Quote:
Originally posted by DITNER, S.M.
I have come across the term "Besa" a number of times in War Diaries. Though I recognize that it refers to the armament on a tank, is it the main gun, or machine guns, and what is the origin?
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The BESA was 'secondary armament' on a tank.
Origin:
The BESA Machine Gun was the mainstay of British Tanks 'secondary armament' for all of the Second World War. In 1937 the British army began looking for an air-cooled replacement for the Vickers machine-gun for use in infantry battalions and in tanks, and the Czech ZB vz/53 (also called the vz/37) designed by Vaclav Hoiek was chosen. The original intention was to have it redesigned to take the rimmed .303 in cartridge, but time was short and it was decided to forgo its infantry application and adopt it for tank use only in its original 7.92 mm chambering, which then required a supply of 7.92 mm ammunition. This was less of a disadvantage for tank use than it would have been had the weapon seen wider application. Arrangements were made to have the gun manufactured by the BSA Company under licence, hence the name BESA. The first production guns were issued to the army late in 1939.
The BESA was a gas-operated gun with two unusual features. Firstly, the piston left the gas cylinder on its rearward stroke, so that the gas—and the powder fouling—were exhausted to the outside, giving a high degree of reliability. Secondly, the barrel recoiled within the gun body and the gun actually fired while the barrel was still returning to its forward position. This meant that the recoil force had to stop the forward movement before it could begin to force the barrel back again, and this, in turn, reduced the recoil force on the gun mounting. The original BESA (MK 1) had two rates of fire, 450 rounds per minute or 750 rounds per minute, achieved by varying the stroke of the bolt during recoil. In subsequent marks, which were designed with a view to simplifying production, this feature was removed and the gun fired at 750 rounds per minute only. The BESA MK 1 is distinguished by the cooling fins and pierced barrel casing were removed in later marks.
As the war progressed a simplified version, the BESA MK 3, was produced, still retaining calibre of 7.92 mm, with changes to speed production and cut costs. When additional changes had been made to the MK 3 it was 20% cheaper than the original BESA MK 1 machine-gun. The original Czech gun, saw action throughout the world, and similar types of gun were mounted in the Czech tanks used by the Germans.
BESA Machine Gun, Data:
Model: - 7.92 mm Mark I -
Calibre - 7.92 mm
Weight (unloaded) - 47 lb
Length - 43.5 in
Barrel Length - 25.2 in
Belt fed - 250 round belt
Rate of Fire - 450 or 750
Muzzle Velocity - 2700 ft/s
Cheers