Hotchkiss M1914 (FIR 8102) The French Hotchkiss machine-gun first appeared in 1895. Its action was cycled by a piston, driven by gas tapped from the barrel upon firing. Instead of the canvas ammunition belts used by other machine-guns of the era, it fired its cartridges from metal strips. It was an air-cooled weapon, which could lead to the barrel overheating if firing was sustained. However, this obviated the need to find … Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30034918