History of WWI Primer 100: U.S, Chauchat 1918 Documentary

[@Kraknar]

"This is definitely a gun and bullets come out the other end" - Othais 2019

[@b.griffin317]

'bout all you can say about it.

[@51WCDodge]

yeah, but where do they go then? Though a Great War mass attack was a target rich enviroment.

[@jackandersen1262]

b. griffin but where do the bullets go in?

[@fien111]

Most of the time, at least. It's better than a stick.....unless you need to stab something

[@51WCDodge]

As Mother's in England always used to say when you waved a stick about' Carfeful! You'll have someone's eye out with that!'

[@JonManProductions]

"In their 100th episode, Othais and Mae require an hour to sufficiently crap all over my gun. XD " - Ian McCollum. Congrats Guys!

[@afrog2666]

An hour*

[@Roflcopter4b]

@@afrog2666 Not a totally obvious thing to people who don't often speak English.

[@Tunkkis]

@@Roflcopter4b And that's why it's being corrected, doofus. Correcting a mistake isn't some aggressive, condescending, and malicious thing.

[@grievouslytired7886]

"This is the greatest gun ever made. The US 1918 Chauchat. 6 shots before malfunctioning, more than enough to kill anything that moves." - Francophile Ocelot Imagine Ocelot from MGS with the face of Gun Jesus.

[@grievouslytired7886]

Just realised that Ocelot says, "I never trust a frenchman" in MGS2.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Does that make it California compliant?

[@tlshortyshorty5810]

You're pretty good- just what I'd expect from a man with the same mind as the Boss.

[@druisteen]

@@grievouslytired7886 Dunkirk

[@arya31ful]

@@fuzzydunlop7928 Still too spoopy for them, so nope.

[@snowstalker36]

When your options are a tube fed Lebel or a Chauchat, you take the Chauchat in a heartbeat. Especially if they're asking you to hunt Maxims.

[@paspax]

You can have it fast. You can have it cheap. You can have it be good. Pick two.

[@nathanbrown8680]

And France objectively chose correctly. Enough guns to matter soon enough to matter.

[@Strawberry92fs]

"And I don't do fast and cheap" - Mark Novak, Anvil Gunsmithing

[@pieguy7157]

In a war of attrition a gun needs to be cheap and fast to produce having it be good would be nice, but that’s not the most important thing

[@travispollett2120]

Honestly, getting to pick two is stretching a little. Usually you get to pick one, hope for one and write the other one off completely. With the Chauchaut they chose fast, hoped for cheap and knew it wouldn’t be good.

[@51WCDodge]

Othias had it right, better mediocre working now than percfection, some time soon.

[@fien111]

>Firing rifle grenades at latrines As someone who's worked janitorial services, that should be a damned war crime.

[@Biker_Gremling]

In WW1 "latrines" where just a plank where soldiers could rest while doing their business into a mud hole. Not much of a difference if it was blown up.

[@willrogers3793]

As someone who’s also worked janitorial services, I would go one step further: anyone observed firing rifle grenades at latrines should be tied up above the trench with a placard describing their crimes. The “seat of ease” is a man’s throne and a sacred place. Anyone who violates the sanctity of this place should be held accountable for being such an awful human being.

[@SeanHiruki]

I’m still a janitor. It is a war crime

[@Lomi311]

“Not much of a difference if it’s blown up”? Compare poop in a hole to poop (and maybe a poor squatter’s gore) splattered on your walls. Listen to your janitors, kids.

[@Tunkkis]

@Zippy Dastrange You can have a different, hopefully slightly cleaner, hole in the ground if you're lucky.

[@MCG55555]

The guy trying to handle that jammed Springfield in the first 12 seconds is hilarious.

[@jason200912]

You think it was bad ammo or he just sucked

[@abstractapproach634]

I should guess that the weapon was in bad shape (videos are usually propaganda or training clips, not always but I will look again after commenting) Springfields were solid, for bolt actions, and iirc tge common infantry weapon for Americans in the war, and American soldiers were some of the most innovative (with our guerilla warfare practice and recent won conflict). It was a very influential, if behind the times, and most men in the field cared for it greatly.

[@abstractapproach634]

TLDR; I'm guessing it was a reject or deserving weapon thought good enough for that clip or training camp.

[@bernhardschmid9222]

Your primers have increased so much in quality and length over the years. Ever concidered doing a "Lebel redux" episode.

[@SuperCrazf]

Bernhard Schmid they have said many times that they will readdress the first episodes

[@lolzman228]

First few episodes

[@andrewmoore7022]

"During the great war the US would mobilize men much faster than their arms" that sounds like a weird thing to do considering they have to operate guns

[@allangibson2408]

Given the number that died of influenza that was less of a problem than you might think…

[@mjbartending]

... hence many of them were all too quickly forced to admit the feet

[@martinshephard6317]

You’ve heard of foot soldiers haven’t you?

[@TruckingShooter]

These 30.06 Chauchats sound like AMF harleys... uncomfortable to use, loud, shake themselves and the user apart, can be unreliable but have a horrible reputation, and most people try to completely forget about them except eccentric mustache gentlemen who can appreciate them while going pup pup pup.

[@Candrsenal]

Especially apt comparison when you consider the Americans turned down an objectively superior system for them. Harley is worse though because at least the Chauchat was cheaper than the competition.

[@stephenwoods4118]

For those of us who actually remember the late 1960s, The Old Poop and his Webley-Vickers 455 motorcycle.

[@51WCDodge]

@@Candrsenal As for the rejection of the Lewis Gun, wasn't there polotics also involved over whose overall command the US force would come under?

[@randymagnum143]

To be fair, they weren't as bad as everyone says, and they were more reliable than British and Italian bikes.......those damn Japanese though........they forced everyone to build better bikes.

[@ZGryphon]

@@randymagnum143 "More reliable than British and Italian bikes" may be the faintest praise I've ever seen something damned with. :)

[@theenhancer]

Thought you could sneak an episode past me eh? *NOTIFICATION WERE DECLARED*

[@freddieellis8449]

theenhancer BANG BANG BOOM RATATATAT!!!! PEW PEW PEW!!! ...... “Hello, hello, who’s your lady friend? Who’s the little girly by your side?” 😂😂😂😂

[@KPen3750]

I love Mae's "oh my god, he is ranting about the Lewis Gun again audience" face @55:00

[@HillbillyHades]

I've been having some pretty crappy nights lately and this just saved me from a pretty bad one. Thank you guys.

[@tenofprime]

Same here, I was out sick from work today with a bad cold. I was so glad to see this pop up, I have been looking forward to it and it did not disappoint.

[@Candrsenal]

We try to be consistent in a mad, mad world

[@HillbillyHades]

@@Candrsenal

[@jacksonmacpherson6101]

22:50 Thats gotta be the 1st and last time the words "battle of the somme, chauchat and walking fire" and "surprisingly successful" will be used in conjunction

[@bubba200874426]

I think surprisingly successful in this context means "did something."

[@communistdwarf]

Congrats on episode 100! I love this series and never want it to end.

[@cannonfodder4376]

Episode 100, man it has been so long since episode 1. The strides man since then. Good stuff as always Othais and crew.

[@mushroomsamba82]

23:20 any time somebody mentions Joffre all I can think of is Jauffre the monk from Oblivion. "You have the amulet of kings? This cannot be! Let me see it!"

[@ThePerfectRed]

"The US would mobilize men much faster than their arms" - I imagined that guy from Monty Python and the Holy Grail yelling "It's only a flesh wound"

[@SuperCrazf]

I like French chauchat. The American sho sho, well, let’s just say it was nice knowing you.

[@1Notten]

I guess you could say it was... so-so

[@mushroomsamba82]

Jesus, a truck blew off it's airbrakes right outside my window in almost perfect sync with the first artillery sound effect when War Were Declared and I just about crapped myself.

[@williamprince1114]

Interesting & revealing that the US didn't retain it in active service or with National Guard or provided it to client nations like Philippines, Panama, Cuba. The photo at 37:13 is certainly Germans with captured 3006 Chauchats. Those are Stahl helm, lobster body armor, T Gehwer rifle. Formidable firepower for a small fire team for that time.

[@ForgottenWeapons]

Those are Americans with captured German armor and AT rifles.

[@USSEnterpriseA1701]

Gotta pay attention to the details of the uniforms under the armor. Don't recall the Germans ever wearing puttees over their boots.

[@reikyfoxxe1847]

Dang you tried to be smart and got called out by Ian

[@williamprince1114]

@@USSEnterpriseA1701 After 1916 puttees were common on Germans. They of course had another name for them but I don't recall it. As quality and quantities of issued footwear varied in the latter stages of the war many German soldiers used "acquired" footwear and puttees in place of German issued boots. Google German puttees to see some of the examples ..... leather, wool, canvas, etc.

[@Kaboomf]

@@williamprince1114 yep. My great grandfather served on the german side and left a fairly detailed war diary. He mentions mass looting of boots and "leg wrappings" from corpses on the battlefield. However, German use would almost certainly be more haphazard and less uniform than what we see in that photo, so I concur they're probably American.

[@Jerseyshorerailfan-rh9cj]

Last time I was this early the U.S. army still had a single shot rifle and a rod to poke ppl with

[@thedamnyankee1]

Hey now. the M14 wasn't THAT bad.

[@Jerseyshorerailfan-rh9cj]

Hahaha

[@planescaped]

Wait... so I put the pokey rod down the barrel and shoot it? ~ Jedidiah Fudd

[@BloodyCrow__]

Othias: This gun is hard to load because you have to lift it up more and rock it in from the back Mae: tilts gun sideways and inserts mag straight in.

[@chekovsgunman]

Yay! Episode 100! Too bad about the gun.

[@StrangelyBrownNo1]

Lilac Tortoise hugely important in the history of firearms and the US infantry section. I think it’s fitting.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

I can't even begin to imagine putting together a gun that badly. Someone actually made a gun that makes those bad Lorcin pistols look good... 😲

[@rizaradri316]

Woohoo 100th episode of C&Rsenal

[@Reactordrone]

That SIDARME 1915 has a lovely finish.

[@MilesStratton]

One of the Men involved in developing the VT Fuze during WW2 probably summed up the Chauchat and many other weapons of war when he said, "I want 80% solutions, we don't have time for perfection," I don't remember the name of the gentleman who said this however.

[@namvet_13e]

The 40% failure rate was probably not the fault of the weapon but reflects the disdain of the gunners. If you hate your firearm and know you might get something better soon, you will certainly report that it failed. The damn thing keeps jamming sir!

[@oldesertguy9616]

Why do I hear the 12 Days of Christmas every time Othias would start listing the various loadout assignments? Only instead of a partridge in a pear tree he said "and a Ruby pistol."

[@Funhaus_Ryan]

Happy Centennial Small Arms Primer!

[@j.murphy4884]

"These were likely being felt out for best practices" Best practice with the Chauchat being to lose it in a flooded shell hole somewhere in no man's land and hope they demote you to rifleman.

[@TomKeown]

The best part of these videos is seeing Mae's face after running through a magazine at full auto.

[@mrjockt]

Seeing May smile after firing this gun looked different, normally she’s smiling a smile of enjoyment but this time it looked like a smile of relief.

[@evilwelshman]

Chauchat.... "better than nothing". Now, that's a winning endorsement!

[@whatnowstinky]

congratulations to all involved for making 100 episodes. i've enjoyed and learnt something (well a lot really) from every one. looking forward to the next 100.

[@coaxill4059]

When you had both chauchat's out on the table, you missed the chance to say "One for the money, one for the chau... chat."

[@davidbrennan660]

Hurrah for every second Tuesday!

[@7hart2]

I think the better argument, at the conclusion, would be that the Chauchat would be fielded in significantly more numbers than the competition: It is not so much as a 1-VS-1, but a 4-VS-1 scenario. Essentially, a semi auto emplacement, with automatic capabilities, in a world of bolt actions. Cheers!

[@tberkoff]

I read that US ordnance officials rejected 40 percent of the guns at the factory, and that the remaining 60 percent that made it to the front were "problematic."

[@William_Bryant]

The slow mo really shows just how violent the long recoil action really is.

[@M.M.83-U]

Hurra! Episode 100!!!

[@g.55centaurosimp18]

Happy centennial )))

[@WildBillCox13]

"As you guys can tell from that demonstration, this is definitely a gun . . . and bullets come out of the other end." Had to pause to laugh.

[@jeri_v2578]

Congrats on 100 episodes!

[@rcadd1ct]

Congrats on 100!

[@dragonfell5078]

Saving this for myself 15:48 Mae fires gun

[@freddieellis8449]

I am dying to see the episode about the 1897 shotgun! That racking noise, though! 😍

[@BHuang92]

I think they covered it already.

[@TheLoneDragoon]

@@BHuang92 Remington M10, I believe. It's been a while. Although, it does give me a reason to rewatch a C&Rsenal video 🙂

[@freddieellis8449]

@@BHuang92 nah it was a different one. The Remington equivalent.

[@tombogan03884]

Do you see the continuing influence of the battle of Plevna ? The combination of riflemen, and light MG teams serves as the link between magazine cut offs and select fire assault rifles of today . Both systems mimic the thinking demonstrated there of slow fire , with a higher volume reserved for emergency use.

[@baker90338]

Good point!

[@jeffreyroot7346]

Except the assault rifle is truly much more effective in almost every way in semi automatic.

[@DarkestVampire92]

You keep mentioning this nineteen-eleven pistol, Othais, but we havent seen it. I suppose it was rear line only and insignficant, so we´re skipping it?

[@b.griffin317]

he's having difficulties finding examples, but your explanation might also be right. ;-)

[@darylpaz4281]

I think I saw a picture of one once.

[@ZGryphon]

Only used by a small army that showed up very near the end of the war. :)

[@gunnarkvinlaug7226]

The pistol, even in . 45 or 9mm, are just short distanse weapons, so even as a frontlinegun, the usaged would be a last line options.

[@jshicke]

A lot more recoil than I expected from such a heavy beast.

[@beardannyboy]

Hey I thought it was super neat seeing some info on the unit organization of the LMG teams

[@terryhall3907]

Did y’all see Mae’s target at 50 yards? At 100 yards half wouldn’t have hit the body. At 200 ( not unreasonable fighting range) maybe one would have hit I think that I would have taken my chances with the Ruby pistol

[@IRMacGuyver]

@7:44 John Browning is the type of man that would get a biopic made of him and people would call it unbelievable fantasy.

[@stephenbond1990]

In fairness, 7.65 Belgian is comparable to .303 in power while .30-06 may as well have been a magnum cartridge

[@Foche_T._Schitt]

15:25 So what you're saying is, if the Germans advanced by doing barrel rolls, they could have won the war.

[@alt5494]

Simply using the 8mm gun. Or fully swapping out for the Lewes gun seems to be a far better choice.

[@TheGearhead222]

Read about General Crozier of US Army Ordnance and how his politics affected the adoption and use of the excellent Lewis LMG-John in Texas

[@treerat7631]

Because the British wanted U.S. troops too be put under thier command in mixed U.S. and British units too replace loses we said hell no. The U.S. army does not use 8mm so switching it too 3 ott 6 made easier for supplie

[@alt5494]

@@treerat7631 Choosing to use a emergency stopgap machine in a caliber it was not designed for much like your comment was a stupid decision. Using the 8mm Chauchat or the Lewis gun which was designed by a American and already in production by Savage Arms in .30-06 would have saved lives. The BAR was already in production as a replacement so If you truly believe people should die to avoid using a different caliber for eight months you should rethink your position.

[@treerat7631]

@@alt5494 Its a matter of supply and the gun actually work better in 8mm . So instead of issuing a stop gap that does not work you use the 8mm until the BAR is ready too go . If ordnance would have accepted the machine gun before world war one AEF would have been in better. Their was no way the AEF was going too get Lewis guns .

[@alt5494]

@@treerat7631 The US Navy had already tested and purchased .30-06 Lewis guns, and Savage Arms was already fully tooled up and producing .303 Lewis guns for Canada and Britain. It would have been no more difficult than the 1917 Enfield (30-06) of which we made 2,193,429. You deleted your own comment and decided to repeat mine. Can you really believe the army could not have been armed properly.

[@jackandersen1262]

Has anyone else noticed the sight moving at 33:17? Might be part of the reason why the gun was so difficult to aim under recoil.

[@pw7564]

Really interesting look at the Chauchat. Thanks guys.

[@ZGryphon]

I got the impression that Mae's end-of-shooting grin this episode was more than usually powered by "thank f--- that's over." :)

[@Reepicheep-1]

The 1902 Phillipine Colt hate blow this dislike out of contention. #153

[@absurdist5134]

I think when you talked about the cost relative to other guns and how many were made it's both quite a fortunate and remarkable design.

[@joearnold6881]

Where do they find the silly clips at the end of the ‘war were declared’ title-cards?

[@tenofprime]

I really do hope they put them all out as a compilation one day.

[@joearnold6881]

I’d buy that. It has to have a behind the scenes of them recording the voices, though.

[@jcameronferguson]

Pathé Cinema seems like a place to start

[@Calum_S]

Mae always smiles when she's finished shooting, no matter how bad the firearm is.

[@jameslooker4791]

I had no idea Ian has a 30-06 Chauchat. No one can appreciate it more than him....

[@luger_Mann]

You know they say your pupils expand when looking at something you love *Mae with the 30-06 Sho-sho* 17:56

[@crankysports]

loading that mag into the mag well looks so awkward. I love the sound it makes when the bolt drops though.

[@eisenerballer]

Wow I'm here early. Unlike the us to the war

[@BNRmatt]

I think another good perspective is - if you were in a defense ministry of a major power in WWI, what would you choose? Would you choose to mass produce a cheap gun like the Chauchat, where you can have X more of these, but all your machine gunners are Y% less effective? Or get something great like the Lewis, but you have a lot fewer of them. It's a tough call.

[@j.h-j5j]

I think the rifle looks good with the straight magazine. It like looks more modern in comparison to the original, circular magazine.

[@bubba200874426]

That's an impeachment of 8mm Lebel's shape more than the machine rifle itself.

[@zoperxplex]

The answer to the question of which of the two, the B.A.R. or the Chauchet, is better the solution is simple: the Chauchet's career as a small arm pretty much began and ended with the Great War whereas the B.A.R. continued until the Korean War.

[@axelpatrickb.pingol3228]

That should have ended before entering WW2...

[@SlavicCelery]

@@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 Well, maybe it should have been upgraded properly. 240B are basically repurposed/reinvented BAR actions.

[@axelpatrickb.pingol3228]

@@SlavicCelery Other countries did, not the US...

[@cg8212]

War were declared before the 5 minutes mark? New record?

[@ejbrush]

Nope. Pedersen episode, "War were Declared" at 2:14.

[@dennisdenuto]

Congrats on hitting the ton!!

[@christopherseivard8925]

Best info since reading “ A Social History Of The Machine Gun” by John Ellis, The book has been on my shelf since 1978!

[@queondahijodelaching]

congrats to 100!

[@stephenkissinger4434]

Hypothetical question - if the .30-06 hadn't been screwed up by Gladiator (or better yet had been made by Sidarme) and had the correct chamber dimensions and better manufacturing quality, would either Othais or Mae take it into combat?

[@asteroidrules]

I do hope we get to see some other foreign derivations of the Chauchat eventually, I recall hearing of Yugoslav Chauchats in 8mm Mauser that look like a mix of features from the Belgian, American, and French original guns. They had American style magazine wells, but like the Belgian variant kept the grip behind the magazine, and like the French original the magazines had twin cutouts on the right side.

[@ethanwilson7787]

Gotta love the fact that episode one hundred is basically a meme gun👌

[@davidbrennan660]

Remind me, did Mae say yes to the Ruby?

[@itatane]

Othais...what is sticking in the end of the MP18 barrel over your shoulder? Is that the tang of a round metal file stuck in there so it will stay on the rack, or just something that looks like it?

[@Odin029]

Wait... the American soldiers carried what kind of a pistol? I've never heard of it before. I hope c&rsenal covers it when they get to the really obscure stuff

[@GeneralJackRipper]

You can definitely tell Mae is NOT having a good time shooting this one.

[@astridvallati4762]

You should do the Belgian 7,65cx53 conversion, or the Polish M1915/27 7,9×57 conversion ( afterwards sold to Greece mid-1930s). DocAV

[@jcameronferguson]

At 9:53, is that an American squad using the Lewis in conjunction with a .30-06 Enfield, or is that a British squad with the Lewis and a P-14? Given the snowy environment, I presume this was a scene from the 1918 intervention in the Bolshevik Revolution, especially if this British detachment were using second-line rifles due to the demand for the SMLE in France and Belgium.

[@LadyAnuB]

The French should've used there Chauchats in platoons. With enough of them in a group, you can provide more points of aim for the enemy to try and shoot and give yourself more firepower to suppress any MG nests/concentrations. With more of them in a group, you also gain the advantage of more firepower with which to provide newly taken trench defense and you shouldn't have to run them to their lockup point as fast as well.

[@joshmarks3954]

Out of curiosity, how many failures did you experience on either version whilst in the test? And how many rounds were fired?

[@kurtb2522]

Twin Maes? Love it! (46:30)

[@amd65ak47]

The smile on May's face says it all.

[@robinnewcomb2531]

30'06 is a beast, no matter what you run it through...

[@jasondiaz8431]

Since when did you start playing Sid Meiers Civ in the background of Episodes.

[@p35flash97]

The funny thing is, the Chau Chat appeared in WW2 in many places.

[@jefferyboring4410]

Seems their shooting laying on the ground a lot but I think the bipods were designed for a shelf in a trench standing.

[@drinkablepie9024]

Who needs sleep. Not me

[@zeuk416b]

I would like to thank Mae for taking a beating for us.

[@cheesenoodles8316]

I know better than to stay up late....gotta work at 5:30am....heck I'm watching it.

[@USSEnterpriseA1701]

The talk about the recoil kind of makes me wonder how it compares to say, a Remington Model 81 (improved and updated Model 8) in 300 Savage, which is a ballistic twin of the military standard loadings of both 30-06 and 7.62 Nato. I have experience with a Model 81 in 300 Savage and I remember it as being rather brutal for getting back on target, but being semi only, it's not quite as much of an issue as I imagine the CSRG is in auto.

[@bubba200874426]

The CSRG is also long recoil, so there's a lot of mass moving to make it even more jarring.

[@marktercsak9728]

What about the Marlin Machinegun? Updated Colt Potato Digger.

[@williamflowers9435]

That Barrett looks like it recoils less than either Chauchat

[@ficklefingeroffate]

Well, I'll be late leaving for work this morning.

[@sammybarnes9511]

Let's be honest. The Chauchat was the sten/grease gun of crew served weapons. It was cheap and easy to produce but it had plenty of issues and was far from the most desirable of its type available.

[@charlesinglin]

It has frequently occurred to me that the French would have saved themselves a lot of heartburn if around 1906 or so they said, "Ya know, that 7.65 cartridge the Belgians are using has a lot of advantages over our 8mm. We should probably copy it." But economics and national pride.