Vickers K
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Barrel
- 529 mm
- Weight, empty
- 13.50 kg
- Introduced
- 1935
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Vickers K, also known as the Vickers Gas Operated (VGO or Vickers G.O.), was a rapid-firing gas-operated machine gun developed by Vickers-Armstrongs from the Vickers-Berthier light machine gun. Chambered in .303 British and fed from a 60- or 100-round pan magazine, it was designed in 1935 as a flexible defensive gun for RAF aircraft, where its very high cyclic rate of around 1,000 rounds per minute was valued for fleeting air-to-air engagements.
Withdrawn from aircraft as turrets took over, the Vickers K was reborn as the SAS's signature weapon - David Stirling's raiders bolted them in pairs to their jeeps and tore through Axis airfields, destroying parked aircraft in a hail of 1,000-rounds-per-minute fire.
Made largely obsolete in aircraft by powered turrets and faster monoplanes, surplus guns found a second life on the ground - most famously twin- and quad-mounted on the jeeps of the SAS and Long Range Desert Group in North Africa.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Vickers Limited
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1935 to 1945
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 529 mm
- Overall length
- 940 mm
- Weight, empty
- 13.50 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Gas operated
- Firing mechanism
- Open bolt
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 100
- Magazine
- Drum
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 762 m/s
- Rate of fire
- 1000 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.
Tilting breechblock lock
Pan magazine feed- High cyclic rate
Spade grips
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 | 13.50 kg | 10.50 kg | Heavier than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 260 machine guns | 940 mm | 1156 mm | Shorter than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 257 machine guns | 529 mm | 605 mm | Shorter than about 80% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 222 machine guns | 100 | 50 | Holds more rounds than about 70% |
Answers
Questions about the Vickers K
How much does the Vickers K weigh?
The Vickers K weighs 13.50 kg (29.76 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Vickers K?
The Vickers K is chambered in .303 British.
How many rounds does the Vickers K hold?
The Vickers K holds 100 rounds, fed from a drum magazine.
How long is the Vickers K?
The Vickers K is 940 mm (37.0 in) long overall, with a 529 mm (20.8 in) barrel.
Who makes the Vickers K?
The Vickers K is made by Vickers Limited (United Kingdom). It was designed by Vickers-Armstrongs.
When was the Vickers K introduced?
The Vickers K was introduced in 1935 and discontinued in 1945.
How does the Vickers K operate?
The Vickers K 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
- Royal Air Force
- 1935
- Special Air Service
- United Kingdom
- Indian Army
- India
Provenance
Confidence in this record
72%
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/vickers-k' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "vickers-k", "name": "Vickers K", "manufacturer": { "id": "vickers-limited", "name": "Vickers Limited", "countryCode": "GB", "foundedYear": 1828, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-02-11 23:44:40", "updatedAt": "2026-02-18 03:40:48", "version": "274f184f9ab81a6c83077b891e6d8650d2d4200981362fe34972351d6d26cbcc" }, "category": { "id": "machine-gun", "name": "Machine Gun", "description": "Fully automatic firearms for sustained fire" }, "country_of_origin": "GB", "year_introduced": 1935, "barrel_length_mm": 529, "weight_empty_g": 13500, "action_type": "gas_operated"}