Colt Browning M1895 machine gun John Moses Browning was a genius of an inventor , but , the genius in his Model 1895 was in his circumventing the patents of another American , Hiram Maxim . Browning ' s new gun was the Colt M1895 machine gun , developed between 1891 and 1895 . It was known as a “ potato digger ” for its peculiar down - swinging arm driven by a gas piston . The US Navy adopted this gun circa 1896 in its contemporary 6mm Lee Navy ( . 234 ) cartridge , and a little later the US Army bought some guns chambered for the Army ’ s . 30 - 40 Krag cartridge . The M1895 was made in limited numbers and saw some action during the US - Spanish war of 1898 , along with older manually operated Gatling guns . It was also sold for export , to Canada , Mexico and Imperial Russia , which in 1914 ordered significant numbers of M1895 ’ s in its 7 . 62x54R caliber . Colt Model 1895 machine gun ( at the time it was not publicly associated with the name of its inventor , John Moses Browning ) was gas operated , belt fed , air cooled automatic weapon . It used a heavy , fixed barrel and an unusual gas system with swinging gas piston . In this system , the gas piston was located below the barrel at the right angle to the bore , and upon discharge it was blown by the powder gases down and to the rear , pivoting on the long lever attached to the barrel behind the port . This piston lever was connected to the bolt by the set of struts and levers , which transferred radial movement of the piston to the linear movement of the bolt . This system , while requiring sufficient clearance below the gun to operate ( otherwise the gun would literally dug into the ground , thus earning the name of “ potato digger ” ) , also resulted in slow initial movement of the bolt , assisting positive extraction ( feature later lost in Marlin conversions of 1917 / 1918 ) . Barrel locking was achieved by tipping the rear part of the bolt down , into the recess in the receiver floor . Firing was from closed bolt , using internal striker ( hammer ) with linear movement . Firing controls include single pistol grip at the rear of receiver , and a rifle - type trigger . Feed was using cloth belts , from left side only . Belt traction module was of simple design , utilizing single sprocket wheel operated by the levers connected to gas piston . Cartridges were withdrawn from the belt to the rear prior to loading into the barrel ; spent cases were ejected to the right via aperture in receiver . Standard mounting was tripod of solid design , with elevation and traverse mechanisms . Modifications . Colt Model 1914 : Commercial version of the original M1895 , chambered in . 30 - 06 US ammunition ( for domestic use , mostly as Army training gun ) or in . 303 British and 7 , 62x54R as supplied to Britain and Imperial Russia . Key difference was the detachable barrel with multiple radial fins . Many guns of this type were shipped to Allied forces during WW1 . It was also produced by Marlin . Marlin M1917 , M1918 : tank and aircraft machine guns , produced by Marlin Arms Corp . Key modifications from basic design were adoption of the linear gas piston , running in parallel to the barrel and below it , along with addition with an aluminum radiator . Most Marlin guns saw action as aircraft machine guns .