In a change of pace to our usual videos Matt is joined by Danny Michael, curator of the Cody Firearms Museum, to discuss a mysterious rifle which has fascinated us for years. The Burton Machine Rifle, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting rifles in the Cody Firearms Museum’s incredible collection. Developed in 1916-17 at Winchester, likely by engineer Frank Burton, the rifle incorporates a plethora of advanced features which have led it to often be christened the first American assault rifle.
In 2018, Danny and I examined the rifle and attempted to disassemble it. While we learnt a great deal from our examination we were unable to disassemble the rifle fully. The prototype is exquisitely made with fine machining and deep blueing – far from an in-the-white prototype we often see. Sadly, we were unable to remove what we believe to be the spring assembly housing, to remove the rifle’s bolt.
It is not just the weapon’s design which is mysterious. With little to no primary source paper trail it is difficult to trace the rifle’s history beyond the date of its manufacture, its technical features and some tantalising potential references to the rifle.
We discus the rifle, our own history with it and the importance of historiography and how we can trace what we know about the rifle back through secondary sources written about it. The Cody Firearms Museum is currently raising funds to reprint early editions of the ARMAX journal – which contains the very first article published about the Burton Machine Rifle. In our conversation Danny eloquently explains the importance of this project and how you can support it.
Here’s some information on the planned reprint from ARMAX:
“Armax was launched by former CFM Curator Herbert G. Houze in 1987, and comprised nine issues spread across six volumes, published from 1987 to 1996. These first six volumes contained a lot of important original research, but, unfortunately, these original issues are hard to find today, and often expensive. We only know of a few complete sets that are available to researchers. To remedy this state of affairs, the Cody Firearms Museum and Helios House Press plan to ‘remaster’ and reprint the original six volumes of Armax. The layout, illustrations, and design have been updated to make the legacy material more accessible to modern researchers and enthusiasts. These will be beautiful, functional publications printed on high-quality paper in full color.”
The Armourers Bench 