Huot Automatic Rifle
| Huot-Ross automatic rifle | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Automatic rifle, Light machine gun |
| Place of origin | Canada |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Canadian Army |
| Wars | WW1 |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Joseph Alphonse Huot |
| Designed | 1916 |
| Produced | Circa 1917-1918 |
| No. built | At least 5. |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 13 lbs (5.9 kg) (empty), 19 lbs (8.6 kg) (loaded) |
| Length | 47 inches (119 cm) |
| Barrel length | 25 in (63.5 cm) |
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| Cartridge | .303 British |
| Caliber | .303 (7.7mm) |
| Action | Gas |
| Rate of fire | 475 rpm (cyclic), 155 rpm (continuous) |
| Feed system | 25-round drum magazine |
| Sights | iron |
The Huot Automatic Rifle was a Canadian World War I light machine gun project.
In 1916, the Canadian Expeditionary Force was desperately short of light machine guns. Since the Ross rifle had finally been taken out of service, there were large numbers of surplus rifles.
That year, Joseph Huot, an engineer from Richmond, Quebec, adapted the Ross' straight-pull bolt action. His sample model, which shared 33 parts with the Ross Mark III, had a gas piston parallel to the barrel, which moved a sleeve on the bolt backward, operating the action. To absorb excess energy, the bolt was buffered. The entire mechanism was sheathed in sheet metal. Huot copied the cooling system from the Lewis Gun, then standard in British Army service. It fed from a 25-round drum magazine. He filed Canadian patents; #193724 on 8 March 1917 (granted 4 November 1919) and #193725 on 13 November 1917.
Early in September 1916, he approached the government to licence-produce the weapon, meeting with a Colonel Matyche on 8 September, and was hired by the Government Small Arms Experimental Department.
The Dominion Rifle Factory (formerly the Ross rifle factory) built a finished version of the design, under the supervision of Assistant Inspector of Small Arms Major Robert Mills of the Seaforth Highlanders. It was tested at Quebec City on 12 November 1916, with a second 650-round trial of an improved version on 15 February 1917. The Master-General of Ordnance, Blair, demanded a third test, firing 11,000 rounds (half Dominion Cartridge Company, half Dominion Arsenal) on 5–6 March 1917. The Huot was also examined at the Rockcliffe Rifle Range on 22 October 1917, which led S. C. Meuburn to recommend it be adopted by the British Army.
To further this aim, Blair, A.A. Janson, and Huot sailed for Britain, arriving at Sandling, Hythe on 10 January 1918, for an extensive British trial at the arms testing establishment at RSAF Enfield. This took place between 19–21 March 1918, and the Huot competed against the Lewis, Hotchkiss, and Farquhar-Hill. The results appeared favorable. "The Huot did better in some tests than the Lewis. It was superior in snapshooting from a trench, in quickness of getting into action..." Even muddy, after firing four or five clearing rounds, it would function again, without the need for stripping and cleaning; Blair noted it was the only weapon on the trial able to suffer immersion and do so.
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