This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Besa machine gun" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(December 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Tank-mounted medium machine gun
Besa machine gun
Besa machine gun
Type
Tank-mounted medium machine gun
Place of origin
Czechoslovakia, United Kingdom
Service history
In service
1939–1960s
Used by
United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel
Wars
Second World War 1947–1949 Palestine war[1] Korean War[2] Second Arab–Israeli War[3] Lebanese Civil War
Production history
Designer
Václav Holek
Designed
1936
Manufacturer
The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited
Produced
1939–1945
No. built
7.92mm: 39,332 in all variants. 15mm: 3,218 total production
Variants
Mark I (1939–1940) Mark II (1940–1943) Mark II*(1943) Mark III (1943–1951) Mark III* (1943–1952) Mark III/2 (1952–1966) Mark III/3 (1954–1966) 15mm Besa Mark I (1939?–1949)
Specifications
Mass
47 lb (21 kg) empty
Length
43.5 in (1,100 mm)
Barrel length
29 in (740 mm), 4-groove rifling with right-hand twist
Cartridge
7.92×57mm Mauser
Calibre
7.9mm
Action
gas automatic
Rate of fire
450–550 round/min (Low) 750–850 rounds/min (High)
Muzzle velocity
2,700 ft/s (823 m/s)
Feed system
7.92mm: 225 metal link belt. 15mm: 25-round link belt
The Besa machine gun was a British version of the Czechoslovak ZB-53 air-cooled, belt-fed machine gun (called the TK vz. 37 in the Czechoslovak army[note 1]).
The name came from the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), who signed an agreement with Československá zbrojovka to manufacture the gun in the UK. The War Office ordered the weapon in 1938 and production began in 1939, after modifications.
It was used extensively by the armed forces of United Kingdom during the Second World War as a mounted machine gun for tanks and other armoured vehicles as a replacement for the heavier, water-cooled Vickers machine gun. Although it required a rather large opening in the tank's armour, it was reliable.
^Laffin, John (29 July 1982). The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars 1948–73. Men-at-Arms 127. Osprey Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 9780850454505.
^Tucker, Spencer C.; Pierpaoli, Paul G. Jr., eds. (2010). "Machine guns". The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Vol. 1. A–L (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 535. ISBN 978-1-85109-849-1. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
^Katz, Sam (23 June 1988). Israeli Elite Units since 1948. Elite 18. Osprey Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 9780850458374.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
replace the Vickers gun as part of a widescale change from rimmed to rimless rounds; one of the contenders was the 7.92mm Besamachinegun (British-built Czech...
The M2 machinegun or Browning .50 caliber machinegun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machinegun that was designed near the end of World War I by...
replacing the .303 and .50 Vickers machineguns with co-axial 15 mm (0.59 in) and 7.92 mm (0.312 in) Besamachineguns. A small number of specialized variations...
the engine cover. The turret, armed with one 15mm and one 7.92mm Besamachineguns, was hand traversed. The vehicle commander acted as the wireless operator...
Besa or BESA may refer to: Besa (newspaper), a newspaper published in Albania Besa (TV series), a Serbian-British television series produced by Adrenalin...
gun and side sponsons. For "initial trials" it was fitted with a mockup turret with dummy guns - a 2-pdr gun, 3-inch howitzer and a Besamachinegun -...
a pintle mount only. (The belt fed Vickers or Besa, the latter being another Czechoslovak machinegun design adopted by the British, were instead used...
Covenanter—was mounted a small hand-traversed auxiliary turret armed with a Besamachinegun. The auxiliary turret was awkward to use and was often removed in the...
it was armed with two QF 2 pounder guns, each located in a side sponson with a coaxial Besamachinegun. A third Besa and a smoke projector would be fitted...
the gun barrel, the coaxial Besamachinegun and the aperture of the No. 39 telescopic sight. The gun was of the "free elevation" type; the gun was balanced...
"New Zealand Switches from 5.56mm to 7.62mm FN Herstal Minimi Light MachineGun". thefirearmblog. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved...
IV tankette - not used in combat M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage - M3 Half-track equipped with the M1A1 75 mm gun Sherman Ib recovery vehicle Although the...
40mm QF 2-pounder gun and a 7.92 mm coaxial Besamachinegun. The prototypes from Daimler and Humber were produced with a 2-pounder gun. In 1943, orders...
9 in) armour. To the left of it was a Besamachinegun in an armoured ball mount. A further two Besamachineguns were mounted in a turret on the top of...
pounder gun. Subsequent versions received a 6 pounder or a 75 mm gun in a custom-built turret. The vehicle also carried a single Besamachinegun, a 2-inch...
armed with a Vickers machinegun. Infantry Tank Mark II.A. (Matilda II Mk II) Vickers machinegun replaced by Besamachinegun. The "A" denoted a change...
QF 2-pounder (40-mm) gun and a coaxial .303 Vickers machinegun. For the production version, there was a 7.92 mm BESAmachinegun mounted in the hull in...
transmission and the turret now contained a QF 2 pounder gun with a co-axial Besamachinegun. By the time it was complete, in 1942, New Zealand had received...
Birmingham Small Arms Company, which also manufactured the larger Besamachinegun which like the Bren was a product of the pre-war Czech arms manufacturer...
were produced with a 7.92 mm Besa coaxial machine-gun, thereafter replaced by a coaxial 0.30-inch Browning machine-gun. Valentine VII Another Canadian...
Mark I Mark I CS – close support version with 76 mm gun. Mark II – improved turret, modified gun mount, improved radiator, driver escape hatch incorporated...
Global Information
