300 Lewis MacHine Gun for the Home Guard 1940 Manual

Book excerpt: The .300 Lewis, an updated version of a weapon well-known to the British Army in the Great War, was designed to pack a punch in firepower with economy of operating personnel. With an effective range of 1,000 yards, the gun was air-cooled and susceptible to over-heating, a defect that the manual advises can be avoided by firing in short, five-second bursts. An advantage of the gun is that that its cartridges are continuously under mechanical control, and it can therefore be fired at any angle of elevation or depression, and can even be tilted sideways or upside down. With chapters on stripping, assembling, adjustment of return spring tension, firing, care and cleaning, stoppages and replacing parts this is the complete guide to the .300 Lewis for instructors and students alike.