Ammunition.—3,500 rounds with each gun; 6,000 with regimental reserve; 10,000 with brigade ammunition column.
Mounting.—There are five English patterns of tripods in use and one Indian. Marks I. and II. English pattern and the Indian pattern are exceedingly clumsy, and have been largely replaced by Marks III., III.A, and IV. Mark III. weighs 49 lb., and consists of a crosshead and pivot mounted on three legs with a saddle for firer, and has elevating and traversing gears. A traverse of 25 degrees can be obtained. The two front legs of the tripod are pivoted in sockets and secured by wing nuts, and can be splayed to lower the gun, and fold up for transport. The legs are fitted with shoes to steady the mounting by gripping the ground. When firing, the ammunition box is placed on the ground on the right side of the gun.
On the pack-saddle the gun and tripod are carried on either side of the saddle on hooks and secured by straps. The tool box is carried on the top of the saddle. With this mounting 4,000 rounds of ammunition are carried in eight boxes, four on each side of the ammunition pack-saddle on a second animal.
Mark III.A tripod weighs 56 lb., and differs from Mark III. as follows:
1. The pivot has a bearing surface to support the rear end of crosshead arm.
2. The hand nut of elevating gear is formed with four small radial holes.
3. The rear leg is telescopic, and consists of an inner and outer tube. The inner tube has a shoe, and the rear end of the outer tube has a bracket for the saddle and a handle to clamp the inner to the outer tube.
The Mark IV. tripod weighs 48 lb., and the mounting consists of a crosshead, elevating gear, and socket mounted on three legs. It has 13 degrees elevation and 25 degrees depression, but by arranging the position of legs 43 degrees and 55 degrees can be had. It has an all-round traverse. The elevating gear is actuated by a hand-wheel, which consists of an inner and an outer screw. The legs are of tubular steel, the lower ends being fitted with shoes to steady the mountings, and the upper ends have a joint with serrations; the rear leg has a joint pin with nut and jamming handle. Joint studs with disc springs and jamming handles are fixed to the front legs, by which the legs are securely clamped in the required position. Numbers are stamped on the legs to show the relative position of the legs to their normal position. The legs are secured by a leather strap for transport. When firing, the ammunition box is placed on the ground on the right side of the gun. The gun can be fired at heights varying from 14½ inches to 30 inches above the ground.
Tactical.—Directions for the use of machine guns are found in the various textbooks issued for each arm. Training is dealt with in the Handbook for ·303 Machine Guns, 1907, and in the Training Manuals Appendix, 1905. The following directions for their employment in the field are from the latter, ch. vi. pp. 157-63:
Para. 2.—Surprise is a powerful factor in the effective employment of the machine gun; every effort must therefore be made to avoid the enemy’s observations both when advancing to a position and when in action. The machine gun possesses the power of delivering, from a very narrow front, a practically uninterrupted volume of closely concentrated rifle fire, which can be directed against any desired object with the least possible delay. The delivery of such fire cannot, however, be long sustained, because of the heavy expenditure of ammunition involved and the difficulty of replacing it.