The Lewis gun was a British light machine-gun. It was gas-operated, air-cooled, and fed from a rotating drum of 47 or 97 rounds, with a rate of fire of 550 rounds per minute. The gun was used by the British, Belgian, and Italian armies in great numbers, both as a ground weapon (Lewis Mark 1) and as an aircraft gun (Lewis Mark 2). Though generally replaced by more modern designs in the 1930s, the Lewis gun was still in use during the Second World War. The Lewis gun was initially designed by Samuel MacLean and was then developed and perfected by Colonel I N Lewis, of the American Army. Unable to interest the American Army in the weapon, Colonel Lewis took the gun to Belgium and set up a manufacturing company there in 1913. In 1914 most of the staff fled to Britain where they were able to continue manufacture in the Birmingham Small Arms Company factory. Research Lewis Gun
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Warfare
Research Lewis Gun