October 22-23, 2019 Extraordinary, Sporting & Collector Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/22/2019
When Samuel McClean failed to interest the Army or Navy in his automatic cannon, he instead worked with Lieutenant Colonel O.M. Lissak to develop a man portable machine gun that could be fired from the shoulder. The design eventually turned into the Lewis gun when the McClean-Lissak patents were given to Colonel Lewis for review and use. Ultimately, General Crozier opposed the design due to his dislike of any weapon that was not developed in an ordnance facility, so Colonel Lewis went to Belgium and manufactured arms under the Armes Automatiques Lewis, thus producing the Lewis gun. This parts kit is one of the McClean machine guns that has been expertly cut to both deactivate the gun while demonstrating the inner workings. The barrel and gas tube are knurled for their entire length, with a wooden foregrip attached to the gas tube and barrel via bracket. There is a sling swivel hole on the rear wood stock. CONDITION: Overall very good with a mixture of grey and brown patina, particularly at the high point of the receiver. Wood is original with numerous nicks and dings. There is evidence of welding and saw cutting incidental to deactivation. This is an important and historic piece of automatic arms development, as well as of American gunmaking. EW