Darne Machine Gun
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Barrel
- 600 mm
- Weight, empty
- 8.40 kg
- Introduced
- 1918
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Darne machine gun was an early French automatic weapon designed by the Darne brothers of Saint-Etienne and used in both flexible aircraft mounts and ground/infantry roles. Gas-operated and air-cooled, it locked by tilting the rear of the bolt up into the receiver and fed via a distinctive two-stage belt mechanism. Deliberately built with crude, cheap, fast-manufacture construction, it was prized for being extremely light and inexpensive, and in its synchronized aircraft form was noted for a very high cyclic rate.
The Darne firm was far more famous as a premium shotgun maker, renowned for its distinctive sliding-breech sporting guns; the machine gun was a wartime side venture, and its deliberately crude cheap-and-fast construction was a feature rather than a flaw.
Many configurations existed (synchronized, wing/turret, GPMG, automatic-rifle); figures vary accordingly. Overall length is reported as 1112 mm (militaryfactory) vs 1057 mm (modernfirearms); rate of fire ranges ~600-1350 rpm by variant. The 1100 rpm and 1112 mm figures are used here.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Darne
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Country
- France
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1918 to 1935
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 600 mm
- Overall length
- 1112 mm
- Weight, empty
- 8.40 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Gas operated long stroke
- Capacity
- 250
- 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
- 792 m/s
- Effective range
- 500 m
- Rate of fire
- 1100 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.
Open bolt
Air cooled
Tilting bolt lock
Two stage belt feed- Very high rate of fire
- Lightweight low cost construction
- Propeller synchronized variant
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 261 machine guns | 8.40 kg | 10.50 kg | Lighter than about 70% |
| Overall lengthAmong 260 machine guns | 1112 mm | 1156 mm | Shorter than about 60% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 257 machine guns | 600 mm | 605 mm | Near the median |
| Magazine capacityAmong 222 machine guns | 250 | 50 | Holds more rounds than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Darne Machine Gun
How much does the Darne Machine Gun weigh?
The Darne Machine Gun weighs 8.40 kg (18.52 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Darne Machine Gun?
The Darne Machine Gun is chambered in 8x50mmR Lebel.
How many rounds does the Darne Machine Gun hold?
The Darne Machine Gun holds 250 rounds, fed from a belt.
How long is the Darne Machine Gun?
The Darne Machine Gun is 1112 mm (43.8 in) long overall, with a 600 mm (23.6 in) barrel.
Who makes the Darne Machine Gun?
The Darne Machine Gun is made by Darne (France). It was designed by Regis Darne.
When was the Darne Machine Gun introduced?
The Darne Machine Gun was introduced in 1918 and discontinued in 1935.
How does the Darne Machine Gun operate?
The Darne Machine Gun uses a gas operated long stroke action.
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
- French Air Force
- 1922
- French Army
- 1918
- Wehrmacht (captured)
- Germany
Provenance
Confidence in this record
68%
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/darne-mg' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "darne-mg", "name": "Darne Machine Gun", "manufacturer": { "id": "darne", "name": "Darne", "countryCode": "FR", "foundedYear": 1881, "website": "https://www.fusildarne.com", "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "7d636c71a810ac9957e60cd8905447d57c0582f22e8ed5ee8b1df614c463e6fd" }, "category": { "id": "machine-gun", "name": "Machine Gun", "description": "Fully automatic firearms for sustained fire" }, "country_of_origin": "FR", "year_introduced": 1918, "barrel_length_mm": 600, "weight_empty_g": 8400, "action_type": "gas_operated_long_stroke"}