{"product_id":"hotchkiss-machine-guns-book-john-walter-9781472836168","title":"Hotchkiss Machine Guns","description":"The air-cooled Hotchkiss machine gun was the first to function effectively by tapping propellant gas from the bore as the gun fired.  Although the Hotchkiss would be overshadowed by the water-cooled Maxim and Vickers Guns, it proved successful enough to develop the Modèle Portative: a man-portable version which, it was hoped, could move with infantrymen as they advanced. Later mounted on tanks and aircraft, it became the first automatic weapon to obtain a ‘kill’ in aerial combat.   This is an illustrated overview of the Odkolek-Hotchkiss system, from World War I to Japan and the Pacific island landings. Here, a succession of derivatives found favour in theatres of operations in which water-cooling could be more of a liability than an asset, such as the ‘Woodpecker’ – the Type 92 Hotchkiss, with its characteristically slow rate of fire – which cut swathes through the US ranks.   Supported by contemporary photographs and full-colour illustrations, this title explores the exciting and eventful history of the first successful gas-operated machine gun.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49733827100945,"sku":"NGR9781472836168","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50611301712145,"sku":"GOR011821680","price":10.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52803140583697,"sku":"GOR012043764","price":9.1,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1472836162.jpg?v=1751179237","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/hotchkiss-machine-guns-book-john-walter-9781472836168","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}