British .303cal Portative Hotchkiss Part Set with De-Milled Receiver & Tripod Original Items

Original Item: Dating from the WWI era these British “Hotchkiss” Pattern machine guns were designated as “Cavalry” guns and became known as the “Portative”. Issued for field use on a small “Crow’s Foot” Tripod these were also installed in WWI tanks. In .303 cal. they were fed using metal Feed Strips.

Now, we have just acquired a few original “Receiver Parts Sets” never before available. Each Receiver Set comes from an original gun and is torch cut into pieces. These have not ever been available from us before as the Receivers from our previous Portative Guns had been completely destroyed overseas and were scrapped locally. So we are combining an IMA Original WWI Hotchkiss Parts Set together with a detached Shoulder Stock and “Crowsfoot” Tripod with one of these De-milled Portative Receiver Sets that we have just discovered. ONLY a few sets available of an extremely RARE and unusual WW1 Machine gun Parts Set in very good condition.

Hotchkiss Mark I Light Machine Gun In British Service- The Hotchkiss Portative has a very interesting battle history, although the gun is not as widely known as the other British light machine gun, the Lewis. Adopted as the Hotchkiss Portable Machine Gun Mark I, it was based on the French Hotchkiss Model 1909. The British considered it more suitable for mounted troops—cavalry and mounted infantry—than the more cumbersome Lewis. It was used by some famous units in equally famous battles. The Australian Light Horse, New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, and the legendary Camel Corp used it in the Desert Campaign in Sinai and Palestine from 1915 – 1917. In Palestine, it was used by the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade in their overwhelmingly successful attack at Beersheba (immortalized in the excellent film The Light Horsemen, 1987). This charge is known as the most successful attack by mounted infantry in history. The Mark I was used by the ANZACs in the Gallipoli Campaign, and by British mounted troops in the fighting on the Western Front.