Didn’t the Russians have something like this in WWII? I just remember the top-feed.
Russia had one that looked like the Lewis without the jacket, a huge magazine that looked like it came from MGM studios.
“Didn’t the Russians have something like this in WWII? I just remember the top-feed.” [wbill, post 7]
“Russia had one that looked like the Lewis without the jacket, ...” [Bringbackthedraft, post 9]
USSR’s Red Army did use a light machine gun termed the DP, designed by Vasily Degtyarev. Very simple, rugged, few parts. It was fed by a circular magazine vaguely like the magazine of the Lewis gun in appearance. It can be seen in many Soviet propaganda films. Numerous modfications and updated versions were adopted; various later models served with USSR forces into the 1960s and some are still in inventory in smaller countries.
The efficacy of the aluminum cooling jacket on the Lewis gun was never confirmed. Guns for air service often dispensed with the jacket. The jacket was supposed to utilize the muzzle blast to draw ambient air forward, cooling the entire setup. But the only time I ever fired a Lewis gun, it worked the opposite direction and blew ammonia fumes back at me.