Dedication
I dedicate this piece to Pam W. and Eric A. of the Canadian Ground Forces for their help in getting this project completed. Without their help I would still be seeking parts and expertise. I started this project about three years ago (2008), while seeking an additional semi-automatic belt fed project. I initially had no intent to build a C5A1 due to the lack of parts and knowledge on the C5A1.
Introduction
As I indicated in my dedication I had no intent on building a C5A1. Initially I was looking at building a Vickers but the prices skyrocketed as a result of the semi-automatic design approval and forced me to look at other projects. Previous to the Vickers I had looked at doing a C5A1 from several posting on this web site by Pam W. I had communicated with her on several occasions about building a C5A1 but the availability of the unique parts and lack of knowledge on the C5A1 precluded me from pursuing the C5A1 build at that time and I moved on to other projects.
After the Vickers fiasco, I decided to dust off the C5A1 project and had to pursue this project from a logical standpoint if there were any chance of completing a working gun. It boiled down to two basic obstacles:
1) the lack of specific technical knowledge on the C1/C5A1:
2) and the lack of the unique parts.
In order to find out the unique parts for the C5A1 one must have a thorough understanding of the C5A1 and especially its predecessor, the C1. Quick research in published reference material could only provide a basic outline of the history of the C5A1 and it predecessor the C1. The only way to acquire all of the technical information necessary for the project was to ask our Canadian friends to the North many of who were actual users of the whole line of Browning General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG) used by the Canadian military from WWII to the late 1990’s. These GPMGs include the M1917 series, M1919A4, the C1 and finally the C5A1.
The best available Canadian sources are the Canadian Forces Technical Orders or CFTOs. These documents provide the details needed and identification of parts. The CFTOs however did not provide the details needed for the modification of the Browning M1919A4 to the C1. While remembering that the C5A1 is simply a field modification of the C1 to make the gun function more reliably. Everything boiled down to this, I had to figure out what where the modifications used to convert the .30 Caliber M1919A4 to the 7.62mm NATO C1 GPMG, a small bit of reverse engineering.
No written literature has been released by Canadian Arsenals Limited, the Canadian company or it successor company which did a majority of the modifications of the Browning M1919A4 to C1 specifications and the Canadian military who also executed several of the C1 upgrades. Additionally the C1 upgrade information has never been released to several lower echelons of maintenance in the Canadian Defence Forces. When you think about it they would really have no need for the lower echelons to have such information as their main task would have to just provide maintenance service to the C1 and not modify M1919A4 to the C1 configuration.
Short History
The Browning GPMG has been the service of Canadian military since WWII. In WWII most of these guns were provided as part of the lend lease package when US manufactured armored vehicles that where provided to the United Kingdom and it Commonwealth forces to fight around the world. In the period 1942-43, Border Cities Industries, a Canadian division of General Motors, also produced the M1919A4 for Commonwealth Forces. Most, not all, .30 caliber Brownings appear to be a vehicle mounted. After WWII, the Canadian military retained many of their Brownings and were provided additional ones for Canadian Forces assigned to NATO forces in Germany and during the Korean Conflict.
Toward the end of the 1950’s many of the NATO countries were purchasing new GPMGs to shoot the new NATO Standard 7.62mm NATO round with the M13 Disintegrating Link. Needless to say new reliable GPMGs are expensive especially for a country which limits its defense budget. Just adopting a new GPMG is no easy matter. There’s the cost of research and development and fielding a new GPMG which is reliable is easier said than done. Look at the adoption of the US M73 tank machinegun which provide to be totally unreliable and its “product improved” M219 version. Both total failures. And what did they replace? The M37 Tank MG, a totally reliable version of the Browning. It’s a lot easier to take an existing proven reliable GPMG and upgrade. Research and development dollars are low compared to development of a new GPMG and you have a large existing supply of the guns and spare parts on hand to remanufacture to a new specification. Even when the Canadian adopted the C1, the gun had reliability issues and further developed the gun to the C5A1 but I digress. At the time of the adoption of the NATO standard, the Canadian Defence Forces were also looking for a replacement for their .303 Vickers machinegun. The Canadian government did not get around to this problem until the late 1960’s. Since the Browning GPMG had provided a well-proven track record it was decided to convert the existing stocks of .30 caliber M1919A4s to shoot the 7.62mm NATO ammunition with the M13 disintegrating link. A good idea to NATO standardize from a military logistical standpoint especially in a war where a quick resupply from an ally may be essential. I could only imagine the logistical problem when M13 Linked 7.62mm NATO ammunition shows up from an ally and your 7.62mm NATO Brownings used a modified M2 link or cloth belts like the Israeli Brownings.
The Canadians took a totally different approach to the conversion of the Caliber .30 M1919A4 then the Israelis. The research and development was carried out by the Canadian Defence Forces which remanufactured several of the M1919A4 to the C1 specification. The bulk of the remanufacturing was performed by Canadian Arsenals Limited starting in 1967.
While the redesign was excellent, a number of shortcoming were noted and on February 7, 1978 Special Information Instruction C-71-126-000/CS-006, “Re-designation of the Machine Gun 7.62mm C1 to Machine Gun 7.62mm C5A1” was published to detail the 3rd line re-build program for all 7.62mm C1 Machine Guns to the new C5A1 specification. This CS-006 document codifies some of the ongoing maintenance issues with the C1 and upgrading of the C1 with newer Browning parts such as the button style top cover latch. The core change in the CS-006 document was the modification of the feed extractor cam. The C1 utilized the feed extractor cam designed for the US .30 caliber cartridge. This feed extractor cam would misalign the 7.62mm NATO cartridge with bolt and barrel thus causing a low cartridge stoppage, not good for a military weapon. The feed extractor cam was removed and modified from a 45 degree slope to a 25 degree slope to better align the 7.62mm NATO cartridge on feeding thus eliminating the jamming condition. This document is the one that most individuals are using seeking to build a semi-auto C5A1. While the document is informative on some of the major changes of the M1919A4 to the C1 configuration it does not show any of the significant changes and important modifications to the C1.
The Canadian Defence Forces continued to use the C5A1 until the 1990’s until their total phase out in favor of the C6 GPMG (MAG 58). Just as a historical note it appears that the C6 was initially used in conjunction with C5A1 as the C6 was used on Leopard Tanks purchased from Germany. Sadly to say most of the C5A1 were destroyed after being phased out.
--fjruple
