Members of Pershings' Doughboys U.S. Army WW1 Living History Group have collected examples of many of the small arms and bladed weapons associated with the common soldiers of the AEF. In accordance with British law, these weapons are held on Firearms certificates, or have been deactivated to Home Office guidelines by professional gunsmiths. Where possible manufactured blank firers are used to demonstrate the function of these weapons. This is particularly true of the Colt M1911 Automatic and M1917 Service pistols, which are restricted firearms in the U.K.

RIFLES AUTOMATIC WEAPONS HANDGUNS BLADED WEAPONS

Rifles

The Springfield Model 1903 rifle owes much to Mauser who were contracted by the U.S. to develop a replacement for the Krag-Jorgenson rifle, in service since 1892. Manufactured at the federal arsenal in Springfield Massachusetts, the Model 1903 would spawn many varients down the years including the M1903A4 sniper rifle. Note: The federal arsenal at Springfield was in continuous operation from 1794 to 1968. Details Calibre: .30 M1906 Length: 1097mm Weight: 3.94kg Barrel: 610mm 4 groove right hand twist Feed: 5 round internal magazine Operation: Mauser Bolt Muzzle Velocity: 853 metres per second Effective range: 1000m [Top of Page]

The Enfield M1917 Rifle despite being a civilian developed and manufactured weapon was carried by 70% of men serving on the western front. The federal armory simply could not manufacture enough M1903 Rifles.In the two years prior to the end of WW1 over two million M1017s were manufactured. The M1917 is essentially an Enfield Model P14 of Cal. .303 re chambered to the federal Cal. .30 M1906. Interestingly 100,000 M1917s were supplied to Great Britain, serving withe the Home Guard. A red stripe was painted around the stock to remind the used not to load the rimless .303 Calibre British Service cartridge. Details Calibre: .30 M1906 Length: 1174mm Weight: 4.36kg Barrel: 660mm 5 groove left hand twist Feed: 5 round internal magazine Operation: Bolt Muzzle Velocity: 853 metres per second Effective range: 1000m [Top of Page]

Automatic Weapons

The Browning .30 M1917, developed by the famous John Moses Browning and manufactured by Colt, Remington and Westinghouse the weapon was adopted as the U.S. Army's standard machine gun. Some 68,000 were manufactured during WW1. Want to know more? Click here! Details Calibre: .30 M1906 Length: 980mm Weight: 15kg Barrel: 610mm 4 groove right hand twist Feed: 250 round fabric belt Operation: Water-cooled, recoil giving 500 round per minute Muzzle Velocity: 850 metres per second Effective range: 2000m [Top of Page]

The Browning Automatic Rifle M1918 was unusual in its designation as a rifle whilst its operation was more like a light machine gun. Yet another development by the prolific John Moses Browning, the weapon saw limited service at the very end of WW1. Here the tactic was to fire the weapon from the hip whilst walking toward the emeny. the idea being to keep the oppositions heads down by spraying the ground ahead. The BAR was gas operated and could be fired semi or fully automatically. Al well and good but the 20 round magazines were soon exhausted. In spite of its idiosyncrasies the BAR remained in service until 1957. Details Calibre: .30 M1906 Length: 1219mm Weight: 8.8kg Barrel: 610mm 4 groove right hand twist Feed: 20 round detachable box magazine Operation: Gas giving upto 550 rounds per minute Muzzle Velocity: 808 metres per second Effective range: 800m Pictured is the M1918 BAR in the Liberty Memorial Museum collection. [Top of Page]

Handguns

The Colt M1911 Automatic Pistol is probably the most famous military handgun of all, seeing official service with U.S. Forces from 1911 to 1990. Designed by John Browning, initially in .38 calibre, it was at first inadequate as a man stopper during the campaign in the Philippines. Browning redesigned the weapon increasing the calibre to .45 ACP. In this form it was adopted by the U.S. Army as the "U.S. Pistol, Automatic, Calibre .45, Model 1911" Details Calibre: .45 ACP Length: 216mm Weight: 1.13kg Barrel: 127mm 6 groove right hand twist Feed: 7 round box magazine Operation: Short recoil Muzzle Velocity: 253 metres per second Effective range: 35m [Top of Page]

The Colt New Service Revolver M1917 was the last US service revolver adopted before the M1911 Automatic Pistol. The M1917 was an improved version of the M1909, essentially moving from rimmed to rimless .45 Calibre ammunition. In this form some 150,000 were purchased by the U.S. Army. Details calibre: .45 ACP Length: 273mm Weight: 1.02kg Barrel: 140mm 6 groove left hand twist Feed: 6 round cylinder Operation: Revolver Muzzle Velocity: 282 metres per second Effective range: 35m [Top of Page]

Bladed Weapons

This example of an M1905 Bayonet was US Army Issue Pre-WW1 for the Springfield rifle. It has a Wooden hilt and a Bright Nickel steel blade. It is Complete with a 2nd pattern composition leather scabbard, with russet leather end. The bayonet is marked "R.I.A. 1907 US 119024" The Scabbard is marked- "Brauer Bros 1917 id mrked TM-NA" (RIA = Rock Island Arsenal). [Top of Page]

The M1917 Bayonet was the issue bayonet for the M1917/P14 Enfield rifle. The scabbard pictured has British type button fixing. There are two twin grooves in the hilt to indicate that this is a M1917 bayonet for the M1917 Enfield rifle only so soldiers would not confuse it with the M1905 for the Springfield. This example is marked "Remington 1917" with a US Ordnance Bomb [Top of Page]

The M1918 Trench Knife was a fearsome hand to hand combat weapon. It has a brass hilt in a knuckle duster design with a spike at the top. The blade is double edged. This example is a modern reproduction complete with blued steel scabbard. As a tool this knfe was some what more practical that its predecessor which has a thin trangular section 'blade'. [Top of Page]

The Collins No.1005 Bolo/Machette Manufactured by civilian "Collins" co of Hartford Conn. was the Very first pattern Bolo issued to US Engineer Corps.This example has a green horn bone handle, a 15.5 inch steel curved blade with a brown russett leather scabbard with a brass neck and tip. Scabbard has leather belt loop. The blade marked with "Collins Log" and "No1005" [Top of Page]

This US Army Bolo Knife M1917 is a very rare "LF&C" model with a metal fluted scabbard. The machette is a first pattern 1917 type without scabbard latch button and without the welded tang of the M1917CT Bolo. The blade is curved, unblued steel and 10.5 inches long. The metal scabbard is painted green with a leather belt hanger taking a standard wire suspension hanger. The knife blade is marked with "US Model 1917" and "ST Louis 1918" We suspect that this scabbard type is a USMC issue item only. [Top of Page]