entirely. A straight line of trenches, which is plainly visible, is, on the other hand, an eminently favorable target. The heating of the barrel, and the difficulty of replenishing ammunition and renewing the water in the jacket, tend to work against a participation of machine guns in a protracted fire fight. The machine gun is not at all suited for carrying on a prolonged fire action.
It is very difficult to determine the relative combat value of a body of infantry as compared with that of a machine gun. One will not be far wrong in placing this value between 50 and 60 men.
In experimental field firing at the Swiss Infantry Musketry School, it was demonstrated that 30-40 skirmishers almost in every case rapidly gained the upper hand over a machine gun in the open, at 900 m., but that the infantrymen had small chances of success when the position of the machine gun could not be accurately determined. In Switzerland a machine gun is considered equivalent to 50 infantrymen. Skirmishers are the most difficult target for machine guns to fight, and, at the same time, they are the most dangerous. When the fire is well observed, a good effect can, indeed, still be counted on, when the fire is directed at prone skirmishers at ranges up to 1000 m., but this is not true when the fire cannot be observed; in the last mentioned case, no effect worth mentioning is produced.
Austria. In a field firing test (which was repeated four times) between
a machine gun (gun pointer covered by a shield) and 30 infantrymen,
the following results were obtained at 600 m. in 1-1/2 minutes:
Infantrymen 120 rounds 10 hits (9%)
Machine gun 215 " 14 " (7%)[1]
England. At the Infantry School at Hythe, in a firing test at 300 yards, lasting 5 minutes—perhaps the longest period during which continuous fire is possible—the power of a Maxim gun was found to be equivalent to 60 rifles. In field firing this comparative power dropped down to 25-35 rifles. In this connection, it should be borne in mind that moral
- ↑ Firing tests of the Army Musketry School at Bruck, a.d. Leitha, 1905.
Streffleur, Apl. 1906, p. 524.
