BESA Machine Gun
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Barrel
- 740 mm
- Weight, empty
- 21.65 kg
- Introduced
- 1939
About
What it is, and why it matters
The BESA was a British air-cooled, gas-operated, belt-fed machine gun used as the primary coaxial and hull weapon in British and Commonwealth tanks and armoured vehicles during World War II. It was a licensed adaptation of the Czechoslovak ZB-53 (vz. 37) produced by the Birmingham Small Arms Company, whose name combines BSA and Czech maker ZB. Unusually for a British weapon it retained the German 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge rather than being rechambered to .303 British, and its differential-recoil action gave exceptionally smooth firing.
The BESA was unusual among British weapons in keeping the German 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge rather than being rechambered to .303 British - a logistics oddity accepted because it was a dedicated tank gun and rechambering would have delayed production.
Parent design is the ZB-53 / vz. 37 (not vz. 53). Early marks had selectable high/low cyclic rates; later fixed-rate marks served into the 1960s. Production figures conflict: ~39,332 (Wikipedia) to ~59,332 (militaryfactory) for the 7.92mm gun.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Birmingham Small Arms Company
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1939
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 740 mm
- Overall length
- 1100 mm
- Height
- 740 mm
- Weight, empty
- 21.65 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Gas operated
- Firing mechanism
- Open bolt
- Trigger
- Full auto only
- Capacity
- 225
- Magazine
- Belt
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 823 m/s
- Rate of fire
- 750 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Air cooled
Belt fed
Differential recoil- Selectable rate of fire
- Vehicle mounted
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 26 7.92x57mm Mauser machine guns | 21.65 kg | 11.60 kg | Heavier than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 26 7.92x57mm Mauser machine guns | 1100 mm | 1175 mm | Shorter than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 26 7.92x57mm Mauser machine guns | 740 mm | 677 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 25 7.92x57mm Mauser machine guns | 225 | 50 | Holds more rounds than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the BESA Machine Gun
How much does the BESA Machine Gun weigh?
The BESA Machine Gun weighs 21.65 kg (47.73 lb) empty.
What caliber is the BESA Machine Gun?
The BESA Machine Gun is chambered in 7.92x57mm Mauser.
How many rounds does the BESA Machine Gun hold?
The BESA Machine Gun holds 225 rounds, fed from a belt.
How long is the BESA Machine Gun?
The BESA Machine Gun is 1100 mm (43.3 in) long overall, with a 740 mm (29.1 in) barrel.
Who makes the BESA Machine Gun?
The BESA Machine Gun is made by Birmingham Small Arms Company (United Kingdom). It was designed by Vaclav Holek.
When was the BESA Machine Gun introduced?
The BESA Machine Gun was introduced in 1939.
How does the BESA Machine Gun operate?
The BESA Machine Gun uses a gas operated action, and its firing mechanism is open bolt.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- British Army
- 1940
- Australian Army
- Australia
- Canadian Army
- Canada
Provenance
Confidence in this record
70%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/besa-machine-gun' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "besa-machine-gun", "name": "BESA Machine Gun", "manufacturer": { "id": "birmingham-small-arms", "name": "Birmingham Small Arms Company", "countryCode": "GB", "foundedYear": 1861, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-04-26 23:12:00", "updatedAt": "2026-04-26 23:12:00", "version": "ae6e88d593a8c089b8f2f2f6e564f2eef2056d641dd74def2ac44494b3a5930b" }, "category": { "id": "machine-gun", "name": "Machine Gun", "description": "Fully automatic firearms for sustained fire" }, "country_of_origin": "GB", "year_introduced": 1939, "barrel_length_mm": 740, "weight_empty_g": 21650, "action_type": "gas_operated"}