Editing Vickers machine gun (section)

==Specifications==
[[File:.303ammunition.jpeg|thumb|Rimmed, centrefire Mk 7 [[.303 British|.303 inch]] cartridge from World War II. The type of ammunition is denoted by the colour of the annulus, the narrow ring shown here surrounding the [[percussion cap]]]]

The weight of the gun itself varied based on the gear attached, but was generally {{convert|25|to|30|lb|kg}} with a {{convert|40|to|50|lb|kg|adj=on}} tripod. The ammunition boxes for the 250-round ammunition belts weighed {{convert|22|lb|kg}} each. In addition, it required about {{convert|7.5|imppt|L}}  of water in its [[Evaporative cooling|evaporative cooling system]] to prevent overheating. The heat of the barrel boiled the water in the jacket surrounding it. The resulting steam was taken off by a flexible tube to a condenser container—this had the dual benefits of avoiding giving away the gun's location, and also enabling re-use of the water, which was very important in arid environments.

In British service, the Vickers gun fired the standard [[.303 British|.303 inch]]  cartridges used in the [[Lee–Enfield]] [[rifle]], which generally had to be hand-loaded into the cloth ammunition belts. There was also a {{convert|0.5|in|mm|1|adj=on}} calibre version used as an anti-aircraft weapon and various other calibres produced for foreign buyers.

The gun was {{convert|3|ft|8|in|cm}} long and its cyclic [[rate of fire]] was between 450 and 600 rounds per minute. In practice, it was expected that 10,000 rounds would be fired per hour, and that the barrel would be changed every hour—a two-minute job for a trained team. The Vickers gun could sustain fire for long durations of time exceeding the recommended 10,000 rounds an hour due to the water-cooled barrel and hourly barrel swaps. One account states that a Vickers fired just under 5&nbsp;million rounds in a week as a test in 1963 at [[Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Strensall|Strensall Barracks]] and was still operable.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Goldsmith|first1=Dolph L.|title=The Grand Old Lady of No Man's Land|date=1994|publisher=Collector Grade Publications|isbn=978-0889351479|page=Part III, Chapter Seven, pp 188}}</ref>  The muzzle velocity was {{convert|2440|ft/s|m/s|0|abbr=on}} ±{{convert|40|ft/s|m/s|0|abbr=on}} with [[.303 British#Mark VII|Mark VII(z]]) ammunition and {{convert|2525|ft/s|m/s|0|abbr=on}} with [[.303 British#Mark VIIIz|Mark VIIIz]] ammunition. The Mark VIIIz cartridge, which had a [[External ballistics#General trends in drag or ballistic coefficient|boat-tailed]] spitzer 'streamlined' bullet, could be used against targets at a range of approximately {{convert|4500|yd|m|0|abbr=on}}. The bullet jackets were generally made of an alloy of [[cupro-nickel]], and [[gilding metal]]. Ammunition for the Vickers used colour-coded annuli. Tracer ammunition was marked with a red annulus; armouring-piercing ammunition with a green annulus, and incendiary ammunition with a blue annulus. Explosive ammunition was marked with an orange annulus before the Second World War and was changed to black.