Went Up Front, Samworth Press (1948), pp. 142–144
  6. ISBN 0-85177-602-7
    (p. 25)

External links

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