Comments by "geodkyt" (@geodkyt) on ".30-06 M1918 American Chauchat - Doughboys Go to France" video.

  1. The guns were made in France. By the original French factory. The problem was they took a gun that was marginally functional in its original caliber with a lower pressure, lower power, far more heavily tapered cartridge, and they redesigned it to run a higher pressure, more powerful, far straighter walled case... all of which affect the ease of extraction.
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  2. The Benet-Mercie also predates the Chauchat, AND was already in US service at the time.
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  3. "Walking Fire" was exactly what the French Chauchat was designed for - that's why it has the foregrip. I suspect the American Ordnance guys just thought the LOP was too much on the original 8mm version.
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