Machine Gun History – Part 1 | No Lowballers Podcast Episode 5

In this week’s No Lowballers podcast by GoWild presented by GunBroker.com, we’re talking all about machine guns including their history and how we got to modern machine guns. Logan gets right into it and dispels a big myth: The Gatling gun is not a machine gun! This helps us define what a machine gun is and what it isn’t. When did the world’s first fully automatic machine gun come out and who invented it? It came out at a pivotal time and completely changed modern warfare. Find out where you can go view some of the earliest machine guns.

In World War I we saw several of these early machine guns enter the playing field, including the Maxim MG0 used by the German army, the Lewis Gun used by American and British troops, and the Browning M1917 used by the United States. These early models were big and heavy and we’re definitely a crew-served weapon.

By World War II we started to see some advancements in technology and a few more machine guns hitting the battlefield, including the Browning M2 used by many nations and the MG42 introduced by Germany and feared by the Allies. We outline the differences between belt-fed, box-fed, and pan-fed guns and which ones were meant for anti-personnel and anti-material purposes. We then move into the Vietnam War era talking about the M60. 

Over time, machine guns have become smaller, lighter, and more portable, but many of the attributes from the early foundational firearms are still utilized in today’s modern armaments. Allen jumps in to talk about the design of these different machine guns and how they would dissipate heat, either through water or air cooling, or swapping barrels. Logan mentions that many of these guns were adapted in the field over the years as servicemen figured out how to best use their weapons in innovative ways, like using them in aircraft. When aircraft went from being an observation tool to an offensive weapon, the machine guns went with them.

Jacob asks an important set of questions we all want to know: Can we own a machine gun, where do we find one, and what’s the expected purchase price to buy one? Logan outlines the legalities and what the process looks like. Allen then speaks to the popular machine guns selling on GunBroker.com along with their price ranges. The process is not as intimidating as you think, and while owning a machine gun is not cheap, it’s otherwise just a pile of paperwork and playing the waiting game on the federal government. Another way to get the machine gun look and feel is by picking up a belt-fed semi-automatic firearm, like the FN M249s. Allen jokes about the hardest part of owning a machine gun … tune in to find out what that is!

As usual, we close the episode by hearing from Allen on whatever weird, interesting, and obscure guns have sold on GunBroker this past week!

The No Lowballers podcast is a brand new joint venture between GoWild and GunBroker.com to explore the history and heritage of firearms. We hope to expose you to the vintage guns of the golden age along with newer, modern guns, specialty items, and a few other odd balls along the way. Jump in and come along for the ride!

The show launches every Thursday morning. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Catch up on previous episodes of the No Lowballers Podcast here.

Hear the truth behind the trigger on this show that highlights the insanity, calamity and oddity of firearm history, collectibles and the crazy valuables. Every week historian Logan Metesh of High Caliber History joins the teams at GunBroker.com and GoWild to discuss topics such as mobster favorites, collector pieces, war-time weapons, hunting gun history, competition firearms and more.