Hotchkiss Mle 1914 in .30-06 Springfield

[Christopher Wang]

In this YouTube video posted on June 15, 2023, a firearms specialist going by the username Mike Duke has converted and test-fired a Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine gun that has been rechambered for .30-06 Springfield. As Mike Duke explained to another YouTube user in the comments, the original parts were damaged 7×57mm Mauser parts which he had repaired to .30-06 specifications. The original barrel has been bored out and a new .30-06 barrel was inserted inside the original. As of June 15, 2023, Mike Duke has promised to post another video in the future showing more details on how he converted the Hotchkiss Mle 1914 to .30-06 Springfield.

 

[TomS]

Firearms are generally discussed int he Army projects section. But purely speculative ones like this idea probably belong in one of the hypothetical subforums.

 

[Christopher Wang]

Firearms are generally discussed int he Army projects section. But purely speculative ones like this idea probably belong in one of the hypothetical subforums.

Got it. I have edited my post by deleting the last paragraph and sticking to explaining the video.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Definitely an interesting idea. The Hotchkiss Mle 1914 is probably the best of the early gas-operated MGs, with a stupidly heavy barrel to minimize overheating problems.

I'd guess that the reason the US didn't adopt it is because we had John Moses Browning and the M1917/M1919s coming.

 

[Christopher Wang]

On August 30, 2023, Mike Duke has posted a 23-second video of his Hotchkiss Mle 1914 rechambered in .30-06 Springfield test-firing the Hotchkiss articulated belts. Unfortunately, the camera got knocked down to the ground in the last 14 seconds of the video.

 

[Christopher Wang]

Here's an April 6, 2024 YouTube Shorts video posted by MGJORDAN ( http://www.youtube.com/@mgjordan8559 ) of Mike Duke's Hotchkiss Mle 1914 rechambered in .30-06 Springfield:

 

[Apophenia]

I'm not sure that I understand the point of this conversion. Members of the AEF did use mle 1914s in France but, AFAIK, those guns were still chambered for French 8 mm Lebel. So, this was not an attempt to replicate an historical weapon.

In the comments for one of those videos, the owner says:

The original parts were damaged 7mm Mauser parts. I repaired them to 30-06 specifications. The original barrel you see is b[o]red out and a new 30-06 barrel was inserted inside the original...

A little more detail on the nature of that damage would have been useful. Boring out and sleeving the original barrel suggests that was where the damage (excessive wear?) was.

So, why go to a non-standard 7.62x63mm (.30-06 Springfield) round? Couldn't this weapon have been restored closer to its original condition by simply boring out to chamber 7.92x57mm which shares a case with the original 7 mm Mauser?

 

[TomS]

I'm not sure that I understand the point of this conversion. Members of the AEF did use mle 1914s in France but, AFAIK, those guns were still chambered for French 8 mm Lebel. So, this was not an attempt to replicate an historical weapon.

In the comments for one of those videos, the owner says:



A little more detail on the nature of that damage would have been useful. Boring out and sleeving the original barrel suggests that was where the damage (excessive wear?) was.

So, why go to a non-standard 7.62x63mm (.30-06 Springfield) round? Couldn't this weapon have been restored closer to its original condition by simply boring out to chamber 7.92x57mm which shares a case with the original 7 mm Mauser?

Probably because .30-06 is easy to source ammo for.

 

[Scott Kenny]

So, why go to a non-standard 7.62x63mm (.30-06 Springfield) round? Couldn't this weapon have been restored closer to its original condition by simply boring out to chamber 7.92x57mm which shares a case with the original 7 mm Mauser?

affordability of ammunition. There's zero 7x57 or 8x57 milsurp still available. So now you have a choice of .30-06 or 7.62NATO for relatively affordable ammunition.