Chauchat
The Chauchat was the French army’s light machine gun during WWI and is widely panned as one of the worst firearms to have ever gone into mass production and got inflicted upon an army as a standard-issue weapon. Introduced in 1915, the weapon immediately began presenting problems stemming from both a defective design and poor workmanship, and the defects were exacerbated by reliance on poor and low-quality metals to produce the Chauchat.
In the plus column, the Chauchat was a revolutionary weapon, being the world’s first truly light (20 lbs) portable automatic firearm that did not require a team of machine gunners and a heavy mount or tripod, but could instead be operated by a single user alone or with an assistant. It was also inexpensive to manufacture, featured a detachable magazine and a selective fire capability, could readily be carried around the battlefield by a single soldier, and was light enough to be fired from the hip during assaults in suppressive marching or walking fire to pin down enemy defenders while the attackers closed in. From that perspective, the Chauchat set the template for subsequent light machine guns, from the BAR to the SAW.
However, the battlefield conditions of WWI exposed serious defects that earned the Chauchat a reputation as one of history’s worst firearms. Among sundry problems, the worst was the detachable magazine, which was designed with one side open. That allowed entry of loose earth, mud, dirt, and grit with which the trenches of WWI abounded. The particles then made their way into the chamber, barrel, and firing mechanism, resulting in stoppages and malfunctions. The magazines were very flimsy and easily dented, resulting in jamming and stoppage. The ejection port lacked a cover, which allowed dirt and other particles to enter from there as well and cause the weapon to jam. When the Chauchat did not cease firing because it was jammed with dirt and mud, or because the magazine got dented, it ceased firing from overheating. The sights were misaligned, which wreaked havoc with aiming. The plate assemblies were secured by screws that tended to come loose and fall off when the weapon was fired. Moreover, the bipod was loose, and that, coupled with poor ergonomics, made it impossible to keep the weapon on target other than with short bursts.
The ejection port lacked a cover, which allowed dirt and other particles to enter from there as well and cause the weapon to jam. When the Chauchat did not cease firing because it was jammed with dirt and mud, or because the magazine got dented, it ceased firing from overheating. The sights were misaligned, which wreaked havoc with aiming. The plate assemblies were secured by screws that tended to come loose and fall off when the weapon was fired. Moreover, the bipod was loose, and that, coupled with poor ergonomics, made it impossible to keep the weapon on target other than with short bursts.
By 1918, only three years after its introduction and with months still to go before the war ended, the Chauchat began to be gradually withdrawn from service and replaced by the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR).